Trying to get a WATERCOLOR effect

[danb4026]

What is best way to get a nice water color effect in a render? I do not

know of a watercolor material or plugin. I have not found the photshop

Filter to be adequate.

 

Is there a way to create a vray material ( or an already created material) to use?

[Ky Lane]

Dont you just press the watercolor button?

[Dave Oliver]

you pretty much do just press the watercolor button....in photoshop

 

1) resize your image 10 something like 10K pixels using bicubic smoother

 

2) image > adjustments > shadow/highlight (shadow at 35% - 50%)

 

3) use the watercolor filter...forget the exact settings but you should be able to tell

 

4) rinse and repeat steps 2 & 3 about two or three times

 

5) shrink image back down using bicubic sharper

 

here are my results:

http://www.midwestrender.com/imgpages/image001.html

[danb4026]

Thanks very much! Followed your instructions and it looks great.

 

I assume "rinse" means "accept" the watercolor changes and exit. Then redo.

[Dave Oliver]

hahaha

 

its a pun. like shampoo. rinse and repeat

[Ernest Burden III]

You can also build different shaders in vray to get you at least part of the way towards a watercolor-like result. Look at falloff for edges, artificial specular curves, adjusting contrast and color over distance and don't over-detail your models.

 

Look at watercolor renderings you like and think about how they differ from regular renderings (you might say 'oh, the shadows are extra-blue' for example) and build your scene to produce those results.

[neko]

ten minutes in photoshop from a crappy test render.....

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

to add to the conversation. there is not a filter, at least that i have seen, that simply makes a rendering into a watercolor. watercolors are not like photos, where everything happens at once. they are put together one step at a time, and often you will see tell tale signs of this in the watercolors. meaning, everything is not necessarily consistent accross the entire image. there is quite a bit of variance within the image itself.

 

after you get the base image converted to a 'watercolor' effect using a filter, start playing with the burn and dodge tools. start playing with color wash underlay's. maybe apply a grimey texture over the entire image, and set it to multiply, and reduce the transparency. basically, be willing to try anything to get away from the consistency you will get with a filter. basically, experiment, and do what feels right, and looks good.

 

the reason hybrid images are gaining resurgence is because they are not perfect, and they are not trying to be perfect. you can leave a lot of information out, and let your brain fill in the rest. you can't easily do this with a 'photo real' render. with a photo real render you really need to make sure everything is as close to reality as possible in order to pull it off. this is not necessary for hybrid work. is it really a watercolor you are after, or is it the way in which a watercolor allows you to remove yourself from reality that you are after?