Doing the Interior CloseUp Renders in Vray with Romuald Chaigneau

Introduction

Hi everyone.

My name is Romuald Chaigneau. I’m a french 3d artist specialized in architectural visualization.

I've been working for more than 10 years now in an architectural visualization studio, mainly as a lighting, renderer and compositing artist. I have also created my own micro-business for 3 years now in my free time, to help some clients.

Today I'm going to tell you about a series of images I recently made, mainly composed of close Up. The goal for me was to improve myself in lighting, and also mainly on the construction of realistic procedural Vray shaders in order to deploy them on any object or future 3d scenes.

I'm usually not very comfortable writing articles, but I'll try to explain the best that I can, the process I used.

About the project

Initially, this project was a commercial order of several 360 visuals in an apartment. vAs it involves paying attention to all the rooms and all the points of view, I thought why not exploit this scene to practice the shaders and make a series of images.

You can find on my Behance page, the whole series composed of 30 images:

behance.net/gallery/172537363/CloseUp-Series-CGI

Software used

3dsMax, Vray, Photoshop

3D Modeling

Nothing very complicated in the modeling. For interiors, I often manage my walls with one single object or two to separate interior and exterior walls. I start from a box and I work on it with an EditPoly modifier. I assign some Material Id in order to apply different paints wall. This method may not be very fast, but it allows me to model correctly.

Also, having the least possible separate walls allows me to use EdgeText map in the bump slot to simulate an overpaint in the corners. If you have two separate objects, it doesn't work. Most of the assets come from 3dsky, that I reworked or completely recreated materials. The floors are generated with FloorGenerator, nothing complicated.

Lighting in Vray

For the lighting part of the scene, I wanted soft lighting, which does not attack, but with a certain direction at the same time. To do this I used a VraySky map in a VrayDome, allowing me to create my environmental light. To give a slight direction, I used a VraySun with a white color. Its intensity is very light (0.1) and its size is very large, around 30. This allows you to create soft shadows.

Some artificial lights are then added in the apartment.

LookUpTable

Regularly in my process, I try to create a colorimetric atmosphere or at least a color grading, through a .cube. I use Photoshop to do this.

Then just reload this .cube in the vray buffer, or corona. This then allows me to walk around my scene with the ipr activated, and see right away what works.

For this project, I ran the final renders with the .cube enabled. But you can very well remove it in order to put it in photoshop. The effect is the same and you will have more control.

Vray Shaders

The creation of shaders was really my motivation on this project. I wanted to enhance my library of shaders, while thinking of shaders that could be applied almost everywhere.

Ceramic material

Let's take the example of this ceramic material. My goal was to create a shader with a procedural map for adding a deflection effect to the edges, which would introduce some imperfections.

To handle various scenarios without relying on a Uvwmap modifier, I combined a VrayUVWRandom with a VrayTriplanarTex. Additionally, I employed a VrayCurvature to detect the edges, utilizing it as a mask to apply a lighter color.

For the bump slot, I utilized a VrayCompTex, incorporating both Curvature and a dirt map to create edge irregularities.

Wood floor material

The wood floor shader consists of a VrayMultiSubTex, allowing the assignment of multiple wood maps. This is then fed into a Composite to employ the same technique with a CurvatureMap for edge highlighting.

Another Composite controls the Glossiness aspect, integrating a combination of VrayUVWRandom and VrayTriplanar with a dirt map to introduce a randomized effect.

Wood material

Similar to the wood floor, a VrayBitmap featuring wood textures is combined with VrayUVWRandom. Stochastic tiling is enabled, along with ByElements and rotation set at 0. This seamless configuration ensures that the material can be applied to wood siding without any visible repetitions.

Unlike before, Triplanar is not employed here. Furthermore, a VrayCurvature is utilized once again to enhance the appearance by accentuating the edges.

Coffee shader in Vray

In one of the close-ups, a captivating coffee cup takes center stage. I aimed to develop an intricate system to manage the foam shader. Thus, I devised a VrayBlendMtl, effectively amalgamating a basic coffee material with a translucent effect, seamlessly intertwined with a dynamic foam shader.

The foam segment is meticulously crafted, employing a foam map artfully driven by a VrayUVWRandom and a VrayTriplanarTex. Inclusion of a VrayEdgTex within the bump slot imparts a gentle curvature to the edges, acknowledging that the boundaries of liquid within a glass are inherently soft. Subsequently, utilizing a VrayDistanceTex alongside an unseen box enables precise control over the foam's elevation.

Cameras

For the camera part, I knew from the start that I wanted to do close-ups, so that means long focal lengths. I used PhyscalCameras with a 75mm focal length. To help me in the composition, I use the SafeFrames to simulate the rule of thirds. I did not use Clipping for my placement.

To create the depth blur, I activate Enable DepthofField and I use a Custom Texture in the bokeh slot. The Target distance designates the area of sharpness, and the intensity of the blur is managed with the Aperture.

Post Production

Navigating post-production proved a straightforward endeavor. My pre-established .cube settings in Vray streamlined the process, rendering much of the work completed. Subtle augmentations encompass a fractional addition of Specular, Reflect, and occasionally Lighting and bloomGlare passes, contingent upon image requisites.

Should the need arise, a gentle color grade is applied. Vignetting is delicately intensified, followed by a tasteful touch of chromatic aberration. That's all.

Conclusion

Thank you all for reading this article till the end. I hope I have been able to send you something, whether it is tips or even the desire to create. Don’t hesitate to contact me on my networks or by email if you have any questions. I will try to do my best to answer you.

Thanks to the CGAward team.

Be well.

About the author

Romuald Chaigneau 3D / Archviz Artist

About the author Romuald Chaigneau 3D / Archviz Artist