3D Rendering

The newest addition to Premium3Dmodels.com is a collection of 11 light and ultra light aircraft 3D models.

The models for this particular collection are available in max (version 9) and obj formats and contain all the textures and material settings for vray. Each model is accurately scaled and is an accurate representation of the real airplane.

aerotrek A240 3D model
290068 vertices
286723 quads

zlin z-242 3D model
206188 vertices
208273 quads

alpi pioneer 300 3D model
240095 vertices
240111 quads

beechcraft super king air 3D model
263661 vertices
264244 quads

cessna 172 3D model
324020 vertices
345266 quads

cessna 177 cardinal 3D model
426304 vertices
425517 quads

cessna t303 crusader 3D model
273514 vertices
279410 quads

extra 300L 3D model
148661 vertices
149563 quads

glider Schempp-Hirth Discus 3D model
103409 vertices
103952 quads

piper seminole 3D model
297132 vertices
302726 quads

pulsar XPIII 3D model
210897 vertices
209137 quads

The glider model is available for free download, so make sure you check it out!

You can also download the pdf presentation to see more renderings of each airplane in high resolution.

In this tutorial we will go through the process of creating realistic wet materials. Although the tutorial is written for max and vray users, the same workflow can be adapted to any software you may use.

1) Analyzing the reference
In order to re-create any type of material the first and most important thing is to look at real photos of what you are trying to replicate in your rendering, and really understand what is happening there.

For example, take a close look at the photo bellow.

Not only the asphalt is quite reflective because of the layer of water on it, but also the glossiness/specular varies a lot across the image. In areas where the layer of water is thicker the reflections are a lot sharper and the bump of the asphalt is less present. In other areas, where the asphalt is dryer, the reflections become glossy and they are also distorted by the bumps on the street.

2) Replicating the effect with 3ds max tools and vray.
To sum it up, in order to create a wet asphalt shader we need a diffuse map, a bump map, a reflection map and most importantly a map for the glossiness chanel.
Open the “wet materials scene” that you find in this zip file.

Although all the maps are already there, they are not activated yet; we will activate them one by one to better understand how each of them affects the overall look.

a)    The reflection map

For the reflection, I have used a falloff with 2 maps (basically a darker version and a lighter version), for more control. Besides the brightness both maps are identical.
The areas close to the edges (where I want the layer of water to be thicker) are whiter and more uniform, while other areas are darker and noisy.

Activate the reflection map by clicking the checkbox next to it in the maps rollout.
If you hit render, at this stage you will end up with something like this:

b)    The bump map
If you activate the map and hit render you will notice that the reflections are distorted in the areas where the map has noise applied. Again, in other areas where there is more water, you need to paint it with neutral gray, since there is no bumpiness.

c)    The reflection glossiness map
This one makes all the difference. Before activating it, the reflection, although distorted by the bump map in some place is still very sharp an unnatural. As we have noticed from the reference image at the beginning of the tutorial, this should vary across the image, depending again by the thickness of the layer of water. White causes the reflection to be sharp (equivalent to “1” from the glossiness parameter), while darker values make the reflection much more glossy.
If you hit a render after having activated it, you will end up with something like the following:

d)    The diffuse map.
Although not really important for the purpose of this tutorial, it has quite an impact on the realism of the image, so activate that as well and hit a final render.

If there is something you don’t understand or if you have any kind of questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Hi guys,
Hopefully, in the following weeks I will have a little more spare time that I intend spend writing some new tutorials.
Bellow is a small list with what I intend to write about. I am hoping that you can come up with some more suggestions, so if you have any ideas feel free to post a comment.

Rendering liquids
Rendering wet materials
vray sss
How to setup a daylight interior illumination
Post processing an image from raw render to final output

I look forward to reading your suggestions.

Best regards,
Alex