I applied a panoramic image as a texture in the material room but it doesn't show: The background appears black in the pose room and renders as white. I didn't change any material settings other than adding the image; I am still baffled by them. I am obviously not doing this right, so what is the right way? Also, what size should the panoramic image be? Is it better if it's one of those distorted-looking ones, or the ones that look like a normal photograph except longer?

For which image looks better, it will depend on how the sphere is uv-mapped but most that I've seen take the distorted looking ones. As far as size, the bigger the better for clarity seems to be the way to go.

Can you post a screen shot of your material setup? Also what sphere are you using?

It is the one by BagginsBill. These are the default settings. I still haven't learned how to understand this language.

This is not correct.  There should only be one Panoramic Image node.  You have 2.  Delete Panoramic Image_2 and add your image to the original node Panoramic Image.  Depending on the Poser version you are using Gamma In and Gamma out should be adjusted accordingly.  The Pro series and Poser 10 should have values 1 if you are rendering with Gamma 2.2, all others should have 2.2.

Don't add any nodes to those already on the sphere. Add your image where I have it circled. To add the image just click the word "None" and it'll open a box where you can browse to whatever image you want to use. The image should show up on the Poser Surface node. Render.

Laurie

Thanks, the image is visible now. Curious: Why did the Panoramic Image 2 node exist in the first place? (Trying to figure out what these nodes actually do.)  The image looks terrible. Does anyone know of a good source for free high resolution panoramic images?

Which hemisphere are using?

There is no Panoramic Image 2 on the Envirosphere I've got. Only what ya see in the screenshot above.

Try sIBL Archive for some images for the sphere (use the 8k jpgs in the zip files...you can use the other ones on lights if you happen to ever have a use for Image Based lighting.

Laurie

hborre, I don't understand the question. The top one, I guess?

There are 3 types of domes created be Bagginsbill and each one accepts specific types of panorama images.  All images should be high res to display correctly in your scene.

I tried one of the ones from that site. What about the weird orientation of it? (The floor part of the image isn't on the ground. I used the picture of an apartment, because I thought it would make a good test for what I already suspected was happening. I have to scroll the camera around to see the walls and furniture, by which time the character is hanging at like a 45 degree angle.)

I found the answer: It's because I was using the dome instead of the full sphere.

For the most part, these domes provide additional lighting to the scene when using IDL for your renders.  The most practical use for the dome is introducing a sky image for your background.  Set your camera's focal length to a wide angle setting, either 28 to 35 mm.  You will get more background into view.

Then what type do the other ones take?

It still isn't aligning properly. See how the ground falls in the middle of the door. It is also not in scale with Poser stuff. How can these problems be fixed?

See hborre's answer above. If you want something to scale, use a background image on a plane and one of the other images on a light instead of the sphere....you won't get accurate scale with the envirosphere. The sphere is used mostly for sky images. I use Alex's apartment all the time, but I only use it for reflections and light, so I make the sphere invisible to the camera. The light still shines and surfaces still reflect the light from it, but you don't see the image from it. I then build a scene around it if that's what I'm after. Normally, I don't build a 360 degree scene, which is why I use the sphere to begin with. I make a lot of metal shaders and they need something to reflect (as does skin, btw). I only set the sphere to visible if I have a sky image on it and my scene requires that the sky be seen.

Laurie

Ok. But, how can I use those lights in Poser? I tried copying one of the folders into my lights folder, but it showed up as "empty"  in my library.

Are you referring to images?

You manually have to apply the images to the Envirosphere. They don't just magically show up. Because there is no image on the sphere to begin with, there is no link to any image at all, therefore you have to apply manually once inside Poser.

Laurie

Each image comes in a folder with a light. If I manually apply the image, does that also apply the light?

There are several things in the folders. There is the image itself, something that ends in .ibl which I am assuming is a light, and 2 things that end in .hdr. I want to see what they do.

Use the smaller, blurry images on lights. You need to manually apply those as well. HDR would work for the lights. The large jpgs are what you can use on the sphere.

Laurie

I still don't quite understand. To what light do I apply it? If you mean the one that comes in the folder with it, how do I get the light into Poser?

The ibl that is included in those zip files are, to my knowledge, not usable in Poser. You can attach the lower rez blurred hdr to an IBL light in Poser but in Poser Pro 2012, Poser 10, and Poser Pro 2014, you cannot use an IBL light with an environment sphere like BB's un less on the environment sphere you uncheck 'light emitter'. In that situation you would only be getting diffuse light from the IBL, not from the environment (this is if you are using IDL turned on, which I'm assumming is the case). You have to use either an IBL or environment sphere with IDL, not both at the same time.