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title: "Skybox as Background"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/ESKETCHUP/128064057/Skybox%20as%20Background"
format: markdown
---
This page provides information about setting a skybox as a background in Enscape for SketchUp. What is a Skybox? A Skybox is an image that describes the look of your projects background environment. It’s basically a sphere that surrounds your project and which is textured with an image. As you know, textures are rectangles – if you want to map them onto a sphere, you have to unwrap the Skybox like it’s done with a world map. This format is called  Longitude/Latitude , one term for one axis. There is another way to save the Skybox into a file, unlike Longitude/Latitude. It is called the  cross format  and looks like an unfolded cube. Both image formats are supported and can be loaded into Enscape. How Can I Load a Skybox? To load a Skybox, first make sure Enscape is running and then open the  Enscape Visual Settings  window using its associated button found in the Enscape viewport toolbar. Visual Settings button Navigate to the  Sky Settings  tab’s  Horizon  section. Here, choose the option Skybox from the dropdown and then click on the folder icon next to  Load Skybox from File  to select a file. Enscape supports Skybox image files (*.hdr, *.bmp, *.jpg, *jpeg, *png, *tif, *.tiff, *.tga) either in cross or panoramic (Longitude/Latitude) format. The other options for the Skybox are: Rotation  – Rotates the Skybox. This is only adjustable on a horizontal axis and can not be adjusted along a vertical axis, nor can it be scaled. Brightest Point as Sun Direction  – This will position the Enscape sun on the brightest spot of your Skybox for additional realism Normalize the average brightness to the value set below  – This setting will brighten or darken your Skybox’s light emission to compare with the Enscape sun brightness Brightness –  Regardless if the  Normalize the average brightness to the value set below  is enabled, this option will adjust the overall brightness of your Skybox – great if you’re located inside a building in your project and want to optimize the view outside of that building. The Sky tab with Skybox Options Which Skyboxes are Supported? We support horizontal and vertical cross Skyboxes – they have to match a resolution ratio of 4:3 (respectively 3:4 ). Panoramic Skyboxes should have a resolution ratio close to 2:1. Cross Format Skybox - 3:4 or 4:3 aspect ratio Longitude / Latitude (Panoramic) skybox: 2:1 aspect ratio Where do I Get Free Skyboxes? Check out our  content area  to download a fine selection of cubemaps, mostly from  Open Footage . Other sources are listed below. Shtlab Zwischendrin Food4rhino Hdrlabs Enscape3D