At first, I considered getting the Nikon Z7 II since I already own several Nikon F-mount lenses that work with my D800 and D810. However, I wasn’t impressed with the Nikon’s battery capacity, autofocus performance, and the limited availability of native lenses on the second-hand market. That’s why I decided to go with Sony, and so far, I have no complaints! My new Sony A7R IV is incredible, with the best autofocus system on the market. It captures 61-megapixel RAW images, and despite what some might say, I really like its color profiles. Plus, it fits comfortably in my large hands.

Thanks to EU B2B market rules, I was able to purchase it second-hand without paying VAT at Foto Koeberl in Graz, Austria. Standard delivery took only two working days, and everything was securely packed. I highly recommend this camera store to anyone in Europe.

With the Sony A7R IV’s high-resolution sensor and an 18mm lens, I’ll now be able to capture detailed HDRI maps at 30,000 x 15,000 px resolution. For this, I already purchased a mint-condition Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 FE lens for Sony E, which is optically top-notch. Did I mention it’s also the best value for the money?

I also picked up a few other lenses: the Sony FE ZA Zeiss 35mm f/1.4, which is heavy but has that distinctive Zeiss 3D look—I’ll use it for backplates and environmental street portraits—and the Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 for distance portraits of my family and street photography, which I’m getting more into lately.

Since it’s winter here in Poland, I decided to hold off on investing in a lens suited for night skies. I plan to get Sony’s 14mm f/1.8 lens when it gets warmer, so I can spend a night under the stars. Expect high-quality Milky Way HDRIs in summer 2025!

The post New camera – 30K hdris are coming soon! appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

By subscribing to our Patreon, not only do you help us continue creating free resources, but you also unlock exclusive perks. As a Patreon supporter, you’ll gain access to full-resolution HDRI maps and high-quality backplates, perfect for professional-grade projects. This way, you get the best tools while supporting the community at the same time!

Your support allows us to keep growing and releasing even more free content for everyone. Let’s build something great together! 🌟

Visit Patreon and support new freebies today!

The post Support Us on Patreon & Help Us Create More Freebies! appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

There is a simply solution for this. Open in windows explorer path: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2022 – 64bit\ENU\scripts\startup (replace USENRAME with your own username, you need to show hidden files to be able to see AppData), and copy a file named Quixel.ms.

Next go to the same folder but for 3ds Max 2024: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2024 – 64bit\ENU\scripts\startup and paste Quixel.ms there.

Restart 3ds Max 2024 and now when you export anything from Quixel Bridge it should work correctly.

The post Fix Quixel Bridge export to 3ds Max 2024 appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

The aim of this tutorial is not to explore all the functionalities of Autopano Giga but to focus on specific settings that are beneficial for creating HDRI maps. I will assume that the source photos have been taken with precision, eliminating the need to add extra control points.

1. Develop RAW images

Prepare all RAW files in the software of your choice, such as Adobe Lightroom, RawTherapee, or any other preferred tool. Utilize a flat profile for the photos, ensure the white balance is consistent across all images, clean them of sensor dust, and remove chromatic aberrations. Avoid altering other settings. Finally, export the RAW files as 16-bit TIFF files to preserve as much detail as possible.

2. Load tiff files to Autopano Giga

Open Autopano Giga (APG) and drag & drop the exported TIFF images into the program. Wait some time. Loaded images should appear in the small box.

3. Lens properties

Click on the image icon labeled with an “i” (Image Properties) to verify that the lens was correctly identified. In my case, I had to change the Lens Type to “Fisheye“, because that was a lens I have used with my camera.

4. Create stacks

Right click on the box with images and choose: Create stacks by N

Enter the correct number of pictures per stack; for my type of bracketing, it is 5. I also changed the Index of the main picture to 3, as every third image in the bracketing series typically has the best exposure (you can choose any number that suits your needs here; it’s only for preview purposes).

5. Group settings

Click on Group Settings, new window will pop up.

Detection tab:

1. In Links field, enable Force every image to be in on panorama.

2. In Project field, I advice you to use source folder. Just type there %i.

3. In Automate disable Auto color Correction.

In Optimization tab use automatic settings.

In Panorama tab:
Disable Color correction, and enable Exposure and Vignetting. Make sure that Default projection is Spherical, and Default crop set to Maximum projection range.

In Render tab:

For the Blending Preset choose Anti-ghost, and for the output Format select .exr with PIZ compression.

Once everything was set up accordingly, click OK to close window.

6. Detect panorama

Use Detect panorama (green button with arrow), and wait, it should take less than a time indicated below the date label

7. Edit panorama

Click on the Edit panorama icon, new window will appear:

8. Straighten panorama

If you need to straighten panorama, simply use Move images mode. This tool has two modes: Pano pan and Pano rotate, and can work for whole panorama or particular picture. Activate mode you want, and drag and pull whole panorama or particular image.

9. Masking nadir

During my test, I realized that the Mask tool was not effective for HDRIs, but it’s still worth a try. As a workaround, you could export or render the HDRI map as layers and then mask it in Photoshop or Gimp. However, a more efficient method would be to clean the nadir photos in Lightroom or RawTherapee before exporting them and use these cleaned photos as source files.

To remove arm of the panoramic head or any part you don’t want to see, choose red marker that applies on whole stack, and place it on the region of layer you don’t want to see.

Tip: Scroll with a mouse wheel to choose bracketing photo which is not too bright or too dark.

Don’t forget to Apply it (green check mark icon).

If you want preview masking, click on the green icon Preview in the bottom left corner of the window.

10. Rendering

You can initiate rendering from the Edit Panorama window or the main view. Click on the gear icon; a new window will pop up. Select the desired resolution and output filename. To start rendering, press the Render button at the bottom of the window and wait.

Once it’s finished rendering you can patch nadir or sky using trial version of Pano2VR. More info in How to Create HDRI Maps: A Step-by-Step Tutorial – HDRMAPS™

The post Hdr panoramas in Autopano Giga appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

1. Gather all equipment:

a) You will need a proper DSLR camera with a cropped or full-frame sensor. You can acquire the cheapest and used ones, such as an old Canon 60D, for less than 200 USD/EUR. This older camera cannot perform advanced bracketing, so you will need to install alternative firmware on your camera called Magic Lantern. Installing Magic Lantern on some Canon cameras enables you to shoot 7 x 2 EV bracketed shots, and thanks to additional functionalities, use your old Canon DSLR as a videographer.

Acquire any camera with a cropped or full-frame sensor capable of 7 x 2 EV. For any modern full-frame camera that can produce RAW files with a high dynamic range and resolution, such as the Nikon D810 or Sony Alpha III, capturing 5 shots each 3 EV apart (-6EV, -3EV, 0, +3EV, +6EV) is sufficient. Before purchasing your new camera, read and search the camera’s user manual, and check the exposure bracketing specifications – you aim to capture as much dynamic range as possible to produce high-quality HDRIs!

b) Obtain a Fisheye lens if you want to shoot fast; the most affordable one is the Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye (in USA also known as Rokinon). I found a second-hand one with a Nikon mount for 99 USD/EUR on Google’s first listing while in Spain. If you are a fan of Canon, Nikon, or Sony camera systems, you might prefer a quality prime lens like the AF Fisheye Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D or Canon EF 8-15mm f/4 L USM Fisheye. I found a used one in good condition for 230 USD/EUR, or a heavily used one for 164 USD/EUR. But if you want to go PRO avoid fish-eye lenses and shoot with ultra wide lens. Why? Because you will achieve better optical resolution with quality Rectilinear Lens, and such lenses are less tend to the flare problem.

c) Search online for an appropriate panoramic head. I have been a long-time user of Fanotec’s Nodal Ninja panoramic heads, and they are highly reliable. If your camera has a cropped sensor (like the Canon 60D), you might want to consider the most affordable option, the Nodal Ninja 3 MKII Starter Package, available for 66 USD/EUR at panosociety.com. However, for any full-frame camera, I would recommend getting a brand-new Nodal Ninja 6 or looking for a second-hand Nodal Ninja 5 or Nodal Ninja 4. I couldn’t find any available in the EU market on eBay, so I searched through the local Polish Craigslist and found NN5 pano head in mint condition for 90 USD/EUR.

If you plan to purchase a panoramic head, check the maximum weight it can support and what types of cameras and lenses it is compatible with. You should also examine the vertical rail scale and compare it to the entrance pupil distance. You can find measurements for some popular cameras and lenses in the Entrance Pupil Database. Use these measurements for mounting your camera on the panoramic head later on.

d) If you want to properly capture sunlight in HDR, you should get a Neutral Density (ND) filter. Which one? ND400 (9 stops) or ND1000 (10 stops) if you are living in the north and it’s winter, ND4000 (12EV) if it’s sunny summer time and sun shine is really strong. Don’t forget that you can always stack few ND filters to get even darker frames. Fisheye lenses typically cannot mount ND filters due to the lack of a filter thread, but some, like the Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D, allow the placement of a gel filter in the rear filter slot (mounted between the lens and camera body). If you decide to use gel filters, opt for the Kodak Wratten 2 neutral density gel filter. Keep in mind that these filters often have misleading markings on the packaging: for example, Kodak Wratten 2 ND 3.0 is a 10-stop filter, and Kodak Wratten 2 ND 4.0 provides 13-2/3 stops. Learn more about this here.

The issue with mounting a gel filter in the rear slot is that you have to remove the lens from your camera to attach the filter. Gel filters are also highly sensitive to dust and greasy fingerprints, which is too much hassle for me, especially when shooting outdoors on a windy day. There’s an easier way to use an ND filter with fisheye or other wide-angle lenses that lack a filter thread: acquire a regular screw-on ND filter in a larger size, at least 77mm, and simply hold it firmly over the front of the lens. Alternatively, you could construct a DIY filter holder from cardboard; learn more from YouTube video.

e) The last piece of equipment you’ll need is, of course, a tripod. If you plan to shoot in open spaces under windy conditions or at night, you should opt for one that’s heavier rather than lighter. Lightweight tripods, like the compact Manfrotto Befree, are easy to pack inside a backpack and weigh no more than 1kg without the head. This kind of tripod is what I usually take when I plan to camp overnight in nature, far from civilization. However, for shooting HDRI skies, which typically occurs in open, windy fields, I’d rather use my Manfrotto MN055XPROB, which weighs 2.4kg and has a maximum height of 179 cm. Before you purchase a tripod, ensure that its load capacity is at least twice the total weight of your equipment.

2. Finding location and hdri shooting

a) The easiest way to find a suitable spot for HDRI shooting is to search using Google Maps, Mapy.cz, and Google Street View. Look for a location where there are no people around at the given time and where there is ample space to shoot a spherical panorama easily. If you aim to shoot HDRI skies, try to find a place free of buildings, mountains, or tall trees. Don’t forget to check the weather forecast!

b) Before you start shooting, ensure that your panoramic head is calibrated. It’s essential to calibrate the panoramic head to locate the no-parallax point (also known as the nodal point). Calibrating a panoramic head is crucial as it eliminates parallax errors, enhances stitching accuracy, reduces post-processing time, and ensures consistent results. The good news is that you only need to do this once for each camera and lens pair. Learn more about how to calibrate a panoramic head on YouTube. Alternatively, you can use calibration data from the Entrance Pupil Database.

c) Correctly placing a photo tripod is crucial for achieving stable and sharp photographs. Avoid placing the tripod on uneven ground or surfaces that might shift. Extend the tripod legs and spread them out evenly to maximize stability. Ensure all the leg locks are securely tightened. Here’s a little trick: when placing a tripod in full sunlight, you can align the shadow of one leg with another (shadow over shadow), thereby reducing the amount of work needed during the editing process.

d) Attach the panoramic head to the tripod, and then mount the camera in the portrait orientation onto the panoramic head using calibration data. Utilize the spirit level attached to the pano head to level your setup. Most panoramic heads feature adjustable rotators with a positive detent click. To cover 360 degrees with a fisheye lens, you’ll need 6 photos around, plus a zenith (top) and nadir (bottom) shot. Refer to the user manual of your panoramic head to learn more. It’s recommended to always position your camera opposite the sun, so the first shot at 0° will include the sun. This helps you remember where you started, and also allows you to capture that extra sequence with an ND filter before the clouds cover the sun! Sometimes the sky changes very quickly, so you need to think and act swiftly!

e) Prepare your camera for HDRI shooting. Set the camera to RAW 14-bit format (never use JPEGs!), switch to Manual mode (M), and turn off Auto-Focus. Adjust the aperture to the sharpest setting available; for my Nikkor 16mm fisheye, it is around f/10 (you should check the specifications of your lens online).

Use the lowest ISO available. Manually focus at the hyperfocal distance, which for a fisheye lens is around 1.5 meters. Choose the appropriate bracketing mode, typically 7 x 2 EV or 5 x 3 EV. When I shoot sunlight HDRIs with my Nikon D810, I set the camera to ISO 32, shutter speed to 1/125 s, so all 5 brackets, which are 3EV apart, are shot at speeds: 1/8000 (-6 EV), 1/1000 (-3 EV), 1/125, 1/15 (+3 EV), and 0.5 s (+6 EV).

For shooting sunlight HDRIs, you must use the fastest shutter speed available (the darkest shot should be 1/8000 or faster) and set the ISO to the lowest value your camera allows. This approach is used because we aim to capture the sun as a very small dot, making the HDRI more or less unclipped. Theoretically, we could close the lens aperture to f/22, but due to the issue of lens diffraction, we avoid this to prevent sacrificing image sharpness. Hence, taking an extra shot of the sun with a very dense Neutral Density filter (9 or 10 stops) at f/8 or f/10 (optimal sharpness for the Nikkor 16/2.8 fisheye) can be beneficial.

Don’t forget to cover the camera viewfinder to prevent any stray light from entering. I hope you’ve left your camera’s strap at home; it’s completely useless when shooting HDRI maps!

f) It’s time for shooting! Use a delayed shutter release or a release cable to activate the camera shutter. Keep your distance from the camera, bending down or even lying on the ground to avoid casting any shadows that are visible in the frame. Take shots in the first position with ND filter (lens against sun), then continue without filter. Rotate the camera on the panoramic head as needed (with fish-eye lens it is every 60 degrees). Ensure that the panoramic head is secure and well-balanced. Remember to capture the zenith (top) and nadir (bottom) of the spherical panorama. Consider taking an extra nadir shot to later mask the tripod and panoramic head – simply move away 30-50 cm and rotate the panoramic head 10 or 15 degrees horizontally. Take in and enjoy the surrounding environment – polarizing glasses are your best friend!

3. Processing images with computer

To process high-resolution HDRI maps, you need a powerful computer and potentially expensive software. While some software can be substituted with free alternatives, others cannot and may be quite costly. Most of the software packages mentioned here are compatible with Windows and Mac. Linux users can find replacements for Adobe’s Lightroom and Photoshop with free alternatives.

All required software includes:

• PTGui Pro (345€ + VAT, Windows, Mac, and Linux): You essentially cannot create HDRI maps without PTGui. It is the sole HDRI panorama stitching software that performs as expected. I have tried alternatives like the free Hugin or copyleft Autopano Giga. You can try to stitch hdr panorama in Autopano Giga, you should get a decent results. Learn more about stitching hdris in Autopano Giga. But if you want to be pro and don’t waste your time get PTGui Pro . Although the PTGui Pro license is expensive, it’s a long-term investment, offering a perpetual license. You can later upgrade it at a discounted price if needed; all minor updates are free, and any major upgrades within 1 year are also free. Remember, to efficiently process high-resolution HDRI maps, a decent Nvidia GPU card with 12 GB of VRAM or more is recommended. It’s not mandatory, but it will significantly enhance your workflow and processing speed. Fast SSDs (at least two) and a powerful CPU are crucial for optimal performance in PTGui.
• Adobe Lightroom Classic (~10 USD/EUR per month, Windows and Mac) or consider alternatives like Capture One Pro (349 USD/EURO), DxO PhotoLab (229 USD/EUR), Darktable (Free), or RawTherapee (Free). I recommend the Adobe Photographer subscription, which includes both Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, as it offers the best value.
• Adobe Photoshop (~10 USD/EUR per month, Windows and Mac), or explore alternatives for HDRI file editing such as Affinity Photo (75€) or Gimp (free). However, be aware that the Content Aware Fill feature is unique to Photoshop, so if you choose an alternative, you may have to make do with the more cumbersome stamp tool. This might not be a significant issue for some, but I prefer Adobe Photoshop.
• Pano2VR (free trial, Windows and Mac): I use this software to patch the nadir. You don’t need to purchase the license (449 USD/EUR + VAT); I tested the latest version, Pano2VR 7.0.9, and it didn’t meet my expectations, so I suggest downloading and installing the older, more simplified version 4.5.3 from the provided link. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Be aware if you work with 32-bit OpenEXR files, as this program strips data to 16-bit semi float .exr!
  Use Affinity Photo instead or if you want to patch nadir in Photoshop use Exr-IO and Flexify 2 plugins.

Once you have collected and installed all the required software, it’s time to start working with the photos.

a) Import the photos to your PC, organize each HDRI set into separate folders, or use color labels in your RAW developing software. Ensure that you are not missing any shots and that the images are not blurred. If you have captured extra shots with an ND filter, use a different label color to distinguish them from the other photos (yellow is the color of the sun).

b) Set the white balance. Choose a representative photo, one that appears the most natural, and use its WB value as a custom value or simply opt for the Daylight preset for daylight shots. You could, of course, use color calibration tools like the X-Rite ColorChecker or a simple gray card, but we won’t be using them in this tutorial.

c) Apply a neutral or flat Profile to the developed photo. In Adobe Lightroom Classic, go to the Basic module, then Profile > Browse, and select the flattest and most linear profile available (for a Nikon D810, use Camera Flat or Camera Neutral).

d) Locate the Lens Corrections module (the name might vary in the software you are using), and in the Profile tab, check the Remove Chromatic Aberration box. Do not alter any other settings.

e) Copy all the development settings from the representative photo to all the other photos. Use the shortcuts CTRL+SHIFT+C to copy and CTRL+SHIFT+V to paste.

f) Adjust the white balance for shots taken with an ND filter. Tip: use the Compare View in Lightroom. To enable it, select a bright shot taken with an ND filter and a bright image taken without the filter, then press [C] to activate the Compare View mode.

g) Clean photos from the insects, unwanted flares, and sensor dust. Use the Healing (Q) tool in Lightroom for this purpose. To simplify the process, I prefer to temporarily increase the Dehaze value in Lightroom, as the Visualize Spots [A] feature sometimes isn’t as effective as needed. Remember to copy and paste the healing settings to the other photos in each bracketing sequence. Use shortcuts for this: CTRL+SHIFT+C to copy the develop settings, and CTRL+SHIFT+V to paste them. Be efficient and avoid repetitive tasks.

h) Your RAW images are now ready to be exported. Export all files as full-size, uncompressed 16-bit TIFF files to a specified location on your drive.

i) Open PTGui Pro and drag & drop all the exported TIFFs (excluding the shots with the ND filter, which we will add later) into PTGui.

j) If you have loaded the correct number of bracketed shots, you should now see an enable HDR mode blue link. If not, something is wrong, and you can’t proceed with the tutorial.

k) Begin panorama detection by clicking the “Align Images” button. A confirmation box should appear, displaying information on Bracketed Exposures with the default option selected. Click OK and wait; it may take 20 seconds or more. Take a deep breath and relax.

l) After a while you should see Panorama Editor with your newly detected panorama.

The most common error you might encounter at this step is the sky (nadir) position not being detected, appearing as if it’s incorrectly attached to the ground or side. This occurs quite often with a clear sky. You can easily fix this by selecting the “Edit Individual Images” mode in the Panorama Editor window. Now select the image with the sky, and drag it with the mouse to where it should be. Switch back to the “Edit Panorama” mode and wait a moment. Magic will happen.

Another very common error occurs when the panorama is twisted and not leveled properly. You can attempt to fix this using the “Straighten Panorama” button at the top, or utilize the “Numerical Transform” option, where “Yaw” shifts the panorama left and right, “Pitch” adjusts it up and down, and “Roll” controls the twisting. Remember that you can also enter negative numbers.

m) When the HDRI panorama’s horizon appears naturally aligned, close the Panorama Editor window and switch to the Mask tab. Select the nadir photos and attempt to mask the tripod and panoramic head. Everything painted with red (shortcut R) will not be visible in the final panorama, and everything painted with green (shortcut G) will be forced to be visible. Use the SHIFT key to paint straight lines. To increase the brush size, use the shortcut K, and to decrease, use L.

After masking nadir shots, open Panorama Editor (shortcut CTRL + E), and use Show the Detail Viewer. Examine panorama for stitching errors (Mouse Wheel to zoom in and out, drag to change perspective).

PTGui is a very advanced program, which is why it’s expensive, and I can’t explain it in detail here. I will provide separate tutorials on Control Points and the Optimizer later on. Now, let’s just continue with our HDRI map.

*Note for the future: At the moment of writing, the latest version of PTGui Pro 13 beta 4 offers a patch tool, but the patch file can only be a 16-bit TIFF file. We need a 32-bit .exr file for the patch, which is why it’s safer to make one using Pano2VR and either Photoshop or Gimp.

n) Exposure/HDR module – all the most important settings are here. Change the default settings of HDR precision to Float. For the HDR workflow, choose Automatic if you have an RTX Nvidia GPU with more than 10GB of RAM. If you want to render an HDRI map using only the CPU, select “Merge bracketed images to HDR,” then blend.

You can also press “Optimize now!” if the panoramic image does not have an even gradient of the sky.

o) Creating hdri map.

Switch to “Create Panorama” module of PTGui, uncheck in Output any LDR files, and at HDR field select HDR Panorama. Go to HDR file format’s settings, and make sure that EXR Options are Bit depth: (32 bits per channel). Leave compression as PIZ and we don’t need alpha channel this time.

To start hdri map creation, press on Create Panorama button below and wait a few minutes for results. Once created, open it in Photoshop or Affinity Photo or Gimp and check if everything is ok.

p) Now that your HDRI map has been generated, it is time to add extra shots of the sunlight, captured with a neutral density filter. Open the “Source Images” module and drag & drop the exported TIFF images of the sun captured with an ND filter.

Select added images and RIGHT-CLICK and choose Link Selected Images.

We are going to export only this one shot, so we need to exclude the other images. Select the linked images and right-click once again, then choose: Include Only Selected Images.

q) Find the Image Parameters module on the left. Look for shots captured in the same position as your extra ND shots. Click on the ‘Yaw,’ ‘Pitch,’ ‘Roll’ fields, and copy and paste those values one by one into the row for the ND filter shots.

r) Switch to the ‘Create Panorama‘ module. Change the output file name (I added “_SUN” at the end of the file name). Also, in the HDR file format settings, change the Alpha Channel to ‘With alpha channel‘. Finally, to render our patch, simply click on ‘Create Panorama‘ and wait. If a prompt window asking for optimization appears, do not optimize.

s) We are now going to overlay our _SUN_hdr.exr file patch over a previously exported full spherical HDRI map. I am going to do this in Photoshop, although it doesn’t support full 32-bit OpenEXR. To fix it you’d need to install free plugin EXR-IO. However, you can also accomplish this in GIMP or Affinity Photo.

Open the full spherical HDRI map and the _SUN_hdr.exr file patch in Photoshop. Press CTRL + A to select all in the _SUN_hdr.exr file and then CTRL + C to copy. Switch to the spherical HDRI map file and paste in place – use the shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + V for this

t) Create an Exposure Correction layer and clip it to the patch layer. I used an ND400 filter with the same exposure settings, so I have to enter +9 for Exposure. For an ND1000 filter, it would be +10. For other neutral density filters, check their specifications.

u) Add a layer mask to the patch layer and invert it (shortcut CTRL+I), so it becomes completely black. Use the softest brush and paint over the sun with white color on the mask. Select all layers and merge them (CTRL+E), save it as a new OpenEXR file with Wavelet compression using Exr-IO plugin to preserve 32-bit format.

v) Let’s clean the HDRI map’s nadir shot of the tripod and any unnecessary shadows. To do this, open Pano2VR and drag & drop the HDRI map produced in the latest step. Once it’s loaded, click on ‘Patch Input,’ then ‘New Patch‘, and add a new patch with the ‘+Add‘ button. Rotate to find the part of the image you want to clean in Photoshop, change the format to OpenEXR, and click the ‘Extract‘ button. Wait 20-40 seconds. Don’t close any windows in Pano2VR.
Added in January 2025 – Be careful! I tested output file from Pano2VR, and it looks like that it can destroy your 32-bit linear workflow, instead use Affinity Photo or Flexify 2 plugin for Photoshop to patch nadir!

W) Open the newly generated patch file in Photoshop, Gimp or Affinity Photo. You can find it in the source folder, or you might try clicking on the small icon with a blue screen. Clean it in Photoshop using the available tools. Select everything you don’t want to see and use the Content-Aware Fill. Remember, it’s not a perfect tool, so you will likely need to make further adjustments with the Stamp Tool (S).

Use Flexify 2 plugin if you want to patch nadir in Photoshop! Or simply use Affinity Photo’s Live Projection view.

Once finished with editing, re-save patch file (CTRL+S) and switch back to Pano2VR

x) In Pano2VR, with your patch loaded, click ‘OK‘ in the ‘Patch Panorama’ window and confirm with ‘Update Image Patches OK‘. Wait a few seconds. You should now see a preview of your HDRI map with the patch applied.

y) Now, click on the ‘Convert Input‘ button located to the right of the preview and choose Type: Equirectangular, Format: OpenEXR. Finally, click ‘Convert‘ and wait. It’s done – end of tutorial! You’ve just generated your first HDRI map!

z) Look for the newly generated file; it should be in the source directory, with ‘_equi.exr‘ at the end of the filename. Load it into Blender Cycles, V-Ray, Corona, or whichever rendering software and 3D package you use, to find out how it performs! If it’s too bright, lower its exposure in Photoshop and resave. If you don’t like the white balance, you can easily adjust it in Affinity Photo (the white balance correction layer works in 32-bit!) or in Photoshop (though it’s somewhat limited, with only color channels correction).

The post How to Create HDRI Maps: A Step-by-Step Tutorial appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

Installation

You can get add-on from BlenderMarket for 1$ or download for completely free from https://hdrmaps.com/hmtools. Download it to your desktop and simply install like any other Blender add-on.

First run and how to use

If you want to install some nice free hdris you can automate that process. Press Sync Library and wait around 3 minutes – an add-on will download hdris from hdrmaps.com API and will create some nice library environment asset, that can be used any time with simple drag & drop.

If you already have some hdris you can try to use HMTools‘ tweak panel that allows to rotate hdri, change its exposure power, add blur, tweak contrast or even add Flatten Ground transformation (you need to check that one especially).

To learn more about HMTools please check video below:

The post HMTools – Blender add-on released appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

You can find addon controls in Image Editor. Simply load hdri image, select it in Image Editor and press button with a label “calculate fstop range” and wait few seconds.

The post How to measure hdri’s dynamic range? appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

Please follow short tutorial to learn more:

Download Blur Nodes Group

Blur hdri or any other texture in Blender – nodes scheme

You can also try to recreate it on your own from the scheme, but don’t forget to save it for later use as a node group.

The post Add blur to hdri in Blender appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

AutoPano Giga is a powerful tool that can automatically stitch multiple photos into a seamless panorama. You can adjust the projection, the horizon, the color balance and more. You can also create 360° panoramas and export them to various formats.

To get started with AutoPano Giga, you need to download the latest version of the software from the links below.

Windows version (Windows 7, 8, 10, 11):
https://download.hdrmaps.com/AutopanoGiga_x64_442_2018-09-10.exe

MacOS version:
https://download.hdrmaps.com/AutopanoGiga_Mac_442_2018-09-10.dmg

Linux version (Debian, Ubuntu)
https://download.hdrmaps.com/AutopanoGiga_Linux64_442_2018-09-10.deb

Linux (All other distros):
https://download.hdrmaps.com/AutopanoGiga_Linux64_442_2018-09-10.tar.xz

Then, you need to enter the following registration details:
User: [email protected]
Registration code: KAPG7-K3A9X-IZJHX-FIIT7-C5IM8-MQF2N

That’s it! You can now enjoy AutoPano Giga for free and create amazing panoramas with a few clicks.

To create panorama just drag photos on the workspace and click green button with label detect.

I have prepared tutorial on creating hdr panoramas in Autopano Giga here

Troubleshooting:

If you have installed APG on Windows 11 and it doesn’t run, you’ll need to download OpenSSL Shared Library from here https://www.dll-files.com/libeay32.dll.html and copy and paste it into program installation directory.

For MacOS users: Try to reinstall program without additional plugins if you can’t run it.

The post AutoPano Giga is Now Free appeared first on HDRMAPS™.

All freebies are still served from dedicated server located in France, but with a help of the Cloudflare content delivery network, are redistributed across a globe from local data centers. 
I hope this will assist you in getting a file from hdrmaps.com as soon as possible.

The post Fast downloads with Backblaze! appeared first on HDRMAPS™.