How Do They Do It? - Renderings

benie · 5 Apr 2013, 01:37

I have always felt that I can hardly contribute to the forums as there are so many masters around already! Recently I thought I give back to the community by subscribing to the Premium membership. My little excuse to get all the freebies and benefits as well I have been enjoying it but again probably a passive watcher than an active participant.

Here is my first post / thread as I try to “breakout of the mould”. Hopefully the community could shed light as to how I could go about improving my Sketchup renderings.

I have always been a simple “rendering” guy. I use SUPodium or V-Ray to render. I don’t really tweak many settings and I photoshop ridiculous amount of information on top of them. Recently my attention has started to shift towards skyscrapers, and I noticed that their renders are absolutely stunning.

Example:

I was wondering if someone could advise me how I could get there to this level of “metallic finish” / glass reflecting / sun ray warming renders.

Thank you for your time!

Krisidious · 5 Apr 2013, 02:40

Welcome to the other side Benie... Everyone has something to contribute, whether it be an opinion or method.

I'm thinking that was not just a natural render but a model+render+photoshop post process type of thing.

benie · 5 Apr 2013, 07:51

Hey Krisidious, thanks!! Yeah, I have been trolled pretty hard on the other forums that I visited, but I notice here it is pretty calm So decided to join you guys

I was wondering though, the program that my friends seem to reckon is actually 3D Max or Maya. I am currently trying to replicate it with iRender which I got recently, but it seems impossible to get that style

Was wondering if there is any good tutorials or ways about this

In anyway Thanks Kris for welcoming!!

valerostudio · 10 Apr 2013, 19:40

I can almost guarantee its Max, VRay, and a lot of Photoshop. A youtube search will bring up a lot of tutorials. I don't know of any specifically that would show you this method. find the artist that rendered it, ask them. Most guys dont mind sharing a little.

valerostudio · 10 Apr 2013, 19:44

Here is the architect http://www.tfpfarrells.com/ It's called the Z15. I bet this firm did this in-house. Worth shooting them an email.

broomstick · 11 Apr 2013, 14:42

A simple way to achieve a similar result is to use a nice HDR image as Global Illumination and Background (at least in Vray). You could try and look into that

Rich O Brien · 11 Apr 2013, 17:58

(www.cgarchitect.com)

Some great walkthroughs

benie · 13 Apr 2013, 04:55

Thank you all for your responses! I really really appreciate it

I think right now I am just trying to render better...

I am quite sad that sometimes, an idea just cant seem to be "conveyed" across just because the render is not "powerful" enough. Hence I am determined to learn to better my level of rendering!

At this juncture I fail to use the HDR setting to its full capabilities.
I will really have to try out. Hopefully there are more "architecture" related tutorials. Cause most tutorials focus on really small items like furniture or a particular room with the light up setting play around.. its hard to "super-size" it i guess

valerostudio · 15 Apr 2013, 18:48

Being a better rendering artist is so much more. It's about understanding the art and not so much the software or technique. I would say that it more important to understand good composition and light balance than to know how to use an HDRI or what Fresnel is. The software tricks is something that should come later. Grab a sketch book and some watercolor paint and go today and draw something. So many of us on here are stuck behind the mouse we lose the artistic side of things and get hung up on bump mapping and Photoshop layers.

benie · 17 Apr 2013, 09:59

@valerostudio said:

Being a better rendering artist is so much more. It's about understanding the art and not so much the software or technique. I would say that it more important to understand good composition and light balance than to know how to use an HDRI or what Fresnel is. The software tricks is something that should come later. Grab a sketch book and some watercolor paint and go today and draw something. So many of us on here are stuck behind the mouse we lose the artistic side of things and get hung up on bump mapping and Photoshop layers.

Thank you for your insight!