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Cgtuts+ Workshop #12 Family Home
tuts workshop

Cgtuts+ Workshop #12 Family Home

on May 30th 2012 with 3 comments

We’re back with another entry in our weekly community project, where we post a render or animation created by a member of the Cgtuts+ community, and ask you to provide feedback and constructive criticism on their work. It’s a great way to learn more about the intricacies of computer graphics, express your viewpoint, and have your own content critiqued by your fellow artists!

Quick Ground Rules

  • Be nice! We’ve deliberately chosen work that isn’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  • Feel free to offer any type of advice on – Modeling, Texturing, Materials, Lighting, Rendering, Composition, etc.
  • You can also link to another video or render that you feel offers a great example of this type of content done exceptionally well.

So let’s get to it, here’s this week’s entry created by Max Auer!

Family Home

Cgtuts+ 3d cg Family Home critiqueClick To Enlarge

A Little Background

Hi, my name is Max Auer and I’m 16 years old and from Germany. This is the latest picture I created with Vray and 3ds max. It basically was a study of realistic exterior lightning. I personally like the lightning and the grass. But it would be cool to hear what other people think about it and how I can improve my work. So, comments and critiques are very welcome.

Thank you very much!

Also be sure to check out more of Max’s work on his Website!
Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached this project or done things differently? Any thoughts on how it could be improved or taken to the next level. Chime in below!

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site. Interested in submitting your own video or 3D render? You can do so here! and have your work featured in a future Cgtuts+ Workshop!

 
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By

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Ben is one half (literally) of the editor duo here at Cgtuts+. Ben has over eight years of experience in the computer graphics field and although he's primarily a hard surface modeler, he's also experienced in the fields of uvmapping, texturing, lighting and rendering. He has authored many tutorials and training materials focused on 3d Studio Max and hard surface modeling. You can check out Ben's website at bentateonline.com to see more of his work.  

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  • Duffy

    As a new-ish person to the 3D world and someone who researches as much as possible on this subject, I Have a few things from related projects.

    The ‘White’ Material you used on the walls, I feel like a bump of some sort wouldn’t hurt. For example, If you look at any kind of Photo reference on Architecture, you’ll see a “Bump” on everything (Stucko, Bricks, Concrete even…). That being said, a simple bump map, or even a PSD Texture added onto the white to give it some black/white definition would add the realism.

    The reflection of the glass is a little much. Adding a blue tint to this should give it the trick. Also, Giving it less opacity to have less reflection would help as well. Again, Looking at photo-reference as a comparison is a good move on any modeling stand point. Since you have nothing inside, Think in terms of “What my viewer wants to see”. If it looks fake, interest is lost right away.

    If i’m wrong on this part, please disregard-
    with so much glass, I’m pretty sure this building would crumble instantly, Lol.

    But, I Must say – The trees are AMAZING! The Grass is outstanding! I’m not sure what was used to accomplish these trees and what rendering gave it such definition, but 100% Props to you!

    I think this is cool to have criticism on these things. As a 3D Artist, I’m always looking for someone to look at my work and tell me what to do and what not to do. I Look forward to entering in a few projects myself!

    • http://www.mechanicalwhispers.com Robert

      The grass was the first thing I noticed that gave away the CG nature of the image. The tiling repetition of the texture is VERY obvious. Use a larger repeating texture. Or better yet, a larger still photo of grass texture. Or better still, work on modeling realistic 3D grass.

      Also, the shadows kinda seem a bit too dark to me. I think overall it just needs more subtle variation and things that are less than perfect to make it seem more realistic and less CGI. Lighting is only one part of making something look realistic.

  • Andrew

    I have worked with many architects, builders, designers and have been using Max since the mid 80′s. and I do Architectural Visuals for a living.. and despite that, I will admit, even I am still learning and have learnt a lot, especially in the last 3-4 years

    One thing I will say, before we get into your model…. Photo real, despite what many seem to think, is NOT always what the client actually likes. in fact, what seems fake to some, can be just what the client expects it to look like. HOever, there are obvious limits to this fake look

    So here goes… the glass looks wrong and seems to sit on the grass, there seems to be no base to the building, it’s almost as if it’s sitting on a carpet…..I think making it less transparent is not going to help, if anything it needs to be more transparent and LESS reflective.. I can see that you have added very basic interiors.. so reduce the reflection level of the glass and add a slight blue/green tint to it…If the glass is a flat plane, then give it 2-3 mm thickness

    The whole facade of the building looks very flat, there is no real sense of depth. .The doors for instance, seem to have no thickness, the glazing in them seem s to be on the same level as the doors.. and from what I can see one is set back from the other, as if the slide. but with the position of the handles, that wouldn’t be possible….

    As Duffy pointed out, a bump map might help.. but I think a bit of dirt would too…. Too many renders these days, are far too clean.. It only has to be very very slight..and it would make all the difference. perhaps an AO pass, the add it as a layer in photohop, set to multiply and reduce the opacity to say 20 or even just 10%

    Going back to the reflection, that flat horizon spoils it totally.. try to find a generic landscape for the reflection.. and also add a very very slight noise map to the bump slot of the glass material. no glass in any building it totally flat.

    It appears you have used a small amount of displacement on the grass, however, the tiling is very noticeable. perhaps break it up with a path. it’s only the central section that shows the tiling badly.

    On to the trees, I see you have lowered one into the ground to make some form of bush. this is far too large and needs to be a slightly different shade to the trees on either side

    The fence makes it all look far to busy and seems to end abruptly, as can be seen in the reflection half way across the left hand door. I would remove the fence completely. or only show it on the left of the image, the idea of a generic landscape image for the reflection image, will remove the need for that extra tree and the continuation of the fence.

    Change the sky, it’s obviously an image taken looking straight up. there are thousands of excellent sky images out there and choosing the right one, will make all the difference.

    Finally.. good luck and I hope I have helped you, at least a little, on your way to great things