Vray help please!

I’m hoping some of you guys can give me some pointers. I registered on the Vray forums but I can’t post right now for some reason.

I’ve been using Indigio but I keep hearing that Vray is the best so I am trying it. I am only getting very bland results with no reflections or really anything looking realistic. See below.

I know if is because I am a noob so I am trying to get some tips. To start with, I want to add some reflection to the floor to add some realism. In the material editor, I see a Reflection box under maps which I checked and tried different values but nothing added any reflection. I also tried adding a reflection layer to the material but all that does is add a black reflection material and I can’t see my wood at all. Am I going about adding reflection the right way by adding a reflection layer or am I doing something wrong?

Hello! If you want to add reflection to your material you should do it by right clicking your desired material (in your case the wooden floor) and choosing “Add Reflection Layer”. Unfortunately I don’t have V-Ray installed at the moment, so I can’t post screenshots. I see your “Live Update” is turned off in the top left corner of the Material Editor window. Turn it on and you should see a preview of what your rendered material would look like.
V-Ray is indeed one of the best (if not the best) rendering engines in the market but it takes time learn and make photo-realistic renders. Good luck!

Do like @VahePaulman spoke and put some lights as in the real life. Some pics below.

Before

During

After