Archer's Autumn

pfrancke · October 12, 2009, 09:42:39 AM

Tried mixing Ryan's tutorial with DandelO's tgd example to get some autumn leaves. Thanks to all of you guys for getting us started, if we end up in a bog in the woods, it's our own fault!!

inkydigit · October 12, 2009, 10:19:20 AM

looks a little grainy, but still very nice!

old_blaggard · October 12, 2009, 10:59:19 AM

I wonder what would happen if you turned raytracing on in the atmosphere. Still looks nice to me, though.

pfrancke · October 12, 2009, 11:12:02 AM

It was a 2 hour render - so... upping quality in atmo and cloud, increasing render size, upping render quality from .8 to recommend .9 and turning RT on in atmo. Also, fyi, I had two extra suns to try to get more light and color into leaves, so I just shut off their atmo shadows. If I get render errors, I guess I can try to crop it twice with overlays - If my computer starts smoking I'm going after OB and Inky!!

Kadri · October 12, 2009, 01:18:09 PM

Dark but nice render...and LOL

Kadri.

MacGyver · October 12, 2009, 01:57:51 PM

Very nice and atmospheric

I like the grain in this particular picture, together with the POV and the really beautiful colours it makes for a very nice composition

littlecannon · October 12, 2009, 02:36:11 PM

Very nice, I have to do Ryans Tut.

rcallicotte · October 13, 2009, 09:02:51 AM

Very good. I agree about the atmospheric touch this has, which is typical Ryan.

pfrancke · October 14, 2009, 07:49:41 PM

The rays were taking much too long, so I settled for higher atmo and cloud samples. The grain was better. This time I tried to work with and learn PS skills, so I blended exr with bmp, added a grunge layer that I applied burn, soft, and vivid light to. Then I added soft light to a copy of the bmp layer and this time I remembered to try the radial blur and blended with lighten, though I think I added too much. I got better detail in the middle and the image is still interesting. Oh yeah, I lightly saturated the reddish leaves too.

Kevin F · October 15, 2009, 03:39:42 AM

I think it's too dark. The black areas need to show up more (IMO). Have you tried adding another light(s) behind the camera with shadows turned off. I reckon that way you would be able to keep the atmosphere and be able to see a little texture on the trees.

RArcher · October 15, 2009, 09:55:17 AM

Very dark and creepy with the twisted tree. Perhaps a slightly lighter touch with the postwork would allow for a few more details to be seen without changing the great feeling you have going on here.

inkydigit · October 15, 2009, 10:17:49 AM

love the composition of the second, and the tonal quality, reminds me of a rich (photo) intaglio print!

rcallicotte · October 15, 2009, 11:23:41 AM

I love this mood set by how this was done. Would someone point to the link from Ryan?

pfrancke · October 15, 2009, 02:18:00 PM

Cross referencing is good - excellent point!
http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7653.0

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. "Too Dark, one more light". No... Actually I added two more fill lights which let me see the colors better in the trees. I agree about the too dark, but I think it got that way from me being too heavy handed with the post processing (as Ryan spotted right away - Have you guys noticed how irritating it is when that guy nails it!

)

But that was the magic of the post processing world that Ryan also helped me open my eyes to. The whole burn/soft light method was new to me. Ultimately it drove me to buy the Creative Photoshop CS4 book (since I was convinced that better PS is a very good thing) which just arrived and I am having a fun time looking at and working with

littlecannon · October 15, 2009, 02:38:24 PM

Yeah, Photoshop rocks. Layer apply modes and channel chops can create some interesting looks.