some interior tips

#1

Hi, I saw that many people had trouble doing an interior so I thought I would give some tips doing an interior in mental ray
Properly this tutorial is intended for beginners, but I think everyone could read it and may be you learn something new.

Notes :
Evermotion has made a great effort and provided lots of tutorial, samples,…. And much other stuff concerning making of interior so you should check it for more stuff
Anyway they had a great mental ray tutorial but it was built upon using self illumination object
It is not wrong but you most likely not to use self illumination object as the basis of your lighting, anyway you can check it here: http://www.evermotion.org/tutorials/rendering/mr_interior/index.htm
Also many thanks to a great person (( Jeff Patton )) actually I learned my light setup from him , so thanks Jeff .
Now to the tutorial, I’ll explain some hints and tips for modeling and texturing also, but not all the stuff.

#2

1- modeling
There are many methods to model a room in max, here are some:
First using the AEC objects, this is better explained by Pixelstudio here http://www.evermotion.org/tutorials/modeling/basic_interior/
From the create panel / geometry /AEC extended /walls
Or you can just create a cube for each wall
Or you could create a cube and then convert to editable poly ((see image))
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/5892/modeling1.jpg

If you choose the last method and your camera was inside the room, always remember to check force 2 sided in the render menu ((see image))

Anyway you can choose whatever modeling methods you would like.
Also here is a simple process to create some easy furniture
1-create a box convert it to editable poly , press 4 (( polygon mode ))
2-cut here ((see image))

3-and here ((see image))

4-now select the new polygons and extrude ((see image))

5-now select those polygons and extrude them again and you have a basic chair ((see image))

Not the best one but a quick chair, also with the same methods you can make a couch

#3

material
Always try you renderer special material , mental ray comes with nearly 72 shader to use, also check the Architectural Material that ships with max they are really great .
Here are some tips :
To make a glass material you can use the mental ray glass shader ((see image))

You may leave its default setting or edit it to whatever you like.
Or you can use Architectural Material glass preset ((see image))

Also important note that the glass physics phen material is great ((see image))

But it will not work for multi/sub-object mode
See some setting for that material

Also to make a curtain material you can use this setting :

First in standard material got to the refraction channel and select
Refract ((base)) material ((see images))


In the index of refraction use a range from 1.01 to 1.05

In the refraction channel choose a falloff map
Here are the settings ((see images))

Also back to input channel you can use whatever texture you want ((see image))

That’s it; I hope it will work well with you.

Note : I learn this from (( 3d visionary )) from his tutorial but he was using VRAY I just imported the setting to mental ray

Anyway at the end of this part my recommendation is to use the Architectural Material or the mental ray shaders , especially the Architectural Material when using wood for the floor or you want to make a white color for your wall (( use the ideal diffuse preset ))

#4

3-lighting
This is actually the easy part, all you need is 1 skylight and 1 target light that’s it not the big deal.
1- create a skylight
Create panel / lights / skylights put it anywhere in your scene , and leave the default setting
Important note : when modeling the room try to make enough space for the use of the skylight , I mean for example 2 windows, or you can even remove entire wall depending on your camera setting , this is not necessary but you must make a good use for the skylight
2-target direct light or mental ray spotlight (( I’ll explain both ))
You need to create a light coming from you window ((see image))


, or from the empty space in your room. ((See image))

Note: it is not a good idea to make wholes in your walls so cut wisely.
Here is the explanation of the light setting
1- Make sure shadows is on (( it is not on by default )) , when using mental ray you only have a choice of (( ray traced shadows )) or (( mental ray shadow map ))
Mental ray shadow map produce much faster rendering but with a crappy result so we will use ray traced shadow

2-in the intensity / color rollout
I used a multiplier of 2 this is will affect the brightness of your scene . You choose what the best value according your scene ((see image))

3-directional parameters
I used overshoot ((which allow the illumination for the whole scene)) also if you don’t want to use it make sure that you use a value for the falloff the include all you room ((see image))

4- For the rest of the setting I used the default.

USING MENTAL RAY SPOTLIGHT
Actually nearly the same setting , but it cast area shadow which is much better than the standard light but it will affect your render time
You can set area shadow setting in the area light parameters rollout
I usually use sample u 10 and v 10 , but it depends on your scene , and the distance of your spotlight

#5

4- Rendering
Using mental ray
In the indirect illumination tab
That was my setting ((see image))

For the final gathering:
For the number of samples I used 2500 samples
Also in the global light properties I set energy to 1000000 ((this is the main option responsible for the brightness of your scene , you choose its value in conjunction with your light multiplier , it depends on your scene ))
For the caustic photon (( not used in this scene ))
And the GI photons I used 1000000 ((this is will affect your quality of your image, normally the higher the better BUT IT IS NOT A RULE.

Note: I didn’t use the min/max radius setting because I didn’t understand it quite well but it depends upon the size of your scene

In the renderer tab
In sampling quality
In the filter type I used Mitchell , and in samples per pixel I used min 4 and max 16
This is may slow your render time a lot m so you may want to try a lower value ((see image))

Well , I think that’s the end , if you have any question I would like to know
Also sorry for my bad English

#6

Looks pretty cool! Will try this when I get home.

If you don’t mind, could you post a couple pics of your rendered scene to make sure I got all the settings right?

Thanks!

-Deathcricket-

#7

the same setting as above but , fg 1500 , and sampling Mitchell min1/max4
i don’t have a good speed at the moment .

#8

hai…it is very usefull. just one question…about the advanced lighting. do we have to use Lighttracer, radiosity or none…

thank you

#9

denker , light tracer and radiosity has nothing to do with mental ray , you use them only under scanline rendering when needed , mostly radiosity for interiors and lighttracer for outdoors , exteriors,… but not a rule.

#10

Really good tips, but it takes quite a long time to render. I have rendered my scene about 6 hours how and I have only 32% of final catheri done.
Hope it will be good looking and worth to wait… (btw, my fg samples is only 1500)

#11

hi micco, no need to waste 6 hours of your time (( testing )) , the tips are made to get you started , so you start with a lower value and notice the difference while increasing your value . also that’s was my setting , you can produce better quality with differenet value depends on your setting . so unless you are going for final , don’t waste all that time.
but generaly (( it will take even more time )).

#12

That was a cool tutorial. But if you people need more information on lighting and texturing interiors, check this site out … www.cgarchitect.com

#13

Really good tips

#14

Thanks for taking the time to share your information. Its proving most helpful. And your english is better than most :slight_smile: (inc mine :])

#15

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