How to create a scene for rendering?

[vkirchner]

I am a very new member (noob) to this group of elite. I am modeling a Soviet armored train which I would like to create a realistic rendered scene. How does one go about creating a scene with background image, train tracks, etc., so it looks convincing? Too many times you can tell that a model is placed into the scene because the background is blurry or not high enough resolution, the scenes depicted here are crisp and detailed. Thank you for any assistance that you can provide. I have added a link to the train I am working on.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/vkirchner/wip4.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/vkirchner/wip5.jpg

Regards
Vince

[krazycolin]

hmm... a train... don't think i've seen one of those here before.... cool!!!!


to answer your question:

a: find a pic that you wish to use. one that fits your idea of a "scene". if you want to animate your train.. a video sequence is necessary.

b: match frame your 3d camera to the real one. I'm not going to go into detail on this; many tutorials exist on the net.

c: match lighting, coloration and tone. this is the hardest and where most "fail". It's really a matter of eye training. look for the subtle yet oh so important details. check your blacks and your whites. (if your real blacks are light grey, then your 3d blacks should be the same)...

this is a very VERY basic idea of how to proceed. you could go for pages and pages and in fact, many many books and tuts and articles have been produced on this very subject.

amazing how one simple question has such a complicated answer... too bad i can't answer.... "BECAUSE!!!" and be done with it!!!

good luck

[vkirchner]

Okay, I am digesting what you have said. Let me use the mirroring technique I learned with my Wife. Ha,Ha! The match frame the 3D camera to the real one. Is the following tutorial what you are referring to?

http://www.newtek.com/products/lightwave/tutorials/rendering/camera_mapping/camera_mapping.html

As for the color matching, shadows, etc., I understand the concept but not entirely sure about the practice. So let's say my shadows are too black, would I adjust light intensity, add a light, move a light, or possibly yes to all of these to correct the shadow?

Yes, the because answer is a wonderful one, but not one I normally get. Thanks for the answers.

Vince

[Skyraider3D]

Hi Vince,

Fantastic subject, that! I read about the Russian armoured trains some time ago and it's very cool to see one in 3D.

First you need a good, high-res picture - all depending on what size the final image is going to be. You can scale up pictures a little, but too much and it'll show.

If you have a picture with rails, great. If not, you'll need to model/texture some foreground stuff. If you do have a rails pic it would still be good to model some and do the camera mapping thing on it. That way shadows will cast correctly onto your scene.

If shadows are too dark you could increase the ambient light or lower the shadow intensity if the software allows it.

And don't forget the wonders you can do in Photoshop. You could practically do the whole compositing thing inside Photoshop and paint shadows manually etc etc... You could get great arty results with such an approach. But if you go for realistism you need to start with a realistic render of course.

Now lastly, I noticed you use Rhino. The Rhino renderer (Flamingo, I believe) isn't a very capable one. You should consider exporting your model to another 3D package and render it there for better results.

[vkirchner]

Thanks for the help guys. Yea, I really liked the idea also, but I must tell you that I have really had a hard time with the camo colors. The colors I have displayed on my sample images were derived from a camo image of a russian tank, I have found very little info on the train camo colors. :-( I have a nice russian countryside image in high resolution, but it is modern day. I had hoped to find an older image possibly with damage to the city, but I have even considered reverting to a black white image to give it a feeling of depression to it, but we will see how it turns out. I am currently modeling the rails, they were positioned last night. The railroad sleeprs will come tonight, they are planned for wood as I do not believe that they were concrete or plastic in WW2. :-) The Flamingo renderer is not up to the level of a Brazil or Vray to say the least. I am currently saving my Wifes grocery money for the Brazil for Rhino release, currently I have a copy of the WIP Brazil which I could use, but I know little about setting up the materials yet. This could be my excuse to spend a little more time with the WIP. I am not under any time constraints to finish this as it started as a entry into our two month contest at the Rhino forum at the Renderosity web site, but we took a turn this month toward insects. So the train get's saved for a later date. Thank you again for the assistance.