Using Bryce to make HDRI files

Zap Z

[Can I use Bryce to make HDRI files] The title pretty much sums all of it up.

I have made a lot of great backgrounds in byrce.  

Is there a way I can import them into a 360 enviriment dome in Daz Studio.

I do prefer to do touch up work in gimp.

Horo

Zap Z - Studio (iRay) needs spherical (Lat/Long) HDRIs as either *.hdr, *.tif (96-bit) or *.png; 3DL needs a specular convolved HDRI (small) for the light and a normal for reflection, both TIF 96-bit. You can only render a cylindrical panorama directly in Bryce but you need a spherical one. There are a few methods how you can do this: render the 6 faces of a cube, use a mirror ball and render 2 sides, but you need an additional program to put them together to a spherical panorama. With Bryce 7.1 came a few tips how this can be done:
[wherever you have installed Bryce71] > Content > Tutorials > Horo Wernli

Another means to create a spherical panorama is to get yourself the Spherical Mapper that can be "mounted" onto the Bryce camera and you can render the panorama directly.
https://www.daz3d.com/bryce-7-pro-spherical-mapper

Note that even though you can export a render from Bryce as *.hdr, it is NOT a true HDRI, just a converted 48-bit render. A true HDRI is 96 bit. Here are some tutorials:
Raytracing > IBL and HDRI > HDRI for IBL (https://horo.ch/raytracing/hdri/ibl/intro_en.html)
Bryce & 3D CG Documents > Mine > IBL-HDRI (https://horo.ch/docs/mine/ibl-hdri_en.html)

Before you seriously start, I recommend to get one or two free Bryce rendered true HDRIs and check whether this works for you in Studio.
Raytracing > Resources > HR-HDRI (S) (https://horo.ch/raytracing/resources/hrshdr_en.html)
I think the last in the list "DecoClub" may be a good example with a dynamic range of 52 Million to 1. These HDRIs were made for Bryce but also work on Studio, Carrara or other 3D programs.

 

Mage 13X13

Hello, I am a long time user of Bryce 7.1 Pro, having used it since 2010. A pity that the application never got anymore updates, as it would have been nice to have the use of all the tools that were put into it that at this time are still of no use, like the Displacement part of the Deep Texture Editor. It would have been nice to have a 64 bit version that could handle more robust image compositions and renders. My question is as follows:

Can Bryce 7.1 Pro import true HDRIs? I now know for sure that they can, but I do not know how to import one.

I must say that it was you, Horo, and David Brinnen that provided such awesome tutorials that taught me the ins and outs of Bryce. I took what I learned from you and ran with it. I am now able to figure out ways to improve certain aspects of the application to do images that are contest winners. Last year I won two art contests at The Fantasies Attic with images that I did in Bryce! I'd say that is excellent for an application that has not been upgraded in almost a decade and a half! 

Anyway, I hope you can direct me to some information that will instruct me on how to import an HDRI into Bryce.

Thanks in advance for anything you can provide!

I have created my own objects library of models that I made either in Wings3D, in Bryce, or both. I have also made some textures for the Materials library, and skies for the Skies Library. I have not mastered making Bryce HDRIs, but I have made a couple. I've not tried to export my HDRI's, but from what I read here, it is possible to do so. Whether or not I can import them into an application like DAZ Studio or not at this time seems to be unknown, and due to what was said in your comment above, I wonder how well it would work, if I can. I mean 48 bit is just half of the required 96 bit.

Horo

Mage 13xX13 - thanks for your kind words. In 2006, IBL/HDRI was introduced in Bryce 6.0 creating the light with the Monte-Carlo algorithm that created specular or diffuse convolved HDRIs (like Studio 3DL uses). Bryce 6.1 changed that to the median-cut algorithm that creates point lights. Bryce 7 greately improved IBL/HDRI and it can create area lights instead of point lights (if true ambience optimization is enabled and the scene rendered with TA - much like the lights in the light Lab), and the loaded HDRI can be specular convolved and the Phong exponent can be set between 1 and 100. The HDRI can be tone-mapped (using the global Reinhard algorithm). Tone-mapping can be used only for the backdrop and optionally also for the lights generated. Studio Iray is still very far away from such options, tone-mapping is done with gamma ...

Now to your question: how to import an HDRI into Bryce. In the IBL tab of the Sky Lab, above the controls, enable Use HDRI Image. This enables the Open... button. Click on it, this opens the Open dialogue of your operating system and you can select the HDRI you want to load. The file must have the .hdr filetype (myfile.hdr) and in the spherical projection. It must be a true Radiance RGBE RLE-2 compressed file (difficult to find another one, without compression or with RLE-1).