Render softness

[AliceMolloy91]

Hi,

I am after a way to get my renders more soft looking (after going on training we figured this is the main difference from VW renders & say Cinema 4D)

I have added blurriness to all the textures and on Med on custom render setting (too high takes forever to render)

If any of you have any suggestion on how I can get the overall image looking softer (looks more like a photograph ect) I would be most grateful, as the other designers don't use VW and tutors say im pretty advanced in that aspect, just that its two different programmes.

Thank You

Edited September 9, 2013 by AliceMolloy91

[Monadnoc]

I would handle the "softness" post-render in Photoshop.

[AliceMolloy91]

That is what I was thinking. Do you know the best way to do it in Photoshop, havent used it in a while.

[Monadnoc]

There are many different things you can do. It's all a matter of taste and what look you're going for. I'm not even sure what you mean by "softness", but it sounds like you just want a slight blur to the whole thing. So just use one of the Blur filters (Filter > Blur >) in Photoshop. Now if VW could save out Alpha channels you could probably do some Depth of Field stuff with the background in PS (you still can, just with a lot more work in PS). In fact, maybe that's what you mean, C4D does have DOF ability built in, VW does not. Or just using soft shadows vs hard shadows might do the trick with VW. Do you use Indirect Lighting or Environmental Lighting (HDRI) in VW? Both of those will produce "softer" looking renders.

Post an image of the look you're after, that might help figure it out.

[ray isaacs]

alice,

like monadnoc, i'm not sure what you are after. but, i am a big fan of photoshop and filters. i tend toward a slightly abstracted representation. lots of possibilities for experimentation.

the first thing i would try--if i were you--are the lighting options in rw, as monadnoc suggests. one bounce of indirect light makes a huge difference in the spatial depth of the rendering. take a little longer to render, but worth it.

cheers,

ray

[AliceMolloy91]

HI Guys,

Yeah I use both indirect lighting & environmental lighting (however this level I am working on is under ground so has no natural light source) I played about with photoshop last night and did get a softer look. I will post up the result I am after and you might be able to help me more. Will also post up my before & after photoshop. Please keep in mind my renders are not finished.

[AliceMolloy91]

silly question - how do I post up images please?

[AliceMolloy91]

Here are the three different images. 1st one is what I am trying to achieve the look of (like i said before I am fully aware they use a different programme & rendering)

Thank you

[Kevin McAllister]

Based on your example images it feels to me like you're equating anti-aliasing and clean edge transitions to "softness". Your reference image is not so much soft but instead less digital than the others.

I would try turning up the anti-aliasing settings in custom Renderworks. Another approach would be to render your images at a higher resolution than you need and then downsize them in Photoshop, which is much better at downsampling. Both of these options will require more render time but will probably get you closer to the result you want.

Kevin

[AliceMolloy91]

Kevin,

Anti-aliasing is up to Med and res is at 300 DPI. With all the lighting in here any higher and it will take a full day to render one image and I have four different views. I am leaving it over night so hopefully will be done tomorrow.

Your reference of less digital makes a lot of sense thank you.

[Monadnoc]

I believe the blur setting only applies to reflections and transparencies, so if you don't have anything that is reflective, like a mirror, turn it off. That should decrease render times. Blur really slows down a render. If you need it for (what looks like to me) the glass table top, maybe use it but set to "low".

Are you using Indirect Lighting? I would use it set to Interior 4 bounces and play with it. And are your lights set to soft shadows?

Your best bet may be using Photoshop filters though.

[AliceMolloy91]

Thanks Monadnoc,

I will give this a go tomorrow and give you my results, I done another image in photoshop and showed it to the team who where equally impressed with it, so I do think that is the way to go.

As for interior 4 bounces, would that not increase rendering time too? I have it set to either 1 or 2 bounce. Yes all lights are set to soft shadows also.

Thanks

[Majic]

Certainly don't consider myself an expert, but in my opinion your sample images use depth of field to soften distant objects while those in the foreground are sharper. I don't use Cinema 4D but have for years used Renderworks and Photoshop to illustrate my designs. I might suggest that through the use of Layers and Classes in Vectorworks you might try to isolate parts of your scenes and render those separately. Then bring those images into separate layers in Photoshop and use various filters and adjustment settings to achieve a desired look.