7 replies to this topic

[PAUL LADNER]

I've been playing with this, but haven't found a satisfying solution.

What are the best settings for rendering a polished granite countertop?

 

Thanks, Paul

[Keith Almond]

The key to getting it to look right is lighting .... however, it will depend on your lights and their position, There is no magic formula. At least not one I've found yet!

[randolph cohn]

do as keith suggests with the lighting.

lot to learn with lighting.  PPP  (practice / practice / practice)

 

but also you can add "reflections"

 

one thing you can do with countertops is to have them show "reflections"

(you can also add reflections to the water in swimming pools and ponds

s well as glazing (glass in doors and windows) to show clouds,

and reflections on puddles on sidewalks and roads

 

to do this,  while in 3d/softview - I used "texture" for this one

 

go to "options" / setup options / textured / face options / check >  "reflections"

 

also right click on the countertop texture and left click "edit surface"

and check the box "reflectivity"  >  the lower the number the less reflective it'll be.

play with it.  you'll get the hang of it in a short time.

 

left click image to enlarge

 

 

btw,  you can give a "deflection" to the countertops that are part of the base cabinets

but

you can UNcheck the countertops on the base cabinets and put on a "countertop"

and right click on the base cabinet and give it a "deflection"  (curve)

[Keith Almond]

As Randy says, reflections really help the polished look. This is with a reflection setting of 30.

 

[PAUL LADNER]

Here's what I came up with.  I can't tell you how many hours I've dicked around with this - playing with light, reflections, depth relief, photon bouncing, you name it.   But the photo-realism for the entire kitchen just seems to elude me.  It looks good in SoftView, but always comes out a little flat when I save it to a jpg. or bmp.

 

Some of my basic assumptions are that almost every hard surface is a little emissive, contrast increases interest, and wood needs high depth relief to see the grain.  I sometimes adjust the size of the bitmaps so the texture is right (like the floor in this picture).  Also, playing with the camera positions to get a realistic perspective at eye level - not so easy.

 

Also, I've noticed that my photos for backgrounds always come out horizontally stretched. I've tried compressing the photos in different directions, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.  What's up with that?

 

I'd love a master class to learn the tricks and build up a repertoire.  Anything like that happening?

 

Thanks,

Paul

Attached Files

•  Ladner Kitchen.bmp   1.74MB   157 downloads

[Keith Almond]

I think you're being hard on yourself Paul, that doesn't look bad at all. The only thing slightly off seems to be the wood on the cabinets, but I'm not sure either what I would do to correct it, or even that it matters. If you're doing it as practice, then by all means play with it some more, but if it's for the client, then I'm sure that they get the idea without further enhancement.

 

...I sometimes adjust the size of the bitmaps so the texture is right (like the floor in this picture) ...

 

If you're going to do that, then for your information in Softview, 1 pixel = 1/16". So a 12" x 12" tile should be 192 x 192.

[PAUL LADNER]

Thanks for the info about pixels and length, Keith.  I like those kinds of nitty-gritty details.

[randolph cohn]

correction to my reply #3 above.

 

in case your reading "deflection" as you should since that's what I wrote in,

 

replace the "deflection" with "REflection". 

 

note: I tend to "NOT" proofread.