architectural project lighting

[mathias inc]

Hi,

I'm a student in architecture. I'm using 3DsMax6 en Finalrender to make visuals of my designs for 2 years now. So far i've been satisfied with my evolving skills. The problem is that i don't know anyone who can give me tips and it is verry hard to find good architectural tutorials (most are cars or characters or SF stuff). In the picxtures i included i'm not satisfied at all with the lighting, but ca't fix it. There are 2 problems: the light is to smooth (maybe some texture will hep...) and the second is, when i render an interior scene, i adjust the GI bounces to 4, this makes my exterior way to bright. All help is welcome, and if anyone knows a beter renderengine for me (only architectural renders) let me know. btw, i've got a redicoulisly slow pc (1.0GHZ, 256 RAM) but no money to buy new one....
Thanx for all tips you might give,

[kakrotto13]

add some reflecionst on windows and ground ;]
add illumination ;]

and ofkozz add some furnitur ;D

[brion]

hi mathias inc
I study architecture too and I`m using max too, now I work with Brazil r/s and I`m very satisfied, it`s a very good rendering system and I think u will get better results, hope so........... try VRay too
and I know that to get a good light result u have to work a lot with photoshop, post production

[mathias inc]

thx, i tried the brazil engine, but sfmgr takes about 90% of my cpu all the time, so i switched to Finalrender. I'll definatly try vray, seen some awfully good renders of it. thx for the help so far,
Mathias