PV360: 2Fast 2Furious

Rendering Hands-on Session

Model Preparation
Remove all colors from the model that were applied during the modeling process.

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Turn on Photoview 360 under Tools/Add-Ins Remove all colors from the model that were applied during the modeling process. Right click at the top of a part and remove all appearances.

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Offset and copy faces that may have different materials or decals. This step is not required, but can help reduce color errors. Split key components if necessary when using a multi-body part file. For example on the watch the dial, bezel hands are all separate bodies for easier Consider adding fillets to sharp details for more realistic renderings.

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Offset faces that require different materials or decals.

Split key components by material when using a multi-body part file.

Material Assignment

1.

Apply most common materials that the model will have to the entire part. Preselect bodies and right click on the material in the sidebar. Select apply to selection for other areas of the model that will have the same material. The selection filter toolbar can be helpful to target selection for only faces, bodies etc.

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Drag and drop materials from side panel to individual parts, bodies, faces.
When using default materials on your model choose based off of look not the name. The name does not always match with what the material should really look like.

Apply most common material to entire part when starting material application using drag and drop.

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Preselect bodies or parts right click on material and apply to selection.

Drag and drop method.

Create a Material Library

Next click add file location icon. 1. Click the top appearances tab and add then the add file location icon. Choose an existing folder or create a new one to store your custom materials. Tip: Its a good idea to keep all your custom materials in one master folder with subfolders named for each custom material category or project name. First select top level appearance icon.

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A new custom folder will appear in the list of folders.

Decal Creation

1.

Use RGB format only. No CMYK. Artwork saved from Adobe Illustrator may default to CMYK so always double check to switch the final image to RGB mode. For a transparent mask decal use .png format. For standard decals with no mask .jpeg format will work best.

Use RGB for all decals and textures.

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Make sure your decal is cropped all the way to the border of the image in your photo editing software.

Crop all the way to the edges of decals and textures.

This area of our decal needs to be transparent so save as .png format

Decal Application

1.

Pre-Select Face or body you would like to apply decal to. Under photoview 360 top menu select edit decal and browse to the image you would like to use. Use the mapping settings as well as dragging the decal in the viewport for desired size and placement. Under the illumination tab you can specify for the decal to use the underlying material, or set custom parameters to achieve a certain look (ie. Matte or glossy finish label)
Preselect the faces that you want to apply a decal. Next go to the top menu and select edit decal from the photoview dropdown. Use the mapping settings as well as dragging the decal in the viewport for proper size and placement.

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Set the material properties of the decal under the illumination tab.

Scene Selection
A variety of different looks can be achieved with the preset scenes.

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Once materials are applied choose an appropriate scene for your object. Things to consider are contrast of object and scene, amount of reflective materials. Type of mood you want to set is determined by scene choice.

Backdrop Black with Fill Lights

Office space with reflection turned down. Background set to white.

Rooftop with background set to white.

3 Point Faded Background set to white.

3 point beige scene with different environment rotations. Note how different looks can be achieved just by rotating the environment. Always experiment with the rotation setting.

Edit Scene
1. Experiment with the environment settings to create an interesting image. Environment rotation and environment illumination settings are key. Never use the default settings if you want to get a great rendering. Change the background color or image as well if desired.

Modify the background to any color or custom image. This will not affect the scene lighting.

Its best to leave the virtual ground plane that receives shadows at the default of autosize.

This changes the brightness of the background environment.

This is the environment image that affects scene illumination.

This changes the overall brightness of the scene lighting. Its often necessary to tweak this setting to get optimal lighting. You can raise or lower the amount of reflection coming off glossy objects with this setting. It can be helpful to tweak this in certain cases.

Control the position of the floor relative to the object you are rendering with these settings. You can also drag the floor position in the viewport.

This is one of the most important settings in the scene editor. Always experiment with rotation while the preview window is open to get the best lighting setup.

This is the same as the environment setting in the basic tab. If you load a custom image for lighting you can save it to a custom scene folder.

Render Settings

1.

Save any custom views you want by using the spacebar and creating a new view. These views can be recalled at any time. Make sure you have perspective turned on. Under photoview tab choose options, and adjust parameters for the final render.

Choose preset final render resolution or custom size. If you find a resolution proportion you like check this box and it will maintain proportion when raising or lowering resolution. This is very useful.

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You can specify final output format, but is not necessary. You can always save different formats from the final render image viewer.

Create custom views.

For final render quality best quality is usually good enough for scenes with rough metals, plastics or glass. Better quality is often acceptable for scenes with only glossy or diffuse materials. Maximum is rarely needed if ever because the time to benefit ratio is not much better than best. Creates an outline effect around your scene. Only shows during final render.

Darkens or lightens your overall scene. Adds glowing effect to highlights or light source areas. If you turn this setting on make sure not to overdo it. It will only show during the final render and not the preview.

Spacebar brings up custom views window.

Shows concentrated areas of reflected light. Helpful for more realistic scenes containing glossy metals or glass. Only visible during final render and will increase render time.