Enscape & AI Enhancement | Modulus Render
TLDRIn this tutorial, the creator shares a method to enhance 3D renderings using AI technology. They discuss their initial skepticism about AI tools but acknowledge their recent improvements. The focus is on improving materials in Enscape, such as glass, reflections, fur, and carpet, which are not photorealistic enough. The creator demonstrates how scaling up the model in SketchUp can lead to more realistic textures when downsized. They use an AI engine called Kaa to enhance their render, particularly the carpet material, and show the before and after results. The process involves uploading the render to Kaa, selecting the 'enhance' option, and then manually masking the desired areas in Photoshop to blend the AI-enhanced parts with the original render. The tutorial also includes other examples where AI enhancement improved details in cushions, plants, and glass materials. The creator advises using AI enhancements judiciously and for specific elements to achieve the best results.
Takeaways
- 🎨 The tutorial focuses on enhancing render materials using AI, specifically for elements like glass, reflections, fur, carpet, and vegetation that may not be photorealistic enough in Enscape.
- 🚀 The creator doesn't advocate for starting with AI but suggests using it to enhance materials that are challenging to achieve realism with traditional methods.
- 💡 To improve the appearance of a carpet in a render, the creator scaled everything up by a factor of 10 and then used a carpet material to achieve finer and more realistic strands.
- 📸 The lighting setup includes a large soft box and reflective surface to bring out details, especially in darker areas of the scene.
- 🔍 When scaling a scene for better material detail, it's important to scale the model first and then set up the lighting to avoid issues with light intensity.
- 🤖 The AI engine Kaa was used for enhancing the image, offering a cheaper and effective alternative to other engines.
- 📈 The AI's 'enhance' feature was utilized without significant adjustments to the settings, demonstrating how straightforward the process can be.
- 🖼️ The AI significantly improved the carpet material's appearance, but the enhancement also affected other materials in the scene, which required selective editing in Photoshop.
- 📝 Masking in Photoshop is a crucial step to isolate the enhanced materials without affecting the rest of the image.
- 🌿 The AI also added details to other elements like cushions, plants, and fabrics, which could be selectively incorporated into the final render.
- 🧊 For materials like glass, the AI can enhance the appearance to a degree that might be difficult to achieve in rendering software alone.
- ✅ The tutorial demonstrates that while AI can greatly enhance certain aspects of a render, careful and selective use is necessary to maintain control over the final image.
Q & A
What was the main reason the author posted this tutorial?
-The author posted this tutorial to address the many questions, responses, and views they received after posting an image on Instagram, explaining how they enhanced their renders using AI.
What are some materials that the author suggests can be improved using AI tools?
-The author suggests that materials such as glass, reflections, fur, carpet, costumes, and vegetation can be improved using AI tools.
What is the author's opinion on starting with AI tools from the beginning of a project?
-The author does not fully support starting with AI tools from the beginning, as they believe the technology is not yet at a stage where it can fully replace manual work, but acknowledges that it is improving.
How did the author create the lighting for the carpet scene in SketchUp?
-The author used a large black box with a soft box, a dome light, and a sphere with a white emissive material inside to create a soft lighting effect. Additionally, they added spotlights for highlights and a reflective surface to bring back details.
What technique did the author use to make the carpet strands look more realistic in the render?
-The author scaled everything in the scene 10 times larger, which made the carpet strands appear smaller and more fine, thus achieving a more realistic look.
What is the key tip the author gives regarding scaling models and lighting in SketchUp?
-The author advises not to model the scene with the lights and then scale it, as the lights will not become bigger or more powerful. Instead, one should scale the 3D model first and then set up the lighting in the scaled-up version.
Which AI engines did the author test and ultimately choose for enhancing the carpet material?
-The author tested two AI engines, Kaa and Magnific, and chose Kaa because it was cheaper and provided good results.
What was the author's approach to using the AI enhance feature without adjusting any settings?
-The author loaded the image into the AI tool, selected the enhance option, and simply clicked to proceed without changing any settings or manually adjusting the prompt.
How did the author integrate the AI-enhanced carpet material back into the original render in Photoshop?
-The author placed the AI-enhanced image over the original in Photoshop, created a mask, and manually masked out the carpet material to blend it with the original render.
What are some other materials the author found that the AI tool could enhance effectively?
-The author found that the AI tool could effectively enhance details on cushions, plants, glass, and add small details to fabrics like velvet.
What was the author's final recommendation for using the AI tool in the context of 3D rendering?
-The author recommends using the AI tool wisely, for specific elements that need enhancement, and to always go into Photoshop for final masking and adjustments to ensure the best results.
Outlines
🎨 Enhancing Renders with AI Tools
The speaker discusses their experience with using AI tools to enhance their 3D renders, particularly focusing on materials like glass, reflections, fur, and carpet that may not be photorealistic enough. They explain their process of scaling up their model in SketchUp to improve the appearance of fine details like carpet strands. The lighting setup is also described, which involves a large white sphere acting as a soft box and additional spotlights for highlights. The speaker emphasizes not to scale lights as it does not increase their power or size.
🤖 Using AI for Material Enhancement
The paragraph details the use of two AI engines, Kaa and Magnific, with a preference for Kaa due to its cost-effectiveness and satisfactory results. The AI's 'enhance' feature is used to improve specific aspects of a render, such as the carpet material, without generating new content. The process involves uploading the render to the AI platform, using the default settings, and allowing the AI to process the image. The results are then imported into Photoshop, where the enhanced parts are masked and integrated into the original render, improving realism without affecting other materials.
🖼️ Post-Processing with Photoshop
The speaker shares their method of post-processing AI-enhanced images in Photoshop. They describe how to manually mask out unwanted areas to retain only the desired enhanced materials, such as the carpet or fabric details. The AI's impact on various materials is showcased, including cushions, plants, and glass, where it added realism and detail. However, the AI's effect on some materials, like leather, was not as desired. The speaker also emphasizes the need for careful masking to avoid over-enhancement and maintain the original image's integrity.
🌿 AI's Impact on Small Details and Final Thoughts
The paragraph highlights the AI's ability to enhance small details in renders, such as adding realism to the texture of velvet and improving the appearance of plants and glass materials. The speaker also discusses a specific example where the AI enhanced a 3D render of Snake Eyes from GI Joe, adding intricate details and improving the overall quality. The advice is to use AI wisely and locally to avoid unwanted changes to other elements in the render. The speaker concludes by inviting viewers to share their thoughts and engage with the content.
Mindmap
Keywords
Enscape
AI Enhancement
Photorealistic
Materials
Kaa or Kaa
Photoshop
Masking
Upscaling
Emissive Material
Soft Box
3D Warehouse
Highlights
The tutorial discusses the use of AI to enhance architectural renders, particularly in materials like glass, reflections, fur, carpet, and vegetation.
The author does not advocate for starting with AI tools but acknowledges their rapid improvement.
A technique to improve the realism of materials in Enscape by scaling models up and using a carpet material is shared.
The lighting setup involves a large soft box and reflective surface to enhance details in shadowed areas.
The author demonstrates a method to avoid scaling lights in a scene, which would affect the realism of the render.
An AI engine called Kaa is used to enhance the carpet material, offering impressive results.
The AI's enhance option is utilized, which automatically generates a prompt for image enhancement.
Different AI-generated results are shown, highlighting the AI's impact on various materials and objects.
Photoshop is used to composite the AI-enhanced carpet material over the original render, creating a more realistic look.
The tutorial shows how to manually mask out unwanted enhancements in Photoshop to retain the desired effects.
The AI tool is shown to be effective for enhancing details in fabrics, cushions, and plants.
Glass materials, especially colored glass, are difficult to render realistically, but the AI tool significantly improves their appearance.
The AI's ability to add small details to fabrics, such as velvet, is demonstrated with a before and after comparison.
The author shares an example of enhancing a character model, adding interesting details like metal and leather damage.
The importance of using AI tools wisely and selectively is emphasized to avoid over-enhancement.
The final render showcases the successful integration of AI-enhanced elements with the original scene.
The tutorial concludes with a reminder to use AI enhancements judiciously and to leave comments on the usefulness of the information provided.