[Neil Evans]

Hi,

These are a few images from a project I am preparing to animate, just need to add the planting. I have looked at it for so long I can't see the good from the bad. There are also three interiors to animate. I have fully modelled one so far so I have attached that as well.

I have already fixed the dodgy geometry near the pool and the wierd mapping on the tree line.

Render times at 640x480 are 10mins for the exteriors and 1hr for the interior.

Please feel free to comment, it will be more than welcome

[Thomas An.]

I like the interior scene quite a bit.

(now the exterior ... something is missing. The illumination doesn't feel "right" .. also maybe not enough bevels in the edges, and textures look too uniform )

[JCAddy]

The exterior scene lacks shrubs / plants. Otherwise I think it looks fine for an animation. In the still you notice quite a bit of tiling, but that's alright.

The interior, man those tiles on the floor look fantastic!

[Mihai]

Great interior!

[Leonardo]

the interior is pretty nice... as long as you're 8' high (lower the camera and you have a winner shot )
edit: also on the interior... you need to work on your fireplace, perhaps it doesn't need to be on

the outside shots are missing more nature, dramatic camera angles, and less repetitive textures.



Nice work!!

[Neil Evans]

Cheers, I know what you mean about the exteriors, I just can't put my finger on it. I am using physical sky with GPS cords for France(the project is in the Dordogne), a HDR map for the background and reflect/refract but not for illumination. My camera settings are fstop:8, shutter speed: 250 iso: 160. I am wondering if the grass is giving off to much reflected light ie green.

I cannot brag about the floor as it is from the MXM library, it was uploaded by Ben Martin, nice one!

The interior is lit with emitters and sky dome. This seems to be really speed things up.

[tom]

Really nice interior Neil, is that chair outside and the table in the room are floating?

[rusteberg]

Smokin interior!! i thought my browser had redirected me to another page after i scrolled past the third image. now if you could just get the first three to match the fourth one, you'll be set.

[Hervé]

very cool feeling for the interior.. maybe the fire looks funny a bit because there is no lighting from it.. Dordogne is a very nice countryside of France..

[Neil Evans]

Thanks for all the comments.

Tom, I have checked the chair etc and it is not floating, I guess it could be a trick of the light. I think I may shift it a little.

Leonardo, the camera view is taken from a stair case in the corner, but yes you are right it is a little high, maybe I will do another one a little lower.

Herve, yep the Dordogne is really nice, the project is in Brantome if you now the area. We are planning on moving back to France this year, my wife is French and she is home sick.

I have also just made a new fire shader for another project so I will stick it into this one. Wierd fire anyway, supposed to be a fire in winter and a BBQ in the summer. I think the client has told the architect to change it!

The exteriors are really doing my head in, could it be the fact that I am not using Maxwell materials on all the geometry, for example the stone is just an Lambert shader? Does anyone have any tips? Are my camera settings wrong maybe? I got the settings from a photographer I know.

Thanks again for all the comments and compliments.

Cheers

Neil

[Mihai]

It's just that the exterior shots are too empty. There are a lot of areas to fill with....stuff. The roads and sidewalks look too even, and almost no color variation, the walls look too flat, but until Maxwell gets displacement, I guess you're going to have to find a way to make real geometry, maybe model a few bricks and build a real wall which you can then duplicate.

[Neil Evans]

Ah, ok, I thought we were talking about the lighting. I need to add a load more planting etc yet. I think I will change the stone to a MXM shader and add a bump, that should help. I'll see what I can do with the others.

[Neil Evans]

I have just posted a new interior with tweaks. Basically, added a fire, moved the chair outside and dropped the angle. Do you think looks better?

Now to attack the exteriors, it is going to be a long week!

[Hervé]

ahhh mucho better for the fire... all good...

so your wife is French... all good, you'll be French too soon then..

[Neil Evans]

Just added a few more. These haven't really rendered enough yet and I am having problems with the alpha channels but I thought I would post them anyway. Comments welcome as usual.

Now to attack the exteriors..

Cheers

Neil