best way to set up exterior scene

[ChaletScout]

Hi,

While I'm beginning to understand interiors in Twilight now, I need to set up a small mountain chalet development outside scene for flythrough animation and renders. I've been reading up on HDRI spherical skies but am not sure of the best way to go about it.

I already have the models done and would like to position them on accurate terrain. I have planned to do this by using Google Earth coordinates and contours with Sketchup sandbox tools. So I will have my models in position and stamped into a piece of terrain correctly contoured as per the actual plot.

What I'm not sure on is the best way to set up backgrounds for the scene. The plot is on the bottom of a valley with mountains on both sides so I'm looking for a way to either blend it into Google Earth imagery (too pixelated around here) or my own images. Should I create a Spherical sky from a 360 panorama of the plot (haven't tried this yet)?

Would appreciate any pointers on setting up exterior fly arounds in a rural setting.

Cheers

[Fletch]

Yes, the most accurate way would be to create your own panoramic shot, 4:2 ratio at 8000 pixels wide is great.
Try rendering using the animation render setting.

[ChaletScout]

Thanks Fletch,

Do you mean a 360 cylinder I wrap around the site in Sketchup or a proper spherical sky?

[Fletch]

A proper spherical sky made from the site would work best for animation, but possibly requires a steep learning curve and some purchasing of photo equipment.
A 360 pano inside the model on a "billboard" that wraps around the site and then set up to render without being effected by the site lighting could do the trick nicely.
Subject: Force background image to render unaffected by lighting

[ChaletScout]

Thanks Fletch,

I spent an afternoon looking into creating a spherical sky and am still none the wiser. Will go with the bill board idea - thanks for the link.

[Fletch]

this may just be what the doctor ordered!
http://twilightrender.com/phpBB3/viewto ... 97&start=0

[olishea]

Hello,

Creating a full equirectangular spherical panorama of the site is the best but most demanding method for what you are trying to achieve. I create them myself and you need very expensive equipment to create a true high res hdri, plus a steep learning curve in photography, panoramas, hdri and various software. I am actually working on Alpine HDRI pack in January, shame it's a bit late for you.

Fletch is on the right lines though.

I would lift the terrain straight from Google Earth and add detail in Sketchup. You may need to improve the textures here and there to make it look more convincing.

For the sky, just use the physical sky straight from Twilight or use a hemispherical sky...this will just give you blue sky/clouds etc behind your terrain.

The background tree information could easily be made up with curved tree lines; they render quickly and can actually be more flexible than a full HDRI...you can move, scale and rotate them to any position you like. It's better than adding 200 individual trees!

[olishea]

A proper spherical sky made from the site would work best for animation, but possibly requires a steep learning curve and some purchasing of photo equipment.
A 360 pano inside the model on a "billboard" that wraps around the site and then set up to render without being effected by the site lighting could do the trick nicely.
Subject: Force background image to render unaffected by lighting

Fletch, another way to make the billboard exactly match the light is just change the texture brightness. If the billboard appears bright in direct sunlight for example, just make the texture darker.

[ChaletScout]

Thanks guys, I see the way to go now.
Olishea, I'd really like to see the alpine skys when you're done, sounds like just what I need for future projects.

[ChaletScout]

Hi again,

I've set up a cylinder for a 360 scene background in Sketchup but am encountering distotion when applying the image. Have tried several panoramas either straight or natural and still get the same effect. Even when the cylinder circumference matches the length of the picture. Maybe a full 360 fly around is not possible without a proper HDR spherical sky and I'll need to limit the animation to 180?