Schematic Stylized Renderings with Enscape and No Post Production

Adjusting a few settings allows you to quickly and easily render stylized and schematic renderings out of the box with Enscape

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Enscape is fast, easy to use and the results are beautiful. But sometimes you don't want the results to be too photorealistic. Early in the design process we often search for a more gestural and stylized approach to rendering that illustrates that the design is not yet fully resolved.

While considering best practices in Enscape with BIM Manager Constanza Scholl?from BAMO we discussed how to minimize time consuming and manual post production from Enscape. Her team loves the finished results from Enscape. But early in the design process her team wanted to present a more figurative image.

The image below was illustrates a rendering suitable for later in their design process. The materials are clear, the edges of fixtures and furniture crisp and the overall result is more finished and refined.

But earlier in the design process and during the proposal stage the team wanted images more gestural, as illustrated below. As a result they've been using a Mac app called Graphite Sketch Art by BeCasso (link) in post production. The results were successful but the process was uninteresting and time-consuming. And each time the design changed (which was frequent) all the renderings exported from Enscape had to be manually manipulated to appear more schematic.

Studying the image above it's easy to notice three characteristics that communicate a less literal and more "unfinished" rendering. First, the image is desaturated, allowing the materials to read but not too literally. Secondly the edges of furniture, case work and other interior features have been slightly more emphasized. Finally, the boarder of the rendering is uneven and cloud-like.

Would it be possible to do something like this directly from Enscape and by-pass time consuming and error prone post production? Let's find out! :-)

First, open the Visual Settings window and create a new Preset in order to save the schematic rendering style in Enscape. While in this window go to the Main tab and increase the Outlines setting to 20%.

Next, go to the Image tab and decrease the Saturation to 40%.

Finally we're going to give the edges of the image a more cloud like and uneven border using Enscape's Watermark setting. In order to determine the finished output of the rendering, go to the Output tab and note anticipated Resolution size of the renderings.

To create the cloud-like, uneven border I'm using the Mac-based photo editing application Pixelmator Pro. Note that the image size has been specified to be the same size as the rendering resolution of 1920 x 1080 with a white solid fill.

Here's the starting image. Note the Transparent background.

Select a large stylized brush tool with a soft border and reduced opacity. Begin placing brushstrokes on your canvas in an even distribution until you've filled the entire canvas. Keep in mind that the transparent areas of the brushstrokes will let the live rendering in Enscape show through. You're trying to create a translucent, smoke-like filter for your rendering.

I've made the edges of the canvas a little less translucent by adding more brush strokes around the edges. Export the file as a PNG format, preserving the transparent background. You can download the resulting PNG sample file here.

Finally let's assign the image as a Watermark in the Enscape Renderer Window Settings. In the preview window select the center radio button as shown below in order to center the image. Don't worry if the watermark preview is not the same as the final result in Enscape.

NOTE: At this time the Watermark assignment isn't specified in the Enscape Visual Settings and therefore can't be be associated to a Visual Preset. Hopefully this will be possible in a future version of Enscape! :-)

Here the result in Enscape! :) The materials are desaturated, the edges of objects more emphasized and the border of the rendered image has a softened, cloud-like appearance. Fast, easy and the results are beautiful!

The watermark cloud-like boarder will also be visible when presenting in real- time and when you save a standalone EXE file for a client presentation!

I hope this tips and tricks article helps you get the most out of your use of?Enscape. If you experiment with creating schematic, stylized renderings using this technique please post your renderings along with questions / suggestions in the comments below.?:)

ReadThomas?would love to help you succeed with?Enscape!?Simply email us for a brief demo for you and your team. If you purchase online, please let the?Enscape?team know that you heard about Enscape from Read Thomas. We're looking forward to providing you with complimentary training, implementation and support for Enscape!?www.readthomas.com.