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Abhilasha Swaroop

AI Render Enhancement

Bridging the Gap Between Hardware Constraints & Studio Quality

The Overview

 

Traditional 3D rendering, especially with engines like Cycles, can take hours and push standard laptop hardware to its thermal limits. This project explores a Hybrid Rendering Workflow, using low-sample 3D renders from Blender as "seeds" for AI-driven enhancement. By leveraging ChatGPT’s image-to-image capabilities, I was able to achieve hyperreal, editorial-quality textures and lighting in a fraction of the time.

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Process & Fixes
 

  • Hardware Protection: This workflow wasn't just an aesthetic choice; it was a necessity to prevent system overheating.
     

  • The Prompt Loop: Achieving consistency across different angles required highly specific prompting. I had to describe lighting as "direct flash," textures as "hyperreal sharpness," and atmospheric grit as "analogue character" to get the right editorial feel.
     

  • Human-AI Collaboration: The AI served as a "technical director," handling the complex physics of light and grain that would have taken hours to bake in a traditional render.

The Toolkit

Blender (Cycles), ChatGPT (Image-to-Image), Procreate, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro

The Experiments

1. The "Editorial Flash" Cake
 

  • The Process: Started with a basic Blender Cycles render focused on the core geometry and sculptural piping of the cake.
     

  • The Enhancement: Used AI to inject a "gritty" editorial flash aesthetic. The final results feature sharp, specular highlights, intentional lens flares, and hyperreal frosting textures that mimic high-end food photography.
     

  • The Goal: To treat digital objects as tactile design pieces, emphasizing immediacy and an uncanny "cinematic" grit.
     

2. The Carabiner Keychain Study
 

  • The Process: A study in material complexity, combining felted plush, chrome, translucent plastic, and worn denim.
     

  • The Enhancement: The AI was tasked with collapsing shadows and accentuating the hard contours of the metal, while introducing metallic glints to the star embroidery on the jeans.
     

  • The Result: A visual portrait of everyday objects made strange, with meticulous realism across every texture, from the "Colorado token" to the "felted fish".
     

3. The White Chrome Hand
 

  • The Process: A surreal exploration of body as sculpture, beginning with a metallic-skin render.
     

  • The Enhancement: I used AI to add a "white chrome" sheen and tactile skin precision, balancing the high-tech look with a grainy, analog editorial depth.
     

  • The Detail: Successfully rendered floating dust, light scratches, and a soft, glowing pink orb to add a layer of "visual weirdness" to the composition.

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