Topics

16

Work in Progress/Tests / Meditation Hall next to the Wetland | animation in progress

« on: 2019-07-28, 17:31:09 »

An architectural short film, based on '湿地旁的禅修馆' - 'Meditation Hall next to the Wetland' by HIL Architects, China.

This is an on-going personal project, started because I hadn't animated anything for a few years and wanted to check I remembered how (this is also why most of the scenes are quite low-res... one day I'll get around to re-rendering at better quality/size) - an eternal Work in Progress... I keep finding new angles, so might add more if time allows!

Created using 3DS Max, Corona Renderer, Blackmagic Fusion and Final Cut Pro.

Soundtrack is 'Western Shores' by Philipp Weigl, licenced under CC BY 4.0 from FMA.
freemusicarchive.org/music/Philipp_Weigl - creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

17

Gallery / Pendower Beach

« on: 2019-07-04, 12:45:53 »

Morning all,

Wanted to share a recently completed project, which has a mixture of full CGI and camera matched photomontages - plus some hybrid images something between the two. Photography was completed on a site visit, with drone support from my good friend at Fly and Webb (https://www.flyandwebb.co.uk).

The basic architecture was initially modelled in Revit by the architect (linked files via Dropbox working a treat), which I then camera matched to the existing landscape in 3DS Max. RailClone and ForestPack were use extensively for landscaping and detail around the site. All rendering was in Corona, with compositing in Photoshop with additional post production using Nik Collection tools.

More at https://jameslawley.co.uk/Pendower - including a quick process example of one of the photomontage images.

18

Work in Progress/Tests / jms.lwly | work in progress, tests, ideas...

« on: 2019-04-10, 19:24:09 »

Thought I'd start a thread to share some test projects which may or may not ever get finished...

First up has a nordic flavour, mainly to try different landscape techniques etc and also play with Film LUTs in the VFB.
The water/sea/lake is entirely procedural, still needs some work but it's getting there.

There's also a few quirky uses of Corona Distance Texmap, for the graduated ground material (which transitions from wet sand, to dry sand, to harder ground linked to the distance from the water) - and also creating the displacement of the small waves at the edge of the land.

Probably more to follow, when I have time to revisit.

19

Gallery / Holly Farm

« on: 2019-04-01, 12:04:11 »

Hiya,

Quick share of a recent commissioned project, near Bath in the UK.
Some of the images were created for marketing the site, while others were for the architects portfolio.

As always, any suggestions or feedback is welcome!

J

*Edited to add more images

20

[Max] Feature Requests / Grad Filter

« on: 2019-03-28, 17:08:21 »

Probably a long shot, but thought it worth suggesting. When taking photos in real life, I use a grad filter to create dynamic skies (or occasionally foregrounds) - particularly for architectural exteriors or landscapes.

I often recreate this in Corona with a simple plane with gradient map in front of the camera - but this can become frustrating with multiple cameras, and moving things around in a scene. I've linked the grad filter plane to the camera which helps, but still not ideal. With the Corona Camera ideally mimicking real life, could this be something that is integrated into the camera - similar to the Bokeh control (e.g. Value of effect, controllable by a map, etc)?

It can obviously be done in post, but it's simply not the same and doesn't give the same realism.

21

Gallery / Bragança Interiors

« on: 2018-11-28, 19:58:59 »

Hey,

Just wanted to share some quick interiors that I worked on in the last couple of days (personal project from ArchDaily references), still a work in progress but I'm relatively happy with these images to start - maybe I'll drop some more on here when I get a moment to finish more.

Any suggestions / feedback always welcome!

J

22

Hardware / Rackmount Render Farm starter...

« on: 2018-07-18, 18:20:21 »

Hey,

With recent projects ramping up in content (ForestPack over large areas, animations etc) - I'm thinking of expanding my tools with some additional render nodes. For space/practicality it seems the best option is something rack mounted - and there seems to be a decent market for refurbished/second hand rack servers in the UK.

Rather than build myself, I've been looking at these guys - http://www.bargainhardware.co.uk, specifically something based on these units - http://www.bargainhardware.co.uk/hp-proliant-dl360e-gen8-sff-drives-configure-to-order/...

My current choice is:-
 - 2x E5-2450L 1.80Ghz 8c Xeons
 - 64GB RAM
 - 300GB HDD

Alternatively, I could jump up to the next rackmount model (the DL360p Gen8) - which goes into newer/more powerful processors, but ends up almost doubling the price... the plan being to buy another one later rather than spending more now?

It's my first venture into render nodes for about 5-6 years, so would value any advice/experience people have with this sort of thing!

Thanks!

23

Gallery / Chequers House | Small Interior [UPDATED]

« on: 2018-07-17, 17:00:54 »

Three small shots from a recent interior project - small and fairly simple, but the client was very happy with the outcome.
I've got some vignette/crop images to share from this too, when I get a chance to finish them up.

24

[Max] I need help! / Alpha values as 0/-1 (minus one)?

« on: 2018-03-06, 23:03:54 »

A feature I previously used in V-Ray (yes, another one of those type of questions) was overriding an objects contribution to the alpha map to zero or minus one - or occasionally something in between.

This was normally achieved by right-clicking and accessing some V-Ray properties - obviously not applicable in Corona!

Has Corona got a similarly automated way to do this? If not I can render a MatID element or similar and mask objects out of my alphas that way (or manually in Photoshop) - but if there’s any other way it’d be great!