Steve_Nyhof

I wanted to add a little more to the grass in those renderings that show more grass and are not hidden so much by just tree shadows (noted above). Now I have added Leaves and Clover to the Library. Same link as before, just with some added materials, etc. The grunge image ( a single image) I am showing has been stretched to span over the whole front yard. I also made the grunge image less transparent and brownish in color, so try some different colors and transparency. Lifting the grunge image up and down in the grass also makes a difference on the look. The Landscape Library that includes Leaves, Clover and Grunge... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XJo7gJ9_KXpR-Pp0COgzfKdpmXtVjPE_/view?usp=sharing I would love to see some of your renderings where these methods are used.

Thank you for taking the time to add your thoughts. Typical 3D CAD stuff I feel is connected more to the CPU, and zoom just hogs more of it, and I feel like I can't do much in that area. But messing with larger plant and tree models, and working in Twinmotion I think I need (I would like) the faster GPU. Thank you!

I believe you helped me a few years ago with ideas for a better build. I have been holding off for the 5090, but now they are talking into 2025. I move along quit fine with mine, but when I'm on zoom with a client or drawing a large house, especially toward the end with all of its details, it gets slow enough to be annoying. Have you noticed your RTX4080 make a big difference with Chief? And would a 4090 still be better than what I have now - noticeably different? Thank you!

Not sure Chief can do that. You can double click on the dimension and suppress it and then manually add 30" or 2'-6"

I just got done uploading some things related to creating nice looking renderings...

A Little Grunge, Please! To further give your grass a more realistic look, I have made up some "Grunge" images to place on the grass. Place them on the plan view and stretch them to your liking. Video to show the Grunge images https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/ajMBhR92t8v3XYbEHLLY Library of Grunge images and other things... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XJo7gJ9_KXpR-Pp0COgzfKdpmXtVjPE_/view?usp=sharing Without Grunge Added to the Grass With Grunge Added to the Grass

Love to see this! Now bring your grass in on each side a little, and even pull in on the rear to expose more of the background image. Bring your camera to about 6' off the road and zoom in on the image a little. Then try some of the shadow trees or chiefs 3d trees to cast shadows on the grass (or add some grunge to the grass - wait for it!). It's amazing what a nice background can do! Thank you for testing it out.

I wanted to complete a set of background images, so the Library now includes some with more evergreen and tropical, both on land and with a river and lake, and a few at night time. Use one of the night time background images. Not great, but a different effect. I'm sure you can do similar effects with the daytime images and mess with the settings. You can use the same camera and just make a few setting changes... Reduce the Backdrop Intensity Reduce the Sunlight Between the Backdrop Intensity and the Sunlight you can effect the background image and the grass brightness and sun shadow Intensity. Select the light Set to turn your lights on inside the house (requires you place lights) Here is the additional background images. This is the same link as in the first post - updated. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DAyFz76wks-jABoMGXbjmxryAAhI9axB/view?usp=sharing Background images.pdf

This is a good example of how the front subject and the background image are congruent with each other. This is the key to what I wanted to achieve by using a background image instead of the backdrop image.

You're welcome! Credit goes to Rob Dyck

Thank you! I will check it out

Spice up your daily working environment and live call presentations I know I posted some of these backdrops in other threads, but for anyone wanting to set up their Perspective Full and Perspective Floor Overview Cameras, here are some backdrops for Land, River and Sea. Video Overview https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/ZD2pJ8tWgjWZi57EsZ6A I use these backdrops in my daily design and when I am on a zoom call with a client, the presentation in Standard Camera mode looks nicer than a white background or some photo. Here is the Backgrounds Library... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cCR8i8LWGYQ0mgQfOGaUNqZk4yzBO9QB/view?usp=sharing Just open your Default Settings and update the Perspective Full and Perspective Floor (and others if you use them) with the backdrop that is most common, typically the Land.

It does not take long to make up some backgrounds now. Send me a few ideas of what you would like to see in a background - that goes for anyone. The main thing I needed to accomplish was getting Chiefs grass to blend in with the background image grass and I think it is very close. I need to also look into some palm trees. I did not find any with Chief but I'm sure I can find some online. Thank you

Here is a house plan I just completed, and because the owner is going to use it as a Airbnb, he wanted some simple renderings. I set up the same camera I include above, placed my background image, put in a few nicer trees that can also cast shadows and rendered the image. Then I made a copy of the camera and put it in the front of the house, moved my trees a bit and rendered the next image. Both in about 5 minutes. I did not spend any time on landscaping. This is the lake side of the house This is the front side so you can see I used one of the backgrounds that has a lake Here I am pointing out where the Terrain ends and the Background image begins, and how to use the tree shadows. I think this is why this method is working well... https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/qgO8wvasLRm4GlCLFBrw

You might want to send in that screen shot to support. It is funny that you do not have controls to add or edit the ceiling in that DBX.

What I don't understand is why you are missing all your edit buttons... This is a PC...

Your room does not have a ceiling. If you add drywall and set it to 1/2" the ceiling should show up. You are also going to want to look into your Defaults > Room Types. From here you can see and learn about your room types and the settings for each type. It sees you are using a Room Type that does not include a ceiling. In the future you will want to post your questions in General Q & A

I am including a library of 2D trees that you can use for shadow trees instead of 3D trees. I want to give Rob Dyck a shout out for showing me how to make 2D material images with a solid vertical face and 2D tree images as a way to cast shadows without the added file size of 3D trees. Here is the Library for the 2D Tree Shadows https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XJo7gJ9_KXpR-Pp0COgzfKdpmXtVjPE_/view?usp=sharing Here you can see I am including both deciduous and evergreen trees. Rotate, resize and/or double them up to get the affect you want. The red rectangle shows where you would capture the image on the screen.

I made a new post on step by step rendering within Chief Architect on X15... New backgrounds

I made a new post on step by step rendering within Chief Architect on X15... New backgrounds

I made a new post on rendering within Chief Architect on X15...

Hi Viki, I made a new post on rendering within Chief on X15...

Using this method, you can create beautiful renderings in less than an hour. Everything you need, including my 3D modeled background images, shadow trees, Leaves, Clover and more are below. Make sure to follow this thread down as I have continued to add more ideas and more things to the Libraries... Here is a brief overview explaining the steps below... https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/iwg6TRh5GxnwXhQwmWLA Step by Step on how to render a fast and beautiful image in Chief Architect I am using an image only for the background image instead of the Backdrop which gives me more control over the placement and look I am after. I made up 7 background images for you to use. As an image you can move it around easily, scale it and even reverse it for another rendering. These are the grass settings... You can of course mess with these, but I am matching my background images. This shows the placement of the camera and the background image. In my model I am taking a picture from the rear corner. How to capture a proper and realistic perspective... set your horizon about 1/4 to 1/3 of the total height from the bottom set your camera height at eye level. It can be lower for a neat effect, but never higher as it will make the person looking at the house feel like they are 10' tall. Only birds see houses from 10' high. (Unless you are being intentional to show off the roofs) Your house should be top priority. I have seen renderings where the designer wants to show off a beautiful mountain scape, etc. When a person is searching for what they like in a house they don't care about your background. The background should enhance the house. in camera view, move the model/view up a bit on your screen so that the side walls of the exterior of the house are vertical or leaning in just a little. In chief if the model is too low it will lean in vertically too much and lose a realistic perspective. Moving the model up will encroach on the sky so not too much. When possible, there should be more sky above the model than grade below the model in your captured final image. This is difficult with Chief and I have a ticket in with them to look into lowering the floor line (0 level) in the camera to below center screen. Now knowing some of these things, spend some time looking at google images of exterior renderings and begin to note which homes really stand out because of the horizon placement (sky vs grade), and the model angle (eye view). The tree I am using only as shadow trees. I will have some nice 3d trees available in the future that will look more realistic to place in the foreground and in your scene. Carpinus caroliniana 2 - see the size in the DBX below Camera PBR Settings Camera Specs The sunlight I am using - set the angle of sunlight until shadows looks good for the house and the trees. I am using the tree shadows to hide the edge of my grass/terrain. Not too much shadow on the house. Set the Backdrop image from the Library included. This image is used for the window glass reflection only. You can control the Horizontal Offset to get the tree reflection you like in the windows. Change the glass material properties on the windows to 2.5 Index of Refraction. This will allow some view through the glass and into the rooms but also create reflection of the Backdrop image trees. This shows the view of the software and the different elements involved before the screen capture. (I like my menu on the left - not important here) This is what the rendering can look like when complete and after placing Chiefs plants... I do not mind Chiefs plants, they look pretty nice. The most time you will spend on this is on the plants and shadow trees. Now that I have this all in place I will need to test my time, but I think I can pull this off in less than 30 minutes. Home Designed by BD Design Here is the Library of background and backdrop images https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DAyFz76wks-jABoMGXbjmxryAAhI9axB/view?usp=sharing Here is the plan template where I have the camera and backdrop all set up... Open the drawing and copy the camera in the circle and paste it into your plan/template. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H24RNzj_vEOkgn2-XkWc_KzdzxVyGq02/view?usp=sharing I would love to see some renderings that you create using this method Steve

Very nice! Thanks for sharing

Hi Viki, I've done a lot in Twinmotion, but it is a bit time consuming and the builders I draw for do not want to pay for my time for a nice rendering. So I have been working back in Chief the last two weekends working on a solution you may like. One thing that is very important is that your eye is at around 5 to 6 feet off the ground. Place yourself in front of the house and move the camera until your front door is about the level of you walking through it of a bit less. You should barely see the bottom side of the porch header.