I recently watched a youtube video of a guy claiming to be making architectural renderings. So what he did was start off with a "sketchup" type scene / render ... then all magic happened in PS. AHA! So THAT'S how they make these dreamy pastel feel architectural renderings ... It's all about post production.
So I gave it a try ... OK, OK, I did start off with a lot better than a "sketchup" type render ;) Top one is straight out of KS.
I like the last one here. Should there be a slight bump to the tiles closest to the camera, perhaps?
Actually, I don't think that's the case. depends a bit on the look you want I suppose. Some post yeah, maybe, but the more you can do (and later adjust) in KeyShot, the better, imo.
I'm sure you've seen Boyd MeeJi's recent work. Check out some of his light test videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/boyd747/videos). Not much post after.
I would say 'yes', if you are after the 'dreamy' look as you call it.
A lot of stuff that really adds to the overall atmosphere like flares, dust, volumetric lighting, subtle glows, color grading, etc. is (in my opinion) easier and faster (and more flexible) to create inside photoshop (if possible at all in the rendering software).
I think these three 'makings of' are great examples. The raw renderings are decent but they really shine after the post work done in photoshop.
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/making-of-ap002t-tower/
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/making-of-maison-hermes-3d-render/
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/making-of-neue-nationalgalerie-in-the-rain/
P.S. I really like your last rendering! Very smooth and warm looking!
Put it this way, there was this render of a room that blew my mind away. I tried to replicate it. Spent days if not weeks to nail the lighting. Nothing I did worked... got close but still nothing helped. Until I did a little post of using a slight bloom and a slight tone adjustment. BINGO! nailed it. Lol. So yeah... to a degree. . Post works.
Esben > Those links you gave .. that's exactly what I mean !
I haven't gone as far as making a render look like one of those, but I was wondering for a long time which software they used to render such results. Truns out it 's 60% post. So the examples I gave images of don't represent what I was refering to. Still inspiration from the "overhaul" video I watched on youtube helped me to make the renders I did show better in post.
On another note, Josh > I do agree with you on the best situation being that you have 100% render work 0% post. Even if only for flexibility. Picture doing a 2 day job-render. 2h 3D setup .. 4h rendering and 10h+ post. Then the next day you present the renderings to your boss .. he looks at it and goos: yeah perspective is wrong, can you rotate the camera a couple degrees left and down a bit .............. yeah then you got 10h of work to repeat.
Quote from: PhilippeV8 on January 28, 2016, 11:42:36 PM
Even if only for flexibility. Picture doing a 2 day job-render. 2h 3D setup .. 4h rendering and 10h+ post. Then the next day you present the renderings to your boss .. he looks at it and goos: yeah perspective is wrong, can you rotate the camera a couple degrees left and down a bit .............. yeah then you got 10h of work to repeat.
That is why you do the final post as the absolute last part of the project... and of course you have communicated to your boss, the importance of deciding and sticking to a perspective before any post is done. He understands right away and never asks for changes ;)
Seriously, you make a really good point of how important it is to communicate to your clients (boss included) what your proces looks like for developing an image, and when there is no point of return. I quickly learned it the hard way :)
On the post/no-post discussion, I see it as two different tools to create an image that is as good as possible. Post work should not be for fixing things you did badly in your material or light setup, but as an additional layer of stuff that you can't do with your render engine. I kinda see it like doing a sculpture. The raw rendering is what you can do with the chisel. A piece of fine sandpaper is the post work. You can't use the sandpaper to make up for big mistakes you did when chiseling the basic shape, and you can't use the chisel to make fine smooth surfaces. It is two different tools with different strengths...
On a last note, I think it also depends on the specific job. Sure, if you have to do 50 renderings it is most efficient to keep the post minimum if any at all. Otherwise, if it is a single or a few money shoots I'm all in for post work.
Great topic and a nice debate!
Indeed! Great thoughts and examples guys.