Better Renders in Keyshot with simple HDRI trick

Lighting is the one of the most important parameter to create a good quality render and most beginners commit the same mistake when rendering a product in Keyshot. They stick the with the “Startup HDRI”. This startup HDRI is a diffused general lighting environment which will create uniform lighting in the scene. You will find it difficult to create contrast and good looking renders.

But don’t worry, Cademy is here to help you and if you follow these instructions you will be able to improve your rendering skills drastically. Let’s get into the steps.

1. Start by changing the perspective distance to something around 200 and lighting presets to Product/Interior.

2. Add a basic grey plastic material to all the geometry to create the clay render. This will help you get a good idea about the lighting of the scene.

3. Add a new HDRI environment and set the background color to Black in the HDRI Editor.

4. Start adding the first key pin light. This is the strongest light a.k.a Key Light to illuminate the product. You can move the light source in HDRI editor or use the “Set Highlight” tool to click on the 3d model.

5. Now add another pin to simulate the fill light, this light is subtle and helps recover lost details around the darker areas.

6. Finally add the Rim light to give highlights and provide volume to the geometry.

7. Add a white background color for the scene, remember this is different than the background color of HDRI.

8. Now just add the materials from the material library or add custom materials to create better product visualization!

Thank you for reading through this article about Keyshot. We hope this was helpful. At Cademy, we offer complete Keyshot Course from basics to advanced concepts. Please check out our Keyshot course by visiting the link below.

We really appreciate any kind of feedback on our content. thanks.