Steve_Nyhof

This one is straight out of Twinmotion... I used the same template but moved the sun to the right and moved a few trees. Not bad for an old fart. I started in on this adventure the week of Christmas. A few days ago I was about to give up because I just wasn't getting what I wanted. I'm glad I stuck with it.

Yes, agree with you on the first being more realistic, but I would say I have been after something with a touch of artistic value. My interiors are looking very good with chief and I purposely use a background that is more faded and artsy so they are beginning to play nice together. My focus on this was to produce something quickly, and now that I believe I have it figured out I can begin to fine tune with other objects and lighting. I did not change the roof, that is straight out of Chief as it really looks quite good and adding roof materials and textures in TM just didn't add any real difference. Thank you

I wanted to give an update here on my progress. Feeling pretty good now with Twinmotion. I am not using the Path Tracer as it gives me results in areas that I just don't like. Path Tracing is wonderful for glass and water and rough things like brick and stone, but Path Tracing does not offer a number of features the normal lighting provides. Perhaps the right elevation would work. I spent last night and six hours today adding in my own trees and plants and setting up my Library. All my siding, trim, etc are mainly white with the different texture maps all set up. Now I just need to apply the materials to the model and change the colors and adjust a few settings until it looks right. Once I had my default TM template set up I started a new rendering file, I spent 1 hour adding the house model, a few high grade trees (because their size is enormous), adding in my landscaping and messed with lighting, shadows, etc.. After that I brought the file into Photoshop and in 5 minutes using the Camera Raw Filters, produced what I think works and looks good for what I am after. Out of Twinmotion After Photoshop

Yeah, it does look pretty good. The plants looks like an eight year old wanted to help out. I know I could get plants set up with shadows already applied, and put groups together you can just place. But after messing with it for a bit I went back to Twinmotion and dug in more with my own textures. I figure I didn't give enough time to the fine details that make a difference in TM. The big thing about TM that was bugging me was that almost all the exterior materials need to be replaced with your own textures because it is all flat and because most of the TM textures are made for gamers. I spent a few hours last night creating and applying textures and now understanding more of it's potential from experience. I also just like the idea of being able to move the model this way or that. Not to say that there is not some potential in the 2D realm with some nice grass and background, but I want to keep at it and learn the 3D. I appreciate your encouragement as always, and maybe some of these ideas will help the next Chief user.

Yes, I only started to look and finding lots of things. Thank you!

I just found this.. Going to give this a try in PS https://stock.adobe.com/search/images?k=shrub

I was messing around with exporting my CA as a png and put into Photoshop. Brought in one of my backgrounds and then put in some grass form Twinmotion. That part is not so bad, but adding the bushes would be another issue. Maybe there are options for some nice 3d looking bushes and flowers. The grass does look nice though for 2D work in Photoshop if that is how you are pulling off the look. Here are 5 grass images from different angles. 1 has not stripes. This was 10 mins of work. Someone have an idea on bushes? FYI - I brought in the terrain with the image painted black. Then in PS I masked the terrain and deleted it. That left the foundation exposed as it is. Then put in the grass image and behind the house image, it just works. The background image is behind the grass. Then erase/blend in the grass to the background.

I took like 2 minutes to tone it back - Lost some luster the original has. No Biggy, I am just cranking through so many things trying to get a number of living rooms set up with all the settings.

I agree, it is supposed to be an evening scene. Mainly for my home page (temp site - https://phasade.com/ ) so I could put white text over it. It would not be my typical rendering. While we are shooting for that perfect picture, and I agree with Rene whole heartedly on aspect of drawing attention to the architecture, beauty is still in the eye of the beholder. I have seen before and after renderings that I think are both beautiful and could say I have seen both styles in life whether the sun is out or not, casting shadows or not, etc. That home page pic is like after two weeks of learning. I think it is a beautiful house, and it is going up down the road on an inlet from Lake Michigan. Thank you!

Ah! I see that now - Thank you!

Here is this same image brought into PS with some adjustments... Right out of TM... After PS...

I just did this in TM. I have watched many videos and they make it seem so easy, but I just cannot get what I really want. This was then brought into Photoshop to scale back on the contrast. I made my own board and batten maps which I use in Chief, and then need to add the normal map into TM. I try to use the Path Tracing, but it does funny things I cannot figure out to control, but this is not too bad. 1.5 hours. The one thing I wanted to try was making thicker concrete so I could just raise the house a few inches over the top of the grass instead of erasing the grass, and that seems to work. It is of course is not as snuggled into the grass/grade.

Thank you, I'll look into it.

Yes, I have tried both ways on the flooring. I know I have a ways to go to getting things right and resetting a number of my materials. A bit daunting, but for me to be able to do a rendering quickly I know I need to go through a number of materials and set things up.

Yes, you and I are in agreement on that rendering. Is there a link to Dan Baumans Summit, or is that a live seminar?

Actually I'm liking the look of the PBR with the lines... Nice and clean

Here are some watercolor in CA. I did notice that you cannot change the background sun - not that I could find. It is not bad, but I like PS better. I did not mess much with the settings, so that may make a big difference - will test.

Yes, after I brought into photoshop I was liking the look. I forgot about the watercolor option. Haven't messed with that for several years. Rene, sometime I will purchase some time with you as I would like to get on the right track with realistic rendering. My main goal at the moment is to complete my new website where I want a more artistic look for the interiors... Here is what I have put together for exteriors and interiors... https://stevenyhofdesigns.com/new-home-construction/ These are just models from CA... https://stevenyhofdesigns.com/software-models-gallery/ For those you want to show off remodeling projects... https://stevenyhofdesigns.com/remodeling-and-additions/

Or maybe bring it into photoshop and have some fun. I like these also.

Yes, I get that and I have uploaded a number of backgrounds above that are properly exposed. So now I am mainly playing around with results of the different types of images - now working on casting a pinkish hue. I am now messing with some of my sun and other rendering technique settings to pull off an evening scene. I am purposely trying to pull off a more abstract look so the viewer knows I'm not trying to make it photorealistic, but offer an idea of the space. Maybe later I will spend that time, but for now I want to click a few buttons and have a result. You might say it is a result of pulling in the idea of hand color pencil or water color renderings...

A new thing I learned - yes, I know, a bit slow here... was the angle and horizon of my image. It is important if you want to match the placement of the camera inside the model that the exterior be at that same angle (perspective) and horizon. I'm messing around with some background colors to bring in a more ambient morning cast, and was wondering why my background just does not seem to be placed correctly. I also pushed my bushes out toward the tree so they would show up in the image. Better Result - standing at like 5 or 6 feet off the ground - horizon in the middle of image Horizon too low - looks strange and twisted Horizon in the middle - much better And after all that, the look I'm after is to wash out and show less of the exterior, creating a more abstract look

Yeah, I didn't like that one either. You might say I am not trying too hard to make the trees nice as much as I was working to try and find my right exposure. I found that if I over exposed in Chief from a darker photo, it would turn too lime green, so was trying to less brightness to overexpose the background. I redid another for Spherical and made the trees smaller. This is just for the perspective full and floor and sits better now. Once again, I'm just trying to get something nice without spending too much time fussing at this time while learning the interior rendering. Thank you, Rene! I have been enjoying your videos and learning a lot of little tricks here and there. I also purchased your closets, so going to mess with setting some of those up soon for when I have a home with a large closet that I want to do a rendering on in Chief. SN Background Far Trees and hills Sph.calibz

After looking at more interior renderings online, I headed toward something just a bit more abstract and artsy. Here are some new backgrounds and camera and rendering settings. I'm liking more where this is heading. What I am trying to do is set up a new website with exterior renderings from Twinmotion, and the projects interiors from Chief. I have been slowly making these rendering changes and to my default template with a camera already in place I can just drag into place all set up. I am including my Library of these backgrounds, both backdrops and Spherical. From these you can see the horizon placement that works for backdrops and Spherical and how they differ. I don't have much of a reflection in the water on the lighter image, but the idea is to wash the background out a bit in the rendering. See PDF for settings SN Backgrounds.calibz 2023-01-27-6.pdf

Here is another one on a lake. Not Spherical. bg-Lake.calibz

I'm still trying to make the background nicer as I continue to fine tune my interior cameras and lighting. So here are three new backgrounds, one for a flat background and two for a spherical background. Same background on the Spherical, but with a twist... FYI - The horizon is very important to get it to sit right, so use these as samples. The lower horizon is for the Spherical. bg-Flat.calibz bg-Sph.calibz bg-Sph-x2.calibz