# Environment & Sky

The Environment panel controls the sky, background, and overall lighting. D5 Lite offers two systems: Geographic Sky (Geo) for a realistic sun study, and HDRI Sky for quick, complete environment lighting and background. It opens in Geographic Sky by default.

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Sky type</th>
      <th>Best for</th>
      <th>Main controls</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Geographic Sky (Geo)</td>
      <td>Scenes that need real time, location, and sun direction</td>
      <td>Time, date, latitude/longitude, north, custom sun angle</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>HDRI Sky</td>
      <td>Quick environment light and background mood</td>
      <td>HDRI file, intensity, rotation, sunlight intensity, sun direction</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

### Geographic Sky (Geo)

  * Reads the time, date, latitude/longitude, and north from the modeling software to reproduce a realistic sun study; these are read-only in Lite and cannot be edited directly. SketchUp reads from the Shadows panel and geo-location; Rhino reads from the current environment once Sync Environment is on; Revit does not provide this data, so set a custom sun angle in Lite.

  * To adjust the lighting direction temporarily, set a custom sun altitude and azimuth in Lite; this does not write back to the modeling software's time and date.

  * Geographic Sky is suited to judging orientation, shadows, and daylight. It provides realistic sun and lighting.

![image](https://docs.d5render.com/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2F3611830798-files.gitbook.io%2F%7E%2Ffiles%2Fv0%2Fb%2Fgitbook-x-prod.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fspaces%252F-MjbN1iGmN_HBnj_fyU9%252Fuploads%252FG98fQMvinf0TmclqnLbz%252Fimage.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D813453a8-beb4-4e0a-9c5c-4e3716b632d3&width=768&dpr=3&quality=100&sign=1137c50a6234f0c18403bef5d3d56d59&sv=3)

![image](https://docs.d5render.com/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2F3611830798-files.gitbook.io%2F%7E%2Ffiles%2Fv0%2Fb%2Fgitbook-x-prod.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fspaces%252F-MjbN1iGmN_HBnj_fyU9%252Fuploads%252FmCO8z2vyXe60XjEa7cVa%252Fimage.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Ddcf03886-2650-4f8b-ae55-54f443f93f3c&width=768&dpr=3&quality=100&sign=1cc3cbf08c957efa44211ce09e467056&sv=3)

### HDRI Sky

HDRI Sky offers two sources: **built-in presets** and **local upload**. The Environment panel includes 5 built-in sky presets. Click a preset thumbnail to apply; hover to see the preset name. The first time you select a preset, it downloads from the cloud and caches locally; after that it applies instantly. HDRI presets are available in SketchUp, Rhino, and Revit. You can also upload a local HDRI file for a custom sky. Both sources share the following parameters:

  * **Upload** : supports custom HDRI files in .hdr / .exr / .jpg.

  * **Intensity** : adjusts the overall brightness of the HDRI.

  * **Rotation** : rotates the HDRI to change the lighting direction and background angle.

  * **Sunlight Intensity** : off by default; when the HDRI's own direct light is weak, or you only want the HDRI as a background, turn it on to add direct sunlight.

  * **Sun Direction** : follows the brightest point of the HDRI by default; switch to a custom direction to set the altitude and azimuth yourself.

  * **Sun Radius** : range 0–10, default 5; higher values give softer shadow edges, lower values sharper ones.

  * **Sunlight Temperature** : range 1700–12000 K, default 6500 K; lower values are warmer, higher values cooler.

  * **Name display** : after you upload a local HDRI, the file name (with extension) is shown above the preview; with a built-in preset, the preset name is shown. Hover to see the full name if it is too long.

  * **Reset** : you can reset to the default HDRI at any time; resetting also clears the selected preset.

### Sync Environment

#### SketchUp

  * Off by default. When turned on, Lite first reads SketchUp's current environment and uses it to override Lite's temporary settings; scenes already saved in the Scene List are not affected.

  * In SketchUp 2025 and later, HDRI rotation, intensity, and sun position support two-way writeback between Lite and SketchUp; SketchUp 2024 and earlier sync Geographic Sky one way.

#### Rhino

  * With Sync Environment on, Rhino's current environment and Lite sync both ways; with it off, the two are independent and changes in Lite are saved only in Lite's own scene data.

  * Rhino has a single global environment. With Sync Environment on, switching scenes in Lite overwrites Rhino's current environment with that scene's HDRI parameters; the environment and effect parameters of other scenes are still saved in the .3dm file and are not expanded in Rhino's environment list.

  * Sync Environment and Live Sync are separate switches; Sync Environment can be used on its own with Live Sync off.

#### Revit

  * Sync Environment is not available; the environment is set independently in Lite.