# How are chrome/grey balls and HDRI light probes captured on set for CG lighting, and what goes wrong with each?

- id: art_01M5MTCK5C4V6AC371VYMACQ0D
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T11, T12, T19 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T16:44:28.710Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MTCK5C4V6AC371VYMACQ0D

Practitioner sources describe a two-tier approach: a half-chrome, half-matte-grey ball shot at each setup (fast, shows light direction, balance and sheen) and, when the set can be held, a bracketed HDRI taken where the CG object will sit. The original light-probe paper adds the failure cases: a single low-dynamic-range ball photo mis-lights the CG, and a single ball image shows the camera, its own support and samples the area behind it poorly; two images 90 degrees apart removed the camera in the authors' setup. Practical advice from the talk notes: long lens, whole sphere in focus, ball exactly where the CG object will be, and stop crew from striking lights.

Practitioner sources describe a two-tier approach: a half-chrome, half-matte-grey ball shot at each setup (fast, shows light direction, balance and sheen) and, when the set can be held, a bracketed HDRI taken where the CG object will sit. The original light-probe paper adds the failure cases: a single low-dynamic-range ball photo mis-lights the CG, and a single ball image shows the camera, its own support and samples the area behind it poorly; two images 90 degrees apart removed the camera in the authors' setup. Practical advice from the talk notes: long lens, whole sphere in focus, ball exactly where the CG object will be, and stop crew from striking lights.

Curator qualifications: Excerpts located; the quick-reference ball vs calibrated HDR probe distinction is kept.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://vfxvoice.com/?p=726",
      "note": "VES Handbook excerpts; Debevec 1998"
    },
    {
      "url": "http://effectscorner.blogspot.com/2005/11/filming.html",
      "note": "VES Handbook excerpts; Debevec 1998"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.provideocoalition.com/fantasticfest-panels-on-set-vfx-supervision-for-3d/",
      "note": "VES Handbook excerpts; Debevec 1998"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.pauldebevec.com/Research/IBL/debevec-siggraph98.pdf",
      "note": "VES Handbook excerpts; Debevec 1998"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://ves-on-set-data.org/data/On-Set_VFX_Data_Collection_and_Usage_Guide_v1.0.0.pdf",
      "note": "VES Handbook excerpts; Debevec 1998"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Practitioner sources describe a two-tier approach: a half-chrome, half-matte-grey ball shot at each setup (fast, shows light direction, balance and sheen) and, when the set can be held, a bracketed HDRI taken where the CG object will sit. The original light-probe paper adds the failure cases: a single low-dynamic-range ball photo mis-lights the CG, and a single ball image shows the camera, its own support and samples the area behind it poorly; two images 90 degrees apart removed the camera in the authors' setup. Practical advice from the talk notes: long lens, whole sphere in focus, ball exactly where the CG object will be, and stop crew from striking lights. · locator: VES Handbook excerpts; Debevec 1998 · source: https://vfxvoice.com/?p=726

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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