Studio Lighting And Three Point Lighting System with 3ds Max and Vray

One of the cleanest and most common ways of presenting a product is the good old studio lighting. The reason why many product renders choose this approach is due to the fact that it isolates the product. This isolation in turn makes it so that nothing is taking away the attention from the hero model. So basically the basic studio lighting is with 3 lights that act as main, fill and backdrop lights. But even though it’s really simple on paper, making your renders look good does have it’s quirks. Well this video is all about how to make sure you end up with a very good looking final result.

Now if you have gone over the video you will get a better understanding on the studio lighting. You will know how to setup the lights, the reflectors and the backdrop as well. And also if you followed everything that was done, you now have a scene for future rendering.

So if you learned something new here today, all i can ask is that you share this video around. If it helped you there is a pretty good chance it might help someone else too.

So have a good day, and as always keep learning.

Modeling and Unwrapping The Adrian Pearsall Chair With 3ds Max

The topic for today’s post came about as an idea to have a community modeling challenge. This was supposed to be a weekly challenge, but it got side tracked by real life issues. Anyways the model was chosen in the YouTube community tab and Discord. So once we had the model selected it was down to making it. Well in the videos below you will see my take on how to model and unwrap the model.

Modeling The Chair

For the modeling phase we basically have two videos. In the first video you will see how to make the chair’s legs and armrests. You will get a better idea on how to create your model to look better once textured.

Following from there we move onto the second video. In this video we go over how to create the seating, piping and stitching for the chair. Go ahead and check out that video below.

UVW Unwrapping The Chair

It’s a well known fact that if you have a perfect 3d model but don’t have a uvw unwrap you have a useless model. So knowing this it’s only logical that we would want to have a proper UVW unwrap for our chair. For this i’ve chosen to use RizomUV and the bridge between 3ds Max. Now granted you can do the UVW unwrapping inside 3ds max as well, i simply personally thing that Rizom is faster. So if you want to see how i did the unwrapping, check out the video below.

So if you have went over the three videos now you have a pretty good idea on how to make this model. And also you know how to unwrap it properly. All in all that about covers it so no point in making this any longer then it has to be. So if you found this helpful help spread it around so it might reach out to some more people and hopefully help them out as well.

Modeling An Infinity Mirror with 3ds Max and Vray

Today’s video ended up as an idea basically because the real product looks rather cool. If you have ever seen an Infinity mirror element you will know what i mean. Basically it’s a mirror that has a strip of LED lights and it looks like a tunnel to infinity. Having said that, the way to make something like this is both genius and simple. In the videos below you will see how to model the Infinity mirror and get everything set up.

Modeling Phase

So after going over the video and following along you should now have the model made and ready to move on to the materials.

Materials and Lighting Phase

Normal progression after the model is made is to make the materials. The materials and lighting is where everything basically comes together. I will show you how to setup both of them with using Vray. So if you want to see me do that, go ahead and watch the video below.

And if you are now reading this, and you went over the videos you have a pretty good idea on how to make this effect. So no need to make this post any longer because it’s pretty straight forward.

All i can add at the end is that if you learned something new here, or you find the video helpful just help spread it around so it can reach more people and hopefully help someone else as well.

The Beginners Guide To Marvelous Designer

One of the repeating comments that i have received on the YouTube channel has been about Marvelous Designer. Namely people keep dropping the line how they hate MD because it’s hard to work with. Well in my opinion they couldn’t be further away from the truth.

Today’s article has one thing as a goal, and that is to make working with Marvelous Designer simpler. The way that we can achieve that is by actually understand how the tools work. I decided to to split the videos in a few phases and spread the information so it’s easier to digest.

Phase 1

In the first video i go over the basics of creating a pattern. Then we go over how to sow patterns together, how to clone and simulate. We will also see how to solidify models so we can then use them as rigid models. In the end we’ll also see how the freezing affects our model and when to use it.

So having said all of this, if you want to see how it’s done check out the video.

Phase 2

In the second part we basically continue to build on what we learned in the first one. We start off with how to control the length of the patterns that we use. After that we go over how to split the existing lines, and add internal lines. After that we will also check out cloning a layer over existing patterns and how that works. Then we’ll see how the pivot works and how to use it to help us in our work. And then we’ll even go over some of the properties of the Simulation as well as the Fabric.

All in all a nice build up on what we learned in the first video. So go ahead and check out the video below.

Phase 3

In the third part we continue building on our skills by testing out new stuff. Here we will see how the Offsetting for the patterns works. Then we’ll see how the Fold Arrangement tool works, and how to use it to help us get better results. We will briefly go over how the stitching works as well so you have an idea.

So by now you know the drill, you find what you see here interesting and you go watch the video.

Phase 4

In the last video we basically go in more depth to explain how the splitting and merging of patterns works. Here we will see the Pros and Cons of using Internal lines VS using baselines. Then we will move over to seeing how we can plan out shapes into our model. We will briefly touch up on Elastic properties. And then we will also see how to make it so that we can create Chesterfield looking type of models.

So check out the video below here.

Conclusion

So provided that you went over these 4 videos, you should have a good understanding on the basics of how MD works. By doing these 4 simple types of models you will have the experience of testing out the most common options used in MD.

So for now that would be all. As always if you enjoyed the content and want to support what i do, the links are in the description of all the videos. But remember the most important way you can help out is for free and all it requires is you leave a like on the videos and share them around. So until next time, take care everyone.

 

First Look at Vray 5

Where do i get it ?

As the name of the article states we will cover the main features of Vray 5. And the best place to start would be the location where to get it. So if you want to download the Vray 5 Beta version, click on the link below.

Get Vray 5 Beta Version

So what’s this all about ?

Well it’s pretty self explanatory, we will go over the main features of Vray 5. I won’t make this any longer then it has to be, as i know that no one actually likes to read walls of text.

So in short this is what we will cover:

  • New Features of the Material Editor
  • A look at the Presets options for Material creation
  • Overview of the New Coat and Sheen options
  • A closer look of the New material Library browser
  • A look at the new and overhauled Vray Frame Buffer
  • A look at the new way of controlling lights in your render with the Light Mix
  • We will see how to use the new Layered Compositing

So if these bullet points look interesting to you, then you might want to check out the actual video below.

So if you liked the video, don’t forget to leave it a like and also share it around so it can reach more people. So until next time, cheers everyone and keep learning.

Fast and Easy Photorealistic Models With DisplayLand and 3ds Max

One of the main things to have realistic final renders is realistic models. Saying this is easier then actually doing it though. Creating 3d models can be a tedious work, that requires time and expertise. And usually this means that you need to either approach it with traditional modeling, or photogrammetry. Both of these approaches have their Pros and Cons. The traditional modeling is good but you can’t really get everything to be 100% realistic. The photogrammetry approach will get you a 100% true representation but will require a lot of extra gear like cameras and software. Well this is where today’s post comes in as it covers a third option that will try and get the best of the two worlds.

What is this thing you are talking about ?

This is done with a product from the guys over at Ubiquity6. What i’m talking about is an APP for your phone called DisplayLand. The way that this APP works is almost like magic, well technical magic so to speak. Basically once you get the APP for you phone ( Android and Apple ) you basically have a scanner in your hand. All you have to do when you download the APP is just choose an object that you would like to scan, take a short video of it and that’s all. The main difference with regular photogrammetry is that you don’t need to spend time taking 100+ images. The way it works is by taking a short 20-30 sec video of the item you want to scan. But this is just the beginning in all honesty. What happens from here is where the fun begins.

Sounds fun, tell me more ..

Once we do our scan, what we can do from there is take the data and make it into a usable model. Since there are a few steps in this process and some of it has a few tweaks i decided to cover it with a video tutorial. To make it even simpler i decided to split it into two parts. In the first part we will see how to get the APP, and how to do a scan. Then we will go over the downloaded file and get it into 3ds Max. From there we will simplify it, unwrap it and prepare it for baking. So if this sounds interesting so far, check out the first video below.

Now going into the second video we will see how to bake the textures from the scan to the model we made. We will use a free program for this called Xnormals. From there we will go into Substance Painter and prepare the rest of the maps for the material. And last we will get the model into UE4 and create a material to go with it. So you can see how all of this looks in the video below.

Anything Else ?

As far as the technical portion of this video goes, this about covers it all. As a closing statement i would like to add that i actually had fun creating this video. And i can tell you from personal experience that doing it requires minimal effort and the results are great. So next time when you are on location at a client, grab your phone and take a few scans of certain objects they may have and surprise them in the end. Another thing you could also do is take a few scans while on a hike, and then use those models for your scenes as fill assets.

All i am saying is, get the APP and have some fun with it 🙂

Anyways, hope you guys had fun with these videos and as always managed to learn something new. If you enjoyed the video help share it around so it can reach other people that might like it. With that being said, keep learning and i will see you all in the next post.

Using Quixel Bridge to Unreal Engine 4 Workflow

Here we go again, the first post of the year up on the website. We are going to start up with something that i consider to be the biggest thing to happen in years. This of course is the acquisition of Quixel by Epic. This means that now everyone can be using it inside UE4 for FREE of charge. Now in case you don’t know what exactly is Megascans, it’s a library of photoscanned materials. This huge 11,000+ library will be useful  for any project that you might want to undertake, being it an interior or exterior.

Where do i Start ?

Even though it’s a pretty straight forward process, there are a few technical snafus to get around. In the video we will start from the basics of how to create an account, how to download and link your Bridge to UE4. We will also see how we can control the different parameters inside UE4. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words but a video a million. So instead of explaining about it you can check it out in the video below.

So if you’ve watched the video you get the idea of just how powerful this is, and how it can help you in your projects.

Having said all that, i would like to say Happy Holidays to everyone that is reading this during the Holidays. But if you happen to be reading this later on, then have a happy day and keep on learning.

Cheers everyone, and until next time.
Xoxoxo

The Ultimate Vray Materials Course


Get The Ultimate Vray Materials Course

 

The road to photorealistic renders is a long one and it begins with having great materials. Knowing this fact, we will spend all of our focus in this course to make sure our materials look top notch.

Who would benefit from this ?

This course is meant for people that want to improve the quality of their renders. This means that anyone working in visualization or environment creation. So if your renders have a flat feel to them, and you want to make them more realistic this is the right course for you.

So how does it work ?

Since Material creation is one HUGE topic i have made it into a couple of different chapters. Each of those chapters will cover a different category of materials. As they stand right now we have Fabrics, Leather, Metals, Stone, Wood and Miscellaneous categories. Each material that was created was placed into the corresponding category for ease of following. Below in the videos you can see how some of the lessons are structured like.

First one is a video from the metal chapter:

Next one up is the Wood Chapter:

And third one is about fabric:

So is that all ?

If you are reading this at the time of writing ( September 20, 2019 ) there are 20 videos in the course. But the thing with materials is that as i said is a vast subject. So i have quite a few more videos to add as requested by some of the people who were awesome enough to give me the ideas on the Discord channel and YouTube chat panel. So hopefully by the end this course will be a hige repository of material creation tutorials that will span in the 35-50 video lessons.

Ok, what do i need to know to be able to follow along?

The course takes into account that you have the basic understanding of the user interface of 3ds Max, and Vray. So if you have those installed you shouldn’t have any issues with following the lessons. The way they have been structured is to make them easy to follow even for a beginner.  What is worth noting here is that the lessons were recorded with 3ds Max 2018 and Vray Next 4.20 so if you are using a different version you might see some minor cosmetic changes.

Sounds cool, where do i get it?

The course was placed up on Gumroad and you can get it from the button at the start of the post or the one bellow. The way it works is you will get access to download all the videos and files, and you will have access to all the files there posted now as well as any future updates to the course.


Get The Ultimate Vray Materials Course

 

Any questions ?

If you are still interested but have some questions you can always reach me at any of the links bellow.

YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FWcV9We7DCh6IF-maSrrA?

Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/DkCgi

Discord Channel:

https://discord.gg/P9B3ujY

Email:

[email protected]

Texturing in Substance Painter For Vray Rendering

Today’s tutorial is going to cover a pretty interesting topic, and that’s texturing. I got a mail from one of the subscribers asking me how to texture an asset by hand in Vray. Back in the days, and to a degree even today this would have been done procedurally in 3ds Max. But since now we have access to a more texturing specific software, why not use it. Having said that, today’s videos will cover substance painter and how to create multiple surfaces into one material. For ease of following i’ve split this into two parts covering different topics.

Creating the Base Material

Just to make it easier to follow i chose to use a model of the most common teapot. All i did was combine it together, do a quick unwrap and export it out. Now i want to note that having a proper UVW unwrap is a MUST if you are going to use Substance Painter.

Having said that in the first video we will focus on how to create the base layer of the pot. This will allow us to see how we can control information from different layers. How to limit certain information to particular layers. All in all these are things you want to know before you start on anything more complex.  In the video here you will see me do just that.

Creating The Glazing Layer

In the second part of this topic we will cover how to create the glazing. This will mean that we have to create the material for it. Then we will see how to control where that glazing appears, as well as manually control that. So if this sounds like something you would want to see check out the video below.

And with that out of the way, we are more or less done. If you are still reading this it means your interest was peaked so now you have to go and share it and hopefully it will reach someone else who might find it helpful as well.

So until next time, stay safe, keep learning and PEACE.

Vray Lighting For Architectural Visualization

So here we are, the very first Premium Tutorial from DKCGI is alive. Right at the beginning i’ll leave a link where you can get the tutorial.

Get The Vray Lighting Course

Vray_Lighting_Premium

Who is aimed for?

Well since you are here reading this, there is a pretty good chance this is aimed at you. Namely this course is meant for people that are working with Vray, and Architectural Visualization.

Ok then, what do i need to have and know to follow along ?

Fair question. Anyone that has ever watched any of my YouTube tutorials you will know that i always try to explain everything. I’ve done the same thing in this premium tutorial as well. This does mean that you will need a functional knowledge of the 3ds Max User Interface. So pretty much anyone should be able to follow along.

As for the software version, i’ve used Max 2018 and Vray 3.6 in the videos. The Max scenes have been saved so they can be opened with 3ds Max 2011. As for the Vray version, as long as you have any of the 3.x versions you are good. If you are using a prior version of Vray, then the lesson theory will still apply but you will need to dig through the menus for the options.

Sounds good, what topics does the course cover ?

Another very good question. The way that i made this course it will cover all the most common scenarios for lighting.  This means we will go over topics like :

Setting Up a Daylight Environment, Using Light Portals, Setting Up Sunlight lit scenes, Lighting Up your scenes with HDRI, Multiple Different types of Lighting Fixtures, In depth look at Global Illumination, Using Materials to help with lighting and also using Environment Effects to help with lighting your scene.

Ok i’m still reading and it does sound interesting, where do i get it ?

Now this is the question that i got so many times on the live streams on YouTube. As i said it there i’ll write it here. The course has been made available thanks to Gumroad and that is where you can get it. It’s actually pretty easy, once you purchase the course you will be able to download all the files and they will be yours forever. So if you didn’t click on the button at the start of the post here it is again to get the course.

Get The Vray Lighting Course

Everything sounds great, anything else ?

Well yeah, the thing with Gumroad is that i can add files and videos to it in the future and you will get it without having to pay anything extra. This means that i can update this course with new tricks and tips and you will always get it first.

So that’s pretty much it honestly, except for one thing. This one goes out to everyone that gets the course. I would like to personally thank you for directly supporting me. What i would love is that after you get the video, leave a rating on it. Also if there is anything that is missing or you would like to see explained feel free and reach out to me either on the YouTube Channel, the Facebook group or directly on Discord.

So having said all of that, i hope you all enjoy this course and learn bunch of new tricks and techniques.

Once again at the end.

Thank you very much for supporting me.

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