Details Panel

When the attributes required to define an HDRI file have been selected in the Selections Panel a thumbnail image for that file will appear in the Details Panel. The thumbnail image is a tone mapped representation of the HDRI file.

 

When no view is selected in the Selections Panel or no HDRI file is assigned to a selected view a default thumbnail image will be displayed (figure 1). If the Details Panel is unable to locate an image the No Image thumbnail will be shown (figure 2). This is an indication that either the file is missing or was installed to an alternate location on your computer. You can let the Cubical Map Builder know where the SOFTBOX (HDRI) library files are installed on your computer through the HDRI Path setting in the Preference Settings window. If the files can not be found you may need to reinstall them.

 

Tone Mapping

High dynamic range images (HDRI) contain 32-bits of information per pixel. This is a lot of information compared to a typical low dynamic range image which contains only 8-bits of information per pixel. In order to view an HDRI on devices such as standard computer monitors this information has to be compressed into viewable levels. This process is called tone mapping and the result is a low dynamic range image that can be viewed on a low dynamic range device.

 

[ figure 1 ] - Default Thumbnail Image

 

 

[ figure 2 ] - No Image Thumbnail

The currently selected position on the cubical map is displayed below the thumbnail image. There are six available positions on a cubical map, one for each side of the cube.

As lighting attributes are selected in the Selections Panel their corresponding values will be displayed here along with the filename of the HDRI file currently assigned to the view. If no HDRI file is assigned to a view, the detail fields will be left blank and the default thumbnail image will be displayed. See Lighting Attributes for more information about each lighting attribute.