Making of vacation cabin
Seiji Anderson is a 24 year old visualization artist living in Brooklyn, New York. He is a full-time artist at Brooklyn Digital Foundry, and runs his own freelance practice, Renderbucket.
At first I'd like to thank the VRay Workshop team and Evermotion for their recognition of my work. It's a great opportunity and honor as a young visualization artist to be recognized among other talented individuals in the Image of the Week selection.
The image I will be sharing some information about was a quick commission done for Jacob Brillhart Architect over the course of a long weekend. The project was a part of a proposal for a series of vacation cabins located in the mountains of North Carolina. As an artist with an architectural background, I feel inclined to mention that good design will tend to yield a good image, and I think it is no different in this case.
The modeling, texturing and lighting schemes for this image are rather straightforward processes, whereas the post-production is where I feel I can get an image to really shine.
Final work:
Click on image to enlarge
Final work
Click on image to enlarge
The modeling process was rather straightforward - I received a cleanly built and fairly detailed Sketchup model of the cabin, which only required some detailing in areas such as the standing seam roof, tweaks to the design of the stilts.
Click on image to enlarge
The environment was the biggest obstacle in creating a convincing base plate. I used a large plane and push/pull and relax deformation tools to create the general mountainside landscaping.
Click on image to enlarge
Once modelled, I divided the mesh into two areas: a closeup patch for Multipainter, and the landscape where I could implement some non-specific vegetation scatters.
Click on image to enlarge
I didn't model vegetaion, I used ready vegetation models. After researching references of mountainside locations, it seemed only really necessary to scatter taller models, and leave the ground plane to be more or less textured with a convincing leaf texture. This kept the model and rendering relatively light and manageable with rendertimes.
Click on image to enlarge
Settings used for scattering. In general, the more unique shaped trees were used at lower probabilities. 6 different Multiscatters were set up for this scene (3 sets of 2 per model type):
- Multipainter for trees close-up: near
- Multiscatter for trees: far
- Multiscatter for bushes: near and far
- Multiscatter for grasses: near and far
Click on image to enlarge
Large rocks were brought in from a project I completed earlier and were created using techniques outlined by an excellent tutorial by Sascha Henrichs. They were hand placed in the scene to get the desired look.
Materials
Click on image to enlarge
Texturing process for this project was very simple, maybe somewhat crude solution. Because I knew the commission called for one image, with the buildings seen from a mid-range distance, not too much effort was needed in creating detailed textures for the building model.
I've broken down a few of the key materials in this image. Here are settings for galvanized metal used on the mullions and roofing. I went with a procedural solution, which may not have been the most realistic but is time-saving.
Click on image to enlarge
Ground plane texture with a semi-hi resolution crop of the diffuse bitmap. Mapped onto the landscape geometry using a simple planar map.
Click on image to enlarge
Ground plane
Click on image to enlarge
Timber beams used inside cabin and underbelly of the cabin structure.
Click on image to enlarge
Mapped using a box map, and randomly shifted/rotated per beam to give variation to the structure.
Click on image to enlarge
Glass material
Click on image to enlarge
Lighting - Interior lights were a compination of simple Vray Plane Lights with Vray Mesh Lights at the light fixtures hanging from the ceilings.
Click on image to enlarge
Exterior lighting. Vray Sun/Sky combined with a Vray Dome Light using Peter Guthrie's 0911 Dawn HDRI map.
Cameras
Click on image to enlarge
A few camera positions were explored before settling on the final composition. During this exploration, each cabin unit was also oriented in slightly different directions to create a bit more visual interest to the image. A couple of back and forth discussions with the client resulted in the final shot. Here are some initial camera views, along with the final composition.
Click on image to enlarge
Camera 2
Click on image to enlarge
Camera 3
Lighting
Click on image to enlarge
There are some simple compositional guidelines that are used in this image. I tried to create visual movement through the repetition of units within the composition denoted by the red marks. As the eye is guided from the upper left to the bottom right from unit to unit, foreground to background, the visual movement in the image is capped along the right-hand side by a (somewhat flimsy) repoussoir element. The subjects of the image (the cabin, and arguably the boy) are horizontally placed roughly using the rule of thirds, denoted in the cyan.
Click on image to enlarge
Gamma settings. I do not use a 2.2 gamma correction through the 3DS Max Preferences menu, as it is a superficial gamma adjustment. Rather, I apply the gamma correction through the Vray Color Mapping menu. When done this way, the resulting rendering is more accurately calculated by Vray, particularly in low-light situations.
Click on image to enlarge
Settings for the rendering.
The Post-production process typically takes place in three stages for me: 32-bit – where I adjust specific lighting elements. I then apply a a slight Magic Bullet filter. In this case I brought the image into After Effects so I could comp in the zdepth and maintain a 32-bit format for the Magic Bullet filter. The image is then collapsed into an 8-bit format so I can composite 2d elements and color correct. Here is a video showing some of this process:
And once again - the final work:
Click on image to enlarge
Final work
I hope this tutorial was helpful, and shed some light onto a bit of the process.
Seiji Anderson.
This "Making of" was brought to You thanks to cooperation with
VRay Workshop group from Facebook! We recommend joining it and sharing Your works with the community.
Author: Seiji Anderson
Editor: Michal Franczak
Tags:
The finalists of Evermotion Challenge 2024 revealed!
Want your 3D textures to stand out? Discover how PBR adds depth and realism to any surface for impactful, photorealistic results in your projects!
Looking for the latest in interior trend 3D model? Discover trends in realistic 3D decor and elevate your designs! Find inspiration here.
Looking to improve property listings? Discover how real estate 3D models and property visualization 3D can enhance your real estate projects.
Curious how 3D models aid city planning? Discover how urban simulation can optimize layouts, transport, and zoning for efficient future cities.
Ready to bring your urban planning vision to life? Discover Evermotion’s cutting-edge 3D models for cities of the future today! Explore now!
Transform your architectural concepts into reality with 3D models. Ready to see your vision? Explore now!
Curious how 3D furniture models are reshaping interior design? Discover their role in planning, visualizing, and customizing spaces for clients.
You may also like...
Looking for the latest in interior trend 3D model? Discover trends in realistic 3D decor and elevate your designs! Find inspiration here.
×
LEAVE A COMMENT
How To Make Your CGI Walls More RealisticRealistic walls with noise modifier.
Removing LUTs from Textures for better resultsRemove the LUT from a specific texture in order to get perfect looking textures in your render.
Chaos Corona 12 ReleasedWhat new features landed in Corona 12?
OCIO Color Management in 3ds Max 2024Color management is crucial for full control over your renders.
A look at 3dsMax Video SequencerDo you know that you can edit your videos directly in 3ds Max? Renderram is showing some functionalities of 3ds Max's built in sequencer.
Customer zone
Your orders
Edit account
Add project
Liked projects
View your artist profile
COMMENTS