Dutch Village from above

[Tangled-Universe]

That looks great so far Ulco It's not difficult to imagine a whispy cloud at the top right so I'm pretty sure this will be a very fine commission in the end.
As usual the distribution and masking of the models is very good looking.

I think the render setting comparison is a bit useless as in my opinion the results aren't different because of lack of resolution.
With these smaller than subpixel detail you would always need crazy AA to get smoother results so that's why your render setting tests show no difference.
Besides that the change in lighting conditions make things not 1:1 comparable for quality as well as rendertime.
Also, the use of soft-shadows @ 1 with 4 samples is definitely a source of noise. The default radius of 0.5 is conform nature and the default 9 samples is really the least you should use.

[Dune]

Thanks, Martin. I know about the soft shadows, but I found that with rough ground, the noise is not really visible, and 4 samples definitely speeds up render time compared to 9. But I might change it again to 0.5 if that's indeed conform nature.

[Tangled-Universe]

I can't remember exactly why 0.5 is conform nature. I thought it was because the sun's radius is also 0.5 degree (degree what, I don't know) which is similar to the real thing.
Do you really need soft-shadows at this altitude? I think it isn't noticeable, scale-wise, and it would save you some hassle.

As you may notice I always take a lot into consideration when I render an image I hope you don't mind

[Dune]

Maybe I don't need it, but I found that it often softens the mood just a bit. The trees' shadows are often very rough, rougher it appears than the trees themselves. Especially if the shadows are strong and dark they draw too much attention IMO.

I appreciate your attention to detail, Martin. I'm a perfectionist too. Even if a picture is perfect, I tend to find faults and things to improve, or do differently. Tiresomely so... while clients often don't see it at all.

[Tangled-Universe]

I know that feeling. I often also pay attention to details which are often not seen, also not by many here. Oh well, as long as I like it

You might consider this approach to lighten up shadows:
http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=10869.msg113537#msg113537
If you need any help or are interested in the atmo node I used for that then just let me know.

Martin

[dhavalmistry]

very nice work...I like the 3rd one better!

[Dune]

Thanks, Martin, I saw that thread indeed and did some renders trying it out. But as usual, I build up scenes and forget to incorporate a whole lot of interesting ideas, that I know in the back of my head, but that don't come out at the right time. I'll try this one with the village.
Springs to mind Chris Hunt's wonderful demo reel, where the final image of the dying dinosaurs have a great lighting. The darkness under their bodies is what I try to achieve with buildings, for instance. These are often too light inside.

[Dune]

I now put an extra sun at strength 0.2 and shadows right overhead, which works fine to lighten up shadows and at the same time add some darker areas under trees. No real need to soften the shadows, although it does look (slightly) better. But I would like to know your 'double atmo setup' . As far as I see, you can add another planet atmosphere, but to get something overcast you'd need soft (cirrus) clouds or so at higher density, not just an extra atmo node. Or your method is perhaps by making a setup with a merge shader, several atmo's and cloud layers, some of which primary and /or secondary.... ??

[Tangled-Universe]

No you won't need a cirrus or cumulus layer by definition. Denser and higher altitude haze is sufficient in many cases.
Just connect an extra atmosphere shader after your first atmosphere shader and disable primary rays of that new atmosphere node.
Set haze density to 4 and haze exp height to 8000 for starters and start working from there.

I'm currently at work so I can't provide you with my atmo node right now, but it's pretty similar to what I have just described.
Let me know how it goes so far today and I could send it to you later tonight perhaps.

Cheers,
Martin

[FrankB]

Ulco, for your scenes where no sky is visible, I think your best bet is to rely on GI, but help it by increasing the color of the background node to a shade of grey.

Regards,
Frank

[Dune]

That's an interesting thought, Frank. Never thought of entering that node really. I have just rendered another iteration of the glacier with the yurts, but it struck me that inside the yurts (the door is open, so you see the inside) the ground is not much darker than outside. I will do some tests with one yurt and several lighting conditions to see how I can get it dark inside, as it should be.

[choronr]

Outstanding work. I would be tempted to increase the haze a bit. This would best show in the distant part on the scene.

[Dune]

You're right, I probably will. The whole thing probably might be just a little hazier, the shadows not as dark as here, for more reality. It is, after all, quite an area and quite a distance from the camera.

And I must reply on my own comment about the shadows missing under my yurts.... I forgot that they were sitting on snow, which had some luminosity  GI 2/2 worked just perfectly.