HDR Light Studio 4 - Direct Export plug-in for 3ds Max

Direct Export plug-in for 3ds MaxWorks with 3ds Max/3ds Max Design versions 2011 and above

The direct export plug-in is used to push 3ds Max scenes directly into HDR Light Studio 4.In HDR Light Studio create custom HDRI maps directly onto 3D models using LightPaint. When the lighting is complete, render a HDR/EXR le to use in Modo for image based lighting and reections.

Manual Installation RequiredInstall HDR Light Studio 4 using the installation files provided. Unzip the HDRLS_Plugins*.zip file and find the 3ds Max plug-in files required in the \HDRLS_Plugins\3dsmax folder.

Copy the provided les HdrLightStudio.ms, InstallHDRLightStudioTools.mcr toC:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 20xx\Scripts orC:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max Design 20xx\Scripts

Open 3ds Max

Go to MAXScript->RunScript - select InstallHDRLightStudioTools.mcr

Go to Customize->CustomizeUI

- Go to the Menus tab- Click on New... to create a new menu and call it Lightmap- In the Menus list (bottom left), locate the new Lightmap menu set. - Drag and drop Lightmap onto the menu list on right hand side between MAXScript and Help- Use the dropdown Category: and select Lightmap.- Drag and Drop the HDRLS entry under the Lightmap entry on the right hand side- Close Customize dialog and you should see a new menu item called Lightmap, with the HDRLS script underneath

HDR Light Studio 4 - Direct Export plug-in for 3ds Max

Workflow with 3ds MaxEnsure HDR Light Studio 4 is running with the LiveLight window open.

Use the new 3ds Max HDRLS menu item to open the HDR Light Studio export plug-in.

Click Do Export to push the 3ds Max scene into HDR Light Studio via a temporary COLLADA le.

Enable Specify File to export via a user dened le (rather than a temp le).

Enable Selected Only to export only the currently selected geometry.

When rendering a production HDR/EXR le in HDR Light Studio to use in 3ds Max, select the 3ds Max host and correct renderer presets in the HDR Light Studio render dialog so the mapping of the HDR environment is correctly aligned when the le is used in 3ds Max.

Please note:

When clicking Do Export, you must have a 3D view panel selected.

You must have the view of a camera selected (not the default perp/top/bottom views).

Animation frames are not supported - you will always get the rst frame exported.

HDR Light Studio 4 - 3ds Max Live Connection (V-Ray RT)

3ds Max Live Connection Installation

This new Live connection supports 3ds Max, and 3ds Max Design, versions 2013 and above. The current version supports a Live connection with V-Ray RT only. Support for additional renderers with activeshade modes is planned.

Installation

Run the HDRLightStudioLive-3dsMax2013-Installer.exe to install the les for the connection.

Run 3ds Max.

We now need to add a new HdrlsLive button onto the Utilities tab in 3ds Max.

1. Click the button to open the Configure Button Sets window.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the Utilities list and you will see: HDR Light Studio with HdrlsLive under it.

3. Increase the Total Buttons count by 1 to create a new blank button.

4. Drag and drop HdrlsLive from the Utilities list onto the blank button and press OK.

5. A new HdrlsLive button now appears on your Utilities. You can save this Set if required.

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HDR Light Studio 4 - 3ds Max Live Connection (V-Ray RT)

3ds Max Live Connection Workflow

To launch the HDR Light Studio Live connection, press the new HdrlsLive button.

This opens HDR Light Studio Live and the HDR Light Studio 4 Live 3ds Max panel.You can see here Active connection with HDR Light Studio is working from the green tick.

In order for the Live connection to work, the Render Setup needs to be set to ActiveShade and V-Ray RT set as the ActiveShade renderer. Now the HDRLS panel shows the Current renderer valid.

The Live connection works by linking HDR Light Studios Live canvas data to the texture le applied to the V-Ray Dome Light. When lighting is changed in HDR Light Studio, it updates this texture with a new tmp le. This changing tmp le creates the interactive lighting experience.

HDR Light Studio 4 - 3ds Max Live Connection (V-Ray RT)

FInally make sure there is a V-Ray Dome Light in the scene, which should be set to Spherical (full dome) on. This requires a VRayHDRI texture assigned to its texture slot. Now HDR Light Studio Live has a texture slot on a Dome Light that it can connect to - Current environment hook valid denotes it has found the Dome Light and texture.

Now all ticks are green and you are ready to use HDR Light Studio Live interactively to light a scene with a session of ActiveShade using V-Ray RT.

Use HDR Light Studio to light your shot with interactive image based lighting. When you are happy with the lighting, Render your nal lighting as an EXR or HDR le on disc. The Live connection will automatically set this le to be used on the Dome Light. If you start adjusting the lighting in HDR Light Studio, the Dome Light with revert to using tmp les again from the Live session and you will need to re-render the le on disc in order for the texture slot to point to that.

The HDR Light Studio lighting design is embedded in the 3ds Max scene. If you Stop Live and close the HDR Light Studio panel, you can open HDR Light Studio later inanother session and your lighting design will be loaded from the embedded data in the 3ds Max scene.

LightPaint WorkflowWhen using HDR Light Studio Live with V-Ray RT, users can also launch LiveLight by pressing the Kettle button in the top bar of HDR Light Studio Live. Then your scene can be pushed from 3ds Max into LiveLight to use the LightPaint feature, for point and click lighting on your model.

Please note: The Collada le format used to push the scene into HDR Light Studio does not support V-Ray Physical cameras. There is a simple workaround, with the V-Ray Phsical camera used in a view, right click on the Camera name top left of the view and change it to Perspective, then press CTRL C and this duplicates the view exactly but as a normal 3ds Max camera. This new 3ds Max camera will be exported to HDR Light Studio.