Gamecube and Controller

[ludabird]

i'm trying to make a photorealistic still life of a gamecube, controller, and a couple games. i used the merge polygon command on the front panel of the cube and now i can't get rid of that dark gray color - it's supposed to be much lighter. also, i need a background i know... anything else you guys can suggest?

[iggy21]

Im not sure if this helps (or is even relavent),, but check for nonplaner... or simply triple the polys in question and re-merge)

[ludabird]

here's an updated pic. i am playing around with background images. i think the controller looks pretty good, but the gamecube and the games aren't as photorealistic.

again - suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

[Captain Obvious]

You really need to turn on raytracing (shadows and reflections). Turn off ambient, add some area lights and you might want to consider turning on backdrop radiosity.

Nice models, but you might want to subdivide them a bit more. The rounded bottom part of the controller looks a bit weird.

[ludabird]

here is the most up to date rendering

[Captain Obvious]

Much better, but you might want to move the light a bit. If you have a strong light set up at an angle that is similar to the camera, you end up making the image look very flat. Move the light over to the side, and turn it into an area light for nice soft shadows, and it'll bring out the model details much better. :)

[TheDude]

Yes, the shadows do look a bit too sharp. In reality you'd need a very specific type of light to get the same effect, even sunlight would be softer.
If the render time isn't an issue you could try some background radiosity, which will add a more realistic look to the sort of lighting you would get from an interior setting.
Models look spot on, maybe a touch more bevel to soften the edges of the cube, Nintendo make kid friendly palstic.....

[Gettarobox]

you might also decrease the reflectivity on the controller surface. or make the reflections REAALLY blurry.

[ludabird]

this one is with the backdrop radiosity suggested. i got rid of the funny background image for now and just opted with a neutral color... but i think i might try to find a photo that will look good as a background.

[WhiteBoy]

Nice. My first real modeling project in LightWave was a GameCube! Here's what I came up with. I could send you the .lwo file if you wanted to look it over.

[Captain Obvious]

this one is with the backdrop radiosity suggested. i got rid of the funny background image for now and just opted with a neutral color... but i think i might try to find a photo that will look good as a background.
Are you sure your settings are correct? Your image looks as if it was rendered with way too high ambient, and just an area light somewhere behind the camera. The table or whatever has no shadows what-so-ever.

[ludabird]

hmm... yeh i was kind of wondering about why the shadows on the table weren't showing up. i thought it might have been the angle of light or something - this is my first model w/ lightwave so i'm still trying to figure things out. i know for sure that my ambient light is at 0%, and my back area lights are at an intensity of 35%, and my front area light is about 65% i believe. i'll double check my settings and try a new render... we'll see how it goes i guess.

[Captain Obvious]

And you're sure all shadows are turned on?

[ludabird]

okay. i've made sure all my settings are correct. the only thing i'm missing with this rendering is the backdrop radiosity, and that's just because this is a test render that i wanted to post up quickly. i plan on doing radiosity for the final render, along with adding a background image maybe. let me know you're final thoughts/suggestions, you've all been a big help so far already!

[Captain Obvious]

Turn down/off your ambient light setting and any luminosity your surfaces may have. The table is way too bright.

[ludabird]

i turned off my ambient light (it was at 5% before)... but the table nor any of the gamecube surfaces don't have any luminosity set right now. the diffuse intensity for the table was previously set at 100%, so i'm trying the settings now at about 70%, does that sound good? otherwise i'm not sure what is causing the table to be so bright, and some of the shadows to be so dark.

[ludabird]

okay so i decided to give up on the wood table idea, it wasn't really working that well with the gamecube i thought. in this image i went for a black reflective surface, so you can't see the shadows as much (which in a way is good i think, since i was having so many problems with them) and a neutral colored background.

let me know what you think!

[DavidL]

Looking good. Nice to see the progression of your model in the thread as it gets better and better. Also nice to see another Mass Lightwaver.

David

[WhiteBoy]

In the contorller's object properties, I would increase the render subdivision level a bit.

[Initium Thoth]

I'm new here so my 2 cents is more like a half penny... but to me the specularity looks a little too high or maybe the diffuse on the controller(perhaps the cube too). My GC controllers dont bounce that much back.

good job overall, enjoyed following the thread so far.

[shaol]

Looks good how about another control:thumbsup: ler and a tv you need to play someone