Bit of Help

[Graphite]

Studio/Institution: Concept Sail
Client: Undisclosed
Genre: Residential Exterior
Software: Max, Vray, PS
Website: http://conceptsail.com
Description:

Hey Guys/Gals;

Been a while since my last post, but could use some guidance.

 

I've been working on this image for maybe 2 days now, and like with most of my work I feel like I've hit a wall. I always frequent the site (CG Architect) to just look around and see what everyone is up to, and am always in Awe of the work everyone produces.. and then, become critical of my own work..

 

One thing that I feel my images are lacking is "Atmosphere" and maybe even good Lighting technique. I always look at others work, and for some reason these images you all produce seem to have this really kick ass "unknown" factor. Your images are crisp, Interesting, Vibrant, and "real".

 

I'm curious what your opinions are of the attached Image, and If you have any tips for improvement I would love to hear them. I'm having a hell of a time producing the quality work I see you all post, and would love to get feedback on what i'm missing..

 

Regards,

Nolan.

[harryhirsch]

I would say too much green ...and the mix of palm trees and birches etc. makes me wonder...what is the concept...is it supposed to be a tropical atmosphere? I assume that u can not change the design? Is it a project for a client or ur own project? All I see is flat white cubes and some window spots. I would lower the camera and emphasize the entrance of the building. And the usual psotpro, cutout people, gaussian blur

[heni30]

I would say the sky looks grayish and drab; the grass looks clumpy; vegetation items look separate and isolated - need more continuity; that one large tree at the corner looks completely out of place; glass looks too dark.

[Graphite]

Thanks guys. I agree on all points.

Unfortunately the client wanted both a mix of tropical AND deciduous trees. :\

Building is exactly that, just a couple of white uninteresting shapes. Still in Concept phase.

The Grass is a combination of 3 multiscatter objects. I have to admit i'm use to doing interior scenes so foliage and grass is still new to me. Any suggestions to improve upon that?

[Corey Beaulieu]

I think a few things... the sky is a bit off as others have said and the trees seem a bit 2D. If they are not, then they need a more random rotation (this may apply to all planting). Your vignette is very harsh and your trims reflection of the blue is too much. The shadows are very dark as well.

 

I would paint a gradient on your paver texture in post darker nearest the camera and as for atmosphere, I would raise the black point with a levels and add some warmth.

 

My final thought (and I'm just reacting quickly here) is to change your aspect ratio to a 3:2 and crop from there. The building is oddly centered and I think it may be better served in this format. Also, maybe take a bit of the blue out of the green, but not too much.

[Graphite]

Thanks again for every ones comments. So I'm re-working the scene and made a couple changes, but now i'm running into a crashing problem.

The scene is damn near 3 Million polys, using proxies for vegetation, any ideas as to what could cause this? This is the largest scene I've rendered thus far and I'm curious as to what the issue's could be. System i'm running is a 64bit, 32gig, 4.1ghz, 6 core i7, running two gtx770's, on a SSD. Settings in Vray arn't crazy. Medium settings for GI, Irradiance and Light Cash. sub divs set to 1200. nothing special other than that, Reignhard at .5 ect. Here is a screen cap not that its much help. *EDIT* Trees i'm using are from Xfrog has anyone had any experience with their models?[ATTACH=CONFIG]52319[/ATTACH]

Edited December 4, 2014 by Graphite

[ryannelson]

Your camera is too high - try to imagine that you're the photographer. Unless you're on a scissor lift or are 15' tall, your vantage point from ground level should be in the 5-6' range. Also, the scene composition is rather flat and doesn't have any foreground/midground/background elements to give it depth - it appears only to have a midground.

 

Are you using any GI? your lighting looks very sharp and flat. GI (dome light with HDRI?) will improve the look of your windows. For a daytime scene like this, the windows should be very reflective and not really show the interior - right now, they look like black holes that absorb light... quite foreboding.

 

For a scene with not many other photographic qualities like DOF, chromatic abberation, bokeh, specular highlights etc... the vignette really doesn't anything to the feel of the image.

 

I hope this is constructive feedback! Keep up the good work!

[Graphite]

Thanks Ryan! Definitely constructive!

I've already made adjustments to the camera. I had to step away from it for a bit as I was becoming snow blind.

I am indeed using GI (Vray sun), but I'll definitively incorporate allot of your suggestions. I don't have much training in regards to photography so that may be one of my major short comings, but its definitely something i'm trying to over come. Thanks again for the feedback! I'll post an update this weekend.

[ryannelson]

I understand, it's really easy to get snowblind/tunnelvision and start to lose it a bit!

 

Vray sun is a good start for getting accurate shadows, but you should use an HDRI map to get some variation in the light quality. Peter Guthrie has excellent tutorials on how to to use spherical HDRI maps with dome lights.

 

I would also recommend that you do some serious research into architectural photography, especially if you don't have any experience with it. ArchDaily might be a good resource to find some inspiration for you.