In this Architectural Visualization workflow overview you will learn how to use Google Sketchup for photo matching, create a Vray-proxy in 3ds Max, use Max script to speed up your workflow, reduce render times when creating a large scene, set render layers in 3ds Max, and do some post production in Digital Fusion.
Step 1
Start Google Sketchup 7.1 (sketchup 6.0 at least), go to (File > Import...). Use "use as new matched photo" as the import option. This will help you quickly step into "PhotoMatch", Sketchup's new function.
Step 2
"Spacing" = 1000 mm, meaning 1 meter per grid unit when the "Grid" option is set to "On".
Step 3
The Red and Green axis stands for the two vanishing points of the original photo, and the Yellow line should be matched by the photo's horizon line. These points should be matched the photo's V.P as correctly as possible.
Step 4
Go to (Draw > Rectangle) to create a rectangle based on the original photo's perspective, and then use the "Push" tool to generate a cube.
Step 5
Right click the top line, and chose "Divide", then use the "Line" tool to create lines. Divide the cube by 17x19x5 segments.
Step 6
Use the same method to create a new cube on top of the original one. All of the segments should be created based on the original photo.
Step 7
Use the "Circle", "Push", and "Offset" tools to create a column. Copy it by pressing "N" (N=1,2,3...).
Step 8
This is the final result of the Sketchup modeling portion.
Step 9
Go to (File > Export > 3D model).
Step 10
Chose "3ds" format as the file type, and export it into 3ds max 2009. This is the end of the Sketchup part.
Step 11
Start 3ds Max 2009, make sure your 3ds Max units are set to "Millimeters".
Step 12
Go to (File > Import...) to import the '3ds' file.
Step 13
Hit 'C' to switch to the Camera view, and press 'ALT+B', to open the Viewport Background window.
Step 14
Hit 'F10' to open the Render Setup, and set the "Image Aspect" to 0.6667. Change the render engine to Vray 1.5 sp2.
Step 15
Select the Camera, call it "Fine", and set the FOV to 45 degrees.
Step 16
Select all of the columns, add a "Smooth" modifier.
Step 17
Modeling the window frame.
Step 18
Final result of all of the frames. Use the Instance Copy option to copy the frames based on the imported 3ds file. Try to match the original photo as correctly as possible.
Step 19
Create the window glass by using the Shell modifier on a plane.
Step 20
Move the glass into the right place on the bottom of the frame.
Step 21
Create the Door Gate by using Extrude + Shell + Edit Poly modifiers.
Step 22
Use the Line + Extrude + Shell Tools to create the top window frames.
Step 23
Add an "EditPoly" modifier, and use the "Chamfer Settings" tool to fillet the edges.
Step 24
Create the glass geometry by using the Shell modifier. Notice the glass's position.
Step 25
Create a plane, and apply the plan image to it as a material. You can use this reference plan to create the interior wall.
Step 26
Here is the result of the interior wall and ceiling base.
Step 27
Draw a line on the floor, and go to (Create > AEC Extended > Railing > Pick Railing Path).
Step 28
Create 3 instances of the glass railing (click to see the large version of the image.)
Step 29
Create the 3rd Floor interior walls. There is no reference image so just rely on the plan and the original photo.
Step 30
Using the CV Curve + Loft tools, generate the small ball in the interior.
Step 31
Use the Line tool to create the support wires.
Step 32
Use the same techniques for the large ball.
Step 33
Use the Line + Extrude tools to generate the ceiling panels. Don't forget to fillet the edges.
Step 34
Model in the lights on the ceiling panels and move them to the right position.
Step 35
This is the final result of the modeling part. We will be moving on to the material steps in a moment, but before starting I would like to introduce this amazing script called "VraymtlPresets". You can visit www.siger.it to download it and also get more information. The latest version is 0.6.
Step 36
Put the "vraymtlPresets_v06.mcr" to your Max script directory. The Macroscripts (.mcr) should be placed in "maxroot\UI\Macroscripts" folder. Go to "Maxscript > Run Script".
Step 37
Open your "VraymtlPresets_v06.mcr".
Step 38
Go to "Customize > Customize User Interface".
Step 39
Select the S_Vray Tools Category.
Step 40
Click "New" to create a new toolbar, name it whatever you want it to be, and hit "OK".
Step 41
Drag the new toolbar to your top max toolbar, and drag the "VRayMTL Quick Presets" action to this new toolbar (under the Action window in your Customize User Interface) and click it. You should now have the script installed.
Step 42
Select all of the window frames, open the "VrayMtl Presets_0.6" toolbar, and go to "Gemstones > Onyx Black > Assign". Open the material editor, set the diffuse color to (35,35,35), and leave everything else as default. Apply the material to all of the frames. Click to see the larger image.
Step 43
Open the material editor, change the material type to "VrayMt"l. Set the "Diffuse" color to (213,203,202),
the "Highlight Gloss" to 0.45, the "Refl. Gloss" to 0.92, the "Subdivs" to 20, and make sure the "Use Interpolation" is on (it will help you reduce the render time). Apply this material to all of the columns. (Click for the larger image.)
Step 44
Select the Glass of the bottom area, open the script, go to "Glass > Architectual > Assign". Make sure the Reflection "Use Interpolation" option is off. Click for the large image.
Step 45
Open the script, go to "Metal > Stainless Steel > Assign". Change the BRDF type to "Blinn", the "Anisotropy" to 0.7, and the "Rotation" to 90 degrees. Apply this material to all of the chrome objects, like door frames, door handles etc..
Step 46
Select a new material ball, change the material type to "VrayBlendMt"l, and select White Plastic as the base material and Black Plastic as the Coat material. Make sure the "Use Interpolation" option is on. For the "Blend Amount" option, use a black/white jpg as a mask, where the white part will be the Base material, and the black part will be the Coat material.
Step 47
Select all of the window frames and apply the "VrayblendMtl" material to them.
Step 48
Select a new material ball, change the material type to "VrayMtl", and set the diffuse color to (219,203,180). Set the "Reflection Color" to (168,168,168), and make sure the "Use Interpolation" option is on. Select all of the interior walls, and apply it. Click to see the larger image.
Step 49
This is the final result of the material part.
Step 50
Now to plant some trees. Here I use Evermotion's product. You can buy and download it from http://www.evermotion.org/modelshop/show_product/sassafras-plant-24-am61/933/0/0/ It has a lot of polygons on this tree, but it looks amazing to me, so I used it to detail this scene. 40EUR per models may be a little pricey for your taste, but anyway you can find any tree models to finish the scene.
Step 51
Select all objects that make up the tree, and go to (UtilitiesPanel > Collapse > Collapse Selected) to convert them into a single object.
Step 52
Right click > Vray Mesh Export.
Step 53
Select a Folder to store the ".vrmesh" file, and make sure the "Automatically Create Proxies" option is on.
Step 54
Set the Display mode to "Preview From File. 3ds Max just created a proxy automatically.
Step 55
Use the Instance Copy and Scale tools to duplicate the proxy in front of the building.
Step 56
This is the final result of adding trees.
Step 57
Create a plane VrayLight, and set the color to (249,132,74). Set the "Invisible" option to "off", change the "Multiplier" to 70, and Instance Copy this VrayLight to fit all of the ceiling lights. Click to see the larger image.
Step 58
Go to (Render panel > Vray panel > Global switches), and you will see that it is at draft render settings.
Step 59
Open the Indiect Illumination panel and hit render (467x700). My render time is around 57 seconds (ASUS C90P Notebook,cpu:Q9550, ram:4G, GC:9600MGT).
Step 60
Go to (Create panel > Lights > Free Ligh) to create a photometric light using an IES file. Move the photometric light under the Vraylight, and Instance duplicate. Here I have 114 IES lights in this scene.
Step 61
Here is the result of adding photometric lights. The render time is 1 min at 467 x 700.
Step 62
Create another VrayLight, set the color to (255,163,82), and make sure the "Invisible" option is off. This means the light can be seen by the renderer.
Step 63
Instance duplicate the light to the interior corridor (match the photo's position as correctly as you can). Use the Scale tool to get light to fit the interior walls.
Step 64
Go to (Render Setup > Vray:Envirorment), and set the GI multiplier to 1.0. Use the Fine.jpg to generate GI. Use a jpg to generate the reflection and refraction, with the multiplier set to 2.0 to give brighter reflections. Notice that the mapping is set to Spherical.
Step 65
Here is a test render done at sStep 64. The render time is up to 5 min because of the VrayLight subdivs are set to 14 with 144 VrayLights. You can reduce the subdiv value to speed up the render time. From this test render, you can see that the interior was a little bit dark.
Step 66
Create a big Vray Plane light. Set the color to (255,188,82), with the "Invisible" option on, but the "Affect Spec and Reflections" off.
Step 67
These are the final render settings in the render setup panel (click for the large version!)
Step 68
And the final render layers settings and render results (again, click to see the large version!)
Step 69
Now for the final compositing step we will use the software Digital Fusion 5.3.
Step 70
Drag the final exr file into fusion, and rename it as "BeautyPass". Go to the "Import" panel, change the depth to "Float32", and set "Post-Multiply by alpha" to "On". When you save the .exr file in 3ds Max, Vray also puts every pass to a single file, so you can change every render pass easily. Here are two examples (Diffuse and reflection pass). Click the "Format" panel, and change the RGB channels the way you want it to be. When you are done with a pass, use Ctrl+C to copy, and Ctrl+V to paste another node. Then go to the "Format" panel to change the channels. You should have a Diffuse, Raw_GI, Raw_LT, Reflection, Refraction, Specular, Sell_Ill, and Beauty pass. Click to see the large version of this image!
Step 71
Here is the final result (click to see the large version!) Thanks for watching. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know. Hope you liked this tutorial. EnjoY!!
