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Why This Pack?
Lighting characters for presentation can often take longer than it should. The goal of this pack was to turn my own favourite lighting rigs into HDR images so you can drop them straight into your renderer and get results immediately.
The 60 HDRIs cover a wide range of setups:
- Neutral lights for accurate previews and portfolio shots (like portrait renders)
- Mood-driven variations with stronger colour and contrast to set a tone quickly
- Stylised options with bold colour mixes for when you want something a bit different
Because these are standard EXR HDRIs, they work in most software that supports high dynamic range images… Blender, Maverick Render, Marmoset Toolbag, Substance 3D Stager, and more. A short demo video is included in this pack to show you how to use them and handle small specifics like uncompressed files in Toolbag.
Some Examples
Here are renders of various characters in different styles and using different HDRI setups showing how you can shift from clean studio lighting to dramatic stylisation when swapping the setups
Resource Insights
All files are high-resolution 8K EXR HDRIs with no environment baked in, just carefully placed lights. That means:
- A clean starting point for any character render
- Consistent, environment-free lighting to focus on your sculpt or texture work
- The flexibility to desaturate colourful setups for a neutral studio look, or lean into their bold tones for stylised results
Each HDRI includes a preview image so you can quickly identify and test different setups.
Pack Overview
In this pack you’ll find character-focused lighting that falls into three practical groups:
- Neutral studio
- Soft portrait keys, balanced key-fill-rim, clamshell-style looks, gentle gradients for readable forms and skin.
- Cinematic mood
- Stronger direction and contrast… split lighting, top and under light options, rim-heavy silhouettes, quick drama for thumbnails and turntables.
- Stylised colour mixes
- Complementary and split-tone gels for playful or punchy moods. Desaturate any of these to get a clean studio variant without changing the light layout.
You can use the HDRIs as is for fast presentation renders, or add a couple of your own lights to push the look further.
TIP: If a setup looks too colourful for your scene, just desaturate it. Every file is designed to work as a solid lighting layout, with or without the colour mood.
What You'll Get
With the Character Lighting HDRI Pack you get:
- 60 high-resolution (8K) EXR HDRIs designed for character lighting
- Bonus Blender utility add-on for quick browsing and adjustments
- Short demo video covering add-on installation and how to use the HDRIs across different software
Bonus Materials
As a bonus, Blender users get a small utility add-on I built for myself. It’s not the main product, just a handy helper. With it you can:
- Browse HDRIs by preview image directly in Blender
- Rotate lighting and adjust brightness, hue, and saturation
- Toggle HDRI visibility on and off
- Add a backdrop or shadow catcher with one click
The pack includes a short video demo that covers how to install the add-on, use it in Blender, and how to set up the HDRIs in other software.
