Rendered Physical Model Look

[TomA]

Is it possible to achieve the look of this physical model (courtesy of Dow Jones Architects) in Vray, in terms of lighting and materials?

 

If so, how?

 

Thanks in advance

[Nicolai Bongard]

My guess would be to create paper/cardboard materials, scale your model to the size it would be "in real life", apply materials, apply lights and then hit render? Also make sure you apply a lot of DOF to your image, as it helps to create the illusion that your model is in fact small.

 

Edit: For the miniature model effect, you may also wish to check out some tutorials on how to fake tilt shift photography in photoshop. I am not sure if you can achieve it with a vray physical camera. Basically it is an effect you can achieve with special lenses on cameras so that full size/real life stuff looks like small models. So that might be a neat trick to convey that your model is small.

Edited October 7, 2013 by nicolaibongard

[TomA]

Great ideas thanks. I will be trying them out.

 

Any tips for the lighting and render setup, anyone?

[Chris MacDonald]

Depth of field is the magic sauce that makes things look miniature. The more you exaggerate DoF, the smaller things look.

[Scott Schroeder]

As Nicolai mentioned, look into the tilt-shift effect. That really makes things that are real look miniature.

 

[heni30]

Here are some nice samples. If you just google tilt-shift - it's a widespread photography happening thing right now - you'll find a lot of info.

 

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/

[TomA]

Nice links thanks.

I remember the effect was used in The Social Network at the start of the rowing scene on the Thames.

Edited October 7, 2013 by TomA

[heni30]

I would do it in Photoshop - faster and a lot more control.

 

Just place a blurred copy on top of the original and start erasing away with hard and feathered brushes.

[Chris MacDonald]

I would do it in Photoshop - faster and a lot more control.

 

Just place a blurred copy on top of the original and start erasing away with hard and feathered brushes.

 

Perhaps, but it doesn't look as good as real depth of field.

 

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[Scott Schroeder]

Photoshop CS6 has a tilt-shift lens effect built in. Filter -> Blur -> Tilt-shift.

[AJLynn]

Tilt-shift is just a way of faking small DOF that you can use if you have a real camera and are trying to make something that's actually large look small. For making your render look like a model, make it like it's a model. Make it small, make materials like a physical model is made from, put it on a base and put in a fabric background and studio type lighting. Add DOF if you want but if you do the rest it's not even needed.

 

Shoot views like those you would use if you had a model and a DSLR. I don't like the shot you've shown here for that reason. It looks like a shot taken in a real building that's got very odd furniture. Maybe some sort of art installation designed by a sleep deprived architecture student.

 

Here's an example. Simple, but it was effective in selling the project to the client.

[heni30]

Perhaps, but it doesn't look as good as real depth of field.

 

Actually an overall radially graded erasure of a blurred copy over a sharp image will give the exact same look as a camera dof.

 

But some of the most effective t&l images are not uniform and perfect. There's a kinda clumsiness/heavy-handedness to them which makes the subject matter look even more like a small model.

Edited October 7, 2013 by heni30

[Chris MacDonald]

Actually an overall radially graded erasure will give the exact same look as a camera dof.

 

But the some of the most effective t&l images are not uniform and perfect. There's a kinda clumsiness/heavy-handedness to them which makes the subject matter look even more like a small model.

 

Not without some very serious scrutiny.

 

I think there is a common misconception that dof simply blurs the edges of an image: it doesn't. It takes into account how far away objects are from the focal point, Photoshop does not unless you are using a plugin & zdepth pass.

 

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[heni30]

You're right. A radial erasure assumes that everything in the middle is far away and the edge stuff is close which is what the OP's example is doing.

 

But let's say the right wall ended in the foreground and the back wall continued to the right of it -then it wouldn't work.

[AJLynn]

You can't just say that the center of the screen will be in focus and the outside won't. The center area has both foreground and background and so do the edges. The amount that a part of the scene will be blurred relates to the distance from the plane or curve of focus. If there is an edge of a foreground object that's in focus and the background is not, it will go from sharp to blur and the in focus object will "pop" out. Highlights in the background will be circles, with the quality of those depending on the lens. You can't easily fake this stuff well enough to make it look good. And it still doesn't solve the problem of the original image posted looking nothing like a model photo.

[Tommy L]

As Nicolai mentioned, look into the tilt-shift effect. That really makes things that are real look miniature.

 

 

I absolutely love the Hulk Hogan bit.

 

Oh, and to answer the question...

2 options, either render the DOF (more realistic but less flexible) or do it in post (greater control, less render tme, can have opacity and specularity errors).

I would test it both ways at low res and see which you prefer. the other thing to consider is what post production tool you will use. The lens blur in PS is horrible, just looks fake no matter how much you fiddle with it. I'd recommend DOF Pro from Richard Rosenman or Frischluft in Aftereffects. Neither are free, both are a steal.

 

Oh, and in response to the 'clone the layer, blur then pint out a mask' idea...well that wont work but you could manually paint a ZDepth as a controller, that is probably the best way to tilt shift a non-tilt shifted photo sequence...

Edited October 8, 2013 by Tommy L

[theoengelbrecht]

Hi Guys, first post here so lets give it a shot, i had a look at Tom's reference image

and i notice two things, the ugly overexposure of the top window area that has nothing

to do with this whatsoever but just felt like mentioning it. and the horizontal lines in the

corners is straight up, which means there is a vertical shift applied to the vray physical

camera which might also contribute to the illusion of the tilt shift effect, Photoshop tilt

shift is not very versatile, the "Smallworlds Video" is a bit more complex and the blur

differs alot from scene to scene and photoshop just slaps it on there making it quite

messy, anyway I was bored earlier and remade a similar scene trying to mimic the effect

and post was done entirely with 2 additional Vray render elements, Extratex with dirt map

for ambient occlusion, and Zdepth that i used the most to enhance the environment

effect from the windows and the blur effect seen on the picture, didnt take long, was

just a test since i was curious. But usind Zdepth in post is very versatile and easy to use not to mention the render time saved.

 

 

[theoengelbrecht]

I noticed two things, the over exposure to the top part, something i always use in my

architectural renders and that's the vertical shift applied to the vray physical camera

since the corners of the room looks is straight upright, that may compliment the illusion

of the tilt shift effect too? I think FOV also has alot to do with this. Anyway i made a

quick scene to mimic this and i found that in post you can do alot with only the ZDepth

render element, attached is the render, also Tom A, if you want i can send you the psd

and scene file if this looks like what you are after then you can have a look see.