Explorer

[choronr]

A 58 minute render.

[inkydigit]

very nice quickie Bob!....less than an hour...that's satisfying!

[schmeerlap]

"58 minutes". Another reminder I need a new computer. Thanks for that, Bob. I like this scene; especially that upreaching cloud. A couple of points that may enhance the scene > A path leading to the shack, or some such thing to make it appear less like it just materialised there. And maybe some rough patches in the surrounding dirt. But good as is.

[old_blaggard]

Great image!  It looks fairly realistic and does a great job of evoking a deserted, bleak, and remote  place.  Seeing as the render time was so short, perhaps you could do it again with increased AA to smooth out some of those plants.

[Seth]

58 minutes !!!
incredible result for the render !

[RArcher]

Very nice for a quick render.  I would echo the above that your log cabin could do with either a foundation or more detail around the bottom.  The sharp edge where it meets the sand is unfortunate.

[choronr]

Thanks to all; yes, some refinements are needed and will be made. I appreciate all the suggestions you've made and will use them.

[rcallicotte]

@choronr - Then, please let us see your next version. 

[choronr]

Will do calico.

[Phylloxera]

I like the mountains - I think that there is a bug on the cacti, moreover that already arrived to me!

[choronr]

Thanks Phyllo, you can download the terrain at my web site. It is Moonlight Peak, California.

[moodflow]

I like the clouds - there is a "detail" to them that looks really nice.  Great work!

The wood on the house looks nice as well.  I am assuming this may be an image map?

However, the ground is missing "something" and I'm not sure what at this point.  It looks more like a 100% flat surface with sand colors swirled on them, rather than true dusty dirt.  It may have something to do with displacement and reflectivity that needs to be re-tweaked.  The stones also look too regular and too "polygony", but I know how difficult it can be to keep them from looking that way.

Also, the foliage looks a bit too regular.  Is it just the same model, or multiple unique models of the same plant?  I've found having a minimum of 3 unique models in a population really helps keep things different looking, and the more the better.

I think it could also use some soft shadowing and slightly higher GI settings.

I know this was more of a quick render so I hope the above doesn't sound so harsh.

[choronr]

@moodflow: Thanks so much for the critique. It will be very useful in my plans to re-do the image. I agree with the points you've covered. I'll be back with an updated image once I catch up with some projects I'm now into.

Bob

[moodflow]

@moodflow: Thanks so much for the critique. It will be very useful in my plans to re-do the image. I agree with the points you've covered. I'll be back with an updated image once I catch up with some projects I'm now into.

Bob

Sounds great!  I'm always looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[choronr]

I tried a different lighting position for this 1280x960 image; and, added 'lightning's HIGHLAND GRASS, reseeded the clouds, and reduced the spacing of SMALL BUSH2. And, received an UNKNOWN ERROR  message although it rendered in 2 hours and 39 minutes. An unknown error would indicate to me that there is a problem with my $4K+ machine.

Also attached is the .tgd file. All the plants in the scene are down loadable at Ashundar and include OCOTILLO, ORGAN PIPE CACTUS, HIGHLAND GRASS and SMALL BUSH2.

I should have renamed this image: 'Black Hole over the Mojave'

Bob 

PS ...Maybe I'll resize the render from 1280x960 to 1024x768 (what a shame) and perhaps we'll rid of the black hole.