Free Clear Sky HDRI

Download the Radiance .hdr for lighting: it retains unclipped full dynamic range, including values above 1.0. No EXR is needed. Start at strength 1; normalization is already baked in.

HDRI-only Blender AgX test: same white house, ground, glass, camera and 0 EV exposure as every other sky. No light objects or emissive surfaces.

The 4K HDR is 4096 × 2048 and the 2K HDR is 2048 × 1024. Both are 2:1 equirectangular maps. The 2K version preserves integrated sun energy through solid-angle-weighted downsampling, though its sun peak is less concentrated. JPG backplates and WebP previews are tonemapped display images, not lighting maps.

Use the high summer-like sun to explain roof geometry, deep reveals and clean facade materials. Short, legible shadows make this a useful baseline for checking a design before switching to a more atmospheric environment.

Bright white roofs can approach the display transform's shoulder. Keep the HDR unclamped and adjust the camera or material reflectance rather than flattening the solar disc. This is not a location-specific solar study.

Baked-in native-radiance scale: 0.43402591. Upper-sky median luminance target: 1. Peak RGB: 1,149,137.25; peak relative luminance: 980,123.813. These are scene-linear relative values, not calibrated cd/m². Do not apply the scale again: start with strength 1.

Day maps target upper-sky median luminance 1.0; blue hour targets 0.18 and night 0.12. Each variant uses one linear multiplier, retaining its own sun-to-sky energy ratio. Absolute brightness between weather conditions is intentionally normalized, not a physical time-lapse exposure study.

Load the HDR as linear lighting data, not an sRGB photograph. Strength 1 and default or auto exposure are starting points: renderer light units, camera conventions and tone mapping differ. Fixed-exposure verification was performed in Blender; the other applications were not independently tested. If exposure looks wrong, check camera settings and sun duplication before increasing intensity.

In the source convention, +Y is north, +X east and +Z up. Azimuth is clockwise from north before environment rotation. Renderer zero directions differ: locate the bright solar disc or use the test shadow direction instead of assuming that a zero-degree slider means geographic north.

Rotate horizontally around the vertical axis; keep the horizon level. Align the embedded sun with the intended facade and check shadows on a ground plane. Do not stack an unrelated physical sun on top of the HDRI sun. If your renderer requires a separate sun, align it to the brightest sky point and balance its energy deliberately.

Overcast has no direct solar disc. Blue hour and night have the sun below the horizon; night instead includes a simple moon at elevation 30° and azimuth 325°. These are artistic lighting setups, not latitude/date-based daylight or solar-compliance studies.

The daylight base is Blender’s procedural Nishita sky. Overcast and partly cloudy skies add procedural layered clouds, not volumetric weather simulation. Dusk and night are art-directed extensions; stars are a fixed-seed artistic field, not an astronomical catalog.

The neutral nonblack lower hemisphere has no ground detail. Use these maps as sky domes above your own terrain, roads and site context. The 4K JPG backplate is a full spherical panorama: map it spherically or reproject it for your camera rather than stretching it behind a perspective view.

Have a SketchUp view or architectural sketch but need a finished presentation quickly? Try Render a House to develop an architectural image from your existing view. This is an alternative image workflow, not an HDRI editor or a claim that every engine will reproduce the supplied Blender test.

All eight generated skies and included backplates, previews and test renders are dedicated under CC0 1.0 Universal. Free personal and commercial use, modification and redistribution; no attribution required. Supplied as-is, without a warranty of photometric accuracy.

Is this clear sky HDRI suitable for a neutral exterior render?

Yes. Its 60-degree sun produces relatively short shadows and clear separation between lit surfaces and shaded recesses. Use it to compare facade options with a fixed camera and white balance before adding dramatic sunset lighting.

Do I need an EXR to get the full dynamic range?

No. The 4K and 2K Radiance RGBE .hdr files retain unclipped high-dynamic-range lighting values, including solar peaks above 1 where a sun disc is present. EXRs are not included because HDR already carries the required lighting range. JPG and WebP are display images, not lighting replacements.

What environment strength should I use?

Start at strength or multiplier 1 and default or auto exposure. Each map already has its per-variant normalization baked in; do not apply the recorded scale again. The Blender tests use AgX at 0 EV for every map. Other renderers use different intensity and camera conventions.

Can I use the lower hemisphere as a landscape background?

The lower hemisphere is neutral and nonblack but intentionally has no terrain, buildings or ground detail. Use the map as a sky dome above your own ground and site context. The JPG backplate is a 2:1 panorama, not a ready-made perspective camera photograph.

Are these HDRIs free for commercial use without attribution?

Yes. These generated sky environments and included display images are released under CC0 1.0. Personal and commercial use, modification and redistribution are allowed without attribution. They are synthetic assets supplied as-is, not surveyed or photometrically calibrated measurements.

• All free HDRI skies
• Free Morning HDRI
• Free Golden Hour HDRI
• Free Sunset HDRI
• Free Blue Hour HDRI
• Free Overcast HDRI
• Free Cloudy Sky HDRI
• Free Night Sky HDRI
• Free outdoor 3D models