A cliff somewhere in Oceania -> v3 @ page 2

[choronr]

Hi Michael,

I use Walli's grasses as moss. I don't know the exact models right now, but if you like I can post them later.
Just make them very small and use a very dense population. Also, as moss tends to follow the contours of a terrain more than grass, increase the lean to normal effect.
All shader settings are untouched.

For the coming render I've resize the grasses to min size = 0.2 and max size = 0.4 and density is ~0.08.
Make sure to use the smallest population size as possible, because with these densities it can take quite a while to populate.

The lean to normal is set to 0.8 and the instances don't lean below 10 degrees slope and have reduced lean below 20 degrees slope.
The default settings (0.5, 45 degr, 90 degr) result in mild leaning and only on quite steep slopes.

Cheers,
Martin

Martin, thanks for this explanation. I've been looking for an explanation for attaining the mossy look on a project I'm working on.

[Tangled-Universe]

Here it is with the vapor and with another ivy. Took <3,5 hours with GI 2/4/6, detail 0.7 and AA8.
The vapor didn't turn out as being that special, but it could be a nice touch. Not sure whether if will make the final, what do you think (guys)?
Same goes for the ivy, I liked the previous one better.

It's pretty evident here that rendering with higher GI settings pays off in certain situations.

Now I'm rendering an iteration with the previous ivy, vapor with higher sampling,  better GI and some more ray detail region padding as the water still has that artefact.

[Dune]

This is getting pretty incredible, Martin. Beautiful lighting. You're giving me a boost with this project to do more than I usually do, so thanks for sharing! I must say, though, that I liked the previous version better. This one seems harder/darker somehow, but that may be the settings. Maybe just a little softer light? I liked the ivy stems, pity they've gone. I would go easy on the mist, you don't want to obscure too much. And you could add some drops on the leaves to give them a dewy look.
This will definitely go into my folder of favorites.

[Tangled-Universe]

Thanks Ulco, much appreciated

The other ivy will return

The drops on leaves sounds interesting. What would your approach be?

The darker lighting is because of the decreased GI settings, but also because of the vapor clouds I think.
Indeed I need to be careful with those.

However, if I would really like it the way they are now and I don't want them to cast the shadows they do now then I'd only need to disable the "enable secondary" checkbox in the cloud node.
If you disable secondary (rays, I think?) then the clouds will not cast shadows anymore and I think it will also not influence GI anymore.
If you disable primary, then the clouds will not be rendered, but shadows will still be cast and also the effect on GI will remain.

This is also a very useful way of determining whether it is atmosphere or clouds which causes noise in your render if it is there.
If you disable primary for atmosphere and still see noise then it is the clouds and vice versa. Very useful.

Anyway, just keep waiting with adding to your favorites, it's not done yet! Thanks of course!

Cheers,
Martin

[Dune]

I did some drops once, can't find the tgd as quick, but here's a screendump of the nodes (rot is not German for rood, but rotting color). You'll find out, no doubt.

[DannyG]

This is really killer, great realism

[Tangled-Universe]

Thanks Danny
Ulco, thanks for sharing. I think the example is pretty clear. Would need quite some trial and error to get it right I think, but worth a try.

Closing in on the final I think. As you can see there's quite a difference with this one and the previous in regard to darkness and detail in lighting.
A good example that increasing GI relative detail from 2 to 3 can be worth it.
Unfortunately I can't render it much bigger as this already uses about 12GB of RAM.

I'll probably leave out the vapor and still need to overthink the ivy on the bottom right. Jon want's to see the rocks so badly
Any more suggestions?

Cheers,
Martin

[jamfull]

Beautiful work.

I think it might help the composition to widen the lens and tilt down a bit. You'd raise the shoreline and see a little more water without losing the upper areas.

James

[Dune]

Two more suggestions: the mist is a bit straight-bottomed at the right hand side, I'd like it more whispy. And I notice a little dirt on the leaves in the upper end, but you should add some really dark patchy rotting dirt on the leaves very near the water (centrally), and maybe the tree ferns on the left. They're very vulnerable to 'rot spots' and debris from other plants above it.

I envy your realism, but what the heck; 12 GB for this size?

[Kadri]

Nice image Martin.
I like the comp of the first and the contrast and colors of the last one.
I did not want to say much because i could not post without saying something about the objects you use.
You didn't liked if i remember much those kind of discussions because they are not your objects etc.
I think just a little color variation would be enough here. I would not change anything much besides that.

On the other side your-our images do not have to be photographic-realistic bla bla bla...
My last images are maybe kinda more on the painting side too...maybe...
But when i look at your image it gives me the feeling that you want that realistic look.
Only because of this i think your real and only point you should maybe change-be careful are the objects -their colors etc- ...

[Hetzen]

I'll probably leave out the vapor and still need to overthink the ivy on the bottom right. Jon want's to see the rocks so badly
Any more suggestions?

They're smart looking rocks. 

I think I would expect to see mist all the way down to the lower surfaces, so maybe more depth in the cloud layer, which you rise up the slope?

Regardless, I think this is a cracking image.

[Simius Strabus]

Jaw dropping!

[FrankB]

GREAT WORK Martin!

I think the final render should have a tad more exposure, though. Everything else is pretty perfect!

Cheers
Frank

[Dune]

What have you been up to the last 3 weeks, Martin? How about a nice big final?

[Tangled-Universe]

Hi Ulco,

Thanks for asking

Actually I haven't touched TG for the last 3 weeks. Still a bit undecided where to go with this one.
I suppose I only need to redo the Ivy on the right a bit and render it bigger?

Cheers,
Martin