Renderbricks

LEGO should add hi-res models in a future release *:-)

A classic quad view (top, front, side, perspective) and switching them to full-screen and most important: higher poly models and textures and an option to turn on 3D LEGO logos on studs.

My picture in 3840 x 2160 above took 9 minutes with MODO on a DELL 12 core with 32 GB RAM. AA: 32 samples. I scaled it down to 1920 x 1080. To adjust the picture quality you might set other sample values higher for reflections or SSS depending on the scene. I also tried POV-RAY on my machine and it's a no go. Especially transparencies would increase the rendertime to an insane level what doesn't happen in MODO. MODO is using physically correct materials and global illumination. The render is really advanced and fast and it's fun to work with. POV-RAY is frustrating and outdated if you ask me. But free *:-)

Hi matt_one, a way to add nice bevels is using a shader what keeps the original geometry. Your brother should check out if Lightwave has some kind of rounding edge shader what fakes bevels by a normal map. I am using this in MODO and it works pretty nice. My picture took 9 minutes in 3840 x 2150 on a 12 core DELL with 32 GB RAM. I scaled down the picture to 1920 x 1080.

Thanks. Feel free to send me some nice models.

Here's another test from a tricky LDD capture. Thanks to matt_one for the inspiration and info. I wished the LDD meshes had a higher res and there's no easy way to get the LEGO logo onto the studs.

Hi matt_one, thanks for the info. Awesome. I managed to import a LDD model into MODO and it looks really great. Sad that the meshes in LDD are not hi-res and that there's no easy way to add the LEGO logo onto the studs. But this is a great method to transfer everything from the LDD library. Now I have more research tasks.

Wihere do you open the 3DXML file?

Try MODO. Seriously *:-) This is nice. The only problem is that you get low-res models (finally the models what LDD show) and studs without the LEGO Logo. What I do: - LDD export to LDR - fixing the LDR files by editing when parts are missing by wrong names (I just google for the part numbers to get the info) - using my own modified parts for the studs with LEGO logo - importing into BLENDER with an LDR python script - exporting as FBX or COLLADA - importing into MODO and do some cleanups and special setups I saw some nice POV-RAY renderings with much better models. But POV-RAY is using the LGEO models for this.

Nice one. What software are you using?

Thanks for the kind words. I took over the URL www.renderbricks.com and will use this for an intense wordpress portfolio later. And I have a great idea for some animation. But step by step. A lot of work to do. Fortunately my business is actually cooling down and I have time to work on this fascinating thing. Actually the rear view is rendering. Stay tuned for more awesome LEGONESS.

Hi, here's another fast test with the great 10019 set. I wished the LDRAW parts would match the LEGO CAD data perfectly. Looking close into the details some parts have little issues with different resolutions, special labels are missing and some parts are not 100% modeled like those "earphones". I need to find out why the bigger white 8-side-bricks have no hard edges and there's still a lot of research to do. But I am quite happy about the infinite possibilities. LEGO IS MORE. Click the picture for the 8k version.

I will take a look into these sets. I can adjust the material shader but model fixes are hard to do because I just use the existing LDD model and have to live with the results after the export/import. The translucency is more a reflection on the surface. Optimally would be to use studs with an own bevel radius. But this will cause more geometry and this is a bad idea. I need to wait for an importer creating instances of repeating bricks.

More stress please

Hi to all LEGO addicts. In my posting "Photoreal LEGO Rendering" I was showing the progress of my research how to render photoreal LEGO with LDRAW and MODO. Finally I could work out to convert LDR models into MODO with all the important details. Here's now the ultimate stress test with the awesome LEGO set 10179. Thanks to DenJansen for the LDD file. The model will take the full 32 GB RAM of my DELL. The scene is extremely slow and needs a lot of patience to setup. The next release of the LDR converter I use might support instances of objects what would make a great difference to load such a complex model with over 5.000 parts. The rendertime for each picture in 8K resolution was 1 hour what is pretty fast for this level of quality and detail. Looking closer now the model has some issues I probably will fix like the right side of the cockpit or the MiniFigs. Click onto the pictures for the 8K version.

I wished there would be a coverter for the LDD files. But I guess that the models and studs from LDD have not the detail I need for a realistic rendering. My model for the rendering is an import of a ldr file using the ldraw library. All decals are in vector format there. What is good because it would need some work to scan pictures and texture them manually. I am aware of the missing roughness for the slope bricks and I know that POV-Ray can do this. But I need an automatic way for this because the idea is to import every model without doing manually steps. Especially very complex models would end up in heavy work because everytime you import the ldr files you end up in untextured models again. You must create your own library for those models to replace them by a script.

Here's a screenshot of the missing parts. Btw: LDView shows the LEGO logos onto the studs correct. I have to find out why the importer is showing some of them mirrored. http://lego.virtualrepublic.org/issues/8070_Technic_Car_Missing_Parts

I will do. Thanks for the advice *:-) The model seems to be incomplete due to missing parts. I will check this out again. Is the model coming from LDD?

Here's another test with a Technic model sent by lego2lego for a nice wallpaper in 3840 x 1080. Rendering took 10 minutes. *:-) Unfortunately MLCad reports missing parts. So it's incomplete but the level is detail is impressive. Please not that some roughness isn't a texture. It's caused by still too low samples. And there are mirrored LEGO studs. No idea why. But my actual setup works also here pretty well. Next steps is to create a library for MODO for all LEGO materials. This stuff is really addictive *:-)

Here are the actual renderings with the LEGO RGB Colors from the Peeron Color List. +++ I made intense tests with high-res studs and bevels I created in Primitive Generator 2 to have a fixed size of the bevels and adjust the LEGO logo and edges by the rounding feature. But finally the result was the same and the geometry is much higher. Here's a pretty nice 4K render what took 14 minutes on my DELL: http://lego.virtualr...RGB_Wide_4K.jpg

The Foundry sells als a student version of MODO.

When I have finished the research I will take a look.

Tell me what you want and I will render it *:-)

The roughness is a result of low samples atm. I will check the greenish grey later. Next steps - when I worked out the perfect method to import the models I will work on two shader: one for the edges adding scratches and bumps and one for the faces adding very subtle scratches and bump to make the faces looking more imperfect. Lot of work to do.

OK. Here's another update with logos on the studs. And due to the fix to get the LEGO logo right also other details will be fixed like the "textures" on the piece left back and the cockpit glass. And here's a result where you see the missing panel in the cockpit now. The panel picture is modeled with MLCad I think and not based on a .dat model. Therefore the python script couldn't convert it. But in MLCad you can export in primitives and then you get the complete model but no separate bricks anymore. And this causes again problems with the rounding shader, low-res studs only as you can see and that's not the model I want to have. So I need to do more investigation and talk to the dev team of that LDR importer to fix this for the future.