Exterior Ray Tracing - Tips

[Ange822]

Good morning,

 

I am still pretty new into Ray Tracing both CPU and GPU. I seem to have a pretty good grasp on the interior GPU with playing around with lighting / sun light etc.

However - the exterior Ray Tracing, you can see it looks to be foggy? I have attached before / 100 passes / 200 passes.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also not sure how to make the ground look more realistic? I tried adding small shrubs and rocks. 

 

Thank you!

[robdyck]

Angela, have you tried using the physically based rendering technique for that view? As a suggestion, could you duplicate the camera and switch the rendering type to PBR and then post the image result?

Keep in mind that a raytraced render may need adjustments to the actual materials and is much slower because of the trial and error process. PBR provide near instant feedback.

For a PBR render, you may need / want to introduce some 3d trees as opposed to tree images. A

A different grass texture with a bump map will also help. Chief's library of high-res grass images has some good textures and @Renerabbitt has given away a great grass texture on the forum. 

 

[robdyck]

All of these images are PBR renders done using Chief X14 only. If these types of images would be suitable, feel free to send me a PM for further assistance.

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/gallery/album/517-robert-dyck-building-design/

 

[Ange822]

32 minutes ago, robdyck said:

Angela, have you tried using the physically based rendering technique for that view? As a suggestion, could you duplicate the camera and switch the rendering type to PBR and then post the image result?

Keep in mind that a raytraced render may need adjustments to the actual materials and is much slower because of the trial and error process. PBR provide near instant feedback.

For a PBR render, you may need / want to introduce some 3d trees as opposed to tree images. A

A different grass texture with a bump map will also help. Chief's library of high-res grass images has some good textures and @Renerabbitt has given away a great grass texture on the forum. 

 

Hi Robert, Thank you so much for answering. I have downloaded that Grass Texture - and Wow thank you for sharing it does look a lot more realistic! I have tried doing a GPU (PBR) Render which I agree is nice it is so instant! I guess I wasn't using that as I had read it was better for Interior views vs Exterior. See the attached view using the GPU / PBR rendering. I have an image background but I also have all 3D plants used too.

 

Looking at your photo gallery - wow they all look so good and so realistic! Great Job! Have you ever or is it possible to turn the lights on inside the house with the exterior view?

How did you get the grass to gravel or driveway transition to look more rugged?

[scottharris]

Angela, your renderings look really good!  Attached are the settings I typically use for both GPU and CPU exterior ray traces.  For the interior, I now exclusively use GPU since it is done in seconds.  For exterior, I’ll use a mix and mostly prefer the CPU with 30 passes.  These attached examples I did in the beta version of X15 – the evening PBR shot has a generated sky model with stars/moon.  If interested in looking at the beta, send an email to beta @ chiefrchitect.com.  you might also look at our ray trace rendering video playlist.

[robdyck]

If a model is complete, I'd recommend making a copy of the plan file just for CPU raytraced renders. In this file, you can make the needed material and lighting adjustments to improve the outcome of a CPU raytrace.

As an example, experiment with the material preview (in the Define Material dialog) and compare the differences in the visual out put between PBR and the various configurations of CPU raytracing. The output varies so significantly and CPU raytracing is much slower, even just to preview a material. 

[robdyck]

12 minutes ago, Ange822 said:

Have you ever or is it possible to turn the lights on inside the house with the exterior view?

Yes I have and yes it is. To save money on the utility bill, I like the lights turned of during the day!

Seriously though, I sort of stepped away from that for a couple of practical reasons:

1. Time...I don't have enough!
2. $...I don't get paid enough!
3. Priority...Generally speaking for an exterior render, I want the visual focus to be the exterior. I really don't want to highlight anything on the inside. Keep in mind that no matter how large or detailed the image, the public will probably see that image on a phone. IMO interior lighting for a daytime exterior view is wasted effort and unrealistic. Take a look at almost any home during the day...you can't see inside even if some lights are on. I prioritize reflections on the windows.

[Ange822]

2 minutes ago, robdyck said:

Yes I have and yes it is. To save money on the utility bill, I like the lights turned of during the day!

Seriously though, I sort of stepped away from that for a couple of practical reasons:

1. Time...I don't have enough!
2. $...I don't get paid enough!
3. Priority...Generally speaking for an exterior render, I want the visual focus to be the exterior. I really don't want to highlight anything on the inside. Keep in mind that no matter how large or detailed the image, the public will probably see that image on a phone. IMO interior lighting for a daytime exterior view is wasted effort and unrealistic. Take a look at almost any home during the day...you can't see inside even if some lights are on. I prioritize reflections on the windows.

LOL! Okay yes makes sense - thank you for your help.

 

Do you teach for a price - about ray tracing?

 

When you do the GPU / PBR Renders - Do you let them sit for a little while? For a number of "samples"? Or do you just export them right away?

[Ange822]

22 minutes ago, scottharris said:

Angela, your renderings look really good!  Attached are the settings I typically use for both GPU and CPU exterior ray traces.  For the interior, I now exclusively use GPU since it is done in seconds.  For exterior, I’ll use a mix and mostly prefer the CPU with 30 passes.  These attached examples I did in the beta version of X15 – the evening PBR shot has a generated sky model with stars/moon.  If interested in looking at the beta, send an email to beta @ chiefrchitect.com.  you might also look at our ray trace rendering video playlist.

Thank you for your response / settings to use - I did however watch that whole playlist from Chief. Thank you!

[robdyck]

1 minute ago, Ange822 said:

Do you teach for a price - about ray tracing?

Yes, I do. I'll send a PM.