BRYCE RENDER CHALLENGE ♦♦♦♦♦.SUMMER EDITION ♦♦♦♦♦ "Beatiing the Heat" ~~~~~ WIP THREAD

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Comments

  • BlumBlumShubBlumBlumShub Posts: 1,108
    edited December 1969

    Blimey, David, I just nearly broke my monitor trying to pick up one of those ice cubes and put it in my drink. You have GOT to stop doing things like that! ;)

  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited December 1969

    @David: That first cube image really looks like a high class photo. Love the change in the others. Now I may have to go get a cold drink.

    I didn't think I'd be entering anything in this contest because I could think of anything to create. But since I've been playing with metaballs--not meatballs as my dyslexic eyes want to see--I've come up with the following image. Except for the for the texture on the ground plane, everything was created using metaballs. If you saw the spoon in part 5 of show us your renders, you saw a different colored spoon. When I used it with this image is didn't look right so I changed the material used on the spoon. I also added a small embellishment to the butt end of the spoon. Because I'm not really satisfied with the look of the ice cream I've one in the oven at this writing. I'll post it when it's done.

    RPP=64
    MRD=4
    TA used with an HDRI that came with Bryce Pro.
    Render time a little over 2.5 hours.
    Title-Full Bowl

    Metaball_Bowl_of_Ice_Cream_1.png
    750 x 750 - 1M
  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    Jamie, yes your icecream needs work. For snow and ice, the settings are very fiddly to get this kind of material looking right. In the absence of sub surface scattering, I've found the best approach is to provide lots of light from every angle to eliminate our expectations for shadows. This also works for skin it seems - same problem. Hard shadows show that the material is too solid. Also did I hear you mention that "Minecraft" was to be avoided for fear of addiction? In which case let me whisper two words to you, "Prison Architect" - another wholesomely additive game partially inspired by Dungeon Keeper.

  • KyricusKyricus Posts: 44
    edited December 1969

    @Guss I really need to start messing with metaballs, I like the way your bowl turned out using them.
    @David Damn you and Prison Architect! I went and looked it up. I will not get...will not get... it looks hilariously fun, especially in the build stage it's in.

  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    kyricus said:
    @Guss I really need to start messing with metaballs, I like the way your bowl turned out using them.
    @David Damn you and Prison Architect! I went and looked it up. I will not get...will not get... it looks hilariously fun, especially in the build stage it's in.

    Yes it is great to see a small but dedicated programming team enthusiastically developing a piece of software in response to feedback from their community. Subtext anyone?

    Oh, and here, some more ice variants.

    ice5.jpg
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    ice3.jpg
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    ice2.jpg
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  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,458
    edited December 1969

    kyricus said:
    @Guss I really need to start messing with metaballs, I like the way your bowl turned out using them.
    @David Damn you and Prison Architect! I went and looked it up. I will not get...will not get... it looks hilariously fun, especially in the build stage it's in.

    Yes it is great to see a small but dedicated programming team enthusiastically developing a piece of software in response to feedback from their community. Subtext anyone?

    Oh, and here, some more ice variants.

    Wow I love the ice renders, I've been inspired to do one of my own...

    still need work I think...

    icecubes.jpg
    875 x 875 - 629K
  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited July 2013

    @David: Yeah, I saw it needed work the first time it rendered, but wasn't sure how, or what, to do. The image I had cooking last night wasn't finished when my eyes told me it was time for bed. So I let it cook while I mowed the yard today. Still didn't look right so I fiddled with setting in the Mat Lab and have another one cooking. I will, however, try moving the HRDI around, and possibly adding a radial light, or two, to see if I can get better results. I guess I should have been blunt in saying Minecraft IS very addictive, instead of just hinting. I've found myself losing 4 hours easily while playing Minecraft. The ice cubes in your latest are really looking nice, I say as I wipe the drool off my mouth. You don't by any chance have a video on how you make such plausible ice cubes? Us still learners would love to see one. ;-) Oh, and BTW, I checked out Prison Architect and it's not something I'm interested in, so it won't be something else keeping me up until the wee hours of the morning.

    @Rareth: Are you sure you and David aren't brothers? Those ice cubes make me want to find a towel to clean up the spill. Nice work.

    Below is the render I reran today, with the ice cream material tweaked, and before reading David's suggestion. I'm still not satisfied with the results, so after the one in the oven finishes I will give David's suggestion a try. I've another one in the oven as I post, so it will have to wait to experience exposure.

    Edited because I haven't learned to spell, yet.

    Metaball_Bowl_of_Ice_Cream_3.png
    750 x 750 - 1M
    Post edited by GussNemo on
  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,458
    edited December 1969

    GussNemo said:
    @David: Yeah, I saw it needed work the first time it rendered, but wasn't sure how, or what, to do. The image I had cooking last night wasn't finished when my eyes told me it was time for bed. So I let it cook while I mowed the yard today. Still didn't look right so I fiddled with setting in the Mat Lab and have another one cooking. I will, however, try moving the HRDI around, and possibly adding a radial light, or two, to see if I can get better results. I guess I should have been blunt in saying Minecraft IS very addictive, instead of just hinting. I've found myself losing 4 hours easily while playing Minecraft. The ice cubes in your latest are really looking nice, I say as I wipe the drool off my mouth. You don't by any chance have a video on how you make such plausible ice cubes? Us still learners would love to see one. ;-) Oh, and BTW, I checked out Prison Architect and it's not something I'm interested in, so it won't be something else keeping me up until the wee hours of the morning.

    @Rareth: Are you sure you and David aren't brothers? Those ice cubes make me want to find a towel to clean us the spill. Nice work.

    Below is the render I reran today, with the ice cream material tweaked, and before reading David's suggestion. I'm still not satisfied with the results, so after the one in the oven finishes I will give David's suggestion a try. I've another one in the oven as I post, so it will have to wait to experience exposure.

    Its coming along Great,

    as for my ice cubes, they are the rounded squares found in the object library, and I applied one of the Pro Materials from glass and ice.. the water is just an "instance lab" flattened sphere turned into meatballs, and then applied the same material to it that the ice cubs have.
    apply some HDRI lighting and voila.. ice cube mess to clean up

  • mermaid010mermaid010 Posts: 5,159
    edited December 1969

    Guss - for the ice cream did you try Dave's and Rareth's suggestions on page 5

    David and Rareth - cool ice cubes,

  • Electro-ElvisElectro-Elvis Posts: 855
    edited December 1969

    Beating the Heat - take a swim in the fresh cold green ocean water

    felswand6.jpg
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  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited December 1969

    @Rareth: Thanks for the explanation on the ice cubes. If I could ever get good looking ice cream I'd be satisfied.

    @mermaid: Um...I forgot they gave the information, but I have it now. I've been playing around with the lighting since after lunch but never got close to what I was after. I may have to give Dave's or Rareth's methods a try, nothing I'm doing has worked. What was your question? :lol:

    @electro: That's looking real nice. After looking at a larger version of the image my eye says the size of the waves are larger than the two birds, which I think throws off the scale of the rocks, even though I know such things exist. It might just be my preference, but I think there's too much reflection for the water and not enough color. Still, it is a nice image nonetheless.

  • Electro-ElvisElectro-Elvis Posts: 855
    edited July 2013

    @GussNemo: Thank you for your comment. You are right, the sea is quite heavy. I will try to flatten the waves a bit. BTW I tried to add a few splashes near the rock, but they looked awful. I anybody had a suggestion I'd be thankful..

    Your icecream looks a bit too icy for me. I like the table cloth and bowl.

    @DavidBrinnen: Amazing ice cubes.

    @Rareth: Good attempt. The cubes are convincing. For my taste the water has to much bump.

    Post edited by Electro-Elvis on
  • Dave SavageDave Savage Posts: 2,433
    edited December 1969

    @GussNemo: Thank you for your comment. You are right, the sea is quite heavy. I will try to flatten the waves a bit. BTW I tried to add a few splashes near the rock, but they looked awful. I anybody had a suggestion I'd be thankful..

    For splashes that don't need too much definition, I usually use one of the plasma materials in the Pro Materials pre-set library (if you got Bryce 7 Pro, you'll have them too). They usually need tweaking a bit to get the frequency right to match the scene, but they can look good(ish) if used sparingly (see example below).

    As for your waves, I'm not sure it's the size of the waves that look a bit out or just the size of the ripples on the waves. If increasing the frequency of the bump pattern doesn't work to make them smaller, try just making the bird bigger as the rock looks like it could be either big or small at the moment... Hope this helps.


    PS: Chohole, this is not an entry. :)

    RockyShore.jpg
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  • Dave SavageDave Savage Posts: 2,433
    edited December 1969

    GussNemo said:
    @mermaid: Um...I forgot they gave the information, but I have it now. I've been playing around with the lighting since after lunch but never got close to what I was after. I may have to give Dave's or Rareth's methods a try, nothing I'm doing has worked. What was your question? :lol:

    Hey Guss, like David says, try and reduce the expectation of shadows as much as possible. One way of doing this is to use David's Obscure Lighting method as it totally surrounds the scene with indirect light, giving everything a softer appearance. David has several video tutorials about Obscure lighting. :)

  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,458
    edited December 1969

    is it BryceCream time yet?

    BryceCream.jpg
    875 x 875 - 159K
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Oooh chocolate brycecream, my favourite :coolsmile:

  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited December 1969

    @electro: I never considered it icy, just chalky, and am not liking it at all.

    @Dave: I did consider using obscure lighting, but I'm not sure it would help with the type material used. I still have a saved file for my chalky ice cream so I may give obscure lighting a try to see what results. Videos, yeah, I've watched them, and will watch them again.

    @Rareth: I'll send you my address if you can send about a dozen of those.

    Okay, I spent about two hours playing around with the ice cream, this .hdr file, that .hrd file, different position, but wasn't getting the results I was after. After rereading Dave's and Rareth"s posts on page five I decided to go back and use different materials. After about 1/2 dozen materials I fell on the one you see in the image below. I tweaked it a bit, used a different .hdr file, repositioned it, and remove TA. The image was rendered with the following:

    Premium Effects-
    RPP: 64
    MRD: 6
    Soft Shadows
    No TA
    Just adjustments made to HDRI and Bryce sun
    Title: Bowl Full

    I'm going to stick a fork in this image because it's what I was initially after.

    Metaball_Bowl_of_Ice_Cream_5.png
    750 x 750 - 1M
  • RarethRareth Posts: 1,458
    edited December 1969

    GussNemo said:
    @electro: I never considered it icy, just chalky, and am not liking it at all.

    @Dave: I did consider using obscure lighting, but I'm not sure it would help with the type material used. I still have a saved file for my chalky ice cream so I may give obscure lighting a try to see what results. Videos, yeah, I've watched them, and will watch them again.

    @Rareth: I'll send you my address if you can send about a dozen of those.

    Okay, I spent about two hours playing around with the ice cream, this .hdr file, that .hrd file, different position, but wasn't getting the results I was after. After rereading Dave's and Rareth"s posts on page five I decided to go back and use different materials. After about 1/2 dozen materials I fell on the one you see in the image below. I tweaked it a bit, used a different .hdr file, repositioned it, and remove TA. The image was rendered with the following:

    Premium Effects-
    RPP: 64
    MRD: 6
    Soft Shadows
    No TA
    Just adjustments made to HDRI and Bryce sun
    Title: Bowl Full

    I'm going to stick a fork in this image because it's what I was initially after.

    hey that looks pretty good

  • TrishTrish Posts: 2,625
    edited December 1969

    Guss; that Ice cream looks wonderful !!!

  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited December 1969

    Thanks Rareth/Trish. It took me long enough, but my "satisfied bell" went off when the render completed.

  • JamahoneyJamahoney Posts: 1,791
    edited December 1969

    Guss...it's getting melty and tasty-looking all the time...next render, I'll guess, the bowl will be empty :)))

    Jay

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,932
    edited December 1969

    GussNemo, I saw that and I am salivating - no kidding I am on a fast day of my diet :)
    Do you know the bay area figuratives group

    your work reminds me of this chap's

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Thiebaud

  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited December 1969

    @Jay: The melting part is what I was initially after. An empty bowl? Hmmm...hadn't thought about an aftermath image, might be something to try. Just to see how it looks.

    @head wax: Thank you for the kind comments. No, I've never heard of that group. I may have to find a pin to help deflate my ego after reminding you of Thiebaud, a person I hadn't heard about until I read that Wiki page. Kind words indeed, thank you.

  • Dan WhitesideDan Whiteside Posts: 497
    edited December 1969

    Excellent images from all! Going to be a tough one for the judges...

    Here's my entry.
    While Bryce is generally well-behaved (as long as one stays away from certain things), this scene seemed to be cursed! Had a bunch of the dreaded "object not found" reload errors, lots of crashes and then the "not enough memory to save scene" error.

    Anyway, finally got it to rendered at 144RPP w/ TA and custom IBL - a little over 14 hours to render.

    Software used:
    Bryce 7.1
    DAZ Studio
    Modo
    Arbaro
    Photoshop

    Content used:
    Galapagos Tortoise - DAZ3D
    Genesis Female - DAZ3D
    Swimwear 2 - Mindvision GDS
    Hampton Hair - 3DCelebrity
    Deck Chair - Predatron

    Thanks for looking!

    beat_the_heat.jpg
    1500 x 562 - 526K
  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited December 1969

    @dan: Wow, where do I buy a ticket? Better make sure to have lots of sun screen as well.

  • JStryderJStryder Posts: 168
    edited December 1969

    GussNemo said:
    @electro: I never considered it icy, just chalky, and am not liking it at all.

    @Dave: I did consider using obscure lighting, but I'm not sure it would help with the type material used. I still have a saved file for my chalky ice cream so I may give obscure lighting a try to see what results.
    Title: Bowl Full

    I'm going to stick a fork in this image because it's what I was initially after.

    This looks real enough. But mostly it just looks yummy. Where can I get some?

  • JStryderJStryder Posts: 168
    edited December 1969

    Very educational challenge what with the ice, ice cream and all. I do like the fan also with the motion blur. Some of Dazid's ice is looking very credible.

    Here my sole entry with a weak tie-in to the theme. Sitting around in a swim suit is a good way to beat the heat, or maybe flying someplace cool.
    Figure is Anime girl Kristin from Schell's Armour Works (free) wearing Blackfeather1973's Nightwear available on share CG doubling as a swimsuit.

    Birds are one of the songbird remix models, forget which one, shaded using David's extreme neon technique. Everything else is simple cel shaded. Rendered using premium effects with DOF.

    Kristin_TA_DOF.jpg
    600 x 975 - 152K
  • JStryderJStryder Posts: 168
    edited December 1969

    Excellent images from all! Going to be a tough one for the judges...

    Here's my entry.
    While Bryce is generally well-behaved (as long as one stays away from certain things), this scene seemed to be cursed! Had a bunch of the dreaded "object not found" reload errors, lots of crashes and then the "not enough memory to save scene" error.

    Galapagos Tortoise - DAZ3D
    Thanks for looking!

    Very pretty! Love the martini on the tortoise. Funny.

  • GussNemoGussNemo Posts: 1,855
    edited December 1969

    @JStryder: Neat looking image.

  • Dan WhitesideDan Whiteside Posts: 497
    edited December 1969

    Guss - I'll trade you a ticket for some of your ice cream (LOL).

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