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General => Contests => NWDA 2013 Theme Challenge - Roadside => Topic started by: Zairyn Arsyn on March 28, 2013, 06:31:52 PM

Title: Zlain's old dirt road Final
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on March 28, 2013, 06:31:52 PM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: inkydigit on March 28, 2013, 08:11:29 PM
Nice set up Z ... :)
J
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: TheBadger on March 28, 2013, 08:46:23 PM
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


Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on March 28, 2013, 11:03:29 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Dune on March 29, 2013, 02:29:46 AM
Agreed too. This is already a beauty. Beauty in Simplicity. Don't overcrowd it, but keep it very subtle, but photographic, I'd say.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on March 29, 2013, 11:14:13 AM
from last night, with walli's dry reeds pack

C&C welcomed.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Tangled-Universe on March 29, 2013, 12:37:42 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on March 29, 2013, 06:59:48 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Dune on March 30, 2013, 03:18:11 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: TheBadger on March 30, 2013, 04:53:29 AM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: ajcgi on March 30, 2013, 09:07:58 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Jo Kariboo on March 30, 2013, 10:46:09 AM
Very nice approaches !!!
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v3
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 02, 2013, 04:52:53 PM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: TheBadger on April 02, 2013, 10:20:02 PM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 03, 2013, 12:09:52 AM
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.


Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Dune on April 03, 2013, 02:41:57 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v4
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 03, 2013, 05:26:57 PM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Tangled-Universe on April 03, 2013, 05:34:10 PM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 03, 2013, 05:40:33 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Oshyan on April 03, 2013, 05:43:51 PM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 03, 2013, 05:47:41 PM

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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Tangled-Universe on April 03, 2013, 05:47:56 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 03, 2013, 05:49:51 PM
AO light has been now been disabled
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 04, 2013, 10:14:26 AM
ao light disabled, fixed break up fractal, added some clouds, about to add another variety of grass.

comments & Critques welcome
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Tangled-Universe on April 04, 2013, 10:57:55 AM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Dune on April 04, 2013, 11:22:01 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: mhaze on April 04, 2013, 11:26:20 AM
looking good, looking forward to the final image. definitely feel like it needs a temple in the background.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: TheBadger on April 04, 2013, 12:24:20 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 04, 2013, 11:24:33 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: yossam on April 04, 2013, 11:34:15 PM
For some reason, the dry grass and flowers look over exposed. May be my monitor.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Dune on April 05, 2013, 01:34:51 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: mhaze on April 05, 2013, 04:09:55 AM
Very nice.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 06, 2013, 12:07:21 AM
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.



Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: masonspappy on April 06, 2013, 12:41:06 AM
Nice - I like the soft, almost gentle lighting
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 06, 2013, 12:43:20 AM
i should have another large good quality render by sometime tomorrow,
Z signing off.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 06, 2013, 12:44:31 PM
a larger version :)
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Mor on April 06, 2013, 01:05:36 PM
I like the mood the gentle and soft light gives to this image.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v5
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 06, 2013, 04:23:18 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 06, 2013, 10:50:31 PM
different flowers...
nwda dogrose tgos

C&C, suggestions, welcome.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: yossam on April 07, 2013, 12:22:14 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Dune on April 07, 2013, 02:43:53 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: inkydigit on April 07, 2013, 01:08:23 PM
the light and mood here is perfect, the detailing too, a great image so far!
:)
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 07, 2013, 03:01:24 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 07, 2013, 03:09:21 PM
new flower color, will post another version with a different color soon
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 07, 2013, 05:28:18 PM
blue flowers

C&C welcome
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: TheBadger on April 07, 2013, 06:09:14 PM
I am guessing you have RTO off? If so try it on?
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 07, 2013, 06:35:54 PM
RTO is on
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 08, 2013, 04:04:44 PM
high quality render from last night
dogrose bush flowers have blue coloring.

C&C, suggestions welcome
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Dune on April 09, 2013, 02:10:45 AM
Looking really good. One thing; I'd patch up/reduce the grasses in the central path.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Hannes on April 09, 2013, 08:51:53 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 09, 2013, 09:07:34 AM
@dune, do you mean the grasses between the path / tracks or on the sides of the path?
either way i'll start masking
 
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Dune on April 09, 2013, 11:19:10 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road fixed grass
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 09, 2013, 02:17:41 PM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road fill light vers.
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 10, 2013, 12:02:43 AM
personally i like the GI light version
the lighting does'nt really match the mood i had imagined.

your thoughts?
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Oshyan on April 10, 2013, 12:10:53 AM
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
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 10, 2013, 12:35:46 AM
changing fill light colors... seems to fixed the coldness, ill keep tweaking things
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v6
Post by: Dune on April 10, 2013, 02:52:30 AM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v8
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 10, 2013, 01:05:54 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v8
Post by: Jo Kariboo on April 10, 2013, 11:35:59 PM
I prefer the two last one. The others are very good to !  :)
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road lill lights
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 11, 2013, 11:10:42 PM
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.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v8
Post by: mhaze on April 12, 2013, 06:48:47 AM
Excellent image! Really like the lighting now.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road fill lights
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 12, 2013, 06:28:27 PM
same render just a little bit bigger

I think i'm ready for the final
?

Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v8
Post by: Oshyan on April 12, 2013, 11:36:55 PM
I think it has evolved nicely and is pretty well balanced now. Lots of nice detail in the light areas of that path. :)

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v8
Post by: otakar on April 13, 2013, 12:56:32 AM
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 :)
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road v8
Post by: Jo Kariboo on April 13, 2013, 10:28:28 PM
Beautifull !!! I very like the last one.  :)
Title: Zlain's old dirt road Final
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 13, 2013, 10:57:51 PM
final render, a bit larger too
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road Final
Post by: TheBadger on April 13, 2013, 11:12:33 PM
The light stands out to me, looks really great! Like it man, good work.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road Final
Post by: masonspappy on April 14, 2013, 01:44:14 AM
Yep - you done good. Nice work!
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road Final
Post by: mhaze on April 14, 2013, 05:09:53 AM
Really like this one, great lighting and mood.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road Final
Post by: j meyer on April 14, 2013, 11:00:12 AM
To me that's one of your best so far.
Title: Re: Zlain's old dirt road Final
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on April 15, 2013, 06:26:33 PM
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.