After modelling the orange (shown in the previous post) I decided to integrate it into the latest version of the project, experimenting with its positioning and scale to that it looks balanced. The render below is its current state, however, I still feel like it needs to be changed – Im not sure on its overall balance and I think it could be further refined.
Renders:
The 3 objects look very good together, however, this took a lot of time to get it to where it is now. I feel further research and testing will have to be conducted in order for it to look better, which I can document in the future.
Within my Scene Dressing post, I set myself the task of modelling some fruit to support my other assets within the renders. The voice-over below explains my process of creating them and justifies why I did certain actions when creating it.
As stated briefly in the video, I had used a tutorial on YouTube the first time round which had some good-ish results, however, the method of using a Boole to half the sphere meant that the edges of the slice couldn’t be smoothed out or bevelled – this was a major problem as I was very noticeable and really held back the quality of the other assets in the render. By switching to my method, it completely eradicated this problem, however, it took a little while longer – a compromise which is well worth taking.
Renders:
Overall, Im really happy with the way the Orange model turned out – I think that the use of a high-quality image and also the careful refinement of their materials made it look photorealistic. I will continue to play around with the orange skin or peel as I’m not satisfied with it entirely, however, this will come after creating the rest of the models and sources the images.
Whats Next:
Next, I will create the remaining two fruits: a Blood orange and a Grapefruit. In addition, I will integrate all of the assets together and further refine their arrangement so they look aesthetically pleasing.
Since my last post, I set myself the task of integrating the glass models into the main project file. Within the video below you can see this process taking place, as well as a couple renders to show what the supporting assets look like with the main product.
Within the time-lapse, I demonstrated my workflow by importing the glass models into the main project file and then altering the scale and alignment of them to create a balanced shot through the camera. I then started to create the liquid objects, by using the same method as the Fructus bottle, I copied the inside profile and put this into a Lathe NURBS to create a 3D object. I found this process incredibly easy as I had done it multiple times before with the bottle, the only difficulty I had was creating a dilute version of the liquid texture that looked good. I spent a lot of time altering the colours, absorption distance and strength to make it look realistic, and from the final renders below I feel like I did a good job.
Renders:
Overall, I’m really happy with the way the renders turned out and they look really good, specifically the High Ball & Zombie Glasses (Top Left & Bottom Right).
Like discussed above, I spent a lot of time altering the colours, absorption distance and strength to make it look realistic – because the volume of fluid in the glasses was much greater when compared to the bottled fluid, the overall colour looked much darker, and this really didn’t look good because in real life this wouldn’t have happened unless something was added to it – this was my main motive for wanting to change the liquid colour in the glasses. In addition to the liquid colour inconsistencies, the Hurricane & Martini glasses have a funny visual defect that can be seen at the bottom of the glass – I’m not sure what is causing this, however, It could be the glass material properties and the way in which light refracts inside of the material. Finally, I feel that there is something missing from the render and that it needs an extra model to support it, after looking at pre-existing case-studies, I noticed a common convention where they all use a model of one of the ingredients inside the liquid to act as a prop, I feel like I need to do the same in support the bottle and glass.
Whats Next:
Next, I am going to model some fruit slices to place within the scene, which will further improve it as a whole and will help to unite everything together.
Now that my main product has been completed to a high quality that is photorealistic, I need to produce supporting assets to help dress the set. When discussing my progress with my tutor, it was highlighted that the overall image of the product was good, however, it felt very empty. This lead to some discussion that the product could be further enhanced by adding glasses to the side of the product to denote the way in which the product is intended to be used. At first, I wasn’t too sure on the idea, however, after thinking it through it has grown on me – this would also mean that the idea behind the concept would have also changed from being a stand-alone drink to a cocktail mixer. Following this new direction, I started to source reference images and then begin modelling, which can be seen in my time-lapse below:
Overall, the models that were produced look really good and because I had already done this process with creating the bottles, it was really easy. I particularly like the High-Ball and Zombie glasses due to their thin glass walls which I feel would look really good with a liquid object inside of it, but I also really like the Martini glass because of its elegant shape.
Even though modelling the majority of the glasses were successful, I couldn’t successfully model the Pitcher. Due to its unique shaped pouring spout and handle, it made it particularly difficult to create as I had to manually manipulate the polygons by stretching them forwards and curving them around, which is something I had never done before. In addition, the model was also put into a subdivision surface (SDS) before making it editable – this meant that the object including the SDS was united into one object, thus increasing the number of points around the object which further made it difficult to add the pouring spout as there would too many to grab and move (this is visible within the time-lapse).
Renders:
Out of the four models that I did successfully complete, they turned out very good. The realism on them is fairly good but they could be improved by adding the additional features to them such as the liquid and fruits etc, which would further compliment the product when integrated together.
Whats Next:
Next, I am going to integrate these glasses into the main project file, this will then be positioned carefully to set the scene in a pleasing way. After this, I will then develop liquid materials to go inside of the new glass models.
Using the pre-existing fluid object which I had created previously, I started to experiment with the Transparency and Reflection channels within c4d’s material editor in order to create a more realistic material for the product. When I started I didn’t know what ‘flavours’ or coloured materials I was going to create, I simply started to create something that looked real in order to achieve photorealism. Because the initial colour of the object was orange, I started with that – I disabled the colour and reflection channels and enabled the transparency, and using the water present within this I was able to create an orange looking material. After this, I then enabled the water present in the reflection channel which produced a good effect, however, it probably wasn’t necessary as the glass texture on the outside of the bottle created the main dominant reflections.
After these steps, there was a long period of fine-tuning – the colour specified within the transparency had a lot of strength to it, with the smallest amount of colour (controlled by the saturation slider) it had a drastic effect when rendered out, this colour strength change varied depending on how much material was behind it. After this process, I finally managed to get 3 material to a high realistic quality and rendered them out, these can be seen below.
Final:
These are the final fluid materials that I had created, going in chronological order I had tried to create a Blood Orange, a Mixed Fruit and an Orange flavour. I feel that they look fairly realistic and this was achieved through experimenting with the transparency and reflection channels within c4d’s material editor, I was further able to fine tune this material through playing with the absorption distance to create a material that increased in transparency where thin – this is particularly evident in the top render where the main body of the fluid is a pink colour, however, towards the neck of the bottle where it gets thinner it becomes more orange.
Whats Next?
Next, I am going to post these to social media to get a response as to whole realistic these materials are, and also how much the audience like them. This will then further allow me to make changes based on this feedback.
