It consists of a 'WorldBall' prop (an all-encompassing sphere) with two Poser lights (a diffuse IBL for global illumination, and an infinite light for casting sun shadows). It works best if you also set the Poser GROUND prop as a shadowcatcher.

Five different environment sets (snow, lake, sand, scrub and Mars) and a test environment are included. Each set consists of a 4096x2048 JPG background image and a 1024x1024 JPG light probe (angular map) image. All sets were created from exactly the same simple terrain in Terragen Classic, but with different sky, lighting, and terrain textures.

There's a PoserPython script to automate the loading of the prop and lights and the swapping of environment sets. For convenience this is called directly from your Poser Props library by using the 'WorldBall Setup.pp2' prop.

Details of each environment set are held in a plain text data file. The file format is very simple, and hopefully intuitive, so you can easily add your own environment sets.

The links appear further down in this thread.

(this forum only allows images up to 600x400 - there's a larger version of this image on the ShareCG download page here http://www.sharecg.com/v/69279/gallery/11/Poser/Simple-Poser-WorldBall )

There are a number of associated freebie items that I've uploaded / will be uploading to Renderosity. They're usually available on ShareCG first as there's no approval delay. There are already four extra WorldBall related items available on ShareCG. I'll add posts to this thread when they become available on Renderosity.

This is cool, thanks!  I've been wondering how to make light probe images.  I need to see if I can interpret your terragen instructions to Carrara or Vue Frontier instructions for the terrain.  (last thing I need is another piece of software :tongue1: )

You're welcome. Just Google "vue cube map", "carrara cubemap", or something similar and you should be able to track down the necessary camera settings, etc...

(still waiting for the PDF to be approved here for Renderosity's Tutorial section)

19th June: Just had feedback that this doesn't work on a MAC. Working on a fix...

Love your work 3d'

21st June: Version 2 uploaded to fix the MAC problem. Should work fine on a MAC now. It shouldn't make any difference for PC users.

luckybears - thanks!

Want to create your own 360° azimuth / ±90° elevation environment sets from scratch?

Check out my "Make Your Own Environment Maps And Light Probes" (in Tutorials > Other Software here at Renderosity)

You need three programs, all free (or you could use various alternatives):

1. Terragen Classic - http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen-classic-windows-download

2. GIMP - http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

3. HDRShop Version 1 - you'll find a link here http://www.hdrlabs.com/tools/links.html (the original is no longer linked from the HDRShop site itself).

DAZ Studio Version now uploaded to Renderosity Freestuff here.

A couple of points about the DAZ Studio version. Since DS doesn't include a Diffuse IBL as one of its standard lights I created a Shader Builder light for the 'WorldBall IBL'. It's my first attempt at using ShaderBuilder, and athough it correctly provides basic omnidirectional light there are several limitations:

• there's no AO. This is possibly the biggest problem, because the lighting looks very 'flat'. I've found that an extra distant light (i.e. in addition to the 'WorldBall Sun') strategically placed, with a low intensity, and with shadows turned on can improve things a bit. Alternatively you could use Omnifreaker's UberEnvironment 2 (which is included with DS3A and DS4) instead of the WorldBall IBL. Simply plug the reflection map image into the

• There's a specular highlight on any surface that's perpendicular to the camera's line of sight.

• Any surface (or point on a surface) whose normal points straight up is incorrectly lit. I'm informed this is a DS bug...

• there's probably others too, so if you spot any issues not mentioned above please let me know!

Additional Environment Sets

I've started uploading the additional environment sets that I've already got. I've given each set an E number so I don't lose track (E01 to E05 are the original sets included with the Simple Poser/DAZ Studio WorldBalls). Three sets are already in Renderosity Freestuff:

• E06 Mountain Lake 01 - an icy mountain scene with a cold lake
• E07 Above The Clouds - a solid bank of clouds below, blue sky and patchy cloud above. No terrain visible.
• E08 Below The Waves - a flat sandy shallow seafloor, slight ripples in the waves above. Rather dark.

I've got a few more already done but waiting approval/upload: 'E09 Swimming Pool', 'E10 Northern forest', 'E11 Misty Mountain (4 in 1)', and 'E12 Basic Toon (4 in 1)'.

     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

>>> I'd be very happy to take suggestions for further environment sets <<<

Ideas I'm currently working on include outer space, grassland, distant lakes, and jungle/forest. No ETA for any of these though - they're now a 'background' task (pun intended!)

• E09 Swimming Pool - also suitable for shallow seas
• E10 Northern Forest - an aerial view of a patchy conferous forest.

And then there's a couple of '4 in 1's, each containing four separate environment sets representing a single location at four different times of day:

• E11 Misty Mountains - a generic fairly barren mountain terrain.
• E12 Basic Toon - for the toonies among you! A green field with hills and trees around it.

The next-most-likely set will be an outer space one, you know, galaxies, nebulae, planets, moons and asteroids sort-of-thing. I'm currently playing around with various ideas over on my DAZ forums WorldBall thread so if you've got any ideas pop on over there or post a comment here!

A Quick Recap !

Because I made a mess of the OP, here are the original links again. First, the WorldBall itself:

• Simple Poser WorldBall - for Poser 6+
• Simple DAZ Studio WorldBall - for DAZ Studio 3 and DAZ Studio 4.5+

As mentioned before these sets both include the first five environments plus a test environment:

• E00 Test 1
• E01 Snow
• E02 Lake
• E03 Sand
• E04 Scrub
• E05 Mars

Environments E01 to E05 all use the same Terragen Classic terrain, but use different texture layers, lighting, atmosphere, clouds and water. The E01-E05 Terragen Classic Source Files are also available.

If you want to try creating your own environment sets there is a "Make Your Own Environment Maps And Light Probes" PDF in Renderosity's Tutorials > Other Software section

• E13 Earth Environs - low earth orbit with sun, moon and stars, plus starfield-only version
• E14 Grasslands - a generic hilly grassland - daytime and evening variants

Just fixed it thanks to Vaskania over on the DAZ3D forums). Both the Renderosity FreeStuff and ShareCG ZIPs have been updated to version 3 to resolve this issue. It's a very simple change to the WorldBallSetup.py script file though, and if you're confident about editing files you can make thechange yourself. Simply delete the ‘s’ from ‘Lights’ in line 327 of WorldBallSetup.py (I simply got the pathname incorrect!)

Incorrect:

poser.Scene().LoadLibraryLight(":Runtime:Libraries:Lights:3DCheapskate:WorldBall:WorldBall.lt2")   

Correct:

poser.Scene().LoadLibraryLight(":Runtime:Libraries:Light:3DCheapskate:WorldBall:WorldBall.lt2")  

Alternatively download the attached 'WorldBallSetup.py.txt' file, rename it as 'WorldBallSetup.py' and use it to replace the existing 'WorldBallSetup.py' file which should be located at RuntimePythonposerScripts3DCheapskateWorldBallWorldBallSetup.py in your default runtime or a mapped runtime, depending on where you initially installed the worldball.

• E16 ‘Cinderside’ - volcanic ash over lava
• E17 ‘Danny’s Island’ - a tropical paradise, with a lurking shark!
• E18 ‘Alien Desert’ - lo-res background, but includes HDR lighting for Poser/DAZ Studio

N.B. I'm trying to keep the first post of the DAZ 3D forum worldball thread up-to-date with the latest worldball stuff, so it might be worth taking a look over there from time to time.

Simple WorldBall Updates To Avoid Using The Wrong Version In Your Software

I use both Poser and DAZ Studio, and find that I often load the wrong version of the WorldBall and spend a while scratching my head before I realize what I’ve done…

So to avoid that happening any more I’ve updated the icons (should’ve done that a long,long time ago!), and added a couple of simple scripts so that the user is alerted when they load the wrong version of the prop.

Download available at:
ShareCG: WorldBall Updates To Help Avoid Using Wrong One
Renderosity: WorldBall Updates To Help Avoid Using The Wrong One

Poser WorldBall Version 5 (Updated File ONLY) Released

I’ve actually been using this version of the WorldBall with Poser 6 and Poser 9 for the past few months. It includes all of the fixes that semicharm did (or helped me with). The only reason that I never released it was because it doesn't have a nice TkInter or wxPythong UI, and thus has a lot of standard PoserPython dialogues.

Version 5 of the Poser WorldBall gives the user the options to parent the WorldBall Sun to the WorldBall, and to enable IDL (InDirect Light) if their Poser version supports it.

Download links:
ShareCG: Poser WorldBall Version 5 (Update ONLY)
Renderosity:

(The ShareCG page also includes a picture of the dialogues you're likely to see)

Sooo... I've been using Poser WorldBall version 5 for several months.

And I guess I've just got used to having to manually check the 'Visible In Raytacing' checkbox on the parameters tab for the WorldBall prop when I use IDL.

Why doesn't it do that automatically if you select to use IDL ? Either I forgot, or couldn't find a way to do it (so probably I forgot)...

DAZ Studio WorldBall Version 2 (Updated Files ONLY) Released

Version 2 of the DAZ Studio WorldBall finally fixes a couple of rather irritating problems:

• automatically parents the WorldBall Sun and IBL to the WorldBall.
• you now see the background in the preview pane.

Download links:
ShareCG: Ver 2 [UPDATE ONLY] Simple DAZ Studio WorldBall
Renderosity: Ver 2 [UPDATE ONLY] Simple DAZ Studio WorldBall

 nice!!! had to relocate poserscript file. but after that works and looks great.

 nice!!! had to relocate poserscript file. but after that works and looks great.

Good to hear! :) (Not quite sure what you mean by "...had to relocate poserscript file...".  If there was a problem please let me know- even if it's just that the instructions weren't clear enough.)

3dcheapskate,

**
Looks like you got the world by its balls!!  Is the DS version of WorldBall for 3Delight or IRAY?
**

3dcheapskate,

**
Looks like you got the world by its balls!!  Is the DS version of WorldBall for 3Delight or IRAY?
**

The latest DS I have on my system is 4.6, and I've only tested it with the built-in 3Delight renderer. It might work in the nVidia one, or it might not - I've no idea.
But having said that it's nothing particularly clever - it basically consists of five things:

1. An all-encompassing spherical prop with inward facing normals and an equirectanglar (lat/long) UV mapping.The background image is applied to the ambient channel. I assume that should work in the nVidia renderer?

2. An infinite light (a straightforward DS distant light). I assume that should work in the nVidia renderer?

3. A 'faked' diffuse IBL. This was created in ShaderBuilder, which creates RSL shaders I think? I assume that should work in the nVidia renderer too? More about the 'faked' bit in yesterday's post on the worldball thread in the DS forum

4. A shadowcatcher groundplane.The shadowcatcher material is created in ShaderMixer. Not sure if that'll work in the nVidia renderer.

5. A script.This simply provides an easy way to load the worldball with any environment set, or to change the environment set if the worldball's already loaded.

P.S. As somebody mentioned a way back when I did a couple of outer space environment sets - it also doubles as SpaceBalls!  ;o)