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Nutcracker Still Life — SSS Study

Still life and material study created to evaluate V-Ray Random Walk subsurface scattering in a controlled lighting and rendering setup.

Project Type
Still Life / SSS Study
Role
Layout, Lighting, Look Development, Rendering
Tools
3ds Max, V-Ray GPU, Nuke, Photoshop
Nutcracker still life final render testing Random Walk SSS
Final still life render.

I handled layout, lighting, look development, and rendering for this study. Built in 3ds Max, rendered with V-Ray GPU, and finished in Nuke and Photoshop, the image was created to evaluate V-Ray’s Random Walk SSS implementation across a range of nut materials in a controlled still-life setup. The goal was to achieve convincing subsurface response while keeping the composition simple, the material differences readable, and the render efficient. The final 4K image rendered in approximately 3 minutes on 2× RTX 4090 GPUs.

Process

Clay render

The clay pass isolates the underlying forms, composition, depth, and lighting before the final materials and subsurface-scattering treatment are introduced.

Nutcracker still life clay render
Clay render.
Technical Notes

Study focus and performance

A focused material and rendering test built around one final production-resolution image.

Study Focus
V-Ray Random Walk SSS material evaluation.
Final Output
4K still image.
Render Performance
Approximately 3 minutes on 2× RTX 4090 GPUs.
Pipeline
3ds Max → V-Ray GPU → Nuke / Photoshop.

More work

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