Shaft of light v3 - possible NWDA entry

domdib · May 13, 2009, 05:27:34 PM

Originally inspired by darthvader's Angel Light (see http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6072.0 ), I went hunting for rays, and here's what I caught so far...

Tangled-Universe · May 13, 2009, 05:29:12 PM

Cool! This must have took ages to render, or not? I like the detailed shadows in the clouds, well done!

Martin

domdib · May 13, 2009, 05:37:44 PM

Thanks Martin. It did take a while. The original image is 25 33% larger, and I had to render it in 4 crops which took about 20 hours altogether (your advice on ray detail region settings came in handy

but there was still some seaming to take care of.) The clouds are FrankB's Cumulus Humilis.

Hetzen · May 13, 2009, 06:26:40 PM

Oooh. That seed's a keeper.

darthvader · May 13, 2009, 06:50:35 PM

Looking good! If you want a more defined light shaft would suggest increasing the sun's power and the haze density in the atmosphere. The unfortunate side effect will be an increase in render time

but I think the results may be worth the wait. I also think it would be sweet to have a single tree or other object directly in the beam of light, keep the good work coming

domdib · May 13, 2009, 06:57:46 PM

Thanks for the suggestions darthvader - the haze is already over 3, and the sun power at 6, so I'm not sure whether I want to push it any further, as it might bleach out the details in the cloud. I was thinking about putting some trees in the patches of light - I might be able to get away with doing that in just one crop.

FrankB · May 13, 2009, 07:01:55 PM

nice one indeed!
Just a tip: you can increase the relative brightness of the ray by slightly decreasing the ambient color of the atmosphere. Try -0.2 to -0.3 in a crop and see what happens.

Cheers,
Frank

rcallicotte · May 13, 2009, 10:34:20 PM

Oh, good! Make the ground a little more interesting texture-wise. For a second, I was thinking, "Well, the sun won't be there when he renders again...uh..." Wake up check.

trekker317 · May 14, 2009, 02:12:31 PM

Wow! impressive.

domdib · May 14, 2009, 02:54:38 PM

@FrankB - I did a couple of tests using your tip, and there was a slight improvement in the ray, but unfortunately, the cost in added render time makes it too expensive for this particular image.

@Calico - I hear what you're saying re the texture; however, I want to keep the focus mainly on the clouds, so I think I may simply put down a population of trees. Walli's new pine is the main candidate

FrankB · May 14, 2009, 03:35:48 PM

Dominic, I am surprised that it adds render time. It should not, unless you had to compensate for grain with more samples. This is just a color adjustment and does not require any additional computing.

Cheers
Frank

domdib · May 14, 2009, 03:55:01 PM

Well, it more than doubled render time - admittedly on a scaled down version. Go figure!

domdib · May 25, 2009, 06:35:52 PM

Here is the next version, with some trees and surfacing, and passed through Photomatix to try to bring out some details in the shadows.

rcallicotte · May 26, 2009, 08:43:24 AM

It looks cool, but for the supersaturation of the distant field. Suggestion - run it through Photomatix just for the lit areas and a small amount of shadow. Then, in Photoshop or Paint.NET or Gimp (or whatever), do a slight burn-in of the shadow areas. The best way to do this is to add a layer that is grey-scaled and do your burning on it. Then you can be more selective and not so dramatic with the light fill-in.

domdib · May 26, 2009, 08:57:11 AM

Thanks for the comment calico. Not sure which area you see as supersaturated - do you mean the bit where the ray of light hits the ground?. Also, your instructions re burning in the shadows are a bit too brief for my poor comprehension/image editing skill-set. Can you suggest an online resource that might spell it out a bit more? Thanks!