Storm over the Desert

[RArcher]

I really had a lot of fun with this image.  It started as a distraction when working with the clouds on my previous bonsai/pot attempt and more or less took over my concentration. The clouds are a further modification of a clip file I have previously posted and I think they are 90% as close to perfect as I can get them.  The grass is, as always, from Klas, the pipe organ cactus is from Jcinbama, and the ocotillo is from Gary Poole.  I added a slight vignetting and radial blurring to the corners in post and I quite like how it turned out.

Unfortunately this will be my last render for a little bit as I really need to actually do work, at work, instead of rendering

Thanks for taking a look!

-ryan

[darthvader]

I like it! my only crtiques would be that I think the radial blur on the bottom of the image detracts from what appears to be a most excellent texturing of the ground and that the spacing of the cacti appears to be too regular. Great job on the texturing of the terrain and plants, I am still not convinced that you just didn't crop out the ground of a photograph and put together some clouds to make the image

I approve

[Seth]

the ground and cactus are great but the clouds are far too CG to my taste...
they look like soap lather

[FrankB]

the clouds are unusual, maybe a little otherworldly, but they do indeed look good.
They have a pretty intimidating feel to it. Doesn't seems they're up to something good :-D

Don't do too much of your other work, I believe we all want you back rendering as soon as possible ;-)

Cheers,
Frank

[Shashin]

Those clouds are beauuuuuutiful. Slightly surreal, but fascinating. I agree, Frank - I wouldn't want to be standing there... Great work! And nice lighting on the ground, by the way. 

Regards,
~Shashin

[rcallicotte]

I agree with Seth about the terrain.  And the clouds, as the progress outward, have a fake, even grainy, appearance.  The very top of the cloud looks very good, though a little sharp.

[Hannes]

Dramatic! To me the clouds look a bit like styrofoam, surreal but nice.

[Saurav]

Don't touch the surfaces and the plants. Clouds could be more realistic, at the moment they look very CG. I don't mind the Radial blur, adds a photographic touch.

[MacGyver]

The foreground is absolutely fantastic, great job, the blur and lighting adds very much to the realism!
The clouds make me feel both excited and frustrated, not your fault though. They look very imaginative, on the other hand I tend to agree with the other comments.
I personally hope you'll be back soon!

[RArcher]

Thanks for the comments everyone.  Any thoughts on what exactly is making the clouds seem overly CG?   Is it the shapes or the densities? Or perhaps the colours?

[Tangled-Universe]

Thanks for the comments everyone.  Any thoughts on what exactly is making the clouds seem overly CG?   Is it the shapes or the densities? Or perhaps the colours?

Hi Ryan,

I think it is mainly the shapes. The larger features look very rough with much noise variation which makes them look unnatural.
At first sight I'd swear it was based on my clouds from the cloud file sharing area. They show lots of similarities in shapes densities and lighting. Not that it is important, you just got me there
I think the radial blur is a good touch, perhaps you could soften that effect a little bit, but not too much.
You might try Frank's cloudfiles to improve your clouds, they're very useful for this purpose.

Martin

[RArcher]

Thanks Martin,

Here is a 0.5 detail update. reduced the size of the small scale billows, added some wispyness and softness.  They look somewhat more realistic if a little less dramatic.  Also reduced the blur a fair bit and confined it more to the corners.

The clouds are based on a more advanced version of the clip I posted here: http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=3691.msg48685#msg48685

Basically using merge shaders to try and blend various scales of billows together.  I should send the clip over to you, I am sure you would be able to refine it substantially.

-ryan

[Hannes]

Much better now!

[choronr]

Very impressive with this second version; and, the organ pipe cacti are fine. Cloud-working is in today as we see many experimenting; especially with Frank's work.

[Tangled-Universe]

Thanks Martin,

Here is a 0.5 detail update. reduced the size of the small scale billows, added some wispyness and softness.  They look somewhat more realistic if a little less dramatic.  Also reduced the blur a fair bit and confined it more to the corners.

The clouds are based on a more advanced version of the clip I posted here: http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=3691.msg48685#msg48685

Basically using merge shaders to try and blend various scales of billows together.  I should send the clip over to you, I am sure you would be able to refine it substantially.

-ryan

Ah that looks better already! I think they look more natural now, but still...improvements can still be made. Making good looking clouds of this type is not easy huh Merging various scales is indeed a good approach. Did you make any use of colour adjust shaders?
I know these are based on your patagonian desert clouds I just thought there were many similarities, that's not a bad thing
I certainly would like to take a look at your clipfile now my update on Mellow Morning is almost finished rendering.
You can find my e-mail in my profile.

Martin