Still: "Flowers of decay"

[Aldaryn]

Hello there!

This is my first posted image here at CGTalk, however, this image should be in the WIP section...

Tale of the image...
The whole project started as the title image for my Brazil SSS walktrough, and tutorials, but turned out to be something worth to work a bit more with on the way... So I've made some sketches, and quick illustrations...

Yet, this image is still unfinished, and I know, there would be be much work to be done here, but a recent lightning struck was a bit too much for my little o HDD to cope with, so it passed on to something better...

...I really wanted to finish this image, but now, it seems to be inpossible to do so. Most of the files are currupted, or too old.
I've tried to get the best out of my last test render - with a good resulution - in Photoshop, the "depth of field like effect" was added later, however I wanted to render it in Brazil in the first place. Thank to the file loss, there are no textures, only procedurals, and some vertex painting on the model. Also the environment is missing too, this one was added in Photoshop. (Tahnks to a reliable friend of mine, Youth... ) The little spikes show a lot of artifacts and odd placement, but this was the last geometry I've just added before the accident.

Some stats about it...
The modelling was done with subdivision surfaces, and some displacement mapping with vertex color paint as making.
Texturing and color tweaking was also done with vertex painting, and some noise, and cellular procedural maps.

So, consider this image as an "eternal WIP",as it is now cursed without the chance of improvement...

Even so, critiques are welcome...

- A.

[Youth]

Hi Aldaryn!!! :applause:

I think You made a COOL pictures!!! Grat.!!!

BUT! DoF is not the best... or just i think that?

:bowdown:
Bye!

[Aldaryn]

Well, yes, the DoF is something I can't get right... :( I don't exactley know how to do some nice blurring on a totally flat, only 8bit image, without adittional chanlels.

Or maybe the whole image is something I can't get right? Lack of talent from now on behind this point, I suppose.

However, if someone is interested, some wip pictures, fiels from dozens of testrenders, that are still uncorrupted:

http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip01s.jpg (http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip01.jpg) http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip02s.jpg (http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip02.jpg) http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip03s.jpg (http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip03.jpg) http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip04s.jpg (http://www.revai.hu/~mcdodee/floversofdecay_cgtalk/wip/wip04.jpg)

[ramon22]

it looks good Aldaryn

and i realy liked the story behind this pic it suiets the title " Flowers of decay"

[mayanut]

Beautiful composition and nice treatment of lighting.

If you decide to recreate it or do another piece, you should submit it to the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery. It's a venue that is often overlooked when people think of submitting to SIGGRAPH.

http://www.siggraph.org/s2004/cfp/art/index.php?pageID=cfp

[Aldaryn]

mayanut : Hey, thanks...
About SIGGRAPH, well, I know the scale of it, so I never thinked about posting crap like this there, but don't get me wrong about the CGTalk, I struggeled a lifeteime, to post it here, or not... I'v eonly decided to post, because the image later was bulit to be posted here, and then the lighning came...

But if I'll gather eneugh sterngth to start it again from the basic setups I've still got, maybe I'll be able to do it to be worthy of respect.
* Aldaryn likes to believe he's strong eneugh.... * sigh...

- A.

[cupcake]

Very nice work.:applause:

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77444&highlight=tiger
Check out my thread.

[souleage]

Aldaryn: Nice picture, so like the lighting.but I think the materials well be better with you.Good Job!!

[Jadzia Dax]

Great work! This would be a perfect piece for an original 3d sci-fi horror short.

[Nemesys]

Originally posted by Jadzia Dax
Great work! This would be a perfect piece for an original 3d sci-fi horror short.

Hi Aldaryn!

Nagyon tetszik a virág. Igazán kitínõ a kompozíció és amúgy is minden nagyon el van találva. Igazából tovább nem is akarom írni a jellemzést mert annyira nem értek hozzá mint te, szal mi jogon is jellemezném. De nagyon cool. Nice job.:buttrock:

[xm-coco]

Beautiful

[Magius]

beautiful! work of art! i agree wih what was said before, Dof should be better...

[Aldaryn]

Well, I'm quite surprised, to see someone write into this thread since so long ago... I really thought this thread failed here at CGTalk... So just forgot about it...

But thanks! You really did cheered me up... :)

Inspired me to get all available material, and start working on this picture again.

And yes, that damn DOF, after a render, without DOF, how could it be done properly? I'm quite weak at Photoshop skills, so any suggestion is really appriciated!

- A.

[Dave Black]

Aldaryn:

Caught the link to this thread in your sig...

Lovely piece.

Perhaps I can offer a bit of help with your DOF issues.

There are 3 ways to create a DOF effect in Max...

1. Render effect: Very poor results, but fast.

2. Camera level multi-pass effect. Slow...really slow, but with alot of passes, it can be pretty nice. Plus, you get the added benefit of using the viewport-based "preview" function. No render needed.

The two above effects work for some tasks but for a still image, especially one using GI/HDRI, SSS, and other such CPU hogs, there really is a better way using PS.

In your render dialog, open the "Render Elements" tab. Add the "Zdepth" element to your render. This will be a B&W map representing the distance of an object from the camera(white being closest, black being furthest away).

Render out your image, and save both the zdepth map that pops up and the final image.

Take both images into PS.

Create a new document the size of the render.

Copy and paste the final render into a layer.

Duplicate this layer.

In the duplicated layer, click the "add layer mask" icon inside the bottom of the layers pallet(the circle inside a rectangle). Now, Alt-Leftclick the layer mask square. Open the zdepth map, and copy it's contents. Go back to the new document, and while still inside the layer mask, paste the zdepth map.

Now, go back to the standard layer(ie, switch from the mask mode), and add a gausian blur filter. You should now see that the Z-depth of the rendering is masking off the blur based on distance from the camera. Adjust your blur ammounts to desired size, and there you go!

Ok, so that was not the most clear, but it works pretty well. Especially for stills.

Hope that made some sense.

Anyway, best of luck, this is a really neat piece. Clean modeling too.

-3DZ

:D

[Dave Black]

Oh, and if you're interested, I can maybe write a bit about using PS to do your lighting tweaking...

Since Lighting is additive, you can save yourself about 100 brazil renders and be able to control your lighting colors, intensity, and other effects in realtime within PS. It's totally awsome...

-3DZ

:D

[restoeboemi]

for depth of field, u can try frischluft lenscare 4 photoshop or after effects. its very good quality and much faster.
btw, very nice image u have. does the background geometry or just image?

[hackie]

that's pretty good lookingimage.
and i especially like the "micro" feeling to it.
beautiful!!

[Banshee]

That is just beatiful... I loike it a lot.
The SSS is done very well!
Beautiful picture... sad, that your Hdd crashed..... :hmm:

[KeepItEvil]

oooh.... pretty

[Modron]

Aldaryn,....i feel for you. I recently lost EVerything. My hard drive was a total loss, including many audio compositions I had made, and I had no backups. Think of as an opportunity to start afresh. You will be back in the saddle in no time. Trust me. Once you get over the shock, you may find a completely new direction in your work because of this experience.

[Aldaryn]

3DZealot : Thanks a lot! I never had thought of using the Z map, although it is more than obvious now you've mentioned it... :D
And by some strange twist, call it luck, I don't know, I've rendered out a ZMap for this pic in an earlier stage, but its still good to sontrol the DOF. Partially damaged, but the damaged areas are so to say, "out of the picute"
And if its no trouble to you, I would be most gladful to read some bout lighting tweaking from you.

restoeboemi: Just a matte paint. HDD crash was before I wanted to start off with the environment, but without any, the image felt empty...

Modron: ... I've got over it, by now, I think... I do still miss them, but hell, this is wjats life is about. Seeing things fade away. Or see them rise, to feel, its your turn, to fade. Or Am I too pessimistic? ...

[Dave Black]

Hopefully, this will make sense:

http://www.3dzealot.com/cgtalk_helpdesk/Photoshop_Lighting.gif

If you want to play with the setup to get a feel for how it works, you can dl the .psd file here:

www.3dzealot.com/cgtalk_helpdesk/Photoshop_Lighting.zip

I'll be back to answer any questions...

-3DZ

:D

[Aldaryn]

Again, thanks for the help, and the great idea. This seems to save a lot of tweaking/rendering time...
:thumbsup:
But If its no problem, I might be back to bither you with some more silly questions bout this... So I'm off experimentin...

- A.

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