Rendering SketchUp Architect's Den by Jon Anderson - Top 10 Image Award Winner
Interview with Twilight Render 3D Artist Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson (known around the forums as JCA131) is the creator of this Architect's Den model he designed and built in Google SketchUp and rendered with Twilight Render. We recently had the honor of interviewing him regarding the process of creating this image. Jon has created several architectural renderings which may be found in the Twilight Render Showcase Gallery.
If you would like to see the other 9 award winning images, refer to this Twilight Render 2011 Top 10 Images article.
Interview with Jon Anderson (JCA131 on the Twilight Render User Forum)
Job position: Junior Architect/Rendering Consultant
Website: www.jcanderson131.wordpress.com
Twilight Render (TWL): What was the initial spark of inspiration for the creation of this image?
Jon: Generally as I add new files to my rendering library (models, materials, etc...) I like to test them out. Sometimes it is a simple exterior wall to test a new material or a chair model with basic materials applied to see how they will work in future renderings. In this case I was testing the concrete material and the chairs and I liked how everything looked and continued to develop the scene. I was browsing the Sketchup Community Forums(http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtop ... 81&t=18703) and found a rendering of a similar space by Nomeradona which gave the initial inspiration for the concrete room.
TWL: What can you tell us about the process you followed to develop this image? Did you model this all yourself in SketchUp or did you use a 3rd party modeling app. or downloaded models by others?
Jon: I developed the model completely in SketchUp. The chairs, coffee table, books, and other items on the shelves were all downloaded either from the Twilight Forum or 3D Warehouse and edited where needed.
TWL: What render setting did you use to render your preliminary, and final image?
Jon: I generally use the Prelim render setting for any initial tests to see how the lighting looks. After I am happy with the overall look of the scene, I use Easy-09 for test renders as I develop the scene, lighting, and materials. The final Image was rendered overnight on Easy-09 with a little post-processing in Photoshop.
TWL: What can you tell us about how you approached lighting this image?
Jon: Each can fixture in the ceiling has a light emitting material applied to the inside and an IES spotlight (from the set shared by fymoro) positioned underneath. I felt that the lighting lacked interest so I added the skylights to each side of the room to allow natural light into the space. I used a physical sky with the brightness set to 2.0 and a slight blue tint (RGB 207,254,249).
TWL: What can you tell us about how you approached the material creation for this image? Were there any specific materials in this scene you are particularly proud of?
Jon: Materials are always a work-in-progress throughout the development of a rendering. I find myself tweaking the material settings for every test render and even up to the final rendering. I generally create materials in SketchUp from images in my rendering library and apply the appropriate template in Twilight’s material editor, tweaking the settings until I am happy with it. I was particularly happy with how the concrete and the glass coffee table material came out. I think the wood floor could use a bit more attention, specifically with the bump map.
TWL: Did you do any post-production with the raw rendered image?
Jon: Yes, I used Photoshop for post-production. For this image, I was happy with the raw render so it did not require much work in Photoshop. I brightened the image, bumped up the contrast, and adjusted the color balance to add a little more depth to the rendering.
TWL: What is your background with modeling and rendering and what is your day-to-day profession?
Jon: I began using SketchUp 6 or 7 years ago as an architecture student and have been using TwilightRender for about 2 years. I work as a Junior Architect at a large AE firm and I work as a rendering consultant on the side. My focus tends to be on the project visualization side, although we do not normally go for photorealism for our presentations. I have spent time developing those skills on my own time and apply them as a rendering consultant.
TWL: Did you learn anything in particular about Twilight while working on this image?
Jon: I feel that I learn something new about Twilight during each project. The forum has been an invaluable tool for developing rendering and post-production skills.
