Enchanted Forest - Environment - Faeroon

[lude]

Looks good!

It is always important to have a good sketch or idea thought out before you start with the 3d stuff. Especially if you new to it, it can get VERY confusing and you might get stuck on some detail if you dont have a grand plan( That never happens to me of course :D ) But that doesn´t seem to be a problem, you already got a good sketch!

lude

[Faeroon]

Hehe , thx

I try to sketch everything that comes into my mind - I did this
with pencil or ink but now I've found my love:love: ...
got a cheap graphic tablet and now I'm learning to draw with it.

I've started modelling the tree... hope I'm fast enough to
update this thread before the challenge ends :argh:

[ZrO-1]

I really like that sketch. It almost feels like the art work from the animated "The Hobbit" movie.

[Faeroon]

Modelling started this morning, with a cup of nice hot coffee :)
I've started modelling the important part of this picture:
The gigantic tree, in which the Guardian of the Wood sleeps
since thousand of years ;)

Here's the first update, just started extruding the roots:

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/1.jpg

[Faeroon]

Damn it... :annoyed:
No time to modell today, only stress...
A lil' update and then I'll transform into the lawn mower man...
*runs into the warm sunshine and down into the garden*:airguitar

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/2.jpg

[leigh]

Hey, looking cool :thumbsup:
I'm really looking forward to seeing how this one develops, as your sketch is great :) It's going to be a lot of work, so I really hope you will be able to finish in time :argh: DRINK LOTS OF COFFEE!!!
Good luck!! Looking forward to an update :)

[Faeroon]

Extrude - extrude - extrude - extrude :insane:
Geez... this is drivin' me CRAZY :argh:
XTREM XTRUDING!!! :xtreme::xtreme:

@Leigh:
Oh my goddess replied...
Behold Leigh master of the hairy thing that once
was somekind of egyption god... :bowdown:

Ah - before I forget, here's a lil' update.
This tree-thingie is taking shape... ;)

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/3.jpg

[leigh]

Hehehehehe :blush: I'm touched...
....NOW CARRY ON BOWING DOWN MORTAL!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I love those twisted roots!! Xtreme extruding indeed :bounce:
It somehow looks kinda evil :surprised
Keep up the cool work :thumbsup:

*cracks whip* KEEP EXTRUDING MORTAL!!! *cracks whip*

[Faeroon]

Yes mistress Leigh... *bows*:bowdown:
As I was saying - havent got much time today to model,
but started building the large rock at the left side of the tree.

Just wanna keep u updated, in case someone wants to laugh at a newb :D

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/4.jpg

[Faeroon]

Last update for today... damn my eyes are hurting...
Does someone know if those red veins in the eye, those ones
who get more and more, can do any harm to my eye? :cry: :cry:

Ok... heres the pic - night folks :scream:*yawns*

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/5.jpg

[ZrO-1]

No laughing at the noob here :)
I really like your tree design so far. I would just suggest one thing: For the root that comes out and over the rock, try and have it blend up into the tree trunk a bit more.

[leigh]

Looking cool :thumbsup:
I love the way that root grows over the rock - awesome! But I agree with ZrO-1's suggestion for it as well...

[Faeroon]

Just one update for today. :)

The modelling of the tree is going forward, I hope tp finish
him soon.
The hole in the tree, which can be seen in the sketch, is not in
the final tree version - I didnt like the look of it and decided
to model a little door. :)
The door isnt finished yet, I'll model the screws, doorknob, hinges
and so on, later. Hope you like the look :)

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/6.jpg

[KOryH]

Wow that's cool.
I wouldn't mind for that to be my summer home.

[Faeroon]

In case someones still interessted in this newbie art,
here's a lil' update.

Finished modelling the tree, but still working on the
entire picture (which will look like s*** compared to
some other projects i've seen here, but who cares :shrug: :p)

So... just some mushrooms - my first attempt of painting
a texture myself using a UV set and I think they look... tasty:drool:

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/7.jpg

PS: This is NOT the final look - i repeat - NOT the final look!
PSS: C & C if u like :)

[ZrO-1]

The mushroom's look great. Maybe I'd add just a touch of specularity to them though. If the rest of the tex's are temp then I won't waist space talking about them :p . Good work so far. If you did those mushrooms that well I'm sure the rest will look sweet as well.

[leigh]

:thumbsup: This is looking really cute!
Now I know this is not your final look, so I'm not going to say what is wrong with the look and the textures so far, I'm going to give some suggestions for the future...

- the tree trunk and roots should have some cool moss and lichen growing on them. Also, a little window, to go with the door, would be nice.

- the mushrooms are a cool touch! For some variety, you should also add some toadstools, or deathcaps, or some other more dull, brownish shrooms. I think that would be very cool :)

- it's cool that you have rocks, now also add lots and lots of pebbles! :bounce:

- grass is a good idea, but also add weeds and other small shrubberies.

[Faeroon]

Thanks for the nice comments :)

The red mushrooms will not stay the only ones in
this picture - gonna model more soon.

Grass, moss and so on will be done with PaintFX,
I think it looks nice and does not take to much
time to render (yet *g*)

I've added a lot of small peppbles, stones etc
to the ground, so dont worry about that part :)

I've planned a window for the tree, but I've
not managed to model one yet, hope I'll get that
one finished soon.

After that I will try to manage the lightning that
I've planned for this scenery:

Pale blueish moonlight shining through the trees

Gonna try to accomplish the nice foilage shadows
with a shadowmap... havent done something like
that before - wish me luck ;)

[OZ]

Sweert CG! i like it!

[leigh]

*wish* - that's me wishing you luck! :) Looking forward to an update!

[Faeroon]

Whhooooopiee!!!:bounce: :bounce:
*jumping around in his room*
At Wednesday or Thursday I'll get my new 21 '' screen!
Damn you 17'' - your are goin' dooown!:buttrock:

Soon I'll be able to WORK with Maya - until now it was
something like "Moving Windows around to see what
your workspace looks like" :surprised

Until then I'll try to get some new ideas and paint
something with my tablet - maybe working a bit on the
grass of the scene -- btw: are there any grass tutorials out there?
The normal PaintFX grass is... dont know... sometimes not
looking as good as it should be ;)

Appreciate any help and comment

[MikaelPersson]

Hi there.
Here´s a link to the test of maya fur I did.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/persson/grass_divx.avi
To get you on the way, look in the manual for a quick tutorial (the online one, under dynamics).

Questions? Ask!

[Faeroon]

Look really really nice, gonna test it again, but
I dont think I can get something similiar, I'm still a newb :p

But thx for the link anyway :bounce:

[Faeroon]

Ok... time for a lil' update :surprised

I'm surprised that I find the courage to show this MESS
at a contest where ppl like Howard Day show their work.
(@HD: *bows down* I'm unworthy* :bowdown: )

I've worked hour after hours to get grass and illumination
working, but I didn't come far :blush:

The following pic show my scene as it is modelled now
- without the grass,
- without the mushrooms that should be in the final pic,
- without the stuff growing on several trees,
- without the many pebbles laying around,
- without something special I've planed for the free place in the forest,
just right from the "main tree".
It also lacks the background model ( there will be more forest and little hills etc.),
the moonlight that I want to use for illuminating the entire scene
(DAMN - this is hard to get right) and the fire that I want to achieve with
Maya Particles (havent get them to look the way I wanted them too, so I used PaintFX
for this)

The second pic shows one of many PaintFX grass tests, after I've gave up
on the struggle to build grass with Maya Fur (I admire those folks like Mikael P.
that can create such WONDERFULL fur "grass" - hope I can do this someday myself)
Stupid PaintFX grass - looks like ... ...

There is still much to do, my main focus will be the DAMN grass and
this §&%(§"§%$&%$ moonlight - XTREM ILLUMINATING!!! :xtreme:

But here are the pics

I would appreciate Comments, Tips and Critic :bounce:

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/8.jpg

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/9.jpg

PS: Hm... seems that I cant attach more pics - so here are the links

[OZ]

VERY GOOD.........maybe u have to add some 3d grass.......could u?:applause: :applause:

[ZrO-1]

Faeroon, as far as the paintFX grass (or any of the paintFX brushes) you need to open the attribute edditor on the brush (highlight it in the outliner window and press "ctrl+a" will take you right to it). In there you can pretty much tweak everything with the brush..it can get really compex but it's worth it. The paintFX brushes can be really photo-real once tweaked correctly.

Right now, looking at the last render with grass I'd say that the two biggest things that need tweaking on the grass are the specularity and difuse(maybe color too). Also make sure you have it set to use the lights in your scene and use 3D shadows for the final render.

Hope that helps.

[Faeroon]

Yep, I know how to use the attrib editor (not much, but
I can handle it) and I spend some hours tweaking the
settings of the grass but I cant get it to look photo-real. :shrug:

I'm doing my best, 'cause this is my first "real" maya-project, but...
I never thought that it would be THAT hard :airguitar
I worked with "Landscape-Click-Builders" like Bryce or Vue d' Esprit
for some time and it was hilarious how easy you could get some
decent looking results (some pictures of this work are on my homepage)
but in Maya.... whooooho - a whole new lvl and I'm SO GLAD
that I'm getting better :p

I'm going to get some sleep now - its really late here in Germany
and maybe I can get some good results with the grass tomorrow.

N8 Folks

PS: Tips & Tricks and Help is really appreciated :thumbsup:

[MikaelPersson]

developing nicely. A hint, delete your ambient light. In my opinion, never ever use any ambient lights. Use fill directionals instead.

I think you could tweak that pFX grass to look good. You have to turn on shadows for it. And lessen the brightness in it.

[ZrO-1]

Here's the link I mentioned in the other thread. The parts you want are for the particle instancer. The part before it you would substitute several grass shapes instead of letters. And obviously you wouldn't animate them the same...but for instancing geomerty this will get you headed in the right direction.

Link:
http://www.highend3d.com/maya/tutorials/harley1/

[Faeroon]

*render render render render*
XTREME RENDERING :xtreme:

Geez... I've worked hour after hour, the whole night
thru and DAMN.. I'm feeling like I was hit by a truck...
anyone got the number of this one?

Nevermind - I've been busy, like I was saying, building
the grass and getting a nice blueish moonlight scenery.
I did ~50 testrenderings and I'm getting sleepy of this,
but hey - my first maya scene's getting better, dont ya think? :p

The following pic got the PaintFX grass that I'm now using
(fur was to tricky for me and the 3D grass thingie wont work
with me neither *sigh) and the blue moonlight that i've
made with a spotlight.

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/10.jpg

Not included are:
- the leafs that will be there to achieve the effect
of foilage from the tree tops
- some pebbles
- fireflies (uuuhuhuh - i love those *G*)
- mushrooms
- stuff growing on the trees
- foilage shadows

and a lil' bit of fog on the ground <= does anyone know how to
do this in Maya?

C & C plz, so I know what I can make better :)

Cheers

*starts another testrendering*

PS: You can do soooooooo nice things with the 2D Paint Canvas
+ PaintFX -- i've searched the web for a good nightsky pic and
ended up painting one myself. Maya seems to be great in ALL things *G*

[ZrO-1]

That new pic is looking very nice. I really like your lighting levels. I think you just about nailed moonlight type lighting. Yeah, Maya does RULE :buttrock: You might have to work harder to get something to work in Maya that would be easy in annother program, but when you get it right, not many apps can match it's power and multiple abilaties.

[Rudity]

hey faeroon. (my first ever post)
I was reading your post on Oz's thread and got an idea for your grass in maya using particle systems.
You can have the particles emit from your ground for the entire ground then instance a grass blade. Or for what it looks like for your scene for patches of grass you could set up an emiter close to the ground and have it colide (i think even emit from the ground using the emiters radius) and have the friction up and reserver down( i think its reserve, doing this from head) so when they colide they stay on the surface and move ever so slightly. then while playing them when you get the spread you want stop emiting(number of particles) and turn the Conserve to ZERO so then can't move anymore. Set the initial state for the particles and then you slide around in the timeline and they should stay the same. you can then instance the particles with some grass. then find the instancer node in the paticles attributes and you can screw around with the direction of the particles to randomize it a bit.
LOL now that i wrote all this i realized that it would be safer to use paint effects cause they dont slow your scene down nearly as much as this would i bet.. LOL
OOO i remembered something. you can have the particles attract to an object and grow around it(works for polygons too) It is the particle goal. That could work too. (used it for a tree once)
ok went back and read post and realized its just a bunch of blabbing but still gonna post it
I hope it will help you out a bit though.
It will work really well for your tree leafs.
:)

[OZ]

HEY Faeroon !!!VERY GOOC GRASS HERE! wow.....looks like u have no probs.to do it!!!GREAT WORK :thumbsup: :applause: :wavey:

[Faeroon]

@Rudity:

Thx for the lil' tut - gonna try that on some example scenes
of mine.
For this contest I'm going to use the PaintFX Grass, otherwise
I wont finish the damn pic until the 20th June :p
Anyway: I'm allways glad about help :thumbsup:

@-OZ-:
Thx Master - I'm trying to catch up to u ;)
Hope I can reach u some day - Master of the atomic grass!! *bows deeply* :D


At this moment its near 3 o'clock in Germany and I'm rendering
the last test for today - gonna post that one here if it's
ever gonna finish *g*

[ZrO-1]

Faeroon: I wrote up how I made the steel texture in my thread if you would still like to see how I did it. I'm not sure why you're so bothered by the paintFX grass, I think it looks pretty dam fine in your pic. In fact I think your whole pic looks great. It's definetly better than the POS I'm putting together.

[Faeroon]

@ZrO:

Dont know... I wanted 3D gras or fur, but I couldnt get it...
so... I was some kinda angry 'cause it didnt work - but now
I'm staying with it. :p

btw: here's the promissed lil update :)

I've changed the lights a bit, added some stuff groing on
the trees, some bushes at the hills.

I've got the first test of the foilage of the tree tops ready,
I think they give nice shadows, but I hope to manage this
shadow map thing for the spotlight soon.

Replaced the first PaintFX fireplace with a nicer looking
one.

Hope you like it - C & C is highly appreciated

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/11.jpg

[ZrO-1]

Holy cr@p bro!!!! :eek:
That is looking frigging awesome!
I knew good stuff could be done with the paintFX. I don't have any crits I think it looks absolutley incredable.

[hypercube]

Wow, that is looking fantabulous. I like the deeper contrast, still maintaining that full moon look though. Grass and stuff looks great.

The rocks seems strangely lit from the front though, and the water isn't quite up to snuff with the rest, but it's really coming along great. Only other thing that seems odd is how white the door is, it draws your attention there but it feels out of place.

Anyway, great stuff, more more :)

[MikaelPersson]

Looking nice, I dont think you should be complaining about pFX now. I do agree with hypercube. Your door seems out of place. Too bright. You should probably remove specularity on it altogether. Or have a shadow going across it.

[Sangotten]

Wow nice work!!!

I think the reflection on the water doesn't reflect was it is supposed or atleast that's the feeling I'm geting... Just like those befor me I would say that the door is really pulling away the attention from the rest of the work....

Anyway great job!!!:thumbsup:

[Faeroon]

@ZrO: Thx m8 - I'm doing my best :beer:

@ cube:
The rocks are lit by a point light - it does the firy light FX
of the PaintFX fire. I think thats ok... or am I wrong?
I've changed the texture of the door a bit, made it darker
and lowered specularity and some other things , gonna
show that with the nex update.

@Mikael:
Hehe - the same to you - gonna show the improved door
in the next update

@Sangotten:
Yep, you're right :hmm:
Working on this for 2 hours now.
Tried it with a plane and my skytexture attached to it, hovering
above the water - doesnt work to well.
Attached the skytexture to the reflectioncolor of the water -
doenst work to well too :surprised

Anyone got a tip for me how to do this?:shrug:

[Faeroon]

Got a weird prob here:

I was just testing around with the shadowmap of the
foilage and there was something strange coming up
as the rendering finished.

If someone cares and maybe wants to help:

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9918

Thx

[Faeroon]

No - the rumours are not true - I am NOT dead :P

Thx to Duncan I've solved the strange red sponge thing that
"infected" my PaintFX grass and i'm now able to continue my work
on this very first maya picture :)

DAMN - so many bad things happend till the process... I never
thought I could go on with it :p

But now, here's an updated picture of the scene, but i've
rendered it bigger - so here's just a link to it :)

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/12.jpg

I know - its a bit dark and the bark texture needs some
rework, but have mercy with me - was a LOT OF WORK until I got
here.

C & C ist highly appreciated.

Cheers

*a now glad* Faeroon

[Howard Day]

Holy. This is great. I'm seriously impressed.

Things I like:
The fire. The scale seems to be off, though.
The leaves at the top of the image. Perfect. If you change them I'll have to cut your hands off.
The detail in the background (upper right)

Things that need work (besides those you mentioned)
The rocks to the left need some sort of shadowing on them Right now they look like they're glowing...
Ditto on the Shrooms.
The fire light needs to be blurred. Right now it's too sharp.
The ground seems to have some problems - the texture change at the top of those cliffs at the lower left is way too sharp. Looks like there's a layer of concrete. :D
The reflections on the water could use a lot of falloff.
The grass is too green. You need to desaturate it by around 25%, and make it more yellow-green, rather than straight green.
All your textures need more color variation. Bright/dark, tones, and shifts should al be in there. Not much mind you, but enough to break it up.

Hope this helps, and like I said, I'm seriously impressed!

[pearson]

Wow! I really like what the lighting has done to this piece! It's looking very nice! :applause:

[MikaelPersson]

Yes you´ve really come a long way with the picture.
How did the layer thing turn out? Are you able to render the pFX grass separetly?

I think I´ll just agree with Howard. He has a few good points.
If you will make this much improvements in the next steps you sure will create something astonishing.

[leigh]

Hey Faeroon! This has come a long way! :applause:
I can't really think of anything to say other than what Howard has already pointed out...
Well done! :thumbsup:

By the way, your avatar looks a lot like a Blind Guardian album cover - are you a fan of theirs??

[Faeroon]

Thank you so much for all your comments! :love:
Its just great HOW MUCH help someone can get at this
community, its awesome - without you I wouldn't be as
wide as I am now. :bowdown:

@Leigh:
Hehe - yep - I'm a Metal-Fan *headbang*
But this picture I've found in a fantasy gallery someday
and I made it to my avatar - temporarly - until I create
my on character (of which the sketches are allready ready,
I'll begin with modelling right after the contest)

@Mikael:
Nope, unfortunately I havent get this to work :(
svenip and I have spend lonely hours figuring out why
the hell the useBackground Shader is giving me a f***ed up
Alpha Mask and there was no good composing with this *sighs*
The second point was, that there was this red mess on the
grass - it was even if i rendered in several passes -- now that
the problem is solved its not necessary to render the pic in layers.
(But i hope i can learn how to do this soon *g*)

@pearson:
Thx thx - i'm trying my best *smiles*

@Howard:
*reaches out for the leaves but notices Howard behind a
tree, with a scythes in his hands* Oh...ehm... yeah... I should
let the stay the way they are, right? Hehehe...hehe...he...

Honestly - I had NO idea how I could make some decent
looking leaves in time - i tried several things, like painting the
leaf-textures myself etc but at the end I took my first idea
and it seemed quite nice
I've made a nurbsplane hovering about the scenere and
let paintFX branches grow INTO the viewpoint of the cam -
I thought it could give you the impression of leafes from the
treetops. I'm glad it worked out :cool:

The red-mess problem is solved and I'll be able the rework
the textures of the scene and I have a full bag of ideas which
I would like to model - at the moment its just a strange forest
but I hope at the end of the contest it will be a creature-filled
fantasy forest :D




Again - thx for all your comments, critics and help -
there were so much probs with my very first maya picture, without
all the help I would have kicked the whole thing into the trash can.

[derwolpertinger]

wow-really cool work you've done till now. great progress!!
especially your lighting is really good. but i also think that you've gotta work on yozur textures. like somne others said befor they need more colour variation. and i don't like the texture of the tree in the left front of your pic. i think it looks a bit like reptilian skin! ok now stop reading and go on workin'! :buttrock: :buttrock:

[three]

i really like the lightning and the grass is perfect.
:thumbsup:

[OZ]

sweet night version!:thumbsup:

[Faeroon]

Oh my god.... its.. *looks at the clock*...its 4 o'clock in
the morning/night and DAMN am I tired *zzZZZZ*

What did I do until now?
I tell ya: I've rebuild the entire forest scene!
Yes! ENTIRELY! *yawns*

I dont like the look of the bank (of the little stream),
like Howard said: it looked like concrete stones or whatever.
It was my first attempt of Nurbs-Modelling - have mercy with me :P

Today I got an idea for a nice canyon-like scene, with the forest
in it, and some really nice stuff (which I have yet to model) and I
tried to accomplish the look I had in mind. Never thought I could
model it today...but Mayas Workflow is so fast... really nice

I used photos and handpainted textures together to texture the cliffs
and the forest ground, the bank and all the other parts that now stand.
I've not yet decided if I use PaintFX or Fur as grass - gonna test
that tomorrow.

The following link shows the final rendertest for tonight (or should I say
"this morning" - the sun will soon rise, here in Germany) and I really
really hope you like it - I do ;)
(The lightning needs tuning..its a to dark, the maintree is barely
seen but HELL - its good for tonight)

As usual: C & C PLZ!!

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/new_1.jpg

[Howard Day]

Very nice. Finish it up, and you'll be in business!

[MikaelPersson]

nice :thumbsup:
really good work. It´s amazing when inspiration hits you.

[Faeroon]

DAMN!
I HATE WINDOWS OS!!!
Nearly lost all my work during a recent sys-crash :annoyed:
I recovered as much as possible, set up a new sys and I'm
now (after nearly two days) back at "work" and hope I can
finish my scene until 30th June
So much other things to do... oh geez... hope I get this thing ready
before its to late :hmm:

[Faeroon]

Hiho - Fae's back :p

This was a hell of a weekend - Win Systems can
be a pain in the ass. *grmlmblm*

Now... what have I got after some days of absence?
I've remodelled a great part of my scene :-/
Why?
I showed an early rendering of the scene to some
friends and they said to me:
"Your tree looks so good - but in the new scene it's
barely to be seen - why dont you put more of those ancient ruins
that you've modelled into the scene and put your nice tree in
another scene where the cam isnt so far away from it."

Ands that's what I've done - I left the old tree scene as it
was (here's the link of the final "tree" pic again:
Click here (http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/12.jpg))
and modelled an ancient temple within my Enchanted Forest.

The entire scenerie will be inhabitat with little fairies, wisps on the
river and other creatures (some will only be seen as shadows, eyes or whatever,
I'm not a great creature modeller *g*)

The following is a rendertest of my scene at this moment - there's no grass,
plants, or treefoilage in it yet.

I've tried a bit of DoF - at the moment its not quite what I want to achieve,
but it should be ok for this testrendering - some friends told me they like
the look of "watching through bushes over the river" (bushes that arent there yet),
with a blurred foreground and the horizon shrouded in mist.

Please tell me what you think - which of my scenes you like better for this contest
(tree or ruins), what you would change and so on.

Thx :)

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/dof_test1.jpg

PS: I'm still a newb - remember that ;)
PSS: The IMAX Cam format that I've chosen somehow streches my
scene... the entire temple seems to be leaning to the left side...
hope I can change this somehow :surprised

[ZrO-1]

It's pro'lly because of the DOF but right now the new scene feels like it's a miniature set. I like the crispness to the tree textures in this new scene. I don't know which one I like better, but I thought your first one was really cool. :shrug:

[Faeroon]

Hm... I would like to show you a big rendering without the DoF
but unfortunately the rendering of the pic takes to long -
that's why I've done mini rendering... maybe it helps a bit,
otherwise I'm sorry :blush:

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/mini2.jpg

[MikaelPersson]

I dont know wich one I like the most, I think I prefer the last one. Not sure about the lightning in the ruins though.

As 0-1 said, you have to adjust that DOF. You dont have such a short depth of field in such a large scene.
You would be better of making that effect in post. Not render it in maya.

[ZrO-1]

Yeah I like the mini-render. It looks a lot better without the DOF.

[Faeroon]

@ZrO:
Hehe - I'll let go of the DoF then :thumbsup:

More C&C??

[MikaelPersson]

Have you tried to set the shadow colour to a negative value?
Just hit the colour box and enter -1 in V in the HSV sliders.

[Faeroon]

@Mika:
The prob is: This is not a normal color or some texture node
from Maya - its a TIFF Texture and I cant set the HSV to -1,
but I think I've found the prob and I'm testrendering right now.

Thx anyway Mika :applause:

[MikaelPersson]

well, no problem. You are not supposed to change it in the actual picture.
Go the the tabs shadow in the attribute editor for the light. Then edit the shadow colour box. There you will be able to change it to negative.

[Faeroon]

@Mika:

*G* Guess what - the red stuff on my PaintFX returned after
I'd turned on -1 in HSV --- PaintFX + negativ values in the light
attributes: NOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD :shame:

Here's a new rendering - a bit bigger this time with a little
PaintFX Test in the foreground.

I'm going to give myself a break from the pic for some hours
and after that I'll start modelling the other stuff for the
pic.

I hope you like it - C & C is welcome!!!

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/new_2.jpg

PS: DAMN its hot here in Germany *sweats*
PS: I'm some kind disappointed with my textures but after 10 times
reworking them I'm going to let them stay as they are - or do you have
any critics, tips, help or anything else that could help make them look more realistic?? Plz? :shrug:

[ZrO-1]

I like your textures. i think this pic looks fantastic...heck of a lot better than mine.

[Faeroon]

Hm... why is it that noone wants to criticize me? :hmm:
Is this pic to damn good? L - O - L, I guess not.

Come on - give myself the chance to know whats wrong,
what could be done better - I really could need a helping hand here. :hmm:

I've showed the pic to some friends of mine, but they aren't
CGI-specialists and they just said "Fine!! Nice!! More of it!!"
I showed it to some CGI folks and I get comments like "Its not perfect
at this moment. It's lacking something. It got no focus. I dont know...
there gotta be something you need to change, but I dont know what exactly!"
etc etc etc -- but if I ask WHAT I should change, what should be reworked:

No answers :(

How should a newb know how to make things better if noone tells him how
and whats wrong with his pic.

I like some things about the pic - others I hate.
What do you think?

I would really like to end up with a nice pic that some folks like
but at the moment I'm kinda stuck with this damn thing *sigh*

I'm willing to learn but could need a bit of help from you - the specialists :P

Cheers :beer:

PS: Only 10 days left... oh my god... *runs around in circles*

[UrbanFuturistic]

I think your problem is that it lacks contrast. Sure, you've got your dark spots and your lighter spots but asides from the electric looking streaks in the ruins there aren't any bright points. Nothing pops; it all seems far too dull. There's a distinct lack of actual colour as well. It seems reminiscent of the kind of light you get under a partial eclipse, not really dark but not really lit either.

Where are your highlights? Your points of interest?

As well as this, the light level seems in stark contrast to the sky in the background.
HTH, Paulhttp://homepage.ntlworld.com/odubtaig/smilies/coffee.gif

[Kaos]

you need to make the water ealistic looking.....

Also, here is my opinion of the image:

Your image looks more like something form an animation than a "picture", or piece of art that one might hang on one's wall....

yes, there is an old ruin in a dead looking forest, it looks as if the trees are long dead, and the forest floor has only just come back to life......
Your trees just end, i think where the trees end, there should be a thriving landscape of lush swaying green grass, rolling hills.... or SOMETHING....

so, basically, i think you should breath a little life into the trees, give them foliage and insect life..........

[MikaelPersson]

One thing that comes to mind is the planning of light in your scene. The light is to uniform. You should plan it so that you get the most light at the front, and then that it gets darker and darker. Or try the other way around.
You should also try to desature your image the further into it you get.

[Sangotten]

WOW!!!

That looks really good!!! I must say that the atmosphere in this pic is better than the other one though this is really chaotic...
I geuss the light and the textures are the weak point... Maybe just adjusting the light you may not even need to change the textures!

Keep it coming!!!:thumbsup:

[Faeroon]

Ok.... seems that the lightning is the actual prob here :-/

@odubtaig & Mika
>> As well as this, the light level seems in stark contrast to the sky in the background.

Hm.... maybe I should change the sky-image...
My first image (the links and images from it are in this thread too)
had a moonlight-illuminated look. For the next one I've planed
an evening situation but it seems that I've done a horrible job so far....:surprised

My scene is illuminated by just one light:
A spotlight - on its color is mapped a yellow/black image , what
looks like a black plain with yellow leafs on it. With just the
landscape turned on the foilage shadow can be seen clearly, but
with anything else... i dont know... I wanted a more living scene,
a forest with Ray of Lights through the treetops...

How should I illuminate the scene?
How can I get a DECENT look of sunlight shining through trees?
How can I make the whole scene more friendly looking and brighter?
All this I have to check out and test - but maybe someone has
an idea? There were some really great pictures in this contest
with similiar FX

@Kaos:

The damn water - its a pain in the ass...
Its the first water shader I've ever done in Maya and
its hard to get a decent realistic look.
I agrea - right now the blue reflections of the lightning/hovering "runic wheel"
(thats what I call the blue formations of rings hovering above the shattered altar in the temple) looks a bit strange - hope I
can change it...

>>Your image looks more like something form an animation than a "picture", or piece of art that one might hang on one's wall....

Is this a compliment? Piece of Art? Thx *g*

>>Your trees just end, i think where the trees end, there should be a thriving landscape of lush swaying green grass, rolling hills.... or SOMETHING....
so, basically, i think you should breath a little life into the trees, give them foliage and insect life..........

Like I was saying: "Here's a new rendering - a bit bigger this time with a little
PaintFX Test in the foreground. "
Its was just a little PaintFX test - if you look at my old version of
the forest, there were many flowers, grass, foilages etc in it - this
all will be in the new pic too ... soon... I hope *grins*


At this moment I'm thinking about the scene, what people said
about it ("has no focus") and I got a nice idea of something
magical that I would like to model and put into the lower right
corner of the foreground... but I dont know if this would
"overfill" the picture....
Gonna model it (or TRY too) and show a testrendering later.


Thx for the nice comments/critics - plz more of it :)

*update:
Uuuuuh - Sangotten - my favorite futuristic-glass-tree gardener :)
Thx - I'm doing my best.
And: Yeah it is REALLY chaotic - the Ruins are totally f***** up
and everywhere stuff is laying around, for you i've done a lil'
pic of the ruins from my workspace (not everything is turned on,
just the ruins)
http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/chaotic.jpg

PS: The Shatter Command of Maya is sooooooooo great *G*
I've modelled the Ruins in ~2h and spent nearly 1h destroying them... oooooh what a pleasure :wip:

[MikaelPersson]

A general hint that many people looks by is the decay of the light. No decay gives you quite unrealistic light. Or light that is more of a sun. But you would be better of lighting with no sun. Try using quadratic or cubic instead. But you will have to increase the intensity a few hundred thousand times (probably).

[three]

I think I would rather see this one without DOF... it would let the colours of the full image out, as well as transforming it into something that looks more of a painting than "IRL"-scenery.
my 2 cents.

now i see that ZrO-1 allready put that up for adoption :D
Take care... this one's looking really heavy.

:xtreme:

[Model Man]

:) Love your tree model how did you do it maybe you could private message me.

Anyway best of luck in the contest!
:)

[Faeroon]

@Model Man:

Hehe - I'm glad you like it :)
It was no special modelling technique - it was my first
Maya model and I started with just a poly cube, subdiv'ed
it and started extruding...
Extruding - extruding - extreeeeme extruuuuuuuuuuuuding :xtreme:

Nothing more, nothing less :p

I'm taking a day break from 3D - my headaches are getting
worse and sometimes I have to do something else.
Back with updates tonight or tomorrow :bounce:

[Faeroon]

Only 7 days left and still I'm working on the details :P

Here's the update that shows the pic at this moment:

Click here for the picture (http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/pilzbaum1.jpg)
(Sorry, the pic was first linked as an IMG, but it is way to big for this :P)

Unfortunately some things went wrong with this test-rendering
(and I'm to lazy at the mom to do another one *G*):

- The lil' tree in the center didnt get the texture I've assigned
to it :( At this mom it got Lambert and I didnt see it in the preview rendering.

- I didnt turn on the grass layer of the lake border, in front of
the ruins... strange that I didnt noticed it *sigh*


There are many details that I'm working on right now:

- Smoke will rise from the little fireplace of the "dwarf house"
- Will try to fix the chaotic forest - maybe do something so the
background matte can be seen clearer (such a nice forest pic *loves it*)
- Some rework of texture... maybe... dont know...

Somehow I think the tree texture needs to be reworked...but I cant
get a decent woodish look, so I think (if I dont find someone who can
gimme a tip how to make a good procedual bark shader in maya) I'll let
it stay the way it is.

But now "enjoy" this chaotic mess.. ehm I mean "Enchanted Forest",
I hope you like it a bit and PLZ:

COMMENT IT - CRITICIZE IT - SLAP ME WITH TIPS&TRICKS *G*

Cheers :beer:

[derwolpertinger]

:eek: :eek: really great work man!!! i especially like the water and the flowers on the right. the only thing that disturbs me is that greenish light in the back.

[ZrO-1]

Overall I love the textures and the details you have in your models. But, I do have a couple crits: First the scene seems really busy. It looks like there is too much going on at once. Also the image seems flat. It looks very shallow and like everything is ontop of eachother. Actually now that I think about it these two things are pro'lly related. I think it has to do with your lighting. Depth is best simulated by having "layers" of light and dark. Right now all you levels are basically the same light value. Maybe if you get some really subtle spotlights in there just to warm-up and lighten some of the layers you have in your scene it will help with my two crits.

Just my 2 cents...

[MikaelPersson]

You took the word out of my mouth 0-1. You should stop modelling your scene now Faeroon. Concentrate on lighting. Do as the man says ;).

[Faeroon]

@wolpertinger:
Thx :cool: Doing my best - remember: Its my very FIRST Maya picture!! *g*

@Mika:
Yes Master :bowdown:
Dont be afraid - I wont model anything else into this
scene - its FULL and i mean FULL *G* but I had to put
those glowing "mushrooms" thingies in, 'cause I dreamed of them
and all the stuff I dream about I model *smile*

@Zr0:

I agree with you!
The lightning is the core of the problems here, but I
dont know much about illuminating scenes right and so on...
Right now its just one spotlight (foilage shadowmap on color)

>>Depth is best simulated by having "layers" of light and dark. Right now all you levels are basically the same light value. Maybe if you get some really subtle spotlights in there just to warm-up and lighten some of the layers you have in your scene it will help with my two crits.

You are talking about a massive spotlight usage - but how?
You seem to know how to illuminate stuff - can you gimme a hint
how you would set up the lights?

I thought of having a bit of fog in there... but it wont work right
and the fog that I've created seemed really flat.

7 days left to make this thing right - more Critics/Comments are welcome.

[ZrO-1]

Here's a basic 'rule-of-thumb' I try and follow for my lighting:

Start off with 3 directional lights. One for primary light, one for secondary light, and one for fill light. If it's a day scene keep them all between .7 and 1.5 in intensity. If it's a night scene keep them around .3 and .8 in intensity. As far as shadows, turn shadows on on your primary and secondary lights, but keep them off for the fill light. As far as positioning from a top view, set up your primary light coming from your main lightsource, place your secondary light somewhere opposite the primary, and place the fill by the camera. As far as elevation in a side view, have the primary and secondary lighting at the same or close hight. And have the fill light at about the same height as the camera.

Oh yeah, also keep in mind the "hottness" and "coldness" of your scene. Blues and greens are going to make a scene look cold, reds and yellows will make a scene look hot. You can also mix hots and colds to add more dramatic temperature changes between elements. As far as natural light colors, day light is typically white and yellow with blueish shadows. Moon/star light is typically white and blue with grey shadows.

That should be a good start for your lights. Get the 3 directionals set up like above, then if you have areas that need attention or they look flat, you can then add in a spotlight or point light (with shadows off to start) to highlight that particular area. Just remember to keep any extra spots you add in need to be soft with a large penumbra and decay.

The lighting you have now is definetly no good (sorry :p ). As long as you keep a single light (especially a single spot) your scene will never look right.

[Faeroon]

@Zr0:
>>The lighting you have now is definetly no good (sorry :p )

Yeah!!! Slap me with a big trout *lol*

Hehe - thx alot for the hints - this are things I didnt know
and I'm going to try that later in the evening - gonna go
and have a nice meeting with some friends, so I'm not @home
to work on the lightning stuff BUT: later - I promise!! :thumbsup:

Thx for the critic - MORE OF IT!

[MikaelPersson]

A general hint regarding lighting. Start of with one light, make that one look good. Add another, fix that one. And throw the last one in. If you throw three lights at once into a scene. It can be quite hard to recognize what each of them is doing. You might confuse yourself.
That was a tip I got from a real heavy weight. I try to follow it myself nowadays.

[ZrO-1]

@ Mikael P.: That's a good tip. One other way you can check that in Maya is to go to the lighting menu in the perspective viewport and select 'show selected lights'. That way all you have to do is select one or any combination of lights in the outliner and the viewport will show the scene lit by only the selected lights. (boy I love maya :love: )

[Faeroon]

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh how I HATE lights...
They are like some kind of dumb animal - they dont
behave like ANYTHING you expect :surprised

I've added the tree directional lights that Zr0
mentioned and applied some environmental fog, pushed
the background matte more into the foreground and
disabled the background hill layer (seems to work better
if they are not there... *shrugs*)

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/new_light.jpg

Sorry for the lil' rendering - I'm a bit under stress
here and got not enough time to wait for a big rendering *sigh*

I hope the lightning is a bit better now, if not:
:thumbsdow CRITICIZE!!!!! :thumbsdow

Thx in advance

PS: Yep - I know: The PaintFX gras needs rework... :annoyed:

[Wancieho]

I like:) Your lighting/texturing/modelling is very cool but it would be kinda cool if you could add something that gave this image more "uniqueness". A character or something (even then a character could be "cliche").

The overall image is very cool and will be a strong competitor but I think the winner will come down to having something very original combined with good skills. There are a few good artists on this challenge but only a few have something that stands out. I don't mean to offend but I think this could be a winning composition if you add something "different".

You have definately captured the "enchanted" feel! :)

[Faeroon]

@Wancieho:

A newb wins the contest with his first pic?
Gotta be kidding me :curious: - but I'm glad so many ppl
like the mess that I build in my dark hours:twisted:

I would like to add some characters, but I dont have
the time and SKILL (and that DEFINATELY is why I dont do it)
to model a character *sigh*
I'm going to test some things out, but I dont think that
this will add any good into the scenerie.

The next project after I finish the scene for the contest, will
be a character that I've sketched and hopefully a short animation with it, but let us focus on the contest until its over *g*

[Faeroon]

Ehm.... yet another quick question:

When do I have to submit my thumbnail etc. to the
WIP compilation page?

Do I have to do this when I'm finished?
Or can I submit the thumb and still work on the pic in the thread?

Never done this, can anyone tell me? :blush:

[alaklij]

Submit your thumb ASAP, then continue working until the end of contest. If necessary, update your thumb image with finished piece.

cheers!:beer:

[Faeroon]

Hehe thx, will do this right away :thumbsup:

Ah..before I forget... maybe I do add a character to the
scene... maybe... IF i can model it :P
Wish me luck :cool:

[ZrO-1]

The new lighting is definetly a good improovement. Nice work on that.

[alaklij]

I forgot to say this earlier (said it in my head, just didn't write it, usually this happens to me and I wonder why people don't listen:) )

I like your work, quite nice. I would like to see several details if possible.

[Faeroon]

@ZrO:

Hehe, glad you like it.

@alaklij:
>>I forgot to say this earlier (said it in my head, just didn't write it, usually this happens to me and I wonder why people don't listen )

*G* I know what you mean - happens to me often too :p

What details do you mean?
I'll post a bigger rendering soon - at this mom I'm working on the
"character" (if you can call this strange thing a character)
and maybe I'll put it in... if I can model it *G*

[leigh]

Hey Faeroon - excellent work! :applause:

I think the only thing that bugs me about it is that fireball (?) on the right hand side - it's a bit distracting.
Otherwise, well done! :thumbsup: Great work :)

[Faeroon]

@Leigh:

:D Fireball, eh? *G*
What you mean is one of those "glowing mushrooms" - in
the bigger render its obvious that the glowing top is attached
to the "trunk" of the shroom.

I like the difference of color that it brings to the scene,
or do you think that it's TO bright/colorfull/what ever?

[UrbanFuturistic]

Much better :thumbsup:
regards, Paulhttp://homepage.ntlworld.com/odubtaig/smilies/coffee.gif

[Faeroon]

Lalala - back again :p

I worked a bit on an idea I got while making
some sandwiches.
I know the textures/shaders look crappy and maybe
everyone will hate this piece of... but have a look
for yourself.

First pic is a testrendering that failed, but I
want to show you how I plan to set the "guardian of the forest"
into the scene. (Why failed? The colors aren't right, the glow
needs work , yadda yadda - the usual stuff *G*)

Second pic are some views of the guardian (and I TOLD you - I
never have modelled anything that had to look like something
with character - have mercy with me! I promise my next char will
be much better *G*)

Here ya go - happy criticizing!

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/guardian1.jpg

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/guardian2.jpg

[ZrO-1]

:D Oh, man Faeroon. That thing just totally sucks. I don't know why you even bother. You and your stuff stink. :p
hehehe just kidding with you bro LOL :D

Seriously though, I like you guardian character(creature). I don't know if you have them in Germany but here in the US we have this type of spider called a "daddy long-legs" That's what your creature reminds me of. It's like an abstracted version of a daddy long-legs. :thumbsup:

[MikaelPersson]

Looking good. That would add a focus to your scene. Go along with it.

[Faeroon]

Eeeeehww.... and I HATE spiders :argh:
I mean... maybe they are great inventions of mother
nature but GOOD HEAVENS - If one of those runs over my
worktable....:annoyed:

I had to search a bit to find out what kind of spiders
you mean.
"Daddy long-legs" is called "Weberknecht" in german :P
A rough translating would be "weaving slave" or something like
that... wtf.. why do we always have those STRANGE names... *G*

But its great you like it and I'll work on setting it in then :)

@Wancieho:

I hope I captured the feeling you wanted - and this char isnt
even the standart cliche *G*

[Faeroon]

Here's my first testrendering for today.
It's just a bit bigger then the last pic and I've
changed the glow of the guardian.

Here's the pic - but beware, its big :P (http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/guardian3.jpg)

Now (if noone has heavy critic on this one) I'll
work out some details:

- changing the grass on the other side of the river
- trying to get decent smoke for the fireplace of the
dwarfhouse (gonna try particles)
- lightning tuning

If you think that anything else needs work:
Just let me now.

Cheers :bounce:

[MikaelPersson]

To much glow on the eye (I think). Use a bit incandescence instead. The back of the wood is to sudden. Make the transition gradually. But I really like the look of the dark wood in the back.

[ZrO-1]

Yeah I'd say the same thing. Too much Glow on your guardian. All the details on it are getting washed out.

[Wancieho]

Hey dude that's really looking good. I have to agree that there is to much glow on the "guardian". I also think you need to find a camera angle that focuses more on it though. This will be tough as i'm sure you like your present angle. I think you just may have found your "uniqueness" :)

[Faeroon]

An new rendering after my DAMN SYSTEM crashed yesterday
and messed up the work of one day!
Why me? Why always me? :argh:

Naaaahaa.... nevermind - here's a quick rendering test with
- "final" paintFX grass
- turned on the background hills to change to sudden fall of 3D to matte
(hope you like it Mika :p)

Click here for the pic (http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/glow1.jpg)

The damn glow worked perfectly in the testrendering and
in the bigger render it seems WAY to much - gonna work on that.

Critic anyone? Just 4 days left to tell me what I should change *g*

PS: Damn Glow, DAMN GLOW... *grmlbmlb*

[MikaelPersson]

haha, glow and maya. Good luck. A hint: it will change size and everything depending on the resolution you are rendering to. Test rendering in low res to get the right look then turning on high res, no good. You have to test in high res. Some people have talked about how to translate between resoultions. But, sorry I cant remember it.

Try loading it into p-shop and hit ctrl-u and desaturate it quite a lot. Then you will have pleased me immensly.

[Faeroon]

Here's just a quick test of a new glow shader for
the hovering tentacles - tell me what you like better,
the old one or this thing? :shrug:

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/glow2.jpg

[MikaelPersson]

The small picture looks best. But go easy on the glow. I think it´s to much even in your small picture.

[ZrO-1]

Glow is best when used in very small ammounts. It's kind of like chilli powder, a little adds a nice spice to your food, but too much will burn your mouth. I'd crank down the glow to half the level it is in your small render. That goes for the 'shrooms too. It's just way too much glow.

[Faeroon]

TADA - UPDATE! *G*
(OH thank god that I'm on a server with a good con
and with infinity webspace :D)

I've worked on the smoke for the chimney on the
"dwarf house" - it took me some time to get it look
right (I still dont like it .... maybe I change it later) and
after I finished the first chimney I got the idea of putting
4 other chimneys into the forest, to get the look that it's
really inhabitat by strange lil' hobbits or what ever :p

If you look real close maybe you find the other 4 smoke trails
- I really like it when there is much to discover in a picture :)

I think the glow on the guardian is "ok" now - not to much
and not to less of the precious "glitter" (as Zr0 puts it)

Plz give me some decent critics here, I'm getting nearer to
the final image *big grin*

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/final1.jpg

PS: In the next rendering I turn down the glow on the big
red mushroom on the right side - I promise ;)

[MikaelPersson]

You are getting closer. But, still way to much glow. The specularity of all your shaders should be toned down too. A forest is not that shiny. It´s more of lambert than blinn.
You should do something to the light too. Make it slightly brighter right at the front and darker in the back.
I like your idea of smoke coming out in various places of the image.

[Faeroon]

For this rendering I've changed most of the shaders
from blinn/phongE to lambert, just to test if the
reflectivity/specularity of the forest is better now.

I've turned down the glow on the red shroom, but it's still
to much - finish it in the next rendering.
Strange that the guardian seems oversaturated now... I changed
nothing... hm... same as for the shroom -> next pic.

Tell me if you like it this way or with the normal shaders (blinn/phongE)
and if I need to change anything :)

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/final2.jpg

PS: I've desaturated this picture a bit in PS, just to test.

[MikaelPersson]

Good Work! :thumbsup:
Ditch those blinn shaders, stick with your lamberts.
It will look really good when the glow is turned down.

[ZrO-1]

yeah, I also like this latest version. The 'shrooms look MUCH better now with the lower glow.

[Faeroon]

Here's the "semi-final" pic.
Adjusted the glow again, pushed my old shrooms into the
grass on the left side of the foreground and tried to
set up the chimneys right.

Now... I'm stuck *G*
I like the pic as it is now - the glow on the guardian
is nice and shiny, showing the power behind this apparition.
After the desaturation it seems to me that the foggy, mystical
athmosphere is OK too.

Right now I'm just waiting for comments of you guys (and of course girls
*winks at Leigh*) and hope you like the pic as much as I do.
If you have critics - say it now while I can change it *G*

*yawns, pushes the pic into the thread and jumps into the bed*

http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/final3.jpg

[ZrO-1]

I like it. No crits, I think it looks really awesome.

[MikaelPersson]

I like it too. Your progression has been really awesome. But still the guardian glow, too much. But that is a matter of opinion.
The thing you could tweak some more is the water shader.
But you really have a nice piece of work there.

[leigh]

:applause: :applause:
I personally like the strong glow on the guardian ;)
Fantastic work, Faeroon! Well done!!!!
5 stars from me :)

[Faeroon]

TAMTADATAM TADA TAAAAAAAAAM :p
Here it is - the final image in big bad rendering resolution.
I've checked some things, tested and left others and now I like it.
I think it is really ready for posting, nothing will be changed anymore. :wip:

Thx to all the great people that help me with my very first Maya scene :bowdown:
and my first CG contest ever.

I'm glad that I could finish it in time and hope you all like it a bit
- it was a HELL of a work, but I learned much in this 4 weeks *G*

*grabs a cup of coffee and posts the image*:beer:

Here it is - the Final One (http://arctic.unitedforcesofseed.com/contest/final-rendering.jpg)
(behold - it's around ~400kb)

[MikaelPersson]

Really nice work. In this edition you could see the blue monlight on the branches at the top. Nice touch.

I must congratulate you on your progress once again.

[ZrO-1]

You did a great job Faeroon. Fantastic work on your piece. The final version looks really really cool. Nice work :applause:

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.