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General => Contests => NWDA 2015 Theme Challenge - Iceland => Topic started by: inkydigit on December 01, 2014, 05:43:56 PM

Title: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on December 01, 2014, 05:43:56 PM
I will post some experiments and ideas as I go along;
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on December 01, 2014, 05:47:23 PM
Ooo, nice start. Great sense of scale.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on December 01, 2014, 05:48:57 PM
Thanks Oshyan... I felt the foreground was a bit too harsh, so I decreased the displacement of the (foreground) terrain, added some extra textures too:
These are preliminary aerial shots, nothing definite, just getting a feel for various different terrains, textures and moods etc.
I may get closer to the ground, we shall see...
:)
J
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on December 01, 2014, 07:33:06 PM
Oh I see, taking this to the next level in the first step! No meandering beginning with you. Well fine! I'll just work harder to compete... Who needs sleep and family anyway :o

Good start man!

;D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: AP on December 01, 2014, 08:41:59 PM
I like the erosive flow details which add a lot of believability.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on December 01, 2014, 10:44:54 PM
You've captured the effect of nature over many eons if time. We'll be watching the evolution of your creativity.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on December 02, 2014, 03:47:28 AM
The basics look very good, Inky.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: DannyG on December 02, 2014, 11:32:18 AM
Promising start Inky!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on December 02, 2014, 03:34:25 PM
Quote from: TheBadger on December 01, 2014, 07:33:06 PM
Oh I see, taking this to the next level in the first step! No meandering beginning with you. Well fine! I'll just work harder to compete... Who needs sleep and family anyway :o

Good start man!

;D
Lol, to be honest, there was pretty much only a couple of steps before this... Most of my ideas were already formulated until this point:  I knew which terrain I wanted to use, so it was just fix PoV & change sunlight angle and direction, add some surfacing et voila...

Thanks for the encouraging comments everyone!
Now for some details... As they say, the devil is in the detail!
Cheers
Jason
:)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on December 02, 2014, 06:19:30 PM
Is he in the details? Last I heard he was in Miss Jones.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on December 03, 2014, 10:26:03 AM
Quote from: TheBadger on December 02, 2014, 06:19:30 PM
Is he in the details? Last I heard he was in Miss Jones.
lol
or White City!
:D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on December 24, 2014, 06:58:21 AM
Hi Folks,
I veered off on another tangent... similar, but different?
so, maybe another contender/line of attack??
lots of textures need to be added, and maybe some mid/far ground interest...
not sure... will go and do some more midnight reindeers, I mean renders!!
:D

I 'll keep you updated of my explorations...

Have a happy Beltane/Christmas/Hanukkah/Yule/holidays, or whatever you get up to over the next wee while!!
peace
inky

btw, no pw on this one, just jpegged
:)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on December 24, 2014, 08:13:22 AM
This is also a nice start, I like the distant rivers. But I think you need to give it some power somehow; clouds, lighting, texture variation. Curious to see whether this will be your venue, or something else pops up next week  ;)  Have good Xmas!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: archonforest on December 24, 2014, 08:34:58 AM
Nice start inky! I like the terrain and the rivers at the back a lot ;)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on December 25, 2014, 01:17:04 AM
I quite like this, some great terrain and initial texturing. Lighting angle is also cool and dramatic. But it all seems quite dark. I'd be curious to see it just brightened up a good deal so we can see what's going on more, and then maybe I'd have some more feedback. But again the terrain and whatnot look great already.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on December 25, 2014, 02:01:41 AM
The mind wanders here; so many possibilities. Looking forward to your next move.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on December 27, 2014, 06:58:22 AM
Thanks folks, next one is on its way....
:)
J
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on January 04, 2015, 11:45:28 AM
Some surfacing and atmo/lighting tweaks.... Objects added may be subject to rearrangement and or removal!!
Any crits/comments welcome and appreciated....
Cheers
Inky
:)
Btw no pw just jpegged
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: gregtee on January 04, 2015, 02:37:33 PM
I like it, your detailing is amazing and I really get a good feel for what the various surfaces are made of though it feels flat overall contrast wise.  Would be nice to see a little more tonal range, some deeper blacks and crisper high ends between the sun racked rocks screen left and darker in shadow terrain lower screen right.   
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on January 04, 2015, 09:35:57 PM
I agree with Greg's feedback, but I definitely like where this is going. Good work.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Kadri on January 05, 2015, 12:32:48 AM

Looks good.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: N-drju on January 05, 2015, 08:08:52 AM
I think I know those guys. :D Humans, in this or other form, are always a good addition to the scene.

Did you use crater shaders here?
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on January 05, 2015, 11:53:27 AM
Thanks for the feedback Greg, Oshyan,Kadri and N drju ... A good bit more to add texturewise also maybe some steam or fumaroles or geysers... I will try to maximise the dynamism and tonality, hopefully mostly in TG but minimal post work is also possible... I'll keep you updated on with any progress 😄
No crater shaders yet 😄
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on January 05, 2015, 12:42:05 PM
Looking forward Jason!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on January 05, 2015, 02:40:21 PM
Quote from: choronr on January 05, 2015, 12:42:05 PM
Looking forward Jason!
Thanks Bob!
Onward and upward!
:))
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on January 05, 2015, 02:51:44 PM
Damn man!  8)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on January 05, 2015, 06:45:59 PM
Thanks M...
Some quick and rather rough post done in snapseed on iPad...not perfect, but a nice pw evaluation experiment!!
:)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on January 05, 2015, 06:58:36 PM
Yeeessss. Damn Inky, this looks really good. Seriously one of your best pieces I've ever seen (already). And the relatively subtle addition of a human element is really good too. It's quite evocative, at least for me, because it reminds me of a trip we took to the ice cave, riding in a huge, lifted, big-tire 4 wheel drive van across the glacial moraine to the base of the glacier to explore as a group. We got out and probably looked very much like this (minus the haze, which is still wonderfully atmospheric, and plausible for other areas of Iceland, and other seasons). If we'd had a drone to film us, I might have gotten a similar shot. :D

Really loving how this is coming together. The post work definitely enhances.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on January 05, 2015, 06:59:08 PM
This is looking really good. Don't forget the truck tracks.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on January 06, 2015, 02:31:42 AM
Echo Oshyan and Bob. Before reading Bob's comment, I thought 'tracks'.
My eye is drawn to the subtle streams in the distance, very nice indeed.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: masonspappy on January 06, 2015, 04:33:32 AM
Top notch realism!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Hannes on January 06, 2015, 12:06:24 PM
Simply WOW!!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Gannaingh on January 06, 2015, 12:08:50 PM
Looking really good! The subtle addition of colors is beautiful.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on January 06, 2015, 01:12:37 PM
Grand! TG really does this sort of thing right, in the right hands. Great stuff here Ink!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: DannyG on January 06, 2015, 06:00:46 PM
Scale is awesome, tons of detail .. WoW
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: gregtee on January 07, 2015, 01:14:25 AM
It's amazing what a little post processing can do.  The added contrast makes the image jump off the page.  Now you can "sculpt" the scene by adding color corrections to localalized parts of the image to steer the viewer's eye where you want it to and give more overall shape to the composition. You've got a great foundation to work on here.  I've spent hours noodling renders in Photoshop or Nuke using mattes and power windows to shape the frame, adding warmer tones in some areas, cooler in others in an effort to balance the image and create mood.  Have fun with it. 
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: N-drju on January 07, 2015, 03:25:34 AM
Jason's going for top five. :)

I liked the darker image better.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on January 07, 2015, 03:28:54 AM
QuoteJason's going for top five
There are only (more or less) 5 contestants  >:( Quite dissappointing, actually, so I hope for some more daredevils!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: N-drju on January 07, 2015, 03:52:02 AM
I'd also gladly take part but currently I'm working on a mind-boggling, lengthy animation. :P
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Kevin F on January 07, 2015, 07:18:04 AM
Well I've got one brewing, but keeping a low profile so far!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on January 07, 2015, 08:58:35 AM
Wow, thanks for the positive feedback folks,
much appreciated.... :)
As I said the post work is a bit coarse, over sharpened/fake hdr a little imho...
...There are only a handful of surfaces here, all of which will be getting children etc. soon!
:D
So, I am looking forward to tinkering on surfaces and masks, and digging out my truck tracks clips!!.... (thanks Bob and Ulco... I knew I would not get away for long without any sign of arrival etc.!!!)
I was pleasantly impressed with Snapseed, used with care, some good (finer) results will be possible I am sure.
Render quality and AA and atmo settings are medium at present, so will all have a boost, initial tests look promising.
back to the laboratory!
cheers
J
:)


Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on January 07, 2015, 11:47:14 AM
@ Kevin: Well, don't, as imput from the forum may yield some inprovements that you'd otherwise looked over. It happens.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on January 08, 2015, 11:00:58 AM
Quote from: Dune on January 07, 2015, 03:28:54 AM
QuoteJason's going for top five
There are only (more or less) 5 contestants  >:( Quite dissappointing, actually, so I hope for some more daredevils!

Are you sure? Maybe some people are just working in private.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on January 08, 2015, 12:19:27 PM
As I said, it's better to show some WIP's. You may look over some 'mistakes', which often happens if you're working on something. It's a learning experience as much as a 'winning game', IMHO. You never know if C&C will improve your work!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on January 08, 2015, 07:11:03 PM
I agree.  :)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: otakar on January 15, 2015, 01:34:01 PM
Really good! My eye gets drawn to the water, how'd you add that in? Via a mask?
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on January 29, 2015, 04:55:55 PM
A minor update...lo res - Squeezing renders in between work etc.... Many fruitless tests, my strata vanished for a while.... Adding a mask with a merge shader messed up all the displacements?
Thankfully it was an easy fix... I used one mask rather than two merged... :))
Pw=Some fairly light and contrast tweaks in snapseed...
Still stacks to do.... More breakup (more colours?) thermal steam still not entirely happy with - some additional procedural masking will be tried next....
Starting to panic
:)
Cheers
Inky
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on January 29, 2015, 04:58:21 PM
Ps @ otakar yes image maps and procedural (power fractal)
:)
J
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on January 29, 2015, 05:32:01 PM
Evolving very nicely.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: ADE on January 30, 2015, 10:30:11 AM
looking good, Jason....
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Henry Blewer on January 31, 2015, 11:37:50 AM
Keep working. You are very close.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: ADE on February 05, 2015, 10:53:25 AM
great textures there on the rocks Mr Ink!!!!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Artby on February 05, 2015, 03:28:26 PM
Epic lighting and great sense of scale !
I really like the background and the river, but not sure about the clouds...  They looks a bit "digital" to me, but this is just my opinion. Have you some image references to work with ?
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 06, 2015, 08:16:23 AM
thanks folks,
tweaking into the wee hours is frazzling my brain... I can see faces in the prepass!!!

next one up shortly, more tweaks yet to do, arghhh!
:)
it is never really finished is it?
@Artby, thanks a lot... :) - I agree about the distant clouds/steam/mist... we are cloud warping at present, some additional masking may well be used too...
there are smoking steaming fumaroles that I was using as reference - some are like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98364818@N00/8353113553
any how, I'll prep my next image for posting shortly...
cheers
Jason
Quote from: Artby on February 05, 2015, 03:28:26 PM
Epic lighting and great sense of scale !
I really like the background and the river, but not sure about the clouds...  They looks a bit "digital" to me, but this is just my opinion. Have you some image references to work with ?
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 07, 2015, 11:46:42 AM
Another small update, tiny tweaks... Still not happy... Next one cooking....
Truck will most likely be replaced with Jochen's lovely LR 110s ;)
Small rocks and distant steam or mist is problematic.... So hard to get right, it's like knitting a jellyfish.

Some quick and dirty pw with snapseed on the iPad...
A bit too rough this time maybe?
Onwards and upwards
Cheers
J
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on February 07, 2015, 12:10:14 PM
The details here are striking Jason. Maybe brighten up the streams with some luminosity?
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on February 07, 2015, 03:21:16 PM
Luminosity? If we're looking at the same streams (in the distance?), I think they're bright enough as-is, and looking pretty good. Oh wait, *steam*? Just as an experiment, crop render the upper 1/4 or 1/3 of the image at moderate resolution and enable Receive Shadows from Surfaces in the Cloud (steam) layer...

As for the post work, as I mentioned on FB I think it's a bit too bright now. I liked the dark, contrasty approach you had before. But either way it's a stupendous terrain with outstanding details. Undeniably one of your best works to date, in fact I'd probably pick it as my personal favorite of everything you've ever done (and I do like your other work, so that's saying a lot :D ).

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: AaronTyler on February 08, 2015, 05:30:33 PM
Looks awesome!  :o
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 09, 2015, 12:35:38 PM
Thanks Bob, Oshyan and Aaron... :)
The final few tweaks, before I hit the render button:
enabled receive shadows from ... in the steam... looking good so far(?), & did not impact too much on render time, Jochen's amazing LR 110's (big thanks Jochen!) added a paint job of my own... :)
You can see in the larger FG crop that the tyre tracks are obliterated by the shadow of the rocks that were out of frame... I always forget about wee thing like that... testing soft shadows at present, will post more soon, :)

anyone used a render farm for single images yet?
severely tempted lol!
:))
J
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: kalwalt on February 09, 2015, 03:12:02 PM
Awesome! Very realistic indeed! :D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on February 09, 2015, 04:14:38 PM
Hmm, honestly it's hard to say if Receive Shadows is doing anything for the "steam" cloud layer. I wasn't sure if it would, it depends on the sun angle relative to their position in the terrain. I thought perhaps some areas should be getting shadow from that nearby mountain and that having those shadows would make the steam look more well-integrated with the image. I actually do think that crop looks a tad better in that regard, though I don't see any obvious mountain shadow. So, hmm... :D

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on February 09, 2015, 04:23:47 PM
Hi,
I have been wondering about the big hole. IS that one of those... What do U call it...  some kind of hot mineral pool?  ;D Sorry just cant think of the terms now. But I was curious if you were going to add steaming water?

With the people standing around I definitely see that there is a story with it being there. And I have no complaint about it at all. I was just hoping to see one of your renders of it with the water, just for fun. If you did one.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on February 09, 2015, 04:57:58 PM
Jason, adding the figures and the truck gives a great sense of the overall scale. Tweaking away as you nave been really has this one coming out beautifully.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 09, 2015, 06:52:20 PM
Thanks folks!
@ Oshyan, yes the 'cloud/steam' layer has gained some subtle variation in lighting... I was hoping for some more dramatic effect.... So I guess it all depends on sun angle and landscape; it's not going to be as effective everywhere!
Still, like I said, some subtle change has helped imho...
I might try plugging in a power fractal or similar to the shadow slot in the cloud layer, see if that yields any results...
Still tweaking the models...
@ Michael, yes I had thought of some water, also some lava pool at one point lol... We shall see, cutting it fine for messing about with water settings...!
Had a quick test... Hmmmm as the crater is in shadow, it is hard to get the water to look how I want... Maybe tinker some more after Saturday :)
Cheers
J
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 11, 2015, 06:31:22 PM
Distant geyser...
:)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on February 11, 2015, 09:10:34 PM
Woah, yes!

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on February 11, 2015, 09:28:04 PM
Very good!!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: kalwalt on February 12, 2015, 05:40:54 AM
I want that geyser!! :D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 12, 2015, 06:45:32 AM
thanks folks!!
@kalwalt...
lol, it will cost you though!

:D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: DannyG on February 12, 2015, 08:23:39 AM
Yep that's the Icing on the cake Jason.   ;D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on February 12, 2015, 09:47:02 AM
Tell us Inky; image map on plane? Or blue node triangle mask?
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on February 12, 2015, 10:34:57 AM
Quote from: kalwalt on February 12, 2015, 05:40:54 AM
I want that geyser!! :D
Yes, us old geezers like geysers too.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: j meyer on February 12, 2015, 11:17:42 AM
Hot!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: otakar on February 12, 2015, 07:35:23 PM
Whoa, how the heck did ya do that now? Surely not just a cloud layer....
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on February 12, 2015, 07:58:49 PM
I think Jason is going to have that patented.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: TheBadger on February 13, 2015, 01:02:11 AM
After the contest you must tell us what you did.
http://cdn2.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/thirddegreeinterrogation.jpg Hope no need for the 3rd degree  ;D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on February 13, 2015, 01:17:48 AM
we have ways of making you talk Inky.
;) :D
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on February 13, 2015, 02:47:19 AM
There is a blue code by Mogn; a soft triangular area, which can be warped. Just my guess.
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 13, 2015, 08:35:59 AM
 :-X
Lol
:)) see you soon folks
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on February 14, 2015, 04:17:23 AM
You made me think again, and it's surprisingly easy  :-X
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Oshyan on February 14, 2015, 06:07:25 PM
Heck yeah!

- Oshyan
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: choronr on February 14, 2015, 06:37:08 PM
Yes sir, very nice!
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 14, 2015, 08:42:44 PM
This was great fun!
I could have tweaked more, but am happy with the result....
Thanks to all for the critique, encouragement and compliments,
Very much appreciated!
Danny's email is bouncing my submission, so I have posted a pm... Fingers crossed this is ok....
Here is my final:
Tone mapped from exr output, with minor saturation and contrast adjustments, cheers folks, good luck to all!
Jason.
:)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 14, 2015, 08:43:45 PM
Original jpg is just under 2mb...?
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: otakar on February 14, 2015, 11:37:30 PM
You did a fine job here. We need more diverse people objects. You could have used a few picture takers :)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: Dune on February 15, 2015, 03:15:17 AM
Seen the entry and judged  :-X 8)
Title: Re: inkydigit's Iceland renders
Post by: inkydigit on February 15, 2015, 06:19:21 AM
thanks guys... here is the larger size jpg, for some reason uploading via dropbox via ipad , the jpg got shrunk in bytes??

:))