Still Life : photorealistic Chess

[Negos]

Very minimalist (I don't Know if I used the right word, my English itsn't very good). I like board's texture, specially the bump. My only crit it's I think it has too much light and it's too minimalist: ok less is more, but it would be nice some more. Cool work anyway.

Sorry for my English.
:thumbsup:

[wedge]

the tiles don't line up right :P

other than that, it is very nice, i like the framing

[ToddD]

Looks pretty darn PR to me! I noticed the tiles had a slight bump, are they supposed to be like that? Excellent 1st post, great job!:beer:

[aor]

heh.. i thought the tiles not lining up was way coool.. i've made chess/checkers boards before and it is really hard to get them ALL to line up.. in light of that.. how about applying a light wood texture to it..
also, althought minimalist isn't the word i would pick, i think Negos
is right.. to simply. How about another peice or three.. or four..;)
but, i really liked the feel of it.. very.. uh, chesslike!
and!!!i really like your website.. good stuff! i like the design! keep it updated por favor!:bounce:

[distortedrealty]

hey guys,
thanks for all your comments. well the tiles are supposed to be unaligned. its no problem to get them perfect, but if i made them perfect then i would get replies on making the tiles crooked. some chessboard that you find in stores are cheap and have many imperfections. i also feel that it adds a sore part to the image which adds to the realism. :)

i did try to add more pieces but i saw that the results were not that great. the f-stop on the camera (for those who dont know, its the distance that the focus lasts (or atleast something like that)) is so low that any piece i add is unidentifyable. and i really like the f-stop settings for the picture it adds a good depth...

but remeber guys these are all my opinions-but i love to hear other opinions too. :)

[DrAdamDinosaur]

I Also like how hte tiles dont line up. It adds to the realism. You dont see many old tile boards (of any type) that dont have a few loose tiles.

[JJ3d]

Hey! thats cool! very realistic! :applause:

only one thing.

it seems to me that is too overexpossed look at the white blocks of the board, there is no texture or bump visible.

[sumatra]

nice image, i like the overall feeling and the tonality., good work., the chess board is superfine with its imperfections., :)

[HapZungLam]

i think the piece has a little bit too bumpy. Also, if you move the piece up on Y axis just a littttttle bit will make it looks greater. Now, it seems like it is planted onto the board.

[Daxx]

Great, please post wireframe ^_^ :D

[distortedrealty]

here ya go daxx

i spent about 1 hour modleing and setting up the scene, but spent couple hours setting up the light and doing the texturing. most of the time was used for test renderings....

http://shantergenian.com/images/3.jpg

enjoy :)

[sasquatch]

It really pushes the realism (I especially like the brownish discolouration at the bottom right of the image)

Nice stuff

[frog]

I like it, and contrary to what others have said I don't think it's overexposed, it's what a photographer would call high-key, the whites are meant to be white.

My only tiny crit is that a real photo would be focused on the tip of the chess piece. This very shallow depth of field is very fashionable currently in adverts and catalogues etc but they are usually very careful to focus on the extremeties of an object if there isn't an obvious focal point such as an eye or whatever.

[Dimitrius]

Too much blur, it takes away from the realism.

The textures are great.

I agree with the suggestion to move the pieces up on the Y axis. Most chess pieces have enough felt on the bottom to raise them off the board's surface.

Good light, looks almost real.

[distortedrealty]

:p thanks guys love the crits!! i agree with you guys on moving the pieces on the Y, totally forgot about the felt...

Dimitrius> i think the blur adds more realism to the picture.. and anyway it really it the photographers choice on how far he wants the focus to extend. ive gotten many people telling me to pull the focus down... i think i ll try it, and i wont forget to post. :)

frog> i understand what you mean, i was going to pull the focus all the way to the tip, but i really dont know why i didnt i think ill incorporate that in the new render that im gonna do.

thanks alot guys.. i dont know what i would do without you :D

[Mr.White]

tHIS IS MY CHESS... MAYBE TOO MUCH REFLECTIOS

MR.WHITE

[sasquatch]

Woooooah, buddy. That IS a lot of reflections. And they're really clean and perfect too. Could do with a bit of dirtying up, maybe some deviations in the surface and subtle dents etc.

Nice render though.

[distortedrealty]

hey mr. white,
what didya use for the chess image... im asking because your DOF seems tolook a little bit off... i dont know what it is, but it seems that the blur for the objects too colse to the camera are confined within the objects boundries.. i dont know it kinda looks weird, and i agree with sasquatch bout the reflection and the dirt....less reflection, and more dirt!!

but its cool, i like it :buttrock:

[Mr.White]

DEAR MR. Distortedrealty AND MR. Sasquatch,

THANKS FOR YOUR QUICKLY REPLAY, I AM WORKING ON THE DIRTYING AND THE BLUR ... I WILL POST A NEW IMAGE SOON.

THANKS A LOT

MR. WHITE

[sasquatch]

That's quite all right, old chap, no need to shout. ;)

[distortedrealty]

YOUR WELCOME :p

[funnydoodle]

shadows are too soft. make it more obvious and'll perhaps it'll improve the scene

[Dimitrius]

Originally posted by distortedrealty
Dimitrius> i think the blur adds more realism to the picture.. and anyway it really it the photographers choice on how far he wants the focus to extend. ive gotten many people telling me to pull the focus down... i think i ll try it, and i wont forget to post. :)


Something keeps bugging my eye, telling me that it isn't real. I think it is the blur, just a bit too much. The chess pieces look a little too fuzzy, as if they aren't real. The focus is okay, however.

My comments are directed at making the image more photorealistic. As it stands now, it is a great image.

[Elliotjnewman]

Originally posted by frog
I like it, and contrary to what others have said I don't think it's overexposed, it's what a photographer would call high-key, the whites are meant to be white.

My only tiny crit is that a real photo would be focused on the tip of the chess piece. This very shallow depth of field is very fashionable currently in adverts and catalogues etc but they are usually very careful to focus on the extremeties of an object if there isn't an obvious focal point such as an eye or whatever.

Yeah I agree, photographers use this 'overexposure as an effect and it can look nice. With the depth of field though most of the time when doing macro stuff (close-up) you aim to get all the focal subject in-focus, as half of the focus object is blurred I think it decreases the visual impact of the composition. Change the aperture down a few stops and re-render to see if it makes an improvement. I also dont think you need the checkerboard made out of individual cubes, a good texture should do the trick better.

[Elliotjnewman]

Originally posted by Mr.White
tHIS IS MY CHESS... MAYBE TOO MUCH REFLECTIOS

MR.WHITE

Mr White, yeah I think those reflections are a bit too much. Generally the rule of thumb when creating metal surfaces is to compensate the reflective channel with a little diffuse. Say 75% reflection and 25% diffuse should produce a better result.

[Mr.White]

Mr. Elliotjnewman,

Thanks for your advices, I will work on all tips, and post a new image soon.

Thanks for the tip 75% reflection and 25% diffuse.

Also, I would like to ask for an advice to make the image a little bit dirt... does anybody know hoe to do it using MAYA.


Mr. White

[distortedrealty]

Well here ya go guys. :) spent about 6 hours rendering this thing. i moved the piece up off the board a little, darkened the shadows, increased the focal range, and brought the focus to the tip of the chess piece. whew!

well im gonna critique my own picture, i think the focal range should be increased a little bit, so if you guys happen to agree with me then ill do another reder.

http://shantergenian.com/images/full_images/WIP/chess.jpg

[genesis max]

Perfect. :xtreme:

[behzad]

We do not live in a perfect world, so having little gaps in the board is very nice. hehehe , I like it, simple but attractive.

:applause:

[katlis]

Very nice. But it needs meaning. You have two pieces on the board that can't interact. Maybe put the the black pawn on one of the white squares in the bishop's path... so that it looks like it's in trouble.. What do ya think? :)

[playmesumch00ns]

I agree, the white bishop is slightly out of focus which makes it look like a bad photograph (but then after all that could have been your intention :))

Regarding the whites: they should be over exposed like that because in order to get such a short DOF as that you'd have to whack open the aperture of the lens which would burn out some areas of the negative.

Love the texturing and the lighting, the piece is very real while not being sterile like so many photoreal pieces are. Great work!

[sirius]

hi,

texture and lighting is ok,
BUT i find this image very boring. shallow focus doesnt make an image interesting. :hmm:
i suggest you make a rendering with the camera at "eyelevel" of the figures. make a composition with an interesting relation between the figures, which contains a feel of tension, threat, etc. typical to chess. use a wide angle cam. put a figure/figures in the foreground, line up black threatening figures in the background or reverse. when you finished compositing, then decide about focus, and how you can ad suspense/mystery with it.

actually my critique applies to both chess images.

sirius

[distortedrealty]

thanks for the replies.

genesis max: thanks

behzad: nope the world isnt perfect :)

katlis: I really understand what you are talking about, but having some sort of trouble in the scene was not my intention. i just want it too look like i pulled out my camera and just shot 2 chess pices becasue they looked cool.

playmesumch00ns: Well, yor totally right about the aperture, but which rendering are you commenting on, the first one i did , or the second one. because the first on the bishop is a bit out of foucus(bad photograph, amature photographer), but the second one it perfectly focused on the tip of the bishop(good photograph, pro photographer) But about the focus, i really didnt want an area of focus, just something neutral.

sirius: your idea sounds really cool for a different type of chess scene, but for this image i want it to be simple. Its a really cool idea i can actually picture some sort of animation with it... hmm i might try it out

Thanks alot guys! :)

[Elliotjnewman]

"Regarding the whites: they should be over exposed like that because in order to get such a short DOF as that you'd have to whack open the aperture of the lens which would burn out some areas of the negative."


playmesumch00ns - It all depends on the lighting, just because there is a shallow DOF doesnt mean that it will become overexposed, you compensate the wide aperture with a shorter sutter speed thus creating an accurately exposed image.

Yeah, still think the focusing needs work. :)

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