Cool - I'll check out those links - thanks Ryan. The "photo" source was just going to be one of the default skyline pictures from the MAX "reflections" directory as a test, but this got me thinking about how you would go about creating any cubemap without capturing it from a scene. Just any simple landscape picture really…
This program looks like it may be useful. It can convert a mirror-ball photo into a cube-map. http://www.outerspace-software.com/bixorama.html#examples You might look at Quicktime-VR authoring software. QTVR seems to be the same idea as what you're after. (Environment maps from photos.)…