For more information about this course, look here.
As a warm up, I have made two files available for download, which you can render with Vray for Rhino SR1. Maps and materials are included. These two examples clearly show how you can turn relatively simple scenes into convincing photo realistic imagery.
Grab the bathroom scene file here.
Grab the phone scene file here.
If you don't have a copy of Vray, you can download a demo version from the ASGVis website.
The bathroom model shows how a photographic atmosphere can be created by combining various light types. As you can see the model is very simple as well as the materials. In this case the lighting is the most important factor in the overall image quality. The scene file looks like this in your Rhino viewport:
And this is the resulting rendering:
The phone model shows how one can mix different material properties in one material using masks. Furthermore it does not use any lightsources. The lighting and reflections are controlled by a set of 2 HDRI maps: a blurry one for the lighting, and a sharp one for the reflections.
The scene file looks like this in your Rhino viewport:
And this is the resulting rendering:
