Aspens created in SpeedTree, Dry Bush var. 10 from Walli's Dry Bush Pack, tangly root/brush made in ST as well. Aspen textures generously shared by Forester. Detail .8, AA 10, render filter - Catmull-Rom.
That's very nice. The light play through the shrubs along the edge of the creek is very nice touch.
Like this one a lot.
Very nice, love the lighting, only thing I would change is add more variety to your plants and trees.
Looks nice!
Agree with all. The observation I would add is that it feels too "perfect" to me. The image feels like it is more of an idea of a place than a real place. Perhaps Mindsap's idea is the fix for this; just add much more variation to the plant life.
Nice composition. And that water detail looks real to me. THere are a lot of little washes and stream and river off-shoots like in your image where I live. Lots and lots!
I kind of like the feeling of this being an idea of a space rather than a real space. It's what makes it feel like a piece art rather than an exercise in trying to duplicate something photographically, something maybe we all get too hung up on.
To me this looks like an idealized rendition of a real setting; I like the idea that it's not trying too hard to be literally photographic and instead makes me appreciate what the artist was feeling rather than what they were technically trying to do. It's a place I'd like to visit and wander around in. It feels like it's out of a storybook.
Thanks Guys! In all honesty as this thing came together I was reminded more and more of the beloved cliche of thematic composition that has graced the walls behind so many sofas: the back-lit autumnal golden leaf scene with reflections dazzling into creek below... I've followed some active conversations on this forum regarding digital look vs. photographic look vs. painterly look, it's a topic that is always of great interest. This image is meant to be 'painterly, and the composition is a nod towards a traditional theme. The project was primarily created to 'test drive my newest ST object: the Western Aspen. As to greater variety, heck yeah! In future renderings I hope to have made some more underbrush types of foliage including; blackberry bramble, wild roses, and creek willows.
I truly appreciate any insights and opinions offered up by y'all
I like this scene............to me the dead underbrush makes the difference. :)
Pure beauty... one inch from perfection
The kind of atmo I love to find when i spend time in forest in autumn
I love the brown and gold tones....it looks real and surreal. I think that is why everyone says real or not but....you know! I love it....excellent work!
No words other than one of the best Terragen compositions I've seen.
I agree, it's a great image. Gives a very warm and pleasant feel. My only crit would be that I like to see it bigger (I'm used to big now) ;)
What a beauty! I agree, that some more variety would add to realism, but that's a matter of taste.
Wonderful! Some more variation in the undergrowth would be great and I like to see a bigger render too.
Stunning!!! composition and colors man ;)
I love the commentary above and agree with much of it. If the goal is an artistic, "painterly", "classic" feel, then well done, goal achieved! I'm also really liking the stuff you're doing with SpeedTree. I do think the aspens are a bit bright in the shadows, almost semi-luminous, but that's my only criticism and you could argue it's a pseudo-HDR effect.
- Oshyan
The best reward that an artist of natural scenes can receive is when a viewer says that the image draws them in and that they would like to journey into that space: at least for me that's it. Thank you.
Oshayn, if you mean the 'glow' on the bark texture, indeed that was problematic. I made numerous crop renders; eliminated the spectral maps, changed the displacement values, and most significantly - modified the second sun position and values all to minimum effect. Even with the 'bounce to the ounce' set at four I still needed the additional 2nd sun lighting. As I noted earlier the textures were provided by "Forester", an accomplished digital freelancer and Speedtree adept. The textures were optimized to be rendered in Maya with VRay and MR, I did go into PS and 'auto toned' the image with no subsequent difference, the tests I did with the trees fully front lit were very good however. So I suspect it's something I've inadvertantly done to to muck it up. I appreciate the feedback on St. It truly is a most facile program, with as productive an interface as you could wish for, given that I've only scratched the surface of it's potential I couldn't be more pleased with the purchase.
I used Vue for a number of years before committing to learn Terragen about 14 months ago, I made the switch for a number of reasons; to participate in this community being one, but it was the promise of greater control and precision in TG that was the chief lure. I think that having the ability to custom tailor foliage is a necessary step to continue with what I'd like to accomplish here. I think that Vue with it's 'Plant Editor' and the large (and inexpensive) collection of 'Solid growth' foliage has had some advantages over TG. The xfrog library in .tgo format that is commonly used in TG limits the overall 'look' in my estimation. The xfrog models for the most part are truly well crafted, but without the ability to effortlessly 'tweak' (as in ST) they could not help but look a little 'stiff', once again, just my opinion. With your forbearance, here are a couple examples of 'painterly' efforts done some years ago in Vue, one an autumnal still, the other a montage of stills, animation and music (I apologize for the poor quality of the avi, as it streams from my server, but the fourth segment uses the same limited palette and lighting as 'three mile creek')
http://www.toinvokethemuse.com/page26.html
http://www.toinvokethemuse.com/page19.html
Dune: No, with all due respect, you're not into 'large' you're the master of 'HUGE' ;D! If you don't mind another link to my homepage, here's a slightly better online copy of 'Three Mile Creek'
http://www.toinvokethemuse.com/page108.html
As a former painter now using digital tools it seems quite 'natural' to attempt the same types of creative 'flows'. But digital tools require a lot of logical evaluation and a fair amount of structured thought and hard practice before one can be intuitive at will (I understand that all medias require this to a degree, but I believe the task is multiplied with the digital) . To use a familiar paradigm: right brain/left brain capabilities. I always thought it was a bit dismissive of some Academic types to demean Computer Graphics as the 'work' of the software not the artist. Certainly, like photography a hundred and fifty years ago there is a confusion in the general population as to where the art really comes from. But I think it undeniable that today's 'Cistine Chapels' are being carried into existence by the talented artists at Pixar, Weta, ILM, etc. The Renaissance Artist's were a good combination of right brain/left brain (think Michelangelo as the architect of the Dome at St. Mark's.,DaVinci, Mantegna, et al). So I believe that those of us here probably have a good balance of right/left qualities, how else to make Art in Terragen?
To those of you who have waded this far into my little epistle, thanks for persevering, and I apologize for my long-winded post. For fun, here's a link to a short "Right Brain/Left Brain" quiz provided by the Art Institute of Toronto. I think it might interest us all.
http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm
55% R 45% L................ ;)
Nice art in your gallery.
Well, if you want to have another go at the lighting issue, in the interest of gaining knowledge for future work if not for redoing this piece, I'd suggest getting rid of the 2nd sun (IMO this is almost always a bad solution, it's not "realistic", plain and simple; though I know it's used a lot by many artists I respect) and increase the GI Strength on Surfaces in the Enviro Light node. Bounce to the Ounce is going to give you stronger bounced light to a point, but I don't think it's likely to light up the otherwise dark side of a tree. Enviro Light Strength on Surfaces ought to though, I believe.
- Oshyan
Hey Yossam, me too -55% R 45% L
Oshayn, I actually tried increasing the Enviro Light as well, using settings 1.1 and 1.2, maybe not enough however. Interesting to hear your opinion of the 2nd sun, I've come to rely on it with a low value setting, in this image it was .1809. I also tried it with a 0.0 value and there was very little difference on the bark between my other test values of .08 and .22. Changing inclination and direction of the 2nd sun also yielded similar results. I've attached an example below. As I'm intent on using the textures in future scenes I'm definitely going to do as you suggest, with the caveat that my past attempts at high Enviro Light values caused too much of a 'washed out' look. Any range variance suggestions?
Waayyy too little. I was thinking more like 2-3. But yes, it may make things look "washed out". GISD should help with that. You may want to increase Occlusion Weight to compensate. Not certain it would help, but possibly.
- Oshyan
Interesting test: 62 R 38 L
Excellents !!!
37% Left, 63% Right
Matt