[Mark Bell]

Here's a render of a small project which went to construction a few years back and was recently rendered in v5.2 as a learning exercise. It was designed and documented in DataCAD then exported to Maxwell Studio and uses Maxwell Sky, Grass and Reference Files for the back drop though I had some difficulty correctly mapping the UV leaves to the polygons. Still to work this one out.
Rendering isn't our core business and we use Maxwell during the design phase through to DA's and presentations given it's so easy to use. Hopefully this inspires others to submit their work to reinvigorate the Forum again
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[Forester]

Oh my gosh! That is wonderful!

I have seen light exactly like that in the real world!

.......front lawn needs a little mowing, tho'

[Mark Bell]

Hi Forester,

Thanks for the comments. The realism and subtleties in how Maxwell renders the light and picks up the fine detail is what attracted me to the software and has kept me using it. Some of the renders submitted on the Forum are simply amazing in what people have created.

FYI...the grass was mowed on the weekend

[Forester]

Laughing.....

[Nasok]

Love the vividness )
reminds me of the old Kodak camera I had )
I'd suggest to compress the highlights in Lightroom .. or even right in Maxwell to lower the "Burn" value - that would reveal some details in those "super white" areas.
And if having those overacted areas is the goal - then I'd go with simulens to add a bit of light scattering .. as when "THAT" amount of light hits back the camera lenses it will undoubtedly create some flares and overall scattering.

Nice pic , love the mood
P.S. - yeah - you better take care of that grass before the weekend ) and if mowing is not an option then I would add variance in grass length ... and angle just add one more grass modifier .. or a few more

Cheers.

[Forester]

Interesting idea about the simulens / light scattering. But those bright areas are exactly what I see in the real world. Outside my house, right now - excessively bright light from snow reflecting on the wooden deck pieces and the windows. So, for me, this is one of the things that make the render "photorealistic."

[Nasok]

That's right but our eyes are processing light slightly different than the camera lenses.
Since it has a manmade materials - even the best optics would have a bit of scattering with that amount of reflected light .. visually it would look like a "glow"-ish type of effect .. or would produce a lens-flare with more direct reflections (say on metal, glass, plastic)

So if this image is intended to represent a photography - it should accommodate also the "unique limitations" of camera optics
When you look at that wonderful bright reflection from the snow (oooh I already forgot that feeling) - your eyes (being super mega advanced ... literally, alien-type of bio optics) are automatically adjusting, so that you can see the "interactive HDR image" (meaning that it automatically gives priority to highlights / shadows, based on your point of interest and environment conditions and adjust the amount of light that passes through on the fly) .. try taking a photograph of that snow with your phone or dslr camera - you'll see the light scattering

Cheers

[Forester]

That's good advice and, also, ... a great idea. I'm going to try taking that picture.

[Mark Bell]

Happy New Year and all that Some good comments here to take on board with future presentations. I'll have a tinker around with the MXS scene file in the last render as it included MultiLight so I should be able to generate more images without re-rendering.

FYI, the render used a Nikon D90. The sun is behind the camera so would the lens still show lens flare as I thought this feature works when the sun is facing the camera?

[Mark Bell]

Okay, I've done some quick adjustments in the MXI file with a shot 'mid afternoon' compared to the original which was late afternoon. I've lowered the burn which has improved the finer detail on the bright areas, but reducing the value further began to change the bright sun highlights more to a pinkish white on the timber stairs.
...got to give the guys at Maxwell credit for the MultiLight - no re-rendering to get more images almost 'real time'.
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AMB-010322.jpg

[Andreas Hopf]

The sun is behind the camera so would the lens still show lens flare as I thought this feature works when the sun is facing the camera?

A lens flare can result from any spot with sufficiently concentrated brightness. You don't have to point your camera directly at a lightsource, Sun or otherwise. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_flare

[Mark Bell]

Love the vividness )
reminds me of the old Kodak camera I had )
I'd suggest to compress the highlights in Lightroom .. or even right in Maxwell to lower the "Burn" value - that would reveal some details in those "super white" areas.
And if having those overacted areas is the goal - then I'd go with simulens to add a bit of light scattering .. as when "THAT" amount of light hits back the camera lenses it will undoubtedly create some flares and overall scattering.

Nice pic , love the mood
P.S. - yeah - you better take care of that grass before the weekend ) and if mowing is not an option then I would add variance in grass length ... and angle just add one more grass modifier .. or a few more

Cheers.

Thanks for the feedback Nasok. I think the lesson learnt here was to take a better quality photo which was used to light the scene. I don't think there was quite enough light 'data' in the photo but Maxwell did well to start to bring out some of the subtle detail and soft lighting.
The scene used a Nikon D90 DSLR but only took a pocket cheapie for the site visit!!!
Had a lot of rain here over the Christmas break so the grass has re-grown....

[Mark Bell]

The sun is behind the camera so would the lens still show lens flare as I thought this feature works when the sun is facing the camera?

A lens flare can result from any spot with sufficiently concentrated brightness. You don't have to point your camera directly at a lightsource, Sun or otherwise. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_flare

Hi Andreas,
Thanks for the link as it helps understand how this effect can be created. As I thought, it's primarily caused from sun light in front / to the side of the camera lens so would be hard to achieve in the above render given the sun was behind.