i decided to participate , after deciding not to. :)
the road is there
i just have some more objects too add, grass, trees etc, etc.
C&C welcome
Nice set up Z ... :)
J
agreed.
Love these soft rolling hills shots.
Rather than a forest or a grassy field, perhaps a midwest kind of prairie shot? Would need more plants than we probably have access to though
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2007/11/prairie2.jpg http://www.empoweringparks.com/Hoosier-Prairie.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xJWu0ksDsf0/TGnu8Sr0q9I/AAAAAAAAMz0/62PGQwKDUEw/s1600/Cave-Mounds_grounds.jpg
Well, probably, a lot of these kinds of plants are available
i'm quite happy with this rolling hills look i have.
i have some of walli's dry reeds, that might work. and i could change diffuse colors on the grass
i do i have a lot of objects
ill play around with that.
make a couple variations, post them for ppl to see.
Agreed too. This is already a beauty. Beauty in Simplicity. Don't overcrowd it, but keep it very subtle, but photographic, I'd say.
from last night, with walli's dry reeds pack
C&C welcomed.
I really like the pattern of the reeds.
You may have already noticed that with lighting conditions like these the translucency settings of the models start to break up resulting in a bit forced HDRI look.
So you may try decreasing those considerably, introducing contrast and let the camera exposure deal with the lighting balance of your short.
Furthermore, this is a WIP of course, you could try adding some grit and gravel to the road and perhaps mask out the reeds from its centre.
this was a partial inspiration for me in this piece, not exactly the same though.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/859680_3910458300471_2140587994_o.jpg
i took the photo btw.
I wouldn't mask all weeds out of the center area, but patch them and reduce them in size. And I agree with Martin's other observations.
agreed, just have to tweak it now in all aspects.
Also, I looked at your source image / inspiration image... nice shot!
Though I said before not to make it a forest, that image really inspires the use of at least some trees. I like how the trees are down the road, but not so far you cant pick out details. The photo has a nice feel to it. Like a hot dryish summer day in the mid west. If it were overcast with high altitude calm clouds, it would feel like a day at the state park, with rain forecast for the evening.
The sand suggests a river near by
Hmmm I say it keep simple. Plenty of Heathland in Britain is like this, including the sandy soil with no water in sight.
Less is more sometimes. If you get itchy to add trees, put them just over the horizon, implying a journey.
Very nice approaches !!!
i'm now using image maps for the road and ground, having trouble with the fake stones.
added some NWDA pines in the background.
think i should add some clouds (simple) or leave the atmosphere like it is?
C&C welcome
Looks really nice Zlain.
I like the ideas of the trees just as you used them. But perhaps a different kind of tree would be more suitable? The current ones just feel (to me) not quite right for the scene.
I get a real feeling of a greek or roman country side here, not sure why though. But I can easily imagine a small temple or shrine at the top of the hill.
something like these http://www.nalsworkshop.com/images/p_roman_temple_A.jpg http://www.hirstarts.com/temple/temple050.jpg
This last one would be nice http://trendyteacher.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Roman_Temple.jpg
Anyway, just the things that came to my mind when I looked at your image 8) Its still a real nice set up to my eye! I would just spend the last 13 days tweaking the details in the dirt and over all color and light.
Some other stuff that your image made me think of http://younghill.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/image018.jpg
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6174/6143506496_4a5206fca2_z.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7278/7414833238_34e48b5094_z.jpg
http://aardling.com/wp-content/uploads/elysian-fields-elysium.jpg
ill go through my object library and try the different trees i have,
its midnight, i will do a high quality render overnight with a new reed population i added, smaller than the rest, but doesnt get in the way current pattern on the reeds, just covers up the ground in the mid ground.
I'd use a larger variety of grasses, and tilt the main grass object 3-4 degrees. Maybe add some flowers? Furthermore, I'd get id of the lighter lines at the path's edges. And it would indeed be nice to have something where the paths leading to, a castle, shed, farm, or a water tower or temple. Not too big.
Maybe some subtle, soft cloud layers would work, just try it.
from last night, i cranked up the settings - Detail 0.8, AA 8, Supersample, GI details 2/2 :)
render time 10hrs+
C&C welcomed
@dune i have some flowers in the next render
Very very nice, can't say much else than that I like the mood and scene here.
There's only one thing I think you could try if you like, but first let me explain why. I think the image looks a bit HDR as both atmosphere and ground are well within exposure range and thus both have details in shadows. In a photoreal situation, single shot, this dynamic range would be captured differently.
As the sky makes the mood here I'd stick to keeping that as is and compensate the surfaces by adding more shadow.
I'd like to suggest to make a vertical crop (so only crop left/right sides, so that you still can see the way the atmo interacts with the terrain).
Then in the "Enviro Light" node reduce "GI strength on surface" by half and render the crop.
How does that look?
Cheers,
Martin
and now, flowers, i have more, so i can try different ones :)
i'm using 2 Enviro lights, with GI & AO
ill give your suggestions a go.
I agree with Martin, both his praise and criticism, hehe. The one thing not mentioned (surprisingly to me) is that the edges of the path really need some "breakup" or other fractal detail, something to make them not look so smooth and evenly blended-in. Some noise, basically. That's the only glaring issue that stands out to my eye at this point.
- Oshyan
Quote from: Oshyan on April 03, 2013, 05:43:51 PM
is that the edges of the path really need some "breakup"
- Oshyan
i'm aware of this actually.
not sure why im getting this.
actually it does have some break up, or did, i need to go through my surface nodes and do some render tests
The flowers might be a nice addition after you have increased the contrasts more by adding some shadows, so I'd say those are a keeper.
Disable the AO enviro light. "We" don't want extra enviro light, but more shadows so we can disable it. It also adds some rendertime, so another nice reason :)
If you think the shadows aren't strong enough then reduce strength on surface again by half.
If your shadows have a hue, say red, then reduce the RGB value for red in the enviro light colour for surfaces. Say from 255 to 215.
AO light has been now been disabled
ao light disabled, fixed break up fractal, added some clouds, about to add another variety of grass.
comments & Critques welcome
That's quite an improvement already :)
Did you also reduce the "strenght on surface" parameter for the (GI) enviro light?
I still think it can use a bit more shadows in the vegetation.
From now it's polishing/refining until it's "done"...if that's possible :)
You can think about adding fine bumps here and there in your road, may be a bit of grit/stones here and there, just not too many.
The background trees are a bit "out of the blue" so you can think of ways to make their appearance and position a bit more natural.
Cheers,
Martin
Indeed, very nice. And good to be able to judge it this big. So.... I have a few comments; with a sky like you have and the sun still quite high I would expect more light on the terrain and also more 'blinding' light, as you look straight into the sun. Perhaps a low cloud layer, low density, even without fractal, can produce that, overshining (or however you call that) the trees. I really like your path surface but there is one dark patch with a straight edge which should be broken/removed/warped more. Also, I would brakup the pop of grasses in the central part of the path. It forms a too well defined line, especially further uphill.
But definitely a great image.
looking good, looking forward to the final image. definitely feel like it needs a temple in the background.
Its good Zlain. I like it the best of your images so far this year, and one of my all time favorites of your work. Keep tweaking.
lighting changed... looks ok?
added some fresh wild grass from NWDA
going to start tweaking the break up on the grass pops.
C&C welcome.
For some reason, the dry grass and flowers look over exposed. May be my monitor.
I think this looks really nice. You might consider a little more glare still, but it's a huge improvement already. Road is also great now.
Very nice.
i decided to add a pop of bushes, from Mr. Lampposts bush pack
changed the clouds some - in the last one they were overlapping the sun, though it didnt make much of a difference, i changed it anyways, theirs a bit of a difference.
Nice - I like the soft, almost gentle lighting
i should have another large good quality render by sometime tomorrow,
Z signing off.
a larger version :)
I like the mood the gentle and soft light gives to this image.
i'm thinking about changing the flower objects, to the dogwrose bush w/ flowers (i got some feedback elsewhere)
what do you guys think?
i'll do a render and post it.
different flowers...
nwda dogrose tgos
C&C, suggestions, welcome.
I think the flower blossoms are too close to the same color as your dry grass. Maybe turn the diffuse color up some. I like these flowers better than the previous ones. They just need to stand out more.
Nice flowers, but I agree with Yossam. If they would be deeper/lighter blue it would give a great contrast to the warm glow of the rest. I think you need to reduce the pinpricks of shine (either size or brightness) on the ground pebbles. It all looks kind of dry and they attract just a little too much attention.
the light and mood here is perfect, the detailing too, a great image so far!
:)
currently the flowers are now a deeper color of red, from what they were before, but i could change the diffuse texture next time i render.
new flower color, will post another version with a different color soon
blue flowers
C&C welcome
I am guessing you have RTO off? If so try it on?
RTO is on
high quality render from last night
dogrose bush flowers have blue coloring.
C&C, suggestions welcome
Looking really good. One thing; I'd patch up/reduce the grasses in the central path.
Love the mood in your image. Imho the lighting is a bit flat especially on the plants in the foreground. As you may have read in Mor's thread, I'm a big fan of the fill light setup, which to my taste very often makes the plants look better in terms of lighting and detail in the shadows.
@dune, do you mean the grasses between the path / tracks or on the sides of the path?
either way i'll start masking
I mean between the tracks. Especially in the further distance it is very much a 'solid' line. I think if you patch it up, it's nicer.
how does this look?
in background its kind hard to tell the difference between the grass and the median texturing, would have to do a larger render for a better view.
C&C welcome
personally i like the GI light version
the lighting does'nt really match the mood i had imagined.
your thoughts?
That latest version is much "colder" but seems more realistic at the same time, like a photo vs. the previous ones looking more like idealized paintings. If you could warm up the tone of the latest one a bit and brighten it a little overall, I think it would be my personal preference. But I do think a good deal of it at this point is down to personal taste, or what looks "realistic" to a given person.
- Oshyan
changing fill light colors... seems to fixed the coldness, ill keep tweaking things
I agree with Oshyan, the latter is more 'photographic', but may have a little extra warmth. The reduced grass is super! Makes it much more real.
fill lights, again
its kinda hard to spot out any shadows i think, i turned soft shadow off anyways, and the shadowing is'nt very dark.
I prefer the two last one. The others are very good to ! :)
another render with the fill lights, tweaked.
i have gotten the lighting on the reeds to resemble the way it looked on the GI based renders, while making the flower bushes look a little more defined.
C&C, or suggestions welcome.
Excellent image! Really like the lighting now.
same render just a little bit bigger
I think i'm ready for the final
?
I think it has evolved nicely and is pretty well balanced now. Lots of nice detail in the light areas of that path. :)
- Oshyan
Quite pleasing, yes. The grass variation also looks very natural. The blue flowers seem to stand out a lot against the yellowish backdrop, maybe I'd go for less saturation there, but it could just be my monitor :)
Beautifull !!! I very like the last one. :)
final render, a bit larger too
The light stands out to me, looks really great! Like it man, good work.
Yep - you done good. Nice work!
Really like this one, great lighting and mood.
To me that's one of your best so far.
everyone, thank you all good suggestive comments. :)
personally i'm glad this is over, felt a little exhausted in a creative sort of way, now i can get back to playing and modeling with blender 3D more.