Excavator - Studio Shot

[robbur]

I have been working on this model for some time now and have it rigged pretty well so all the cylinders and hoses animate with the arms. I am continuing with the work in progress thread to add it to a construction scene and animation, but here I want to get the model set-up in a nice studio type setting.

I have got the basics set out, but any tips or advice that would turn this from an average render into something approaching a professional (glossy magazine) image would be appreciated.


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[Cire]

Awesome job on the modeling! The renders look pretty good, too. Definitely, they could use a bit more for realism. The lighting and material settings to get you there would make a great still, but may be too much for an animation, though.

If you wouldn't mind uploading the scene without the excavator model (use a few primitives to retain the primary materials), I'd be happy to set something up for you to check out & modify.

[yavorh]

This is already good for a magazine Great realism and detail, i just suggest you make the yellow paint abit dirty or add more reflection to it, it would look even more realistical

[WAM Breaker]

might be cool if you turned the headlights on.

[robbur]

Cire: Thanks for the offer, it will help a lot. I haven't got that much experience with materials and lighting set-ups. Your input will be a great help. I have just boxed out a basic model and added the base materials to the attached blend.

yavorh: For a fresh off the production line shot you are probably right, the paint would be a bit more glossy and reflective. I am also working on a construction scene for this so at some point I am going to have to UV unwrap it and grunge it up. Not just yet though.

WAM Breaker: Yes it would be good with the lights on. I haven't used nodes yet so adding glow will need some research.

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[ocularb0b]

Looks great man, nice to see something besides a sports car for change .
It looks like the shovel and scoop could use a bit more detail compared to the rest of it.
But then your the guy with the reference pics so I could be wrong.
Congrats

[bluetygr]

This is pretty good! I think that the biggest difference between this and a photoreal is a matter of texturing. You could work on some of the smaller details such as edge bevels (also throw a little mor detail into the grill). If your going for an animatable and your computer is slow, then maybe you should just stick with what you've got.

But yeah, texturing is the biggest issue I see. Also play with the lighting a little. What you've got looks pretty good, but I think that you could improve at least a little. Also, it looks like you've got your AO turned on which, in my opinion, tends to take from the photorealism.

Keep up the good work though, dude

[seanser]

Your modeling is superb 100%, but your material settings could do with a little more work maybe and also some extra texturing to bring out the detail of each component and make the model come alive.

Personally, I think a model like this is crying out to be 'dirtied up' and placed in an exterior work setting. Have you ever thought of using indigo or vray for rendering, there are excellent export scripts available and you don't need to worry about complex lighting setups.

[Cire]

Well, I messed a bit with your proxy scene. The results are decent ... thing is, when you really push the internal renderer for realism, things really slow down. So if you apply these material, light and scene settings, be warned of long render times.

Also, I used a hi-res studio map as the world texture for reflections, so you may want something similar.

I ran a similar setup through LuxRender ... the look is generally more realistic (and the glass looks great), and is even competetive in the render-time dept. If you're interested in those results, let me know.

[robbur]

Thanks for all the positive and helpful comments.

ocularbob: You are right the buckets did need a little more work, but there isn't much detail in the real thing until they become worn and dirty. I have added extra support plates.

bluetygr: There are some edges that would benefit from bevels but I need to balance what my old PC can handle. When I am setting up the final render I will round off the most prominent edges facing the camera.

seanser: The paint was just a basic yellow colour. I will work on glossing it up a little.

Last night I tried a render using a isosphere with dupliverted spots and a few of the changes mentioned above. It's getting better but there is still more to do.

Cire: A big thanks for posting back the material and lighting suggestions. They look so much better than my first setup. I have applied the changes to my model and it is currently rendering away on my laptop. I will upload the image when it's finished.



This image is the test with the dupliverted spots.

[yavorh]

The front shovel or pusher definetely needs more detail its detail level doesnt match the rest

[robbur]

Cire: Your lighting and materials have given me a good head start on getting this render finished. I will probably tone down the ray mirror inside the bucket, it's giving some strange results. The attached render took about 40 minutes.

yavorh: The bucket I have used is a pretty basic bucket but that's how they are made. If I get time I might model a 4 way bucket which is a lot more complex and detailed.

[Cire]

Yeah, I didn't check my setup from too many angles ... they'll definitely need adjustment. The latest image looks pretty dark. You may want to throw some more light in there (even if it's just a bit of ambient lighting).

BTW: Do you have a good environment map for reflections? If not, let me know if you'd like me to upload the one I used (it's too large for the forums).

[robbur]

Cere: I've tried the render with a .hdr mapped to the world but got horrible results full of render artefacts, upping the sample rates to try and improve things just stalled my PC.

I will try again with the shinyball.jpg from the Blender Texture Disk. If you have a good environment map that works it would be much appreciated. If you could Email it, there is a contacts link at the bottom of my web pages.

Thanks
Rob

[Cire]

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend using the map for AO-based illumination (sounds like what you're describing). Any AO in the scene should be plain or sky colored ... HDRIs only give decent results in decent times in Blender if they're pre-blurred.

But for nice reflections, you want a sharp image, unless all of your reflectives are glossy (blurred). I'll e-mail the one I used, and you can use it as you please ...

[robbur]

Cire: Thanks so much for the help, I have learnt a lot from your material and light settings; they are beginning to make a big difference in the final renders.

I have rendered the model today using the shinyball.jpg mentioned in my last post. The results are much better and yet that environment map is not anywhere near as sharp as the one you Emailed. I will give it a go with yours later.

Many thanks
Rob

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[robbur]

Thanks for all the help and advice on this model. After continued tinkering and extended render times, I have decided to move this over to finished projects.

Your help has been really appreciated.

[+'´¯)BonE(¯`'+]

Originally Posted by robbur Thanks for all the help and advice on this model. After continued tinkering and extended render times, I have decided to move this over to finished projects. Your help has been really appreciated.

No! This is an excellent model, you could make an excellent render out of it!
Long render time does not mean good render! For example, this studio style rendering, http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=148132, took about two minutes to render.
Here's an article I read recently that just about sums it up: http://glenmoyes.com/articles/to_tho...rning_3d.shtml


In your case, I think this could be hugely improved by:
-adding one or two major spotlights, to create highlights on your model (the paint should have a fairly high and hard spec value).
-squezing the bottom of the wheels. Proportional editing would work, or maybe a lattice.

You don't have to do this, but to me it looks like you could get a lot more out of this model eith only a little effort. If you're willing to send me the .blend, I'd love to try my hand at it myself.

[Gally]

[img]robur5c.jpg[/img]

[Gally]

oops, I didn't actually think the image would show up, so I didn't write an explanation. Here's a little color warmth with some highlights ( rough cut & paste), just to see. Your models are absolutly amazing. (Thanks again for your 608 bearing tutorial).