Attributes Panel: Environment

When the Environment is selected in the Scene Tree, the Attributes Panel displays the environment lighting options available on Maxwell (Constant Dome, Physical Sky, Image Based Lighting). For an in depth description of the environment lighting options, please see the Environment Lighting chapter.

Open The Attributes Editor displaying the Environment options with the Sky tab

Open The Attributes Editor displaying the Environment options and Image Based tab

 
In addition to all the functionalities described on the Environment Lighting chapter, the Environment panel in Studio also some particular features only available in Studio.

Earth Globe

One feature that is exclusive to Studio and not available in all plug-ins is the interactive Earth Globe. Some plug-ins with more developed SDKs have implemented the Earth Globe feature as well, such as Rhino or SolidWorks.

The Earth Globe allows you to interactively rotate the Earth in the display to change to a different location. Use Alt + LMB to rotate and Alt + RMB to zoom in/ out.

The shortcut key K enables or disables the sky representation in the viewport. The interactive preview of the sky in the Studio viewport will give you a very good indication of what it will look like in the final render. It will change its illumination/coloration based on location and time and it will also change if you adjust any camera setting that affects exposure (ISO, f-Stop, Shutter speed).

The viewport shows the geographical directions (N, E, S and W) by means of a compass located in the bottom left corner. The sun is represented by a small yellow sphere. When the sun is below the horizon, the yellow sphere fades to black.

HDR Light Studio™

When using the Image Based environment type on the Studio Environment panel, you will find the option to launch HDR Light Studio™, and the checkboxes to use it on the Background, Reflection, Refraction and/or Illumination channels, independently or together.

HDR Light Studio™ is a powerful tool that enables you to create your own IBL maps, controlling the position, shape, size, intensity and color of each emitter in your IBL environment.
It is integrated with Maxwell Fire, so you can interactively see the results in your scene.

Check this section to find some videotutorials about how to use HDR Light Studio within Studio. 

For more information or support about this tool, please contact Lightmap, or visit http://www.hdrlightstudio.com.