I suck at rendering but Im trying!

[leonnn1]

I m new to render things specially with sutch a powerfull engine like lux, but I got stuck, I m trying hard to learn it, but looks like Im terrible at it, with blender internal() I made a lot more than with lux and that s obviously my falt, so I really need the help of this comunity in order to make this plastic cheap render that I made look realistic, Im learning and trying, I allready posted 4 questions about materials and interface, and I m really want to improve, I allready done the tutorials of blender cookie and they helped me out a bit.
Here is the terrible thing that I achieved so far.

[J the Ninja]

So much matte material.....I don't like matte too much (aesthetically I mean, not as a renderer feature). It's SOO boring to look at. You'll find using glossy makes things look a lot prettier and more realistic. It will add a bit of noise though, particularly if you make it very shiny or have a high specular color. Remember that most things in the real world have a VERY low specular color (stuff you'd run into in your daily life is usually in the 0.02-0.05 range).

Probably the single best idea in had in doing this scene was to make the walls glossy instead of matte: gallery2.php?g2_itemId=17209 It added some subtle blurred reflections on the walls and floor that really draws you into the scene. I also think it is one of the greatest strengths of this image: gallery2.php?g2_itemId=15574


tl;dr: don't be afraid to use glossy or metal/metal2 to spice your scenes up a bit. Just be careful not to make everything super-shiny, as that can add a lot of noise.

[leonnn1]

Can you recomend a speciall setting for the wall? something it susefull to use bump, I m using this map to it so its best to use very small values for the reflection, but may I change the specularity of it aswell?

[J the Ninja]

The wall and the windows are pretty much the only 2 materials that are fine. Your problem is using matte for apparently EVERYTHING in the parking lot. Try switching those to glossy with roughness....oh try .2 or so.

[leonnn1]

Ok, I ll thanks! I ll post the result in a minute

[leonnn1]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Now its way better in my oppinion, but I need more help with the grass and the glasses and all the other details that you may find not real. thanks so far for the support!

I dont understand why the BG turn black, I dont know what I did to make that happen, and its weird but looks like that the tiling set is shadeless, and I dont know why yet.
Please so far I had a lot of help but I still need it in order to make this look real.

Thanks a lot

[SATtva]

You've seem disabled the sky component. Re-enable it in the sunlamp settings (it's the Sky Type parameter).

[Kira Vakaan]

I'm not sure the use of matte materials is the culprit for the grass. I use matte quite often with satisfying results. I think the problem is the lack of diffuse texture. Even a flat image of grass would help tremendously, especially when viewed from the height/distance of the camera.

[leonnn1]

I made a more complete render this time and the results didnt match what I expected at all, for me its still horible!!!
All the advices that you guys gave me I fallowed, but you see that it need a lot of improve yet but its way better than before really thank about that.
the aspalth texture ll be fixed I forgot to unwrap again I remade the whole mesh because it was very uggly and forgot to unwrap again.



And one more thing, I cant composite glare and defocus on blender, it simply dont work, someone can tell me why?

Now that is way moer clear I think that you guys can see better the scene and can help more with the settings.

Thanks a lot so far

[moure]

Here is some advice that i think they can help you
1. Work a lot on the materials and see many reference pictures of buildings to add details, now your building is "boxy" with none detail, thats why it seems fake.
Try to hide the tiling on the textures (grass,sideroad). Use different plants or rotate/scale the one you use so that it seems different. Also the road texture seems huge.
2. Background buildings. I would remove them, choose a city hdri to use, save with alpha maps and composite in post by using photographs. The buildings you have dont help the realism.
3. Make sure your scene is in correct units.
4. Choose a more dramatic camera angle. (P.s In your frame have something as a foreground object and the building as a background.)
Also enable dof in the camera settings.
5. If you want the windows to be more reflective and dont care about showing the inside, use mirror instead of glass with a small bump to get interesting reflections.