Bobby Parker 6/1/16 Bobby Parker 6/1/16

V-Ray SP4 is out!

Build 3.40.01 (official) (31 May 2016)
==============

New features:
(*) V-Ray: Add support for 3ds Max 2017 including:
- Initial support for the new Physical Material;
- Support for MultiTile in V-Ray RT;
- Support for ColorMap in V-Ray RT;
- VFB: Initial HiDPI scaling support;
(*) VRayDenoiser: Implement a new render element that contains a denoised version of the image:
- The denoiser can take advantage of hardware acceleration;
- The denoised result can be adjusted after a render is complete;
- The denoised result is updated periodically during progressive rendering;
- The render elements required by the denoiser are automatically added;
(*) vdenoise.exe: A new command-line tool for denoising still images and animations with frame blending;
(*) V-Ray: Enable GI by default;
(*) V-Ray: Add another deep output fragment merge mode, "None", where fragments are not merged at all;
(*) V-Ray: Add "layers" type to override material exclude list;
(*) V-Ray: Add refraction filter bake element;
(*) V-Ray: Lower tessellation rate for out-of-view hair and displaced/subdivided geometry to save RAM in heavy scenes;
(*) V-Ray: Move the VRayHDRI's Tiled textures options from the material editor's interface to the V-Ray's Settings tab;
(*) V-Ray: Print a warning if "Show GI only" is enabled;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Add support for Orthographic camera;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Add support for bump with procedural Noise texmap;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Print the memory usage in the VFB statistics;
(*) VFB: Add option to enable auto-saving to history if the render completed normally (i.e. is not aborted);
(*) VFB: Add option to keep the VFB history folder relative to the current project path;
(*) VRayAerialPerspective: Add "filter color" parameter;
(*) VRayIES: Add an option to select luminous intensity in candelas (cd);
(*) VRayInstancer: Add option to override the node properties of the source objects;
(*) VRayStochasticFlakesMtl: Add textured flakes support;
(*) VRayStereoscopic: Add support for vertical placement of the left/right views in addition to side-by-side;
(*) VRayTriplanarTex: Add random modes: "By particle ID"/"By instance ID" support;
(*) VRayVolumeGrid: Implemented ability to pop out and enlarge the render diagrams;
(*) VRayVolumeGrid: Implemented different interpolation types per point in the render diagrams;
(*) VRayVolumeGrid: Implement motion blur clipping by the Cutter geometry for non-Mesh modes;
(*) .vrscene exporter: Show progress bar instead of "not responding" during export to .vrscene;
(*) V-Ray scene converter: Convert rectangle/sphere/disc photometric lights without web profile to the corresponding V-Ray lights;
(*) V-Ray Installer: Attempt to uninstall previous installation without registry record;
(*) V-Ray Installer: Installation options can be set from the command-line;
(*) ply2vrmesh.exe: Store the textures names used by OBJ files into user attributes;
(*) vrayspawner.exe: Make it possible to run V-Ray from a remote location;

Modified features:
(*) V-Ray: Faster rendering with the light cache;
(*) V-Ray: Blend the "Fixed" and "Adaptive" sampler UI into a "Bucket" image sampler;
(*) V-Ray: Enable support for processor groups and more than 64 CPU cores by default;
(*) V-Ray: Rename "Color threshold" to "Noise threshold" in the Adaptive image sampler;
(*) V-Ray: Add texmap shortcut buttons next to colors for plugins with automatically generated UI
(*) V-Ray: Add UI mode views switching for the Image Sampler rollout;
(*) V-Ray: Make the DR settings window with persistent size;
(*) V-Ray: Remove the "Adaptive subdivision" sampler from the UI
(*) V-Ray: Slow rendering of objects visible behind multiple panes of glass;
(*) V-Ray: The log messages window text and background match the 3ds Max color scheme;
(*) VRayLight: Streamline the UI rollouts;
(*) VRayLight: When assigning a new VRayHDRI or a Bitmap texture through the UI, automatically browse for a file and set the mapping to spherical environment;
(*) V-Ray RT: Add information about the current noise threshold to the render statistics;
(*) V-Ray RT: Enable region changes without restarting the render in RT;
(*) V-Ray RT: Enabled by default the rendering of Proxies, X-ref, Particle systems, Displacement and Motion Blur;
(*) V-Ray RT: Make override material independent for production and ActiveShade renderers;
(*) V-Ray RT: Optimize export of scenes with many instanced geometries with many faces;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Add "bias" spinners support for VRayDirt;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Improvement automatic texture resizing, leading to reduced memory usage and better quality;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Optimized rendering of VRayBlendMaterial;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Speed up loading of resized textures to the GPU;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Warn the user if all the GPUs they have are used for rendering;
(*) VFB: Added a button to open the V-Ray messages window;
(*) VFB: Show warning when images cannot be saved in the history;
(*) VFB: The MaxScript command "vfbcontrol #clearimage" should not trigger confirmation dialog;
(*) VRayDisplacementMod: Automatically calculate the "precision" parameter for 2d displacement mode;
(*) VRayDisplacementMod: Enable the "static geometry" option by default;
(*) VRayExposureControl: Bring back for 3ds Max 2016 and newer;
(*) VRayFur: Faster hair strands generation;
(*) VRayHDRI: Implement drag and drop of texture files from Windows Explorer to the file edit field;
(*) VRayMtl: Improved GGX/GTR sampling to reduce fireflies;
(*) VRayMtl: The "Anisotropy" spinner has a lower step;
(*) VRayProxy: Optimize rendering;
(*) VRayStochasticFlakesMtl: Improved importance sampling algorithm, removed the "texture subdivs" parameter;
(*) VRayStochasticFlakesMtl: Treat "num flakes" as square root of the number of flakes;
(*) VRaySun/VRaySky: Add "blend angle" and "horizon offset" options to the user interface;
(*) VRayVolumeGrid: Add option for changing the mesh preview color;
(*) V-Ray scene converter: Convert the 3ds Max Normal Bump map to VRayNormalMap;

Bobby Parker 5/31/16 Bobby Parker 5/31/16

Honda Dealership Renderings

““Bob is very flexible and easy to work with, and seems to be able to work with all types of files. The finished product was just gorgeous - it looked like an excellent photograph. We were very pleased!” ”

— Architect

A couple weeks ago I got a call about a couple proposed Honda dealerships and the need for a couple renderings. Like most clients, the client didn't really understand plans and elevations, so the architect reached out to me.

After a few iterations, working back and forth on some changes, here are the finals.

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Bobby Parker 5/18/16 Bobby Parker 5/18/16

Greystone on the Hudson

What a project! Yes, it is a single family estate and it is beautiful. The developer reached out to me and at first, we couldn't agree on a fee, but after much prayer I called him back and gladly took the project. Although there was a lot of obstacles I had to overcome, the project was a pleasure to be a part of and I look forward to the next one.

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Bobby Parker 5/2/16 Bobby Parker 5/2/16

Holiday Inn Twilight Rendering

Rendering this Holiday Inn brought me back to when I worked for a hotel/motel design and build firm, about 45 minutes outside of Chicago. It was about 20 years ago when I was hired to illustrate their designs, to get approval from the company owner, who was located in New York City. It was early in the world of computer architectural renderings and things took an awfully long time and they were not very good. At the time, they were still cool, but they look archaic today. I should post the old ones, but I won't :). Here are the new Holiday Inn renderings.

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Bobby Parker 4/30/16 Bobby Parker 4/30/16

31 Orange St. Rendering

This project went silent, about 1 year ago, but came back to life this week. Each project, for me, is an opportunity to create something beautiful and I hope this architectural rendering qualifies.

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Bobby Parker 4/6/16 Bobby Parker 4/6/16

3D Rendering Hardware Upgrades

To create a successful architectural rendering takes creativity, patients, basic art theory knowledge, and many other skills and disciplines. To create a successful 3D computer generated architectural rendering takes the same above mentioned skills and disciplines, along with several new ones.

If you haven't noticed, most creatives are not very technically gifted and most technically gifted are not very creative. Of course, these are generalizations, but tend to hold true. You need a unique person to create a successful 3D computer architectural rendering, because you have to be both creative and technically minded.

In this post I'll be talking technology. So, if you are only a creative thinker, this will probably confuse you. For you technical guys, it'll be candy.

Recently, I dropped a small fortune ($6,500) on some new hardware. A fortune is relative, but it was a fortune to me. Like any successful business, you have to invest to stay competitive and relevant. After about a year of investigating, I finally pulled the trigger on a new computer. This is what I purchased:

Dell Precision T7910 36-Core Dual E5-2696 v3 Max 3.8GHz 128GB RAM EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 06G-P4-4995-KR 6GB

The Dell precision T7900 is the most powerful, to date, computer they make. The processors are not available to the public and they don't get any faster. About every aspect to this computer is EXTREME! From the 2X 36-Core processors, to the 128 GB of RAM, and the 6 GB video card. EXTREME!

Why such an EXTREME computer? Simply, I can create better 3D computer architectural renderings for my clients. I am a creative, which is about 80% of what it takes, and now I have the EXTREME hardware to create things faster. Not only can I do things faster, I can do things better, because I don't have to wait so long for the computer to compute and I can use that time to be more creative.

When you are looking for an architectural illustrator, please ask about their hardware. If they are working on a 4 year old laptop, please reconsider them as your choice. I have seen some beautiful work from some people who use inexpensive hardware, however, things take very long to complete and there are a lot of shortcuts that need to be taken. Small changes, for the most part, are a big deal, when you have limited resources. With limited resources, there are simply things you can't do; things that make an image EXTREME!

Bobby Parker 3/19/16 Bobby Parker 3/19/16

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Rendering

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College is growing and I was honored to be involved. Recently, I was asked to produce some marketing material for their Spring 2016 school enrollment. Here, are two architectural renderings that I produced for the architect and developer, both will be used to market the new dorm building.

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Bobby Parker 3/13/16 Bobby Parker 3/13/16

485 Hampton House

Another awesome project for another awesome client. This house, the developers would like to market the house prior to construction, so he commissioned me to illustrate all that the house could be.

Considering we are emerging from a long cold winter, here in upper Minnesota, it was nice to work on a pool project. Also, the modern interior was fun to illustrate.

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Bobby Parker 2/1/16 Bobby Parker 2/1/16

Non Photo Realistic Renderings (NPR)

Typically, I share my photo-realistic architectural renderings, however, this time I have some non photo-realistic renderings to share with you.

About 20 years ago, I started producing hand drawn architectural renderings, so I know these fall short when you put them up to the real thing, but they are meeting my clients current needs.

A lot of the times, people want to market an idea or design, but they don't want something so refined that it doesn't give the buyer room to dream. Or, it doesn't obligate the architect or designer to the design, which at this point is just a concept.

If you have any questions on my process, please let me know by commenting below, or sending me an email.

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Bobby Parker 1/19/16 Bobby Parker 1/19/16

Barrett Lane Architectural Rendering

I absolutely love what I do for a living, creating architectural renderings; each rendering is an opportunity to create something cool.

The Barrett Lane house came to me, via a web lead, which is how I get the majority of my work. I was provided the 2D CAD plans and elevations, built the 3D model from the 2D plans, and sent a couple gray scale proofs. Several things, on this project, were changed due to the insight the gray scale proof revealed.

After a couple iterations, I created some color proofs, and then some final 4k stills.

““Very professional and responsive. The renderings were high quality and accurately represented the architecture.””

— LeMaster Architects

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