Hyperfocal Design's latest effort Skies 2 has been released on DVD and continues to be the defining standard for hi-resolution photographic sky textures. The DVD, now available in the Vizdepot Vismasters store, presents 65 photographic sky textures in total, which includes an array of sunny, overcast, stormy, dawn and night time textures for almost any type of atmosphere needed for renderings. Hyperfocal Design has told us that as well as taking 10 months to amass all of the skies in the collection, it took over 100 trips to get the best possible sky conditions and variation. Hyperfocal Design is located in a coastal city in South Australia, and photos are taken from cliff tops right on the shore line, giving them unobstructed views and some of the clearest, cleanest air in the world.
The image quality is excellent and the resolution is hard to beat. The average resolution is 12000 x 4000. It is noted on the website that lens length of the virtual camera prior to quality loss is as follows:
- PC Games @ 1024X768, longest lens = 100mm (FOV of 90 = 18mm lens)
- TV @ 640X480, longest lens = 200mm
- Film @ 1230 X 680, longest lens = 150mm
- Digital Film @ 2kX1k, longest lens = 90mm
Each image is presented without level, contrast or color correction to allow the end user the flexibility to change to their specific needs. Because no one image or even set of images can be useful for every scenario, the flexibility to tonally alter or color correct is certainly a benefit and expands the products capabilities.
The textures are setup for direct application for dome (hemispherical) rendering, the simple methodology of creating realistic atmospheric curvature in a rendering. Mapping directly to a cylinder as an environment is yet another option.
Included on the DVD are 3 Alpha masked tiling sky textures which can be used to further diversify the types of atmosphere's possible with this software. The alpha textures can be used for animation, by mapping to a plane infront of the dome. The cloud direction and density can be altered by rotating the plane, changing its altitude, the amount of tiling and its alpha transparency. The alpha masked texture can also be used to increase cloud density or even render the effects of fog.
Also included are 32 alpha channeled horizons which can be applied in either 2d or 3d softwares of your choice. While most are very location / place of origin specific others are something you might find right outside your window. It is important to note that each horizon really doesn't manifest each lighting scenario presented with the associated sky textures on the DVD. Users most judge where and how best to use the horizons provided with the skies.
The delivery is straight forward and simple. The category based format html is thumbnail driven and very simple to follow. Links are provided to make ease of working from within the software's material editor and linking directly to the file on the DVD. Both the Hyperfocal Design website, and the DVD's readme.txt provide some great tips on using the software. On the Hyperfocal Design website there are some freebies to test drive this amazing product.
The workflow is point and click, the quality of the product is phenomenal and the flexibility to apply the product in virtually all aspects of the graphic / rendering industry makes it a must have in the rendering arsenal. I highly recommend the Skies 2 DVD and the earlier released Hyperfocal Skies (Skies 1) for all of your atmospheric needs. Some big changes are forthcoming from Hyperfocal Design, stay tuned to the Vizdepot for all of the latest information and with the Vizdepot Vismasters store for more products in the coming weeks.
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