Ursus maritimus

[Hannes]

Here is a scene I finished almost half a year ago, but wasn't allowed to show yet, because it was part of a job. Anyway the client changed his mind and decided to shoot real footage in the arctic (good luck!!).
It was really tough to get this blueish shine (a surface layer with a height restriction and intersect underlying checked). It's still not satisfying, so I still miss sub surface scattering badly! BADLY!!
The bear is actually a billboard.
Hope you like it.

[TheBadger]

I want to make the obvious joke. But Im not 100% that the bear is actually taking a crap.

Ice in the foreground looks really great! I like the background a lot too.
Look forward to seeing what you and the others do with SSS when we get it.

And I think that the billboard looks quite real!

[Hannes]

You're absolutely right about the bear. Here's the original image.
And thank you!

[TheBadger]

Q: Does a bear shit in the woods? A: Not if its a polar bear.
 

[Kadri]

Looks good Hannes.
I like the foreground especially. Have you tried to add some sparkling on the far side too?
SSS would be nice but that could maybe help a little more too. Realistic or not.

[Hannes]

 
There is actually some sparkling, but the snow is too bright to see that.

[Kadri]

Hmm...I see(no pun)   Hard scene to make actually.

[archonforest]

Stunning view as usual!
Still in shock about the bear u put on

[Dune]

I've seen it before (as you know), but still wanted to compliment you on an outstanding job, Hannes! I really like it!

[zaxxon]

What a wonderful, icy panorama! The deep dark blue of the sky really sets this up. The surface textures are very realistic, every element works to my eye. I do wish the bear wasn't posed like that, but maybe that had to do with the client's wishes? But regardless the bear is well rendered and real. Beautiful!

[ndeewolfwood]

Nice picture but it looks painfull for the bear.

[otakar]

Looks like indigestion Or maybe he was just yawning. Anyways, great great render. Why the client did not like the result is beyond me. Sure, the real world looks better, but at what expense?

[choronr]

Great realism Hannes, the client should have bought it.

[Oshyan]

So did the client request a crapping bear, or what?

I agree with the others, foreground looks excellent. Background is nice too, but parts of the foreground I could mistake for post-worked photo elements, so that's quite nice. I also like the sky.

- Oshyan

[Hannes]

First of all thank you all for your nice words!! I created this scene before the client decided to use CGI or not. I just wanted to be prepared just in case.
And no, the client didn't want to have a crapping bear . I added it just for fun, because the scene was quite empty. I was looking for a real (not necessarily crapping) model first, but couldn't find a good one, so I decided to use a billboard and found the image of this particular bear. The lighting fit in quite nicely and I thought why not a bear in such a very natural situation?

"...post-worked photo elements..." Yesss! That sounds good to me! I swear the bear image is the only photographic element in this image.