PAINTING LIGHT - EXTERIOR GLASS - BLOG - Architectural Rendering and Illustration Blog

26/06/13
PAINTING LIGHT: EXTERIOR GLASS - BLOG - architectural rendering and illustration blog
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Feb242013
PAINTING LIGHT:
EXTERIOR GLASS
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2013 | ALEX HOGREFE
4/11
26/06/13
Not everyone has the capabilities to render huge models with a

ton of lights. I am one of those people where more times than not
I have to manually add light to my illustrations because I don't
have the computing power. At first, this method can seem
tedious. But, when you think about the time that it takes to insert
lights into a model and then the time that it takes to render so
many lights, knowing how to do this in Photoshop can be a great
resource to have as a backup. There is a typical workflow I use
that consistently yields clean, realistic results without much effort.
I am using the urban snow scene that I posted a few months
back as the base case for this tutorial. The model was large, and
there were way too many windows to try to render. The steps I
used to Photoshop the light are outlined below.
1. SAVE THE REFLECTIONS - For scenes like the one above, I
rendered the glass of the surrounding buildings with a strong
reflection. This allows me to copy the reflections to their own layer
and use them later on as an overlay. To copy them to their own
layer, select the "polygonal tool", then select the glass of the
windows you intend to light. Right-click on the selection and
choose "Layer via Copy".
2. PAINT IN THE BASE LIGHT - Next, I created a new layer called

"glass light". Again, I selected the glass part of the window. To
speed things up, you can ctrl+click the reflections layer in the
previous step instead of using the polygonal tool to reselect all of
the glass. With the glass selected, choose the "Brush" tool,
select a soft yellow paint color, select a "Soft Round" brush, and
lower the opacity of the brush to around 15%. Begin painting
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color with most of the light at the bottom of the window fading
away as you move towards the top of the window.
3. HIGHLIGHTS - This is one of those steps that is easy to forget

or to treat as not important. In reality, it is the most crucial step in
creating successful lighting. Without it, the light looks flat. Begin
by creating a new layer and setting the blend mode to "Overlay".
Select only the surfaces facing the window that would be hit by
the light coming through the glass. A good way to determine this
is by looking for surfaces that are 90 degrees to the glass. With
the selections made, choose the "Brush" tool, select a soft yellow
paint, select a "Soft Round" brush, and set the opacity to around
35%. Begin painting in the highlights. If the highlights seem
weak, you can amplify the results by duplicating the highlight
layer.
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4. SOFT LIGHT GLOW - Another subtle, but important step. Create

a new layer and choose an off white paint color. Choose the
"Paint" tool, select a "Soft Round" brush, and set the opacity really
low to something like 12% to 15%. Begin painting around the
window edges being careful not to overdo it.
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5. BRING BACK THE REFLECTIONS - The last step is to retrieve

the reflections layer created in the first step. Bring that layer to the
top of the layers pallet, and set the blend mode to "Screen". This
will amplify the reflections since they were most likely diluted
from the painting in the previous steps.
BEFORE
8/11
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AFTER
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READER COMMENTS (17)

been waiting for this a long time, thx very much, also wanna know
if you can give some tips on the street you did on the highrise
partial rendering
February 24, 2013 | w ade
nice work! thx for sharing! ;)

February 25, 2013 | msrl
GREAT WORK..THANK FOR SHARING

February 25, 2013 | Dav y
i am one of your follower...very nice tutorial. :)

February 27, 2013 | zernan suarez
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26/06/13
Hi Alex, just want to thank you for all your nice post. I have been
following your blog for about 6 months and I just defended my
thesis work last week successfully. It turned out to be good. I
learned a lot from your blog and it is very professional! Thanks
again.
Dan
February 27, 2013 | Dan
Alex,
Thanks for the STEP BY STEP instructions, especially on this last
post with window lighting and reflections. Very useful and easy to
follow!
February 28, 2013 | Julie Barghout
amazing work Alex!!!I've never seen such creative work in my

country!!
i will share the blog with my classmates . and keep following!
March 6, 2013 | Lin
good job
what resolution do you get the renders?
March 7, 2013 | Macarq
Alex, just curious what you used for lights in the tower in
krykethea? they do not seem like omni lights or spot lights?
thanks for the tutorial, always looking for ways to cut down render
time
March 7, 2013 | Nick Van
@ Nick,
I place simple rectangles throughout the building in Sketchup.
Then I paint them a color (doesn't matter which color). Then in
Kerkythea, I tell that color to emit light which is done under the
material editor. I find this route much easier and much faster than
trying to place lights in Kerkythea.
March 10, 2013 | ALEX HOGREFE
Love the simplicity of it all. Really clever way to avoid rendering

meltdown!
Alex, when you render the image do you use all-layers at once, or
do it separatly?
For instance,do you render the reflection layer aside from the
other layers?
March 16, 2013 | Hugo
Hi Alex,
I am one of your silent followers. Your work is excellent, and you
generosity admirable.
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.
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March 17, 2013 | Alfie
@Hugo,
I render everything at the same time typically.
@Alfie,
Thanks for following!
March 17, 2013 | ALEX HOGREFE
Alex, great tutorial! Also nice to see a tutorial which explains why,
and not just how, one makes the changes.
One question. What creates the shadows of people on the
pavement (sidewalk) in the original render?
Cheers.....Scotty
April 7, 2013 | Scott's
Alex
Great work and thank you so much for sharing..........can you
explain how you created the glass curtain-wall on the main
building.....Regards
April 8, 2013 | John J. Pandolfino AIA
These delhaes construction are very difficult to Disciples my

understanding. It is very complex and interesting, but I did not get
this stage of development yet.
April 21, 2013 | Construction Family
Awesome tutorial! Thank you very much!!!

April 29, 2013 | Jonatan
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Copyright 2011, ALEX HOGREFE. All rights reserved.

Try AutoCAD LT 2014

Not everyone has the capabilities to render huge models with a

2. PAINT IN THE BASE LIGHT - Next, I created a new layer called

3. HIGHLIGHTS - This is one of those steps that is easy to forget

4. SOFT LIGHT GLOW - Another subtle, but important step. Create

5. BRING BACK THE REFLECTIONS - The last step is to retrieve

17 Comments | Share Article

View Printer Friendly Version

READER COMMENTS (17)

nice work! thx for sharing! ;)

GREAT WORK..THANK FOR SHARING

i am one of your follower...very nice tutorial. :)

amazing work Alex!!!I've never seen such creative work in my

Love the simplicity of it all. Really clever way to avoid rendering

These delhaes construction are very difficult to Disciples my

Awesome tutorial! Thank you very much!!!

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