Tips on shooting HDRI's for 3d work...

triplej96

triplej96

Veteran
I'm going to buy a steel bearing as stu recomends in his book "DV Rebels Guide" tomorrow. I don't have HDR shop I just have PS CS3 is it possible to do my sphere unwrapping in there? Also what kind of stand should I buy for the bearing and and focal lenthgs recomendations for shooting the bearing? Anybody do any of this?

thanks guys
Josh
 
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Hey Josh-

I've never used CS3 to unwrap a Light Probe image. So, I can't comment on that. But, HDR Shop is built for this and I believe its still a FREE download. As for a stand, I suppose it depends on the size of sphere you use. I picked up the 73MM from HERE and I found that it balanced perfectly on my Bogen video tripod without the head. Offhand, I cannot remember what model my sticks are but it isn't that big, so if you have a tripod, try taking the head out and balancing the ball on top. Of course, you would need a second tripod for your camera if you plan to get a really sharp picture. Also, consider picking up a remote shutter switch. I have a Canon and Canon wanted $30 bucks for a switch...but I bought a generic version for less than $10 bucks off of EBAY and it works perfectly.

Referring to the focal length...that isn't really relevant. What happens is that you will be about 15-20 feet away from the sphere (you don't want to be too close. the closer you are the bigger your reflection) and you will wind up zooming in as tight as you can anyway to fill the frame with the sphere. As long as the reflection in the ball is sharp and you take a second image of the ball from a 90 degree angle you should be good to go.

Hope this helps-
Rick
 
Thanks a lot for the reply rick. Those are nice spheres there. I have a pentax K10D I've heard they are one of the better cameras for HDRS.

Josh
 
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Maybe this is a dumb question but what excatly would I measure to get my 90 degree angle accurate from where I shoot the sphere? Or how would I measure it to be accurate.

yes I know what a 90 degree angle is...... :)
 
It depends on where you are shooting. I suppose you could get sophisticated and use a protractor and extend string or yarn from YOU to the BALL and from the BALL to the following 90 degree angle point. But I just used my surroundings as a point of reference. If you are shooting inside for example and their are tiled floors, you could use the grout lines as a point of reference.

Keep in mind that if you are slightly off by a few degrees that's okay...you want to be as close to 90 degrees as possible because you need to mesh the two photos...and each photo will be needed to help eliminate the distortion on the edge of the photo caused by the ball...but, that sphere is going to pick up more than HALF of that room. So, if you get close to 90 degrees from that ball...you will be fine. So, eyeballing it will be sufficient.
 
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