Planetside Software Forums

Two images of Coyote's in different settings. A mixture of scanned and procedural elements. Higher resolution images at:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z5zw5m
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/9eQd0L

A video breakdown of the first image: https://vimeo.com/343030687

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Lovely scenes, the lighting looks really good! The ground looks really superb too. My only issue is the distant peak in the first seems to be a solid colour? And in the second perhaps a tiny bit of colour variation on the hero rock instead of two shades or brown, the rest though is super duper realistic, great work!

Very nice work here!
Agree with WAS on the points he mentioned.

Echo WASasquatch: I like the light of "coyote's dream", before/after a thunderstorm.

Great work, as always. I love the complexity and detail that goes into the ground cover/vegetation in your work. I agree that the far mountain's shading is a bit simplistic, but otherwise love both.

The breakdown is really cool to see as well, very peaceful actually, which is unusual. But I do find the pace and slow fade-in of some elements actually makes it a bit harder to tell what is happening in some cases. You have to really be watching closely, whereas I find with quicker changes you can generally see what has happened, your eye is drawn to it more readily. Perhaps slightly faster fades, but keeping the amount of space between element fade-ins would allow for a similar contemplative pace and ability to assess the result of each new element, without it taking too long.

- Oshyan

excellent work Doug

Well, you already know what I think, Doug, but I'll repeat it again; you have a gift to turn a 'non spectacular' terrain into something that soothes the eye and makes one wish to be there. Excellent work, as always indeed. But I do have to agree on the bit bland far mountain, but it is minor. Your way of composing such an image is very inspirational.

Quote from: Dune on July 27, 2019, 12:54:56 AM
... Your way of composing such an image is very inspirational.

I entirely agree. I'm in love with the colours. They match very well, which really brings out the realism. It's really easy to slip on a colour and ruin the realism of the whole scene. I struggle with this all the time.

Though I will say, sometimes it's seriously unique and so surreal I love it though. Bobby's work is great, I really like the adjustments he does despite his condition, because the become uniquely his, and uniquely artistic a lot with how he does his atmospheres and layouts.

"Something in the wind" is really fantastic. The composition and low camera angle are very good as is the execution.

Both renders are absolutely extraordinary and just beautiful! I am almost speechless!

Fabulous images! The complexity of the ground cover, the lighting, and the clouds really make them photoreal.

Agree with the others on the b.g mountain detail and if there's one crit - it would be the coyotes look a little "posed". I think the second image works better as you see less repetition in the poses.

There's a lovely crispness to the shadows, did you path trace these?

Both have that natural look, very nice.
The gnarly trees are well done. 8)

I do appreciate all comments and always look forward to constructive crits (even when I disagree  ;)). WAS, you were correct about the color disparity in the second image. I was a bit shocked myself to see the effect after posting. The version of the MS map that I used on the middle lower rock was too saturated and brownish, I've replaced it with, hopefully, a better version. Overall I find my posted images after whatever reductive magic is being wrought tends to add saturation and a bit of blur, so some compensation is necessary. As to the first image: well, my first instinct in making images is to think like a painter, not a photographer; composition, color balance and contrasting lighted areas drive the image, rather then strict photo realism. I made an 'artist's decision' to place the distant area in shadowed light to keep it well back of the truncated middle ground, additionally the reduced detail was to further 'push' it back. Originally the image was titled: The Coyote's Dream: Below the remnant of the Tehama Caldera". I thought that a bit long for posting and shortened it. It's actually based on a real fragment of an ancient volcanic caldera in Northern California. The Tehama Volcano was 11 miles wide and is part of the infamous "Pacific Ring of Fire", the remnant now called 'Mount Brokeoff' is an area that I have spent much time around and the gnarly Junipers are quite striking. I could add some texturing to the area, but probably not anytime soon. I highly recommend a book titled "Coyote America" which details how the Coyote was relentlessly pursued with the goal of species elimination by the US Government, only to now have populations in almost all American Cities (over 4,000 est. in Chicago alone). Oshyan, I'm glad you viewed the video; yes, I can be a bit long winded at times and also with the pacing of the breakdown (and your observations are similar to other friends). For 'learning examples' it would be too slow, but this one was just for my enjoyment. Thanks to all who had positive comments, once again they are sincerely appreciated!

I've added an RTP image to show the detail of the second image in a different way. I've come to appreciate the B/W RTP Object renders as a nifty tool.

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Really impressive. As usual, your custom plants are of the highest quality and the diverse non-repetitive placement adds majorly to the sense of realism. But your rocks here are also exquisite. I like both scenes, really.  8)

"something in the wind" is just delightful to look at!

Quote from: DocCharly65 on July 29, 2019, 09:58:21 AM
Both renders are absolutely extraordinary and just beautiful! I am almost speechless!

here's a comment I totally agree with...Love both images a lot.I really must try a 'shader less render' some day as they always catch my eye.

Thank you!

I would be remiss if I didn't give some credit to Ulco Glimmerveen (Dune) for the basis of the outcrop in the second image. Ulco shared a few files with me some time ago and I have exploited them shamelessly on several occasions. The terrain in the first image is a combination of two World Machine files merged and modified in TG. Both images are 'Path Traced' and the difference is fairly subtle and probably worth the additional render times. I've had a question about the cloud formation in "Something in the Wind" on PM, and  I'll post the .tgc in 'Sharing' in the next few days; it's a basic Easy Cloud, but sun angle and some other factors play into it's final look.