Bravo
24-06-2004, 08:38 AM
I always thought photocomposition was a pretty cool effect, but it took me a while to learn to do it. I'm not aware of any tutorials on it, so here's one for anybody that needs help. This tutorial is written for 3DSMAX 5.0, but you can use it for earlier versions of MAX as well.
______________________________________
READ: For this tutorial you will need a picture file for the environment. Here is a link for the one I used. Save it to your computer.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/beach.jpg
______________________________________
1: Okay, now, the first thing to do is drag out a teapot in your top viewport. Don't make it too large or small. Give it a standard grey material.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut1.jpg
2. Now we need to add our environment. To do this, click at the top Render>Environment. Click in the box on top, and select "Bitmap" when the Map browser comes up. Then, just select our beach picture from where you saved it on your computer.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut2.jpg
3. Great! Now, click at the top Views>Viewport Background. Then, in the box that comes up, check "Use Environment Background", and "Display Background". Make sure the correct viewport is selected! It should be the perspective or camera. You can just click in the viewport in Max, or select it from the drop-down in the box. Click "Ok" at the bottom of the box.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut3.jpg
4. Good job. Now, your selected viewport should look like this:
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut4.jpg
5. Next step is to drag out a large plane under the teapot. Not too small, but not too big either. Something like I have.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut5.jpg
6. Good. Now, we need to go into our material editor. Click Rendering>Material Editor. In this box, click on Material>Get Material. Select "Matte/Shadow" in the box that comes up. Apply that material to the plane we made under the teapot.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut6.jpg
7. Okay, now notice that you can move around the viewport without the background changing. You can look under it, over it, beside it, and the background stays the same. Now manipulate the view so that it looks somewhat like mine. The teapot should more or less appear to be laying in the sand.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut7.jpg
8. Great! Now if you hit render, you'll get something like this. The teapot KIND OF looks like it's in the sand, but it's not convincing at all. We will work on that!
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut8.jpg
9. Last step! I told you this was fast! Now, go to the Create>Lights tab. Click on Skylight and put one above your teapot. Then press "9" on your keyboard or go to Render>Advanced lighting. In the box, make sure it is set to "Light Tracer". If it says "No Lighting Plugin" or "Radiocity", click on it and change it to "Light Tracer". Leave the settings default. Then render it. You're done! A giant teapot in the sand! You can use this method with all sorts of other objects.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut9.jpg
____________________________________________
Notice this was done entirely with standard MAX software. With Photoshop and other rendering engines such as Brazil, you can add even more effects to make it look in place.
I hope I helped you all with fast photocomposition!
______________________________________
READ: For this tutorial you will need a picture file for the environment. Here is a link for the one I used. Save it to your computer.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/beach.jpg
______________________________________
1: Okay, now, the first thing to do is drag out a teapot in your top viewport. Don't make it too large or small. Give it a standard grey material.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut1.jpg
2. Now we need to add our environment. To do this, click at the top Render>Environment. Click in the box on top, and select "Bitmap" when the Map browser comes up. Then, just select our beach picture from where you saved it on your computer.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut2.jpg
3. Great! Now, click at the top Views>Viewport Background. Then, in the box that comes up, check "Use Environment Background", and "Display Background". Make sure the correct viewport is selected! It should be the perspective or camera. You can just click in the viewport in Max, or select it from the drop-down in the box. Click "Ok" at the bottom of the box.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut3.jpg
4. Good job. Now, your selected viewport should look like this:
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut4.jpg
5. Next step is to drag out a large plane under the teapot. Not too small, but not too big either. Something like I have.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut5.jpg
6. Good. Now, we need to go into our material editor. Click Rendering>Material Editor. In this box, click on Material>Get Material. Select "Matte/Shadow" in the box that comes up. Apply that material to the plane we made under the teapot.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut6.jpg
7. Okay, now notice that you can move around the viewport without the background changing. You can look under it, over it, beside it, and the background stays the same. Now manipulate the view so that it looks somewhat like mine. The teapot should more or less appear to be laying in the sand.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut7.jpg
8. Great! Now if you hit render, you'll get something like this. The teapot KIND OF looks like it's in the sand, but it's not convincing at all. We will work on that!
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut8.jpg
9. Last step! I told you this was fast! Now, go to the Create>Lights tab. Click on Skylight and put one above your teapot. Then press "9" on your keyboard or go to Render>Advanced lighting. In the box, make sure it is set to "Light Tracer". If it says "No Lighting Plugin" or "Radiocity", click on it and change it to "Light Tracer". Leave the settings default. Then render it. You're done! A giant teapot in the sand! You can use this method with all sorts of other objects.
http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/surfer894/tut9.jpg
____________________________________________
Notice this was done entirely with standard MAX software. With Photoshop and other rendering engines such as Brazil, you can add even more effects to make it look in place.
I hope I helped you all with fast photocomposition!