This was render with AA set to 5 and 0.325 detail. It uses the new raytraced atmosphere and local clouds. I used FrankB's Cumulus Cloud pack as a basis for the cloud settings; simplified for the speed of my system. ;) The render time was only 4.5 hours using one thread.
looking good...I think the grass need some color variation and the leaves on the foreground trees look flat in places...and fog needs some work as well....but I like the clouds and lighting....
Please remember this is a very low quality render. By that I mean it's basically a large quick view.
Nice example which shows AA affects cloud-quality, except for the low fog maybe (could be a density fractal issue as well).
The 0.325 detail is what makes the shadows dark here, since the GI is effectively @ 0.325 as well. If GI rd is set at 1 of course.
Besides that, I think it is a nice preview :)
What are you planning to do more?
The fog quality is at the default setting. It looks really good to me without the jpeg compression. I plan on increasing it for the final render.
I thought I would add some dry bushes (the greener ones, I don't have many others except Mr. Lamppost's. They render too bright, but I don't want to change them.)
Other than that, I am stuck. I am keeping Dune's suggestion from another thread, that less is more.
Some medieval tents perhaps? It looks like a likely place for a tournament. ???
Looks nicely composed to me. I would agree that adding too much wouldn't be a great idea - perhaps some low bushes as you suggest. Maybe ONE mediaeval tent ;)
Beautiful scene. Well tempered. The grass population needs some work, there's too much of the same model. Maybe use the same model at a smaller scale and alternate between these two scales with a soft PF to give you some smaller patches. Also some subtle colour varition would help. But over all, it's almost a photograph.
I added an old horse drawn hay rake. I have not seen one since I was 8, so bear with me. ::)
I was half asleep when I started this next render; I forgot to play with the grass pops....
Here is a render with everything maxed out, except the atmosphere samples/quality. I have resized the hay rake since the render. I am working on the hay rake's rust now.
This is going to be a really nice scene Njeneb. Mind you it does look as if a farmer called Gulliver is going to work on those fields. ;D
This could be a good opportunity to either put in wheel tracks into your grass pop, or have larger plants around the hay rake as if it's been left there a while.
That's next. Adding some brush/bushes around the trees and the rake. Adding some very high dry grass...
But first, the specular highlights on the rusty hay rake are much too strong. Working on that.
I'd reduce the main reflectivity setting and perhaps give the reflection tint something orange-like, slightly.
The specular roughness could be increased as well. Perhaps it would be interested to try the specular function input this time.
As the metal surfaces are quite even/smooth you'll get large patches of specularity which you might want to break up by using the function input.
Final render. It took some time because of all the clouds. Render detail 1, AA 8, and atmosphere samples 24. I moved the sun angle a tiny bit more behind the camera. I also messed around/up (?) the clouds.
I like the thicker fog. It is what I had in mind when I started this. I thinned it for object populating.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/njeneb/5241219683/sizes/o/
I like the new look however I think the fog should be more on the ground then it is right now....and it wouldnt hurt to add little more contrast to the image.....
good work!
This has progressed along very well. Before you put the cart, etc. I was thinking how perfect it was at the beginning. But, I knew it needed something. You did it. Very nice.
Thank you. I like the fog as it is now. Just beginning to burn off.
This has turned out really nice Henry, nice work with the subtle atmosphere lighting and fog. The only part that lets it down a little is the closest tree. All the leaves are unfortunately on flat planes which is really noticeable. I know this isn't your fault and the only way to fix it would be to use a different tree which sucks.
It's a beautiful tree. But you are right. I should go see what is available at Turbo Squid. I kind of spent my budget this week on some weeds. I needed some weeds... :-X