How to make my render POP!

Started by ashmannyc, March 06, 2017, 02:04:44 AM

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ashmannyc

Hi guys - been lurking here for a while... great forum.
I was just wondering if I could get some help with making this render
pop. It's for a friends album cover... I've taken his spiral logo and turned
it into an OBJ and then used some awesome assets from the forum and
beyond to create this wasteland.. we are going for a bit of a planet of the apes kind of
monolithic vibe..2001 a space oddysey vibe. I did another render which is attached
where I added some gold and stuff to the rocks but my mate wasn't really happy with it. We also want to make the spiral face pop - in an earlier render the sun was hitting it more but I prefer this angle.
I'm open to any suggestions on how to make this imagery pop - I think right now its lacking texture.
I've only been using the software for a few months so apologies for my n00bishness.

Dune

#1
First of all, welcome to the forum. Good to have another user presenting him(her)self here.

It's best to post a render of your work, because the object is missing. So we can't really tell the mood and light effect. One thing I noticed is the total flatness of the wasteland. I would definitely add some small fractal displacement, and/or fake stones, or cracks, to the tops to make them more natural. Unless, of course, the flatness is intended.

Ah, after posting this, I saw your image popping up. By the way; some time ago, Planetside posted their request to keep data use small, so there's a preference for jpg's instead of png.

Have you tried more cloud behind the object to obscure the horizon? And perhaps a sun more or less behind the object with the lens flare would make it more spectacular. And I would add some strata to the valleys/ravines, not evenly, but one or two shaders masked by a power fractal. Perhaps even some strata colors/bands.

ashmannyc

Thanks for speedy reply Dune ! I converted the image to JPG so hopefully will be a bit smaller..Thanks
for letting me know :)
Some great ideas in here will definitely try. I uploaded the file because I've basically learnt everything
I know about TG by picking apart other people's scenes and reverse engineering stuff posted on the
forum. Would it be possible to make some changes to the file and reupload so I can see how you would do it ?
We did try some cloud effects but it seems to take away from the 'monolithic' feeling we are going for..


Quote from: Dune on March 06, 2017, 02:15:03 AM
First of all, welcome to the forum. Good to have another user presenting him(her)self here.

It's best to post a render of your work, because the object is missing. So we can't really tell the mood and light effect. One thing I noticed is the total flatness of the wasteland. I would definitely add some small fractal displacement, and/or fake stones, or cracks, to the tops to make them more natural. Unless, of course, the flatness is intended.

Ah, after posting this, I saw your image popping up. By the way; some time ago, Planetside posted their request to keep data use small, so there's a preference for jpg's instead of png.

Have you tried more cloud behind the object to obscure the horizon? And perhaps a sun more or less behind the object with the lens flare would make it more spectacular. And I would add some strata to the valleys/ravines, not evenly, but one or two shaders masked by a power fractal. Perhaps even some strata colors/bands.

cyphyr

Hi Dave(?) and welcome to the forum.

Just putting my penyworth in here, a couple of potential tricks to add.

Completely agree with Dunes comments.

Try saving the image outr as an EXR, you'll have much more ability to play with the general tone and colour balance.

Render a version without the object and a version with the object but no planet and see what a layered blend looks like.

Try a little subtle Depth of Feild (centered on the logo), this will really make the logo "pop".
If you have the Animation version of Terragen try moving the camera forward towards the logo and (maybe add some twist/bank) so you also get a little motion blur. I'd render the object seperately without the motion blur if trying the motion blur optrion  and drop it in after.

Hope these help

Good luck
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Dune

Some more good ideas by Cyphyr. I am not going to work on your file, sorry, you better do that yourself.

ashmannyc

Hahaha no worries - some great stuff here. Thank you !

luvsmuzik

Love, love, love the logo object.

I think this would look great with one of those over the top planet-sky backgrounds, or chrome spiral towers futuristic landscape below, or over a vast water scene with minimal vegetation, or or or.....

There are some great clip files in File sharing AP 100 that would give you some unique terrain as well. Keep searching, you shall find it here! I do reverse engineering also, ha!

bobbystahr

Quote from: ashmannyc on March 06, 2017, 08:00:24 AM
Hahaha no worries - some great stuff here. Thank you !

I couldn't resist a quickie and popped a model in that I had on hand to test a concept. Use your object's center for the center of the cloud object and scale it till it looks like it covers it in the 3D preview window.
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist