Tips on V-ray exterior building creation...

[23four]

Hello everyone,

 

I am trying to know different techniques on how to model an exterior 'building' scene using 3ds max + V ray 2.3. I aim at creating buildings for clients that can be used on billboards and such ( similar to This one or This for example).

 

Trying to create a similar scene, I used a reference image on a plane and started using the slice plane tool and I came up with the following.

 

I would like to know if I am on the right track and also would like to ask few question on the general procedure used in the process:

 

1- I used the slice plane tool to cut out windows and doors based on a reference image. This method, however,creates some unnecessary vertices and it is also time-consuming. Is there a faster and more accurate way to cut out windows and doors and is the slice plane tool the method usually equipped by artists aiming at creating an exterior building scene?

 

2- In almost all the images of buildings I have browsed, there are additional details added to the scene. Such as cars, trees, grass, people..etc. Are these models added in 3ds max or in some other software.. such as sketchup?

 

Thank you

[Cad64]

1- I used the slice plane tool to cut out windows and doors based on a reference image. This method, however,creates some unnecessary vertices and it is also time-consuming. Is there a faster and more accurate way to cut out windows and doors and is the slice plane tool the method usually equipped by artists aiming at creating an exterior building scene?

 

That's one way to do it I guess, but I would not use the Slice Plane tool. My first choice would be the "Swift Loop" tool, but I see you're using Max 8, so you don't have that tool. Try using the "Connect" tool and see if that works better than the Slice Plane tool.

 

2- In almost all the images of buildings I have browsed, there are additional details added to the scene. Such as cars, trees, grass, people..etc. Are these models added in 3ds max or in some other software.. such as sketchup?

 

They can be added in to your Studio Max scene and rendered along with the building, or you can add them in Photoshop after rendering the building. Adding these extra elements into the render can substantially increase your render time, so it's sometimes better to add them in Photoshop. It just depends on how much time you have and how proficient you are with photo manipulation in Photoshop.

[23four]

- Sorry, I did not mention that I am actually using 3ds max 2012 not 8. Anyway, thanks for the great tip on using Swift loop. I had look at its tutorials and its much much faster than the slice plane. One click is enough to create an edge ). I am a happier man now.

 

- I would want to add them later in Photoshop as you said since it would save a lot of render time. But I am wondering where I can get images of models of cars or people to use in the scene bearing in mind they have the same amount of lighting and camera angle of the scene?

[Cad64]

I would want to add them later in Photoshop as you said since it would save a lot of render time. But I am wondering where I can get images of models of cars or people to use in the scene bearing in mind they have the same amount of lighting and camera angle of the scene?

 

Check here: http://www.imagecels.com/

And here: http://www.doschdesign.com/products/vizimages

[23four]

Thanks so much for the links. Great help .

 

I still have a question though. I think I made a mistake from the beginning by not using real-world dimensions and counting only on the reference image. Is it possible to crop a frontal image of a building and then know its actual dimensions in the real world?

[Cad64]

I think I made a mistake from the beginning by not using real-world dimensions and counting only on the reference image. Is it possible to crop a frontal image of a building and then know its actual dimensions in the real world?

 

If you're building a model based on a photograph, you just have to make certain assumptions about scale. But if you keep in mind some basic standard dimensioning for things like doors, steps, windows, bricks, etc. you can construct your building to approximately the correct size.

 

Here are some standard sizes of known items:

Standard US residential doors are typically about 36" x 80"

Standard US red bricks are usually about 8" × 4" × 2.25"

Standard US step height is typically 6"

 

You should check on Amazon.com or Ebay or Craigslist and see if you can find a book called "Timesaver Standards for Architectural Design". The book is pretty expensive, but if you're lucky, you can find one on Ebay for cheap. I got mine for $10.

[23four]

Alright, so I finished up my first exterior V-ray building. I duplicated the image and added an overlay to make it less washed-off. I could not find the exact tile textures and have neglected some of the details on the main building.

 

Please state your opinion and criticism on the picture and how you think I should improve my work. Thanks.

 

[Cad64]

It looks pretty good, but it looks deserted. If you add some people walking around and cars parked out front, or driving by, it would definitely look more "lived in". And I know there are no trees in the original image, but if you were to add a few it would really help to add life and soften the image a little. Right now it just looks like a concrete jungle.

 

Something like this would help to add life:

[23four]

WOW..looks very real !..what v-ray settings did you use to make it look so real? and did you add the trees and cars in max or Photoshop? can you point me to some place where i can get 'free' RPC images of different angles...? and what kind of photoshop manipulation I should know for adding those real elements?( is it transformation and adding shadows or something more?)

[Cad64]

WOW..looks very real !..what v-ray settings did you use to make it look so real? and did you add the trees and cars in max or Photoshop?

 

Sorry, that's just a photo I found online to help illustrate what I meant about adding trees and cars to your render. But you could easily create a render just as lifelike. There are a lot of steps involved which include rendering out passes of ambient occlusion, specular, shadows, etc. and then composing them all together in Photoshop. You can add the trees and cars in Max or in Photoshop. It's up to you. If you add them in Max, your render time will increase. If you add them in Photoshop, your composing time will increase. It's a toss up and it just depends on how you would rather spend your time, and how good you are at Photoshop manipulation.

[23four]

I understand.so it is a matter of choice between composing in photoshop and working in 3ds max. Anyway, I have made another attempt by adding few more life-related elements. It seemed to have changed the picture abit. What do you think?

[tzframpton]

Very good work. This is much better for presentation purposes and clients would be much more pleased with this quality of work.

 

Keep it up.

[Cad64]

That's looking better, but your image appears to be too bright and washed out. Have you enabled your Gamma and LUT settings? http://renderstuff.com/gamma-2-2-tip-cg-tutorial/

[23four]

sorry to late reply...

 

i know about the gamma correction idea and that all textures should be imported with a 2.2 gamma amount which I did. I increased exposure in photoshop and that is why it looks burnt out. This is the render intact from max.

[spittle]

Are there buildings across the street? Stick some boxes in to get some shadows across the road.

[nocturne00]

I understand.so it is a matter of choice between composing in photoshop and working in 3ds max. Anyway, I have made another attempt by adding few more life-related elements. It seemed to have changed the picture abit. What do you think?

 

Nice render! just some insight, IMHO, the landscape needs some work.

although there are some realistic 3d models of trees/shrubs available online, the good ones are not free. besides that, adding trees in the 3d model render itself takes up a lot of time.

I recommend capturing landscape in photoshop. its a very powerful tool, especially in presenting finalized perspectives to clients. i've got an attached sample. the raw render took just 10-20 mins, post production work in photoshop took about 1-2 hours(but this is considering I already have a library of cropped PNG trees that I use in all raw renders )

 

Cheers!