Realistic Windows

rebal15 · July 13, 2020, 10:12am

Hi everyone, I’m just wanting a bit of help with making windows. I’d like to do some really realistic archviz renders, but I just can’t seem to get the windows correct, the room becomes a noise trap!

Any help is appreciated!

norrid · July 13, 2020, 10:19am

I normally use this node setup. It’s quick an easy. I picked this up a while ago, so there are probably more sophisticated ways now but I find it works fine for most of what I do.

norrid · July 13, 2020, 10:20am

Also, have you added Area Light Portals to your windows? This helps a lot.

CarlG · July 13, 2020, 12:08pm

See if this works:

I’m currently rendering so I wasn’t able to test it. Area light portals can be important if you have small window openings.

rebal15 · July 13, 2020, 12:18pm

How do you use light portals?

CarlG · July 13, 2020, 12:26pm

Add an area light so that it covers the window, then set its property to be a light portal.
It basically tells the renderer - “are you looking for lights? come look this way”,
making it easier to “find” the world environment light than relying on random luck.
It’s not a light source - it’s just a guide for the rendering engine find the environment.

norrid · July 13, 2020, 1:02pm

Exactly as @CarlG says. Here’s a video of the same process:

rebal15 · July 13, 2020, 1:15pm

Thanks so much for that help @CarlG @norrid, much appreciated. I’ll definitely be giving that a go in my next render!