Steps to a Great Rendering

[cdburningmaster]

Hey everyone.

 

Not too long ago, I migrated from using Artlantis 4.5 to Max 8 for making architectural renderings from ArchiCad 8. My results have always been significantly better than artlantis.

 

In max/viz, what are some steps I should follow to get a photorealistic rendering in Max using either scanline or Menalray (such as set up materials, set up radiosity/photons, etc), as well as any tips/tricks that may be helpful to a newbie. I know it seems like a very vague question. I just want to learn as much as I can about the fundamentals of rendering in MAX, having never formally learned it.

 

I purchased that new book by Friends of Ed, 3ds max 8 architectural visualization. It's a few hundred pages long,hardcover, and cost 60 bucks. I didnt find much of it very useful, as most of the book covers modeling (which i do in archicad anyway). It doesn't go in depth about rendering, not even touching mental ray.

[UTI]

I think that the only thing wich majurly afects the rendering is Lighting .....

i don't say that modelling and texturing has no valu ,,,,they are important too but what really makes difference is lighting.

if we talk about different types of lighting and which is better i think we should consider time coz it is a very important factor .

for me i use 2 ways of lighting :

1- Vray =long time and very tiring if you want to make animation but it has very realistic result

 

 

2-Normal max lights =time saving and good in animation but needs alot of experience to present realistic result(but not as relaistic as vray)

[ovzoc]

As for materials there is always the classic phrase... RTFM! Max's user reference has a lot of info on what type of materials you should use with scanline rendering or mental ray. Follow the instructions, create and use good quality and correct uv mapped textures, and of course adjust your lights in a level that satisfies your needs... Do some test renders to adjust your final result and then increase your values to a better result...

 

Anyway hope that helped... Read the manual... you will learn a lot!

[chuck]

for lighting in max (scanline) you have a couple of options to create "good" lighting...both are covered in the max help/tutorials.

 

for exteriors i'd make a skydome then use a spotlight for the sun. with a few adjustments you should have a system that mimics out door lighting.

 

for interiors, look at max's radiosity. it's tricky to get right and the rendering times are long, but you can get really good results with it.

 

mental ray is pretty complex and not the easiest to learn...but the results can be arguably better than scanline.

 

i still believe vray is the way to go. it balances quality, speed, features and complexity well....and there's a ton of support for it.

[Sketchrender]

I would agree, after 4 years of artlantis myself and fast results, especially the night scene renders,

I would down load the vray free version and do a few small tutorials, trust me you won't know yourself, it's a serious step up, and to another professional level, you'll be in the big league.

If you think small you stay small, use what everybody is using as the user base is the best for max and vray.

you will need a lot ram, but do it you won't regret it.

 

phil

[mahorela]

I agree that vray and maxwell are the way to go. When I got into arch viz I wasted so much time trying to make my work look like vray work, with photometric lights and mental ray but never could get the look I was after. Save yourself some time and anguish and get a third party renderer.

[Justin Hunt]

Once again there is a perlifera of suggestions to run before you can walk.

 

You are asking for fundimental rendering advice, start with the tutorials that come with Max, read through the manual (still one of the best manuals around) and get your head around those first. Most of the tuts are not specific to arch viz but the concepts are easily adaptable.

 

Once you are confident with that, then and only then look into a 3rd pardty renderers. Test them all and make the choice for your self. VRay isn't the only renderer out there and is complicated, as are all advanced renderers.

 

Please evey one don't let this fall into the same old trap of this renderer is better than that one. There are more than enough discussions for that.

[chuck]

keep in mind that crits on this forum will help you move along in the right direction....so start posting images. with the right insight you can build quickly on the fundamentals.

[Brian Smith]

I purchased that new book by Friends of Ed, 3ds max 8 architectural visualization. It's a few hundred pages long,hardcover, and cost 60 bucks. I didnt find much of it very useful, as most of the book covers modeling (which i do in archicad anyway). It doesn't go in depth about rendering, not even touching mental ray.

 

Shannon,

In response to your post, I'm not sure why you would say that most of the book covers modeling when only 69 (3 chapters out of 18) of the nearly 600 pages covers modeling. I also don't know why you would say it doesn't go in depth about rendering when there's 53 pages (2 chapters). No, I did not cover mental ray at all because it's an advanced feature, hence the title "Foundation 3ds Max 8". You say you want to learn the fundamentals. If so, I recommend learning materials, basic lighting, and numerous other things before trying to touch mental ray. And I certainly would learn all I could about modeling because using a plethora of modeling features is going to be pretty unavoidable, regardless of how good your imported models are.