Chair in Cyprus - Patrick Merminod

Fact File Name Patrick Merminod Product Vue d'Esprit 4 "I enjoyed the ease of use and power of the program right away. I find that some of the application's strongest points are vegetation, terrain editing, atmospherics, and the texture editor... to name a few."

"Chair in Cyprus" is the result of Patrick's permanent quest for photo-realism. To create this picture, he based his work on a real photo. Let's hear the story behind this fascinating picture.

The making of "Chair in Cyprus"

Patrick Merminod is not a CG professional. He studied mathematics and was always fascinated by algorithms and especially ray-tracing; the very peculiar relationship between man and the machine that they create always intrigued him. Not really knowing how to draw, and after a couple of vain watercolor attempts, 3D appeared to be the ideal way to reconcile science with artistic creation.

Original postcard

Oil Painting © Gilles Esnault

This image is the result of an experiment he carried out with a painter friend of his, Gilles Esnault: "I absolutely adored his paintings and wanted to recreate one in Vue d'Esprit. After a first unsatisfying attempt, Gilles sent me a scanned postcard. Using this postcard as a starting point, he painted an oil canvas while I created a 3D version of it!
It was an enthralling experiment!" says Patrick.

Below are a few steps illustrating the creation of "Chair in Cyprus":

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

"Everything in this picture was modeled with Vue: façades, windows, shutters, stairs, balcony... except for the chair and a couple of plants which were imported!"

Patrick used 30 lights to recreate the complex lighting of "Chair in Cyprus"

"It took me three weeks - about one hundred hours - to model the scene, grow vegetation and adjust lighting. The render time was approx. 24 hours for a high resolution picture, which may seem alot, but that's because I used a completely new technique.
Indeed, I simulated shadows and highlights with 30 light points of weak intensity but maximum softness: a very interesting technique! That way, by removing ambiant lighting I simulated radiosity. I was impressed by the results!"

Step 5

Final image

Patrick discovered Vue d'Esprit quite by chance and he's never looked back!

Why Patrick Prefers Vue d'Esprit:

"I enjoyed the ease of use and power of the program right away. I find that some of the application's strongest points are vegetation, terrain editing, atmospherics, and the texture editor... to name a few. I plan to use this fantastic tool for all my future creations!"