Gorge *v2 on page 2*

[Tangled-Universe]

Still WIP...I think...

Rendered with my new i7-2600K in little over 3 hours with 0.9 detail, GI 2/6/4 + SS-prepass and AA12 (because I just could, lol)

[Walli]

I like it a lot! Only the greens don´t fit for me, but I know that you sometimes have that kind of mixture. But at the moment they almost look like they are put in afterwards.

[Tangled-Universe]

Thanks JW,
Yes I can imagine the greens don't fit for you...however, in rocky areas in west US for instance there's still a lot of grasses and bushes.
I think you mean they don't blend in too well and I tend to agree with that.
What do you think, would reducing saturation of the leafs improve it?

Cheers,
Martin

[Oshyan]

Yes, I think a bit less saturation on the leaves. Otherwise looking quite nice. Maybe just a bit too much specular on some stones though.

- Oshyan

[Henry Blewer]

The layering and displacements of the rock faces look great.

[inkydigit]

Gorgeous!!
maybe some drier colours for the bushes, but the rock face and boulders look spectacular!

[Walli]

perhaps - but that would increase the rendertime - it would help to replace the specular with real blurry reflection. Then especially at glancing angles the red of the surrounding would appear on leaves too. But I don´t live in that area and so my feelings about the greens might be totally wrong.

[Dune]

It seems a bit contradictory to me, to be honest. The rocky walls suggest a very dry, desert-like environment, like a Jordan valley, and they wouldn't be as shiny (or maybe some small areas, where mica stone glitters). Or if they were as wet as they now look, vegetative life would be thriving. Mosses and such.
I would reduce the specularity significantly, at least away from the little stream. Or add a lot of grass and mosses. That's what I think, but it does not have to do with the quality of the setup, which is awesome! 

[choronr]

I'm drooling over this one Martin. Absolutely 99.5% to a tee. Now just add some variance to the bush colors; i.e., just spot is a few of the same bushes using a different color/texture (dry look). Also, some short grasses with the dry look. Man, I love this image. The rock formations and stone are right on. I know you're going to do some more tweaking on this and I'm anxiously waiting to see the results.

[Mor]

Great looking rocks! And congratulations for your new i7-2600k it really makes rendering enjoyable

[Tangled-Universe]

It seems a bit contradictory to me, to be honest. The rocky walls suggest a very dry, desert-like environment, like a Jordan valley, and they wouldn't be as shiny (or maybe some small areas, where mica stone glitters). Or if they were as wet as they now look, vegetative life would be thriving. Mosses and such.
I would reduce the specularity significantly, at least away from the little stream. Or add a lot of grass and mosses. That's what I think, but it does not have to do with the quality of the setup, which is awesome! 

Thanks Ulco,

Oshyan mentioned the specularity too, but these are the settings for specularity for the rocks and stones:
Reflectivity = 0.2
Specular intensity = 0.1
Specular roughness = 0.1

For the water it is default it is brightness/intensity 0.6 and spread 0.125.
The water sparkles don't look overly bright IMO.
So what you're actually seeing is not specularity but just bright surfaces.

If I'd photograph a place like this and would like to have clear shadows then the surface (and sky too maybe) will become brighter.
I can easily get it all within the LDR of everyone's monitor, but it's not going to look any better

However, I will have a thought about this and see what I can do about this.
The way I did it is mostly (physically) correct, but it's not working apparently looking at the crits.

Thanks so far

I'm drooling over this one Martin. Absolutely 99.5% to a tee. Now just add some variance to the bush colors; i.e., just spot is a few of the same bushes using a different color/texture (dry look). Also, some short grasses with the dry look. Man, I love this image. The rock formations and stone are right on. I know you're going to do some more tweaking on this and I'm anxiously waiting to see the results.

Thanks Bob!
The bushes are definitely on my to do list and the grasses are a nice suggestion.
There's a new feature in the latest alpha which may be suitable for some nice effects.

Great looking rocks! And congratulations for your new i7-2600k it really makes rendering enjoyable

Cheers dude, working/rendering with such a system is a real charm. I can recommend it everyone.
Took me over a year of saving, but it's worth every penny so far!


Cheers to all,
Martin

[Dune]

There's a new feature in the latest alpha which may be suitable for some nice effects.

I've just been playing as well, and it's VERY interesting! You can even make furry animals, kind of.

I later realized the specularity may indeed have been what you say, Martin, harsh light. As you know, I'm more of the soft light landscapes  The water trickle is just great, I wanted to add.

[FrankB]

Hi Martin,

first of all congrats, this is a very good picture! Most of all I like the POV and the water puddle / river. Rock shape detail is your usual high quality. I must say Dune nailed it for me with his analysis, though. I guess the following small tweaks would bring this render from solid to awesome:
1 - much desaturated bush leaves and maybe a recoloring to grey-blueish. Also maybe making them a tad smaller?
2 - totally get rid of reflections except very near the water. These rocks look like desert rocks to me and as such, all that dust should be absolutely killing the reflections I reckon.
3 - I think it would be great if those small scale displacements on the rock facade would be more rare. Meaning, i.e. the more vertical parts could be smoother.

All this of course only IF you meant to display a dry place. If you meant to show a more humid place, then Dune's other advice sounds right to me, too.  More vegetation, like in that jungle render with the ivy you once made.

Cheers,
Frank

[buzzzzz1]

Very nice start Martin. I agree with Dune and Frank with one addition, I would think there would be fallen sand, rocks and debris on the top of ledges of the outcrops all the way up. Could you adjust the distribution for the gorge floor stones to do this? That to me would complete the scene. Hey, is that a terragen rendered blue sky or a photo? He! He! 

cheers

[freelancah]

Splendid work! Agree with the comments and thats most impressive render time too!