New Post Production Technique try out ->

[briggs]

Has is worked? I dunno, I quite like the images I've produced. The post production basically involves a lot of posterisation, contrast adjustments, saturation enhancements and a fairly hefty layer of filter additions. Here are some images of a house model found at: http://www.ronenbekerman.com/ (Great site, great model!), what do you reckon?:

[EDIT] - Once again cheers to oli for the treelines!

[flipya]

I hope you don't mind me being too honest.

The alterations you describe (contrast, posterise, saturation) are exactly the things that scream at me when I look at your images. The 'color halftone' and lensflare don't really do it for me either.

I don't know what it is, but I just get a rrrggggH feel when looking at them.

Could you post the original (or more subtly altered) renders just for fun?
Viewpoints are a great choice btw!

[pyroluna]

I think the first render benefits from the effects you describe. In conjunction with the dramatic angle it creates the wow-effect that might really make a picture jump out at you, which is a good thing when doing a competition.
The second picture however does not benefit. Maybe your original render did show some detail in the dark area in the middle - but the final version certainly does not. It has a big, black void, right in the center of your image, where instead ought to be a focus point.
Apart from that, I like the effects

[briggs]

Cheers for your comments Pyroluna and Flipya - Yes, I know exactly what you mean, I was happy with the first image as it has an eye catching quality to it but for actual representation of the building it's usefulness is limited. I think this workflow is one of those that has to be carefully selected for specific images. They are very much "OTT" type images; a marmite type effect I think!

Here is the original render for the first image:

I need to work out an effective way of adding grass in post production, anyone got any decent tutorials they can point me to?

I'm going to retry the second one with a few tweaks to the lighting and see what I can do.

[jo-ke]

@briggs said:

I need to work out an effective way of adding grass in post production, anyone got any decent tutorials they can point me to?

may be this can help you: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=28092

I also prefer the original render.

[flipya]

Joke's suggestion's good, hard to beat rendered grass.

When it comes to postpro, try this:

• open your render in PS
• paste a nice image of grass in a layer above your render (search google images for 'grass' or 'grass park' of 'grass field' for good samples).
• mask it, and color the mask black (hide all)
• use a white brush on the mask to reveal the grass where you want it, but make sure you stay away from the edges of your grass-area (if you mess up, use black to get rid of it)
• Now, on the edges where your photo-grass will meet render, select this brush:
  
  Then select white as both foreground and background colour, and paint in the edges (on your mask).

Does that help?

[briggs]

I'll give it a shot Flipya.

Here is a less garish version of the image, still playing with the filters to find something that looks different and stylized yet not too, errrrrrr, POW! :

[olishea]

i would avoid the halftone and posterization because it makes the images look reduced quality. nice view point in first image, not keen on second as its so dark you can not see any details. im not sure on the PP because i don't think it actually improves the image (from a client perspective) seems quite oppressive with the deep blacks and midtones. they do have drama but i think the effects and filters are taking away form the architecture; doesn't really do it any justice and if you cant justify it then it really shouldn't be done. just a thought.

hey nice background!

[briggs]

Cheers Oli - thanks once again for those tree lines. They are a great way to put a scene together quickly. I'm enjoying learning all this, it's a fun way to waste a bit of time (When I really should be doing some revision!). I'm gonna keep playing with photoshop and see where I can go with it - then I fancy learning a more powerful render app like maxwell (This render is a quick 10 min render with podium). I quite want to get into the whole maxwell studio thing with the ability to import high poly models into a scene without lockdown occurring!

The initial viewpoint is just a quick tweak of what was an accident when I opened up the file and whizzed the view around. I wanted to get the vertical lines in the composition actually vertical and at 90 degrees to the horizontals, I think it gives a better and tighter feel to the viewpoint.

[briggs]

I chose a different viewpoint for the front and had a whirl with the fur plugin! Here are a few images, what do you guys think of the saturation/contrast levels? More acceptable? -

And one without the lens flare...

[Gaieus]

@flipya said:

...Now, on the edges where your photo-grass will meet render, select this brush:

Some more png's for grass brushes (and a PS brush file they were extracted from)

---

brushes.zip

[tbd]

having fun with picnik - basic stuff (sharpen, exposure, vignette, ...)

---

[briggs]

HA, that's fun. I've never seen that site before! Who needs PS?! I'm gonna fiddle with some night time renderings soonish, see if I can get a decent outcome with an interesting look.

The fur plugin is a great tool for grass but it doesn't have bog down sketchup!

[pyroluna]

Briggs that render looks better- especially without the lensflare. I really like the furgrass!! Maybe try and use the same effects that TBD used might be a winner!

TBD: lol @ your graffiti

[briggs]

Cheers, I cut down the contrast and the saturation levels. The fur plugin is great! Just wish it did kill SUp!

Here is another with an attempt at putting in a "brooding" sky: