Image-Based Sky Light

Generate a cached sky EXR with skymodelr::generate_sky_latlong() (location and time) or skymodelr::generate_sky() (direct Sun angles) and use it as an infinite light. Add it to a scene with add_infinite_light(). The image represents one observer and illuminates every scene position with the same sky. Use sky_light() for altitude-dependent lighting and finite-distance haze. Location/time skies include Sun and Moon by default, controlled with sun and moon, and support optional stars and planets. Direct-angle skies include the Sun and have no ephemeris-dependent celestial components.

sky_light_image(
  lat = NULL,
  long = NULL,
  datetime = NULL,
  intensity = 1,
  rotation = 0,
  name = "sky",
  altitude = 0,
  visibility = 131.8,
  albedo = 0.5,
  resolution = 2048,
  hosek = TRUE,
  render_mode = "all",
  turbidity = 3,
  wide_spectrum = FALSE,
  below_horizon = TRUE,
  prague_rgb_correction = TRUE,
  prague_rgb_correction_strength = 1,
  prague_rgb_correction_gain = "auto",
  stars = FALSE,
  star_width = 1,
  stars_exposure = 0,
  planets = FALSE,
  moon = TRUE,
  moon_atmosphere = FALSE,
  moon_hosek = TRUE,
  exr_adopted_white = "D60",
  exr_metadata = TRUE,
  number_cores = 1,
  verbose = FALSE,
  sun = TRUE,
  environment_light_bake_white = FALSE,
  environment_light_bake_white_target = "D65",
  elevation = NULL,
  azimuth = NULL,
  ...
)

Arguments

lat: Default NULL. Latitude in degrees, between -90 and 90. Supply lat, long, and datetime together, or use elevation and azimuth.
long: Default NULL. Longitude in degrees, between -180 and 180.
datetime: Default NULL. A single POSIXct date and time. Specify its time zone when constructing it with as.POSIXct().
intensity: Default 1. Nonnegative multiplier for this light's radiance.
rotation: Default 0. Additional rotation in degrees around the world Y axis, using the same convention as infinite_light().
name: Default "sky". Unique light name within the scene.
altitude: Default 0. Observer altitude in meters above sea level for the entire sky image. Prague supports 0–15000 m with its full-altitude data.
visibility: Default 131.8. Prague meteorological visibility in kilometers, from 20 to 131.8. Smaller values produce stronger haze.
albedo: Default 0.5. Uniform ground reflectance for the sky model, between 0 and 1. Local surface materials are specified separately.
resolution: Default 2048. Height of the cached image in pixels; its width is twice the height.
hosek: Default TRUE. Generate a Hosek sky. Set FALSE to use Prague.
render_mode: Default "all". Select sky and Sun ("all"), sky without the solar disk ("atmosphere"), or the solar disk alone ("sun"). Moon, star, and planet switches are independent of this selection.
turbidity: Default 3. Hosek turbidity, from 1.7 to 10.
wide_spectrum: Default FALSE. Use Prague's 55-channel sea-level data.
below_horizon: Default TRUE. Include atmospheric radiance below the horizon.
prague_rgb_correction: Default TRUE. Apply skymodelr's Prague RGB tint correction.
prague_rgb_correction_strength: Default 1. Strength of the Prague RGB tint correction. Must be finite and nonnegative: 0 disables correction, and 1 applies the full calibrated correction.
prague_rgb_correction_gain: Default "auto". Calibrated Prague RGB gains, or a numeric vector of three finite, positive linear RGB multipliers.
stars: Default FALSE. Composite stars into the sky image.
star_width: Default 1. Stellar point-spread size, passed to skymodelr::generate_stars().
stars_exposure: Default 0. Artistic exposure adjustment for stars, in stops.
planets: Default FALSE. Composite bright planets into the sky image.
moon: Default TRUE for location/time skies, FALSE for direct skies. Composite a Moon image into the sky. Set FALSE when adding a separate moon_light().
moon_atmosphere: Default FALSE. Include atmospheric scattering of moonlight.
moon_hosek: Default TRUE. Use Hosek for moonlight scattering. Set FALSE to use Prague.
exr_adopted_white: Default "D60". Adopted white for EXR metadata: "D60", "D65", or numeric XYZ with Y = 1. Does not change image pixels.
exr_metadata: Default TRUE. Attach skymodelr color metadata to the EXR.
number_cores: Default 1. CPU threads used to generate the cached image.
verbose: Default FALSE. Print sky-generation progress information.
sun: Default TRUE. Include the solar disk when selected by render_mode. Set FALSE to omit it from the image.
environment_light_bake_white: Default FALSE. Bake chromatic adaptation from the generated EXR's white_current metadata into its RGB pixels before using it for lighting. Requires exr_metadata = TRUE. The adapted image is cached and reused for still images and animations.
environment_light_bake_white_target: Default "D65". Target white point when baking: "D50", "D55", "D60", "D65", "D75", "E", or a finite numeric XYZ vector with positive Y (normalized to Y = 1). Unlike exr_adopted_white, this changes the image pixels when baking is enabled.
elevation: Default NULL. Direct solar elevation in degrees, from -90 to 90. Supply with azimuth instead of location and time. Prague sky radiance is supported down to -4.2 degrees; Hosek image skies require elevation >= 0.
azimuth: Default NULL. Direct solar azimuth in degrees, from 0 (north) clockwise through 90 (east), less than 360. Direct skies omit the Moon by default and cannot include Moon, stars, or planets without an ephemeris.
...: Additional named arguments forwarded by skymodelr::generate_sky_latlong() to its star, planet, and Moon generators. These extra celestial settings apply only to location/time skies. Pass settings directly; location, datetime, and the cached filename are managed by this light. Native atmospheric controls belong to sky_light().

Value

A ray_infinite_light containing a cached-image sky description.

Details

Image generation happens before rendering and is cached for the R session. Changing only intensity, rotation, or name reuses the image. Changing the baked target white point reuses the generated sky and caches a separate adapted image. White-balance controls belong to this light; pass the light to add_infinite_light() before calling render_scene() or render_animation(). Install any required Prague data with skymodelr::download_sky_data() first; ordinary rendering does not download datasets. Pkgdown builds download missing datasets automatically.

With zero rotation, north is world +Z and east is world -X. Date, time, and observer altitude remain fixed throughout the image. This light supports the same integrators as infinite_light() and adds no finite atmospheric haze. Use render_scene()'s iso to adjust exposure.

For a separately sampled Sun, set render_mode = "atmosphere" and add sun_light() with matching location, time, and atmospheric settings. This avoids relying on the environment image to resolve the small solar disk.

Examples

# Direct Sun angles also work with the other atmospheric controls.
generate_ground() |>
  add_object(sphere(y = 1)) |>
  add_infinite_light(sky_light_image(
    elevation = 25, azimuth = 135, turbidity = 4, resolution = 512
  )) |>
  render_scene(lookfrom = c(0, 2, -8), lookat = c(0, 1, 0),
               aperture = 0, samples = 32, iso = 5)


time = as.POSIXct("2026-06-21 18:00:00", tz = "America/New_York")
scene = sphere(material = diffuse("white")) |>
  add_object(generate_ground())

scene |>
  add_infinite_light(sky_light_image(40.7, -74, time)) |>
  render_scene(
    lookfrom = c(0, 1, 10),
    lookat = c(0, 0, 0),
    width = 600,
    height = 300,
    samples = 32,
    iso = 3
  )


# A Prague image sky with an independently sampled solar disk.
# Install Prague data with skymodelr::download_sky_data() before rendering.
scene |>
  add_infinite_light(sky_light_image(
    40.7,
    -74,
    time,
    hosek = FALSE,
    render_mode = "atmosphere",
    altitude = 0,
    visibility = 50,
    albedo = 0.3
  )) |>
  add_infinite_light(sun_light(
    40.7,
    -74,
    time,
    sky_args = list(altitude = 0, visibility = 50, albedo = 0.3)
  )) |>
render_scene(
  lookfrom = c(0, 1, 10),
  lookat = c(0, 0, 0),
  aperture = 0,
  width = 600,
  height = 300,
  samples = 32,
  iso = 3
)

Arguments

Value

Details

See also

Examples