Brill Building

[R Reynolds]

This is just the ground floor of a multi-story building, the design of which is loosely based on a local building (but it's not called the Brill Building). The sidewalk needs more dirt and clutter. And yes, there is a clone of the building across the street so there's something to reflect in the windows. Next step is the upper floors.

[Nunsofamerica]

I like it a lot. Good job. My only suggestion would be to add more parking meters. but for the building it self, very good.

[nimblepix]

Beautiful job Rodger!

I'm looking forward to watching this develop.

[ruscular]

most excellent! and thanks for the mechanical modeling tips. I found it most helpful.

[ypoissant]

Looking very good. I like your attention to details like the wigly reflections in the window glasses.

[R Reynolds]

My only suggestion would be to add more parking meters

No sooner said than done; see attached image. The car is a bit too recent a vintage for my tastes but it was a convenient way to test my light levels.

 

...thanks for the mechanical modeling tips. I found it most helpful.

Glad to hear those pages are still useful to someone.

 

I like...the wigly reflections in the window glasses.

It's funny how a simple b/w Fractal Sum bump material can add so much realism. And thanks again, Yves, for ambient occlusion. The street looks as good in the shade as it does in the sunshine.

[agep]

Very nice Rodger. What is the rendertime for such an image? A little ot; the car, is it made in A:M?

[R Reynolds]

Very nice...

Thanks Stian.

 

What is the rendertime for such an image?

The sun and it's negative blue shadow "clone" are casting two rays each. 5X multi-pass is on. It took just under 2 hours on a 1.5Ghz Athlon.

 

...the car, is it made in A:M?

But of course! It was a contract job for Dustin Productions which accounts for why it's doesn't come from the 1940's or 50's.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Beautiful job Rodger!

 

My only comment on the building is the doors of the entry area. Isn't it cusomary for the two doors on the left to have their handles on the other side? Just an observation.

 

Wonderful detail... now get to messing it up so it looks older.

[R Reynolds]

Isn't it cusomary for the two doors on the left to have their handles on the other side?

If you say so. I had no idea. Thanks for the tip.

[Paul Forwood]

Superb image, Rodger!

 

When you say, "negative blue shadow clone", are you refering to a blue sun which points in the opposite direction or are you using negative values in light settings? Negative lights are something that I have never tried but I would love to understand the theory behind them.

[MattWBradbury]

Needs people. I think cardboard cutouts would work well for a standing shot like this.

 

Very nice construction. Is there an interior one room in so when it goes to night you'll be able to see inside the building?

[ypoissant]

When you say, "negative blue shadow clone", are you refering to a blue sun which points in the opposite direction or are you using negative values in light settings? Negative lights are something that I have never tried but I would love to understand the theory behind them.

In outdoor scenes, the sun light is slightly yellow and the sky is blue. This is due to light scattering in the atmosphere. Blue wavelength are more scattered than yellow and red. Because blue is scattered, the sun loose of its blue and become yellow.

 

Painters have understood this for a long time and paint their shadows blue. But becaue they paint, they can cheat as they whish and actually make the shadow bluer than natural. They do that to compensate for lost dynamic range of light reflected from paint compared to the true outdoor scene. By doing that, they can still have details in their shadows and get nice blue-yellow contrasts.

 

In CG, the negative blue sun is a way to cheat and get nice blue shadows and nice shade definition in the shadows. We cast a blue skylight (either a skylight rig or a blue Ambiance Occlusion for the shadowed part of the image which gives nice shades in the shadows. But when we add a yellow sun light, it become difficult to keep a good dynamic range with details in the shadows as well as details in the lights. Adding a sun light to a scene which is already lit by the sky makes it difficult to find a good balance. Either the shadows are too dark or the lights are too bright. In addition, because we add a yellow light to a scene which already have a blue lighting, the lit parts become green. So the solution to that is to add sun light clone that cast a negative blue light in effect subtracting the sky light blue from the sun lit parts of the image so the lit parts are only lit by te yellow sun. This way, it is easy to balance the shadows darkness vs the sun light brightness and keep details in both the shadows and the lights and keep that nice blue-yellow contrasts.

 

At least this is what I think Rodger is doing. If not then he will surely correct me.

[Paul Forwood]

Ah! Thanks for the explanation, Yves.

So, if I understand correctly, the negative blue light is cast in the same direction as the sunlight and used to control the balance between the yellow sunlight and blue shadows. I must try that sometime.