This tutorial introduces methods to render perspective in Rhino and Photoshop. It’s helpful in case of rendering perspectives for presentation purpose. There are four parts in the tutorial including setting the view, adding background and materials, generating lines, and final rendering. The architectural model in the tutorial is Winton Guest House.
- Setting the view
1.1 In order to set the proper view, draw a vertical line in a common person’s height (5'10" for example), the top point of the line is the view starting point (eye level). Then copy the line to the view target point, and draw a line to connect these two points.
1.2 Under the View menu, in Set Camera options, select Place Camera and Target option, and follow the commands to finish.
1.3 We can adjust Len Length (between 25 to 50) to get the proper perspective view we want. Once we get the view, under Named Views panel, save the view as Perspective rendering.
2. Adding background and materials
2.1 Download a proper background for the view from Google Image. Under Wallpaper panel, add the background (we can keep adjusting the view to fit in the background better).
2.2 Open the background image in Photoshop, use Eyedropper tool to pick the color from the ground plain on the background image. Then in Rhino apply a similar color to our previous terrain. In this way we can see how the background works with our model.
2.3 Under Material panel, we can add some Octane Materials and apply them on some modules on our model. Under OctaneRender panel, enable the Alpha channel and Material ID as the preparation for final rendering.
2.4 We can also download an image of people to add into our perspective rendering in Rhino. In Photoshop, we can adjust Levels and Brightness/Contrast to get the Alpha image. Then add a new layer named as Person in Rhino, use “PictureFrame” command to import the person image. Adjust the scale of the person and use Alpha image to crop out the white background, and locate the person in the sun-exposure area on the model (for the purpose of shadow). We can also copy and paste the person in Photoshop and create the shadow by ourselves, but this way is not efficient in case of lots of people scene.
2.5 After all set, open the Viewport in OctaneRender and select a high resolution then save the rendered image (perspective raw) and material ID image (perspective material ID).
3. Generating lines
3.1 Switch to pen view in Rhino, then use “SelVisible” command to select visible. Then use “Invert” command to select the invisible lines and use “Hide” command to hide them. In this way we get the lines we can see. Then use the Export Selected to export the lines to Illustrator.
3.2 In Illustrator, we can adjust the scale, color and stroke of the lines.
4. Final rendering
4.1 In Photoshop, we can use Place Embedded option to embed the lines from Illustrator.
4.2 For the final rendering in Photoshop, we can adjust the Brightness/Contrast and Levels of background to make the model pop out more. Also we can use the Brush tool to draw some ground cover plants to let the model blend into the environment more. For the shadow of the building and person we don’t need to concern since they already generated in Rhino before we export the perspective raw image. For the glass on the building, we can copy part of the background and add it to a new layer named Reflection. Then use Soft Light effect and adjust Opacity option to let the Reflection layer blend into the glass texture.
