Ridge Road Exterior

Hi Alvin Just use what I suggested as a guide...the settings WILL change depending on the look you want to achieve and the map you use in for the skylight. The trees are models, the grass for this one was done in post.

Hi Mark, please let me know if you decide to turn the tips into a novel..that was awesome mate! thanks a lot! Thanks for describing in details.. I will try myself with your setup and see what will i get.. Btw for the grass and trees, is that done in post or is a rendered model? Cheers!

Hi Alvin, I'll try and explain it as simply as possible so this post doesn't turn into a novel... I only use FG...as I find GI a bit temperamental and hit and miss. FG bounces are at 2 and an FG precision preset of low (an image that is 300px or bigger has enough image data that higher settings just take more time to render for not much extra detail). Sampling quality Min 1 Max 16 and a mitchell filter Rather than using MR Sun/Sky, in this scenario I used a skylight (from the old standard lights menu). I then found an appropriate panoramic image that suited the feel I wanted (in this case, an overcast sky) and applied it to my environment slot. After this, it's really just a matter of tweaking the exposure and multiplier settings so get something close to the result you want. For this image.... mr Photographic Exposure set to 3 Skylight multiplier set to 10 (I know this seems extreme but it really doesn't matter) Image control. Highlights .01/ Mid 1/ Shadow .2 Whitepoint 8000 (i often change the whitepoint to get the desired tone a bit closer) Finally, I used a very large free light to add a bit more direct light/stronger shadow detail and this is positioned in conjunction to where the bright point of the environment image is in the finished perspective. Again, you will have to play around with the intensity settings/attenuation and kelvin to get it working nicely (this one was cd15000 50 x 20 meters big to get the soft shadows I wanted) Finally, you have to really do a lot in post to bring the best out of it. Now the settings I have used here would vary considerably if I were to change the environment map so just play around with it till you get something that looks ok. Render time was about 3.5 hours at 4000px (dual xeon 12 core) Hope this helps mate.

Hi Mark, As a fellow MR user I really like your work here! Would be greatly appreciated if you can share us how you did with the lighting i.e the cheat to compensate the lack of HDRI lighting in MR. I've been using mrsky/sun combo but recently exploring the use of HDRI. But the only way I can get around with decent result is by using the mr option manager plug in (http://www.youcandoitvfx.com. )by using irradiance/importon combo instead of FG/GI. I like the result but the render time was taking too long. So I just wondering if you can share us a few tips here on your setup. cheers mate.

Wow! I love this image! Congratulations for the great work you have been doing! Cheers

Thanks Ricardo, I appreciate it.

Wow! I love this image! Congratulations for the great work you have been doing! Cheers

Looks good Derya...one question regarding sIBL though, how do you scale the backplate/viewport background to fit the scene? It doesn't seem attached to the usual channels. I'm guessing it's constrained somewhere that?

absolutely MR, Vray is not fully compatible to 3dsmax. You must try "SIBL" plugin. http://www.hdrlabs.com

Will have a look today...thanks for the heads up :)

Mark, as a former Vray user I can tell you that you can get a lot better results using MR HDRI lightning specially with "Color override/raytype switcher". With "CORTS" you can also make IBL lightning.

Thanks Derya, I played around with CORTS a while back but never really got what I was hoping out of it...perhaps I should revisit. I'll check out some workflows and have another look. Thanks for the reminder - out of curiosity, are you Vray still or MR?

absolutely MR, Vray is not fully compatible to 3dsmax. You must try "SIBL" plugin. http://www.hdrlabs.com

Mark, as a former Vray user I can tell you that you can get a lot better results using MR HDRI lightning specially with "Color override/raytype switcher". With "CORTS" you can also make IBL lightning.

Thanks Derya, I played around with CORTS a while back but never really got what I was hoping out of it...perhaps I should revisit. I'll check out some workflows and have another look. Thanks for the reminder - out of curiosity, are you Vray still or MR?

Mark, as a former Vray user I can tell you that you can get a lot better results using MR HDRI lightning specially with "Color override/raytype switcher". With "CORTS" you can also make IBL lightning.

Great work man! I was struggling for years with mental to get any decent result. Very nice Mark, keep up the good work!

Yup...I find MR really makes life difficult when it comes to good exterior lighting using an HDRI (or at least a similar workflow). Took a while to figure out how to "cheat" it a bit to get better results. The switch to vray is an ever present thought but I haven't jumped ship yet :)

Great work man! I was struggling for years with mental to get any decent result. Very nice Mark, keep up the good work!

Great athmosphere man! I love the mood! hdri?

Thanks Dusan. And no, technically it's not an HDRI (mental ray doesn't do as good a job of HDRI lighting as Vray) but it does follow the same process but attaching an image to a skylight. I created another free light to help bring out some shadow detail and directional light....then lots of work in post. Thank you Derya.

very nice. perfect..

Great athmosphere man! I love the mood! hdri?

It's been raining in Queensland a lot this year so I guess it could be mistaken for English weather :) I hadn't done an overcast/flat light sky for a while and it seemed to suit the image. Cheers for the feedback DOF 3D

English weather? Very nice view - clean, advertising, wants to be there.