Hi all!

How do I apply a HDRI background image so it will show on the reflective materials? This is for an indoor scene and all the reflective materials I have look really plane and lifeless and I wanted to add a HDRI background image.

Also, once you apply the HDRI background image, are there additional tweaking I need to do as well?

Thanks for any advice!!

Add it to the environment as a Bitmap like you would any environment map and set to Spherical mapping. You may want to Instance it to the Meterial Editor and alter the RGB level. You may also need Exposure Control.

Samab, thanks for your advice!

The scene looks fantastic! The carpaint looks so real and to life.

Thanks my friend!!

One other thing to mention, if you want the lighting effect from the HDRI, add a skylight and set it’s colour to use environment.

Samab, thanks again for that advice! It made the atmosphere even more realistic.

Another question. Is there a way to make 3ds Max background all white or change any color you want? Right now, it is black and when you create an object that is very tall, you will see the 3ds Max black background. The floor shows just fine but you will also see the black background.

If you add a HDRI as an environment, you should see that in the background. If you want the background different to the environment, use the Environmet/Background Switcher in the environment slot, instance it to material editor. This will let you use one colour/map for the background, and another for the environment.

Samab or anyone,

I tried to add the white HDRI backgound but did not look correct, the floor still showing through. The problem is the the carpaint black color is really reflective. I wanted to create a total white background including the floor but the problem is that all the white reflects on the black glossy carpaint and the white reflection makes the oject looks white or gray.

This is a tough task. How do you make the black carpaint stay black and make everything else all white. Is there a way to apply a HDRI map within the object and add another HDRI for the background and floor?

I tried to apply the white HDRI background image but when I render, it’s still showing black background. I still can’t figure out how to make the background color to be white or other colors.

Maybe black is the only default color in 3ds Max.

Try this setup.

This is an example render with car paint and chrome materials with a white background and floor, but reflecting a HDRI. I used the Environment/Background Raytype Switcher for the environment, as already mentioned. For the white floor with shadows and reflections I used the Matte/Shadow/Reflection material like in the link to Zap’s blog above. The difference being I’m using photometric lights and exposure control, which can effect the white background so it renders gray or black. To account for this I set the Physical Scale of the exposure control to Unitless and altered the value until the BG became white. I had to keep tweaking the EV and physical scale to get the right balance between them.
For a fuller explanation of pysical scale, here’s more from Zap’s Blog.

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Samab, that’s it!!

I will try and see if I can the scene to look like yours.

Thanks for the info and I’ll let you know if I have more questions.