Night shot, villa

[pailhead]

I've been trying to make my first night render but so far i've had no luck.

 

Do you guys have any useful tips, or do you know a good tutorial that will outline the important steps when approaching a task such as this? I don't have any light specifications, just "throw in a bunch of spotlights". I've tried using some ies lights that i've looked up in erco catalogs. What is the general approach, what is the relation between the ambient light and the artificial lights, how much should be left for post production, what kind of post production should be done, and so on...

 

I would like to achieve (eventually) something like Alex York's renders which are some of the finest arch viz renders i've seen so far.

 

[mbr]

Both his and yours look a little washed out to me (the other view of his project you posted is much better, imho). I would try dialing them lights way down, and gradually starting to increase them.

 

One thing that can help evening/nights shots is good plantings around teh building base that will capture a little light or be uplit. His has a nice texture and detail in the foreground, but yours needs something to ground the building (this goes with the back ground, too - it looks 2D).

 

A few tweaks and it'll be a nice image.

[slawnick]

I think you second shot is about there. I would pull back the light on the walls a bit; it's kinda hot. You would have a bit more even wash of ambient light from the vertical lights along the drive. But the house looks OK; I think it's the extra touches that really make a night shot. As MBR said, lit foliage can help a lot; have a touch of ambient light from the house hit the trees in the background. I actually like the sky better in the first shot; your gradient is a bit harsh in the second one. Maybe a car over on the right side being hit by the light over those doors.

[pailhead]

By lit foliage, do you mean 3d plants? Which library do you suggest for this?

[pailhead]

I find it pretty hard to keep the control over my colors and contrast.

 

 

This feels wrong but i can't figure out what it is. Maybe the actual light sources with bright glow will make it look better.

[ishpalsingh]

nice images pailhead

could u explain how u did the lighting and the background

i have never done night scene

[AJLynn]

It's too much. First, the sky - Alex uses a pretty simple gradient. It's not entirely real but it works. The glow highlights the house subtlely. I'd go with something like the second shot, but just a gradient, not outlining the profile. Now with the lighting, you can either wash out the color a bit (you don't see color as well at night) or leave it alone or even exaggerate it slightly (cameras do pick up the color, and show a bit more of the color in artificial lights and stars than we're used to seeing). But it's too much - nobody lights anything like that.

[pailhead]

I'd like to show two versions that my friends have done.

 

 

This has toned down the blue in newer image that i have posted.

 

 

And this is a jaw dropper made from the previous edit. My friend told me which gnomons to buy in order to study composition, color balancing and matte painting.

[danhogman]

No question about this, the last image shows GREAT progress! I like it. I might add a little bit more light overall, so the building in general is more lit. The spotlights are just too contrasty.

[pailhead]

A bit different, this image went on as a final:

 

[vodka79]

And this is a jaw dropper made from the previous edit. My friend told me which gnomons to buy in order to study composition, color balancing and matte painting.

 

Which Gnomon to buy?