Below are 7 steps to master your 3d renders. This post aims to help you improve your rendering skills. No matter what 3D modelling program you’re using whether its Blender, Rhino, 3Ds Max, Fusion 360, Solidworks, Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D or any other 3D visualisation software you’re using the same principles apply. The same applies for if you’re a product designer, graphic designer, 3D visualiser or even if you’re a hobbyist, these 7 tips will help you improve. Regardless of the render style that you’re creating whether its product rendering, architectural 3D visualisation or just some cool abstract 3d artwork, there are 3 main principles to creating a good 3D visualisation: modelling, lighting and materials. With these 3 elements working successfully you are well on your way to creating amazing 3D renders.
There are various reasons as to why you should care about developing your 3d rendering skills. Some benefits of 3D modelling are that it is a great way to visualise and create ideas from nothing. Some of these ideas may not be even possible to exist outside of the 3D art canvas.
Secondly, a lot of the success in products/campaigns/for anything for that matter, is within the presentation. It could be a make or break to winning clients and getting jobs the green light approval so having quality 3D visualisation is key to building a really convincing presentation. Using 3D visualisation is a great cost effective way to present ideas and products, many companies such as Ikea opt to use 3D renders to display their product range, therefore 3D visualisation jobs are in demand.
In a modern digital world it can be hard to stand out, but a quality render can act as scroll stopping content which is very important in such a competitive space.
Finally, if your style isn’t to develop photorealism it is still necessary to have an understanding of photorealism and the way elements work in order to create different styles.
What is a bevel? Bevels are a rounded of the section between two faces normally an edge. Bevels allow for light to reflect off the edge your object therefore defining its form better. There is no such thing as a perfect joining of an angle, otherwise you would cut yourself on every surface. Therefore not only do bevels make it more visually appealing, they are true to how the real world works - even on a microscopic level bevels are everywhere.
Even though it may be easier and quicker to add details by using textures you won’t achieve as good of results than to if you were to model the details on the geometry of your 3D model. This manipulates the form of the 3D model and therefore allowing it to interact with the scene better, creating more realistic results.
This 3D modelling tip is a key part to creating good macro product shots as you retain the detail whereas using a texture map may become a bit blown out.
Although you can get away with not using the correct scale within some 3D visualisation software, it is always good practice to 3D model everything to scale. This will effect how lighting, depth of field and how textures interact with your 3D render. When you’re using to scale measurements everything looks more realistic which is great for your 3D art.
A key part to the 3D rendering process is lighting. Good lighting can really make your render. It may even be able to mask sub-standard modelling. Just by getting a standard studio lighting set up in your scene can make a big difference.
Even though there are some really good plugins out there for environments and backgrounds, HDRi’s are a great way to transform your 3D render, if you’re not using them already make sure you do, as they instantly add a sense of photorealism to your 3D art. They allow your object to interact and reflect the light and surroundings, so this works really well with metallic, glass and high gloss materials.
Now the third key part to creating a successful 3D render is focusing on the materials. If you are looking to achieve that photo-realistic look then using texture maps will be pretty essential. Now even though you can use 3D art painting and procedural materials which work really well when zoomed in on an object they can get quite complex specially when trying to achieve photo-realism within your 3D render.
You want to make sure that your textures are to the right scale, so that they are not stretched when you apply them to your model.
Try to hide the seams from your UV mapping as much as possible as this will kill your efforts to create a realistic 3D render. You can hide seams by placing them in areas where the camera won’t be able to view them.
And most importantly make sure you are using all the variations of texture maps such as: diffuse, roughness, occlusion, normal, bump and displacement plus any others that your software allows you to use. As these combined create the illusion of a real life material.
Nothing in the world is perfect. Even products straight from manufacture. For product visualisation or any 3D visualisation, there is a fine balance between making the imperfections believable or completely over doing it and making your product render or 3D art work look like it has been in the attic for all this time. So when adding imperfections to your 3D render, use them sparingly. Things to consider, manufacturing imperfections such as spilt lines, paint build up, dips and bumps in plastic - as a result of different rates of cooling temperatures, scratches, dust, smudges and fingerprints. These are the subtle nuances that they don’t mention in your standard 3D modelling tutorial.
The odds will always favour a person with a plan. If you’re doing a modelling challenge and are free-styling your render then you can skip this step. But for every other time you will need this step. Use reference. You will be very surprised at how bad your memory is and how it changes details to make things easier to remember. By always have reference images when you are 3D modelling you will pick up on so many details that you didn’t know even existed.
If your designing your own product and then creating a 3D visualisation, then make sure you have refined sketches and drawings of your product so you have a clear understanding of how to model it, this will help you run into less problems down the road specially regarding typology. Furthermore, I would still recommend that you use other similar products as reference images, this will improve your render as you pick up on those details.
If these 7 tips have helped you, take a look at this FREE downloadable PDF that will give you an extra 32 further tips on how to improve your 3d renders.
