"ROADSIDE" NWDA IMAGE CHALANGE ~ Richard Fraser

Started by cyphyr, February 24, 2013, 12:53:43 PM

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cyphyr

Quote from: Dune on March 07, 2013, 02:32:45 AM
Great. But one thing bothers me; the road seems (seems!) like being on an angle. Maybe it's the POV, maybe it's the road itself. Or is it me?
Well the camera is at a slight angle  but you're right the road follows the terrain so is sloped both forwards and to the side. I've not found an effective way to mask just one direction of slope and not both. Hopefully the terrain is "soft" enough so it won't be too much of an issue.
Cheers
Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
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Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)

cyphyr

Well I thought I'd work on the atmosphere some more. Trying to get that sense of brooding storm, high contrast skies. Some success, but if anything it's only highlighted how much more work there is still to do. This was rendered with GI at 4,4,8 to get some detail into the clouds, I could probably soften them somewhat and still keep the detail, the edges are a little too sharp. Changed the lighting angle moving the sun to the left. Trees are better lit but the scene has lost some of the drama it had previously. Reading the recent posts on the Photoreal thread I can see that there are a stack of extra techniques still to employ.
C&C very welcome
cheers
Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
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Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)

FrankB


Hannes


DannyG

New World Digital Art
NwdaGroup.com
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cyphyr

#35
Thanks for the feedback guys.
A small update,I've been working on the road somewhat to day since the skies are really overnight render jobs.
Not too happy really. The cracks need "tightening up" and the sticks and leaves populations, well either I need a whole lot more or a different technique altogether.
Partly the sun angle is also annoying me now, it's dull :( but at least it works with the clouds (I think).
Over night I may render out a low res "anim" with the sun rotating a full 360 deg to see if there are any better locations.
Suggestions very welcome.
Cheers
Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
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Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)


TheBadger

It has been eaten.

cyphyr

#38
Another overnight render, 8+ hours, but the render settings were pretty high (and they will be higher in the final!)
The road trash is now working a lot better, still could do with some work. I don't like it in the distance where the road starts to bend, there's an odd overlap that sits uncomfortably in the image.
There are some scale issues, mostly due to the skull and building on the right, the skull needs to be smaller and the building larger, both easily done.
Also I'm not happy with the white flowers on the left, they seem far to regular. I may need to open the model in XFrog and make some variations
I tightened up the cracks in the road but maybe just a tad too much, again easily fixed.
I like the clouds but they are far from right, maybe some more softening.

So is this image even approaching "photo-real"? I honestly can't say. Partly because I've been looking at it too long I'm getting image blindness, partly because I still don't really understand what "photo-real" means but mostly because I suspect it simply isn't! lol

Still to do plans:
I need to expand the forest a little, bring it closer to the road without obscuring the road in the distance. This may require some slight re-modeling of the terrain.
Also need to add in some sparse scrub grasses on the right and possibly vary the grasses on the left some more
There's a temptation to place some sort of framing tree in the foreground on the left, overhanging the road. I'll try to avoid this as it's loaded with composition issues!
The final will be rendered three times and composited together, once with GI, once with AO and once with GI and soft shadows. Hopefully this is allowed.

As always C&C very welcome, c'mon guys tare it apart!

Cheers

Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
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Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)

Tangled-Universe

Keep on going Richard, I like it where this is going :)

Are you going to refine the clouds further? They have some shape and shading issues.

cyphyr

Yes, I'm working on them now. I'm aiming for a heavy "cumulus fractus" look ...
Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
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Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)

mhaze

Powerful sky and terrific POV. I prefer the sand on the earlier version and perhaps it should completlycovwer the road in places as if thewind had blown it.

cyphyr

Just typed in "desert storm" to look for some reference images with predictable results ...
:( ::)
Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
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Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)

cyphyr

Hmm, sometimes things don't go quite according to plan. Not that happy with the nights rendering, probably tried to make too many changes at once and the sun has moved, that may be the culprit. I'll update throughout the day as I work out what's gone wrong.
Cheers
Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
/|\

Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)

cyphyr

Ok, moving toward something of a solution to last nights fail.
We now have two more light sources, a very pale (0.25 intensity) green and sand coloured to the left and right of the scene providing a little fill and tone. Also they are set to only light surfaces,not the atmosphere. Needs a little more tweaking but it's an interesting direction nonetheless and may provide an opportunity for a more dramatic lighting setup, something I've been wanting. I seem to have lost the sand filling the cracks, probably an easy fix.
C&C welcome
Cheers
Richard
www.richardfraservfx.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardFraserVFX/
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Ryzen 9 5950X OC@4Ghz, 64Gb (TG4 benchmark 4:13)