Fairy Tale Lake

[moodflow]

This is one of the first images I started work on when TGTP was released over a year ago.  At the time, I just didn't have the know-how to get it to look right, so I shelved it for the time being.  Last week, I figured I'd pull this one out and give it another shot.  I had to rebuild nearly everything.

Specs:
Render time:  28 hours over 2 cores.
Res: 800x600
Quality:  0.8
AA: 16
GI: 2/2
soft shadows are on of course.

Displacements: 
Standard TG2 power fractals.

Surfacing: 
I used a combination of image maps and fractals for the surfacing, all affected by altitude, slope, and distance from the camera (I plan on going over this more in the future).  The image maps helped speed the render up tremendously.  The area of the town actually has a surface image with dirt roads, though it can't be resolved much in this image.  The roads "fade out" the further they are from the town (via a distance shader).

Clouds: 
I used a standard cloud setup clip file I have (the one I posted a few weeks ago).  There are 3 cloud layers, and 2 of them are masked by distance shaders.  I'm starting to really like (and use) the distance shader a lot now.

Objects: 
The castle was created in about 2 hours in Google Sketchup, then imported into TG2 as an .obj file.  The castle was custom made for this image (so it would fit on the slope properly).  The boat was a trashed 3D model I found online sometime back with all the surfaces destroyed.  I had to go back in and rebuild all the surfaces manually, which took about an hour.  The light house was a model I found online, but its surfaces were also destroyed, so I had to rebuild them as well.  The moons are just planets with image map shaders attached (with proper displacement).

Populations: 
The foliage is a tweaked version of jcinbama's pine, and some the generic bushes I created and shared a few weeks ago.  For the distribution, I used a power fractal as a child of a surface layer (with altitude and slope constraints), and I feel the results are the best I've done yet, as it has that natural clumpy look to it, rather than that blanket tree farm look.

The town is a population of lower res buildings I created in Google Sketchup in about 30 minutes, then imported into TG2 as .obj files (after some "fun" conversion streams).  The buildings actually have 3D windows, doors, roofs, etc. even though they were meant for distance viewing.

[rcallicotte]

Imaginative and I'd say stupendous.  It is. 

Something (this isn't related to the work or the graphic) is missing and I think that is a story to make this come alive.  It's very good.  This means I can see its potential in a story.  Or else I can see Shrek popping out of the castle any minute.   

[Seth]

very "fairy tale" lookin' ^^
errr... the rock on the right side... is it image map textured ?

[moodflow]

Here is the original version I did back when TGTP first came out.  It looks OK here, but when rendered at a higher res, was horrible.

[moodflow]

@ Calico:  Thanks man.  Actually, the castle was semi-inspired by the one in Shrek!  Good call.  My wife and I watched Shrek 2 last week and I was like "that's the type of castle that image needs".  I could see some type of story coming out of this one, though I'll leave that one up to someone else who wouldn't mind tackling it.   

@ Seth:  Yes, this is an image map on that rock.  As stated, I only used image maps to speed the rendering process up.  I have some procedural clip files that rival this, but they take forever to render.  I'd still be waiting for this render if that were the case.

[sjefen]

This is magnificent. I love it. I also like all the information you give us.

I like your style. It's unique and it's easy to tell moodflow made this. Keep up the good work.

[otakar]

It's beautiful, thanks also very much for the detail explanations, that always helps... However, allow me a tiny bit of critique. My eye says the castle is oversized in relation to the rocks and trees (ok, maybe realism was not your objective) and the far side of the lake/bay features a very steep slope throughout producing that water plain in fractal landscape effect.

I admire your skill in SketchUp.

[monks]

 Ho, I wish I could knock up a castle in a couple of hours!

monks

[dhavalmistry]

this is amazing done render moodflow...specially the foreground...my only complain is that the castle doesnt have enough detail (texture wise)...nice sense of scale too...

[moodflow]

Many thanks for the compliments.  This was a fun image to make and I learned alot.

[Oshyan]

This is really a beautiful image with a great feel to it and a nice sense of scale and atmosphere. Well composed. I have a few small critiques. Someone already mentioned the size of the castle - even assuming it is a very large castle indeed, it still seems a bit much. More importantly I think the background (essentially the top half) of the image is a step down in overall quality from the foreground/bottom half, which is outstanding. The background mountains are lacking in detail and realism, and the moon is frankly out of place in my opinion. It's large and for lack of a better word "inelegant" and it's just not very realistic. Still it's an altogether very nice scene.

- Oshyan

[efflux]

Very nice work but I agree about the castle looking too big.

[nvseal]

Very nice image. As has been said, I think he castle seems a bit out of place but that town and ship adds an amazing sense of scale. If it was me, I think I would take the castle out and focus on the town. BTW, is the town made of objects?

[moodflow]

@Oshyan:  I agree.  The background was inadvertently changed.  If you look at the older image, the background is a lot better.  I should have kept some of the older texturing, which is easily fixable by stealing clips from the older .tgd file.

@Efflux:  Yea, once I got that render going, I was committed.  I did want the castle to be a grand icon over a dusty/rundown town - kind of a rich/poor scenario, but it came out a little larger than expected. 

@NVSeal:  Yes, the town is made up of a few low-res buildings I made in Sketchup and added as a population in TG2. 

[choronr]

Marvelous picture balance here!