@rich o brien said:

There's that lamp again stealing my eye.

Love the first 2.

The gold on the cutlery could be reworked. Is it a preset?

The detail on the bulb is really nice.

We'll done u

Rich, thought you might like to see an actual image of one of the room sets. You were saying something about the lamp??!! lol

@pbacot said:

Exciting. Congrats and good work!

Isn't it though?!! Exciting, I mean!! Grand Designs have already retweeted one of my 3D Visuals today!! So chuffed

Thanks!!

@rich o brien said:

There's that lamp again stealing my eye.

Love the first 2.

The gold on the cutlery could be reworked. Is it a preset?

The detail on the bulb is really nice.

We'll done u

Rich, thanks! I know what you mean about the gold cutlery but these images were presented on A3 sized card (3 images on one A3) and the detail on the cutlery wouldn't have been that noticeable. So I decided to use my time more wisely on the other renders, especially that flippin bulb!

I also sent off my answers for the case study 'Making of' that Maxwell Render asked me to do re: the close-up of the bulb. SketchUp gets a wee mention in it

@marked001 said:

nice and playful. congrats.

Thank you

Hey everyone! I finally posted all of my 3D Visuals for Grand Designs Live yesterday. I still can't believe they're going to be on display and be seen by thousands of people!! I'm so excited!! Can you tell??!!

I thought I'd post the final images for you to have a nosey at.

Anita

@rich o brien said:

Ennis in Clare.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

Google Maps (www.google.com)

Ok, I love a wee road-trip!! I was actually talking with friends last week about visiting Cong in Co. Mayo. I've been there many times (my dad is a humongous Quiet Man fan, he met Maureen O'Hara quite a few times, even in her OWN home, they even went to Church together...weird!!).

Thanks Nick, that's a lovely compliment. I like the word 'refreshing'! Hmmm...I wonder should I tone that blasted lamp down? It's actually cylindrical!! I hate it!! I hate it even more so now!!! It's difficult to make out its overall shape because of the way it's illuminated and even more so because it's been slightly blurred because of the depth of field. You should be looking at the bird/cake/nice shadows on the wall!!!! I'll see what adjustments I can make in Photoshop.

Where in the South are you based? It would be fantastic to drop in!!

Thanks Rich, that lamp wouldn't be my choice but unfortunately is does glow like that! Stupid lamp. I'm using the Studio and the plugin, if that makes sense?! I'm following you guys on Twitter!! I only recently realised that Sketchucation is based in Ireland!!

I have to get 6 rendered images finalised by Saturday, so that I can post them off to a pretty big design event in London. I'm starting to get double-vision. I hope all the hard work pays off because I'm about to run to the hills.

This image is for an interior room set for a dining space. I think it's a pretty awesome angle. But hey, what do I know?!

Anita

@bryan k said:

Very nice!

Thank you!

Thanks for that tip I've heard lots of good things about Topaz!

Hey everyone,

I've been playing around with Adobe After Effects and can highly recommend this very powerful application. When I say 'powerful', I mean it: my poor laptop couldn't keep up!

Anyway, I couldn't resist the temptation to use my most recent render in an animation. I'm being serious, when I say that this is the last one for a while - they just take too long to compile!!

Anita

@richard said:

Seriously you aren't alone with battling emitters, you certainly picked a hard one! BTW is your glass to the bulb AGS or real glass?

I put a george nelson shade in a client render the other day - spent SO LONG to get it almost right and then they didn't like the fitting so luckily I didn't have to pull hair to get it absolutely right!

I congratulate you for taking Massimo's critique on board - Sometimes we have battled SO hard to get something we are so proud of, yet as often so attached that critique is hard to swallow. The truth is that we had our heads stuck where they shouldn't be. When we extract it and be strong with an "f*** you!" attitude to "I'll show you!", we nail things that without that encouragement, we'd have sat thinking my best, when the truth is we have another dimension to our best!

Well done!

I avoided doing the whole light bulb design for ages. Initially I just had a normal bulb and then thanks to the 3D Warehouse I found that teardrop shape. I manipulated it a little, added the filament and then created the brass fitting. I wouldn't have been happy with the final render if I had have proceeded with a standard bulb design anyway. I think being a 3D Visualiser or CG Artist we're (unfortunately) sticklers for detail. It's both a curse and a bonus. The glass material is an MXM material that's real glass. It's extremely fine with a high reflection. There was a little noise at the bottom of the bulb in the final raw render - not too many but I removed them in Photoshop. It was an absolute dream when the flame-like reflections appeared, just the way it appears in reality. It's a serious thumbs-up for the accuracy of unbiased rendering. I didn't add those in post-processing but I did exaggerate them.

I had to take Massimo's critique on board for two reasons: 1. His credibility and 2. My own personal development. You're right, it isn't easy to accept someone else's critique and it's even more difficult when you know they're right! Grrrrrrrrrr!!!! haha

When you mentioned linking my first post with the first image, did you mean uploading my first image again?

Thanks Richard! I had to 'clean up' the artefacts in my original image (I didn't notice that there was noise or something on the left-hand side of the brass fitting), it must have happened during post-processing. So I sent them an adjusted version, completed a permission form and I'm good to go! They said they'd let me know when they were going to upload it. Then they asked if I'd do a 'Making of' case study for them!! How cool is that?! Would it be frowned upon if I said my workflow involved putting my laptop in a headlock, drinking copious amounts of wine and munching on Cheetos??!

I really have to thank Massimo for making me look at my initial upload from an objective point of view. If it wasn't for his critique, I would never have pushed myself further to try and get a much more realistic render.

Thanks Peter. You're so right about perseverance but it can be a drag!

Oli, if only! Nope, no payment but to be honest the accolade is more important than any financial gain

Dudes! I uploaded my render on Twitter and copied SketchUp and Maxwell Render into it and was contacted by someone from Maxwell Render asking if they could use my render in their online gallery and/or promotional material!!!! How flippin' awesome is that??!!

I'm going to check their website on the hour, EVERY hour to see when they upload it!

@richard said:

If you want to diffuse the light more you could try an IBL - use a circular gradient filled image (light cream centered | black rim) you can create a HDRI in PS or open the image in Maxwell Render (the actual render app not the studio. Then save as MXI.

Obviously paint the emitter with the JPG version of the image for scaling then link this to the MXI file.

Also if you want a diffused directional light make sure the light has blinkers, use matt black on these. You can put baffles in it for more direction.

Richard, thanks for your tips. I'm going to have to discuss this with you in more detail!!

Massimo, I think when it comes to 3D modelling and rendering, the path of discovery is a continual one. Which is extremely frustrating! But at least you can always see the gradual improvements you are making. Thank you, I honestly hope that you like it. I could have probably spent a little more time on the brass fitting but I'm getting to the stage where I'm sick of looking at the bulb (and I used to love them!).