3ds Max is a computer graphics program for creating 3D models, animations, and digital images.It is one of the most popular programs in the computer graphics industry and is known for having a powerful toolset for 3D artists.V-Ray for 3ds Max is the most complete 3D rendering software for artists and designers.

In this article, Dumbcat will walk you through how to set up HDRI lighting in 3dsmax and Vray5.

1. VRay Renderer

First, you need to enable the V-Ray render engine for your project.

Above the main menu, go to "Rendering" > "Rendering Settings", or simply press the F10 shortcut.Select V-Ray as the renderer.

2. VRay physical camera.

The next thing to do is to add a VRay physical camera.You can skip this part and add the 3ds Max physical camera directly, which should be compatible with the Vray physical camera.

In newer versions of 3ds Max and Vray, the VRay Physical Camera is "hidden" and cannot be selected from any menu.However, you can still create it with a script.Just paste
vrayCreateVRayPhysicalCamera() in the lower left corner, where it says MAXScript Mini Listener, and press Enter.This will create a VRayPhysicalCamera() with coordinates (0,0,0).

Alternatively, you can convert any existing camera to a VRay Physical Camera, which is what I recommend.Select an existing camera object in the scene explorer, change the viewport to the selected camera by pressing the "C" shortcut, and finally drag and drop the j2G_Convert2VrayCam.ms script into the window (to get the script you need to openlink, CTRL+S to save it to your drive without changing the extension).

Drag and drop scripts and turn any selected camera into a VRay physical camera

3. Creating Vray Dome Lights

Change the viewport perspective to top (shortcut T).Go to the menu Create > Lights > V-Ray > V-Ray Dome Light, or use the icon to select V-Ray Dome Light.Click anywhere you want to create the V-Ray Dome Light.

In the general settings on the right, click "No map button", search for VRayBitmap, and click it.It will open a window titled "Select HDR Image".Load any hdri map you want from the drive.

If you don't have any hdri maps, you can download them for free from hdrmaps.com.

Another way to load hdri into V-Ray Dome light is to create a VRayBitmap in the Slate Material Editor, load the hdri map (don't forget to set the Mapping type to Spherical), and place the nodeThe output of the VRay Map Slot Dome Light is linked as an instance.

Press M to open the Slate Material Editor.With the V-Ray Dome Light selected, use Material > Get from Selected in the upper menu to easily navigate to the VRayBitmap node.Click it twice to access all settings.

Before starting Vray RT preview, you need to change some settings here:

–must check for Flip Horizontal

– Set Inverse Gamma to around 0.8.Lowering the gamma value increases the contrast of the light.

- If you want to rotate the HDRI map, just change the horizontal rotation

- Most hdri maps will be too dark, so you will need to set the Processing >Render Multiply value to a higher value.

The most important hdri lighting settings in VRay are here

4. VRay RT Preview and Final Adjustments

Press C in the viewport and select the VRay camera view.Fire up V-Ray RT and adjust the hdri settings in the Slate material editor until it suits your needs.

If you are not satisfied with the color balance produced by the HDRI map, you can easily select your VRay physical camera, go to the 'Edit' tab, and select the Color and Exposure" section.

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