I need to make a photo realistic rendering of an assembly but my renderings look washed out and lack details. Can anyone give me some tips on rendering and/or a resource to pull info off of?
The key to rendering is the correct use of the lighting. The default lights will make the final rendering look washed out.
What I found to be a good way to get started is to turn all the default lights off. Then it's easier to see the effects of any new lights that you add.
Also, make sure that you have the quality at maximum and that the materials you have assigned to your parts are set up correctly.
Rendering is very trial and error, sometimes it has taken me hours and hours to get the correct picture, but other times you seem to get it right really quickly.