How can you integrate a 3d object into a photograph (simple setup)?
I think this is a straight forward workflow. Maybe you will find this too simple. 🙂
This is what we have:
- an HDR Image (you can download some from HDRLabs)
- a 3d object
Wow, that was short.
This is what we want:
- Nice lighting from the hdr image (IBL – Image Based Lighting)
- Reflections on the 3d object
- Shadows on the ground
- Indirect lights on the ground
- Reflections on the ground
How you do it:
- Create an IBL node, turn on Emit Environment Light
(mental ray Render Settings -> Scene -> Environment -> Image Based Lighting -> Create) - Load in the HDR image
- Create a plane (this is the shadow catcher)
- Assign an mip_matteshadow shader to the plane
(to find this node turn on production shaders – see previous post)
Almost done.
- Connect an mib_opacity node to the Background slot (mip_matteshadow node)
- Set Opacity to black (mib_opacity node)
Done.
Render with mental ray new GI system.
Important settings for the mip_matteshadow shader:
- Set Ambient to black
- Turn off “Ao On” (If you using the new GI system you don’t need Ambient Occlusion)
- Turn on Catch Reflections, set reflectivity attributes
- Turn on Catch Indirect (than use the slider 🙂 )
Cheers, D