My new external house renders

Scostumatu

Hi all

Me again - would like some critique/suggestions on my renders. Still no where near as good as I want to get them but im working on it.
Currently using V-Ray and Sketchup with some basic photoshop touch ups (colour, lens correction , lens flare etc)
My main issue now is getting the concrete/drivey looking real. I have the grass down right thanks to MISCHAs tutorial (using the horizontal repeat - although im still not sure how this pic was created and stitched together in PS. I simply downloaded the grass image and done the horizontal repeat). Would anyone have anything similiar for the concrete or driveway?

ALso struggling with the garage material, all i simply did was did a standard diffuse colour with slight reflection... pretty plain and boring... struggling there!! Any suggestions?

Are there any photoshop tutorials out there for external renders for houses?

Also, Is the process of exporting the SU model to 3DS and using Vray as a renderer easy? Anyone know of a tutorial out there? Are the results better? Ive seen some wicked work out there done in 3DS.

looking forward to your responses

Daniel

Good start.

I'm unfamiliar with VRAY, so can't help you there, but I did notice your brick texture needs some adjusting - you have the top of the brick ending in the middle of a course, and vertical mortar joints on the corners, something you wouldn't have in real life. In your third image you might want to add some variety to your plants, rather than reusing the same one repeatedly so close together. Your asphalt material looks unnatural - Ross Macintosh posted a nice asphalt texture here: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=29630&p=259795&hilit=asphalt#p259795

Teksime

@daniel said:

Good start.

I'm unfamiliar with VRAY, so can't help you there, but I did notice your brick texture needs some adjusting - you have the top of the brick ending in the middle of a course, and vertical mortar joints on the corners, something you wouldn't have in real life. In your third image you might want to add some variety to your plants, rather than reusing the same one repeatedly so close together. Your asphalt material looks unnatural - Ross Macintosh posted a nice asphalt texture here: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=29630&p=259795&hilit=asphalt#p259795

Thanks for the advice. I would love to use more variation of plants but those are the only two that I have that look realistic. I'm currently using them in my sketchup model and turning them into face me components and applying an alpha mask in vray. Know of anywhere where I can obtain some great plants?
I see that some people use photoshop to place them but that sounds like a challenge (although background trees are quiet easy with that process).
what process you all using to add vegetation?

jsteacy

I really like Solo's 3D plants but I don't know if that's what your looking for.
http://solosplace.com/3Dgarden.aspx

He also hosts Tom's desk 2d plants (link is at top right) but I feel they are best for non-photo realistic renders.

Does the brick have a bump map on it? It seems like it doesn't, they help for a material like that.

Daniel

For raw SU output, I use FormFonts plant components - that is a subscription service, however, and may not be an option for you.
As mentioned above, Solo and Tom have some nice plants for sale - if you will be modeling a lot, you might weant to consider investing in some.
You might also look on 3D Warehouse for some plants.