Nice work. I love the concrete work. As a painter I can tell you that using an off-white will help. Though it won't be pure white, it will still be "white" without being so bright. Or if you can manipulate the color just add a little black (just a touch) to shut it up a little. From what I see it seems to be an issue of color choice and material for the building. Try to stay away from primary or bright colors. You would be surprised what lighting will do so don't be afraid to go darker or dirty up a color in a paint program. Even just changing the wooden beam textures to darker wood with a bump map would make a big difference. Aside from the color choices on the building, the scene is very nice.

-I like it all except the windows on the building don't look quite right...maybe too opaque or just need some thing to reflect in them. -yeah windows too light. from this angle the windows wouldn't appear to reflect much....but at sharp angle they would....fresnel. so darken them. Windows are the bane of my existence! lol, good point though, I have artificially lightened them with light blue grass image (in photoshop) would look better than 3d grass and significantly reduce render time. I've tried that in a previous version of this house, I was a little undecided which I liked better. tree looks fake, sorry i know its hard finding good trees. understandable, any ideas where to grab a better one? turbo squid? this one is from formfonts.com materials need more work, have you applied any templates to them? or are they all plain diffuse textures? Every single texture has diffuse, bump, specular. obviously the effect wasn't strong enough? The siding could use a stronger bumpmap probably I would choose a lower view angle, as if a human has taken the photo. heh... I guess I've worked on this long enough, and adjusted enough things that I didn't notice I raised the camera at some point! thanks for that catch! I bet that will help a bunch. Brighten exposure or sun strength, it seems quite dark in contrast to the bright sky. Humm I'll have to give this a shot too -Probably depth or occulsion pass would be more desirable -Try overlaying a depth render in photoshop. A couple of people have mentioned this... but there IS one of each, and I thought the effect had come off quite well! maybe the bloom effect I've overlayed on top has removed the effect of the depth render.. D-space, is there a tutorial somewhere for occlusion passes in Kerkythea? Reduce the amount of diffuse glow/bloom as image is not bright enough to justify. you would not perceive a hazy atmosphere on a dull day as your render suggests. I'll give this a shot too, hopefully it will bring out the depth render. Yeah I don't think that tutorial you read would apply to an exterior shot like this. I've read just about every tutorial I can find, and this one seemed to have the best method for bringing out textures and reflections, which is what I was after Have you tried using any standard presets that come with the program. (if they come with the program? I am not familiar with it) I've rendered in quite a few of the presets (MLT, Depth, Ambient Occlusion) and I've used a few preset materials (the car is probably the most notable one) TBH it's pretty hard to comment when there's no reference. You say you are trying to optimise your 'time spent vs quality' ratio, but without knowing how long this would take (or what it would look like) using your normal workflow there's really not much to be said. I've spent about 10-20 hours on this house. I've probably rendered it 20 different ways, and composed it 40 different ways in photoshop. To go from 2d drawings straight to this, using these techniques would probably be around the 10 hour mark (4 hrs modeling +3 hours rendering + 3 hours photoshop) I think my clients wouldn't go for an image like this. On the other hand, if it's a hobby-project or a quickie you did for a friend then it looks allright to me. This started as a client project, then turned into a hobby when the client's company folded

Thanks for the comments. Can you comment on what specifically irked you in regards to textures? The lighting is really bright, because I was instructed by the client to make it that way (I appreciate how much a little shadow drama would add to this render, but they don't )

here's my crit: all the textures are a bit.. flat. a little more obvious bump map maybe, or better textures. There's a lot of free ones over at cg-textures or there are some low-res (sort of) free textures at arroway. Just go to the products section, and then go to the product that interests you. After that you'll be able to see a list of textures on the side view. There's a maps section at the bottom part of the texture description. Choose the diffuse map and you got yourself a free low-res arroway texture. see att. [image: IeVv_scren.png]

Hi Will03, Good to see you again... Looking forward to see more from you..!!

that's just a quote from a page somewhere on the net... I din't write it... I guess I should have linked it, but it was an ebay page...

Here's some more Canadian inventions: 17-alpha-ethynyl-17-hydroxy-5(10)-estren-3-one: today known simply as "The Pill" Air-Conditioned Railway Coach: Henry Ruttan, 1858 Abdominizer: (infomercial exercise device) Dennis Colonello, 1984 A/C Radio Tube: Edward Samuels Rogers, 1925 Automatic Foghorn: Robert Foulis, 1859 Automatic Machinery Lubricator: Elijah McCoy Automatic Postal Sorter: (200,000 letters an hour) Maurice Levy, 1957 Basketball: James Naismith, 1891 Bone Marrow Compatibility Test: Barbara Bain, 1960 Chocolate Bar: Arthur Ganong, 1910 Computerized Braille: Roland Galarneau, 1972 Creed Telegraph System: (Morse Code to text) Fredrick Creed, 1900 Electric Cooking Range: Thomas Ahearn, 1882 Electric Light Bulb: Henry Woodward invented the electric light bulb in 1874 then sold the patent to Thomas Edison Electron Microscope: Eli Franklin Burton, Cecil Hall, James Hillier, Albert Prebus, 1937 Electric Organ: Morse Robb, 1928 Electric Streetcar: John Joseph Wright, 1883 Fathometer: (early sonar) Reginald A. Fessenden, 1919 Film Colourization: Wilson Markle, 1983 Goalie Mask: Jaques Plante, 1960 Gramophone: Alexander Graham Bell & Emile Berliner, 1889 Green Ink Currency ink: Thomas Sterry Hunt, 1862 Half-tone Engraving: Georges Edouard Desbarats & William Augustus Leggo, 1869 Heart Pacemaker: Dr.John A. Hopps, 1950 Hydrofoil Boat: Alexander Graham Bell & Casey Baldwin, 1908 Instant Mashed Potatos: Edward A. Asselbergs, 1962 JAVA: (programming language) James Gosling, 1994 Jetliner: The first commercial jetliner to fly in North America was designed by James Floyd in 1949. Jolly Jumper (Baby bungee jumping): Olivia Poole, 1959 Music Synthesizer: Hugh Le Caine, 1945 Newsprint: Charles Fenerty, 1838 Odometer (mechanical): Samuel McKeen, 1854 Paint Roller: Norman Breakey, 1940 Plexiglas: William Chalmers, 1931 Pumpable liquid hand soap system: Harold Humphrey, 1972 Portable Film Developing System: Arthur Williams McCurdy, 1890 (McCurdy foolishly sold the patent to George Eastman in 1903) Process to Extract Helium from NG: Sir John Cunningham McLennan, 1915 Quartz Clock: Warren Marrison R-Theta Navigation System: J.E.G. Wright, 1958 Radio-Transmitted Voice: Reginald A. Fessenden, 1904 Railway Car Brake: George B. Dorey, 1913 Railway Sleeper Car: Samuel Sharp, 1857 Plastic bottle Machine (Rotary Blow Molding): Gustave Côté, 1966 Safety Paint: Neil Harpham, 1974 Silicon Chip Blood Analyzer: Imants Lauks, 1986 Standard Time: Sir Sanford Fleming, 1878 Stereo-orthography Map Making: T.J. Blachut & Stanley Collins, 1965 Superphosphate Fertilizer: Thomas L. Wilson, 1896 Synthetic Sucrose: Dr. Raymond Lemieux, 1953 Television System: Reginald A. Fessenden, 1927 Television Camera: F. C. P. Henroteau, 1934 Telephone Handset: Cyril Duquet, 1878 Tuck-Away-Handle Beer Carton: Steve Pasjac, 1957 Undersea Telegraph Cable: Fredrick Newton Gisborne, 1857 UV-degradable Plastics: Dr. James Guillet, 1971 Wirephoto (fax concept): Edward Samuels Rogers, 1925 Pablum (baby food): Drs. A. Brown, F. Tisdall, & T. Drake, 1930s Superman: Joe Shuster & Jerome Siegel, 1938 Panoramic Camera: John Connon, 1887 Electric Wheelchair: George J. Klein Silicon Steel Alloy: Reginald A. Fessenden, 1892 Alkaline Batteries & Lithium batteries: Lewis Frederick Urry, 1959 Two-way transatlantic radio transmission: Reginald Fessenden, 1906 Instant Replay (for televised sports): George Retzlaff, 1955 plus the Dental Mirror, Tracer Bullets, Radio Compass, portable baby highchair, Yachtzee game, Trivial Pursuit game, Pictionary game, Balderdash game, Nursing Mother Breast Pads, helium as a substitute for hydrogen in airships, the first cardiac intensive care unit, and Margerine, And close to my heart... the yummy McIntosh Apple: developed by John McIntosh, 1796

@unknownuser said: @unknownuser said: Superbank? Byron Bay? Oh noooo! Byron Bay! Horrible memories just revisited me. I flew my kite (with 6ft8 wingspan) there in 1995, Really? Cool I guess? But how were the waves there? Jimmy poster-J1mmy

Thanks for the kind words guys! unfortunately I am unable to play with the materials at all... They've already been decided... I do agree however that the area behind reception requires some work, maybe a little post production faux lighting... humm!

I think your first image was closer to being real. In an urban area the ground snow and the snowing sky and clouds reflect the light equally, This is how it is so bright in/during a snowstorm. Now if you are in the country, deep forest in the pitch black of night, when it is snowing sideways and visibility is zilch, the windows will have a amber glow, and shadows will emanate from that source. I think that light source on the left is confusing the issue.

Thanks for the comments guys and gals! They are all taken much into appreciation. I had one day to do this image, the model was mostly done for me in CAD (just an import and cleanup in SU) I think it may have taken me 6 hours start to finish? (this is mostly Photoshop) also due to the time constraint, that is why there is no detail to the materials on the building. I needed the render in a matter of minutes, so kept the KT work to a minimum. regarding the trees... I got in trouble for this one. There are actually no trees on site. There is nothing there but concrete and an oil refinery, but I thought I would slip those in and try to get away with that, because I find landscaping much easier on the eyes than dump trucks the size of houses filled with oilsand... anyways, thank you everyone!

G'Days guys just a wee FYI this thread is upside down, read from the bottom up my Bad in editing it must because i'm in australia my apologies to will03 the original poster

Bruce, there is a free video tutorial at go-2-school.com called "The Sketchup Show #17: Sandbox Part Duex" it shows how to use the imported image from GE (the color one) as terrain texture.

@will03 said: im not going to get caught up in technicalities, but it was my 100th post on the sketchucation forums! I understand, anyhow you've now reached that milestone twice, and in the same thread. poster-Maggy

I'm biking about 20K 3 or 4 times a week currently... I'd like to get out more! Next summer WilliamT and I are contemplating riding from Calgary to Vancouver! I think that would be a pretty epic ride to take!

I second what Boo said, but would like to add that maybe this view isn't the best choice. Have you explored other options for views before rendering?

I'm with you, Will, I too like the soft warmth of this image. You might try pulling just a little form out of the people with your light/dark brush...seems to pacify my "look like billboards" nemesis. (Getting picky, 'cause this image deserves the best, I think the kids group would set down in space better if moved forward off the white patch of carpet.) Really nice, thanks for sharing. Best, Tom.

Lovely model. Thanks for sharing. And Kris is so right. The sides of the stacks are a very nice touch. It's those sort of little details that realy make a model. Nicely done.

Thanks Coen, a different way of doing it...much appreciated. um...on a serious note however, a banana model and you in a tree...??? people are gonna talk!