I recently stumbled on this post. It gets at an issue that has bugged me for a while.
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-design-validate/appearance-question/td-p/10551699
Fusion 360's modeling viewport is a pretty capable realtime renderer, but the way it's been executed results in models that are dull and beige. I like to be able to take quick screen shots of models to share with clients. Not a full ray-traced renderings; just work-in-progress, or something to sketch over.
I was also involved in the development of the IBL (image-based-lighting) workflow of Alias's viewport several years ago - so I figured I would dig into Fusion's underpinnings and see what's up.
I knew that these directories existed and had played with modifying the files, but had mixed results - until by accident I figured out how they work. On the Mac (I'll follow-up with PC instructions at some point when I get my hands on a windows machine), you can dig into the Fusion app directory like so:
/Users/$HOME/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/webdeploy/production/cdedd4b05efae2d277df7be3d315d4ccce03a01d/Autodesk Fusion 360.app/Contents/Libraries/Neutron/Neutron/Server/Scene/Resources/Environments
In that Environments directory are the sub-directories that hold all the assets for the viewport environments. Here is what the Dark Sky environment looks like:
The EXR file is the main reflection map. Just modifying it will change the look of 100% glossy surfaces, but nothing else. I knew updating the .dds files were the trick for updating the look of non-glossy surfaces (any material with a roughness greater than zero). Any attempt I made to bring the .dds files into an image editor yielded poor results, if any. Then by accident I discovered that Fusion generates the .dds files from the EXR at runtime - so just deleting the .dds files after you update the EXR allows you to easily update the image based lighting. So you can find an HDRI image you like, name it accordingly (DarkSky-Reflection-dwab.exr for instance). delete the .dds files, run Fusion and everything updates at launch.
The XML file has a line of code at allows you the change the brightness of the HDRI image after the fact, tuning the look/exposure of the reflection maps; with zero being no adjustment.
<ToneMapping ExposureBase="0" />
Lastly, here are some examples of my new viewports before and after...
For me, I wanted viewport rendering that was both higher contrast and properly white balanced, with exposure adjustments that ensured "white" looks white (but not too white, or specular highlights won't show up). But with the ability to tweak at will, you can get the look you are after fairly easily.
Not sure what warranties this voids, or how Autodesk would respond to encouraging modifying the software. I also don't know what happens when an update is pushed. I'll keep a back-up of my new IBL's for sure. Happy tweaking...
J.
