ArchiCAD Export to Cinema 4D - Add Realism with Bevels

[kittonian]

We do architectural design using ArchiCAD and then export to C4D and create our renders. While all of this works very well, the big problem we're having is that nothing is beveled. Unfortunately, all of the geometry that comes in to C4D from ArchiCAD is triangulated and beveling doesn't work too well. We have had to recreate every single element in order to bevel, and beyond this taking a huge amount of time/resources, some of the objects are complex (sliding doors, furniture, etc.) and are very difficult to recreate without spending days on each object.

Is there a solution for this? Is there a way to add the realism of proper bevels in C4D with imported ArchiCAD models?

[Anonymous]

Could you tell us a little more about this bevel, like specific cases?

I also use this workflow sometimes and really never needed to add this bevels to add realism. What I do with the models is basically cleaning geometry with functions like untriangulate, optimize geometry, etc...

So, the solution to your question could vary depending on your specific needs of bevels.

[kittonian]

If you use this workflow, make an edge selection of all the edges you wish to bevel, add a bevel deformer and set the restriction to the edges in your selection. Try and bevel. The geometry is horrible.

If you are unfamiliar with why you need to properly bevel if you want realism, think of it like this;

Nothing has a sharp angle with no bevel in real life. Absolutely everything (look around you) has some sort of bevel to it.

Here's an example of how to see this for yourself;
Create a cube, duplicate it and apply a bevel deformer with a very small size and between 4-6 subdivisions. Add some area lights and shadows and do a render. You will notice how much more realistic the cube with the bevels will look.

Here's a link to a Digital Tutors page that explains this all:
http://blog.digitaltutors.com/live-edge-bevel-deformer/

The bottom line is that if you don't want obviously computer generated 3D renders, you need to bevel every single edge of every single object so that the light hits it properly.

[Anonymous]

Hi, so Yes I am familiar with the 3Ds and Bevel Tool and Issues, but honestly I don't see the need of going crazy adding bevels to every piece of geometry in your model, I understand it in some cases but I will add bevels only when extremely needed depending on the view and if its affect to much the realism of the view. If your principal problem is furniture and appliances, then use appliances and furniture from cinema, but if your main concern is in the building itself, the try fixing only the part that you really need for a very high end realism.

Check this 3d views that I made some time ago and tell me, for example, where are this bevels going to make a worthy difference in realism, probably I will understand better the need and learn something new.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw1Bgw2KGDL9aVFETE9ycVVNNzQ/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw1Bgw2KGDL9VnlHcGUtdHpLY2M/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw1Bgw2KGDL9TGlTZUZwOHEtWWM/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw1Bgw2KGDL9OUp3b3B1UDMyc1U/view?usp=sharing
But if you really need to add bevels to everything then I don't know an easy and fast way to do it other than cleaning the geometry the best you can using the Cinema 4D Tools and then applying the Bevels., You could also try the Subdivision Surface, it could work for some specific cases

[Anonymous]

Check this example, (please don't critize the realism, is a very old one ) In this one Bevels in the pool would be great, I really need them there, but in the buildings It won't make any difference and wouldn't be worthy the time I'll need to spend on it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw1Bgw2KGDL9M1E1YUtXbjhncVU/view?usp=sharing

[kittonian]

I certainly don't want to criticize your work, but if you believe that any of those renders look photo-realistic, then we are at very different ends of the modeling world. They are all fine examples of rendering a scene, but they are certainly not realistic.

When we do a render for a client, our goal is to make them so realistic that the client cannot tell that it isn't a photo.

Believe me when I tell you that it is not that I don't know "how to model" (and no, putting a subdivision surface on things is definitely not the answer). I've been doing so for many years now.

My issue is that the time it takes to model every element from scratch so that I can achieve the photo-realism I am going for, is insane. Things would be so much easier if ArchiCAD had some way of adding bevels to its geometry, or at the very least, creating its geometry cleanly so that I can add proper bevels in C4D.

[Anonymous]

"My issue is that the time it takes to model every element from scratch so that I can achieve the photo-realism I am going for, is insane. Things would be so much easier if ArchiCAD had some way of adding bevels to its geometry, or at the very least, creating its geometry cleanly so that I can add proper bevels in C4D."

100% agree and there are a few more things I would like archicad to do in this meaning of exporting to cinema 4D, and also I would like to have a cleaner geometry when you import from cinema to archicad.

I know these 3d Views are not Photo confusing realist, I have done renders a lot more photo realistic than these that you wont tell if is a photo or a render (can't post them cause I don't have the rights, they belong to a company I used to work that have the same vision of 3d views as you, trying to make renders super photo realistic) But now that you tell your goal I understand that you want to bevel everything. I also been doing this from long time ago and have had acquire enough experience as a 3d Rendering working. I've been through this of adding bevels, also putting every single tree in 3d, a lot of displacement (ohh, how much fun with that hehehe), people in 3d. and a lot of thing that you want to do when you want to get a very photo realistic render.
I'm not saying you don't know about modeling or 3d rendering, I don't know you, you probably know a lot more than me, I'm just giving you an advice based on my experience, You should consider this: Just do the bevels that you really need and will make a difference, that way you will save time and money. Try one view and make it with all the bevels you want to do and then render it again without bevels and show it to your clients to see if they pick up the difference unless there is an object very obvious that really needed the bevel. (I know some clients can do it, but majority won't), and I give you this advice because I don't know an easy and fast way to add bevels to every geometry exported from archicad, if I knew a way I would tell you with all my good will, and help you as most as I can.

PD: Do you really thing that adding bevels to those scenes will make them fotorealistics? I work with bevels only when really needed because I went through that path already and realize that it didn't make such a difference for the time you have to spend on it.

[kittonian]

When I say "bevel everything" I mean everything that will appear in the render. Obviously I'm not spending time re-modeling and beveling objects that aren't going to be shown, or are very hidden in the render.

As far as whether adding bevels would make your renderings more realistic, I would have to say that in addition to properly beveling everything, you also need to focus on your materials and lighting. Remember, it's not the light that makes it real, it's the shadows and light bounces. The reason that beveling adds so much realism, once you've got the rest of what I mentioned in place, is because the way light bounces off a 90deg angle vs a properly beveled angle is completely different. Depth of field, camera settings, and understanding how digital lighting works, are also hugely important.

The reality is that you simply cannot bevel anything properly that has been imported from ArchiCAD. You either go without bevels or you model each element from scratch. Due to the complexity of many of the objects we use (not just walls), including windows and doors, modeling those elements from scratch is not only time consuming but quite difficult to get perfect.

I was hoping that there was something I was missing in ArchiCAD that would allow me to add bevels to everything before exporting to C4D. Apparently this is not the case.

[Anonymous]

BTW Kittonian, Which method do you use to export to Cinema 4d? cause I just exported a new project for rendering and the geometry was pretty clean. And actually I needed to Bevel a few borders near the camera, and It was easy to do.

[kittonian]

The only way I know how to export to C4D is via the Photo-Rendering pallet and then click export to Cinema.

I found the answer I was looking for so I thought I would share with everyone else. VRay allows you to bevel in the material instead of in the geometry. Really easy to do (once you learn VRay of course) and with their Distributed Rendering system, I have our render farm all working in tandem. Super fast!!