Displaying HDR images in the Render View

You can display 32-bit floating point HDR images in the Render View and use the Color Management options to control the color profile associated with the image file and the display output. You can also apply color grading and preview it in the Render View window, as well as specify a custom calibration file.

Furthermore, with this feature, you can adjust the image contrast and exposure. This way, you can view details in over-bright and over-dark regions of an HDR image.

Using color management with HDRI in the Render View

Switch your Render View to HDR format by selecting Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences. Select the Rendering section of the Preferences window and select 32-bit floating point (HDR) as your Render view image format.
Note
By selecting this option, the Render View displays a 32-bit floating point version of your image. This way, color management can use the floating point values to perform its operations correctly. Also, if you are using a output device that is capable of displaying HDR color values, this mode allows you to obtain the full float color values.
In the Render View window, select Display > Color Management... The viewColorManager Attribute Editor appears.
- Select the color profile for your image source and your display output using the Image Color Profile and Display Color Profile drop-down menus.
- Tweak the Exposure and Contrast sliders to view details in the over-bright and over-dark regions of the image. For more information about these attributes, see Render View color management node.
- Specify your custom calibration file or color transformation file in the LUT file attribute. You can also use this attribute to apply a color grading effect.

Note

You can also render HDR images with mental ray for Maya. Select any of the float or half-float formats from the Data Type drop-down list in the Framebuffer section of the Quality tab in the Render Settings window.

TipYou cannot save a .exr image directly from the Render View window, but you can do so by selecting .exr as your image format in the Render Settings window: Common tab, then clicking

in the Render View. A tmp folder is created in your images directory that contains your <filename>.exr result.

Using LUT files with color management

The Display Color Profile attribute determines your input to the LUT file. Most LUT files receive linear or logarithmic input. Set Display Color Profile to Cineon log so that your LUT file receives logarithmic input.