Updated for Blender Version: 3.1
To the Point
- Set up a scene. Be sure you are using Cycles as the Render Engine.
- Select the camera and go to the Camera Settings tab
- In the “Type” dropdown, select “Panoramic”.
- Below that, click “Panorama Type” and select “Equirectangular”
- Go to Render Properties
. Under Output, click the “File Format” dropdown and select “Radiance HDR”. - Render the scene image and save it the HDRI.
The Details
3D scenes can get very large and complex, which can slow down render times. Using an HDRI environment image is a great way to add lighting to your scene without having to model an entire environment. There are a LOT of free HDRI images available for your scene lighting needs, but what if you want to create your own?
Luckily Blender makes it very easy to generate an HDRI image from the scene you are using. First of all, you’ll need a scene that is built and lit as you want and the scene camera. It is best if the camera is facing forward along the Y-axis with no other rotation or location change. Under the Camera Settings tab , click the “Type” dropdown and select “Panoramic”. Some of the settings below the dropdown will have changed. Now click “Panorama Type” and select “Equirectangular”.
The final step is to make sure the render output is set up correctly. Head over to Render Properties and find the “Output” section. In the “File Format” dropdown, select “Radiance HDR”. Render your scene and save the output image. And that’s it! You can now take the saved HDRI and add it to your scene as an environment texture. There are plenty of Cycles render settings that can be tweaked to get just the right render, but that is a topic for another tutorial.
Scene rendered normally – no HDR. Render time 17:50
Scene rendered using the generated HDR as the environment texture. Render time 2:32.