Using HDRIs with gamma 1.0
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
I try to remember to set all images used in DAZ Studio to 0.00 as DAZ Studio sets the images to 2.2, if you have it set to that, which adds the Gamma to the Gamma already set in the image which will wash the image out.
Click the micro-thumbnail next to the colour bar for the environment map (the one you click to get to Browse.. when you want to load a new map) and select Image Editor - you cans et teh gamma value there.
I didn't know this! I've been using the HDRs that I bought in the store without changing them, and I just checked and this one was set to 1. So, set Gamma to zero for the image in the Image Editor, and leave Gamma at 2.20 in tonemapping as is? Is there any way that DS could force the image to zero automatically?
Seems like unless you are using Sun & Sky that the gamma should be set to what the gamma is in the HRDI
My understanding is that Studio adds whatever Gamma is set under Tone Mapping on top of whatever Gamma is set in the image being used. Setting the Gamma to match the image Gamma then means that a Gamma of 1.00 in the image becomes 2.00 in the render and a Gamma of 2.2 in the image becomes 4.4 etc.. Perhaps I'm not understanding how Gamma is implemented in Studio but changing the Gamma to 0.00, when I remember, is how I do it.
As I understand the process the image gamma is used to linearise it, to make it gamma 1, then that is used to render and the Render Settings gamma is then applied to the output.
I have had a look at some of my rendered images in IrfanView and it is showing the Gamma as 1.00 so it looks like Studio sets Gamma at 1.00 when the render is saved.
I'm not sure that DS sets a gamma value - any more than it sets a PPI value.
I had a look at some of the images from my camera, which I assumed were 2.2, and IrfanView shows them as 1.00 too
Changing it to 2.2 washes the image out.
I would guess that the value is being used as "this is the correction you need to apply". So if the image is already Gamma 2.2 from its creation then it will display correctly with no firther adjustment (gamma 1). Whether that's how the value is meant to be used I don't know, assuming it is being set to 1 and isn't just an assumption by Irfan View (like the default PPI), but it sounds to be how it is working.
That could be correct and what IrfanView is actually displaying as Gamma 1.00 is the Gamma from the screen settings even although it is set in the image at 2.2. Following that then wouldn't an image being used that shows a Gamma of 2.2, rather than 1.00, in Studio be reset to 0.00 so that when it saves the render the Gamma is set at 2.2?
The gamma setting of the encoder (not the gamma values) is most effectively reflected in the color management profile saved with the document. Since D|S doesn't save files with profiles, the image may default to whatever the decoder wants it to. You can deduce the approximate gamma value from a pixel, but it may not accurately reflect the proper gamma for the image. I have Photoshop always warn me when it's opening a file that is not color managed, and normally I set it to sRGB, which sets a nominal gamma of 2.2. From there I can tweak if I need to.
Fishtales, depending on your camera, it should have stored the images linearly, which would be 1.0. Some cameras create several files -- a RAW (1.0) and a gamma-corrected JPEG (~2.2), for example. There may be a setting to control this.
@Tobor
The two cameras I use most both are set to shoot in RAW/JPG so I had a look at the images in Irfanview. They all show Gamma as 1.00. The Exif files for the JPG images return sRGB for the colour profile although the main DSLR uses the Adobe colour space :)
I don't use Irfanview, but on Photoshop a popular setting some people recommend is to automatically apply the document profile (this setting might even be the default). This isn't great advice, for obvious reasons. In PS you can change the preferences to warn you if the opened or pasted file either lacks a profile, or your automatic setting is about to change the current profile. Maybe Irfanview has something similar, just to be sure it's not altering the profile behind your back!
For RAW, some (many?) DLSRs let you pick a color profile when you shoot, usually either sRGB or Adobe RGB,. Seems counter-productive to me (and a narrowing gamut), and on my camera I turn that feature off. I apply the profile I need after tone mapping it in Lightroom / Camera Raw.
In Photoshop I have it set to change to Adobe RGB, my main camera uses that, so that I know I am working in the same Gamut all the way through from RAW to final image. I also have it set to open all files in Adobe Camera Raw where I can make minor changes, even to .jpg files, before sending a copy to Photoshop for final processing. It is the way I have always worked since changing from film to digital some twenty years ago. It works for me.
As far as the colour profile in the camera I was under the impression that was only for the .jpg conversion as the RAW file is just that, raw data. I never really thought about it being set for the raw file.
Just checked both camera raw files and one in ACR says it uses Adobe RGB at 16 bit, but I would say that is ACR that has used it. The other raw file in RawTherapee gives an RGB Uncompressed for the colour space, again I think that is the software adding it and not the colour space for the RAW data.
As usual I am open to other suggestions. I'm no expert :)
Sounds good what you're doing now. My biggest change from the default settings is to have the explicit warning, because I do artwork for digital print, offset print, and Web screen. I favor different profiles for each. I need the reminder, as I know I'll forget and go through a big job with the wrong color space!