Modo renders

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:21

Hey I recognise those chairs in the last image, Compasso d'Oro Sidechairs right?

Yea, I think you're right. They won't be the final chair, I just need something light that looks stackable for this early rendering. They will probably end up being some sort of clunky sled base chair that can stand up to a lot of abuse. We haven't spec'd the exact furniture yet.

Thanks Mayor. I'm trying. I know there is some dispute regarding too much realism (it's like the sheep farmers battling the cattle ranchers ), but my clients demand my images be as realistic as possible. They are spoiled!

Here's another I did today. It was to test a few materials. It's a combination of my work and components from all sorts of sources. I was really focusing on getting the light and floor materials right. Ignore the repeating texture on the stone wall. I'll fix that later!

Switching to the new intel macs really made a big difference in the complexity if the material that i can use. The speed is really unbelievable.

This image also uses a trick that I picked up at from Yazan at the Modo forum. Duplicate your image in another layer in Photoshop and then use the "high pass" filter on it. Then switch it to overlay and adjust the percentage of opacity to the level or look you desire. Really adds a nice high-key sharpness to the image. This is similar to other techniques you have seen before but is a little different look.

Shaun Tennant · 6 Jan 2008, 21:23

Jeff, that really is awesome, and your clients are spoiled - they have you!
Thanks for the high pass tip - I'ma try that out just to see what I end up with... I think that the materials in this one all look amazing by the way - very convincing render.

P: Shaun Tennant

Edson · 6 Jan 2008, 21:23

hi jeff,

pleased to meet you. hats off to you. awesome work.

alan wood · 6 Jan 2008, 21:24

Jeff
Beautiful work. Quality stuff.
Love the tips all essential stuff to pass on to a person new to the craft.
thanks
Alan

cheffey · 6 Jan 2008, 21:24

Excellent work Jeff.
I find it hard to imagine that that work is coming right out of sketchup.
absolutely hands down some of the best arch-viz renders i've seen.
i wish i could hate you for it... but you are too nice of a guy.

robmoors · 6 Jan 2008, 21:25

@Jeff,

It's really nice to see my models come back in scene's by other by people.

On the render itself, it's very well done, Lighting is excelent what I also try every now and then is a small emboss on the highlights and the darks in the image and put them on darken en lighten in photoshop. It creates a subtile difference and a little sharpness in the overall image:

Original Render:

Small Edit:

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:26

That looks good Rob. I've been trying different tricks in photoshop. This looks like another good one. You do both the highlights and the shadows?

What object in the scene yours? I always try to give credit whwn it's not a formfonts and I know the source.

robmoors · 6 Jan 2008, 21:27

Yes both the highlights and the shadows,

Offcourse with opposite emboss angles on the different layers, put the highlight layer on lighten and the shadows on darken. (soft light works from time to time but you just have to scroll through the blending modes to see what is most fitting).
Ow yes and a sharpen filter also often contributes to the final render.

I use a lot of the techniques I learned when I still was doing a lot of digital art (mostly terraspace http://blaze2x.deviantart.com/gallery/ ). You learn a lot about mattepainting and you sure as hell get familiar with photoshop.

As to the object, it is a FormFonts resource it's my Compasso D'oro Sidechair. But no credit is needed that is what FormFonts is for right .

Edit:
Btw Im sorry for the insanely large screenshots forgot to press the ALT - printscreen button.

And Jeff if you ever find the chance to make a video tutorial or just a tutorial guiding us through your rendering process (From SketchUp to modo to the final render with some post processing, offcourse leaving out the moddeling part ) I would really appreciate it, it would also make a nice contribution to these fora.

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:28

Rob,
Nice chair.

I'll give the emboss trick a try. I did a simple single layer emboss before I saw your latest response. That gives me a clearer picture of your technique. Very cool.

I could try a video sometime. I'm really pretty new to it. Probably not doing it right.

Here is another view I did yesterday. Starting to add some "stuff" here and there.

robmoors · 6 Jan 2008, 21:29

Hmm the first one had more warmth to it, probably because of the red wall on the left. I kind off miss that in this render.

A video or some screenshot anything really would be more than welcome. I have to finish a pair of decent renders in 2 weeks of a building I am currently designing, and after seeing your renders I would love to do it with modo and a good tutorial .

alan wood · 6 Jan 2008, 21:29

Jeff
This work is just amazing. I would second the last for a tutorial as there is so much stuff a beginner like myself would learn. I dare say those in the highly skilled bracket would as well because these images just jump out at you as so full of quality.
thanks for posting
Alan.

mateo soletic · 6 Jan 2008, 21:30

I must have missed this one, Looks like
Ill be buying Modo soon.
Amazing work Jeff.

firkins · 6 Jan 2008, 21:30

Jeff,

These renders are just incredible. You achieve a level of reality in the quality of light that I just haven't been able to achieve. Do you attribute that to the quality of materials that you use or the render settings you use, or is it just the Modo app itself that creates such realism? I'm stumped and stupified! Shocked

Regards,

Jackson · 6 Jan 2008, 21:31

Jeff,

You're killing me with these renders!

Jackson

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:31

@firkins said:

Jeff,

These renders are just incredible. You achieve a level of reality in the quality of light that I just haven't been able to achieve. Do you attribute that to the quality of materials that you use or the render settings you use, or is it just the Modo app itself that creates such realism? I'm stumped and stupified! 8O

Regards,

Thanks Michael and Jackson,

I don't know. Lots of experimenting with light colors and ambient light. I also make my own HDRI's. While not true HDRI's they work fairly well for lighting . I adjust these quite a bit depending on a scene's needs.

Some of the materials are made from the free Arroway textures. These are low-rez so there is nothing special there.

I try to keep the compositions interesting and the lighting always errs on the warm side. There is some post processing in Photoshop involved. Sharpening, duplicating and adjusting layers, some attempts at tone-mapping etc. Probably more luck than skill.

alan wood · 6 Jan 2008, 21:32

Jeff
You said 'probably more luck than skill'
I love the expression 'the harder you work, the luckier you get'
Alan

AndreaGlucker · 6 Jan 2008, 21:33

Hello Jeff

May I ask you what your workflow from SU to Modo is, fbx/obj? Do you fully texture in Modo? How do the "SU materials" get imported into Modo, I mean, does it work well?

Sorry, I am pestering you with these questions, first about Maxwell, now Modo... just came across this thread here and thought "this looks interesting", maybe I need Modo, not Maxwell.

If you had to compare the two, in conjunction with SU, what would you say?

Regards from London, Andy.

not registered yet · 6 Jan 2008, 21:33

excellent work Jeff.
I had test run Modo before and heard that they render quickly
As an example of your images.How long did it render?

Thanks

P: EQC

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:34

Any of the newer stuff with Modo 301 only took 25 minutes tops. A couple of the older images at the same resolution would have taken 4-5 hours with 201. The difference is a new new Intel 8-core machine and 301, which uses all 8 cores.

not registered yet · 6 Jan 2008, 21:34

Wow! That is so good!
I was thinking of getting Artlantis.
But do you think Modo is better
value?

Thanks for the info.

P: EQC