Critique my rendering

[Anonymous]

I would like some constructive criticism on this rendering I produced with lightworks. I modelled this scene very quickly just to play around with lightworks (I have nothing better to do in my holiday). Any advice on how to make it better would be appreciated.
I feel like I'm starting to get better using lightworks, although its proving to be a pretty hard lion to tame. Perhaps when I get a job, I'll be able to buy Dwights book - but until then, all I have is the forum.

[Anonymous]

Bob, does this mean that looks are not everything? ahhhh

[__archiben]

lagodue wrote:
Right now, the thickness of the roof will not accommodate structural framing, insulation, roofing, flashing, gravel stop, interior finish, etc. etc.

mate, one thing i've learnt whilst i've been here in NZ: flashing is what sleazy old guys do in the park, 'structural' framing will work if it looks like the roof isn't going to collapse, insulation's optional and 'falls' are just for water coming down off the mountains . . .

it'll work over here . . . trust me!

~/archiben

[Karl Ottenstein]

Nicely done. Nice ambient light, soft sun shadow edges, reflections (including context!). Nice water surface.

I agree with all of the previous posters' comments. The first impression was of the distortion. Discussed.

Second impression was that the sun angle did not match the illumination of the bitmapped vegetation (the dicey part of using photographic entourage) and that the sky is too dark for the sun position.

Very small nit-picking:

The concrete curb of the pool in the foreground meets the lawn at too clean of an intersection... suggest adding small bitmapped blades of grass, or the GDL grass part someone posted in recent months, or painting a bit of the edge with a grass-shaped brush in Photoshop.

Other minor nit is the pavers of the driveway ... use the Align Texture in 3D command to shift the tiles to show a full tile at the left edge where only 1/4 to 1/3 of a tile now shows... or perhaps add trim slab (concrete? brick?) at the edge of the driveway.

Did you use the sun-from-hades trick of Dwight's book (from a fellow ac-talker whose name I forget at the moment)? The ceiling above woman-with-cell phone seems a bit dark ... given the sun angle, the glare from the balcony would bounce and illuminate it better than shown.

Good work.

Karl

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:
Excellent work!

Suggestions:
1: Desaturate 50% in Photoshop
2: Crop for better focus - concurring with the distorted car and repeated foreground plants being a distraction.
3: Mid-level correction to 1.40 for better luminance
(all images have too much blackness) in Photoshop
4: Small amount of diffuse glow added in Photoshop

Note: excellent graduated light on shadowed wall!

Option to make softer shadows: increase sun divergence using the sun object with 10 light sources at 22 degrees divergence.

Now that you point it out, I realise that my image is far too saturated. My laptop LCD doesn't help either; everything appears less saturated. 50% does seem like a little too much, although its probably my screen. Thanks for the great advice!

[Dwight]

These values are all over the place considering the lack of calibration we have.

My posting was of a 50% reduction of saturation - in line with the work I put in my book, so I know that my system is accurate.

This saturation and blackness issue just goes on and on. I get mail from people with no color sense challenging this approach occasionally.

Let them continue with bad taste.

The truth is in the print...... but ArchiCAD users with open minds should experiment with my ideas within their own systems.

[Anonymous]

Dwight,
one question, how do you know that the "sun object with 10 light sources at 22 degrees divergence"

Isn't it in your book that sun object should be 76 light sources and 90 degree?

I am so confuse. I am new with lightworks.

[Dwight]

Thank you for buying my book. It was hard work and took a long time. Be sure to register to get the special files and materials. I hope that you will attend one of my seminars this spring.

ashley wrote:
Dwight,
one question, how do you know that the "sun object with 10 light sources at 22 degrees divergence"

There is no absolute approach to setting the Sun Object. I experimented with many setting before I arrived at what was reasonable, balancing light quality and rendering speed.

Considering that the sun object can have between 1 and 20 individual light sources contained within it, and those individual light sources are arrayed in the sky measured by divergent degrees, a number of factors matter:

-- the softness of shadow YOU want.
-- the size of the rendering measured in pixels.
-- whether or not bands of shadow are seen when a graduated shading is needed.

The larger the rendering, the more light sources are needed to make really soft shadows.

Once you set up the altitude and azimuth of the sun and establish your rendering size, to eliminate banding, increase the number of light sources or reduce the divergence angle.

ashley wrote:

Isn't it in your book that sun object should be 76 light sources and 90 degree?

You are certainly right when you say that you are confused.

Seventy-six is not the number of light sources I recommend, but rather, the number of trombones that led the big parade.

You are trying to trick me.

When, in the "LightWorks in ArchiCAD" Quick Start Guide (page 26) I recommend an "UnderSun," that object is placed at -90 degrees to shine upward, defeating black soffit disease.

Thre are still a handfull of ArchiCAD TALKERS who haven't bought my book. Don't miss out.

[Aaron Bourgoin]

Dwight,

You work so hard at this.

Its Oscar stuff. Golden Globes even.

Thank you for your tenacity and your compulsive drive to communicate.

[Anonymous]

Dwight, where is your seminars this spring, and how much it will cost?

[Dwight]

Many dates tentative right now..... where are you?