QuoteOh my, this has turned out more real than almost any CG I've ever seen...extremely well done mate...
Thanks, Bobby. I want this to be as photorealistic as possible, and as the renderings get larger I'll probably add more detail in the surface displacements, etc. It's getting to the point where rendering times might be an issue, though.
QuoteThere is only one thing calling my attention and it is the ship. When I looking at it it looks like a model without textures as the whole thing is overall one grayish color. I think IMHO some colors would help there. Perhaps flags on the ship?
That's a fair comment, but I'm pretty sure this is a fairly accurate depiction. The names on the sterns were usually painted with colorful scrollwork (not visible in this scene) but otherwise these unpowered barges were strictly utilitarian, pretty drab and poorly maintained. Here's a closer rendering from earlier in the project.
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Part of the problem is that all the historical source images are black and white, so it's hard to know what colors they were painted. Modern-day replicas and models generally depict them as being whitewashed. But you've made me curious so I'll dig some more.
There are two more barges to add and a steamer. (The steamer to push one barge and tow two in line.) Maybe I'll give the steamer a flag! Why not?
QuotePerhaps some bushes/shrub up against the sheds, some dirt and crates and general (railway) stuff lying around? But you may have thought of that already.
Yeah, there's going to be barrels and crates stacked in the terminal area in the lower right, maybe some abandoned railway or farm equipment. Plus (getting ambitious here) a horse-drawn wagon loaded with produce (large fruit warehouse nearby) and several human figures, people waiting for the trolley, etc. At the rate this is going that means several weeks of modeling yet, but the end is in sight.
The great thing is I'm building up hours of experience and good collections of clip files, foliage, buildings and other assets. The next scene should go much faster. (That interurban passenger car is going to see some use again, too. Too much time spent on that to use once and file away.)
Edit: I'll post higher resolution renderings as soon as I can get them done.