Newbie - Help!

[elliottcal]

Hi Everyone, I'm new to Indigo and in-fact rendering as a whole, although I've been reading/practising around the subject for a couple of months. I'm usually really good at picking up new things, but while there are some really good tutorials out there I'm really struggling to pick this up to a level that I could call myself proficient. Perhaps it's because the feedback loop can be so long (e.g. try something, render, view results could be a number of hours).

Now getting to my point, is there any training out there, face-to-face or online where I can be walked through and explained what settings to use and how to achieve something. I'm sure if I posted something here I'd have someone suggest what to do to recreate it, but I wouldn't necessarily understand it and be able to apply to other projects.

I've attached an image of the type of thing I'd like to be able to produce.

I'm also based in the UK if that helps. I use Sketchup and fairly proficient on the modelling front.

Thanks.

[Oscar J]

Please go ahead and post your progress and we'll help along the way. The best way to gain understanding is not to read on the subject, but to try stuff out for yourself and troubleshoot.

[elliottcal]

Thanks Oscar, happy to do that as long as you don't mind lots of posts with dumb questions I'll make a start tonight!

[contegufo]

Hi

I think one should be an analysis of what you see. The most interesting element of the scene is the floor where there are two areas, a mirror and the other spread a little 'as if it were a wet road with glossy and other dry parts. In the post "Indigo Renderer 4 public beta" Oscar is a file where you will find interesting ideas. But remember, the first thing to do is always the analysis of what you see!

[elliottcal]

Hi contegufo, I'm quite a detailed person, so no issues analysing the scene but translating that into something I can reproduce...another thing entirely

I'm going to do what Oscar suggested and model the scene tonight, post the results and then with the tutorials and help from this forum, see what I can produce!

[Originalplan®]

Hello Eliott and welcome to Indigo!

You will get a ton of help here don't worry Contegufo and Oscar already gave you superb pointers to get started.
Let me give one to: Be patient, and PLAY! Don't strive to make a scene like you posted on first try. (there is a lot to it) Play with the material settings and different material types to get a general idea and a good understanding of what they do and what they are good for.
You will be amazed how fun Indigo can be even on smaller and not complicated scenes too.

Have a great time experimenting, and please make (or use his thread) to post your finding/works here so all your progress will be in one place and its easier for us to help you.

®

[Oscar J]

^ Having that said there should be no problem achieving results like in the pics fairly easy, once you have the model in place.

[elliottcal]

Hi, so I had a go at creating the model and while it isn't 100%, then started playing with the renderer. The 1st image is with the sunlight and no roof and the 2nd one (v1) is with exit portals with an enclosed space. I had issues with glass in the windows in front of the exit portals, as while the environment was lit up, the windows were black. So I removed the glass.

Overall I need to add more windows into my model as the scene is dark in the middle. But a start at least and really pleased with how easy indigo seems to tweak things. I'm sure the more complicated stuff is to come!

Apart from what I pointed out above, any other tips or things I should look at now before cracking on with the rest?

[contegufo]

I think a good start!

[Oscar J]

Good start!

To achieve something similar to the first image you attached, you might want to use an environment map, which is a 360 panorama in .hdr or .exr format. I can recommend these: http://www.viz-people.com/portfolio/free-hdri-maps/

You might want to choose one that's cloudy to get close to your reference image, since it doesn't have sharp shadows. Preferably use the HDRI together with exit portals (with their normals pointing inwards) and Bidirectional Path tracing as rendering mode, as it's robust and fairly quick for interiors. More on HDRI's: http://www.indigorenderer.com/documenta ... t-settings

With this type of lighting, along with more windows, your scene will hopefully be more balanced and the lighting slightly less dramatic. Keep in mind though that if you feel that the render is to dark, too light or too contrasty, that's easily adjustable by changing the tone mapping. For example the afgapan-apx cameras have low contrast and neutral colours. The filmic tonemapper also does a good job with brightening up interiors, with high enough "Scale" value.
More on tonemapping here: http://www.indigorenderer.com/documenta ... ne-mapping

[elliottcal]

Thanks both, looking forward to making some more progress tonight. Thanks for the tips Oscar, not used hdr maps so will be a new experience.

[Originalplan®]

Good start!
It is very important to play this in the backround while you work to get good results https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qecr2S_qv2k ( just kiddin )
Follow Oscar's advice should produce nice images.
One note : i think on the right of the image (judging from the original image) there is a very big window
think of industrial loft houses. So it might be your have to make your exit portal bigger on the right side.

Or if you have an actual cutout for windows on your setup then make sure you controll the natural sunlights direction! You can do this in c4d with a null object...or inside Indigo with long and lat coordinates.

[elliottcal]

Thanks! liking the video Yeah I noticed that so will definitely put a bigger window or more of them on the RHS. I guess with HDRIs I wouldn't need to use exit portals behind the windows but just where I feel the light is lacking, e.g. in the scene, out of shot, where a photographer may use it to remove shadows etc. All the windows are cut-out to let the light shine through!

[Oscar J]

Seems like something is getting mixed up here. An exit portal does not give any light in itself. It's an indication for the renderer where the light enters the room from the environment, and which often means faster rendering. You can put them in the windows, outside any eventual glass, and with the surface normals pointing inwards.

What you're thinking about are probably mesh lights. They are simply planes or spheres with an emittive material assigned, and can be used as light bulbs, fill lights, etc.

[elliottcal]

Right that makes perfect sense now, thanks. So you'd recommend them with the use of HDRIs for more of a performance than a lighting reason.