CREATE A VR EXPERIENCE
Use 3ds Max and V-ray to create a virtual reality scene
C reating archviz has evolved over the years. Not so long ago we relied so much on impressive rendering to make that killer image in a client’s presentations, now we have so many options and software choices for our projects. Our options range from static renderings, 360-degree renders, animations, real-time walkthroughs and the list goes on, so it’s up to us to provide the client with the best choice suitable to their needs. In this tutorial I will teach you how to create an immersive VR experience using 3ds Max, V-ray, Photoshop and a set of VR visors. We will start by analysing our 3ds Max model to see where is the best place to set our point of view, and right after we will begin the rendering process. We will apply some post-production to our rendered panorama and finally we will upload it to our app so it can be seen in our VR visors. Once you understand the process it will be so easy for you to apply these steps to every image you are asked to do. Keep in mind you can apply this to both exterior or interior scenes. The main goal will be creating the required images that we can gather up and watch in our VR visor. For this tutorial I will use a simple cardboard visor considering it’s the easiest to get, but it will work the same way if you have another one.
01 GET TO KNOW YOUR PROJECT
I remember the first time I tried a VR experience and it was so great. Looking through the viewer and feeling immersed in a new space was so exciting, so let’s keep in mind that we expect the user to feel the same way. In this case I have chosen a small apartment for the experience: it has two major spaces, a bedroom and the rest. In this case I have selected the living room, kitchen and the rest because I want to show a larger space. Analyse your project and imagine some interesting places you think might look good in VR.
02 CHECK GEOMETRY IS OK
The process I am going to show you can be applied to all models you have, interior or exterior, but the first thing we need to check is the model. We need to keep in mind that we will not only be seeing the front part of image, but the whole scene; here I have modelled all of the elements that I want to be shown in our VR experience. One thing that might be helpful to get used to in this method is to do your tests with nothing but the space modelled. This will give us faster renders.
03 CHECK MATERIALS
Once we have checked the model we have to be sure that all the materials we have used are well placed in our scene. Why is this so important? Imagine you have the panorama rendered and ready for post, but then you notice that one material was missing… yes, you would have to render all over again. So, be sure to have all your materials in the scene. You can check it by also pressing Shift+t – there we can add the link from our textures to our materials.
04 CONSIDER LIGHTING
We are using a ‘ready-torender’ project, so it would be normal to use the light we already have in our static render. However, I have chosen to change the lighting for this VR version of the apartment. The reason? When we have a static render we only see the things we have in front of our camera, and we really never know what the lighting is like in the rest of our scene. For this step we will keep the lighting as it is, but once we reach the rendering phase changing it might be a good option in order to achieve different or more interesting shadows.
05 PLACE THE CAM
As I said before, we have to keep in mind that we will be rendering not only the front, but also the back, left, right, top and down images. So the first thing is to pick a nice place to settle our cam. In this case I have chosen the centre of the space. I set the focal length to
23 and film gate to 40, white balance to Neutral and shutter speed to 40. Why the cam in the centre? It’s a small apartment so we will be able to see most of the space from there. If it were an exterior, let’s say a park, we’d pick somewhere in the centre of a plaza so we could see all around us.
06 IMAGE SIZE
We are going to create a set of images to feed the app we will be using. This time we will use Irisvr, or as it’s called now, Scope. Let’s go to our settings in 3ds Max and set the image size to 9,216 x 1,536. Why? We need our panorama made by six images (front, back, left, right, up and down) so our standard image size for only one image is 1,536 × 1,536. We need to multiply 1,536 × 6 so we can have the render size of the needed strip.
07 CAMERA CUBE
Let’s make our panorama usable. Go to Render Setup and in the V-ray tab head to Camera and select Cube 6x1. This way once we render we will have a six-image strip, but we still have some tweaking to do in order to make the VR work. For now hit Render and we will see how our image strip now contains six full images.
08 STEREOSCOPIC HELPER
Now we have a nice image strip, but we still need to add more settings so that we can use it in our glasses. This time we are going to set a Vraystereoscopic helper. What this will do is duplicate the image set we have, and each image set will be used for each eye. Go to the Create tab then Helpers, select Vraystereoscopic helper and place it in our scene. Time to hit Render again to see the results.
09 ADJUST RESOLUTION
Now we have our image strip, but we can notice that it is stretched and doesn't look quite right. The reason for this is because we have our two image strips contained in the size of a single one. The solution to this is really simple. In the Vraystereoscopic helper settings set adjust resolution. Once this is done we are ready to make a new render. This time our strip will increase at double, but now we will have the correct size for each image.
10 EYE DISTANCE
This step is variable according to what 3ds Max gives as default, but it helps to correct some mistakes in our images. In our strip we can now see some curved parts – some may be barely noticeable, but the fact is that detail is there and is best sorted out. This is very simple to fix. In the Vraystereoscopic helper settings set eye distance to 6.5cm (0.065m) and now hit Render in the section where we see the curvy look.
11 REMOVE SEAMS
We are almost ready for rendering. We can now use the 12-image strip in our app and we could start to test it out, but we
might get some weird looks – and that may be because of the seams we have in our images. Removing these seams is so easy however – the only thing we need to do is head to Render Setup and select the V-ray tab. Turn off the image filter option. This way we will have no seams at all. Next it’s time to hit Render and get our final image. Now we can go to the app used to test our VR project.
12 FINAL RENDER SETTINGS
We are all set and ready to get our image. In this case I have set low resolution settings, because once the image is ready we might be able to detect some mistakes, or perhaps the lighting may not be how we intended. Maybe we can add more detailed models in the areas we did not consider before. So this mid-quality setting is our test mode. Once we have changed what we don't like or corrected any errors, we can then proceed with high-quality settings.
13 SAVE OUR VR PANORAMA
Once the panorama is ready we will still need to perform some tweaking in Photoshop. The reason that we need to save several elements is to give more detailed areas to our VR panorama. You can select the only one you need or just render the main RGB image. In this case the elements I have used are the following: V ray global illumination, V ray raw global illumination, Vrayrawlighting, V ray raw total lighting, Vrayreflection, Vrayrefraction, Vraywirecolor and Vrayzdepth. Once we have them all we will be able to merge them and give the image another look in Photoshop. Remember, save in the TARGA image format.
14 IMPORT OUR ELEMENTS
Once we have our elements we will start our post-production as we would usually do in a static render. In this step we will add them as you can see in the video. It is possible to add all as a stack but I prefer to add them one by one, as I feel more in control this way. As I said before I used: V ray global illumination, V ray raw global illumination, Vrayrawlighting, V ray raw total lighting, Vraywirecolor and Vrayzdepth Keep in mind that this is optional; these elements are the base that I usually work with, but if your workflow has a different way to
add the elements then this is also useful – at the end we will be doing post-production.
15 BLEND MODES
Each element will improve the details in our image. The blend mode I use the most in my work is Soft Light. Each element is set in Soft Light and with a value no greater than 23. If we go over 23 we’ll see a darker image, burned places, white spots and so on, so let’s keep it under 23. With the Vrayzdepth element I usually Rasterize it, press Ctrl+i (to invert it), then set it to Screen mode. After that set the values, but keep in mind that we need a subtle effect not a whole white background, so set it to a value of 19.
16 REMOVE THE BACKGROUND
With all of the elements in their place and with their blend mode set, we now need to add a visually interesting environmental background, but first of all we need to erase the current background. As I always say, save in TARGA. Saving in TARGA gives us an alpha channel right into our Channels tab without the need to load an alpha element into our file.
Now let’s go to the Channels tab and select the alpha. Press Ctrl+a to select it all and then load the channel as a selection. Now select our elements folder and click Add Vector Mask. This way we will erase the whole background, ready for us to add our own.
17 LEARN TO EDIT
We have erased the background and it might be logical to add a nice sky… but not yet! We have to be aware that we are editing a stereoscopic image, but what does this mean? It means we have a set of two images, so we need to add exactly the same stuff twice. This might sound quite challenging but don't worry – what I usually do is use the rulers. I set one ruler in the left, one on the right and the most important one in the centre, so we can have some control once we have our left side ready to copy to the other side.
18 ADD SKY
Now it’s time to add a background to our scene. I have
selected a background with some buildings and pleasant surroundings. Here is where we can decide to add a more detailed sky or surroundings – I usually add several layers of clouds in the sky for extra visual interest, and in some other cases I add just an image that I think does the job of filling the background. Remember, in this case what we need is to show off our interior, so the background shouldn’t be too distracting. Once our left side is ready all we have to do is copy it to our right side.
19 CHANGE THE MOOD
Once we have placed our elements and background/sky it’s time to change the mood a little. In this case I opted for a warm feel. To achieve this I played with a Color Balance adjustment layer. I pulled the bar a little to the reds and also played with the curves, in this case to add a little more brightness and contrast. I finally added a Black & White adjustment layer to enhance the definition of the image and set it to 23. Now it’s time to save in JPEG format, and our panorama is ready to be tested.
20 UPLOAD INTO WEB APPS
Once we have our panorama ready it’s time to upload to our app so we can see how it works. I have always used Irisvr – their app is now called Scope. Here you need to create your account. Once it’s done the next step is to upload our panorama – we just have to go to our Scope library and simply drag and drop our panorama. The site will automatically process it and once it’s done we will be able to see a thumbnail. If we click this we will be able to view it as a 360-degree image.
21 LOAD OUR PANORAMA
Now in our mobile app, once logged in we head to My Library. From there we will see our thumbnail, so click to download it to our mobile device. This is needed so we can play it in our visors. Once it has been downloaded we click again and it will show at its full in our mobile. What’s left is to place our mobile into our visor and it’s done, our virtual reality experience is ready. •