This is an explenation for the rendering of the poolball + Questions from Rune
(in green)

What program did you use, and eventually what plugins?

The program i used was 3dsmax4.26, and i used a render plugin named Vray. more info

Did you use a standard spere or did you use something more advanced?t?

The scene contains only a standatd spehere and a plane for ground, the lighting are made by my own Hdri map.

Wireframe:



HDRI map:



Tell us a little bit about the texture process. How did you make the textures, and did you use textures from any texture collections?

All texturering are made from scratch, the map for the pool ball are made in photoshop, the graduation between the white and red color didnt show wery well in this picture unfortunately. I corrected this but didn not have the time to update the competition picture.

The wood plate underneath the pool ball are a scan from a wooden chair.

Woodplate textursection:



The dust and dent map are originally made by scanning a kitchenpot lid witch I found in the kitchen cabinet (old type):



I then tweaked this in photoshop to exctract the needed details suitable for the different maps. Hence both the "bump" and "specularity" originated from the same map.

After "tweaking" in photoshop:



The Pool ball map have the following components:

Diffuse map:	Bump map:
Scratch / specular:	Reflection:

What was the hardest part about this image?

Nothing stood out as very hard, the things that took most time was making and tweaking the maps for the dust/dent layer.

Was there any post work done, or is it straight from the renderer?

I am always adjusting my images in photoshop after rendering, the amound can be variable, but I am mostly using "curves" to adjust contrast, and some color adjustments.

Before/ after adjusting:



We apreciated the more exciting composition, do you have any comments on this?

I put much emphasis on the camera view, and this is often something I play with before I start with fine adjustments for materials and lighting.
I was going for a bit "widescreen" composisjon in this image.

Are you satisfied with the result?

I am pretty pleased with the result, but there are a few things I should have tweaked, one of the is rendering to layers, but with the depht of field rendered effect, this would be a bit timeconsuming renderwise..

On the "to do" list:

1. Adjusting the reflection falloff
2. Adjusting the reflection color saturation.
3. The red white transition on the pool ball.
4. A bit more "worn" plate underneath the ball.

Your pictures are very photoreal, do you have any tips for others trying to acheieve the same level of photorealism?


Observing reality are the most important thing, I know that alot of newbies are getting frustrated of hearing this, but this can not be avoided.

I use a lot of time studying pro photos (product shots and likes), and I try to analyze the scene of the photographer.

Details are also very important for making objects look real. Making objects look to scale can be hard, but by making small details in the objects can help the perception of scale in objects.

My old Art teacher used to say: "Drawing is seeing"...I guess we can transalete this to photoreal work in 3d too.. :-)

In addition to all this, one must not forget to also have some basic understanding of the tools in use...A little bit of training are to be recomended here...


-Tom Winberg