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I do pretty well with renderings in V11. There are a few tricks I’ve found helpful:
Delete the back wall; By this I mean, the wall behind the camera perspective. If the room is fully boxed in with walls and you have ceilings turned on, no ambient ‘scene’ light can reach the stuff you want in the image.
Use the ceiling light option- I usually place it out of the camera frame, but in a place where it will throw good light and the shadows lay in a pleasing way.
Change the background color- This is an odd one, but especially when rendering very light colored cabinetry, I’ve found that selecting a background color that’s a light gray or beige, rather than white, throws the cabinetry into slightly sharper contrast.
Ambient lighting- This setting is your friend, use it a lot! You generally don’t have to bump it up much, but the default setting is very low, so tends to leave stuff in shadow.
Visible Sun- Especially if you have windows in the design, visible sunlight can add a lot of light and some pretty dramatic shadows into a design. It’s not always the answer, but it can be lovely.
Exposure- After you’ve created a high quality image, you can adjust the exposure by selecting the lighting tool. This is basically a filter, and has a slider you can move back and forth, or you can enter numbers manually. A little exposure goes a LONG way in 2020. The difference between 1 and 1.2 is rather a lot. I’ve often found that if I put more light than I actually want into an image, then dial back the exposure a little, I get nicer results.
User Light- User lighting is complicated and takes a little getting used to, but it’s worth it. Use the light fixtures from the 2020 local catalog, since the cloud options don’t have functional light effects yet. After you place a fixture, you can select ‘light properties’ and change the angle, intensity, and color of the fixture. This is a great way to add realistic lighting and shadow to your design. Don’t rely on the default light color- select something a little more yellow or orange to get closer to the soft-white that most people tend to prefer, unless you’re doing a super modern design, in which case the brighter white is fine. Also, I’ve found most fixtures look better if I open up the angle a LOT to flood the area with light.
The Lighting Wizard- One common element of really great renderings is that they usually include cabinet lighting; Under-lighting, interior lighting, etc. You can download the Sensio catalog from the 2020 web site, and even if your shop doesn’t sell Sensio (They’re a fine product, but there are many choices) using it just for the visual effects helps a lot.
Render Settings:
When doing a high quality render, don’t bother with high or even mid quality until you’ve done it on low and you’re sure it looks the way you want. This is mostly just a time saver, but rendering on low is way faster and you’ll quickly get a feel for recognizing if the lighting or colors are off, without having to wait forever for a high quality texture rendering.Hope some of these tips help!
2020 Design Expert Techniques- Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at 2 PM (EST)
Can’t make the webinar?
Request a recording by registering.Would you like to take your kitchen, bathroom and closet designs to the next level? Improving your speed, accuracy and profitability might just be one tip or trick away!
John Morgan, 2020 Design expert, will be on hand to arm you with new tools, techniques and hidden gems of information to give you an edge on your competition.
In reply to: Blog Roundup August 2018
Hello. Great posts, especially this one about Social Media Marketing Tips for Kitchen & Bath Cabinet Dealers. Recently, I wrote an article about Marketing tips for Window & Door Companies. You can click for more info here. I think you definitely will like it.
In reply to: Suddenly Windows don't cut thru the wall…?
Interesting! Your advice actually solved my problem! I think the next article in my blog will be about all these computer things. By the way, if you are interested – http://www.speckygeek.com/writing-research-papers-info-products/ you may check it out! I write about useful tips for students. Hope you’re gonna like it!
In reply to: 2020 Design Hardware
In reply to: Space Mouse?
Hi Dustin,
We have never tested the Space Mouse with 2020 so I don’t really have any tips for you. Just wanted to let you know that we have seen issues with gaming mice and even the Dial from the Microsoft Surface Studio not interacting properly with 2020 as well. My recommendation would be to stick with the tried and true 2 buttons and a wheel when using 2020. 🙂
Neil
Topic: Blog Roundup August 2018
Hey there 2020 Design community! Here’s a roundup of all the blog posts published in August 2018.
How to Become a Cabinet Dealer
Social Media Marketing Tips for Kitchen & Bath Cabinet Dealers
NKBA: How Being Part of an Association Can Help Your Business
Happy reading!
Topic: Space Mouse?
Designer Catalogs and Cabinet Door Configurator
2020 has improved the 2020 Design generic catalogs to include Global Style Validation in our navigation. Now, you can easily navigate when selecting different styles for cabinets and finishes, such as door height, style and pulls along with drawer styles and pulls. You can visually see what you’re choosing with the new thumbnail images.
Here are some 2020 Knowledge Center articles that will provide you with tips, tricks and hints on how to start using them. Check them out!
Visit the 2020 Knowledge Center and quickly get answer to your questions !
In reply to: Is it too much to ask?
Mike, Thanks for the tips. Both of my computers are relatively new. My desktop runs the NVIDIA GeForvce GTX 1060 3GB.
It bugs me that most of what I have to do involves learning to be an it guy. I am sure 2020 works hard to keep up. I don’t want to be an IT guy. I want to design kitchens, so I hope so.
The fact that a lot of the fixes involve not importing things that are part of what 2020 is good for, like wall coverings to create great presentations, is kind of defeating the purpose of having the program to begin with. People expect these types of service today. Thanks HGTV!!
Topic: March 2018 Blog Roundup
Hello Design community! Here is a roundup of all the blog posts published in March 2018.
[Free eBook] Interior Design Marketing Strategies for Your Business
Interior Designer Salary: How to Make More Money as a Designer
Social Media for Interior Designers: 5 Ways to Show Off Your Designs
10 Tips to Become a Better Designer
2020 Software Training: How to Convince Your Boss to Pay for Training
Enjoy!
Topic: Item's List
Hi Design friends!
I have had a lot better success lately with 2020 and started finding ways to work around certain issues. So I just wanted to say thank you for all the great tips and replies that people have posted to my previous questions.
Here is one small issue I’ve ran into with a co-worker of mine today. Suddenly her items list was empty. Her design was still in tact and her quote was still correct but we couldn’t figure out how to bring all the items back on her list.
Thanks in advance!
Kerstin
In reply to: General Questions
