Xyloxadoria's BAT and Portfolio Work Thread

[Xyloxadoria 1,098]

I have two new renders im working on for my portfolio. Both of them were done in Mental Ray. I want to get Vray because it seems like im the only person ever doing archtectural renders without it, and that 99% of the tutorials and images out there are all Vray.

 

 

Theese two images were rendred at the computer lab that only has MentalRay, and things can render faster there because they have a render farm at the university i go to, it just doesnt have Vray.

 

Do you think i could get by with sticking to Mental Ray? (Theese are just pure renders i have not taken them into photoshop or done any postproduction on them) or do i need to find some way of switching over? I could just do very small preview renders using Vray then leave an actual image rendering overnight or when i go to class, so its possible it would just be very slow.

 

Aslo any general advice on just the images themselves would be helpful too. Both of them are going to be for my portfolio, so i would like to get them to look as nice as I can.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Holy... this is just sooooo amazing,

[dubaidude303 1,126]

Wow!! That looks awesome!

[art128 4,622]

I think you could benefit from Vray as it has some better lighting support than Mental Ray, I think. ( At least on what I have seen on the net Vray Render looks quite much better )

Although, I also like the atmosphere MR gave to these two scenes, really nice.

[kellydale2003 2,276]

Looks beautiful! (Y)

[Jasoncw 11,949]

The apartment render has come a long way since I last saw it. 

 

 

Since you are doing architectural visualization and because Vray is the most common in arch viz it would make sense to learn it. 

 

Realistically though, the two are very similar and follow the same concepts.  Most of the concepts are literally the same and they just call some things by different names.  If you watch a "making of" feature for a render done with vray, if you know mental ray you can follow along and know what they're doing and why they're doing it. 

 

An example is

the only thing I caught him doing that would be meaningfully different in mental ray is he used VrayDirt, and all VryDirt is is an ambient occlusion map that lets you do normal and inverse (both inner corners and outer corners) at the same time, which is actually very useful for making procedural grime, but as you can see if he didn't have that, it still would have looked good, or he could have done it manually.

[Xyloxadoria 1,098]

The apartment render has come a long way since I last saw it. 

 

 

Since you are doing architectural visualization and because Vray is the most common in arch viz it would make sense to learn it. 

 

 I want to be able to use Vray, I just need to find a good tutorial somewhere on effincent render settings for it. Im not that good with render settings for vRay, but I am sure that if i found a tutorial somewhere on it, it would at least point me in the direction of better renders. Does anyone know where i can find such a tutorial?

(Also i found a great tool that bakes a ambient occlusion map then applies it to your material just by pressing a button. If you apply that map with mutiplay or overlay using a composite material to your mesh it looks about the same as a Vray dirtmap)

[KonstantinII 1,106]

what is it?

[Xyloxadoria 1,098]

Good news everyone! 

 

I was able to revive my old hard drive and bring it back to life, so now I have my old stuff back  (My BAT projects, not the renderds) so now i can finish them. 

[gutterclub 2,729]

Awesome, you had a few beauties on the go that I was really looking forward to

[weixc812 509]

Good news everyone! 

 

I was able to revive my old hard drive and bring it back to life, so now I have my old stuff back  (My BAT projects, not the renderds) so now i can finish them. 

That's definitely a great news for us.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

You can only finish or you could also start some new ones

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Hope to see an update.

[Darknono35 3,138]

Great news about your old stuff

I can't wait

[Roger51 381]

Great to have you back Xylo!! Can't wait to see it all 

[Xyloxadoria 1,098]

Well I graduated college, and I am still in the process of finding a new job. I want to be able to get a job in Architectural Rending but Im not sure how to approcah being able to get a job in that area, or if a job like that even exists anymore because of all the features Revit and Autocad now have for 3d Rendering.I have been working on improving my portfolio and  I am working on making a list of architects to contact about it, but in the meantime I have been working on fixing up my BAT to show a render of to a potential employer. (One local company does high rises and might like to see this)

 

Here is what I have done so far.  Right now, I am working on figuring out what to put on the plaza area. The first picture has some stuff and the second picture doesn't

 

The black things on the plaza in the render are lampposts. They are kind of modern (and based off some i found online) and I'm not sure if they work or not 

 

[gutterclub 2,729]

Soooooooooooo good!

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Yep hes back. So, you want to work as a 3D-artist. May I ask you what you have studied?

[T Wrecks 10,210]

To be honest, I don't think the lampposts are ideal for this application because they have a clear direction, whereas the plaza they're on is a complex arrangement of curves and waves and swirls. The result is that the lampposts end up pointing this way and that way, and it all looks a bit chaotic. IMO, straight lampposts may be a better choice here because they don't give a sense of direction.

 

Besides, I can imagine that IRL you don't use curved poles just because you can. I guess you use them because you need light over a spot that must not be obstructed - a road would be a good example. However, on a sweeping pedestrian plaza, what's the problem if there's a lamppost standing somewhere, as long as there's enough space to simply walk past it or around it? Likewise, the light doesn't need to be applied in such a directed manner because it's supposed to illuminate the general environment and not just a narrow strip.

 

Well, so much for the opinion of someone with no authority, experience or skill in the areas of architecture and urban planning.

[Xyloxadoria 1,098]

To be honest, I don't think the lampposts are ideal for this application because they have a clear direction, whereas the plaza they're on is a complex arrangement of curves and waves and swirls. The result is that the lampposts end up pointing this way and that way, and it all looks a bit chaotic. IMO, straight lampposts may be a better choice here because they don't give a sense of direction.

 

Besides, I can imagine that IRL you don't use curved poles just because you can. I guess you use them because you need light over a spot that must not be obstructed - a road would be a good example. However, on a sweeping pedestrian plaza, what's the problem if there's a lamppost standing somewhere, as long as there's enough space to simply walk past it or around it? Likewise, the light doesn't need to be applied in such a directed manner because it's supposed to illuminate the general environment and not just a narrow strip.

 

Well, so much for the opinion of someone with no authority, experience or skill in the areas of architecture and urban planning.

 

To be fair I didnt plan much either. They were roadway lights that were on the edge of an overpass. I just made them because they looked cool I wanted to find something curved to match with the sweeping/curved style of the plaza but i guess i overdid it. After googling a bit more, I think something like this would work better:

 

Yep hes back. So, you want to work as a 3D-artist. May I ask you what you have studied?

 

I have a little bit of expereince in Architecture and Lo Poly Game Modeling. I tried some character animation during my assignments, but it really wasn't my thing. I also have a bit of experience in Advertising and live action from a internship where i made infomercial animations. I have a bit of experience in everything, so that is why its hard for me to find something. My best area seems to be architectural renderings and product renderings so I am sticking to those areas for now.

[jwsteele 77]

Oh my gosh.  Oh my gosh.  Oh my gosh.  Gorgeous.  I have been actively seeking out this type of building (twin towers with a contemporary podium) as I'm seeing them a lot in new construction where I live (San Francisco), but can barely find any.  This is perfect. 

[Darknono35 3,138]

Beautiful buildings. I can't wait to see nightlight

[libellibicus 396]

A top quality BAT so far. Nice to see you back and actively BATting. Can't wait to see the nightlights.

[elavery 1,013]

There is a severe shortage of skyscrapers with podiums in SC4.  So many new skyscrapers these days have podiums.

[Xyloxadoria 1,098]

I wanted to test to see if my new computer could render in HD. It could. Here is the full HD day render. with some stuff on the podium. Im doing a test render tonight once I fix a few things, and it should be entirely done in the next few days. (Click for Full Resolution!)

Oh and if anyone wondered how i added people, its a new feature in 3dsmax 2014 called Populate. Its very easy to use, just check out the 3dsMax 2014 help, and it shows you exactly what to do. (Thanks to Bipin for telling me about it)

[RepublicMaster 428]

Absolutely amazing! IMO, the lamp posts are a bit tall compared to the people, but this is looking great!

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Wow! Now that RepublicMaster mentioned it, I do agree that the lamp posts may be a bit too tall, but this lamp design works much, much better! It's really a keeper.

 

The hedges are pretty nice, although I'm not sure if the multicoloured flowers aren't a bit over the top. As far as I can tell, those bushes that are often used to create hedges and otherwise complement a building tend to be dense and resilient, but not that lush and colourful. 

 

Last but not least, how final is the grass texture? I'm asking because IMO it still needs some work so far. It's too olive-coloured and uniform.

 

Wow, here I go again, sounding like there was nothing positive at all about this BAT. Let me assure you, this thing is a stunner! Even more so because you made it up and couldn't just go by pictures.

 

(Btw, is there a chance you'll one day make a v2 of your wonderful Palmolive Building? There was something wonky about the night lights, and IMO it was somewhat overscaled - which is really a pity because otherwise that BAT is pretty awesome as well.)

[Darknono35 3,138]

Wow it´s an awesome building

Great job on this day render, I cańt wait to see a night view.

Very good and keep it up

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

Wow, this one looks fantastic. Great work!

[TekindusT 3,809]

*Reserves a spot on his current city for this beauty*