L voice filter. Rendering with Cinema 4D and Vray. After modelling the building in Rhino 3D we use for the next phases – the visualization – Cinema 4D in combination with the render engine Vray. The following screenshots show the most relevant render settings which were defined in Cinema 4D and Vray. As you can see the settings are quite basic. Check out our guide to the best 3D rendering software tools for animation movies, special effects, and architectural visualization.
- 3d Rendering Architecture
- Simple 3d Rendering Software
- 3d Rendering Service
- 3d Rendering software, free download
Breaking into the field of 3D rendering and visualization can seem like a tall mountain to climb. And make no mistake, it is. However, there are some corners to cut for those looking to get a leg up on the education and experience you'll need to be at the top of the industry.
This article aims to outline 7 programs that are the best for learning quickly and producing results before you get discouraged and go back to your pizza delivery job and living in your mom's basement. Don't be fooled, though, no matter how good of a chance you give yourself to succeed, being good at rendering will still require hard work, dedication, and all that other stuff your father drilled into your prepubescent brain.
Nothing can make 3D modeling and rendering easy, but these 7 programs will certainly make it easier.
1 | Google SketchUp
SketchUp was initially developed as a quick and easy alternative to the more cumbersome 3D modeling programs that existed more than a decade ago. It has since undergone a number of changes that make the program more powerful, but has managed to maintain its vice grip on approachability in an industry that is still filled with steep learning curves.
SketchUp can't do everything, but it is the perfect entry point for people looking to get started with 3D modeling and rendering. It is fun to use, and won't leave you scratching your head against an obtuse toolset or incomprehensible user protocol. On top of all that, it's 100% free to download and use!
2 | Keyshot Render
Keyshot not only provides a sleek, easy-to-understand user interface, it's toolset presents an extremely shallow learning curve that makes picking up the ins and outs a breeze. The program is perhaps most famous for its real-time rendering engine, which allows users to see lighting conditions and materiality as you work on the rendering scene.
Few other programs allow for this level of flexibility within the workflow, and it's presented in a package that won't frustrate new users. Keyshot is the rendering engine for newbies, and should act as a gateway to other programs in the future.
3 | Blender
Blender 3D is the total package. It combines a user-friendly interface for 3D modeling with a powerful on-board rendering engine for people who aren't keen on fumbling with shoddy plug-in compatibility or constantly switching between programs. Blender does it all, which makes it even more unbelievable when people hear it's totally free to install and use.
That's right. Blender is completely open-source. That means it is developed by its users and supported by a robust community - some call it a family - of artists and engineers who are willing to help people get familiar with the program.
4 | vRay for SketchUp
When I mentioned shoddy plug-in compatibility, I was certainly not including vRay for SketchUp.
It is the plugin that transforms SketchUp from an accessible but limited 3D modeler into a rendering and visualization powerhouse. When Chaos Group released the plugin, they opened the door to a large group of modelers who simply didn't have the means to render at a professional level.
The plugin is easy to install and straightforward to use. There are more user friendly rendering engines on the market, but few have the ability to create such awe-inspiring visuals as vRay does.
5 | Adobe Photoshop
You could probably spend a lifetime trying to master every single nook and cranny Adobe has crammed into Photoshop over the years. But, the good news is you don't have to. In fact, by just learning the basic functions of Photoshop, you can garner enough knowledge to give your renderings and visualizations the extra layer of polish that will take them over the edge.
Taking the leap and purchasing photoshop also gives you instant access to a wealth of online tutorials and lessons that will quickly establish a sturdy foundation for you to start experimenting with.
6 | zBrush
For rendering artists looking to get into the more sculptural and organic aspects of 3D modeling, there are few easier programs to get into than ZBrush. Using it is akin to actually sculpting things out of a piece of clay in real life, only without the watery mess and ghosts of Patrick Swayze trying to sneak up behind your pottery wheel.
ZBrush is fast and simple, and interfaces well with most rendering software on the market. For digital artists or video game makers, this is a great entry point and one that won't set your bank account back a few decades.
7 | FreeCAD
The last match movie trailer. As its name would suggest, FreeCAD is about as approachable as they come. The toolset is remarkably simple to use and understand, and if you decide there are other, more powerful or capable programs out there (there are), at least you didn't pay anything for it!
If you have given SketchUp a try and don't think 3D modeling is your cup of tea, I'd suggest giving FreeCAD a shot before you throw up your hands. It's fun to use and might just scratch that rendering itch you've been ignoring your whole life. All it demands is a little bit of your time.
| Three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics |
|---|
| Fundamentals |
| Primary uses |
| Related topics |
|
3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of converting 3D models into 2D images on a computer. 3D renders may include photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic styles.
Rendering methods[edit]
Rendering is the final process of creating the actual 2D image or animation from the prepared scene. This can be compared to taking a photo or filming the scene after the setup is finished in real life.[1] Several different, and often specialized, rendering methods have been developed. These range from the distinctly non-realistic wireframe rendering through polygon-based rendering, to more advanced techniques such as: scanline rendering, ray tracing, or radiosity. Rendering may take from fractions of a second to days for a single image/frame. In general, different methods are better suited for either photorealistic rendering, or real-time rendering.[2]
Real-time[edit]
Rendering for interactive media, such as games and simulations, is calculated and displayed in real time, at rates of approximately 20 to 120 frames per second. In real-time rendering, the goal is to show as much information as possible as the eye can process in a fraction of a second (a.k.a. 'in one frame': In the case of a 30 frame-per-second animation, a frame encompasses one 30th of a second).
The primary goal is to achieve an as high as possible degree of photorealism at an acceptable minimum rendering speed (usually 24 frames per second, as that is the minimum the human eye needs to see to successfully create the illusion of movement). In fact, exploitations can be applied in the way the eye 'perceives' the world, and as a result, the final image presented is not necessarily that of the real world, but one close enough for the human eye to tolerate.
Rendering software may simulate such visual effects as lens flares, depth of field or motion blur. These are attempts to simulate visual phenomena resulting from the optical characteristics of cameras and of the human eye. These effects can lend an element of realism to a scene, even if the effect is merely a simulated artifact of a camera. This is the basic method employed in games, interactive worlds and VRML.
The rapid increase in computer processing power has allowed a progressively higher degree of realism even for real-time rendering, including techniques such as HDR rendering. Real-time rendering is often polygonal and aided by the computer's GPU.[3]
Non real-time[edit]
Animations for non-interactive media, such as feature films and video, can take much more time to render.[4] Non real-time rendering enables the leveraging of limited processing power in order to obtain higher image quality. Rendering times for individual frames may vary from a few seconds to several days for complex scenes. Rendered frames are stored on a hard disk, then transferred to other media such as motion picture film or optical disk. These frames are then displayed sequentially at high frame rates, typically 24, 25, or 30 frames per second (fps), to achieve the illusion of movement.
When the goal is photo-realism, techniques such as ray tracing, path tracing, photon mapping or radiosity are employed. This is the basic method employed in digital media and artistic works. Techniques have been developed for the purpose of simulating other naturally occurring effects, such as the interaction of light with various forms of matter. Examples of such techniques include particle systems (which can simulate rain, smoke, or fire), volumetric sampling (to simulate fog, dust and other spatial atmospheric effects), caustics (to simulate light focusing by uneven light-refracting surfaces, such as the light ripples seen on the bottom of a swimming pool), and subsurface scattering (to simulate light reflecting inside the volumes of solid objects, such as human skin).
The rendering process is computationally expensive, given the complex variety of physical processes being simulated. Computer processing power has increased rapidly over the years, allowing for a progressively higher degree of realistic rendering. Film studios that produce computer-generated animations typically make use of a render farm to generate images in a timely manner. However, falling hardware costs mean that it is entirely possible to create small amounts of 3D animation on a home computer system. The output of the renderer is often used as only one small part of a completed motion-picture scene. Many layers of material may be rendered separately and integrated into the final shot using compositing software.
Reflection and shading models[edit]
3d Rendering Architecture
Models of reflection/scattering and shading are used to describe the appearance of a surface. Although these issues may seem like problems all on their own, they are studied almost exclusively within the context of rendering. Modern 3D computer graphics rely heavily on a simplified reflection model called the Phong reflection model (not to be confused with Phong shading). In the refraction of light, an important concept is the refractive index; in most 3D programming implementations, the term for this value is 'index of refraction' (usually shortened to IOR).
Shading can be broken down into two different techniques, which are often studied independently:
- Surface shading - how light spreads across a surface (mostly used in scanline rendering for real-time 3D rendering in video games)
- Reflection/scattering - how light interacts with a surface at a given point (mostly used in ray-traced renders for non real-time photorealistic and artistic 3D rendering in both CGI still 3D images and CGI non-interactive 3D animations)
Surface shading algorithms[edit]
Popular surface shading algorithms in 3D computer graphics include:
- Flat shading: a technique that shades each polygon of an object based on the polygon's 'normal' and the position and intensity of a light source
- Gouraud shading: invented by H. Gouraud in 1971; a fast and resource-conscious vertex shading technique used to simulate smoothly shaded surfaces
- Phong shading: invented by Bui Tuong Phong; used to simulate specular highlights and smooth shaded surfaces
Reflection[edit]
Reflection or scattering is the relationship between the incoming and outgoing illumination at a given point. Descriptions of scattering are usually given in terms of a bidirectional scattering distribution function or BSDF.[5]
Shading[edit]
Simple 3d Rendering Software
Shading addresses how different types of scattering are distributed across the surface (i.e., which scattering function applies where). Descriptions of this kind are typically expressed with a program called a shader.[6] A simple example of shading is texture mapping, which uses an image to specify the diffuse color at each point on a surface, giving it more apparent detail.
Some shading techniques include:
- Bump mapping: Invented by Jim Blinn, a normal-perturbation technique used to simulate wrinkled surfaces.[7]
- Cel shading: A technique used to imitate the look of hand-drawn animation.
Transport[edit]
Transport describes how illumination in a scene gets from one place to another. Visibility is a major component of light transport.
Projection[edit]
The shaded three-dimensional objects must be flattened so that the display device - namely a monitor - can display it in only two dimensions, this process is called 3D projection. This is done using projection and, for most applications, perspective projection. The basic idea behind perspective projection is that objects that are further away are made smaller in relation to those that are closer to the eye. Programs produce perspective by multiplying a dilation constant raised to the power of the negative of the distance from the observer. A dilation constant of one means that there is no perspective. High dilation constants can cause a 'fish-eye' effect in which image distortion begins to occur. Orthographic projection is used mainly in CAD or CAM applications where scientific modeling requires precise measurements and preservation of the third dimension.
3d Rendering Service
See also[edit]
- Graphics processing unit (GPU)
Notes and references[edit]
- ^Badler, Norman I. '3D Object Modeling Lecture Series'(PDF). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- ^'Non-Photorealistic Rendering'. Duke University. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
- ^'The Science of 3D Rendering'. The Institute for Digital Archaeology. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ^Christensen, Per H.; Jarosz, Wojciech. 'The Path to Path-Traced Movies'(PDF).
- ^'Fundamentals of Rendering - Reflectance Functions'(PDF). Ohio State University.
- ^The word shader is sometimes also used for programs that describe local geometric variation.
- ^'Bump Mapping'. web.cs.wpi.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
External links[edit]
- History of Computer Graphics series of articles (Wayback Machine copy)
Rendering software may simulate such visual effects as lens flares, depth of field or motion blur. These are attempts to simulate visual phenomena resulting from the optical characteristics of cameras and of the human eye. These effects can lend an element of realism to a scene, even if the effect is merely a simulated artifact of a camera. This is the basic method employed in games, interactive worlds and VRML.
The rapid increase in computer processing power has allowed a progressively higher degree of realism even for real-time rendering, including techniques such as HDR rendering. Real-time rendering is often polygonal and aided by the computer's GPU.[3]
Non real-time[edit]
Animations for non-interactive media, such as feature films and video, can take much more time to render.[4] Non real-time rendering enables the leveraging of limited processing power in order to obtain higher image quality. Rendering times for individual frames may vary from a few seconds to several days for complex scenes. Rendered frames are stored on a hard disk, then transferred to other media such as motion picture film or optical disk. These frames are then displayed sequentially at high frame rates, typically 24, 25, or 30 frames per second (fps), to achieve the illusion of movement.
When the goal is photo-realism, techniques such as ray tracing, path tracing, photon mapping or radiosity are employed. This is the basic method employed in digital media and artistic works. Techniques have been developed for the purpose of simulating other naturally occurring effects, such as the interaction of light with various forms of matter. Examples of such techniques include particle systems (which can simulate rain, smoke, or fire), volumetric sampling (to simulate fog, dust and other spatial atmospheric effects), caustics (to simulate light focusing by uneven light-refracting surfaces, such as the light ripples seen on the bottom of a swimming pool), and subsurface scattering (to simulate light reflecting inside the volumes of solid objects, such as human skin).
The rendering process is computationally expensive, given the complex variety of physical processes being simulated. Computer processing power has increased rapidly over the years, allowing for a progressively higher degree of realistic rendering. Film studios that produce computer-generated animations typically make use of a render farm to generate images in a timely manner. However, falling hardware costs mean that it is entirely possible to create small amounts of 3D animation on a home computer system. The output of the renderer is often used as only one small part of a completed motion-picture scene. Many layers of material may be rendered separately and integrated into the final shot using compositing software.
Reflection and shading models[edit]
3d Rendering Architecture
Models of reflection/scattering and shading are used to describe the appearance of a surface. Although these issues may seem like problems all on their own, they are studied almost exclusively within the context of rendering. Modern 3D computer graphics rely heavily on a simplified reflection model called the Phong reflection model (not to be confused with Phong shading). In the refraction of light, an important concept is the refractive index; in most 3D programming implementations, the term for this value is 'index of refraction' (usually shortened to IOR).
Shading can be broken down into two different techniques, which are often studied independently:
- Surface shading - how light spreads across a surface (mostly used in scanline rendering for real-time 3D rendering in video games)
- Reflection/scattering - how light interacts with a surface at a given point (mostly used in ray-traced renders for non real-time photorealistic and artistic 3D rendering in both CGI still 3D images and CGI non-interactive 3D animations)
Surface shading algorithms[edit]
Popular surface shading algorithms in 3D computer graphics include:
- Flat shading: a technique that shades each polygon of an object based on the polygon's 'normal' and the position and intensity of a light source
- Gouraud shading: invented by H. Gouraud in 1971; a fast and resource-conscious vertex shading technique used to simulate smoothly shaded surfaces
- Phong shading: invented by Bui Tuong Phong; used to simulate specular highlights and smooth shaded surfaces
Reflection[edit]
Reflection or scattering is the relationship between the incoming and outgoing illumination at a given point. Descriptions of scattering are usually given in terms of a bidirectional scattering distribution function or BSDF.[5]
Shading[edit]
Simple 3d Rendering Software
Shading addresses how different types of scattering are distributed across the surface (i.e., which scattering function applies where). Descriptions of this kind are typically expressed with a program called a shader.[6] A simple example of shading is texture mapping, which uses an image to specify the diffuse color at each point on a surface, giving it more apparent detail.
Some shading techniques include:
- Bump mapping: Invented by Jim Blinn, a normal-perturbation technique used to simulate wrinkled surfaces.[7]
- Cel shading: A technique used to imitate the look of hand-drawn animation.
Transport[edit]
Transport describes how illumination in a scene gets from one place to another. Visibility is a major component of light transport.
Projection[edit]
The shaded three-dimensional objects must be flattened so that the display device - namely a monitor - can display it in only two dimensions, this process is called 3D projection. This is done using projection and, for most applications, perspective projection. The basic idea behind perspective projection is that objects that are further away are made smaller in relation to those that are closer to the eye. Programs produce perspective by multiplying a dilation constant raised to the power of the negative of the distance from the observer. A dilation constant of one means that there is no perspective. High dilation constants can cause a 'fish-eye' effect in which image distortion begins to occur. Orthographic projection is used mainly in CAD or CAM applications where scientific modeling requires precise measurements and preservation of the third dimension.
3d Rendering Service
See also[edit]
- Graphics processing unit (GPU)
Notes and references[edit]
- ^Badler, Norman I. '3D Object Modeling Lecture Series'(PDF). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- ^'Non-Photorealistic Rendering'. Duke University. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
- ^'The Science of 3D Rendering'. The Institute for Digital Archaeology. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ^Christensen, Per H.; Jarosz, Wojciech. 'The Path to Path-Traced Movies'(PDF).
- ^'Fundamentals of Rendering - Reflectance Functions'(PDF). Ohio State University.
- ^The word shader is sometimes also used for programs that describe local geometric variation.
- ^'Bump Mapping'. web.cs.wpi.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
External links[edit]
- History of Computer Graphics series of articles (Wayback Machine copy)
3d Rendering software, free download
