Product Visualisation – The Studio Environment Vol.1

Welcome. Over the next four weeks, through a series of four tutorials, you’ll learn how to produce industry standard 3D Renders/ Visualisations of your product concepts.

Product Visualisation – The Studio Environment Vol.1 (Currently Reading)

Product Visualisation – The Studio Environment Vol.2

Product Visualisation – The Studio Environment Vol.3

Product Visualisation – The Studio Environment Vol.4

These 3D Visualisations will place your product concept with an infinite white space, simulating a studio photo shoot. The process is particularly relevant to Industrial Design and Product Design, however, the content demonstrated here will form the basis of producing any 3D visualisation. We will be using two software platforms – 3D Studio Max and V-Ray.

As a former student of Industrial Design, we often dealt with modelling our concepts quite extensively but didn’t get taught how to visualise our concepts beyond a basic level. This is therefore written to help students develop a useful method of presenting design concepts. Students and professionals of various design disciplines might also use this to add to their design skills or to specifically build on skills within 3D Studio Max.

The content will help to develop an understanding of the mechanics as well as the execution. It’s not about just getting you from A to B of this particular tutorial. With any luck, you’ll be knocking out some professional marketing images. If this sounds useful, let’s meet it with cold steel.

Requirements

Difficulty: Beginner/ Intermediate

1. To open the example file, you will need 3DS Max 2009 and V-Ray 1.5RC3 or above. Download the example and source files at the end of each tutorial.

2. If you use the example or source files, please understand that the contents including the model and textures should not be redistributed in any way. Similarly, the content is not allowed to be used for commercial purposes.

The Crusade

This is an overview of the content over the next four weeks. If you really want to understand the mechanics behind some of these topics, resources and links will be provided along the way for further reading.

Tutorial 1 – The Built Environment (November 17)

Building Environment

Studio Setups

Rounded Wall

Hexagonal Tube

Box Room

Building Rounded Wall

Importing/Placing Product

VRay Test Settings

Applying VRay Test Settings

Applying Basic Materials

Tutorial 2 – Materials & Textures (December 1)

Materials & Maps

VRay Material Settings

Diffuse

Reflection

Refraction

Creating Scene Materials

Metal

Porcelain

Plastic

Applying Scene Materials

Mapping Materials

UVW Map

Mapping Methods

Transform Gizmo

Tutorial 3 – Lighting (December

Lighting

Lighting Types

Indirect Illumination (GI)

Standard Lights

VRay Lights

Light Settings

Light Creation/ Placement

Tutorial 4 – Cameras & Rendering (December 15)

Cameras

Camera Settings

Camera Creation/Placement

Rendering

VRay Render Settings

Global Switches

Global Illumination

Environment Settings – HDRI

Primary/ Secondary Engines

Colour Mapping

AA/ Noise

Camera

Render Examples

Region Render

Render Output

The Project – Ink Handcraft

Over the course of the four weeks, we will be following the process of creating an example project – Ink Handcraft. This collaboration with Shannon Brown was the first in a pair of generative projects that explored a craft aesthetic through 3D CAD software. Its organic forms and varied textured surfaces make it perfect for demonstrating all the content.

Download the 3DS Max project file containing the model at the end of the tutorial, in the Source Files section. Or if you prefer, you can follow the tutorial using your own model. Regardless, at the end of our visualisation crusade, we will have discussed the necessary skills to make this scene.

So let’s get to the hot bebop.

Tutorial 1 – The Built Environment

Overview

This is the first tutorial in the series of four. As such, we will be building/ preparing the environment with our 3D model. We will be specifically looking into what makes an infinite white space and the basic elements of your scene. With this, we will apply some test settings and try out a preliminary render.

Remember, there are always several ways to achieve one thing. Everyone has a preferred workflow, so take in the information, and then apply it how you feel is necessary.

Here’s a listed overview of the content and sections in this tutorial.

Building Environment

Studio Setups

Rounded Wall

Hexagonal Tube

Box Room

Building Rounded Wall

Importing/ Placing Product

VRay Test Settings

Applying Override Material

We’ll be aiming for this at the end of Tutorial 1 – The Built Environment.

1.0 – Building Environment

Before we begin, I will quickly explain the basic elements of the scene we are trying to prepare/ build in these tutorials. These elements include:

1. Product
2. Floor / Wall Setup
3. Lights
4. Camera

1.1 – Studio Setups

In a low quality studio render you will visibly see the horizon line. Ideally you want a seamless transition between the ground and the sky to give the illusion that you are in an infinitely continuing space. It also gives you a cleaner aesthetic. This is where the idea of an infinite white render comes in. Many methods are used in photography and visualisation to achieve this.

All of the methods discussed here involve the camera looking at a type of wall placed behind your object/ product.  This wall is white and connects with the floor, and because they are connected it appears as if there is a smooth transition between the ground and sky. In this tutorial we will be examining three methods – a Hexagonal Tube, a Box Room and a Rounded Wall.

2 Cents: Each method can effectively be used to produce the same result. The idea is to show you how you can go about one task in different ways. You will get a feel for which you think is most appropriate for your task. I have used all three techniques in the past, and am continually learning about new ways to get better results and save time.

1.1.1 – Hexagonal Tube

The hexagonal tube is a more complex shape but the results are consistent and easy to control. Your object is placed within a kind of hexagonal tubular extrusion. Two lights are placed at either end of the tube, facing inwards at the object. The light bounces around the inside of the tube and gives you a smooth infinite white background. The fixed position of the lights can be a positive for beginners if they don’t want to get too creative.

1.1.2 – Box Room

The Box Room is simply a cube room in which you object is placed. The Box Room is a useful method because it’s an easy way to simulate a real room in which your product is being rendered. This means that your object will have more complex reflections of light and dark areas.

Note: This effect can be replicated by using an image for your environment in your Environment Map. This will give the illusion that your object is placed within a particular space. If you’re unfamiliar with environment maps, we will talk about this later.

1.1.3 – Rounded Wall

The Rounded Wall is probably the most flexible method to use to achieve an infinite white space. It consists of a floor, on which your object is placed, and a backing wall that is joined by a large radius. It’s good for both placing lights and for applying environment maps.

We will continue with this method in the tutorial, and we will discuss in the next section how to build it.

1.2 – Building Rounded Wall

• In a new scene, go to the ‘Create’ tab, select ‘Shapes’ and then in the drop down menu, select ‘Splines’.

• Click ‘Line’ and draw two connected perpendicular lines. Hold Shift to draw lines along an axis.

• With the splines selected, go to the ‘Modify’ tab, right click on ‘Line’ modifier in the stack and convert it to an ‘Editable Spline’. You can always go back and modify the original spline.

• Click on the ‘Line’ modifier again to open up its options. In the ‘Geometry’ rollout options, click the ‘Fillet’ feature.

• Now hold left click on the corner connecting our two lines and drag the mouse. This will let you choose the size of the fillet or radius.

• Now add another modifier in the ‘Modify’ tab called ‘Extrude’.

• Depending on the size you made the spline, select an appropriate length using the ‘Amount’ option, for it to extrude. Aim to make it look similar to the image.

• If your object appears black like in the image above, add a ‘Normal’ modifier and select ‘Flip Normals’ in the options. This will correct the surface geometry like below.

We have now set up a Rounded Wall.

1.3 – Importing/ Placing Product

• Import or Merge your 3D Model into the scene. Then place it on the floor of our Rounded Wall.

If you didn’t make your object in 3DS Max, export it from the program you modelled it in. Typically, you can save it as the native ‘.3DS’ or others including ‘.STL’, ‘.IGES’ or ‘.WRL’ (VRML). To Import a file into 3DS Max, go to File > Import. Default settings are usually fine.

To merge a file, go to File > Merge.

2 Cents: I usually use VRML, the ‘.WRL’ file format when exporting my model. Along with good surface quality, it has the feature to export as one file but does not turn all the components into one object. When imported, you are still able to select each of the components within your model separately.

We have now completed the built environment for this tutorial.

2.0 – Applying VRay Test Settings

Now we’ll apply some test settings. These settings will allow you to render your scene quickly but at a lower quality. This is ideal for checking incremental changes to your scene. Don’t worry if you don’t understand the settings in this section. It will be explained in greater detail in Tutorial 4.

• Go to your ‘Render Setup’ dialog box, F10 for shortcut.

• In the Common tab, go to the ‘Assign Renderer’ rollout, click the button next to ‘Production’ and select VRay as your renderer.

• In the Common tab, apply these settings to the ‘Output Size’:

• In the VRay tab, apply these settings:

• In the Indirect Illumination tab, apply these settings:

• In the Settings tab, apply these settings:

We have now set up the VRay Test Settings.

2.1 – Applying Basic Material

Here we’ll apply two basic materials to our scene for a preliminary render. Materials will be explained in greater detail in Tutorial 2, so don’t worry about the mechanics just yet.

• Go to your ‘Material Editor’ dialog box, M for shortcut.

• Click ‘Get Material’ and then select ‘VRayMtl’ from the list.

• In the material options, under the ‘Basic Parameters’ rollout, set the Diffuse colour to almost white. RGB: (245, 245, 245)

• Select the Rounded Wall in the viewport and in the Material Editor, click the ‘Add Material to Selection’ button. You can also drag this material onto an object in the viewport to apply a material.

• Create another VRay material in a different material slot and set the diffuse color to a mid grey this time. RGB: (120,120,120)

• Apply this material to your object/ product.

• Now right click the word ‘Perspective’ in the corner of your Perspective Viewport and select ‘Show Safe Frame’. This will let you see the correct ratio of your output render size.

• Adjust the viewport to frame the product however you like. We won’t use a camera just yet, but feel free to use one if you wish.

• Click the ‘Render’ button, F12 for shortcut. Enjoy the render unfolding. With any luck, it will look something like this.

With a feeling of monumental relief, our scene has finally come together. We’ve managed to achieve a smooth infinite white background and the lighting and materials are rendering appropriately.

We’ve now completed Tutorial 1 – The Built Environment.

3.0 – The Week Ahead

We’ve created a built studio setup, imported a product into our scene, set up test render settings, created basic materials and managed to come up with a preliminary render.

Using this environment, we will explore the possibilities of materials, textures and shaders next week in Tutorial 2 – Materials & Textures. Refer to the content overview section above for a more detailed topic list.

If you would like to see more work from this project and others, you can visit www.kooque.com. I hope this has been useful. Comments, suggestions and questions are most welcome. Till next week.

4.0 – Source Files

Here are the source files for Tutorial 1 – The Built Environment.

Ink.zip (Link – Ink.zip) – Contains required MAX file with 3D model.

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November 17, 2009