First time baby steps

[o2bwln]

Howdy folks,

I've been a long time SU user (started with version 3) but have been reluctant to get into the rendering scene, mainly due to the intimidation factor. Thank heavens for Twilight! I bit the bullet and bought the program.
My initial thoughts are that this is a great rendering program, very intuitive.
Here's my first attempt at rendering.

I'm still working with the lighting aspect of the program so wanted to try a render that helps show the materials more than the light.

I'd love to hear your CC on this.

Thanks,
O2bwln

ps. The furniture and accessories are from 3D Warehouse and my thanks to the designers that have created these items.

[Fletch]

o2bwln,

Looking great for your first render!

I am glad you like Twilight, and find it intuitive.

Some things to think about:
Camera angle: Look at some gallery images and study the images you like and think about how you can set up your camera to be similar to them. I suggest looking at as many renderings as you can to learn how powerful the right camera angle can be. ... you sure you want to be looking at the back of a couch?

UV Mapping: The materials are fine for SU view, but when you start rendering, all of a sudden you will notice things you never saw before... so look at the frame of the picture on the wall, for instance, and think how can the wood look more realistic with texture being mapped correctly. (Also that frame seems awfully deep compared to a normal picture frame, and from this angle would be a good idea to build the frame more realistically.

Books: need covers on books.

Lights: even for interiors shot during the day, in photography, most shots will be done with the lights on... just seems more welcoming. Shelves on back wall need light.

Model: Needs more detail... for instance, Fireplace missing mantel?

[olishea]

yeah you need some spotlights to the back wall illuminating the shelves....also materials are over-bumped. not keen on the purple but thats just my opinion...

looks like you need to apply materials to all your materials, looks like some are just generic. coffee table needs higher res texture, its blurry at the moment.

yeah i agree about camera angle, increase the field of view (FOV) to at least 45 degrees and get a nicer view angle. I would suggest take the image from the left hand corner of the room (bottom left of the picture) so you can see the sunlight blazing through the windows...will get nice reflections off the materials as well.

[o2bwln]

I really appreciate the feedback.

Here's an updated image. Great program, its amazing how much I can accomplish in my limited experience, can't wait to learn more from the masters on this forum. Still learning the lighting but i'm excited about the prospects.

Thanks,
O2bwln

[fymoro]

Hi and welcome,

Nice for a start...
For me your image is too dark, I just increase the exposure in the attached image.

The bump at the floor material is too strong.
Try to change the background this one doesn't match with the scene shadows.

Keep going....

[Fletch]

much improved! wow!
I think Fred is right, that increasing the exposure of the image, before saving it, (use the exposure control in the camera tab of the Render Dialog) is a great idea. Think of it just as with a real camera - any indoor shot needs much higher exposure than on exteriors. Maybe Fred went just a little bit over-board w/ his extreme exposure adjustment example, but he's definitely on the right track.

The floor could be much shinier. Try a ceramic template, and increase shininess to 600 even up to 1500...

The bump on the floor could be set to strength of .1
Invert bump on brick (with invert checkbox in Twilight Mat Editor Dialog)
Increase shininess on mat. on coffee table (finding a more attractively designed coffee table may help?)

Camera is better but could still be improved/more dynamic.

[olishea]

also, i would suggest using physical sky....the spherical hdri you have used makes the room all green. even if your reduce its strength it will still look green, but darker.

I would use physical sky and place a billboard background into the sketchup model. lighting and colour will be much better.

have you seen my tree lines that you can use as a background?

http://twilightrender.com/phpBB3/viewto ... =13&t=1518

[o2bwln]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided to go a completely different route and try my hand with something else.
I figure the more I try the better I can get. So here's my attempt at HDR lighting, I figure, eventually, I'll work all the techniques I'm learning from this board into my work.

The colors are Majid's car paint, I can't thank him enough for his tutorials along with everyone else.

[Fletch]

I think it's pretty good for a start with car renders. I've never really rendered cars, so can't comment further.