Realistically Light and Render Interior Scenes using 3ds Max and Vray

on Feb 19th 2010 with 122 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: 3Ds Max, Vray
  • Completion Time: 1-2 hours
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Project Files: Download Here

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

Discover the secrets behind properly lighting and rendering interior scenes with 3ds Max and Vray in this easy to follow, step by step walkthrough. Scene setup, modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering for realistic output will all be discussed, so there is literally something in here for everyone!

Step 1

In this tutorial, we’ll be using real units, so the first thing would be to open the menu “Customize > Units Setup > US” and choose “Standard > Feet w/Decimal Inches” as the unit.

Step 2

When you are trying to get a photorealistic quality it is very important to make sure that your object scale is accurate. This will play an important role in achieving a good render. Also, as you can see the scene is quite simple… just a small lobby (mostly modeled with boxes). Note: It is important that it is a closed room, and there are no openings for the light from environment to enter.

Step 3

Press f10, and from the “assign renderer” tab choose “Vray”. This will enable “Vray” as your renderer, and also enable Vray materials in your material editor.

Step 4

Assign a simple Vray material to all the objects in the scene, and set up basic scene lighting and render settings. This is to finalize the lighting and render settings and save time, since a plain material renders much faster than reflective and glossy materials which will be added later.

Step 5

Now to work on the lighting and render settings to achieve the final result.

Step 6

Add a Vray physical camera to the scene by going to “Create Tab > Camera > Vray > Physical Camera”.

Step 7

The settings for a physical camera are:

  • Type – Determines the type of the camera. Set it to “Still”.
  • Film Gate – Specifies the horizontal size of the film gate in millimeters. Set it according to your scene.
  • Focal Length – Specifies the equivalent focal length of the camera lens.
  • f-number – The width of the camera aperture and (indirectly) exposure. If the Exposure option is checked, changing the f-number will affect the image brightness.
  • Vignetting – When this option is on, the optical vignetting effect of a real-world cameras is simulated.
  • White Balance – Allows additional modification of the image output according to the color or preset chosen.
  • Shutter Speed – The shutter speed (in inverse seconds) for the still photographic camera. For example, a shutter speed of 1/50 s corresponds to a value of 50 for this parameter.
  • Film Speed (ISO) – Determines the film power (sensitivity). Smaller values make the image darker, while larger values make it brighter.

    • Step 8

    Now to place the various Vray lights. Lights 1-4 affect the scene directly, whereas light 5 has been placed in a downward direction, and will affect the scene in an indirect (in the
    form of bounced light).

    Step 9

    The basic parameters of the Vray lights are:

  • Color – The color of the light.
  • Multiplier – The multiplier for the light color. This is also the light intensity determined by the Intensity units parameter.
  • Invisible – This setting controls whether the shape of the VRay light source is visible in the render result. When this option is turned off the source is rendered in the current light color. Otherwise it is not visible in the scene.
  • Subdivs - Defines the samples, or the quality of the light. 8-10 should be used for test renders, and 15-20 for final renders. Increasing the samples will significantly increase your render time.

    • Step 10

    IES stands for “Illuminating Engineering Society”. The photometric data is stored in these files. A photometric web is a 3D representation of the light intensity distribution of a light source. Web definitions are stored in files. Many lighting manufacturers provide web files that model their products, and these are often available on the Internet. We as artists can use them to replicate the real life phenomena of light in 3d.

    Go to the “Lights” tab, choose “Vray” from the drop down list, and create a “Vray ies” in the right view. Then instance it below all four steel holders.

    Step 11

    The main settings for the ies lights are:

  • Browse Button - Click it and browse for the ies file that you want to use.
  • Color Mode – If you choose this option, you can change and affect the light intensity through the color picker.
  • Temperature Mode – Allows you to accurately change the light intensity through the color temperature.
  • Power - Determines how bright the light will be.

    • Step 12

    Through the following steps, you will configure the rendering settings in Vray. Press F10, then under “Global Switches”, uncheck “Default Lights”. This will cause the default lights in the scene to be switched off. For the Image Sampler type select “Adaptive DMC”, and “Catmull Rom” as the filter. Also, change the min and max subdivs as shown.

    Lastly, change the “Color Mapping” type to “Exponential”. This mode will saturate the colors based on their brightness, and therefore, will not clip bright colors, but saturate them instead. This can be useful to prevent Burn-outs in the very bright areas (for example around light sources etc).

    Step 13

    Under the “Indirect Illumination” select “Irradiance Map” and use “Light Cache” as the primary and secondary engine. Also, change the Preset to “High”, “hsph subdivs” to 50, and “interp samples” to 20.

  • Irradiance Map – Computes the indirect illumination only at some points in the scene, and interpolates for the rest of the points. The Irradiance Map is very fast compared to direct computation, especially for scenes with large flat areas.
  • Current Preset – Allows you to choose from several presets for some of the irradiance map parameters.
  • Hemispheric Subdivs (HSph. subdivs) – Controls the quality of individual GI samples. Smaller values makes things faster, but may produce blotchy results. Higher values produce smoother images.

    • Step 14

    With a Light Cache, the light map is built by tracing many eye paths from the camera. Each of the bounces in the path stores the illumination from the rest of the path into a 3d structure (very similar to the photon map). In the Light Cache put 1500 for subdivs and 8 for no of passes.

    The Subdivs determines how many paths are traced from the camera. The actual number of paths is the square of the subdivs (the default 1000 subdivs mean that 1 000 000 paths will be traced from the camera).

    Step 15

    Your settings for the test render are done. If you hit render now, you should see the same image that was shown before. Now all you need to do is apply the materials, and increase the Irradiance Map and Light Cache samples for the final render.

    Step 16

    Now to texture the scene (actually it’s quite simple). The basic parameters that will be used in materials are:

  • Diffuse – The diffuse color of the material.
  • Roughness - Can be used to simulate rough surfaces or surfaces covered with dust.
  • Reflect – The reflection color.
  • Reflection Glossiness – Controls the sharpness of the reflections. A value of 1.0 means perfect mirror-like reflections; lower values produce blurry or glossy reflections. Use the Subdivs parameter below to control the quality of the glossy reflections.

    • The shader for the tiles on the base is a simple vray material with a de-saturated texture in the diffuse and a noise map in bump.

    Step 17

    The wood rack is also made of a Vray material with slight reflections and glossiness.

    Step 18

    The material for the wall is again just simple cream and black colors with no reflections.

    Step 19

    The shader on the wall on which the paintings are hanging is made of steel and white wall. The wall part also has a grainy texture assigned to it.

    Step 20

    Your scene is now textured! You can add any other props or objects you like to fill up the scene. The above rendering settings are good for test renders, but for production quality you will need to increase the samples for the image sampler, Light Cache, and Irradiance map.

    Step 21

    Here is the final result! Hope you learned something new!!.

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    By

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    Hi friends, this is Pratik. I am a 3d artist from India. My areas of expertise include texturing, lighting and rendering. 3d art is my passion and profession, and my hobbies are Photography ,music, movies, computers, latest gadgets, cars and all sorts of tech stuff. Here to learn, inspire, and grow!  

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    Discussion 122 Comments

    Comment Page 2 of 3 1 2 3
    1. Ahmer says:
      August 2, 2010 at 7:11 am

      hi….. good evening….. it is very nice and simple beauty…. i need u help tutorials more about interior of the setting …. pls u send me and my email now ok…. bye

      Reply
    2. oladele says:
      August 2, 2010 at 12:31 pm

      really it is cool design i like it but do i go about learning more.i’m a young man aspire to be a structural engineer and interior designer.i need tutorial course on how to use 3DSMax for designing house and all.kindly reply me

      thanks

      Reply
    3. genel says:
      September 22, 2010 at 8:49 pm

      this is very useful tutorial thanks a lot

      Reply
    4. rifaiarsitektor says:
      September 23, 2010 at 10:31 am

      thank ….very detail n i learn a lot ,good design

      Reply
    5. Inner says:
      October 26, 2010 at 9:25 am

      oo nice nice……..

      Reply
    6. michelle says:
      October 27, 2010 at 3:24 am

      Nice one, could u put up another tutorial on how to enhance shadows using vray ??
      This tutorial really helped me alot. Thanks

      Reply
    7. farshad dj says:
      November 11, 2010 at 3:27 am

      very very nice…thanks a lot for your tutorial…please send me other your tutorial… :-)

      Reply
    8. Chris Bloubum says:
      November 23, 2010 at 5:15 pm

      Nice! Now where do I download the file from.

      Reply
    9. Rusmo says:
      November 28, 2010 at 9:36 am

      Is there a scene file?

      Reply
    10. Avinash Pandey says:
      December 2, 2010 at 7:28 am

      Sir,
      How I find V-Ray and where I install it? Please Sir reply me soon.

      Reply
    11. siaini says:
      December 14, 2010 at 10:19 am

      AMAZING! Thank you so much, I followed your steps, word by word and the result is just fabulous!! Please, don’t stop helping us!!

      Reply
    12. manoj kumar says:
      December 20, 2010 at 6:19 am

      sir
      I was very confuse about lighting, but from this tutorial i can easy do this easily. sir, i want learning more about lighting, and how to install v-ray and find v-ray software. please reply me soon and send another example of lighting.

      Thanks
      manoj kumar

      Reply
    13. pratik says:
      December 23, 2010 at 11:01 am
      Author

      glad u all liked the tutor thanks!

      Reply
    14. Ruchi Khandelwal says:
      January 6, 2011 at 1:09 pm

      A clear tut to explain the details of lighting setup..it was very informative. Thanks

      Reply
    15. Tusher says:
      January 8, 2011 at 6:13 am

      Thank cg _________good side

      Reply
    16. david says:
      January 9, 2011 at 5:14 am

      NO download Project File????????

      Reply
    17. mohamed says:
      January 12, 2011 at 6:37 pm

      thank you very much

      Reply
    18. Alif says:
      January 27, 2011 at 2:49 pm

      v gud indeed…thnx a lot

      Reply
    19. Sajith Kumar says:
      February 13, 2011 at 2:03 am

      Many thanks for your good Interior tutorial.
      Do you have any exterior tutorial like this.
      If it is there that is also very helpful

      sajith

      Reply
    20. alvin says:
      February 24, 2011 at 8:42 pm

      very good tutorial.can u send me rendering using 3dsmax with lighting alone?is this possible w/o Vray?

      Thanks a lot.

      Reply
    21. budiwan says:
      February 28, 2011 at 12:38 pm

      very clear tutorial, it is help me a lot to learn how to use light, could you please kindly give me other sample lighting outside the room.

      Reply
    22. Subhash Juyal says:
      April 7, 2011 at 11:57 am

      Very nice tutorial !! could you plz tell me which version you are using of v-ray and which is the best version.
      if you have some other step by step v-ray related basic or advance tutorial plz. send me : subh.creative@gmail.com

      Thanks……..

      Reply
    23. shanibps says:
      April 27, 2011 at 7:23 am

      very good……………………………………………………………thanks…………..

      Reply
    24. Pooh says:
      April 28, 2011 at 4:46 am

      Good tutorial!
      Please email me if possible the link to dl Vray thanks :)

      Reply
    25. Imran says:
      May 11, 2011 at 3:53 am

      nice keep it up man

      Reply
    26. dhiloo says:
      June 25, 2011 at 11:32 pm

      hi..this really helps me..can me post a tutorial of interior scene with vray sun????
      thats the main point where im really weak in…pls help me to overcome this weakness..
      thankyou..

      Reply
    27. sawnaylinthet says:
      June 28, 2011 at 12:55 am

      This lesson is very useful to crate interior design.Thanks a lot.Post more lesson like this lesson.

      Reply
    28. Vishal says:
      July 4, 2011 at 7:57 am

      Thanks mate.. liked it… willing to see more tutorials like this pls help :)

      Reply
    29. SUNIL KUMAR says:
      July 8, 2011 at 9:30 am

      SUPER TUTORIAL AM LEARN SOMANY VERY FASTLY THANKS U UPLOADING THESE TUTORIAL KEEP UPLOADING THESE LIKE TUTORIALS

      Reply
    30. puja says:
      July 11, 2011 at 4:16 am

      hi..this really helps me..can me post a tutorial of interior scene with vray sun????Very nice tutorial !!
      thank you very much

      Reply
    31. rega says:
      July 22, 2011 at 12:17 pm

      hi there, im new to 3ds max. sorry for the noob question, but how do u place a sofa or a model lighting in the scene?

      Reply
    32. amit says:
      July 23, 2011 at 12:43 am

      this is nice tutorial man. thanks for guide me. please give me link of this tutorial.

      Reply
    33. potters nest says:
      July 23, 2011 at 7:21 am

      This is nice, please can you explain how to add light and render an interior space with windows showing as well

      Reply
    34. saravana says:
      July 24, 2011 at 11:28 am

      3dmax vary

      Reply
    35. shadab saifi says:
      July 30, 2011 at 9:34 am

      thats nice site

      Reply
    36. shabeer 4000 says:
      August 10, 2011 at 3:37 am

      I FEEL ALL LIGHT SAME COLOR

      Reply
    37. AntoxaGray says:
      August 13, 2011 at 5:38 pm

      Do I need such high render settings for animation (say, 250 frames), or it’s better to make lower quality?

      Reply
    38. Boris Lemke says:
      August 13, 2011 at 5:58 pm

      Thanks a lot! This made my day!

      Reply
    39. SHIVAM says:
      August 17, 2011 at 3:58 am

      ITS GOOD

      Reply
    40. manoj says:
      August 21, 2011 at 8:45 am

      Sir
      It was very helpful its is very good way to learn thankou sao much

      Reply
    41. Stephen says:
      August 22, 2011 at 11:11 am

      Very good tutorial….
      please send me file
      thank you

      Reply
    42. tint lin oo says:
      August 25, 2011 at 5:59 am

      thanks.

      Reply
    43. Johnny Mata says:
      August 27, 2011 at 2:37 am

      this is a great tutorial…i am beginner in using 3D Max by self study, Please any body can give me a set-up of exterior and interior rending.
      Thank you so much..

      Reply
    44. tina says:
      September 7, 2011 at 7:35 am

      thanks alot.it is so good

      Reply
    45. banarahu says:
      September 11, 2011 at 2:02 pm

      great explanation… thnx…

      Reply
    46. motaleb says:
      September 15, 2011 at 5:09 am

      thanks alot.it is so good

      Reply
    47. adam says:
      September 18, 2011 at 7:28 am

      hi guys.. a little annoyed…..

      just paid for a 9USD subscription to gain access to the source files for this tutuorial

      http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/autodesk-3d-studio-max/realistically-light-and-render-interior-scenes-using-3ds-max-and-vray/

      cant find them any where, pleae can you email me where i can find them, I have searched all over

      please help!!!

      Reply
      • Chris Tate says:
        September 22, 2011 at 12:25 am

        Hi Adam,

        Sorry for the slow reply!

        I hunted down the scene files, and added a link to them in the “Tutorial Details” section at the top of this page. Not sure why it wasn’t added when the tut was posted, but it’s there now :)

        Thanks for pointing it out, and I hope you enjoy the tutorial!

        Cheers

        Reply
    48. sharaf mongam says:
      October 10, 2011 at 1:52 pm

      thank u so mauch….sir…all the best 4 evr..n keep ur helping mind….

      Reply
    49. Rajesh Kumar says:
      October 18, 2011 at 6:04 am

      Thankyou so much sir, I m the beginner of 3D max if is possible to u so can u sent me some other files and tutorials.

      Reply
    50. artmax says:
      November 6, 2011 at 12:39 pm

      can you plz tell me why i have only one vray light, the regular one. how to you create that vrayIES ?

      Reply
    Comment Page 2 of 3 1 2 3

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