Wow… I haven’t been on in ages! I just managed to remember my password (finally), so now I’m back (although none of you even realized I was gone). I have a lot to post, but I’ll sum it all up and say that this is one of my best in the past month or two. Made in blender and rendered in YafaRay. Please critique harshly.
Thanks for your advice; I agree that it is a bit dark in the room. I’m not entirely sure what version of YafaRay I’m using. I’ll have to check, but it’s almost midnight here, so I’m going to bed after this. I made everything in blender 2.5, then opened it up in 2.49 to render it (YafaRay for 2.5 is so alpha, it won’t even let you use it). Thanks again
Anyway, for the critique. The fridge looks like it is one solid piece of plastic, kind of like something you would see in a doll house. I don’t get the impression the fridge door is actually capable of opening.
This may be intentional, but just in case it is not then I will mention it. The wood grain on the doors alternates (horizontal/vertical) from object to object. I would expect all the drawers to a cut from wood such that the grain would be horizontal, and the long cupboard doors would be vertical.
The window is very plain, and should have a little detail, such as windowsills, latches, shutters, curtains, etc. As you have modelled it, it’s not a realistic window. A blurred image of something outside like a tree might also add interest.
I really like the material you have used for the bench top, it looks very cool, as does the floor. However the wall material I think looks too similar to all your appliances, changing the colour slightly will keep with the same colour theme but it will give to a bit more contrast.
dleri, I know. I’m re-rendering it now with a lot more light, and all of the changes that were discussed above I also got rid of most of the noise in this new render. Now it’s been rendering for 3 hours and it’s only half way there
the overall environment looks good but I do have a couple things to point out.
There are a couple of cupboard doors above the counter that have the grain running the wrong way (horizontally instead of the others which are vertical) it looks like a mistake.
You may want to check your proportions on the objects in your scene… for example the porcelain containers on the counter look to be the size of a small garbage container, and the fan above the stove doesn’t seem correct either.
Nice feel but if you paid close attention to overall scaling issues it would be much better.
From the reference pic I was looking at, the fan was accurately scaled; but that was just one picture, so I could be wrong. However, the containers are sized accurately, as those exact same containers are sitting on my kitchen counter, and I used them as reference.
Okay, here’s an update. I haven’t changed the wall color yet, as I’m not sure what to change it to. Any suggestions? I know the noise is still there; this render took 7 hours, though, so I’ll have to mess with some of the settings until I get something I like
Look at how far apart the upper and lower cabinets are. The distance from the counter to the bottom of the upper cabinets is usually around 18 inches. It looks like you have room to pick up the stove and set it on the counter. Most kitchens also have what is called a “toe-kick” on the the bottom cabinets. That is where the bottom 4-6 inches of the lower cabinets are recessed so you can stand closer to the counter.
Your render is looking great, just work on the proportions and it’ll be a winner.
The toaster and the microwave look oversized, and I agree about the cabinets seeming short.
7 hours seems like a long time. Are you using Path Tracing or Photon Mapping, and which Yafaray version? Can you post up the render settings and the lighting setup?
Here’s an update; this one took 9 hours to render, as I increased the AA Samples from 6 to 10 (it got rid of more noise).
Organic, I’m using Photon Mapping.
Photons: 1,000,000
FG Samples: 300
AA Samples: 10
AA Type: mitchell
And I enabled Use Background as well. Other than that, I didn’t change anything else on the settings. I know photon mapping is prone to white noise like that, but I like the results the most when I’m using photon mapping.
Anyway, I think you’re right about the microwave and the toaster. I tried to fix up the proportions in this render (this was before you mentioned the microwave and the toaster, so I haven’t done anything to them in this particular render). Does everything look at least a little more accurate? I also got rid of some more noise (not as much as I wanted, but I’m not going any farther until it’s the final render).
Increasing samples will reduce noise, but you really shouldn’t need such high settings for a scene like this.
Can you please post a screenshot of the render settings and a screenshot of the 3D viewport showing the lighting setup? (It would help even more to post the .blend)
300 FG Samples is quite high, I would normally use around 64.
You don’t seem to be using any additional passes. Use more passes and less samples. Try 5 passes with AA Samples 2 and AA inc Samples 2.
Also make sure you don’t have lights touching or too close to meshes as this can cause noise.
If you are using Sunsky background check the skylight is enabled. It can also help to add an area light outside the window, or increase the Depth value. Or use bgPortals if you are using Yafaray 0.1.2
Okay; thanks! I’ll try that. Here’s a link to the .blend (I rendered it with 2.49, as I can’t get the 2.5 exporter to work): http://www.pasteall.org/blend/4512
I tried the settings you suggested above, and the render turned out really noisy; well, the link is above, so I guess you’ll probably have already figured that out by the time you read this.
Hopefully this will look ok with the textures on, but it should be a good starting point at least. The main problem seemed to be the high Diff. radius value was producing a poor photon map. You could possibly get away with 1,000,000 Photons if you don’t have a lot of RAM.
Give it a try anyway, it renders in about 25 mins without the textures and is reasonably clean, though you could still increase FG Samples a little or use more passes.
I should’ve changed it, as you’re right, it definitely needs some work.
I also got rid of most of the noise in this new render. Now it’s been rendering for 3 hours and it’s only half way there 
