rendering a outdoor cityscape scene

[tom182]

Just a quick question, a guy in work was rendering a cityscape (old style New York) initially he began with Brazil, cos thats what we use. I suggested to him to try VRay He began experimenting with VRAY demo but with time constraints didnt venture too far with it.
Q: When rendering an outdoor scene with VRAY, are there any obvious pointers that I/he should note? i.e. what type of light works better and are there a few pointers for the render setting that should be adhered to?

any info in appreciated,
thanks,
Tom182

[Hallock]

Don't overlight your scene, control the color bleed from the grass.

[J_Bug]

Don't use Global photon maps. A Direct light works great for sun but if you want more realistic shadows then use a VRayLight placed extremely far away from the scene.

--Jon

[Hallock]

Could you also jsut turn the vray shadows in to area shadows and get the same effect?

[J_Bug]

Yes, but still pull the light back far away. I don't think you'll get the same specular reflection from a Direct light as you would from the VRayLight though. I usually use Direct in almost every case though.

--Jon

[tom182]

thnx guys

Tom