3D Rendering · Product Visualization

Product Visualization

A self-directed study in rendering products convincingly enough to stand in for photography. Four cosmetics, modelled from scratch and lit with studio HDRIs.

Role
Modelling, shading, lighting, rendering
Type
Self-directed study
When
Post graduation
Tools
Maya, Arnold, Photoshop
Rendered foundation bottle Rendered BB cream tube Three rendered lip gloss tubes

Background

After graduating I wanted to practise my rendering, which I felt was my weakest skill. I recreated products I already owned, because I knew what they looked like, how the textures behaved, and how they felt in the hand.

I chose the rest of the subjects to cover as wide a range of materials as I could reach.

The Challenge

Every one of these is a different material problem. A foundation bottle is glass with liquid sitting inside it. Lip gloss tubes are translucent, with the coloured product reading through the walls. A BB cream tube is soft matte plastic carrying a printed gradient. A violin is lacquered wood with no flat surface anywhere on it. Boots are creased leather. A can is printed aluminium.

Approach

Everything was modelled from scratch in Maya, shaded and rendered with Arnold, and finished in Photoshop. I worked from a folder of real product photography, lit the scenes with 4K studio HDRIs, and paired each finished render with its wireframe. The geometry is the part of a product render nobody sees and the part that decides whether the highlights fall where they should.

Foundation

Rendered foundation bottle, glass with liquid inside Wireframe of the foundation bottle model
Glass, liquid, and a printed label on a curved face.

BB cream

Rendered BB cream tube with a soft gradient finish Wireframe of the BB cream tube model
A soft plastic tube, where the gradient has to sit on the surface rather than float above it.

Lip gloss

Three rendered lip gloss tubes in different shades Wireframe of the three lip gloss tubes
Three shades through translucent tubes, each one changing how the light carries.

Violin

Rendered violin in warm wood on a dark background Wireframe of the violin showing the curved body and scroll
No flat surfaces anywhere. The arch of the body, the f-holes and the scroll all have to be built rather than approximated.

Shoes

Two rendered ankle boots on a wooden floor Wireframe of the two boots
Leather takes light differently from glass or plastic, and the soft creases across the toe are modelled rather than bumped in.

Beer can

Rendered beer can with a matte printed finish The abstract artwork designed for the can, shown flat
A model and texture study. Printed aluminium with a matte finish, and the artwork I designed for it. The Beer pub crest is the only part that is not mine.

Setting up the shot

Maya viewport showing the group render being set up
Blocking out the group composition before rendering.

Outcome

The three products arranged together on a neutral set
The three products composed together.

This was a personal study, and the makeup is what I am happiest with. I built a scene with all of the pieces in it and rendered the group together. The textures came out the way I wanted them to.

Nobody commissioned this. The cosmetics are Maybelline and Anastasia Beverly Hills products, and the Beer pub crest on the can is a stock asset. Everything else is mine.

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mcrimmins034@gmail.com