Use case

Restyle a render. Keep the detail.

One of the visual directions explored in the landscape lesson.

Start with a finished render and a style reference. Compare each transfer with the original before developing close-ups, upscaling, or motion. The written steps below accompany the video lesson.

Before you begin

Have a render or image you want to develop, plus a few style references. This lesson begins with a Cinema 4D / Redshift landscape, but the core exercise is about working from your own image.

You’ll explore how references change its visual language, compare which details survive, and develop a direction for close-ups and motion.

The full lesson, eight and a half minutes, presented by Owen.

01 / Load

Load your render and references

Place the source render and reference images on the board. Give each reference a clear role: one might establish color, another texture or atmosphere.

A Plnty board holding the landscape render, a tree at sunset, above three style references, a misty mountain photograph, a colorful 2D illustration and a green hillside photograph.
The render from Cinema 4D and Redshift, above its three style references.

02 / Set up

Set up the style transfer

Use the subject and style canvases in Styler. The lesson demonstrates style transfer and object mixer nodes, with references called into the prompt. Keep the first test simple so you can see what each reference changes.

The styler/mixer card with the sunset render in the Subject canvas and the hillside photograph in the Style canvas, Style transfer selected, an empty emphasis prompt and the Run button.
styler/mixer with the render as Subject and a photograph as Style, in Style transfer.

03 / Compare

Compare the directions

Run the transfers and look at the details you need to retain. In this example, branch shapes and fine tree detail are the test of whether a direction is useful.

Pause after each transfer and compare it with your original render. An attractive result is only useful if it preserves what matters to the project.

Three versions of the landscape side by side on the board, two in the photographs' green and grey tones and one in the illustration's halftone colors, beside the styler/mixer card.
Three directions from one render. The tree’s branches survive in all three.
Detail of the landscape, a slender tree with a green crown on a hillside, in a printed halftone texture.
Look closely at the branch shapes, fine detail, and surface texture.

04 / Develop

Develop the selected frame

Explore close-ups, upscale the image, and try a short motion treatment. Review each step against the direction you chose.

Two close-ups generated from the chosen frame, the tree's crown and a detail of its forked trunk.
Close-ups from the chosen direction, with the bend in the trunk still in place.
The upscaled close-up of the tree beside the refined motion prompt about leaves trembling and branches swaying in a slow breeze.
The upscaled close-up and the refined prompt for a five-second motion test.

Decide what should stay the same before you change the style.

Restyle a render. Keep the detail. · Plnty Blog

What should I prepare before starting?

Bring a render or image you want to develop and a small set of style references. Decide which shapes, details, and compositional choices should remain consistent.

Sources and methodology

This article summarizes the linked Plnty material. The landscape images, where shown, are one example rather than a before-and-after comparison.

About the author

Owen Schmidt

Owen leads this lesson on restyling a render. The walkthrough follows a landscape through reference selection, style transfers, detail studies, upscaling, and motion.

Watch the complete lesson

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