University project - interiors and exteriors

[Guest ksymenaborczynska]

Studio/Institution: polsl
Genre: Other
Software: 3ds max, vray
Description:

I'm a beginner at the very beginning.

 

I know that texturing is bad but my main problem is lighting.

I use hdri map in dome light (multipliers for hdri - 0,05 overall and 5 render; for dome light - 1) and vray plane lights in the windows (multiplier 5). My camera settings: f-number 3, shutter speed about 13, iso about 250.

 

Although the walls, ceiling, floor etc. have reflection map, delicate bumps and high reflections subdivs, everything seems to be just flat, plastic,dull and looks way better in the viewport than on the actual render.

 

Does it have to do with using low multiply value of dome light and adjusting only camera settings to make the render brighter? Is the lighting too uniform? (I don't want sharp shadows but some shadows are definitely desireable.)

 

The bedroom render is not at all satisfying but looks a bit better than the other one. At least, the lighting is a bit more realistic and there is a kind of gradation of shades on the wall - not present in the second render.

 

I know that photoshop can change a lot but I'd really like to learn how to make clean renders.

 

I would be thankful for any advices, I still have some to work on my projects, so all your suggestions will be useful.

 

 

 

[Nicolai Bongard]

Reflections are usually best seen at an angle (if you use fresnel or falloff). The closer a light source is to a surface with bump (once again the angle), the more visible the bump will be. So as for the white wall, since your camera is facing it directly, the bump and the reflection map does not show that well. As you can see from the futon or whatever it is called (the slightly darker blue box in the bottomn left corner) it casts shadows onto the couch/sofa/chair next to it, so you do have shadows. The second picture looks better because there is only a small window that the light comes through, so it creates a larger gap between the dark and light parts of your picture, as not every surface is evenly illuminated. In your other picture, the light seems to come from a huge window to the right, so almost everything in the picture is illuminated. It looks like you have pasted a picture into your background? If so it might help if you model and texture the outside, so that the light of the hdri has something to bounce and be blocked by, so you get more colors bouncing into your interior, plus it might create some darker shadowy areas where the light is blocked by some trees or buildings or something.

[Guest ksymenaborczynska]

Thank you for your reply.

Adding exterior in this case probably wouldn't work - the building is a tower, and the interior I have problems with is at the top of it.

[hyperfocaldesign]

I'm not a Vray user but here's some things I'd think about:

- Direction of the light coming from outside. Right now is it coming straight in (you mention those plane lights)? Consider how it might look if the sun came from 45 degrees rather than straight in, or how it might look with an overhead sun vs setting sun, etc.

- Remove all lights/HDRIs and try starting with just the HDRI or just the light planes. You might have too many light sources washing everything out.

- Are the reflective surfaces bouncing the light around too much and again washing things out?

- Try angle those light planes as if they're coming from the sky rather than the windows themselves as lights.

 

Keen to see any updates!