Lighting an Interior Daytime Scene - Photographic Rendering with V-Ray for SketchUp - page 75

The specific map from the set that I will use here is one that has been especially
prepared for use in lighting. It is a much smaller file (both in terms of resolution and
disk space) that has had a blur operation applied to it so as to help prevent adding
any unnecessary artifacts to the render.
To add the HDRI to our dome light, let's perform the following steps:
1. Jump into the Orthographic - Front view scene by clicking on the scene
tab.
2. Right-click once more on the dome light gizmo and from the V-Ray for
Sketchup flyout, choose the Edit light option.
3. In the Dome Settings section, put a check in the Use Dome Texture box
and then left-click on the Dome Texture map button.
4. From the drop-down under the Preview button in the V-Ray texture editor,
select the TexBitmap option.
5. In the Open Bitmap File dialog box that appears, browse for the HDR
image that you are wanting to use, (in my case, I will be using the Et-
nies_Park_Center_Env.hdr file) and then select and open it.
6. We need to gamma correct this image a little in order to lighten the color cast
that it will add to the renders. So, in the controls found at the top of the op-
tions window, make certain that the Color Space option is set to Gamma
Corrected .
7. Set the Gamma value, which is present just to the right, to 2.0 .
8. In the UVW section found at the bottom of the V-Ray texure editor window,
select the UVWGenEnvironment option from the UVW Type drop-down.
Note
The UVWGenEnvironment option tells V-Ray that the HDRI map we are
using is an Environment map, with a default mapping type of spherical
setup, which is the format in which this particular light probe comes.
One major issue that would arise if we were to render the scene using our current
setup would be the fact that the HDRI we are using was captured with the Sun high
in the sky and in plain view. This means that we have inadvertently created a situ-
ation in which (with our V-Ray spotlight enabled) we will essentially have two Suns in
the scene, both potentially casting conflicting shadows. (As our interior is not meant