It probably will be the coolest video I’ve
done so far, I’m outside my office in Gdańsk, Poland, and will show you how to do an
aerial visualization from start to finish. We will start with taking drone photography,
through camera matching in 3ds Max, creating lighting that matches the
photo, blending 3D with the drone shot, and finally putting everything together
to achieve the effect like this. We will start with shooting a photo with a drone. Using drones in aerial visualizations it’s
a must in my opinion. Doing everything in 3D looks fake in most cases and it’s not up to
today’s standards for marketing type of work. Also if you can do it all by yourself,
it’s a great way to make some extra money. I am using DJI mini 3 pro, it’s a great
choice because it weighs less than 250 grams, so you can fly it everywhere, doesn’t
matter if you have a drone license or not, and at the same time the quality is
really good for a drone that size. This is the site I will use for this tutorial. We have a great location here,
close to the park and sea. The city is on another side. Here we have to think about what we want
to show, of course in this case we have to show a connection with the park and
sea and hide the city on another side. The time of the day is also very important
to get good lighting, choose either early morning or late afternoon, I like to catch
a bit of sun, but have it nice and soft. All the composition rules apply
here as well, you can turn on gridlines in the controller's settings
so it’s easier to find the best angle. Go to the settings, and camera,
and go down to the gridlines. I like to turn on these 2. Now, it’s way easier to find a good composition. Next, let me show you the camera settings
I change to get the best possible outcome. Firstly, I change the photo size to 48 megapixels. I always shoot in RAW so I have more
control in postproduction later on. Lastly, I switch to pro mode and adjust
the shutter speed and ISO manually. The cool thing about this drone is
that you can shoot vertical images. You can rotate the camera
with a click of one button. It’s a way better solution than
cropping from horizontal to vertical. Here is the shot I came up with. I am happy with it, let’s go back to the office. Hope you like the first part, let me know in the comments if you would like
to see more videos like this. The first step is to do a postproduction
on the RAW photo, we have a JPG and DNG, and I will use DNG as it
stores way more information. Usually, I use lightroom for that, but I will use Photoshop because
probably most of you guys use it. I will start by darkening the highlight
so we see the sea more clearly. By the way, you can download the photo
and the site model from my website, the link in the corner, and the
description, so you can follow along. Then I will work on the overall
brightness and contrast of the image. We can add a bit of clarity
and texture, but not too much. We can adjust the contrast
further in the curves tab. Lastly, I will work on colors a bit. Let’s make the water even more noticeable as this
is the most important feature of this location. We can change the hue a bit as well. I am happy with that. Now let’s jump to 3ds Max to do the first
step in 3D which is camera matching. First, we need a google maps
screenshot, so we have some reference. I have painted over the main
paths so it’s more visible. Here, you can see the scale. I will move the pivot to one end of the scale. Then I will create a plane with a length of 200m Move the map to one side of the
plane and scale it to match the size. Great, now let’s add the
drone photo as a background. Go to configure viewport,
background, and use the file. One more thing, we have to match the
output resolution to the photo size. To find out the resolution of the
photography go to properties and details. Here is the resolution. Type it in the output size. Preparation is done, now we can create a camera. In the photo details, you can find all
the information about camera settings. We have to use these settings in 3ds max. I will change the type to focal length. Set film width to 35mm and focal length
to 24mm, as it says in the photo details. Let’s set other values. In V-Ray it works exactly the same,
only the naming is slightly different. Once it’s done, let’s set
the height of the camera. It’s way easier if you know
the altitude of the drone. When I shot this photo my drone
was 120m above the ground. Then let’s turn on the horizon line and adjust the
camera’s target to match horizont of the photo. Now, that the camera height
and the viewing angle are set, we can group the camera and its target
and move and rotate it as a whole. To make it easier, we can decrease the
opacity of the google maps material. The only thing left is to
adjust it as close as possible. I think it’s pretty good. Let’s see how it looks with the site models. This is the model, I used
the building from Evermotion, I will link them in the description below. All looks fine, I’m happy with that. Great, we have the camera, now
we need to match the lighting. Let me turn on all the layers so
you can see the complete model. The trees and vegetation we
use come from GlobePlants. You know that high quality is very
important to me, GlobePlants models are not only very detailed and photorealistic,
but also have really well-done materials. You can buy individual models or bundles.
It’s very convenient. Let’s say you work on a project in New Zealand, just choose
this bundle, and you are covered. They create exact plant species, my client
wants a jacaranda tree, so here it is. You get not only these models
but also different growth stages. Also, all the models are available in the
growFX version which is really important for me, as I am not locked to the models they have created
and can adjust them to my need like in this image. If you cannot find the model you need, I will put the link to their website in
the corner and the description below. Now, let’s add the Sun. I will use the daylight system. We have to match the north to the
north of the google maps backdrop. Next, we have to jump to the
motion tab and pick the location. We’re in Europe. Warsaw, Poland is the closest. Then I will set the date and the time. This information can be found
in the photography details. Once it’s done, let’s move to modify
panel and change the sun type to Corona, if you use V-Ray obviously choose it instead. We don’t need a skylight
as we will use Corona Sky. Also, let’s set up a light mix
so we have more control later on. Let’s see how it looks rendered. Obviously, too bright. First, I will lower exposure. -1.5 looks correct. I will add a bit of contrast. And desaturate it a bit. Then, let’s jump to the light mix
tab and make the Sun more orange. Also, I will make Sky more blue. We are getting there. Now if I place it over the background
image you can notice that this area here stands out a lot because it should
be in the shadow cast by these trees. We need to add the surrounding trees in 3ds max,
so they can cast shadows on our main models. I have added a plane and 2 layers of trees, the
outer layer using Forest Pack plugin and for the inner layer I’ve just used proxies and placed
them more precisely manually to match the photo. Here is how it looks rendered. We don’t need them visible
though, we just need shadows. I will make them invisible to the camera. Go to object properties and
uncheck “visible to camera” Same for the trees. This way they won’t be rendered
but they will still cast shadows. Here is how it looks rendered, I am happy
with that, we can render high resolution. Now, let’s combine the render with the photo. When the render is ready, we need to
place the main image over the drone photo. Remember to save it as exr or tiff
so you have an alpha channel stored. Add a mask to the render and mask
out the trees in front of the site. Here is the final effect,
it’s quite a long process, the more time you put in the
better effect you will achieve. I will add a curves adjustment layer
only to the render to blend it better. Next, I will add levels and
make the rendering way darker. Then I will make a mask black so the effect is not visible and paint some areas with
the white brush to add shadows. I will also desaturate the render a bit. You can notice that the render is way sharper
than the photo, so they don’t blend well. We need to add some filters to fix this. First, I will add motion blur, because the drone camera is moving a bit which creates
a bit of motion blur on the photo. Not too much, 3 is fine. I will add normal blur as well
to make it even less sharp. Then, let’s add a noise, as
it’s a bit visible in the photo. And finally, I will sharpen the image. I’m adding it because drone software sharpens
photos, so it will match this effect. Look at the difference, now
they look way better together. The very important last step is to add
some color correction to both layers, so they blend even more. I will add some contrast, and
vignetting and change the colors a bit. Here is the final effect. If you want to learn how to create advanced exterior visualizations from
start to finish, join my course. Also, watch my other videos here on
Youtube, these are my picks, bye, bye.
