I can't find the best water bottle shape / HDRI / material for this image

[pizzalover2]

Hello!

I'm tring to recreate a image in Keyshot but I can't achieve the style and environment.
Does the shape matters a lot or just the HDRI and material does the the job in this scene?
Also there's a problem with my render scene because it looks right in Keyshot (with HDRI enabled) but when I render the image out it looks bad (on any type of background. See image:


This is the image I want to achieve (I know is not even close):


Any tips/ways to make this similar to the bottle image?

[DriesV]

The main problem here is that your bottle is a big chunk of solid geometry.
The solution is to model the bottle with accurate thickness, as it would be in reality. Furthermore, there are some things you need to consider when rendering bottles with liquids. This requires some preparations on the CAD/modeling side.
Let me explain with a simple example...

I used this GrabCAD model as a basis.
In SOLIDWORKS I altered the geometry, so that the resulting model has:

• Blue surface: This is the bottle geometry.
• Yellow surface: This is the interface between the bottle and the liquid
• Red surface: This is the interface between the liquid and the air

If you want accurate results for bottles with liquids, then you should always do this preparation step in your modeling software.
(I attached the SOLIDWORKS model I prepared.)

In KeyShot, you can then apply Dielectric materials to the three surfaces. You will need to tweak the 'Refraction Index' and 'Refraction Index Outside' to get accurate results:

• Blue surface: Dielectric material. Refraction Index = 1.5 (or whatever is appropriate for your bottle's material)
• Yellow surface: Dielectric material. Refraction Index = 1.334 (the IOR of the liquid) / Refraction Index Outside = 1.5 (the IOR of the bottle)
• Red surface: Dielectric material. Refraction Index = 1.334 (the IOR of the liquid) / Refraction Index Outside = 1 (the IOR of air)

I attached the KeyShot scene for you to pick at.

Dries

[Esben Oxholm]

Very nice illustration on how to split the different surfaces and how the materials for them should be set up, Dries. Cool!

A have nothing to add to this

[Finema]

Hi,
I use this technique often, but i choose glass and liquid material instead of Dielectric material. That appears more normal to me to render glass+liquid.
Why are you using Dielectric material ?
Thanks.

[DriesV]

Hi Finema,

The dielectric material is a bit more flexible. E.g. you can set surface roughness and internal roughness (Roughness Transmission). It can add some nice subtleties to the appearance of your bottle or liquid.

Dries

[pizzalover2]

You are awesome, DriesV!

I have one more question, If I want to have the bottle empty, I need to apply the 'Blue surface: Dielectric material. Refraction Index = 1.5' (glass) or I should remove it from the scene?

[DriesV]

OK. Thought this would look better with red juice.

Dries

[DriesV]

You are awesome, DriesV!

I have one more question, If I want to have the bottle empty, I need to apply the 'Blue surface: Dielectric material. Refraction Index = 1.5' (glass) or I should remove it from the scene?

For an empty bottle, you don't need to split the geometry. In that case you can just apply the bottle material (the 'Blue surface' material).

Dries

[pizzalover2]

OK. Thought this would look better with red juice.

Dries

Mind sharing the scene file of the red juice? The floor looks realistic!

[DriesV]

Mind sharing the scene file of the red juice? The floor looks realistic!

Sure. The scene is attached.

Dries

[hugo]

This appears to be the perfect place to add to this subject. Adding a pencil into the bottle or glass of water.
I have been interested in a How To: KS Refraction of light in water.  The subject gets even more technical  if the pencil has lettering on it below the surface of the water.

[Finema]

hi,
here a test in Keyshot >
you can see it's the same as in a real life

[hugo]

hi,
here a test in Keyshot >
you can see it's the same as in a real life

Very nice Finema! Would you be so kind and post the file, so I can explore your procedure.

[Will Gibbons]

hi,
here a test in Keyshot >
you can see it's the same as in a real life

Fantastic example! Thanks for sharing.

[DMerz III]

Bookmarking! I know this gets broken down pretty often here on the forums, but this is by far the best thread for this situation yet. Love the visuals.