Raytracing

[1FROSTY2]

hey all!

I have been playing around with raytracing for a little while now and have finally got some images for you to see. Go to this link to see them

http://www.chiefarchitect.com/userce.../trayling.html

Any feedback so as i could improve these images would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Matt

[George Godwin]

Fine raytracing examples. Excellent use of vegetation.

[cgirerd]

Nice work, Matt. Especially nice reflection on the top left pool. Thanks for posting your work. It's always fun to see what other people are doing.

I didn't have time to look too closely, but I would suggest that the two top pictures need a little more light under the eaves and/or in the house interior. In a real-life brightly daylit scene, the windows of a house are not almost black, as is often the case in raytraced exterior scenes. I would suggest adding a low intensity light in the rooms that have windows that show in the scene, or adding a light (an add light, not a fixture) about 20 or 30 feet in front of the exterior wall to light under the eaves. Or depending on the scene, do both.

I've attached an exterior example that has one light under the porch to light up the front door/porch area. It has a light inside the entry so the front door glass is bright. Another light in the room to the right. I forgot to turn on the light in the room to the left, so you can see the difference. I might even have one more light in the driveway area that is helping to light up the walls and trim a little brighter than just the "sun" light.

Christina

[1FROSTY2]

Thanks for you kind feedback

this is probably a dumb question but how do you add just light and not a fixture?

[icy]

Thanks for you kind feedback

this is probably a dumb question but how do you add just light and not a fixture?

An entirely reasonable question.
Got to 3D Menu > Add light > click in plan.
This will add a light source of pre-determined type and height in your plan. all of its attributes can be edited as it it was a light fixture.
This light will go on to its own layer of "Light Sources"

[icy]

Matt,
Just had a look at your pics and my first thought was"Looks like it could be in Adelaide"
Good representation of local trends.

[cgirerd]

Using that "add light" from the 3D menu is very handy. I do 90% of my lighting in the raytraces from "add lights" as opposed to fixture based lights. The reason is that add lights are quicker to deal with and I'm more interested in getting the client to be able to see all the architecture than to get cool, moody graphics. If I have extra time, it's fun to add special up-lights, or down-lights, spots, etc, but it takes a lot more time to get the whole scene set up. I charge by the hour and my clients would rather see the whole view more clearly than to have me spend time fussing with specialized lighting.

Another reason I don't use fixture based lights as much (I mean I show them in scenes but I don't turn them on), is that they can have distracting shadow patterns. A typical example is a hanging light over a dining table. Someone has it on, does a raytrace, and they end up with this spidery looking shadow all over the ceiling which draws more attention than the rest of the scene. Table lamps often give you a strong (i.e. distracting) circle of light on the floor and ceiling, unless you adjust softness of shadows, make the light higher or lower than the fixture, etc. Also, if I end up changing fixtures, and had the lighting set for the fixture, I'd have to get the new fixture adjusted all over again and since we don't have a good way to match settings yet (i.e. numbers instead of sliders) it could take some fussing to get the new fixture light to match old one. I'd rather spend the time getting good materials and adding plants or other accessories to the scene. Plus, the more lights you add, the slower the raytrace, and you usually end up with more lights in a scene when you use fixture based lights.

Christina

[jsimanyi]

http://www.chieftalk.com/showthread....ght=water+fall

That's probably my biggest complaint with your really beautiful images. Falling water is always tricky, and I suspect if you inserted and stretched this symbol, it would enhance the appearance.

John S.

[Curtis Johnson]

Christina: Where did you get your garage doors from? Does anyone know if v11 will have an expanded offering of garage door styles, with and without glass?

[Larry Kumpost]

Matt:

Very nice work.

I agree with John about the waterfall. Not really a "Terrible self-plug" if your correct.

I also agree with Christina for what she described but there are times where the shadows help show the massing of a building. It can vary with what you want to accomplish with the image.

[lbuttery]

Curt:

Check out http://www.chiefware.com/ for the Garage Door Wizard

Lew

[m dalton]

Christina: Where did you get your garage doors from? Does anyone know if v11 will have an expanded offering of garage door styles, with and without glass?

Curtis,
Talk to Sam Spencer... he has made most of the Raynor Carriage style (River Point) garage doors

[janazz]

I really like the rendered images and great design. I would like to know how I can do the waterfall.....Thanks

[Curtis Johnson]

Lew: I have checked out Chiefware and if Chief Architect is going to leave all the fancy garage door designs to 3rd parties - then that is the way I will go. I have been in touch with Kelly at Chiefware recently and like what he has as an alternative to the doors CA has in its library.
Michael: I will check Sam's out per your suggestion to see if he shares his doors with others or has them for sale. Thanks both of you.

[m dalton]

Michael: I will check Sam's out per your suggestion to see if he shares his doors with others or has them for sale. Thanks both of you.

Curtis,
Sam's are forsale and worth it, but they are not too expensive. I have his whole set (garage and exterior)... I was the one who got him to make them for a job I did.