Epic Skydomes: Cloud Haven HDRI [Commercial]

PA_ThePhilosopherPA_ThePhilosopher Posts: 1,039

Hey guys,

This is just a small release for the interim. Hope you guys like it;

 

DESCRIPTION
The easiest and fastest way to create an epic scene in Iray: Use a skydome, and create the illusion of a ground plane under your object by utilizing its shadows. It’s the oldest trick in the book. But it can work remarkably well. And it renders blazingly fast.

Say hello to the first installment of the new “Epic Skydomes” HDRI environment series: Cloud Haven---a vast and surreal canopy of clouds, sun, and sky. This scene was designed to evoke a sense of grandeur, and is ideal for shots requiring an epic scale.

Plus setup is simple. Just load your object/character into the scene, place the clouds (included) around your object, resize the volumetric light box around your object , and rotate camera as needed to “position” your object relative to the skydome (User Guide included).

KEY FEATURES:
-High Resolution HDRI and PNG skydome images (8000x4000) with multiple style options
-Supporting props and lights (cloud alpha cards, volumetric light cube, and sun lights)
-Volumetric Light Cube included: Adds atmosphere to your object, and creates Godrays around object
-Cloud alpha cards included: Place around the bottom of your object to help submerse it into the environment
-Two different skydome styles, with three different color options each
-User Guide included

-P

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Post edited by PA_ThePhilosopher on
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Comments

  • Yup.  I want it. ;)

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,058

    Sigh...  so many great products...  I'm still trying to use things I bought three months ago and they keep on coming...

  • Ohhh I want that. It looks amazing and very useful.

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    OMG, that looks amazing. Do you ever sleep? LOL

  • AllegraAllegra Posts: 405

    Yes...jump in the cart...I'm still to open the GodRays, think I'll need to disconnect for awhile to get some work done ;) 

  • AethyrAethyr Posts: 100

    Looks cool! I think I'm going to have to upgrade my PC if I want to work with volumetric light in any major capacity though.

    Your Epic Godrays prop doesn't seem to add a huge amount to render time if you use the self-illuminated version, at least. Any chance this product will have a similar 'cheat'?

    -A

  • PA_ThePhilosopherPA_ThePhilosopher Posts: 1,039
    edited February 2017
    Aethyr said:

    Looks cool! I think I'm going to have to upgrade my PC if I want to work with volumetric light in any major capacity though.

    Your Epic Godrays prop doesn't seem to add a huge amount to render time if you use the self-illuminated version, at least. Any chance this product will have a similar 'cheat'?

    -A

    @Aethyr,

    The Skydome itself is very fast rendering, almost instant. But---as with any true volumetric light---adding the light cube to the scene will slow things down some (since it takes a while for the light rays to bounce around inside the cube). The first 10k iterations or so, it will just look like mist or haze. To make a clear atmospheric look, you'll have to take the render out much further.

    I noticed on your machine you were on CPU only. It may be a good idea to install a decent graphics card with CUDA support, to take full advantage of Iray.

    -P

    Llynara said:

    OMG, that looks amazing. Do you ever sleep? LOL

    Only on Friday's. :)

    Post edited by PA_ThePhilosopher on
  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I love skydomes.  Really love them.  I'm always looking for new ones lol. 

  • 10K iterations?  I'll be rendering a scene for 10K years...  I'll still buy it, though. ;)

  • PA_ThePhilosopherPA_ThePhilosopher Posts: 1,039
    edited February 2017

     

    10K iterations?  I'll be rendering a scene for 10K years...  I'll still buy it, though. ;)

    Hey VortigensBane,

    The skydome itself renders almost instantly. 95% of this product is the skydome.

    The 10K+ iterations is only required if you want to use the optional volumetric light cube, and only if you need it to look like atmosphere. It will look fine with lower iterations, just a little more like haze/mist.... such is the downside to using volumetric light cubes.

    What you see in my promos is 95% skydome, 5% volumetric light cube. The cube only helps to enhance realism. I really only included it as an option for those wanting to achieve the highest level of realism and detail. (Alternatively, you can use my Godrays instead, which renders much faster than the cube... this is one reason why I developed it). 

    -P

    Post edited by PA_ThePhilosopher on
  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,212

    How many variations in the cloud cards are there?  Looks good but most of the promos are showing just one area of the sky so not sure what the rest of the cloud covering looks like.  Will there be any other HDR's that shows other less cloudy options or options with a horizon with some land and some sky.  Just wondering what this will shape up to be as a whole.  Thanks for all your great offerings! 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,647

    This looks great. Can't wait to pick it up!

  • RAMWolff said:

    How many variations in the cloud cards are there?  Looks good but most of the promos are showing just one area of the sky so not sure what the rest of the cloud covering looks like.  Will there be any other HDR's that shows other less cloudy options or options with a horizon with some land and some sky.  Just wondering what this will shape up to be as a whole.  Thanks for all your great offerings! 

    Ramwolff,

    There are 3 different cloud cards included. And, regarding the promos, I'll see if I can add a shot of the back of the skydome as well.

    As for making other HDRI's with different looks, I am planning on doing so in future releases. However, since this is my first skydome, I really don't know how much of a demand there is for them. If it totally flops in the store, it would be hard to justify releasing a whole series of follow-up skydomes. We'll have to wait and see.

    -P

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,212

    Totally understand.  Thank you!

  • PA_ThePhilosopherPA_ThePhilosopher Posts: 1,039
    edited February 2017

    Ok, here is something I just put together to help show the back of the skydome. I widened the camera frame width to about 95mm. Let me know if you think I should add it to the promos;

    EDIT: By the way, this shot reached 100% convergence in 20 seconds... 

    -P

    02-angel_version2.jpg
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    Post edited by PA_ThePhilosopher on
  • PA_ThePhilosopherPA_ThePhilosopher Posts: 1,039
    edited February 2017

    And this is Style 2 ("colorized" and "Soft White" options);

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    02-angel_version2b.jpg
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    Post edited by PA_ThePhilosopher on
  • One could do a Stairway To Heaven render with this set!

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,212

    Looks great!  Love the back of the dome all actually!

  • These are beautiful.

  •  

    10K iterations?  I'll be rendering a scene for 10K years...  I'll still buy it, though. ;)

    Hey VortigensBane,

    The skydome itself renders almost instantly. 95% of this product is the skydome.

    The 10K+ iterations is only required if you want to use the optional volumetric light cube, and only if you need it to look like atmosphere. It will look fine with lower iterations, just a little more like haze/mist.... such is the downside to using volumetric light cubes.

    What you see in my promos is 95% skydome, 5% volumetric light cube. The cube only helps to enhance realism. I really only included it as an option for those wanting to achieve the highest level of realism and detail. (Alternatively, you can use my Godrays instead, which renders much faster than the cube... this is one reason why I developed it). 

    -P

     

    Not complaining at all!  I'm one of those "wanting to achieve the highest level of realism and detail", so with my machine, I do a lot of waiting.  Your godrays have a habit of showing up in most of my renders, too. ;)

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I think the back looks as good as the front.  Just gorgeous!

  • PA_ThePhilosopherPA_ThePhilosopher Posts: 1,039
    edited February 2017

    If anyone is interested, below is a render comparison showing how the volumetric light cube renders out over time. The first shot is without the cube (100% convergence in 300 iterations/5 seconds). The rest are with the cube, at 500, 2k, 5k, and 13k iterations... 

    -P

    1.jpg
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    500.jpg
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    2K.jpg
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    5K.jpg
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    13K.jpg
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    Post edited by PA_ThePhilosopher on
  •  

    RAMWolff said:

    Looks great!  Love the back of the dome all actually!

     

    I think the back looks as good as the front.  Just gorgeous!

    Ok, I'll go ahead and include it in the promos then. Thanks for the suggestion on this; I didn't even think about showing a shot of the back.

     

     

    Not complaining at all!  I'm one of those "wanting to achieve the highest level of realism and detail", so with my machine, I do a lot of waiting.  Your godrays have a habit of showing up in most of my renders, too. ;)

    Me too. I enjoy pushing Daz Studio to its limits. But I sometimes forget that others do not have as fast machines as mine. Thankfully though, with a simple scene like the one above, the iterations fly by quickly. The last render---13k iterations---took about 3 minutes on my computer.

    -P

  •  

    Me too. I enjoy pushing Daz Studio to its limits. But I sometimes forget that others do not have as fast machines as mine. Thankfully though, with a simple scene like the one above, the iterations fly by quickly. The last render---13k iterations---took about 3 minutes on my computer.

    -P

    Soooo jealous!  I usually have to wait longer than that just to get the first iteration.

  • Love the "time lapse" images, though, showing what happens with the volumetric light over time!

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    The volumetrics are really beautiful.  Have no idea how they will do on my pc altough it generally renders fairly quickly.  Its probably not going to work on the laptop but that's okay, its not my main render machine (unless we go camping lol) I usually use it to do quick character tests etc. 

  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 9,462
    edited February 2017

    Looks really great. Could you please post some render with Cloud Heaven and your Godrays for comparison

    and show us rendering time, too, if possible.

     

    Post edited by Artini on
  • GreybroGreybro Posts: 2,502

    This looks Epic!

  • jardinejardine Posts: 1,202

    hope we'll see some sky island settings to float in these. 

    wonderful work!

    j

  • looks really nice :)

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