[HelioAraujo]

Howdy folks,

This is the first time I post a wip on the forum. As you can see, there's a lot to improve. Please crits/suggestions/teachings, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Warm regards,
Helio

[Bubbaloo]

Welcome! Nice start. I'd say the 3 things to do to improve your scene is detail, detail, and more detail.
Maxwell loves/needs detailed geometry and textures for the lighting to be realistically bounced around. Add more stuff!

[JTB]

Welcome, it is great to see new blood in these forums...
Bubbaloo is right, textures and details make the image look like a photo, Maxwell will do the rest...
For example even the slightest bump texture on the wall or weightmap on the road will make a difference...
Don't use a color for the grass, use a photograph and a normal bump would improve it a lot...
I suggest you mention your modeling software because sometimes there are tips that can be useful but we have to know the software... For example a subdivide and a noise modifier in Max would make the grass surface more interesting. Also a small grass blade and a scatter modifier and instances would make the grass 3d...
For the environement I would suggest to use a HDRI image for the reflection channel to make the windows glass better.... and make the more reflective.

[HelioAraujo]

Bubbaloo/JTB <-- Thanks/Ευχαριστώ for the comments!

Following your recommendations, I'm adding some geometry to the scene. Almost all the textures I'm using are from the mxm material gallery site, the grass is the one Bubbaloo posted somewhere in the froum, Ill try to add some bump to it. The tree behind the building and all the people are from vyonyx (cut-out sillouetes applied to planar geometry [would like to know how Bubbaloo makes his sillouettes]), bush on top of grass and car are from a De Espona collection.

I'm using Lightwave 9.6/LWCAD 3, still have much to learn about the Maxwell Render plugin for LW.

Warm regards/Αντίο,
Helio

[tom]

http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4284

[HelioAraujo]

http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4284

Hi Tom,

You pointed me to a page of rules for posting in the "Gallery" section of the forum. Is there something I should have done differently?

Warm regards,

[HelioAraujo]

An update. Some geometry added (bricks in wall of building, wall facing street and sidewalk), a hdri image used for reflections, a bump map for the grass, more trees in front of building (they don't show up, but are reflected on glass), glass slightly changed for more reflectivity.



More crits/suggestions?

Warm regards,

[rusteberg]

whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! why the switch to DOS? the image you posted from your concurrent operating system was much more promising.....

try lowering your sun angle to morning or evening (virtually the same thing) to achieve lighting that is a little more dramatic.... there are literally no shadows at your current noon which is making everything terribly flat.

i would suggest playing with maxwell studio. get comfortable with strictly maxwell parameters before integrating a plugin into your workflow. there is a lot you can learn from this forum. not only maxwell but 3d in general...... look forward to seeing your progress.

[tom]

http://www.maxwellrender.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4284

Hi Tom,

You pointed me to a page of rules for posting in the "Gallery" section of the forum. Is there something I should have done differently?

Warm regards,

Yes, a first render (which is also in progress) doesn't seem suitable for this section (Gallery). Did you know we have a WIP section specifically for this range of work? (I guess the admin has already moved this post.)

[HelioAraujo]

Hi Tom,

I was so excited to post a first render on the forum that I problably overlooked I was in the wrong section. Thanks for telling and thanks to the admin.

Warm regards,

[HelioAraujo]

Hi Rusteberg,

Thanks for the tips!

I changed the sun position for some shadows as you suggested. Also moved the trees opposite to the building so some shadows show up now. I think I went overboard in the glass (Nd too high), will fix it in the next render(this is only SL 9).

Warm regards,
Helio

[HelioAraujo]

Last render. SL 13.

I'll move on to another project. This time following suggestions of Bubbaloo and JTB, that is, more detail in the geometry, an HDRI image for reflections, etc.

By the way, could someone please point me to a good source of commercial HDRI images? I'd like to buy a clear sky to use in my renders.



Thanks to all that posted comments/suggestions, etc.


Warm regards,

[Rickyx]

Hi HelioAraujo,

before buying expensive stuffs, look in the web there are some hi quality free HDRI images (es. http://www.digitecture.org/index.php/20 ... available/ ).
After you experimented a lot and focused on what you need... look around what is suit better to you .

Ciao,
Ricky.

[numerobis]

Some more for testing...

http://www.evermotion.org/index.php?unf ... =exclusive

[HelioAraujo]

Numerobis <-- Thx for the link!

Rickyx <-- Grazie mille per la informazione!