Here is a shamless plug for my latest project.

Brief: Create a 3D rendering to accurately portray a proposed restaurant addition to an existing bowling alley. The 3D Rendering will be printed at 24×36 for city approvals and 8.5 x 11 for the owners bank.

Project location: New London, WI

Architect: Tim G. Carlson AIA, ALA

General Contractor: Badgerland Buildings

Working with Tim G. Carlson, Architect and Owner of True North Design LLC, was a real pleasure. I received 2D AutoCAD drawings of plans and elevations for both the existing bowling alley and proposed restaurant. A collaboration site was created, and all the assets were uploaded. After 4 progress sets, posted and collaborated on-line, the project was completed in about 7 days.

We are daily bombarded with so much information our mind has unique ways to manage all this information. One of the most basic concepts of graphics is that the human mind seeks to identify patterns. Even when a scene contains essentially random elements, the mind looks for order.

If a point is placed within a frame, and the point is located in the center, a viewer will recognize that the pattern is symmetrical and thus balanced. If the point is displaced from the center, symmetry will be lost and a sense of imbalance will result, but complete symmetrical balance within a composition is usually uninteresting; a general rule, complete visual symmetry should be avoided.

So, how do we have a balanced illustration and not have the focal point in the center of the frame?

It is the illustrator’s responsibility to ensure that within his illustration there is some kind of order imposed on the objects enclosed within the frame. This order can follow some established formulas. One rule is called the Golden Section. The Golden Section is the proportional relation between two divisions of line or two dimensions of a plane figure such that short : long :: long : (short + long)

If the point is displaced from the center the addition of another point displaced an equal distance from the center but in the opposite direction will restore the feeling that the composition is symmetrical and thus balanced. A similar relationship can occur even if the points have different visual weights. If the center of the frame is thought of as acting like a fulcrum, then a “heavier” point close to the center counteracts the weight of a “light” point located farther away in the opposite direction. The size of an object, its tone, and its nature all contribute to a viewer’s subjective evaluation of how much visual weight the object has.

In computer graphics, high-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminance between the lightest and darkest areas of an image. This wide dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to light starlight.

Here are 2 videos that I have recorded showing how I typically set up my exterior architectural rendering scenes. The HDRI’s were purchased from www.hdri-locations.com and are the best HDRI’s I have found on the market today.

I hope you enjoy these, I enjoy doing them for you. if you have any question, feel free to contact me, and I’ll help you out in anyway I can.

One of the most subtle parts of a rendering is the camera angles and the way those angles affect the viewer’s perception of the scene. A good understanding of these camera angles is essential to anyone who’s going to make a compelling rendering.

• Oblique/Canted Angle
  • Sometimes the camera is tilted, to suggest imbalance, transition and uncertainty (very popular in horror movies). This method is used to convey Point-of-View rendering (POV), when the camera becomes the ‘eyes’ of one particular person, seeing what they see.
• Low Angle
  • Low angles help create a sense of uncertainty to a viewer, of powerlessness within the scene. The added height of the object may make it inspire awe and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figures in the scene.
• Eye Level
  • A fairly neutral view; the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene. The camera will be placed approximately five to six feet from the ground.
• High Angle
  • Not so severe as a bird’s eye view
• The Bird’s-Eye view
  • This shows a scene from directly overhead, a highly unusual and awkward position

The allure of a great night rendering is undeniable. The stark and dramatic appearance of night rendering lends an air of the extraordinary to what would normally be everyday places.

Tilt-shift is a technique used in photography, but you can use it in your illustrations to make an image look miniature. I tried almost every plug-in know to man, but with a couple steps in Photoshop, you can quickly, and easily, apply the tilt-shift effect to you renderings.

Simplicity is common illustrators techniques; a cluttered rendering confuses the viewer and takes away from the center of interest. A straightforward rendering can be achieved by getting closer to the subject.

Simplicity is one of the main components of most potent renderings. The simpler the rendering, the easier it is for the viewer to understand and appreciate it. Cluttered images are less visually pleasing and more likely to cause the center of interest and peripheral objects to confuse each.

There are several ways to achieve simplicity in a rendering. The most obvious (and easiest) use is to put the center of interest against a neutral background like a cloudless sky.

The more practical method of achieving clarity involves focusing on the subject while ensuring the environment is unfocused, which is the depth of field.

The rule of thirds is one of the most important and often referenced rules of subject placement.

Imagine that your rendering canvas is divided into thirds, both horizontally and vertically.

The rule of thirds says to align the center of interest with one of the points where those lines cross. That means the center of interest is one third of the way “into” the picture space – from either the top or bottom, and from either the left or right; it’s not in the middle.

In the above illustration my subject placement, which is my center of interest, is the front entrance.  Notice how I placed my center of interest where the bottom right lines cross?

Counterpoint

You can improve the rendering composition by creating a counterpoint. If you place the center of interest in the thirds position, you can place a secondary focal point at the diagonally opposite thirds position.

Horizons

A natural extension to the rule of thirds is to place your horizon line along the one-third (bottom line) or two-third (top line) of the grid, rather than in the middle. 

Whether you place the horizon closer to the top or closer to the bottom of the picture space, depends on which you want to emphasize more: the land or the sky. If you have a dramatic sky, by all means, give it two thirds of the picture space!

Again, in the above example, I placed the horizon line on the bottom one third….

Here, is a small cabin rendering located in the woods of upper Minnesota. The architect provided 2d floor plans and elevations and the owner provided site photos. The owner needed my assistance to provide potential investors with an image to excite them in investing.

The plans and elevations were provided to me on a Tuesday, late morning, and Friday morning I presented them with the small cabin rendering. The small cabin rendering will be printed on premium photo glossy paper so all the rich colors of the forest, and the historic lodge colors can be truly represented.

Software:

• Autodesk 3ds Max Design 
• Photoshop CS5 Extended

Plugins:

• Chaos Group’s V-Ray
• Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 
• Richard Rosenman’s Depth of Field Pro

Each rendering should have only one main center of interest that the viewer’s eyes are drawn to. Any other elements within the rendering should focus attention to the main center of interest.

A rendering without a center of interest can confuse the viewer. Subsequently, the viewer wonders what the rendering is all about. When the rendering has one, and only one, center of interest,” the viewer quickly understands the rendering.

When there is nothing in the rendering to bring the viewer to a particular area, the viewers eyes wander. The center of interest can be one object or several objects arranged so attention is directed to one part of your rendering.

When the center of interest is a single object that fills most the rendering, such as a red door on a white house, attention is brought quickly to it. 

A person attracts attention more than anything else, and unless the person is the main object you should leave them out of the rendering. When people are included in a rendering for scale, keep them from looking in the direction of the camera. When people look at the camera, the viewer tends to look back at them. 

Center of Interest Placement

Good composition is rarely obtained by placing the center of interest in the center of the picture; it is generally a bad idea to place it there. A lot of the times it divides the rendering into equal halves and makes the rendering boring and hard to balance. By dividing the rendering into 1/3, both vertically and horizontally, and placing the center of interest at one of the intersections, you can usually create a well balanced composition.

Polygonal modeling is an approach for modeling objects by representing their surfaces using polygons. In this screen recording, I’ll give you an idea of what poly-modeling is. The video is for those who are foreigners to computer modeling and would like to learn the terminology used by computer modelers.

Yes, technical skill, is necessary for a successful rendering, but, technical expertise is nothing more than a requirement with which one might then be able to do terrific renderings. Technical proficiency alone does not make for a good rendering; it is just one of the necessary parts.

Start with the basics. No matter how dull they may be, they are essential for creating a foundation that can later be built upon. Below is a list of topics that can be investigated, learned about, and eventually used in practice.

• Center of interest 
• Subject placement
• Simplicity
• Viewpoint and camera angle
• Balance
• Shapes and lines
• Pattern
• Volume
• Lighting
• Texture
• Tone
• Contrast
• Framing
• Foreground
• Background
• Perspective

Living in the Midwest, particularly in Northern Illiniois, I have memories of sitting in front of an open window listening to birds chirp, smelling the lilacs outside, and feeling the heat of the sun on my shoulder. I wanted to create an image of a tranquil place to sit, read a book, and relax.

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]Software:

Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 
Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended

Plug-ins:

V-Ray for 3ds Max 
Nik Software Color Efex Pro™ 3.0

We often put the photos we take into frames as a way of displaying and drawing attention to our favorite photos – but there is another type of framing that you can do as you’re setting up your virtual camera that can be just as effective doing just the same thing!

Framing is the technique of drawing attention to the subject of your rendering by blocking other parts of the rendering with something in the scene.

The benefits of framing your rendering include:

1. giving the rendering context (for example framing a scene with an archway can tell you something about the place you are by the architecture of the archway or including some foliage in the foreground of a render can convey a sense of being out in nature).
2. giving renders a sense of depth and layers (in essence framing a render generally puts something in the foreground which adds an extra dimension to the render).
3. leading the eye towards your main focal point (some ‘frames’ can draw your viewer into the picture just by their shape). Some also believe that a frame can not only draw the eye into a rendering but that it keeps it there longer – giving a barrier between your subject and the outside of the render.
4. intriguing your viewer. Sometimes it’s what you can’t see in a  rendering that draws you into it as much as (if not more than) what you can see in the rendering. Clever framing that leaves those viewing your image wondering a little or imagining what is behind your frame can be quite effective (get it wrong and it can also be quite annoying!).

Frames for renderings come in all shapes and sizes and can include rendering through overhanging branches, rendering through windows, using tunnels, arches or doorways – you can even use people (for example rendering over shoulders or between heads) etc.

Your frame doesn’t need to go completely around the edges of your rendering – they might just be on one or two edges of your render.

My rule of thumb when considering framing is to ask the question – ‘will this add to or take away from the rendering?’ Sometimes framing can just add clutter to a rendering and make it feel cramped – but at other times it can be the difference between an ordinary rendering and a stunning one.

Lastly – if you do use framing techniques you also need to consider whether you want your frame to be in focus or not. In some instances a nicely blurred frame will really add a sense of mood and depth to your rendering (in this case use a large aperture) but in other cases to have your frame in focus can help with adding context to the scene (in this case choose a narrow aperture.)

Photoshop is a key tool in illustrations – but like any tool, you need to know how to use it properly. 

Vignetting is often an unintended and undesired effect caused by a camera settings or lens limitations. However, it is sometimes 

purposely introduced for creative effect, such as to draw attention to the center of the frame.  

Adding a vignette (darkening or lightening around the edges of the photo) is easy these days with the introduction of Adobe Photoshop. 

The following is a quick and easy way to create either a dark or light vignette for your photo and give you the ability to have 

virtually limitless control over the effect.

1. Duplicate the Image

Open the image in Photoshop and duplicate it (Cmd/Ctrl + J) to a new layer.

2. Set the Blending Mode

If you’re wanting to darken the edges of your photo, set the duplicate layer’s blend mode to Multiply. If you’re wanting to lighten the 

edges, set the blend mode to Screen.

3. Make the Selection

For a vignette that is more even around the edges, grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and make your selection and leave an equal 

amount of padding between the selection and each edge of the photo.

For a more custom and unique shape, grab the Lasso Tool (L) and draw more of a blob shape, or do a rough outline of the subject in your 

image.

4. Feather it!

Now we will feather the selection by going to Select > Modifiy > Feather and setting the amount to 250 for higher-res photos or around 

150 for lower-res photos..

5. Put On Your Mask

Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide Selection (or click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel) to mask your selection. 

This gives you the greatest flexibility of your vignette.

6. Set Visibility

If you are using the Multiply blend mode to darken the edges, you can vary the intensity of the effect by dropping the opacity of the 

vignette layer.

If you are using the Screen blend mode to lighten the edges of your photo, you may find it necessary to duplicate the vignetter layer 

(Cmd/Ctrl + J) once or twice to change the intensity of the effect. You can then change the opacity of the duplicated layers for 

further control.

Volumetric light with dust particles floating around, done in Photoshop, in a couple simple steps.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. — Ferris Bueller

I wanted to create a relaxing space that I would want to lay my head.  After spending about an hour searching the web for reference photos I realized that the web is full of clean, aseptic and sterile spaces.  when I close my eyes and picture a room that I would want to relax in below is what I see, so my imagination is my only reference.  Unfortuanly you can’t hear the birds chirping out the window, smell the fresh cut lawn, and feel the warmth of the sun coming through the window, but when I close my eyes I can.

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]

Software:

• 3DS Max Design 2011
• Photoshop CS5
• Glare

Plug-ins:

• V-Ray
• Nik Software

For most artists, skill is the product of hard work. Some ability is important, but you must have the dedication to refine your talent. Few are born with amazing abilities.

It sounds cliché, but perseverance is paramount. You should develop your skills as an artist first. Always look for opportunities to improve.

Not everyhing is a commisioned work of art. Some project are down and dirty with little budget allocated for illustrations.

From start to end this render took approximately 4hrs to complete.  The intent was to help the developer market a piece of property to potential investors.  With colaboration from the project manager, developer, and architect the front entrances recieved gables to give the building a litlle more curb appeal.

Challenges 

• Low budget
• North facing building
• Simple architecture

Software used:

• Google SketchUp
• Autodesk® Revit® Architecture
• Autodesk 3ds Max Design
• Adobe® Photoshop®
• PixPlant

Plug-ins:

• V-Ray for 3ds Max
• Nik Software Color Efex Pro™
• Knoll Light Factory
• Little Ink Pot
• MultiScatter

Textures Resources:

• CGTextures
• Vray-Materials.de

The different types of perspective

A reference image (whether drawing or photo) could be characterised with one of three different perspective types. The key difference between the three types is the number of ‘vanishing points’ – an actual point, or points, in the scene towards which all lines converge.

Let’s now take a look at each type in turn :

One-point perspective

An image with ‘one-point’ perspective will contain only one of these ‘vanishing points’, and as such there will be only 3 ways that lines in the scene can be shown – 1) running vertically, 2) running horizontally, or 3) at an angle, converging towards the ‘vanishing point’.

Take a look at the example images below. In the top one, you can see that the camera has been placed so that it looks directly down the street. The fronts of the buildings are exactly perpendicular to this direction, and therefore present us with only vertical or horizontal lines. The tops and bottoms of the buildings (and the other lines in between) however, are all at an angle. If you were to take a pencil and ruler and extend these lines further into the scene, you would see that they all come together and cross at a single point, and that (as you’ve probably guessed), is our vanishing point.

The photograph below it shows the same effect, this time looking down a train track.

Two-point perspective

As you have probably inferred from the name, two point perspective has double the amount of vanishing points. If you take a look at the examples below, you can see that the camera is no longer positioned so that it’s looking directly towards a particular vanishing point, and as a result the horizontal lines from the previous perspective type are now running at an angle – something that introduces our second vanishing point. If you were to extend all of these angled lines as before, you’d see that they now eventually meet on either the left or right side of the image. Vertical lines are still vertical however!

One other thing to take into account are ‘horizon’ lines, the imaginary line at the same height as, and running perpendicular to the camera. This can quickly be created by drawing a straight line between our 2 vanishing point, and is used to get an estimate for the height of the camera.

The photo shown gives a typical, everyday example of two point perspective – the corner of a building.

Three point perspective

This perspective type takes things to their natural conclusion. Our camera has now been rotated, giving us our two vanishing points, but also tilted to look either up or down at the scene. This tilting makes our previously vertical lines angled, introducing a third vanishing point either high above, or far below the scene. The examples below both show this three point perspective, and you can see just how much more dramatic this makes the image feel.