Let's PBR

[TheKitchenAbode]

1 minute ago, rispgiu said:

Absolutely I agree, I asked about photoshop because I thought your furniture and grass looked very good

 

All the models in this shot are standard CA ones, even the grass. The adjustments I made to the light and colors where global, did not mask out anything.

[rispgiu]

4 minutes ago, TheKitchenAbode said:

 

All the models in this shot are standard CA ones, even the grass. The adjustments I made to the light and colors where global, did not mask out anything.

It definitely looks good. Might be the angle then? I have found that for me PBR behaves very strange. With the camera positioned one way the materials reflection look great, facing a whole different direction the bump maps finally come out etc. 

I use PBR on a daily basis with clients for a quick look and clients always seem impressed especially if I invest some time to adjust lights etc. 

I have been using VRAY lately and I am truly enjoying it but it is a much longer process. 

[TheKitchenAbode]

1 minute ago, rispgiu said:

It definitely looks good. Might be the angle then? I have found that for me PBR behaves very strange. With the camera positioned one way the materials reflection look great, facing a whole different direction the bump maps finally come out etc. 

I use PBR on a daily basis with clients for a quick look and clients always seem impressed especially if I invest some time to adjust lights etc. 

I have been using VRAY lately and I am truly enjoying it but it is a much longer process. 

 

You are 100% correct concerning the camera angle and how reflections and bumps look. Reflections and bumps are their greatest when the camera is aimed towards the sun. When the camera is aimed in the same direction as the sun then reflections and bumps are minimal. The regular spot and point lights do not have a large effect on reflectivity or bumps, seems that the sun is the primary light source that effects this.

[TheKitchenAbode]

Don't ignore the impact that a minor amount of post processing can have. Many photo editors have a number of easy to apply built-in filters that can be used to enhance your rendering. In the sample below I used the Soft Glow filter in Photoshop, takes only a few seconds; select the filter, adjust intensity and your done.

 

Original X11 PBR Output

 

After applying Soft Glow filter

 

If your current photo editor does not have this type of filter you can download GIMP for free and there is also a free version of Photoshop CS2. Here is a link to SnapFiles, a great source for freeware and shareware.

 

https://www.snapfiles.com/freeware/gmm/fwgraphicedit.html

 

 

[TheKitchenAbode]

Even a very basic photo editor such as the Windows Photo App can have a significant impact. Here, using the Windows Photo App, I adjusted the shadows, highlights and slightly lowered the warmth to reduce yellow color cast.

 

Original X11 PBR

 

After adjusting in Windows Photo App

 

Most of this could have been done within X11's PBR but it's just faster and easier to do in a photo editor. The key is to recognize the potential in the PBR even though it may not be at the time exactly what you are shooting for.

 

Keep in mind that most professional photographers place more emphasis on capturing data verse obtaining the best out of camera pic. They will purposely shoot overexposed and underexposed in order to capture more data on highlights and shadows, they know that this data when blended together will result in a pic that will be superior to any pic they would have been able to obtain in just one shot.