Render Studio Interface - Environments Library

To add an environment:

1. In the Environments library, select the environment to add to the scene.

2. Right-click and select Apply lighting from the context menu. This only applies environment lighting to the Part Studio or Assembly (the background is kept in place). Alternatively, select Apply lighting and background from the context menu. This removes the background and applies the lighting and environment to the scene:

   

Alternatively, drag and drop the Environment on an empty area of the scene.

Tips

• If only lighting is applied, to remove the background later, click the View tools icon ( ) in the graphics area, select Background, and then uncheck Enable background. Click x in the upper right corner to close the dialog. If the scene goes completely black, go into the Environment panel and increase the Lighting intensity value to between 15,000-20,000 or higher, depending on the environment image used.

• If lighting and background is applied, the next time a new environment is applied via the context menu, the Apply lighting option is unavailable. It is only available if a background color is first applied to the scene via the View tools () > Background menu.

When a scene is created, the default environment (Standard) and background (white) is used. If a different environment is added, do the following to return to this default:

1. Select the Environments library, and ensure you are on the top level Environments folder.

2. Enter Standard in the Search environments field and press Enter.

3. Right-click on the Standard thumbnail and select Apply lighting and background (or drag and drop the environment on the backdrop of the scene, not on a scene entity, such as a part):

The background color from the environment is used. To optionally revert to the original white background:

1. Click the View tools menu (), and click Background.

2. Select Enable background. By default, the color swatch is white (shown in the first image below). If the color is different, click the Edit color icon () to open the color palette (shown in the second image below). Enter a hex value of #FFFFFF for white (or select the color of your choice):

   

3. Click the checkmark icon ( ) at the top right corner of the dialog to accept your changes and exit the dialog.

To add a custom environment to a scene:

1. To apply both the lighting and background of the custom image to your scene, click the View tools icon () in the graphics area, select Background, and then uncheck Enable background. Click the checkmark icon () to accept and close the dialog. Then follow the remaining steps below. If this step is not performed first, only the lighting from the custom environment image is applied to the scene.

2. Open the Environment panel ().

3. In the dialog, check Custom image:

   

4. The Select image dialog opens where you can select an image file (.hdr or .exr). Do one of the following: 

   

   1. Select an image from the Current document

   2. Click Other documents to locate an image in another Onshape document

   3. Click the Import link at the bottom of the dialog to locate an image from your computer. When selected, click the Open button:

      

      Once the notification indicates the upload is complete, you will not yet see the image in the Select image dialog. This is because the Render Studio scene is a snapshot of the part, Part Studio, or Assembly at the time of import, and this image is brought into the Onshape document post-import. A new version is now required, in order to update the scene. Click the Create a version in [Document name] link in the Select image dialog:

      

If you don't see the Create version link in the Select image dialog, click the Create version button () on the Document panel to open the Create version dialog. Create the new version. Close and reopen the Select image dialog. The imported image should now be available.

See Importing files for more information about uploading files.

5. In the Select image dialog, click on the image to select it and have it loaded into the scene:

   

6. If the scene is too dark or black, in the Environment panel, increase the Lighting intensity value to between 15,000-20,000 or higher. This largely depends on the image used.

   

Tips:

• Though .jpg or .png files can be used, for best quality, use HDRI images (.hdr or .exr).

• For a collection of free environments, visit https://polyhaven.com/hdris,

To add a custom background to a scene:

1. Select Background from the View tools dropdown menu:

   

2. In the Background dialog, switch from Solid color to Image:

   

3. The Select image dialog opens where you can select an image file (.jpg or .png). Do one of the following: 

   

   1. Select an image from the Current document

   2. Click Other documents to locate an image in another Onshape document

   3. Click the Import link at the bottom of the dialog to locate an image from your computer. When selected, click the Open button:

      

      Once the notification indicates the upload is complete, you will not yet see the image in the Select image dialog. This is because the Render Studio scene is a snapshot of the part, Part Studio, or Assembly at the time of import, and this image is brought into the Onshape document post-import. A new version is now required, in order to update the scene. Click the Create a version in [Document name] link in the Select image dialog:

      

If you don't see the Create version link in the Select image dialog, click the Create version button () on the Document panel to open the Create version dialog. Create the new version. Close and reopen the Select image dialog. The imported image should now be available.

See Importing files for more information about uploading files.

4. In the Select image dialog, click on the image to select it and have it loaded into the scene:

   

5. Select any additional options, such as the image Scale (Fill, Fit, or Stretch), Tonemapping, Depth of field, Reflect or Refract background:

   

Tips:

• Though .hdr or .exr files can be used, for best results, use .jpg or .png images.

Some environments use location and time to set the sun's location as a light source, which affects the scene's lighting and background. For example:

1. Select the Environments library, and ensure you are on the top level Environments folder.

2. Enter Preetham in the Search environments field and press Enter.

3. Right-click on the Preetham thumbnail and select Apply lighting and background (or drag and drop the environment on the backdrop of the scene, not on a scene entity, such as a part):

   

4. In the Environment panel the scene's location and time settings are located under the Daylight section at the bottom:

   

5. Select City: New York; Date: 07/01/2021; Time: 9:00 AM; and Timezone: UTC-05:00. The sun and shadows now line up for the selected location and time:

   

6. Switching to a new time on the same day, for example 4:30 PM, shows a sunset view, with lighting and shadows aligned to match: