Highslide JS
Example set of sIBLings. Shown is actual size relationship.

The 3 basic ingredients of a smart IBL setup are:

  • a super high res panorama image as camera background
  • a high res HDR as specular component for reflection mapping
  • a blurred low res HDR as diffuse environment lighting
The idea is to put all these three images together in a folder, and link them together with a description file. From that point on they are siblings. Together they form a complete lighting set. We also throw in a sunlight, that matches in color, direction and intensity.

The description file is the key, because here we keep all the relevant setup information. It is in plain text format, easy to parse and well documented. You actually don’t have to care about the individual images anymore. All you have to do is choose the sIBL set you want to load. We even included short notes and a thumbnail image, so you can make an educated choice.

sIBL Loader scripts

Highslide JS
Lightwave sIBL Loader by Christian Bloch, R&D project facilitated by EdenFX

Lightwave sIBL Loader
Highslide JS
3ds MAX sIBL Loader by Christian Bauer, project host at www.cgtechniques.com

3ds MAX sIBL Loader
Highslide JS
Maya sIBL Loader by Volker Heisterberg,
R&D project facilitated by Filmakademie Baden Württemberg

Maya sIBL Loader
Highslide JS
modo sIBL Loader by Gwynne Reddick, scripting guru and community host at www.modonize.com

modo sIBL Loader

All the tedious setup steps are wrapped in scripts. By automating these application-specific techniques, they put all the technical aspects behind the curtain. Instead, they present a unified interface where you just browse the collection, and decide what the setup assistant should do.

sIBL_collection

Pivotal point of the system is the sIBL Collection.


Technically, this is just a plain old folder with one subfolder for each set. It can be anywhere, even on a network location. As long as this sIBL Collection root path is accessible to the Loader scripts, everything is fine. When you drop a new sIBL set in there, it will be instantly visible for all the Loader scripts. Because they scan through that collection on each start, looking for the .ibl description files.

Almost like a little content management system.


Except that everything is still accessible for standard system tools. No database, no fancy file formats, nothing proprietary. Just an organized folder structure with images in standard formats.

Imagine this: A Lighting TD is done with stitching HDRIs and preparing all the ingredients, has made some test renders and they look great. Then he just moves the sIBL set folder from his local collection into the the shared one, and all the artists have it at their fingertips right away. That includes the character artists working in Maya, the Lightwavers doing the backgrounds, and the MAX’ler who make all the cool particle effects. Everybody is happy, and they all render with the same lighting.

But of course, you don't really need to edit all description files in a text editor, either. Chris Huf's juicy sIBL-Edit fits all your needs for organizing, creating and editing sIBL-sets. Learn More...