Shaderlight

Here is something new that I have been busy with. All this render-your-exterior-scene-in-unique-way thing has got me to look for alternative ways to make my exterior archiviz stand out. I am greatly pleased with the way ctrl ghost of mental ray renders image-based lighting.

But while in the process of "learning" irradiance particle in 3dsmax mental ray rendering for exterior archiviz, I have tumbled upon this new render engine for Sketchup. Enter Shaderlight "An interactive, photorealistic renderer for Google Sketchup." The software is in its beta stages but out of my curiosity I tried using it for my Crockett residence scene. 

Since I was into learning IBL (image based lighting the non-production shader way), using irradiance particle this simple and small but wonderful piece of render engine does the job in real time(!) using Sketchup's physical sun or HDRI's. You can change materials using Sketchup's default material editor and tweak them simultaneously using Shaderlight's material editor as your scene renders progressively. You can freely move the camera around and change views inside Sketchup and you can see it change instantly as it renders. Did I mention it can use HDRI's as light source?  And one thing I like the most is that there is no need to export your scene, it renders right inside Sketchup (well, sort of. Actually it opens a render frame window where you can take snapshot of the render as it progresses.)

I can ramble all day about how I love its simplicity. Head on out to http://www.artvps.com to have a look. I almost forgot to mention it also has something for 3dsmax. nice. :)

 This came out directly from Shaderlight without any post processing.

 Click on image for higher resolution.

Here is a test. It's a snapshot of render in progress. I have used one of the default lighting presets (golf course evening) which also comes as a background should you choose not to use a custom one. In this scene I changed to a custom background to suit my need. Forgive me on my grass material though. I was eager to try it out immediately. 

Cheerios!

irradiance particles and hdri. update 2

I have gone to a totally different direction with my exterior archiviz test.
From my regular lighting solution of using Daylight with mental ray sun and mr physical sky, I have taken a new path - Image Base Lighting using HDRI's through Irradiance Particles.

Click for higher resolution

A few more adjustments. Somehow, I would have to invest in some decent HDRI's. That would come if only I could land in a decent job that would pay me and this hobby. :)

irradiance particles and hdri. update

An update of my Irradiance particle study.

As it is, I do not have access to hi resolution HDRI's so... any who, I just want to learn how to set-up Irradiance Particle along with Image Base Lighting.

irradiance particles and hdri

I feel like a kid on his first bike ride without the rear training wheels. Let me tell you why. While trying to figure out how to make my exterior archiviz render with mental ray better, I have stumbled upon Jeff Patton's entry on making interior renders "unique". Here he recommends IBL with Irradiance Particles. I'm hooked!

After 4 hours of tweaking with it here is what I have.

I'm still figuring out if I got it working right. The shadows seem soft compared to the HDRI environment which is bright daylight.

 Here are the settings. You can find free HDRI's at www.hdrlabs.com and some at www.hyperfocaldesign.com.

I will surely be updating this.

wip_exterior

I've been around the net looking to challenge myself for something new to render. I've noticed that I haven't posted any exterior renders except for one that I never really got to finish.

I have stumbled upon this very nice looking house at http://www.trendir.com. It's called Crockett Residence. Designed by Elemental Design. (Please do not sue me. I do not claim ownership of the design and of the house. If I violate any laws please contact me immediately. )

Modeled this from scratch in Sketchup. Here are some study renders.

You can find the image I tried to emulate at the http://www.pbelemental.com.