Not getting to the next level

[antwoinegilbert]

I have been a architectural illustrator for a while now and I have created some visuals that have been used professionally and I have been given a pat on the back here and there. Even with that I am still not satisfied with my rendering results when compared to the works of the top most group. There is something that I missing in my renders that do not give me that next level look that I see others able to do. Why are my renders 2nd? I seem to be in a place that is one step below the top most tier. Any points on what am I doing that is keeping me grounded in 2nd place?

[antwoinegilbert]

Here are some examples that I think are above me and where I would like to be.

[Dejan Sparovec]

First suggestion: Lower the camera to eye level, but also keep straight verticals. Try to learn more about composition and architectural photography. Work a lot more on your lighting and materials, maybe use some HDRIs, there are plenty free on the web to try out. You can find a lot of Making of articles on Ronen Bekerman's blog and Evermotion website, for example, that will point you in the right direction. Good luck.

[antwoinegilbert]

Thanks for the response I do use HDRIs I just didn't on these projects I usually use two one for lighting and one as a background. I have a lecture about architectural visualization composition, the rule of thirds and what not I am just not incorporating that at the moment trying to get the realism in more than anything else...heh... I will try to focus more on that. Here is another project I am working on it is supposed to be a traditional kitchen.

[Scott Schroeder]

A well composed image goes a long way. If you don't have a decent composition, your image will always feel off to you.

 

You need to work on your materials, lighting, the scale of things etc. You need to think about the space around the building, the landscape and the making sure the building feels like it belongs in the scene. You have a good start, but as you know, you have a long road ahead of you. Don't get discouraged, it takes quite a long time to really get this rendering thing down and even then, you still are always going to be learning new things.

 

Honestly, I'd forget the HDR's for now. They just add a new wrinkle into everything if you have bad ones. Master the good old directional light and dome for sun/sky or vray sun/sky first.

[antwoinegilbert]

I don't think it is going to get any better than this for me. This photo needs more attention to modeling, composition, and Photoshop, which I do not have at the moment. I was just trying to focus on lighting for now. The image is at my lowest render settings and Photoshop will be the only thing I can give to increase my images at this point.

Edited January 1, 2017 by antwoinegilbert

[philippelamoureux]

I'd be curious to know what renderer (and it's version) that you use. It reminds me of when I 1st started out with vray 2.0 and I had so much difficulty to set it up correctly. Nowadays it's almost impossible to not have a realistic G.I when you have v-ray 3.5 or corona 1.5.

 

The worst thing imo are the textures because you see the tiling too much. It's easy to remedy. Search for seamless textures. The car and human models are way too low qualitty/low poly to compliment your scene/architecture.

[antwoinegilbert]

I am starting to get to where I want to be now. My confidence is rising towards getting some work coming in now

[philippelamoureux]

Keep it up!!!

[jameswhitaker]

Yeah, keep going! :-)

 

If in doubt search through dezeen.com or Pinterest for inspiration on camera angles and spend some time tackling your materials one bit at a time.

 

You might find it quite encouraging to give everything a matt, mid-grey texture while you dial in the camera angle and lighting. It'll allow you to work quicker and you won't be distracted by everything else. Then add textures or details one at a time.

[beestee]

These latest examples appear to have some color grading adjustments, but I do not really see any other differences. I do believe that color grading is important, but I do not think it is the most obvious improvement to be made to get your examples closer to the targets you are trying to hit.

 

I think Scott hit the nail on the head. The composition needs work. Make note of the target that you are aiming for. All of your examples seem to be client driven composition. Go ahead and set up some portfolio views for yourself and release yourself from the bounds of what your client wants to see. You don't have to see everything in one view, just something interesting. Be creative and attempt to mimic what you notice in your target examples.

 

Honestly there is not an exact formula or science for setting up a great view, there are guidelines that help to get you closer such as the rule-of-thirds, but you really need to train your eye for it by carefully studying the work that you aim to be more like.

[Larissa Holderness]

What everyone has said - composition, lighting, materials and better models. Right now, the camera angle you are using makes everything look like a scale model or doll house. Tone back your colors too - seem to be a bit too saturated. Take your time on a personal project for your portfolio. Don't worry about how long the project takes, focus on getting better. Don't try and improve everything at once. Set a goal like, "I want my glass to look like the glass in these images" then, work on glass only. Once you have mastered your glass, work on stucco ... and continue on from there. There will be an Ah-HA moment and things will fall into place.

 

And ... NEVER GIVE UP! Even the smallest improvement, is a step in the right direction.

[harryhirsch]

Another issue is the architecture itself...the building design of your 3 projects... your projects and the examples...these are 2 different ''design leagues'' ... I would pick a new project..one that represents contemporary architectural design (like your examples) and then you are going to have more fun and a better result

[antwoinegilbert]

The architecture designs that I got are from the cgschool 3ds max bundle, except for the kitchen which I designed myself. I have been using max for a while and I just got creative cloud back, composition is something I have been working on looking at lectures and photography lectures as well I learn that the main focus should not be centered, but off centered I need to start using depth of field, which I am working on as well, and I just learned how to make a seamless texture with Photoshop.

 

 

I bought a workshop from digital viz and it has been a blast learning about looks builder and after effects which I am getting better at. The digital viz workshop is getting into material creation in more depth, creating custom bump and reflection maps, creating rocks, and a lot of realism training. I do need to work on my Photoshop skills some of the stuff I see on the digital viz is quite complex like making an entire folder with a lot of maps on different passes(I use only one reflection map in Photoshop).