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Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 3:03 am
by Scottiefeng
Very bad first Try.
Hi Guys. I am an designer, who previously use Atlantis to do rendering for my design.
Trying the octane now... And would any guru in this forum give me some clues for the works I am doing now?
I know it is no good even compared with Atlantis works I did before. But any comments desperately needed!
Thanks a lot!
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:46 pm
by MaTtY631990
Hi
A few things:
* Use Pathtracing
* Set highlight compression to 1
* Nice material setup, but some of them need tweaking/changing like more glossiness on the shelves and chair legs and maybe change the material on the spotlight object. You could try with some better wood textures perhaps as well.
* Perhaps some better lighting to set mood maybe (Try with skydome and interior light turned on like above the table or you can just have sunlight only but have it more shining through window)
Hope this helps
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:08 pm
by Proupin
Please consider some real photo reference, study the lighting, and shot composition. Improve absolutely everything, the textures, the materials, the models... Octane can't help you at the moment
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 9:22 am
by Scottiefeng
MaTtY631990 wrote:Hi
A few things:
* Use Pathtracing
* Set highlight compression to 1
* Nice material setup, but some of them need tweaking/changing like more glossiness on the shelves and chair legs and maybe change the material on the spotlight object. You could try with some better wood textures perhaps as well.
* Perhaps some better lighting to set mood maybe (Try with skydome and interior light turned on like above the table or you can just have sunlight only but have it more shining through window)
Hope this helps
Yes. It does. I will upload a few in a while. Really appreciate you help!!
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 1:04 pm
by Scottiefeng
Second shot attached while doing changes to the first one taking some advises by MaTtY631990.
Again. Any comments are very welcome!!
Thanks
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:03 pm
by itsallgoode9
where is your lighting coming from? everything is looking very washed out. Also, don't be afraid of doing some post process work in photoshop. contrast,color etc.
Also, as harsh as he sounds, i aggree with Proupin in these areas. Learning that stuff a little better would bring the most improvement to your images.
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:57 am
by Scottiefeng
All critiques are welcome. Better being harsh than nothing.

Thanks guys.
The model is ordinary maybe partly because it is an very ordinary design (entry level apartment).
I am a designer using archicad and Artlantis before. But really like the rendering effects provided Octane. I can only use about one hour a day at home study this(basically replace my gaming time).
Will keep trying to improve everything. But any comments or tips you guys can share will be also helpful.
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 3:17 am
by itsallgoode9
I should've been my specific in my reply actually. I think studying composition and lighting more would bring you the biggest improvements. I mean, with a shot like this, that is supposed to show everything clearly, there's not a whole lot of room for creativity, but nonetheless, I think there are things in composition that could be done to make this shot better. Lighting as well. This looks like it's partially in lack of knowledge of the renderer and and lack of an eye for lighting in general.
Here are some shots that do both of these better and are still simple kitchen shots(i just spent like 10 seconds googling these, so they are no means the best examples). I'd say these shots are using models and textures that are about on par with yours but their renders look much more advanced just because they have a better handle on the lighting or composition or post.

Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:55 am
by Scottiefeng
itsallgoode9 wrote:I should've been my specific in my reply actually. I think studying composition and lighting more would bring you the biggest improvements. I mean, with a shot like this, that is supposed to show everything clearly, there's not a whole lot of room for creativity, but nonetheless, I think there are things in composition that could be done to make this shot better. Lighting as well. This looks like it's partially in lack of knowledge of the renderer and and lack of an eye for lighting in general.
Here are some shots that do both of these better and are still simple kitchen shots(i just spent like 10 seconds googling these, so they are no means the best examples). I'd say these shots are using models and textures that are about on par with yours but their renders look much more advanced just because they have a better handle on the lighting or composition or post.

Thanks a lot.
I still don't know handle the Octane monster. Will study some cases like you posted here.
Re: Very bad first Try. Please criticise.
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:36 am
by glimpse
Lighting makes all the difference. Find some good reference & start from there =)
You don't need to be a master & try to replicate one by one, but try to understand:
* why things look one or the other way,
* why photographer choose to use some lights,
* why he used one or the other angle..etc.
- in most cases we can't change or even improve things we don't even think about..
Light itself will give You tons of mood. Make You base geometry, avoid textures & play with light..till You're happy..& then, only then start adding details..
Here's what I'm talking about from my own workflow..- this I'd call a mood test: simple rough geometry, defined perspective, but no fine details.
Get the balance, get the colors working. not only direct light but also ambiance, reflection, shadows. When You establish this "base", You can start adding the "fill", all the small things that tell story (& sadly reduce You render speeds)..
It's not the only way to work, but it's one of the easiest.
You develop the picture as You go - You move a model here and there, change lighting angle or add something in the frame so it would feel balanced. When You have too much to play with (scene is filled with models & the lighting makes no sense) - it's to much distractions to deal with at once & control is lost.
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.
Hope that helps, Scott =)
cheers