Hi guys,

I've just produced this render for a client in London - I have recently branched out into doing some freelance work and was hoping for some critical advice in order to elevate my skillset for future projects.

I built the model in sketchup. One thing I struggle with is creating a glass effect with a general shine and realism. Also the cars could be more realistic. I wondered if the general way of adding cars/people (to get the best results) is done in photoshop afterwards? my cars and people were inserted into the model and rendered.

Again, any advice at all is welcome!

Many Thanks

Noel

Hi Noel,
Looks pretty good!

About the car paint, check out: http://www.indigorenderer.com/materials/categories/13

General advice is to use a Phong material, with high exponent (> 1000), and IOR about 1.4.

It looks like you're using a diffuse material which is not very realistic.

Use Lens Shift to straighten up the sides of your building! Leaning/angled vertical lines don't look good unless they're exaggerated for effect...

Great scene!
Please do a night version of it, it will look fantastic!
You might also check these out for filling your storefronts:

http://www.cgtextures.com/textures.php?t=browse&q=20490
http://vyonyx.com/2008/12/01/references ... onts-vol1/

The glass seems not very realistic to me (but I work in glass so I am very sensitive to this). It's too clear.

Best modelled with a real double glazing unit (to panes of 6mm glass separated by 16mm gap, with a frame around) will give more reflective results. The glass material should be slightly greenish as in the material DB, and should look slightly darker.
Also, the glass panes are too tall, they should be subdivided. Glass panes longer than 6.2m are very uncommon, and longer than 9-10m don't exist.

Etienne

Thanks very much guys! Four great responses, what a cool forum. Much appreciated! Noel.