The thesis deals with introduction of V-Ray material properties and their production. By means of these materials it is possible to create physically accurate photorealistic surfaces of objects in visualisations in Autodesk 3Ds Max program. In the first part are described the characteristics of different surfaces and their optical properties depending on the impact of light. In this part are also analysed all V-Ray materials and their properties related specifically to visualisations of interiors. The thesis also deals with the issues of mapping onto objects and HDRI mapping. In the practical part the thesis pursues creating complex photorealistic V-Ray materials and their application on objects. In this part a tutorial for creating your own textures in grid editor is also made. In conjunction with created materials, these textures are used in a sample interior visualisation.

Background. In computer graphics, it can be a time-consuming process to render photorealistic images. This rendering process, called “physically based rendering” uses complex algorithms to calculate the behavior of light. Fortunately, most renderers offer the possibility to alter the render-settings, allowing for a decrease in render time, but this usually comes at the cost of a lower quality image. Objectives. This study aims to identify what setting has the highest impact on the rendering process in the V-Ray renderer. It also examines if a perceived difference can be seen when reducing this setting. Methods. To achieve this, an experiment was done where 22 participants would indicate their preference for rendered images. The images were rendered in V-Ray with different settings, which affected their respective render time differently. Additionally, an objective image metric was used to analyze the images and try to form a correlation with the subjective results. Results. The results show that the anti-aliasing setting had the highest impact on render time as well as user preference. It was found that participants preferred images with at least 25% to 50% anti-aliasing depending on the scene. The objective results also coincided well enough with the subjective results that it could be used as a faster analytical tool to measure the quality of a computer-generated image. Prior knowledge of rendering was also taken into account but did not give conclusive results about user preferences. Conclusions. From the results it can be concluded that anti-aliasing is the most important setting for achieving good subjective image quality in V-Ray. Additionally, the use of an objective image assessment tool can drastically speed up the process for targeting a specific visual quality goal.

In this thesis, a new improved V-Ray subsurface scattering shader based on the improved diffusion theory is proposed. The new shader supports the better dipole and the quantized diffusion reflectance model for layered translucent materials. These new implemented models build on previous diffusion BSSRDFs and in the case of quantized diffusion uses an extended source function for the material layer. One of the main contributions and significant improvement over V-Ray’s existing subsurface scattering shader is the front and back subsurface scattering separation. This was achieved by dividing the illumination map that is used to calculate each shading’s point color, in two parts: the front part that comes of front lighting and the back one that comes of back lighting. Thus, the subsurface scattering layer can be divided in its consisting parts and each of them can be controlled, weighted and used independently. Finally, the project’s outcome is a new V-Ray material that provides all the above improvements in an intuitive, practical and efficient shader with several intuitive algorithm and light map controls, where artists can create subsurface scattering effects through three subsurface scattering layers.

<p>What makes an image photorealistic and how to pinpoint and understand how our mind interprets different elements in an image conditions? It is proposed that the phrase "imperfect makes perfect" is the key for the photorealistic goal in today’s 3D. There is a review of all the elements for the creation of one perfect image, such as Global Illumination, Anti-Aliasing and also a basic review of photography, how a scene is set up, color temperature and the nature of the real light. To put different theories to a test, the common three dimensional software 3D Studio Max was used with the V-Ray renderer. On a field trip to IKEA communications, we were assigned a project of a room scene containing a kitchen, with a finished scene model. A kitchen was created and experimented to reach a result where there is no visible difference between a computer generated image and the photography. Our result was not what we had hoped for due to many problems with our scene. We ourselves see this as a first step toward a scientific explanation to photorealism and what makes something photorealistic.</p>

What makes an image photorealistic and how to pinpoint and understand how our mind interprets different elements in an image conditions? It is proposed that the phrase "imperfect makes perfect" is the key for the photorealistic goal in today’s 3D. There is a review of all the elements for the creation of one perfect image, such as Global Illumination, Anti-Aliasing and also a basic review of photography, how a scene is set up, color temperature and the nature of the real light. To put different theories to a test, the common three dimensional software 3D Studio Max was used with the V-Ray renderer. On a field trip to IKEA communications, we were assigned a project of a room scene containing a kitchen, with a finished scene model. A kitchen was created and experimented to reach a result where there is no visible difference between a computer generated image and the photography. Our result was not what we had hoped for due to many problems with our scene. We ourselves see this as a first step toward a scientific explanation to photorealism and what makes something photorealistic.