Volcano II

[Dune]

I had another go at a volcano, but need to get it better still. Any suggestions?

[Kadri]

I would make the volcano 2 or 3 times bigger and bring the cam of course back to get the similar frame .
You are mostly there , Dune !

[Henry Blewer]

I think you need more cloud coverage downwind. This looks like it may have been 'smoking' for quite a while.

[microwar]

Maby add som glowing light inside the crater ?

[Dune]

Another version. I like the contrast between the white snow and the black smoke (though I'm still looking for those fat boiling cloud billows). I used a clip file for the foreground, I believe it's Domdib's rock face.

[Henry Blewer]

This is better than the other version. I still think you need more dark clouds downwind, like the Iceland volcano that has been so active lately.

[JimB]

Try plugging a colour adjustment shader between your density fractal and the cloud layer input, and play with the sliders. It might help get rid of those smaller orphan clumps of cloud offset from the plume. Personally, I also think you should make the plume not so dark, the cloud fractal detail smaller, and the plume edges harder.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Augustine_Volcano_Jan_12_2006_edited-1.jpg

[Dune]

Thanks Jim, good to hear from you again. Nice reference. I sometimes use that adjust trick, so I might have to add it again.

[jbest]

Hey dune, it's looking nice!!

One simple suggestion: There should be smoke or dust all around the volcano. At the moment it looks like either the volcano is shooting ash 100,000 miles per hour or is shooting ash like a hose, so that the outside of the volcano is untouched. I mean, it looks real, but i think the volcano "ash" should be
"bigger" and "fatter."

[Dune]

I did check some images for how it should look, and I now mainly use the reference Jim added, which is a nice one. I used warped simple shapes as a basis, but now use a painted shader, which is much easier to get the cloud's 'look' alright. And I did add ashes/soot at one side of the cone, but not obvious enough yet.

[neon22]

You'll see some nice images if you google "ruapehu eruption" as well.
Similar ash cloud venting behaviour

[bla bla 2]

J'aime bien la deuxième image.

[choronr]

I like the shape of the smoke of the first image from a composition standpoint. Maybe a zoom backward for the POV and broadening the very top of the smoke so as to extend to more from left to right. I also like the addition of the snow of the second image.

[Dune]

Slowly getting there, but now I want to bend and widen the cloud sideways, like it's windblown. It can be done! And I will have a go at some erosion of the volcano cone...

[freelancah]

I thought about making a cone shaped cloud  by projecting a circle thru a camera that was facing upwards.. The camera FOV controls the cone angle and that gets warped with twist and shear and a power fractal.. .. Also a distance shader with a camera placed to a specific place to get a more massive cloud to the back of the smoke trail..  If you modify the projected circle towards an ellipse you could get different kind of shapes..Like more windblown effect etc...

I havent tested this yet...just a thought but I imagine it should work. Will try this evening