Video: https://youtu.be/f8Q7kin7OYQ
Instructions from Video:
Creating renderings in Envisioneer is as easy as pressing a button, but some tips will help you achieve even higher-end photorealistic images efficiently. The result is an impressive, photo-like image that incorporates light, shadows, reflections, and other realistic attributes.
How to create a high-quality render of a home design?
A high-quality rendering starts with a well-built model that uses realistic materials, accurate reflections, and appropriate gloss levels to represent finishes naturally. Lighting also plays a critical role in establishing the mood and atmosphere of the space.
In addition to the model itself, the render settings you choose significantly impact the final image quality. Correctly adjusting lighting, shadows, reflections, and rendering options can greatly enhance the realism and presentation of your home design.
Setting the Lighting in a Model
Rendering Settings
Select View>Render 3D RealView
The 3D RealView tool uses both global illumination and ray tracing to produce an image of exceptional quality. The 3D RealView feature begins by reading in the model’s geometry, and then proceeds with the global illumination calculation, which occurs in multiple passes.
In the lower left corner of the 3D RealView dialog box, click the Options button
The Document Settings dialogue box appears. Select the 3D RealView option on the left.
Ray Trace Quality
Level. The level of quality in the resulting 3D RealView™ image. There are 5 levels to choose from. Note that the higher level of quality you choose, the longer the rendering process takes. This option must be set before rendering takes place.
Antialiasing. Blends pixels in areas where two colors or two materials meet to reduce artifacts (or “stair steps”) and produce a more natural look to the scene.
Environment
Electrical lights noise reduction. Noise in a rendered image refers to areas of graininess. This can happen in interior scenes that mix sunlight and interior lighting. Increasing the noise reduction value will reduce noise in renderings, although the rendering may take longer.
Skylight noise reduction. Increasing noise reduction reduces the amount of graininess that can occur when sunlight is coming through a skylight. (See previous setting also).
Tree and billboard intensity. The brightness/contrast of trees and photoboards in the rendered scene.
Background
Allow brightness adjustment. Allows the brightness of the background to adjust as the scene is rendered. If disabled, the brightness of the background remains unchanged.
Use texture as light source. Applies a tint to the scene which is based on the color of the background texture.
Texture intensity. When Use texture as light source is enabled, this allows you to adjust the intensity of the color being applied to the scene.
Click OK to accept the rendering settings. Back in the 3D RealView dialog box, select a size of image you want to produce.
Click Start Render.
Global illumination is an algorithm that simulates the many reflections of light around a scene, resulting in soft, natural shadows and reflections. Once global illumination is complete, ray tracing begins automatically. Ray tracing is a direct illumination algorithm that traces the path of a light ray from the camera through the scene, then calculates the reflection, refraction, or absorption of the ray when it intersects objects in the scene.
First, the model’s geometry is analyzed. Once that is done, the global illumination calculation begins. Global illumination determines how much light is given off by the sun or by lighting fixtures, and how much light is reflected off the surface of elements. Global illumination occurs in two or more passes. Once global illumination is complete, raytracing begins automatically. The view is updated in real time during these calculations, and the Remaining Time and elapsed time of each pass are displayed in the Progress area.
To adjust the overall brightness of the image, adjust the value in the Brightness edit box. Lower values darken the image, while higher values make it brighter.
To adjust the intensity of highlighted areas, adjust the value in the Burn edit box. This can be a decimal value between 0 and 1. Lower burn values reduce highlight intensity to avoid “burned out” areas in the image.
To control the overall brightness of an image, adjust the Gamma value.
When the rendering is complete, the message Render Complete! appears in the Progress area. Now you can either save the image, open it in an editing application, or reset the view and render again.
To make the rendering process more efficient, following the tips below
Stripping the model down before rendering
This tip will speed up rendering views. Stripping the model down to just the room you are working in removes any geometry that won’t be seen in the rendered image.
Select File>Save As.
Give the new file a name and click Save.
This saves a copy of the model under a new name. In the copied version of the model, we can remove elements that will not be in the scene to reduce the model size and, therefore, the time to render. By making a copy, we aren’t affecting the original.
Left-click to select an item not visible in the room you will be rendering. Holding down the shift key on the keyboard, left click to select other items also not visible from that room. Holding down the Shift key allows you to select multiple items. Once all items are selected, right-click and select Delete.
TIP: Make sure that you look in a 3D view to ensure you aren’t cutting something out in another room that is in the sightline of the room you are rendering. You want to ensure that items you can see through a window, or that are visible from your vantage point in the house, are still left in the model. For interior views, gutting out all exterior accessories, trees, and paths is a great way to cut down the file size. For exterior views, delete all furniture and accessories not seen through a window.
Testing with Low-Quality Levels first
To get an understanding of the lighting and placement of elements before committing to the full high-quality rendering, set the quality level of the rendering to a low level to ensure the shadow lines work nicely before taking the extra time to render at the highest level and then find out something wasn’t quite as you wanted.
Select View>Render 3D RealView.
In the 3D RealView dialog box, select the Options button.
In the Document Settings dialog box, set the Ray Trace Quality Level to Level 2 – Low (fast) and change the Anti-aliasing to 1 as the trial run for the rendering. These settings will render quickly, but the quality won’t be the greatest. For a trial, speed is more important.