Create an autumnal archviz scene
Shayan Shamlou details how he built this cosy archviz image with a night-time forest setting using 3ds Max
Design a cozy forest villa
Ihad the inspiration for this project when I was preparing for a Forest Pack plugin training package, for a workshop. I needed to simulate a space inside a forest with lots of plants and leaves so that I could take advantage of the power and features of this plugin. I decided that the best season for this scene would be autumn, so I looked for the best reference to help me simulate a modern and minimal villa in a forest space.
Autumn simulation at night can result in some very attractive images, due to the harmony of orange and blue, so I decided to bring the simulation space closer to night so that I could take advantage of the blue light that is scattered in space, and also the dark-blue sky. The materials that make up this villa are metal, mirror, concrete and glass, and the inside of the villa is made of wood cabinets and furniture arrangement, with some purple fabric material.
The exterior of the villa features several lights to illuminate the forest environment so that we can see the exterior of the villa in rendering. The focus of this scene simulation is technically based on the Forest Pack plugin and the Scattering operation, which is one of the most important simulation operations in archviz.
Let’s take a look at my step-bystep process for this project.
01 UNIT SETUP AND MODELLING
We’ll start by setting up the units, choosing centimetres, then we can start constructing and modelling the land area with Shift and the Push/pull tool. I decided to model stairs on both sides of the villa according to the reference I collected for this project. Provide space for the columns under the villa to cover the pebbles.
After arranging the space using 3dsky and Evermotion models, now the stage is ready for us to model the cabinets and kitchen space.
02 CABINET CREATOR SCRIPT
At this point, I used the Cabinet Creator script to model the cabinets in the kitchen. It is safe to say that this is one of the most powerful scripts in the 3ds Max software. It enables us to easily create both floor cabinets and wall cabinets at the same time and with just a few clicks, and the width, length, depth and thickness settings can be easily adjusted.
With this script you can also easily add shelving, as well as vertical and horizontal doors to the cabinets. You can then use the Handle and Sink options to add extra details to the model.
And finally, a powerful feature called Random Create can randomly generate a variety of cabinets for you. This script is easy to run and will save you a lot of modelling time.
03 PREPARE SCENE FOR LIGHTING
I chose to use a dome light and an HDRI for the overall lighting of the scene so that I could simulate the blue hour night light. The exact setting of the light is shown in the image. A dome light is used only for the background, which is without any light, and only the image is used.
Also, several IES lights have been used simultaneously for the indoor lighting, with a relatively warm colour – a temperature of 5,000K, but with a low intensity setting that does not make the space too bright.
For lighting inside the forest, several sphere lights were used to simulate artificial lights.
04 INTERIOR MATERIAL PARTS
Different materials have been used in this scene. The cabinets are made of brown wood, as well as clear semi-mirrored wood for the kitchen cabinets in white, plus concrete for the floor and white plaster for the walls. Most of the material used for this villa is glass, which reflects the beautiful environment of this forest house. Also, all glass frames are made of composite steel, which is black.
One of the materials that was very important to me, although very far from the camera, is the texture of the furniture fabric, which is purple – this can add an attractive colour harmony to the interior of the villa.
05 DOWNLOAD QUIXEL MEGASCANS ASSETS
In this scene, I used several rocks and small rock samples, as well as several models of wood and pebble debris, so that I could scatter and spread them randomly on the ground with the help of the Forest Pack plugin, which I will explain in the next step. The Quixel library is huge and very diverse, but if you want to access all the many helpful features and models, you have to get a Pro account.
06 FOREST PACK PLUGIN
The purpose of making this scene was to provide a workshop on the Forest Pack plugin which, due to its layering power, is the best tool out there for scattering.
I prepared several layers for this scene, from layering maple leaves on the ground and then scattering forest trees, which can be accessed with the variation feature as well as a proxy in Forest Pack. I also
used layers for spreading gravel under the villa as well as dry wood and pine cones. With this powerful plugin, I was able to create the forest environment I desired.
07 ADD FOLIAGE WITH SPEEDTREE
The best software for adding trees and vegetation is, in my opinion, Speedtree. As you can see in the screenshot, I first started by making a two-piece trunk, and then I reached the desired form by adding several layers of small and various branches and twig types. A very important point to remember is to use the Absolute mode so that we can manually specify the number of trunks – I input ‘2’ for the number, which is two pieces. Also, Eastern Redbud was used for the tree material so that I could simulate the original form of the tree.
08 PREPARE FOR RENDERING
At this stage, I used the rendering engine V-ray 5, which has a much higher speed than previous versions. As you can see in the image, the quality used is Full HD quality, and I tried to use the Sample Bucket, which provides high-quality results but increases rendering time.
But because the scene is set at night, we need to use a setting of 12 for Min shade so that we can have a clean render. In the Noise threshold section, I used a setting of 0.005 to get the highest quality, and finally Light Cache 2,200 for better lighting as well as noisefree rendering.
09 FINAL STAGE: POST-PRODUCTION
I used Photoshop for the postproduction, making use of different layers to achieve the appropriate quality and contrast for the night. Using the rendering of Zdepth elements at different distances, I was able to create a good fog effect on the back of the villa, which is one of the great techniques for creating fog quickly.
Finally, using the Camera Raw Filter feature, I worked on the visual appeal of the scene, tweaking the contrast and sharpness to achieve the final look. •