Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

HDRI emerged from the movie industry, and was once Hollywood's best kept secret. It is now a mature technology available to everyone. The only problem was that it was poorly documented until now. The HDRI Handbook is the manual that was missing.

Many questions remain open even for the computer graphics gurus that have been using HDRI for years. This is where The HDRI Handbook comes in. Included here is everything you need to build a comprehensive knowledge base that will enable you to become really creative with HDRI. This book is packed with practical hints and tips, software evaluations, workshops, and hands-on tutorials. Whether you are a photographer, 3D artist, compositor, or cinematographer, this book is sure to enlighten you.

Topics include:

• Understanding the foundation of HDRI
• Tools for a High Dynamic Range Workflow
• How to capture HDR images: now and tomorrow
• Tone mapping for creating superior prints
• Image processing and compositing
• All 4 ways to shoot panoramic HDRIs
• Image based lighting and CG rendering
• World premiere of the Smart Dynamic Range toolkit
• Creative uses and unconventional applications

Average Customer Rating:

Great book!	Customer Rating:
This book is great. It has all the info you would want on HDRI. I really enjoy reading it, Christian Bloch is a great writer.

Best HDRI resource I've found to date	Customer Rating:
This is one of 3 books I've read on HDRI and while they were all helpful, this one was by far the most informative and in depth. It is helpful to have a high level of proficiency with your camera and a fundamental understanding of digital imaging in order to get the most out of this book.

Essential for the beginner :-HDRI Handbook

Customer Rating:

Christian Bloch's HDRI handbook is an essential in-depth read for the HDRI beginner, and if read in depth will clarify the issues and choices the HDRI photographer faces. Supplementary software for the tutorials, plus full working and some trial versions of several HDRI application packages round out a thoroughly useful and well integrated approach to the subject. There is one small failing, which is unavoidable when committing to print: In a subject area where there is much active research, and where new cameras algorithms, ans software are released almost daily, it is impossible for the book to remain current for long. Having said that, I'd be lost without it, and look forward to ANY update of the topic area that CB cares to commit to print. Peter P Wilson

Good technical look at HDR - maybe too technical

Customer Rating:

I recently discovered HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography and this is one of the first books I picked up on the subject. It is probably one of the most thorough books on HDR, including HDR in computer graphics. The first couple of chapters are detailed - very detailed - explanations of how digital cameras work, their range, etc. The middle portion of the book is the part I return to as I am learning more about this. Those sections go through several examples as well as the different software availalbe, which is very helpful. Chapter 4, which covers Tone Mapping, is one of the best, including lenghty examples from two other accomplished HDR photographers. This is very helpful to see how others aside of the author approach this technique. All in all, this is a top notch book for HDR, though some will likely find it a bit too technical at the start. It's almost like a classroom textbook. For those just starting HDR, you may want to look at another book that is a little less technical before tackling this one.

Excellent title for the beginner....

Customer Rating:

If you have an interest in learning what HDRI imagine is all about and prefer to know more about the more technical details of it rather than a laymans overview, then this book is an excellent starting point. It is very clearly written and Christian covers pretty much all aspects regarding it, from the science behind it, to file formats and the best software to work with it in. He also covers its use in Photography and 3D computer graphics. Though he doesn't go into any great depth in those areas as they both really would require a full book unto themselves for those 2 subjects. The info on tonemapping and linear workflows in 3D are especially helpful introductions. Add to that the fact that he tirelessly runs the companion website keeping it up to date and chock full of great information, this book really is a steal at any price.