Set up a scene to practice lighting and stumbled across something cool. Thought it was too funny not to share.
The main lighting for this scene came from... this!
Plugged into the Environment texture. Also added some rim lights to the back and did minimal post work (just raised the exposure). Also rotated the environment a little bit to get a better angle, so it isn't a one click solution.
Don't know why I didn't realize this could be done before today. Actually a lot of people probably already know this.
How many artists already do this on the downlow?
I know the quality probably isn't as good as from a custom made HDRI, but I think some of the highlights that were created aren't bad at all.
Has anyone else ever slipped a naughty texture where it didn't belong, or used it for a task it wasn't designed for?
I think it would be a fun challenge to anyone who sees this and has some spare time. Maybe plug in a random texture to the hdri area and share the results? It might help you get over a fear of HDRs if you're newer. Hope you enjoyed!