High gloss white on white

[Pingo]

Hi all, I was wondering if I could get some feedback on this image. I have played around with the lighting all weekend and still can't get what I want. The cabinets are glossy (paint) and they just look flat. I have tried spot lights, point lights, turning the sun up and down. Any suggestions? If anyone can direct me to some tutorials for lighting that would be helpful. Thanks!

[Chris]

In order to capture reflective surfaces nicely, they have to have something to reflect. Spherical HDR backgrounds can help with that, but you will have to position your geometry and camera appropriately to capture that.

[Pingo]

Thank you for your reply Chris! I really struggle with HDR backgrounds. I'm can't seem to figure them out. I did change the finish to perfect reflection 'high' and that has helped but would still like something more interesting to reflect. Can you point me in the direction of a HDR tutorial?

[Fletch]

Try a few quick test renderings with the camera set up in different positions to see what happens with the reflections with the current lighting setup.

It could be that you need to adjust the material. It could be that the lighting still needs adjustment. It's difficult to tell from this information.

[Chris]

I think the best source of spherical HDR backgrounds is http://www.hdrlabs.com. They have a lot of free sets and their forum has user-added content as well.

[Pingo]

Thank you Chris and Fletch. I turned it a little so I'd get more of the window in the reflection, I angled the sun to come into the space more and with the perfect reflection it is better. Where the sun hits the walls it's too bright though. Is this because the sun is turned up too much or the sky is too bright? I'm just using a sky colour in this one. I tried an HDR but then I got no light coming in... I need to figure this one out still!

[Fletch]

Any color in your scene must not exceed 92% brightness.
I would set the sun to strength/power of 4 or maximum of 5 (default).
Increase the exposure of the rendering to get the brightness you desire, do not increase the lighting powers.

So, for any white surface, set it to brightness maximum of 92% in the HSB panel of the SketchUp Materials dialog. Even 88% would be good.