Finally, an app to shoot 360° HDRis with your phone.
HDReye is the first and only iOS app for creating custom 360° HDRi images for realistic 3D lighting and compositing.
Just select your desired dynamic range, follow the prompts to shoot a bracketed multi-exposure panorama of your location, and HDReye will stitch and generate a 32-bit (.EXR format) HDRi of your location.
HDReye is an essential app for combining 3D animation realistically with footage or capturing lightmaps of any location. What used to require an expensive 360° camera or chrome ball light probe, now can be done conveniently on your phone with HDReye.
Whether you are an independent 3D artist, VFX studio, AR developer, NFT artist, content creator, or just a hobbyist - HDReye is here to make your workflow simpler and renders more realistic.
HDReye is your image-based lighting solution. Compatible with all 3D packages and render engines including Cinema 4D, Blender, Houdini, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Adobe After Effects, Element 3D, OTOY Octane Render, Redshift, V-ray, Arnold, Unreal Engine, Unity, Spark AR, and more.
HDReye users also have access to the largest crowdsourced collection of HDRi images in the world.
HDReye also works well for capturing 360° panoramas similar to the Google Street View app.
Terms of Use: http://hdreye.app/terms/
Privacy Policy: http://hdreye.app/privacy/
In a matter of minutes, I was able to shoot, stitch an .exr, AirDrop it, and load the image in Blender. It’s really that easy! Excellent app! And it’s possible to specify a dynamic range for when you don’t need to go overkill.Don’t expect the stitching to be perfect, or the resolution to be like what you find on Poly Haven or something. (It’s a mobile app, let’s keep in mind. Processing even at existing resolutions takes a couple of minutes.) But for capturing the lighting of a room to composite CG objects into photos or similar VFX projects, this app delivers.There is also a built in previewer that lets you see what you can expect your pano to look like when reflected on objects (sphere, cube, and toroid) - and you can adjust the preview object’s material with “metallic” and “roughness” sliders.One minor limitation I would like to see improved is, even though we can title our images in the app, those titles do not end up being part of the file names once exported. (Instead the names are strings of numbers, as of now.)I’m hopeful development will continue, possibly with improvements made to the stitching algorithm and so on. But (considering it’s free too) I believe this is already the best HDRi pano creation app in the App Store!
Developer Response
Thanks for such a detailed review of the app!
So happy to see an HDRI app for the iPhone!
Realflowbow
I’ve been waiting for an iPhone app to take HDRI photos forever. So glad to see one finally out. However, it would be nice if you could use the wide angle lens so you don’t have to take as many photos. I think I had to take like 51 photos for the last one. The algorithm stitches the photos okay enough, but not great if you wanted close up reflections of a 3D reflective object. But it’s quick and dirty and effective! Really nice for when you’re in a pinch or don’t need total accuracy. Love it! Looking forward to more developments. Thank you
Developer Response
We appreciate the kind words! Thank you for using the app.In the newest version of the app you can now capture your HDRi using the wide angle lens :)
Not Ready For Primetime
Tofulordseitan
This app is fun to use and play with but not useful for much else. It is essentially a toy to experiment with. The HDRI’s it produces are not really High Dynamic range and require you to adjust them in an image editing software such as photoshop. Since the stitching is never perfect you cannot use them for accurate lighting but reflections are ok. The resolution is also not even close to being high enough. This app should be free and locally processed and stored and not $6.99 as there is no way you can use these in any sort of professional workflow. Our phones are powerful enough to stitch and combine so this is a cash grab that gives you nothing of value. You are better off just getting a cheap 360 camera as it’s much easier and quicker, you will have more fun and your output will actually be usable in some cases. Hope this helps others.
Developer Response
We apologize that the app didn't meet your expectations. However, HDRIs captured with the app have been used to light countless 3D scenes in both small and large productions. Many users also value the convenience of not having to carry around a 360° camera.
Pay $3 just for a single photo sphere
creative carve climb (゚□゚)
If you are looking for an easy way to capture photo spheres, it's perfect! But if you are looking for a cheap way to capture photo spheres, then there are so many other ways to do this, and this is expensive. $3 for a photo sphere and $7 for unlimited? You can take the individual photos yourself, and then on a PC, you can download any free software (there is plenty of them all over the place) for photo sphere stitching. Also, you get much more flexibility and more natural exposure out of those stitched photo spheres. But still, not horrible, so I will give you 2 stars instead of one 🙂Update: Improved review by 1 star because developer responded with a relevant reply 👍 (unless it was an LLM response)
Developer Response
Thanks for the review. You’re right—DIY stitching on a desktop is cheaper and offers total control. HDReye’s value is speed: you grab a sphere in ~90 seconds, get a 32-bit EXR with automatic exposure blending, and move on. That convenience (plus the cloud time) is what the $3/€3 unlock or $7/€7 unlimited plan covers.If you have pricing ideas or workflow wishes, we’d love to hear them at operations@hdreye.app. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
- Fixes bug where subscriptions could become unlinked from account.
Version 4.1.6
The developer, HDReye Technologies Inc., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
Usage Data
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Contact Info
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Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More