[Edward Leibnitz]

I'm a hobbyist but I did use Rhino for modelling my apartment renovation. Recently I decided it would be fun to take the utilitarian render and upscale it to be "as photorealistic" as possible. It's going great, however I'm running into a problem.

All I want to do is have a nice view out my windows, so the place doesn't look like it is floating in space (apartment is on the 4th floor of a 7-story building). I tried those free wireframe models for houses and trees, but it's turning out to be lots of aggravation with the horizon and ground plane of course I can't populate the entire neighborhood with these things - it's overwhelming the scale of the original.

Is there a "pro-trick" someone can tell me about? An environment wallpaper or something. I don't want to get bogged down with this - isn't there an easy way?

One more thing - certain settings are required to use "Sync with Rhino Sun" so this might limit some choices.

Thanks a bunch for any advice!

-Ed

[Edward Leibnitz]

One more thing - I live in NYC, so an urban scene is needed.

[Mark Bell]

Hi Ed,

I wouldn't class myself as a Maxwell Pro, but I had a similar situation on a project recently and took the following approach:

Take a photo of the view from your unit window and apply it to a vertical plane/polygon as a backdrop, ensuring the proportions of the backdrop plane match the photo. Assign it to BSDF Reflectance 0 in the Material Editor and adjust the scale as needed.
Hope this helps....and post your render when you're done

[Edward Leibnitz]

Thanks, will try - got bogged down with other things lately.

Soon though....

-Ed

[Edward Leibnitz]

Before I begin - it looks like each window is going to need a separate polygon or else the image gets stretched out! Place the polygon close to the window.

Isn't this going to interfere with the sun settings? Sounds like I need to different photos for noontime, sunset, cloudy days, etc.

Or is there an alpha setting that lets the sun pass through? <--- that's a lot of work - agreed?

-Ed

[Mark Bell]

Hi Ed,

Without seeing how your model is setup I'd just create one large polygon outside the building "in the distance " so when inside the scene looking out through the windows it sees the polygon/backdrop. You may have to resize the polygon or move it closer/further away, to ensure it is visible from each window or create a panoramic photo to fit the views out of the room. A curved backdrop may also be better than a linear one - you'll need to investigate which suits best depending on your scene. Alternatively, you can do as you wrote and create separate polygon backdrops over each window to suit your scene.
After you apply the image to the polygon, go to the Object Parameters/Appearance tab and select each of the relevant options under Hidden From: so that the polygon backdrop doesn't cast shadows or block light and is hidden from cameras etc. You can also adjust the position of the image on the polygon (shift up/down, left/right, scale) under the Transformations tab to fine tune what you see when inside the scene.

[Edward Leibnitz]

I ended up trying a few things before doing it the way you just recommended. One large polygon in the Aspect Ratio of the photograph.

Cool thing about wireframe modelling is you can size and distance the polygon (plane for now) to cover the window view and you don't have to worry and identical views or multiple jpeg files. Image/plane placement is key in determining how much light comes through the window - this is a big deal. First renders were much "grainier" than normal. I'll experiment a bit.

Just took some boring photo of outside my place. I'll have to take better photos soon! When I get something awesome, I'll post it.

thanks again.

-Ed

[Edward Leibnitz]

you said:

After you apply the image to the polygon, go to the Object Parameters/Appearance tab and select each of the relevant options under Hidden From: so that the polygon backdrop doesn't cast shadows or block light and is hidden from cameras etc. You can also adjust the position of the image on the polygon (shift up/down, left/right, scale) under the Transformations tab to fine tune what you see when inside the scene.

I'll try that!