Glass mug. Please help! My rendering is bad!

#1

Hello!

I have started 3ds max 3 days ago, but I have found that compared to egineering programs it is quite handicapped, for example there is no radial symmetry.

I can make a bathroom in Solidworks in minutes, but in 3ds max it takes ages to even make a fairly rudimentary glass mug.

Anyway, I managed to mdel it, then used turbosmoothing on in, so it doesn’t look that bad, however my rendering pics are pretty bad.

Could you please inspect them, and tell me how to better it? I will also upload examples of other people’s render backgrounds to show what I am trying to acchieve.

I have tried tutorials, but all of them use V-ray, and I couldn’t install it, because it corrupted 3ds max (probably because I use 2014, and V-ray was 2013). Anyway all of the V-ray materials were black.

example1

example2

example3

I want to look like as these guys /\ /\

This is my work / /

#2

I wouldn’t go around bashing the software you’ve only been using for three days. The requirements of a tool designed for creating images are much different than that of a tool designed for designing products. And for the former, I can assure you, 3DS Max does an excellent job.

Your model looks like it’s off to a good start, the main issue I see is that the lip looks too thin, it should be a bit wider.

Lighting wise, you want to looks into caustics, this is the best way to get accurate looking lighting in glass. Look up caustics in Mental Ray, there should be heaps of tutorials.

Also, don’t forget that your environment is what gets reflected and refracted so creating a nice environment will make your glass look nicer.

#3

Thanks for the reply.

Well yes. But a lot of modeling tools are present in not just Solidworks, but AutoCAD too (the same company).

Okay, so my model is all right, except the lip?

I finally found that caustics is linked with mental ray, and I have enabled it, but now it say: ERROR Make sure you have a caustic photon emitter on your scene. But I have checked in the properties of my previous light to emmit caustics.

By the wayhere are some stuff I did in Solidworks (scroll down please, I can post that many pictures here), if only 3D sites would accept these file extensions too, I wouldn’t have to learn 3ds max (which wouldn’t be problem, but I am unemployed).

I mean I see it’s merits, but sometimes editing seems overcomplicated.

#4

Could you please reply? The approval of my comment took a few days.

Thankyou

#5

Ok, first of all - I would advise against slapping great big ‘copyright’ watermarks over your renders. At the risk of sounding cruel, no-one is going to steal your work (yet!), so while you’re still learning it’s unnecessary.

Secondly, I agree with Kev3D. You’ve not been using 3ds max long enough to understand what it’s capable of, so criticising at this point isn’t going to help. If you’re coming from a Solidworks/CAD background then the entire process of poly modelling is going to be quite a drastic change. It doesn’t mean you can’t do what Solidworks can, it means you have to learn an entirely different approach to do so.

Your modelling is ok, but needs some general tightening in areas (the dimples in the glass for example) and I would check the thickness of the top rim. As for your renders, the most important thing with glass is the lighting and environment. First of all, check that the index of refraction for your material isn’t too high (say 1.3, 1.2 for glass) then make sure you’re lighting it with either a nice HDRI or some area lights. Unfortunately, I haven’t used Mental Ray for years so can’t offer any specific advice beyond this.

“I have tried tutorials, but all of them use V-ray, and I couldn’t install it, because it corrupted 3ds max (probably because I use 2014, and V-ray was 2013). Anyway all of the V-ray materials were black.”

This sounds a lot like you’re using pirated software. If you own a license of V-Ray you can simply download the version relating to your version from www.chaosgroup.com. If you are running a cracked copy of 3ds Max/v-ray then there’s no helping you and pirated software is forbidden on this forum.

#6

3dsMax has been one of the most powerful poly-modeling softwares for a long time.

Getting frustrated after using it for 3 days is counter-productive. What were you expecting? It’s a complex, deep piece of software. Maybe you might want to study some refs of a real-world beer mug to model it more accurately. As it’s such a simple object once you understand the basics of sub-D modeling it should be straightforward.

I havn’t used MR in years either but for the likes of a product render you might be more comfortable with the simplicity of iRay(comes with Max) I’m sure there are plenty of tuts online for free. There’s really no secret to it. It’s just time, patience, study, and practice.

The key to a good studio render - as AJ mentioned - of a highly reflective/refractive object is in the environment. as the object has no diffuse component at all you are completely relying on the lighting and environment for effect.

Also, please, please don’t do that horrible copyright thing. I almost wasn’t going to reply when I saw it. :wink:

#7 
   Actually, you can make radial symmetry. The symmetry modifier is very versatile in combination with the stack.
 
   When you add a Symmetry modifier you can modify it's transform: pivot and rotation. Thus using several Symmetry modifiers in a row can create a radial symmetry. But you can also deviate from just radial, you can have 2 in a row with a roation of 5 degrees, than rotating another one way off, and then add another symmetry to combine into all manner of symmetry patterns.

Below follows a set of Symmetry modifiers to create 10 wheels for a train from a single spoke of the first wheel (I skipped some of the Symmetry modifiers just to skip ahead).







#8

Deleted because of double post

#9

Try using more than one light. Enable emit photons for the lights within your scene in order to capture the caustics necessary to make the refraction of the light more realistic… to get reflections of the surrounding environment, I would use image based lighting.

Your watermark is extremely distracting. It would probably take longer to Photoshop the watermark than it would to model your scene.

#10

Hello, thanks for all the answers, and all the help. Thanks a lot!

I was away for some time, that’s why absence, I had to focus on other things.

I am learning 3ds max slowly.

#11

Aside from what’s already been pointed out about rendering, the surface of the mug looks uneven and that also affects the reflections and refractions.