RE: Nigel Architectural Visualisation

Hi Nigel,

It is good to see an update, I hope you're not too exhausted and have enough energy for the final push. You can relax, after the hand in ;)

It would be a shame to lose the outside by blowing it out so much that you can't see it, and it would take away the point of having a moving camera to show off the panoramic view. Equally it makes no sense to have full sunlight falling into room and for it to still be dark. What you are trying to achieve makes far more sense when you see your photo reference from your previous post, but as I said in my reply, this lighting is physically too different to make it work with your current scene. This is definitely something to reflect upon for next time.

Here is the reference again from the first image. They both show interior and exterior and so are a good reference for your project, especially how they get it to work without the outside blowing out.

It's warm, light and bright, the lighting might not be realistic, but it is believable, and more importantly it sells the house.

We have had a few discussions on volumetric lighting, in Jamie and Lies recent posts, which you should read because it is relevant.

A depth pass can be used to add atmospheric lighting, but used on an interior, it can make a place look dusty and dingy and is often used in the thriller genre (see the Citizen Kane reference from Jamie's RE:) , and the same with volumetric lighting so I would re-think its use for a show home project. Outside you would normally only see the effects of a depth pass over large distances or as ariel perspective (colour change over large distances http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_perspective) or to show rain or fog.

The yellow grade you have added is warming, but it feels a little on the green side (it could be my monitor). I think that it would be better on the orange/red side and a bit more saturated. I have done a quick paint over and grade of your image, it is by no means perfect, but I want to show you a less dusty warmer colouring. I have also limited the glow/burn out to the top left side of the window, to give it a bit more direction, and contrasted up the image to get the hot highlights on the floor. When you are working in comp, be careful to not loose the colour in your feature items. The light glowing off a red object such as the sofa is what adds the pizazz you need.

As a general rule, its better to try and fix rendering problems at the source rather than trying to cover them up. If one part of the model is blotchy there is a good chance that it will occur somewhere else. Did you bake out the lighting in the end? I believe the blotchiness is because your settings are not quite right yet, I have seen it before. Look on the forums for help, I think these might be useful.

http://www.highend3d.com/boards/index.php?s=9e942c932675b0e3eeb4543e82cca472&showtopic=129792

http://www.highend3d.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=215739

There is no problem using your comping fix, but just be aware that this is not the ideal solution and if you had the time it would be better to change the settings.

I hope this helps, good luck finishing off.

Tessa