How can i get this to look better

[leigh]

Well for starters, it's really clean. Which makes it quite dull to look at. Add some weathering, some moisture, some dirty drips... the kind of details you see on real world objects. Even though you're not striving for realism, these kinds of details will make your surface more interesting. Add details all around joins in your surface - like in the groove between the step and the platform area in the second render you posted. The details you currently have your surface look far too large and are quite blurry, and are also very monochromatic. Study some pictures of real life surfaces for inspiration. Build up layers of details in varying tones and colours - avoid flat areas of plain colour.

Also, work on your lighting. Adding a more dynamic and interesting lighting scheme will improve your renders a lot.

[shockwave82]

ok thanks, ill work on the textures a bit better, smaller details seems to be my next step. I am working on dirtying up the surface a bit. Il post updates as i get them done! thanks

[Maven]

Work on that lighting.

Also, the railing on the stairs look really odd too me. the posts should be vertical to the world and not perpidicular to the stringers.

[shockwave82]

Work on that lighting.

Also, the railing on the stairs look really odd too me. the posts should be vertical to the world and not perpidicular to the stringers.

what do you mean by "the posts should be vertical to the world and not perpidicular to the stringers"

and lighthing is not my strength, so i used an old light set up that i had to see how the textures looked, in the end i want to fig out how to set up an "outside" light set up

[leigh]

Try reading this tutorial:

http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/light.htm

It should help teach you a bit about the fundamentals of lighting.

[Sererena]

what do you mean by "the posts should be vertical to the world and not perpidicular to the stringers"


On the diagonal railings, the poles should be vertical, 90 degrees. Skewing it should line things up right.

[Dtox]

Many people dislike lighting as a whole, and consider it one of the most difficult aspects.

I actually enjoy it myself.

Not really the act of setting it up so much as just the theory of lighting in general.
I often find myself admiring light in the real world.
I started admiring it like that at about the same time as I started doing 3D renders because you really have to dissect it when doing 3D lighting.
And it just stuck and became a fascination.

You have to train your eye to see what's in front of you to understand light, much like you do with texturing.
Once you do, it all makes alot more sense.

I've found that traditional photography lighting concepts are the most like 3D lighting, as opposed to physically accurate indoor/outdoor lighting like you study in architecture.

I'm a C4D user, and I gravitate toward using multiple area lights with very modest values and custom geometry shapes, in addition to moderate GI settings with bounce cards and high energy caustics to get realistic results.
I prefer the stochastic mode of calculation as I find it to be the most accurate, so I use that whenever possible if I'm going for photorealism.
Sadly, it's the most CPU intensive method and it takes alot longer to render in most cases.
The difference(as I understand it) between standard mode and stochastic mode, is that stochastic mode calculates the value of every pixel.
Where standard mode allows you to define how many samples are used, and the distribution of the samples along the different areas of the scene.

When photorealism isn't the objective I like to use point light arrays, and I tend to use alot of object exclusion with higher light population.

Unfortunately I can't afford Vray or Maxwell at this time so I can't take advantage of real physically accurate lighting the way I want to.
I have to fake it since C4D's GI engine leaves alot to be desired in terms of both speed and functionality, and ease of use.
To help me I take alot of digital photos for reference and really tweak the exposure values before I take the shot, then using camera RAW I save several versions of the file out using all different white balance settings.
It really helps alot.

Best of luck on learning lighting, hopefully I've provided some insight or at least some concepts that you can search on to get a better understanding.

[MichaelP]

If I have bigger surfaces to colour, I use stencil maps. As stencilmap I use clouds. A 3rd map could deliver dirt or ground or something else. So the walls will look a bit more dirty. Also Photoshop gives you some ideas. Look for example how to make a rusty surface. You'll find it in some tutorials. There is not such a big difference between a rusty surface or a wall with something in it.

[bonestructure]

Grunge makes any texture look better. I make grunge by blending layers in Photoshop and applying the layers to the textures using one of the blend options, like overlay or multiply, etc, plus adjusting the opacity, saturations, etc.

Look at grunge in the real world. You'll find that nothing is clean unless it's brand new, and it won't stay clean long. At the very least you'll have water stains and streaks because rain is dirty. On an object like your walls, they will have dirt stains near the base where they soak up moisture and dirt gets knocked on them. They would also have some staining where people going up the stairs rub their hands and such.

As far as lighting, your lighting also brings out your bump maps, and those have to be adjusted to the right level, not too small, not too large. Also, even your concrete walls will have some specularity that works with the light. There will be a dark side and a light side to the cracks and bumps and stuff. Do the bump maps right and you'll get that automatically. If not, you can paint specularity maps.

There's also reflected light. Your walls, being light colored, are going to bounce light around. Of course, that comes with radiosity and Final render or whatever you're using.

Even if you're not trying to achieve photo realism (I don't either, since I'm doing art, not photography, though I respect photo realism) You want your render to look as good as possible, so you need to consider all these factors.

I would also suggest you UVunwrap the walls and apply the textures in mapping so that things like the narrow ends of your walls don't obviously have textures that are squeezed.

[shockwave82]

somehow i stopped reciving email notifications on the updates for this post, sorry for such a lng time on replying, but thanks everyone for the tips and suggestions, i have a lot to read, but on my way out to work
heres some updates

http://www.jose-f.com/Images/Posts/May/GreenDrops1.jpg
http://www.jose-f.com/Images/Posts/May/GreenDrops2.jpg
http://www.jose-f.com/Images/Posts/May/GreenDrops4.jpg
http://www.jose-f.com/Images/Posts/May/GreenDrops.jpg

[Maven]

Check out this illustration that I found on the internets...I just never seen a railing like that, it looks really odd. The lighting is looking much better.

http://www.hooverfence.com/vinyl/railing/img/drawings/3-high-stair-kingston-illus.gif

[shockwave82]

thanks maven that helps out for sure

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