Near and far

FrankB · January 31, 2009, 05:10:21 AM

Hi,

I've let the computer do some rendering over night. Here's the result so far.
Against my "philosophy" of not getting too close to vegetation with the camera, I did it this time and already regret it :-)
However, I've applied a DOF mask ever so slightly, and that helped a bit :-)

Cheers,
Frank

Seth · January 31, 2009, 05:20:06 AM

good start but i can see some problems on the fake stones... (PF problems)

Hannes · January 31, 2009, 09:53:56 AM

I love it. The grass looks absolutely natural and the DOF is the icing on the cake (often people tend to use DOF in wide panoramic shots, which makes it look like a model, but in this case it's perfect).
Maybe the clouds are a little bit too dense?! They look a bit like cotton.

rcallicotte · January 31, 2009, 01:05:50 PM

Looks pretty natural, to me. I'd say I'd agree with the other assessments only if you're striving for "perfection". Otherwise, this is very good.

One thing - the grass looks good, but there's something about it that should look softer or wavier. In other words, more "perfect".

old_blaggard · January 31, 2009, 01:24:59 PM

Great clouds and nice POV. I see what you mean about the vegetation, but try getting some more variety and maybe some more color into it (flowers...?).

FrankB · January 31, 2009, 03:32:30 PM

Thanks guys, much appreciated.
Let me tell you what I think would be the icing on the cake, regarding the grasses: it's not necessarily more species, or flowers or anything. It's variety within the same model, if that would be possible. I mean all these grasses in renders stand stiff and tall. Always. There should be some variation in how the blades would tilt this or that way, or grow in a slightly diverse way. I would like to see that some day. In the meantime, we'll probably have to do our best with believable distribution of instances. I was thinking of tilting a model a bit, so that the built in y-axis rotation also produces instances that bend towards various directions. Maybe I should try that next.

Cheers,
Frank

Seth · January 31, 2009, 03:49:16 PM

the grass look very believable to me though ^^
did you try to add another population of the same grass but slighty rotated (transform tab)?

Volker Harun · January 31, 2009, 04:40:43 PM

Agree with Seth - but would rather go for some dead gras.

FrankB · January 31, 2009, 05:01:31 PM

... the dead grass might be a good addition. I will have to have a look whether I've got a suitable model in my little attic.
Cheers,
Frank

efflux · January 31, 2009, 07:24:08 PM

Nice. DOF works. Often this is not used right but here it is convincing.

Klas · February 01, 2009, 05:30:23 AM

Quote from: FrankB on January 31, 2009, 03:32:30 PMThere should be some variation in how the blades would tilt this or that way...

This would be nice.

Quote from: FrankB on January 31, 2009, 03:32:30 PMI mean all these grasses in renders stand stiff and tall....

And if you use some gras for the population where the gras blades point in different directions? something like this: http://www.terralights.de/terralightsII/Downloads/details/id=29.html

FrankB · February 01, 2009, 05:45:06 AM

Hi Klas,

I think that clumps like these breakup the stiffness better than single grasses, the problem is still that with many of those clumps next to each other, the overall look and feel is a little too chaotic (blades pointing everywhere). I should have said, that I would like a look such as a breeze of wind would do to the grass. I don't think this can be done just through the models.
However, your grass clump looks really nice. One suggestion, in case you would want to consider it: the brown and tall blades are too long (I think). Half the length, or 60% of the length, would be better.

Grüße,
Frank

Klas · February 01, 2009, 10:14:45 AM

Quote from: FrankB on February 01, 2009, 05:45:06 AMthe problem is still that with many of those clumps next to each other, the overall look and feel is a little too chaotic (blades pointing everywhere). I should have said, that I would like a look such as a breeze of wind would do to the grass.

Ok, what do you think about this idea: take a model where all gras blades points in the same direction and set the rotation to less then 360 degrees, for example 45. The gras deformation in this example is done very quick, I definitively can do it better.

FrankB · February 01, 2009, 10:29:12 AM

that's a good idea, Klas!

Tangled-Universe · February 01, 2009, 05:42:15 PM

Good work Frank. Cool stones and clouds (you might try to get rid of some of those smaller loose floating clouds)
I like the DOF very much, it really adds to the realism and gives me really the sensation that I'm actually there. I don't see that often

I'm looking forward on seeing how you resolve the "grass-problem" I think Klas' suggestion is a good starting-point.

Martin