Studio shot, trying to improve my technique

[SonOfNimrod]

Hi all.

This is a really staightforward shot I know, but I know there are areas I can improve.

All C+C welcome!

[Jonferimonic]

What look are you trying to achieve with the image, is it to sell a product? Its a nice clean render, if you are going for photorealism you could add condensation to the bottles and labels.

[SonOfNimrod]

Yeah Jonferimonic, the purpose is to sell a product, like a print ad. I'm just after the basics, like realistic mat's and lighting techniques.

Looking at it now, it looks as if it's a little too 'glassy', and the black refractions on the sides of the front bottle don't seem very realsitic....

I've studied Flipside's tut's for a long time, and it's a great help!!

For instance, what sort of GI setup would be good for an interior shot like this...QMC + IR Map?

What's a good way to add condensation to the bottles?

[tom182]

as you say it is for selling the product, you may want to try a slightly more dramatic/interesting camera view, I would use a drape as the background (personal opinion) so there is no hard edge between the background and the surface that the bottles are on. Time to put textures on it
These may help a tad
http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...=14449&start=0
http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...ghlight=studio

Tom

[SonOfNimrod]

Wow. that's great.

Thanks Tom for the pointers! Back to more testing!

Just as an aside. Is there any way I can achieve this effect? Is reflection in a matte material supported by V-Ray now?

[RErender]

Is reflection in a matte material supported by V-Ray now?

Yep, pretty sure it always has been.

[joconnell]

I'd say what's possibly happening in the picture you posted is that the white / purple gradient isn't the background that the phone is sitting on. What it looks like to me is that the phone is sitting on a mirror or shiny black glass plane, the light source is actually behind the phone and the gradient is a plane object in front of the phone - the light is pointed at the plane and bouncing light back onto the phone and pen and the gradient that you're seeing as the background is actually a reflection of the light shining onto the plane in front. If you look at the top of the pen, you can see a little version of the gradient just to the right of the silver bit which would lead me to believe that the gradient is in front rather than behind.

The other option is that the light source is indeed in front of the light but it's using a diffuser which is causing the soft, gradient look to the light - like a bulb behind a bit of translucent fabric.

[trixian]

Is reflection in a matte material supported by V-Ray now?

Yep, pretty sure it always has been.

Sorry to say, but it never has, and still no word as to when it might be implemented. (Assuming he means storing of reflections affecting the matte alpha channel, like the standard max matte material does).
This has been on my wish list since v.1.09.03

[panthon]

This has been on my wish list since v.1.09.03

Same here!

[Neilg]

You could always render on a mirror material with your vrayreflection channel on, render another without it and just the background, then comp the reflection in through postwork.

[RErender]

Is reflection in a matte material supported by V-Ray now?

Yep, pretty sure it always has been.

Sorry to say, but it never has, and still no word as to when it might be implemented. (Assuming he means storing of reflections affecting the matte alpha channel, like the standard max matte material does).
This has been on my wish list since v.1.09.03

Depends on you definition of reflections on a matte, matte objects can reflect, but yeah, no alpha contribution.

[__Leo__]

heres what I would do to create the effect above...

this scene was created by using an omni and a plane...

- the omni is between the plane and the object...
- plane needs to have a reflective glass...
- use black background

take a look at the image below.... same idea... only thing you need to do is change the black plane into a reflective object..

and voila..

hope this helps...

leo



leo

[SonOfNimrod]

Is reflection in a matte material supported by V-Ray now?

Yep, pretty sure it always has been.

Sorry to say, but it never has, and still no word as to when it might be implemented. (Assuming he means storing of reflections affecting the matte alpha channel, like the standard max matte material does).
This has been on my wish list since v.1.09.03

Yep. That's what I meant. Like the shadows on a matte material affecting alpha, have relections on too and comp the background in PS.

Thanks for all the responses.

Back to more testing!