Make my 3d model look better? materials?

just a quick one, ive done a 3d model of a facotry, it is the steel framework, a small amount of internal walls ground & first floor. I want to tart it up a little, can any one give me some pointers, ive tried a few turorials but cant get the hang of it.

Any help would be great:)

What are the walls and floor made out of? Not a whole heck of a lot to work with there. Factories tend to be rather dull to begin with. You could always hit the steel with some red oxide. Any windows in this place? I'm thinking maybe sunlight streaming through windows hitting columns, beams, trusses, joists, etc. and casting interesting shadows.

if you could post up what you've already rendered it would be much easier to give pointers

sorry for the delay in replying, it is steel cladded external walls, brisk blockwork internals, a few internal windows, do external doors and a roller shutter, I shall post up what i have done in a bit. promise you wont laugh as this is my first proper attempt.lol

Do you mean "brick" block work? Wouldn't you want to use concrete block for an industrial building?

Is this a manufacturing facility? Or maybe a warehouse?

it is a ware house, the internal walls will be brick work covered in plaster :-)

here is my model so far

Hmmm.....for some reason I'm not seeing your model. Anyone else having this problem?

will try again.lol

ooopps its 3 mb :-(

I take it that you are rendering the model into a surface material added image.

You may want to post the image in the showcase section here and have the guys there give you some pointers. -David

will do ;-)

right then, im unable to upload unfortunatly, but here is what the drawing contains:

floor slabs

steel columns

s/steel ductwork

doors

plaster walls

and a few windows.

Any quick (and easy.lol) ways of making this nice a presentable? I know how to attach materials but not sure where to get realistic ones from, also would it help putting a light in side the building?

my head is battered from this drawing lol

3d is so much to learn

One bit of advice: assign materials to layers and not to individual objects. It's just easier this way.

I definitely think some interior lighting would be beneficial.

Re: Materials. Did you check out an of the links here?

Re: Materials. Did you know that CADTutor has a tutorial about creating your own materials?

no, but I will surely have a look, im just under pressure at the mo because the engineers need this drawing for close of play today, they expect the world.lol

is it easy to asign materials to layers?

i cant work out how to apply a material to a layer, im trying to apply a metal material which I found on content browser to my ductwork, but i can work it out??????

Under a little bit of pressure I see.

You're using 2008 and I'm using 2009. I need a memory jog.

You can assign a material to a layer by clicking on the Attach By Layer button on the Dashboard. That should bring up the Material Attachment Options dialog box. Drag a material located in the left column of the dialog box and drop it onto a layer located in the right column of the dialog box. When you have attached all your materials to their respective layers click OK.

I have to take a 30 minute break. I'll check back upon my return. Good luck.

remark, any chance I can email my drawing so you can see where i am going wrong? i look bloody awful ;-(

Boy, it's cold out there! Just got back in from shoveling snow and my fingers are white as a sheet! Dang...winter in New England. You got to love it.

Raj: What seems to be the problem?

its not much warmer here in north wales!!

ive drawn most of the building, plonked a camers for a snazzy view. Ive attached a few materials to columns, ductwork, walls etc, and basically,,,,, it look naff!!!lol

Can you post a screen shot here? There are some real rendering gurus here that could provide you with some advice. The more "eyes" get to see it the more help you might get.