My 7 secrets to enhancing your 3d renders in post production. By the end of this blog I hope you will have found various ways in which you can improve your 3D renders or 3D artwork for that matter, as these editing techniques can be used across the board for all sorts of different art and design purposes. Now even though these editing techniques are focused on improving rendering on photoshop, you can perform these post production steps in various design softwares and likely able to perform them in various 3d render engines.
Post production is the process of refining and enhancing content after it has been created whether that is post production in film, post production for audio, post production for animation or for still images inside photoshop for example.
Time is something we cannot get back, there is only a limited amount of it we can ever have, making it rare and of high value — even more than money. Now, sadly, 3D rendering is a very time consuming process, from the modelling, to texturing and right the way through to actually processing the final image. This is why I want you to consider what details need more attention and what doesn’t.
Consider the areas that will be visible compared to those which are not. For those areas that are less visible, there is no need to add as much detail as this will only prolong your render times.
Also, think about what format your final work will be whether it’s a still image or a video, as the post production time and what you thought would have been more efficient at first, may in fact not be.
A great way in which you can improve your rendering on Photoshop is image correction, and hiding any artefacts, texturing and surface imperfections that may of occurred whilst in your 3D rendering software. This is great for if you have a seam from texturing. When photo editing in Photoshop you can use the “clone stamp” tool, “patch” tool, “content aware” tool, “healing brush” tool to cover up most of these issues and develop images very efficiently.
If the area that needs hiding is of substantial size and those tools aren’t cutting the mustard, I would recommend using the “lasso” tool and finding a similar area to copy and past, then to manipulate the shape using the “transformation warp” tool (Edit > Transform > Warp), then refine the edges with the tools stated previously.
It is also useful if you have a detail that doesn’t quite look the way you want. For example, stitching in cloth can always be an issue, so often times I use the Photoshop editing techniques in post production using the tools stated above to improve image quality in Photoshop.
Remember when I said to value your time in point 1, well this is a great way to do so. Finding elements in your final render that would be quicker to edit into the image in post production. For instance, dependent on your CPU and GPU this will effect your render times, specially when rendering particles such as hairs and small fibres. This is an element I would consider to add in post production if it is not a focal point in your image as it will save you time and improve your rendering on Photoshop. It’s likely that you will end up blurring parts of your image anyway, so don’t spend large amounts of time on an insignificant detail (specially one that may not even be visible at a later date).
A further benefit to editing with photoshop is adding these smaller particles in post production; if for some reason the particles haven’t turned out quite as how you wanted in your render that you had to wait +12hrs for, you would then have to re-render until satisfied hence wasting a lot of time, time that you could be putting your energy to other important jobs etc. Adding these details in post may just save you a lot of time and even allow you to make more money (opportunity cost)!
Bring out those details!!! Sadly some of your amazing modelling details may get lost in the final render. Luckily you can still make them pop by developing your image in photoshop. You can use various selection methods to highlight your area that you want to make adjustments too. Then use “Levels” and “Curves” adjustments to really make them stand out, you can then feather the mask for a seamless blend as if the edit never happened. This is a great way to improve the quality of an image in photoshop and make logos, plus refined intricate details stand out.
Now even though you can add this just before you render your scene out. You can also use Photoshop editing effects which can arguably provide you with more control if you add your depth of field in post production. This can easily be achieved in Photoshop by using “field blur” (Filter > Blur Gallery > Field Blur). This is a great way to draw the viewers eye to areas of importance and guide them around your image. It can also be used as cover up to hide areas of lower detail or any mistakes for that matter. Making background editing in Photoshop simple.
This Photoshop editing technique has a very specific feel and stylised look, hence why it won’t be useful for every 3D render or 3D artwork that you want to produce. You can apply this effect by duplicating your image and blurring the top layer and setting the blending mode to screen this will give a bloom like effect to your 3d objects in Photoshop.
The final step is to make those colours pop! But not too much specially if you’re looking to achieve a photo-realistic look. Once you have dealt with editing the composition and subject and finished preparing your image for editing in Photoshop - ready for applying a colour grade to tie it all together.
There are various ways in which you can achieve this in photoshop. Starting from the “Camera Raw Filter”, then adding adjustment layers such as “Colour Balance”, “Selective Colour” & “Hue and Saturation”. You may even want to consider adding a LUT camera filter but do use it sparingly. These are all effective way for colour editing in photoshop.
In summary there were 7 various ways in which you can develop your images in photoshop. Now bear in mind that they aren’t miracle workers and won’t save a really bad render but they are amazing at improving your rendering on Photoshop.
If these 7 secrets helped you, I have a FREE PDF on the 5 extra ways that you can improve your rendering in photoshop. These are techniques that I have learnt and used over the past 8 years of my design career.
