41 – What is a Composite Render?

One of the fastest ways to a good visualization may be combining a real photograph with a 3D render.

Civil FX Updates

Recently finished a freeway overpass alternative and the client allowed me to add it to my portfolio which you can see at www.civilfx.com
You can see the submissions for the 2nd visualization challenge at www.civilfx.com/vc2
Considering doing away with the visualization challenge deadlines… what do you think? Email me sam@civilfx.com
The Civil FX content schedule is consistent: original blog post on Monday, podcast on Wednesday, weekly roundup on Friday

What is a Composite Render?

As with many things in our industry, photomatch goes by several names including photo montage, photo render, composite photo, artists concept… and so on
It involves the process of combining an actual still photograph with a 3D render using image manipulation software like Photoshop
It is comparable to compositing in the special effects industry except we are only discussing still images and compositing is actual footage with 3D rendered footage
Often the client will already have the image taken
You will need to model the project based on the CAD data and then set up the camera to match the image from the client
You then render the project (hopefully including the gamma or invisible elements) and then add it to the image using Photoshop or other

The second visualization challenge was a Composite Render

I found a creative commons picture of a river
I designed a bridge that could theoretically span the river
Those who participated modeled the bridge, rendered it and then added it to the picture
Breakdown of the participants