Architectural scene...need your feedback!

Ott

Got just a few more days left of this class...but am looking for critiques from anyone and everyone on getting the textures and the scene finished up. Tell me what you think!

** On that note, I realize that the left side is a little confusing. I have some post work I will be working on with some rain and water stains on the walls to improve that so it is more clear.

I also don't have enough time left to change the models or the layout, but any advice, suggestions, or crits on the textures, lights, and the overall scene are more than welcome. Thanks in advance!

PolyPutty

just a thought, but shouldn't there be a dominate light source coming from the fire instead of that tiny glow? I could understand if it was a small glow if it was just full of hot coals not an actual flame. while it seems dark, overall the lighting appears pretty flat to me. maybe some baked shadows? I don't know a lot about faking shadows in a scene, not familar with this type of work just learning. maybe dirty up the fireplace a bit, it is a bit clean where there is a lot of ash present? put som dirt and grime in the edges and cracks.

chinups

I like your scene but i think the lighting is not doing it any justice. You want to establish mood and also show off those textures. The brick on the fire place looks like straight source and more like medievil then what would be in a home/cabin. Im also not sure whats going on with the curtain, is it going to be animated for your reel? Cause it doesnt work to well for stills. The fire itself could also use some work. especially if its right in the middle of your scene. But the main issue is the lighting, it can make a huge difference for you.

Ott

I totally agree...I've spent most of my time on this project working with the lighting and it's still pretty much shit in my mind...I know what I WANT it to look like, and have absolutely no idea how to get it to look "just right" in Max ><

I've got a couple crits about the fireplace as well...I think I will actually scrap it and go for a more contemporary stone. The reference I had for it was pretty crappy as far as construction is concerned, and I wasn't too happy with the final results. I worked construction for awhile doing stone and pre-cast fireplaces, but this particular style is pretty foreign to me...think its on the block for chopping!

Bronco

the other small nitpik in terms relism for your scene for me is that if your window is broken and the curtain really is blowing like that,which looks like a quite a strong wind I would have thought things like the papers on the desk and piano would go flying,I also think you should rotate the chandallear and taht other hanging decor to represent the force of that wind. Just a suggestion that caught my eye.

John

Ott

Yep, a good point. One of the other things I thought about adding is some papers and leaves on the ground. The pot is actually rotated a bit, but you are right it still doesn't look like it is swaying in the wind....I didnt think about moving the hanging light as well...good idea.

Thanks so far guys, ill post some updates tomorrow afternoon!

seankaremaker

I think that small details would make a difference to this scene. just some quick fixes you might want to try.

-on the arm rest of the chair maybe add some wear on the finish of the wood where the hands and elbows would rest.

-maybe think about adding some circular stains on the little table that indicate somebody put a drink on there without a coaster.

- make the bottom of the curtain darker, appear as though water has soaked into it.

- Add some soot on the inside of the fireplace and maybe add a few ashes on the stone platform in front of the fireplace.

- under the window that doesn't really look like water damage to me, I am sure you could find some photo reference that would be more convincing, also you might want to consider making the corner of the rug soaked in water too as it is close to the window.

these may not be too too important but I think they can make a difference. your scene is looking pretty good though.

Uly

(What's that little dangly thing by the window? : ( I can't figure it out.)

You're off to a great start. The wear and highlights on the edges of the varnished wood areas are looking quite good. And the rest of the textures are generally looking pretty good! One that bothers me though is the brick chimney looks like wallpaper. Could definately use more depth. Its horizontal UV space is looking squished too.

As for the lighting. What Chinups said. Play around with the lighting some, and get it just how you like it. You don't show off a great painting in a really dimly lit room. (Unless you're into some 'new wave' art crap.) Baked lighting is a toughie, as you need lots of unique UV space for everthing. If you play around with DMap shadows enough and the likes, you should find that it doesn't take too long to render. Post some updates soon! Can't wait to see more.

Ott

Little more of an update.

Still need to work on:

1. Texturing the books.
2. Post work adding some very light water dripping in and stains on the wall by the window.
3. Add books to the bookcase / cabinet.

What else?

Jarrod1937

what are the light sources? and what tiem of day is it? then lighting just feels like its killing the scene.

Ott

The fireplace, and a light coming from off the side on the right. It's overcast, and there is going to be rain coming in from the broken window on the left.

The only choices I see are:

A) Add another light source that comes from some other object I haven't created yet.
Make it brighter
C) Leave it dark and everyone tell me it's too dark and you can't see the textures.


Unfortunately Max hasn't created the "Make Cool Lighting" modifer yet, and I haven't seen any step by step tutorials that teach you GOOD interior lighting that aren't talking about 3rd party renderers or shaders/mats I can't use.

If anyone has any suggestions on HOW to make the lighting better I'm all ears.

PolyPutty

Just look at some global illumination examples might help. for one corners of walls and thing tend to appear dark. might want to use some secondary colors simulated by bounce lighting. look at your scene and see if there could be any bounce lighting. then fake it with a light source. I don't know if max has something similar to maya's light linking. notice how in the example even in the shadow areas there are light spots caused by light bouncing off the objects.

fogmann

The lighting looks as if you have the lights turned on in that ceiling fixture in your scene, but it appears as if that's not the case. The light coming in from the window with dark curtain covering great part of it would be very dim. I understand you want to show off your textures, but perhaps you can add some more shadowing to introduce gloomy mood into your scene. But right now it looks like you have an ambient light also, and that is killing the mood of the scene and making it appear flat. So the light coming in from the window would be directional, and also the light coming from fireplace would be slightly red/orange colored and for it you could use omni, casting dark shadows. Don't be afraid to leave dark spots in your scenes, as those often create more depth. If you need to leave ambient light in there, make it much dimmer and let the actual light sources to the majority of illumination. Ambient occlusion pass would help, but if the scene is for real time application (and judging by the low poly look of the chair in close up, I'd say that's the case), you shouldn't really worry about advanced rendering techniques in Max as bounced light and final gather or global illumination, as that won't be available for realtime until next-next-gen of consoles or who knows when, but you can still fake it with small lights, so it's enough to know how light behaves to be able to achieve the effect you want by faking it with what's available and easy to set up.
You might also want to add some specular highlights to the models (unless you are working on color texture only scene), because right now your materials don't have much distinction and they all feel the same. There should be spec reflection of fire on the floor, a hot spot on the shiny polished wood parts of the furniture and some highlighted edges.

By the way, you might want to fix the texture on that plant near the window, it looks like you're having white outlines showing up. This tutorial should help you get rid of those.

Anyhow, hope this helps, keep going, I really like what you have so far and hope to see more.

Ott

Thanks for the tips and ideas.

I'll look into some GI tutorials some more.

Rendering and lighting is a huge blackhole at my school, and I've not once ever been shown how to adjust or alter anything in the rendering or lighting in 3ds Max.

I know it's not really an excuse - most of what I have learned has been on my own - but not having a teacher or someone there to show you exactly how stuff works (and why) is really tough when it comes to some of these techniques.

Ad far as what lights I have - I have 2 small omni lights in the fireplace with a small glow turned on, I have one squared shape spotlight to give the illusion of a door being opened or something from the side, and I have one omni near the center of the room to help illuminate extra light that might come from where the spotlight is.

The only two casting shadows is the spotlight and 1 of the fireplace omnis.

I'll lose the ambient in the center - it might be the cause of the flooding of unnatural light, and go for something coming through the window as well. Even on a gloomy cloudy day there should be some light coming from there.

Thanks for the tips about the spec maps and the alpha maps. The plant leaves are pretty early pass, I just haven't gone back and fixed....I will definitely use that trick. And I'm an idiot for not doing spec on the fireplace and the ground stuff. All of those objects should have some spec.

Tomorrow is pretty much my last day to really be able to work on it. With GDC, work, my other classes, Art test for Concrete, and pretending to have a girlfriend - I haven't really been able to do as much with this as I would have liked. I still have another quarter to graduate though, and would definitely like to go further with this as a portfolio piece.

Thanks again all!

Ott

Oh, and I did several AO passes, but I can't seem to get the corners and stuff darker without altering all the "darks" of the rest of the scene in Photoshop. My AO renders all seem to be fairly dark all around, and I haven't really been able to get it "just right" for the areas I want.

What do you guys use for interiors that gives it that "right" look in your AO passes that really seems to pop?

PolyPutty

now this is an assumption on my part as I am not familar with your software packeage. In maya when you put in the brightness of the lights, negative values would pull light out of your scene sort of like a black hole.