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UE2 and skydomes

XoechZXoechZ Posts: 1,102
edited May 2014 in The Commons

Hello!

I am looking for a way to use UE2 (Uber Environment 2) together with props that have skydomes included. For example, Stonemasons Village Courtyard has a skydome, but many other environments have them as well.

The problem is that UE2 always loads with its own sphere which can be used as a skydome (IDL lightsource) by applying a texture to it. To be honest, I have never tried that, but I am sure that this is the purpose of the sphere. So far, I have always only changed the light color in the settings.

So, is there a way to add an UE2 to the already existing skydome of the environment? So that I can use the existing skydome (with its texture) as lightsource for the UE2.

I hope I have explained it clearly enough so that you know what I mean :-)

Post edited by XoechZ on

Comments

  • Design Anvil - Razor42Design Anvil - Razor42 Posts: 1,239
    edited May 2014

    If I'm understanding you right I believe its possible.

    You can either apply texture maps to the existing UE2 Light on both the Environment Sphere and the light.

    Or use an existing Skydome and apply the same map to a UE2 Light and Delete the environment sphere(Its hidden in renders by default.)

    You can change the Texture map for the UE2 light in parameters and the Surface map on the Environment Sphere in the surfaces Palette.

    Lightmap.jpg
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    Surface.jpg
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    Scene.jpg
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    Post edited by Design Anvil - Razor42 on
  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    The Sphere that comes with UE2 plays no part in lighting even for IDL...it is only for reference, full stop. So it will not interfere with other skydomes.

  • CypherFOXCypherFOX Posts: 3,401
    edited December 1969

    Greetings,

    Szark said:
    The Sphere that comes with UE2 plays no part in lighting even for IDL...it is only for reference, full stop. So it will not interfere with other skydomes.
    I'd love it if you elaborated on that. What do you mean 'it is only for reference'?

    -- Morgan

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    Load a UE2 preset and it shows a JPG version, on the sphere, of the HDR light map that UE2 uses to light the scene (in this case a TIFF). This gives visual feedback when rotating UE2.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,237
    edited May 2014

    ...so if you loaded say the Skydome map from Stefan's Urban Sprawl 2 that will not affect the lighting or reflections/refractions on items in the scene?

    Even more so, when using AoA's metallised Glass Shaders (which includes it's own HDR sphere) changing this to a skydome map (or other environment map) won't really do anything either correct?

    This is where I get a bit lost as this whole HDR thing seems so foreign to me.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    If you are using Ray Traced Reflections and not fake reflections then the reflections will be governed by the "Visible In Render" (found in the Parameters Pane when the sphere/Skydome is selected) used skydome. The UE2 sphere is set by default not to be rendered but visible in the scene as the JPG is normally low res and as I said a guide.

    Refraction is how light passes through objects and how the light gets bent, hence different Index of Refraction values for different materials, some transparent, semi transparent and a few perceived Solid materials like Gold, Silver, Iron etct,. So that would be no that part of your refraction question. :)

    I would presume AoA Metallised Glass Shaders has the HDR in the reflection colour channel, I don't have it hence presume. But in Uber Surface you can insert a HDR/Tiff into the reflection mode channel and set Reflection mode to Environment Map as opposed to Ray Traced or OFF). So if you have a different HDR in the reflection channel and a different Skydome texture then the reflections won't match the scene. However when I get free HDRI sets it normally comes with a High Res JPG (for skydome) High and low res HDR (for UE2) and use real reflections. But this is not to say I wouldn't use a HDR/Tiff in Uber Surface's reflection channel to provide the reflections but the HDR would have to be good quality. I have been thinking good ones might come in handy. Dimension Theory has some really nice looking reflection maps and they render fast compared to real Ray Traced Reflections. S0 if the environment isn't be seen you could get a way with quality reflection maps. Again I don't have DT's sets yet but I do like real reflections more with Uber Surface as I can blur the reflections by distance too. Meaning the further an object is away form the reflective material the blurrier the reflections get. Closer an object is to the reflective material the crisper and more defined the reflections get.

    Hope that makes sense.

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