Jane Namenye

Unless the number of lights is making the render time give you a problem, I think you might as well keep them. Normally I place a limited number of photometric lights to approximate the lighting which would be visible through the windows. Not random scatter, but not doing the full interior lighting for each room either. For example, if a room has 50 recessed lights in the ceiling I will make the same quantity of light with 5 lights. Usually these are diffuse point lights or sometime spotlight, occasionally IES. I did see a very interesting rendering that had self-illuminated images in the windows but I've never tried that myself. The change you made to the green was good, but more could be done with the color. My overall impression is that it's a bit grim or unfriendly. Whether this is good or bad depends on what the building is for, and who the rendering will be presented to. If it's going to be used to promote the building, then it would worthwhile to make it look more inviting. I've normally done twilight rather than total dark night when going for a "warm and friendly" look, with interior lighting on the warm side to contrast the deep blue of the sky. It would probably be helpful to spend time looking at renderings in the gallery (and night/twilight/sunset photos of buildings) to see the different ways night lighting can be handled. Then decide on a particular look and adjust the lighting with that in mind. Interested to see how this one will develop.

First time net rendering on 2013 and had that "where's the checkbox?" moment. Thanks for the answers.

The clean lightness of this one made it stand out among the other WIPs and I wanted a closer look. If this is your second rendering, you are are on your way. There are things you could do to give it more life and variation in the lighting, such as having a sunbeam coming through the window and lighting up the room on the other side of the doors. However, my main suggestion is to look at this as a "job" not just a portfolio rendering. Ask yourself: "what part of this room would the designer want to feature?" The straight-on camera view sends the eye right to the end of the hall. This view would work if there was something interesting or mysterious the viewer was being lead to. But what's down at the end really isn't that important. The bright window at the end of the hall makes it even more of an eye-magnet. So I suggest doing more views of this scene to see what it can turn into.

I just got Onyx and started the learning process by looking over the manuals and experimenting with one of the trees that came in its library. Seemed like it would take a bit of trial and error to understand the (numerous!) controls. Searching for tutorials I found a CGschool webinar which was very helpful. Brian Smith demonstrates and explains each of the main controls so it's clear which are most important. Having this info will definitely speed up the process of mastering all of Onyxtree. The webinar is here: http://www.thecgschool.com/free-webinars/

My first impression was it's a crop of a larger image, and I want to see the rest of it. Could you show a little more of the room?

This combination of images is interesting.

What I see is the back plate (the sky image) has an area on the right side with warm colors and small bright spots. These sort of jump forward and take attention from the important part of the image - the pool and house. Try to look at this rendering as if you haven't seen it before and notice what your eye goes to first.

What I see is the brick wall in front of the scene is stronger in color (darker and more saturated) than the redwood. This could make the wood look dull in comparison, even if it is the right color by itself. Maybe getting closer so there isn't so much brick would help.

I was pleasantly surprised by the new design ! I've been looking into the uses for services like digg. Here is a simple explanation of "social bookmarking" (the generic term for services like this.) It could be useful in collecting and bookmarking info on a specific subject from numerous forums and sites (including CG Architect). ---------- I just noticed that my link (the words "social bookmarking") doesn't show up too well. So here it is again: the short explanation of social bookmarking is here http://www.fdlp.gov/home/tutorials/fdlpdesktop/246-what-is-social-bookmarking and info about how it is used for data collection and research is here http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf. I first thought these were just a way to say "hey, I liked this" but now I can see the potential as a research tool.

Here is a DVD on lighting exteriors in VRAY. Gnomon DVD Have you done any more work on this scene? I'm curious how it's progressing.

Thanks for your speedy response! I found the 9800GT and that did seem to be the best right now.

I would appreciate an update on my original question: what is the current recommended graphics card for 3dsmx?

OK! Take a look at this recent discussion of exterior lighting using mental ray. http://forums.cgarchitect.com/35393-outdoor-lighting.html#post246106 Some other things to plan in advance: Are you going for photorealism? Do you want the windows to reflect or show what's inside?

Hello Alex What Travis said makes a lot of sense and I would do what he says too. Aside from that, I would be curious where all the polys are coming from. Do you have a lot of objects in the scene, or are your objects made with a lot of geometry (which could be reduced)? As for making doors, windows & glass, there are many ways to do each of these. You said you're learning 3ds max. Do you have a good grounding in the basics of modeling, materials and lighting (from max or another program) or are you learning these at the same time you are learning the architectural aspects of 3D? (Knowing where you are starting from will help me give you better suggestions.)

Most interesting bank ever! I think your rendering does a good job of communicating it. The animation will be even more interesting, I'm sure.