Taking the Virtual into Reality

Shane McGoan

Hi there,

my English is pretty bad, so don't be annoyed while reading, please!

_The problem
That's what my problem is - I am now making a Visualisation of an Urban Design Project.
I have a bird's eye view image of a city -

,
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8824/luftbildausschnitt.jpg

and I want to render my Urban Design project and place it in this foto (placement - http://www.myimg.de/?img=Placement8fb0f.jpg ).
It's not only the buildings. but also the spaces inbetween (such as streets, public places, small gardens etc.), that should also be a part of the final image. Therefore I want them also to be a part of the rendering. - http://www.myimg.de/?img=100818withPlacescf046.jpg

I know there's a lot of work to do in Photoshop. But I wanted to show You what the idea of the result in the end should be.

_The questions

Which preferences in VRay will give me the best result, fitting to the bird's eye view picture?
Would You also render the trees and bushes, or would You place them later in PS?
I will be glad to hear all the tipps and tricks, You would share!

_The Software
Sketchup 6 Pro
VRay 4 SketchUp

Thanks in advance,
Best regards,

Shane McGoan

Shane McGoan

English too bad or subject not interesting enough?

Gaieus

@shane mcgoan said:

English too bad or subject not interesting enough?

No, it's just summer time and people are away.

Welcome to SCF by the way. I am not a V-ray user (so cannot answer the more specific questions) but we have a V-ray subforum under the Extensions... Forum where I am going to move your post for better attention.

One of our plugin authors, who is actually an active V-ray user as well wrote a plugin that you may find useful:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=15491

bocomofo

Shane

Cant give you specific advice on Vray as I dont use it.

However if you want your model to blend with the image you should study the original image carefully. Which way are the shadows pointing, is it overcast, is it sunny, can you tell what time of day it is? Once you've fully analysed the image then set up your camera or rendering settings to suit.

If you want acurate shadows on all your trees and bushes furniture etc then you will need to include them in your model so they can contribute to the render, there are several ways to do this which you will find in this forum. As you probably know this will increase your render time, so there is a balance to find between accuracy and time.

@unknownuser said:

English too bad or subject not interesting enough?

There are plenty of people here who are probably willing to help...dont be so hasty, just give them time!!!

Shane McGoan

Thank you for the answers and sorry for being so hasty! The "near-to-end"-version of this visualisation has to be ready in the end of the next week, so I am a bit in a hurry now...

@bocomofo_ Image studying is done - I have already set the shadow preferences in Sketchup to the proper city and the apparent season. Nevertheless I think they are a bit too long and maybe too dark. I'll check them again.
Any idea which trees form the 3D Warehouse look good on renderings?

@Gaieus_ Moving the post to the V-Ray subform would be really nice. I'll test the plugin - it seemes to be a really usefull one.

Thanks again,
Shane

PS_ I'll post some actual stands soon