Creating a sky

Gemini Queen

For my renders, I found the ground, road, sidewalks and a lot more. However, what I'm trying to do now is create a sky with clouds. (Or no clouds, that works too.) What I'd like is for the sky to kind of move with the figure, so instead of being an image backdrop, then it's kind of like a prop. I did look into the Skydomes, but I'm not sure how exactly how to use it, of if it works the way I want to. These are the domes that I saw, but I didn't see like a video or anything that gave me an idea of what they do. 

https://www.daz3d.com/orestes-iray-hdri-skydomes--hazy-afternoon

https://www.daz3d.com/green-hills-skydome-and-hdri

Then I saw some clouds that were really nice, but didn't know if they would work with the skydomes that I was considering. 

https://www.daz3d.com/easy-environments-clouds

https://www.daz3d.com/cloudscape-creator--sky-cover-for-iray

https://www.daz3d.com/cloudscape-creator--hero-clouds-for-iray

To be honest, I'm so unsure cause I don't know if I should actually be looking for a backdrop instead. 

Gordig

HDRIs do move with the figure (or, rather, with the camera), and many of them have clouds. I often use cloud products in conjunction with an HDRI. 

Gemini Queen

So I went on ahead and bought the skydome from the second link, although now all the renders come up dark. I'm sure there's some feature or dial that I'm missing, but I did try to turn up the intensity to no avail. 

MelanieL

That looks like maybe you loaded the 3Delight skydome prop (which would block all light from outside and hence render as a black background)? Make sure you are loading the Iray version (FMEE GreenHills Iray.duf).

[If you did load the Iray version then sorry, I have no further ideas]

Gemini Queen

MelanieL you are an angel! When I used the IRAY one, then I could see it in the render, but I couldn't see it in the viewport. Is there a reason for that? Like when I don't render it, then it looks like the regular viewport area when you first start. But then when I render, I see the environment that I bought. 

MelanieL

Sorry for the late response - I had to get to bed (I'm in the UK and posted at 1:45 AM!) then this is my first chance today to get on the internet.

What you ask is just the way HDRI lighting works - it doesn't show up in texture shaded mode, only when you render. If you have a strong enough machine you can set the viewport style to Iray Preview and it will appear (but it will slow things down a lot if you have no or a weak GPU like me). There is also a product in the store that lets you see the HDRI without rendering, but of course that costs you: https://www.daz3d.com/ibl-master-for-daz-studio

onix

If you just need something to fill the empty area so that it will resemble a sky, rather than using HDRI you can use a backdrop. it can be set under the environment tap which you have to bring on first from windows/panes(tabs) environment. You will see everything in the preview windows too. no need to run iray rendering

HDRI is not recommended because it will prevent you from using another HDRI illumination it will mess up your lighting and its brightness will be out of balance. And it will eat your gpu memory too.

Gemini Queen

I'm glad that you were able to get some sleep. But thank you for letting me know! 

MelanieL

As onix pointed out, you could just use a backdrop (your own photo for example) if you don't need the lighting from a HDRI.

If you want HDRI (to give you an image and matching lighting) then as well as the store you can find a huge number of (free for use) images here: https://hdrihaven.com/ - it includes some nice cloudy skies and a whole host more.

Gemini Queen

Thank you both so much! I will definately look into using backdrops. The thing is though, when I tried to use a backdrop to fill in as a sky, the entire screen became the image, and the clouds ended up being on the ground and it was just a mess. 

MelanieL

Your photo/image needs to be the same aspect ratio as your render, otherwise it will be distorted, so if you have a (say) 1280x720 image then you'd ideally need to set your render to a 16:9 format. If you have an image you want to use that doesn't fit, then either use an image editor program to crop it to the right size/shape, or:

Alternatively you could create a primitive plane, set it's x and y scale so it's the right shape and apply the image in the diffuse slot (I can't exactly remember - it may be called Base Color?) then place the plane so you can see it through the window. The snag with this is that (a) it will block any light coming from that direction, and (b) the lighting may not quite look right for your scene.

Gemini Queen

Thanks for the tips! I'll keep this in mind for later on down the road. 

onix

Gemini Queen said:

Thank you both so much! I will definately look into using backdrops. The thing is though, when I tried to use a backdrop to fill in as a sky, the entire screen became the image, and the clouds ended up being on the ground and it was just a mess. 

This is actually what it is supposed to be.  Backdrops will only work if you already have some kind of groudplane and horizon,

HDRI on the other hand has full scenery including the ground.

backdrops are a good idea if you have something like a wall or buildings or other objects in front of you that block groud view and you only need to add the sky. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gemini Queen

I did have buildings and stuff, but for some reason the image loaded upside down and all the clouds were on the ground.