Renderbricks Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Hi LEGO-Addicts *:-) I had a longer break from my research about photoreal LEGO renderings with LDRAW and LDD models. Then I got attention about MECABRICKS. The latest version supports OBJ export and here's a first test in 3840 x 2160. Everything looks awesome. If there were hi-res bricks and parts it would be super-awesome. Good job, Scrubs! *;-) Edited October 17, 2014 by virtualrepublic Quote
jamesster Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Oh dang, that's really nice. Time to re-visit Mecabricks! Quote
Zerobricks Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Looks almost like on the box cover! Awesome render. Quote
Renderbricks Posted October 17, 2014 Author Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Thanks! The models from LDRAW will give better results because they have a higher mesh and you can add LEGO logos onto the studs. The LDD models are nice but in low-res only. I wished LEGO would give us much better converted models from their original CAD database. But MECABRICKS is the most easy way to get models into MODO. I am in contact with Scrubs who is doing an awesome job. The LDRAW or LDD way takes much more effort and tricks to transfer models. Well, if the world would be easy, there would be no challange, passion and satisfaction. *:-) Display pictures and click into the 4K version. I need to fix some grain in the renderings. Edited October 17, 2014 by virtualrepublic Quote
legolijntje Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Those ship renders look beautiful! Amazing work virtualrepublic and scrubs :thumbup: Quote
Calabar Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Wow, great renderings! What is the rendering software you used? PS: images are oversized (maximum size allowed in EB is 1024x768, if I'm not wrong). You could use thumbnails. Quote
Zerobricks Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Awesome! Too bad the tubes on their backpacks are low-polygon, it gives away the digital nature. Maybe you can add some background? Keep practising! Quote
Renderbricks Posted October 17, 2014 Author Posted October 17, 2014 Awesome! Too bad the tubes on their backpacks are low-polygon, it gives away the digital nature. Maybe you can add some background? Keep practising! Yes. Hi-poly models with optional LEGO logos for the studs is missing here. But I won't complain. MECABRICKS is nice. For a background I could arrange some stuff from Modular Buildings... later... maybe *:-) Quote
Palathadric Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 These renders are incredible! Who made that ship by the way? PS: images are oversized (maximum size allowed in EB is 1024x768, if I'm not wrong). I always had the impression it was 800x600, but... Quote
Scrubs Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Who made that ship by the way? I did . I think it was one of the first models made in mecabricks to show of what was possible to do with it. I admit that it was a pain at the time to correctly position the bricks! It came a long way since then with the 3rd version of the workshop now online for the past 3 months. Here is my version of the Ghostbusters set. This is my first rendering using Blender Cycles after a day learning it. I added a few vertices to improve a bit the rough backpacks. Ghostbusters by mecabricks, on Flickr Quote
gerkenz Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Had a little time to render the Mini with blender today. I'm actually checking the lightning and material settings to get a better result... Quote
Renderbricks Posted October 18, 2014 Author Posted October 18, 2014 Hi gerkenz, check this out: http://rioforce.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/lego-materials-in-blender-cycles/ Quote
gerkenz Posted October 19, 2014 Posted October 19, 2014 Lights updated... For more realism I would like to see 2 things: a slighty bigger gap between the bricks beveld bricks/studs ( maybe that will solve the gap "problem", too ) What do you think? Quote
Scrubs Posted October 19, 2014 Posted October 19, 2014 Your last rendering looks good. I agree with your two points however, the original purpose of mecabricks is to be used online. I'm always looking for ways of reducing the file size so that a model with hundreds of different part design doesn't take forever to open. Adding details like bevels takes a lot of vertices for not too many benefits in the workshop. It's always hard to find the right balance. Gap between parts is pretty close to the real one however you are right, the bevel (rounded edge) makes it appear bigger. Like what virtualrepublic does, a shader that does add a fake bevel shall help without rebuilding the all part library. Quote
dlefik2014 Posted November 9, 2014 Posted November 9, 2014 Sorry, I know it's been a while since the last post, but I've been looking through your threads, virtualrepublic, with all your photoreal renders, and have to say I love everyone of them. You've really inspired me to jump back into 3D Max and start cranking out Lego renders. Though, not as good as building real bricks, it's just as addicting. Keep up the awesome works and great tips you've been sharing on your workflow. Quote
Scrubs Posted November 11, 2014 Posted November 11, 2014 (edited) Hello, I keep playing with Blender any now and then to render models I like. Here is my last one, the X-Wing Starfighter. It is not too visible here but I added the support for flexible parts (rubber band and flex hose so far) in Mecabricks that can also be exported with the STL or OBJ exporters. The 4 rubber bands used to hold the 4 wings are actually modeled at the back. You can check the original model in the workshop here. X-Wing Starfighter LEGO® by mecabricks, on Flickr Edited November 11, 2014 by Scrubs Quote
dlefik2014 Posted November 12, 2014 Posted November 12, 2014 ^ Great looking model scrubs. I've only recently been hearing about Mecabricks as I'm still really new to the Lego community, but what little I've seen coming from it is truly astounding. You've done an awesome job on things and look forward to more quality work. Quote
Scrubs Posted December 16, 2014 Posted December 16, 2014 Hello, I come back with my latest rendering of a model I just built on mecabricks. This is the first real big Technic set. I wanted to see how usable the workshop was for this kind of build. It turned out pretty well I think :) Cargo Plane by mecabricks, on Flickr Quote
arno592000 Posted December 20, 2014 Posted December 20, 2014 Can you detail your blender settings to obtain such a real image please? Quote
jaggedmirror Posted December 29, 2014 Posted December 29, 2014 This is some cool stuff! I have Blender and I have LDD and I am familiar with a lot of the tools, but MECCA seems hard and not as user friendly. And I can't import the models I had already made in LDD. Did I miss something on MECCA to aid in connecting the pieces and can you import from your computer?? Quote
Scrubs Posted March 2, 2015 Posted March 2, 2015 Hello, I still try to improve my CGI skills with Blender - especially after having seen the images from virtualrepublic. Here is my last rendering. This is the Flower Cart 40140 that I exported from Mecabricks. I might post the nodes I used at some stage so that people can try them and improve them as well. Flower Cart 40140 by mecabricks, on Flickr Quote
Zerobricks Posted March 2, 2015 Posted March 2, 2015 Almost fooled me The wooden ground really adds to realism. Quote
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