[dilbert]

Here's my latest project, an office chair I designed. This wasn't a job for a client, it was just for fun and to have some work to put on our new website that is under construction. I may try to shop it around for production in the future. I've got about 5 different styles of material that I want to test, so any comments on the one that looks best would be welcome. Here's a leather two-tone, and a denim type fabric. The chair itself was kinda inspired by the bucket type seats found in sports cars.
(Beige Denim downloaded from MXM library, so credit for that goes to whoever uploaded it. Thanks whoever you are.)

[simmsimaging]

The lighting is great. You did a nice job bringing out the forms. I would suggest possibly changing the background colour - that sort of greeny/grey feels very fluorescent lit and doesn't do much for chrome reflections IMO.

I prefer the beige chair, but the materials on both look very good to me.

Great job!

b

[dilbert]

Thanks. By the way, the beige denim was downloaded directly from the MXM library, so I can't take credit for that. The perforated leather was mine though, and it took a little messing with to get right. I'll upload it some time if someone wants it. It would probably work well for car interiors. I only took these to SL 11, so I think some of the details of the material will come out better at higher SL's.

I'm still trying to work on my lighting skills, so I appreciate the advice on the background. I was trying to find a neutral color that kept the attention on the chair. I'll play with it a little, but for some reason the green/grey seemed to work well as a reflection color in the black leather. I'm trying to get a single good studio set-up for all 5 material options as they are going to fade between each other on the website. I don't want the lighting or background to change as the images fade in and out.

[simmsimaging]

I'd definitely be interested in the material if you are willing to post it :)

I understand about the background - it's good to have a consistent tone to show off the various fabrics, but I still think the colour conveys the sort of cast of fluorescent lighting, which for office product shots is something to consider avoiding.

Here's a quick and dirty test of a slightly warmer/less green tone just to see what it looks like. Very roughly done mind you.

http://www.simmsimaging.com/CG/chair_temp.jpg

b

[dilbert]

Awesome suggestion!! That background really does fit nicer. Can you suggest an RGB to try to replicate it, otherwise I guess I can mess with them in post. I'd rather get as close as possible in the render though.

Thanks again for the helpful insight/suggestion.

By the way, this is still all in Maxwell V1.1. I'm scared to make the transition

[jurX]

really nice furniture!

[hyltom]

I suggest you to work a little bit more the textured black plastic. It looks too dark.

[tom]

Very nice.

[simmsimaging]

Glad it helped. The RGB is around 125/116/110 - but it will depend on the colour of your lights as well as anything reflecting around the scene. I also bumped the contrast up slightly overall.

b

[Maximus3D]

This is great, and the chair look so comfy i wouldn't dare to have it at work ..would fall asleep instantly

Fix the stuff the other guys told ya about and it'll be a sweet!

/ Max

[superbad]

I think this looks pretty cool (and the renders are great). Of course, the hard part about task chair design is the ergonomics, and you really need to prototype to get that right. This is more important in some markets than others. Herman Miller, for example, does a tremendous amount of ergonomics work on their task chairs, and it's a big selling point to large commercial clients. However, the chairs you might see in Office Depot, meant for home or small office use, are more likely just knocked out by the factory in China. That sale is made solely by someone sitting in it and deciding if it's comfortable. That is probably more the market (the home user, not the crap Office Depot sells) this would fit in.

Some of the details that you've brought over from automotive seating (like the lateral bolsters on the back), aren't really needed in a chair that doesn't see any lateral acceleration, although they do look cool. From a strictly visual sense, I would resolve that top edge on the back a bit better- the sharp cuts from the sides to the center section don't look right to me.

I'm sending you a PM too.

[dilbert]

Thanks superbad. The companies we deal with overseas for manufacture are exactly the same. Not too much technical research goes into the manufacture, pretty much it's all about making the product for the lowest price. Like I said, this project was really just for our website, but it was so much fun to model a more organic shape that I'd be interested to see what is out there in the furniture world for designers. Also, you are absolutely right about that edge. It's been bugging me also. The angle of the shot kinda makes it look worse than it is, but I agree I think it should be a little more rounded to flow with the side of the seat.

Here's a couple more options. First is a plain old black leather, and the second is a kind of worn leather/suede look (both materials downloaded from the library). Once again, just quick test renders to SL 10.

[simmsimaging]

Nice! Like the leather, not sure about the suede one though - feels a bit weird to me.

I think the tonality is working better overall.
b

[dilbert]

Yeah, I'm not sure about the worn leather either. Here's one last version with a light colored fabric. If anyone has a suggestion for a fabric that might look good, please let me know. I'm more of an engineer than an interior designer.

[lsega77]

Aside from being very nice renders the modelling is crisp and well done!