KeyShot - First impressions

Back in October, I was introduced to KeyShot for one of the first few times. Before then, I had only used KeyShot once or twice and never in much depth. I was extremely nervous about using KeyShot properly for the first time, however, my experience went better than expected overall.

One of the first things we did using KeyShot was understanding cameras, lighting and environments. As a class we had already been taught about adding materials to the product and so went straight into making the design look more realistic. Understanding ways of changing the lighting environment to create coloured backdrops and adding highlights to reflect off the materials and casting shadows was all new and interesting to understand. All in all, this was something I had often seen on posts on instagram and from other's work but had never known how to achieve this myself. Surprisingly, it was much simpler than I imagined it would be and boosted my confidence in my CAD skills majorly. We also looked at using coloured lighting and mirrors within the lighting environment to reflect light and bounce it back to the product or add a desired effect to the product. I thoroughly enjoyed playing around with the lighting and environments and couldn't wait to try it myself.

Our next session looked at using animations for products. This was something I didn't even realise was available through KeyShot until we were taught the skills and once again I was pleasantly surprised with how simple it could be. Being able to show the product moving and rotating, zooming in on key parts, playing the animation on loop and much more. I found this all so interesting and wanted to play around more with the software.

First attempt on KeyShot independently.

Therefore, more recently, in my free time I have been playing around with the software and rendering up my own designs that I have put together on SolidWorks just for the experience. I recently rendered a kettle that I made on SolidWorks, adding materials to the relevant areas, changing the lighting environment to show the shiny reflection of the material and then creating a short 15 second animation to show how the kettle lifts up from the base. Although this whole process on SolidWorks and KeyShot took me over 4 hours and a few YouTube videos to understand certain parts, I was very proud and surprised by how much I had remembered about both softwares without needing the support of a teacher. I actually found myself enjoying the day and didn't realise I had been working on the kettle for so long!

My kettle render on KeyShot.

What is most surprising to me is the fact that at Sixth form and high school, I never enjoyed CAD and would avoid it where possible but over the last month or so I have really grown to love both SolidWorks and KeyShot and want to spend more time on both applications building up my skills more to feel even more confident in my ability. For now though, I just want to keep learning and playing around with both applications and continue to learn more and more, both in my free time and in lessons at University!

(I am very proud of my kettle and wanted to show it off a little! I hope you enjoy!)