Amateur Hour - Chain of Islands

[pixelpusher636]

While these leaves finally have some specularity as I was hoping for (maybe it's just me) the color seems off. Could be I starred at the previous version so much I'd gotten used to those colors.. anyhow more work to be done.

• Lowered the sun strength to default of 5
• Lowered sun elevation from 30 to 25
• Increased aa slightly
• Moved  middle palm
• Added reflective shader to leaves 0.7

[WAS]

Yeah, they do look a little sick, don't they? I think a more lush green tone is in order. Maybe it's just the diffuse colour being low?

They do look a lot better lighting wise though.

PS if you can't handle pops at a distance for those mountains, MeshLab is totally free and make a "low quality" version of your models you're using to use for the distant mountains. Screenshot is the filter you'd want to use. Then check the first three checkboxes. Set your new desired target faces, and let it go nuts.

[pixelpusher636]

Yeah, they do look a little sick, don't they? I think a more lush green tone is in order. Maybe it's just the diffuse colour being low?

They do look a lot better lighting wise though.

PS if you can't handle pops at a distance for those mountains, MeshLab is totally free and make a "low quality" version of your models you're using to use for the distant mountains. Screenshot is the filter you'd want to use. Then check the first three checkboxes. Set your new desired target faces, and let it go nuts.

ahh! I didn't even think about meshlab. I actually have it and use it from time to time never for something like this so your screenshots are very helpful! Thank you!

[Dune]

Leaves look much better indeed. Steve was right, it's the roughness that's on 0.8 by default, but for leaves I always set that to 0.2 or so, and reflectivity to around 0.4. You can also add another variable for reflection and translucency values (as to color input) to get some natural differences in shine and translucency. A power fractal with sizes like 0.1/10/0.005, with noise like mix 1 or perlin, and colors like 1 and 0.5 or so, taken through a transform shader set to world, and plugged into the needed inputs in the default shader, will do just that.

[WAS]

Leaves look much better indeed. Steve was right, it's the roughness that's on 0.8 by default, but for leaves I always set that to 0.2 or so, and reflectivity to around 0.4. You can also add another variable for reflection and translucency values (as to color input) to get some natural differences in shine and translucency. A power fractal with sizes like 0.1/10/0.005, with noise like mix 1 or perlin, and colors like 1 and 0.5 or so, taken through a transform shader set to world, and plugged into the needed inputs in the default shader, will do just that.

This does help a lot. If you use procedural textures, you can also convert to greyscale, complement colour, and then adjust it so black point is like a mid-range grey, and use that for specular roughness to give a texture influenced roughness. It's a similar approach to CrazyBump/Materialize and other texture generators from images.

[DocCharly65]

Nice to see the development. Looks already quite good!
I personally like the not so vacation-postcard-like green as it so often seen on palms. But it's a question of taste of course.

I'm curious how you wil go on with the design of the background.

If you get reduced the model file size of your palms, it will be great. I usually use some generic trees for very far distances and I accept the immense memory usage of my populations in the near far. But unfortunately I sometimes get to the limits of my PC if I do that. I cross my fingers that you object size reducing works

[pixelpusher636]

Thanks for the encouragement folks. This exciting new advice will have to keep for another day.
@Dune @WAS i will post next update with these tweaks. This roughness on models I wasn't aware of. Thanks. 

@DocCharly65 I'm indeed curious myself. I think trees might be the way to go. Enlarged low Polly shrubs didn't cut it at just over 12 miles away. 😐

[pixelpusher636]

I didn't have ample time for a larger size render but I wanted to mention that the roughness was 0.3 on this particular model. Which makes me wonder if it wasn't tweaked elsewhere. These particular Palms were purchased from CG Trader. First buy from them but wondering if that's why they weren't at the 0.8 default you mentioned @Dune.
Anyway, I added a color to the translucency and while these palms aren't perfect they are an improvement over the previous renders for sure.
Trees added to the two distant islands and wouldn't it be nice if you could see palms on that larger islands beach? Well they exist. Just too far away, maybe with a large render they will be visible.
A penny for your thoughts.

[Dune]

Indeed, it depends on who made the palms, what variables were used. But it's always good to check, and make your adjustments and experiment a little in TG.
You can just make them out in the distance, so they'll show up on a larger render. In reality they would hardly show up either.
You could make another island closer up (add some displacement, masked by warped soft simple shape), and put some palms there. But I like this open see with mountains in distance.

[WAS]

Yeah I think with higher resolution, and higher antialiasing, it would come together more as a distant forest/jungle. Even in my test renders and stuff the distant stuff looks like trash until a final high resolution.

[pixelpusher636]

This will be the last update before I do some more tweaking and do a higher resolution render. You can see the palms now but you would think it was a forest the way it turned out but that's not even close to being the case. 
Anyhow, at this size and low quality it's hard to make heads or tails in the final render. I'll update with a better quality soon.

[Jo Kariboo]

I find the proportions realistic. Did you try to distribute the vegetation on the mountains? I think that would add a lot to the image.

[DocCharly65]

I find the proportions realistic. Did you try to distribute the vegetation on the mountains? I think that would add a lot to the image.

Agree in every point

[archonforest]

Nice!

[pclavett]

Really beautiful project and as some others have said.... a bit of dressing on the island will make this perfect ! Congrats for this beautiful work !