[Model: Fender Contemporary Stratocaster]

Here are the completed renders of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. You can view the WIP images by clicking here.

Since the body of the guitar had a glossy black finish, I didn’t need to unwrap the UVW, I did however needed to unwrap the fretboard and guitar neck to texture the wood and the skunk stripe inlay at the back.

I’d experimented with various scenes and test rendered different HDRI maps as I went along. Initially, I was going to have the guitar resting on a carpet floor but was not satisfied with the result. I wanted to add more interest to the composition and decided to have the guitar resting on a soft bed-like surface instead.

My approach in creating the surface was to start with a plane geometry that had additional segments. I’d then applied a cloth modifier and have it collide with the guitar neck and body polygon, this created a basic shape that could be worked on.

To created the creases on the surface, I had to first convert it into editable poly and then use the paint deformation to “paint” the creases in. To help me with this, I’ve put my real guitar on my bed as a reference guide to see where the creases would mainly be. I’ve added a relax modifier afterwards to soften some of the edges on the surface.

For the 2nd render showing the back of the guitar, I had to mirror the surface and re-adjust some of the creases to fit with the new shape. You can view the wireframe of the cloth geometry by clicking here.

The scene contains 6 lights in total, 1 vray dome light with HDRI and a omni light. The HDRI is a panoramic image of a bedroom that contain 2 windows and I’ve placed a vraylight and spotlight on each side.

Overall, I’m pleased with the outcome of the final images. It took around 3 hours to render each one. The long rendering time was due to the vast amount of polygons used.

I really like how the cloth has turned out in the end and the soft shadows that it produces. There is a nice contrast between the dark glossy finish of the guitar and the bright colourful background.

Tags: 3D, Guitars, V-Ray