My first Render

[Anonymous]

I am so tickled I had to put it up! My first Model in AC rendered in C4D (demo version and 1 free tree!, waiting for C4D box in mail-feels like Christmas.) with Radiosity.. Radiosity much longer to render but think I will find the necessary fire-breathing PC to use it... The next pic is without Radiosity.. about 1 Hour with Stochastic Radiosity, less than a minute without. Time from AC to begin final render.. 20 mins..

A lot of site and landscaping to come.. but please critique.. I will figure out why fascia/gutters are wavy..

[Anonymous]

No Radiosity.. shadow on right pitch black, tried to lighten it up but was always at the expense of other areas.. Didn't want to move the sun.

[Dwight]

three quick comments:

-- shadows can be modulated by making leaves translucent - they sort of look like papier mache on wires right now.

-- to soften the left hand side of the building, add fill lighting - a nasty but quick substitute for fine radiosity - blue or mauve color - and add yellow tint to the sun - very cold color in this image. Think like they do in the movies - all the shadows are filled in somehow.

-- try some grime overlays on the grass at a different size and slight rotation to the obvious grass texture repetition.

[Dwight]

-- wavy gutters are artifacts from anti-aliasing - need more resolution in final rendering.

-- try to get depth in the window panes - add curtains, etc - it is a waste of a fine software if glazing effects are not exploited fully.

- add visual noise to shingle texture to obscure repeat pattern.

-- consider Ozone add-on for sky atmosphere effect that controls natural environment.

BTW: You have made a great start. Are you on the list for Cinema 9??

[Anonymous]

Dwight,

Thanks for the comments!.. Your book just arrived last week and I was just going through the lighting section.. Very nice! A lot of Photoshop work I can hoefully apply in Fireworks MX as there are similarities..

I suppose what one must keep in mind in illustrations is take advantage of the power to create whatever mood you wish to put the viewer in (happy a.k.a. buying mood -- We sell Stockplans). I am sometimes asked why not just take picture of the house for marketing purposes? Besides the logistics difficulty I feel a good render can do what even the best picture cannot unless photoshoped. Even then it is rarely built to the fantasy level possible with AC/C4D.

The grass and the shingles.. not very happy with them --- I have found some larger VBvisual textures that will reduce repeat... The glazing is not ideal but I didn't like them transparent.. Perhaps translucent glazing? Curtains?? In AC or C4D? I prefer to do as much as possible in AC to avoid modelling in 2 places. I'll work in your advice and post it later.. Still in demo mode so I try not to do too much since no saving. Once one arrives at ideal settings in C4D for a given type of render/scene, how are they saved for re-use later?

I found C4D 8.5 for $495 (should arrive next week) with free Upgrade to 9 so I'll be on list for 9 shortly. Playing with the 9 demo now.. as green as I am it will be a while before I know how useful it's new features will be to me. Any ones that stand out for our type of work?

Ozone? Geez.. Goodies galore! Looks very good but Dwight.. Where does the spending end!?

Thanks

[Dwight]

You have to think of this as a fast moving target where things like Ozone bring qualities to the work that are hard to achieve otherwise.

Illustrators are always seeking ways to be unique - Ozone helps you get away from the white sun/black ambience that kills the beconing feeling of so many images.

I assign 20% of my time to learning and experimenting. The other 80% is on ArchiCAD TALK. [Joke.][Applause.]

[Dwight]

Rashid wrote:

The glazing is not ideal but I didn't like them transparent.. Perhaps translucent glazing? Curtains?? In AC or C4D?
Thanks

Your not caring about transparency in glass is much to the detriment of your illustration work.

Depth in a building is only achieved by the suggestion of a rich inner life - that the dwelling is occupied by loving happy people with good taste.

The archaic Medley textures had some good bitmap curtains - for ArchiCAD, but for C4D you could easily model curtains and map them with a translucent lace material. It is important that window mullion/muntin shadows fall seductively on this lace, perhaps with the now obsolete woman in red dress object waving from the bedroom window.

Evidence of furnishings, lighting and activity in the building makes it real in a way mere radiosity can't. We spend so much time whining about technical features on this forum but forget the artistic ones. Make a good story and they won't notice the flaws in your real work.

For instance, did you think about the light angle in your posted image? How it sends a negative idea? The cold light… that ominous shadow pointing at the building - shadow on the doorway: its a metaphor for the Grim Reaper! And the family is trapped inside and can't break out because aluminum panels block the windows! Using ArchiCAD's first person shootemup flythrough command, the Grim Reaper will kick in the door and kill everyone with the 30shot MAC 10 gun object, now that assault weapons are no longer banned in the Excited States of America!

See what one lousy shadow can do to a twisted mind?

Try and make golden sun fall on the front door of the dwelling and use Photoshop to grade to darkness away from the door. I would show you how this works if you post a rendering with golden sun from the lower left instead of the middle right - early morning or late afternoon are the best sun times.

And drop your eyepoint - we are standing on the roof of a pickup truck with a shotgun to try and scare off the city slickers who have just built this castle in our trailer park neighborhood. "But dang! Lookit thet - they gots bullit proof winders!"

[Anonymous]

Dwight!, Dwight!... woe onto me..

I have this eerie feeling if you will hack my Website and remove all renderings! You must weep on a daily basis looking at offending illustrations.. Dare I ever post an unfinished 30 minute unripe job here..? I was just happy that after having AC for 10 months I had managed to produce "something". No I hadn't considered the Sun location as that will come.. You will perish when you see what I have done with the Ozone demo.. The sky is dark, very cloudy..

If you walk most streets in my neck of the woods here in Atlanta, the reality you will see is expensive plantation shutters.. not a sign of life! I suppose therein you see opportunity to perhaps reverse lifestyle trends?

Dwight, I would love to and will try to put as much life as possible in these renderings. The only reason the glass is as it is is the plans are unfinished. I would dislike bitmaps as I don't like "patches" and prefer to try actual cloth as C4D can do this. You must remember the context of this render and those that will follow... $700 stockplans. They must be as vibrant as possible but I cannot pass the point of diminishing returns unless I intend to practice as a Non-Profit. In your work what do you tell those that insist on a budget? What is the final inch worth (to the viewer/client)? This boils down to where to spend the time.. Better to forgo some detail in the Model itself to avoid some of my amateur sins?

I understand your passion for your work and promise never to call myself an Illustrator until worthy..

Once again, your comments are not falling on deaf ears here.. Thanks for the unpaid (right? ) input.

[Dwight]

I am just teasing you because I have an issue with reliance on technology over art and composition in our work. And I didi make fun of myself so you would know that I was not totally serious.

However, the illustrator needs to look closely for the negative subtext - creating a bad psychology is the worst thing you can do - and shade on the door is on the top ten list of rendering mistakes. Composing a scene goes beyond merely getting the building in the shot.

[Anonymous]

No worries.. I am occasionaly asked to compete with "Cad Operators" for design work so I understand. There is a growing number of these that actually find perfectly suited Clients that cannot recognise good design whom in turn find homebuyers even less trained.

And the other 9?..... drumroll... Yes they are in your book somewhere but I am too bush to see them..