How Do I Create a Night-Time Background (i.e. dark sky)

[Erichk1]

I am trying to create a night scene to see my drawing in 3D at night. I went to the Home Designer Pro Support page and it gave me information on editing the active camera.

It says to "uncheck sunlight." 

When I go to my edit active camera, on my program, I do not have the option to "uncheck sunlight."

I am including two screen shots below showing the support page, and my screen. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Erich Kaiser

Home Designer Pro 2022

Build 23.4.1.80 SX

 

MAC OS 

Monterey 12.7.6

4GHZ Quad Core

Memory 32GB 1867 MHz DDR3

Graphics AMD Radeon M395X 4 GB

[Rookie65]

Look at your top toolbar at the light bulb. Click that and select "toggle sunlight"

[Erichk1]

I have done that and it only gives the appearance of "dusk." I am looking for a dark night sky. 

[Rookie65]

I think that's the best you'll get unless you dig into it deeper.

[Erichk1]

Why the discrepancy in the Support Instructions and my program?

I did it years ago with the same program and now it doesn't seem to work. 

 

[Rookie65]

Maybe because the version you have is 3-4 years old, and newer versions may have changed it. Can always email support and ask them for an explanation. Anything else is just guesswork.

[Erichk1]

Wow, I used to get answers here.

Sad. 

[Rookie65]

It may not be something that is done by a lot of people, so a solution isn't readily available without asking support. Maybe someone else will chime in that has a better solution for your particular desire or has done it before, If your "sad" comment is directed at me.

[ConnorE]

On 7/13/2025 at 9:53 AM, Erichk1 said:

Why the discrepancy in the Support Instructions and my program?

I did it years ago with the same program and now it doesn't seem to work. 

 

 

 

I was able to get close to the image you posted with these steps:

• 3D > Rendering Techniques > Physically Based
• 3D > Lighting > Toggle Sunlight - Off
• 3D > Edit Active Camera > Backdrop Panel
  •     Remove Backdrop
  •     Change Background Color to something dark.

Alternatively, you could probably use a specific dark backdrop instead of using the solid Background Color.

You can also lower the brightness in the PBR settings if you want it to look darker.

As Rookie65 mentioned, you are using an older version of Home Designer, and the support article is for the newest version.