How can I make a realistic sports car render?

Rafael replies I’ve chosen to focus on making a Lamborghini Veneno. The final image was rendered using V-ray for Maya. Over the past years, I have been honing my skills in lighting and rendering as well as some other techniques with various rendering engines like Arnold for Maya, Renderman, V-ray, and mental ray, as well as other engines. The principles are the same for every render engine, but to make this car I will explain the principles and techniques that I use for V-ray to get this render.

Every render engine has three basic rendering principles: lights, camera and shaders. I live and die by these principles every time that I render.

In physics there are three principles as well, which form the basis for this technique. For something to be visible, first there needs to be a subject to be viewed, there also needs to be light, for visibility of the subject, and a viewer to capture all of this information. This same principle is being replicated in three dimensional space in Maya. With that said, physically plausible rendering is always my goal when making renders to capture realism in any three dimensional software package, whether it be Maya, Zbrush, Modo or 3ds Max. These principles will always stand true and are the reason why these applications were designed to begin with.

Another thing to note is that the model has to be carefully crafted in one of these applications with meticulous care and attention to detail. Planning and making sure you have enough time to work are also key to producing a result that makes for a solid, visually pleasing subject. The model, if anything, is the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to physical accuracy and believability.

My most important advice is that you should model everything, every part. Modelling is how it’s made!