Since I dropped the ball last year, I am picking things back up this year with a new winter special illustration of the research lab design. This view moves the camera underneath the architecture to give a sense of the experience one has when approaching the entrance. The image was pretty straight forward to create with much of the context texture and landscape coming together quickly. You will see that the screens and translucent panels were all added in Photoshop. I am still experimenting with this part of the design but was able to narrow in on final detailing through this image. Below is a super quick breakdown followed by links to all previous winter special posts.

 

 

1. Sketchup Model

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Above, a screenshot of the Sketchup model

 

2. V-Ray Base Rendering

research_lab_winter_1_baserendering

For the V-Ray rendering, I turned off the wall screens on the exterior so that I could use the material ID to select the interior information for later use.

 

3. Context and Light Adjustments

research_lab_winter_2_context_levels

I adjusted the levels of the image to increase the contrast and darken the underside of the architecture. I then added in some ground textures and background trees. The ground is made up of 3 different snowy textures with a shadow draped over everything.

 

4. Screens and Interior Light

research_lab_winter_3_screens

In Photoshop, I added screens on the exterior and the suggestion of a translucent material in the core of the building. I am considering creating a quick tutorial on this later.

 

5. Trees and Entourage

research_lab_winter_4_trees_people

Trees and entourage were added for scale, narrative, and depth.

 

6. Topaz Color Adjustments

research_lab_winter_5_final

Finally, I tweaked the colors towards a much warmer range. All my past winter specials were all on the cool side, so I decided to go a different route this year.

 

 

 

Winter Special # 1 (2011)

Gallery_snow_tutorial_alex_hogrefe_after

 

Winter Special # 2 (2012)

Gallery_snow_rendering_final_alex_hogrefe

 

Winter Special # 3 (2013)

Gallery_winter__snow_alex_hogrefe_architecture_rendering

 

Winter Special # 4 (2014)

bcc_winter_8_coloring

 

 

Winter Special #5 (2016)

research_lab_winter_5_final