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Author Topic: Modern Chair  (Read 11869 times)

Suppastar

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Modern Chair
« on: February 02, 2009, 02:06:04 pm »

Hello,

Well, this is my first model that I'm posting here as "Finished", While it may be posted here it is in no way finished. The Model is complete, but the render is lacking.


As you can tell the First render is just a simple crappy render, I didn't even look at what I was doing. I just punched in some random numbers and hit render.  :-\

The second image is what I was following. It is *NOT* My Render!
 
This will the be model that I will develop my rendering skills with, as right now I *can* make good renders but it takes way to long. Does anybody know some rendering secrets?

NOTE: As I said the render is NOT Final, just a quick render to show off the chair.

« Last Edit: February 02, 2009, 02:09:08 pm by Suppastar »
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floyd86

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2009, 02:29:30 pm »

I don't really have any rendering secret, but i have some experience in rendering. This scene could look really good with some ART attributes. Exactly while seeing this i can't wait to work on something again *start up anim8or*. Really nice model!

I added a files with some material settings which might (yes i say might, since i don't know how they will work out: this is how i normally make metal ;)) look pretty nice. Ofcourse it's needs some tweaking and it's far from perfect but it's a good start i think. Use a cubemap to really let the reflections turn out nice and don't forget to post your work! Keep it going.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2009, 02:31:30 pm by floyd86 »
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$imon

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2009, 03:16:52 pm »

I'll give some advice here on how I would go about making a studio render like that in anim8or.

It seems like that render you are trying to recreate was made with a studio setup, which means a cubemap as a surrounding would have reflections that are too distracting. The white reflections you are seeing in the metal are studio lights (http://northcoastcamera.com/images/rs-sbsb2028.jpg), which can be recreated in anim8or by adding big square boxes behind/above the camera and have them with a white emissive of about 2.

As Floyd said, to get a good render you will want to start using some Art materials. For the black leather, I would advise using a Very slight glossy reflection (maybe a value of 0,05), with just a black material.
For metal, Of course you will have to use a specular>reflection attribute, with an almost full value of reflection (about 0,8)

Something you cannot recreate in anim8or are the shadows in the reference image you showed. They were made with large area lights, whereas anim8or only works with point lights. To get a soft feel like that though, you might want to try adding a few very soft lights in different positions above the object, to keep the shadows this soft.

Ok, last tip haha; the floor, as you can see in your image, no matter how big you make your floor, it will always give a horizon. The trick they used in the reference picture you have up is they created a sortof 'bowl' in which the models were placed, so the floor actually gradually goes up in the back, all the way to a horizontal wall. This gives a smooth gradient in the back, try it out!

Of course these are just tips, try them out to see the different effects! I like the models youve made, it could become a very nice render! Good luck!


Floyd, I saw that the materials in your file all had a emissive value, I would advise to anyone not to use this option on anything else than materials that glow. the emissive value actually causes a lack of shadow & works more as a 'color overlay' in anim8or.
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ENSONIQ5

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2009, 09:02:47 pm »

A minor point about bending steel tubing in the real world: the inside of a bend is always pushed in by the bending mechanism, to prevent the outside of the tube splitting.  It is visible in your reference image on the left hand chair, on the bends between the seat and back rest fabric pieces.  Although it is difficult to see due to the highly reflective material, it is visible on all the bends where the inside of the bend is towards the camera.

This is a minor crit, what you have done so far is excellent!  In studio renders like this one, where there is little else to distract the viewer from the models themselves, getting the tiny details as good as they can be makes all the difference.  Although barely visible in the reference pic, I would even go so far as to create the lines of stitching that form the loops in the ends of the fabric pieces (maybe with a bumpmap?).  The best still frame renders always make the viewer think: "wow, I can't believe that's not real!  The detail is incredible!"

Further to the extrusion-following-path discussion, I have found that if both spline and N-gon are created in front view, and extruded while in the front view, the N-gon tracks the spline in a tubular fashion pretty much every time.  Mind you, vertex modelling is probably the better way to go, especially to indent those inside corners.
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Suppastar

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2009, 09:15:18 pm »

Thanks for Crits & Tips all!

Here is what I have so far...


Drastic change huh? Anyway, the original render did have reflections but it was set up wrong and they didn't show up and I didn't notice until you guys said something. I'm still working on the Reflections and the shadows though.

Rendered in: Anim8or (Roughly about 19 Minutes... or if you care it equals to 19.106 minutes to be exact.)

EDIT(s):

 Forgot to mention I remodeled the the arcs used to support the seat (human weight) to be more like the arcs seen in the reference image.

1. Improved Render with better lighting and shadows added

2. First render had Error ( :-[) I forgot to put the metal material on the cylinders "used" to hold the seat and backrest to the frame.  :-[
« Last Edit: February 02, 2009, 10:38:16 pm by Suppastar »
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hihosilver

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2009, 12:15:42 am »

Great improvement!  The only thing I notice now is that you seem to have missed Simon's point of the white reflections.  You can see in your reference that some of the reflections are pure white, and this is because of the studio lights they use, which give a nice effect.  Since Anim8or does not have area lights that could be used, the best way to replicate this is with white squares that represent the area lights that the chair can reflect.  You can simply make a rectangle with a texture that has a high white emissive value, then stick it somewhere behind the camera so that the chair picks up the reflections.

Great improvements so far.
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floyd86

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2009, 05:24:15 am »

Looking good suppastar. I like the new reflections and the soft shadows. Mind sharing us the setting for those shadows?

Suppastar

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2009, 03:55:13 pm »

Well basically to get those shadows it’s the whole scene, not just the shadow settings that got that effect.

*Look at image below the post, then return*

Well, as you can see the background is very bright in the view port, but when rendered it becomes the dark and mysterious lighting you see in the render. As I said earlier it takes the whole scene to make the shadows, lighting and shading like in the render. The colors needed for background will be explained in #5.

I will only post the settings I changed, the rest are original unless noted otherwise.

#1 (Light/Casting)

Infinite

Color settings:  34, 34, 34

Percent Dark: 40%

Ray Trace/Soft (Size: 15)/Monte Carlo/ Samples (Min:10 Max:76)


#2 (Light/Casting)

Infinite

Color settings:  255, 255, 255

Percent Dark: 38%

Ray Trace/Soft (Size: 13)/Monte Carlo/ Samples (Min:3 Max:12)

#3 (Light)

Infinite

Color settings:  4, 4, 4


#4 (Light/Casting)

Infinite

Color settings:  255, 255, 255

Percent Dark: 100%

Ray Trace/Soft (Size: 45)/Monte Carlo/ Samples (Min:3 Max:12)



#5



You can change the color for any color you like, it work's for all colors.

Making the material very bright means that any shading done is from the lights NOT the materiel meaning you get a softer, more realistic scene overall. There are no attributes, just plain old color.

*This is how I make all my renders, it may not be perfect but it gives a nice effect overall*
« Last Edit: February 03, 2009, 03:59:29 pm by Suppastar »
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floyd86

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2009, 05:21:42 pm »

Nice explanation, thanks suppastar. It's pretty similar to light/scene setups i usally use, but i mostly use a backlight instead of a light above. Which gave a nice effect in your scene.

Indian8or

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2009, 02:55:26 am »

Nice work.  A different lighting exercise indeed.  I could not resist trying my hands on it.  I hope suppastar do not mind it.  Here is my quick try at the render.  I was not very particular about chair details as i was concentrating more on shadows and lighting.  I am not fully satisfied with the result, but i must agree it was fun trying it.  Thanks suppastar.  This project, though seemingly simple, is in fact a good exercise to test your lighting skills. 

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Suppastar

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Re: Modern Chair
« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2009, 06:03:49 pm »

@ Indian8or

Nice job! And thank you, that's exactly why I made this model/render, it was just an exercise. Not only making a realistic looking chair but also trying new lighting effects.


@Floyd86

A top light always makes a nice effect, but it can only be used in certain scenes. (Indoors)
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