The Secret Antelope Canyon

[PG]

Here's a first draft of my antelope canyon attempt. So far a LOT of effort has gone into getting rid of that cartoony effect while maintaining the smooth surface on the displacement and getting that strata layer. There is also some missing detail here because of jpeg compression. I'll post more complete renders in BMP or EXR'd BMP. I still need to spend more time on the surfaces, especially on the floor before getting the canyon walls where I want them (closer together). The lighting isn't very good either but up until 2 builds ago you couldn't see half of it Any tips? (hint hint RArcher )

[RArcher]

I think it is a really nice start and I like the initial displacement features.  I would explore some alternate Points of View to see if it livens the scene up somewhat, also possibly change to a more vertical aspect ratio to give a better sense of height and depth.  For the lighting it is really tough to tell where and how the light is entering the canyon so what I would suggest is adding a very thin (nearly invisible) cloud layer throughout the entire canyon area.  When your sunlight hits this it will really brighten everything up.

[Mohawk20]

A higher POV would create a different sense of scale (the canyon being narrower). The cloud layer Ryan suggested would help to get more contrast and detail in the lighting, which would in turn help with getting rid of the remaining cartoonyness.

[rcallicotte]

Good beginning.  Keep going...

Love the color.  Good choice.  That and lighting are key.

[PG]

Thanks guys. Finding a place for the camera is really really tricky because the camera keeps going through the terrain, and even if it looks fine when the preview's finished it still renders with a massive hole in the edge of the image. I did want to have shafts of light like RArchers render, hence why I asked for his guidance specifically but the nature of the displacement at the time made it impossible. I'll try again but it's really difficult to get the canyon that tight while allowing light through and not having massive pieces missing. I'll have a play with FOV too, that might make life a bit easier.
When you say make the cloud layer thin, do you mean almost nill depth or density? Also would you say 2D cirrus or 3d alto, etc. are better?
As for the vertical aspect ratio, I'll try that when I've managed to wrestle the canyon walls into place so I can avoid using narrower FOV's when I can.