Show Us Your Bryce Renders! Part 7
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Yup... The Skull candle is actually lit by four radial lights to give the best light distribution and soft shadow.
I've just set up a test animation where I've tried to get the flame to dance a bit and thus make the shadows dance too.
The 4 second clip I've set up is going to take 9 hours to render at low quality and only half size the finished render will be.
Luckily the candle scene will only be six(ish) seconds long... Unless I abandon the idea before I do the final high res renders.
Yup... The Skull candle is actually lit by four radial lights to give the best light distribution and soft shadow.
I've just set up a test animation where I've tried to get the flame to dance a bit and thus make the shadows dance too.
The 4 second clip I've set up is going to take 9 hours to render at low quality and only half size the finished render will be.
Luckily the candle scene will only be six(ish) seconds long... Unless I abandon the idea before I do the final high res renders.
Try setting the candle far enough away from the book, so that, by the time the book starts opening, the candle is out of frame. Then you don't need to animate the flame flickering, just alter your light sources while the book is opening ... slight jiggles and dimming. Also, are four light sources really needed? I mean; your still shot of the candle looks great, but perhaps you could do away with two of them. I see you already have it so only one is casting shadows, and that should help your render times.
The first time I did a serious video render, I had no idea what I was doing. (Not that I do now, but ...) I had highly reflective marble, metal, and glass for about 95% of the surfaces. I had two 7 candle stands with 8 radials in each, plus four more lanterns on the walls with radials in them. I think it was a 30 second video, and the render took 10 days. I had a second computer at the time, so I suffered no withdrawal symptoms. At the end of it, the band I did it for thought it was too brooding to use. I added a panoramic view of that scene below.
@Horo: That's another beautiful scene. I like how the foreground ridge line seems to flow onto the other island, as though that portion sunk into the ocean.
@mermaid: I so understand about getting frustrated, it was once my biggest bane. Somewhere along the line my attitude changed and frustration turned into determined puzzlement. I may get physically tired working on something and have to stop for awhile, but I'll come back to it and work on it until it looks as I want. BTW, check your PM.
@Dave: Your have done amazing work on that animation. I hope you're able to let us see the final results.
@mermaid010 - thank you.
@CTippetts - thank you. No, "H" isn't meant to be associated with me and "W" will come next week, I hope. In any case, "S" will come first and "X" last.
Your rain clouds look surprisingly good.
That's quite a nice indoor pano you made.
@Dave - I like the skull with the candle. The flame looks excellent.
@Jamie - thank you.
No, all of the radials are casting shadows, but they are all quite close together and shadow softness makes them look like a single shadow. As the radial is a single point light source and a flame is not, you need more than one to give the correct effect and to allow the light to flow down the skull without simply casting one big puddle of black underneath the candle :)
Nice marble hall BTW. :)
Anyway, I've done a test animation just of the skull candle flickering and apart from having to be more accurate with the placing of the 'glow' effect, I'm happy that it's looking like it'll work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7HJoR2FaAY
Guss -I hope someday my attitude will change and frustration will turn to determination. I just start another tutorial or play with fractals and now the Lens and Filters. Thanks for the File much appreciated. I will have a look at it later, presently I am trying to do my third entry for the tree challenge.
Dave - the videos are really awesome. I'm missing the sight black smoke from the burning candles or maybe our candles are the low quality ones. ;)
Thanks Mermaid :) Oddly enough I was just thinking a few weeks ago that my walls and ceiling no longer gather as much from candle soot as they used to do. Last time I decorated my living room there was a ton of the stuff... That was 6 years ago and despite me being a bit of a candle addict, nowadays my room seems soot free. :)
In other news. Tonight I've been working on getting Dufus da Dwagon into this animation.
I can't animate him because it's too big a job in Bryce so I figured that to make more light in the study, there could be a couple of Dwagon wall lights as well as the candle.
I made a couple of versions and am not decided which to use yet... I like the green one but it looks like the real Dufus has been pinned to the wall. The metal one looks more like the kind of thing one may actually find in one of the those 'weird shops'... In fact I have a big flying dragon holding a white glass ball light fitting at the top of my stairs (not made of metal though, it's more a grey stone colour).
The wall in these renders comes from David & Horo's Seamless Texture Mix and HDR Lighting set 1
And here's how they look in the Study.
I've had to totally redo the lighting for this and it may still be a bit too dark, but it's late so I'm done for today.
@TheSavage64, I like the metal one better. However if you want to change the look of the green one but think it looks odd, perhaps you could always include some sort of wall bracket of the same material so it looks like the dragon was cast as a single piece intended to be bolted to the wall so it's clear it's not an actual dragon stuck there.
Hi Savage :) You asked, I'm answering.
Nice topic of the animation: storybook opening to a new world. I won't get into the technical aspects of where I think this opening could improve: animation shimmer is everywhere, particularly where you have bump happening, and that isn't going to go away until you make a few sacrifices. Also a couple of tweaks in the AML for easing will go a long way to preserving that essence of transition you're attempting int he sequence.
In general, I think you should slow the movement down, and use camera tracking for a more organic, floating approach for this scene.
The drift to the desk holding the book is an establishing shot. You want viewers to take in the scene you've created while tracking into the real subject: the book. At the moment it feels like you're rushing into the desk.
A good exercise is to find a real world example, to scale, of your set an simply walk toward it, at a speed you think preserves the feeling you're trying to set. (Of course if this scene is part of a larger sequence where your protagonist is rushing to the book to escape danger or something, perhaps the current speed is fine :)
Along the same note, the book opening could be slower, and because it's a book, the opening needs easing. This is done in the AML. Easing is the acceleration/deceleration of movement as you begin and end keyframes. (I should really do a tutorial on the AML, considering nothing about it exists in the Bryce 7.1 Manual, but... jeez, it's a lot of time scripting and screencapping for the 2 people that would watch it (Hi Mom!) The AML is really, pathetically simple, but it looks incredibly complicated because most people are unaware that a single keyframe generates LOTS of redundant, superfluous data that clutters up the interface... If you use it blindly.
Suffice to say: Shift-click that + keyframe button and select the parameter you're registering. Then you're only dealing with a handful of tracks that's easy to manage. Don't just click it raw: that sets keyframes for EVERYTHING, creating an AML display that looks like a bunch of fat worms on your screen.
... I don't like worms.
Your outdoor fly-by is also a little fast (I kept thinking: why am I flying past this thing, when all the previous shots had me closing in on it?), and can be vastly improved compositionally with camera tracking. (The desk shot as well, frankly).
Camera tracking is having the camera track an object in your scene. Folks new to Bryce animation track a visible object in the scene, resulting in 'Owl Vision': that is, no matter where you position the camera, it's locked on the object dead center of your screen, like an owl closing in on its prey.
There's a way nicer alternative: tracking a HIDDEN object in your scene, and animating that as well. So you have a camera moving, while tracking a hidden object that's moving in your scene. This creates a very natural view of your scene as your camera moves. You can even simulate first-person eye movements around your scene as you move closer to the scene subject.
Camera tracking has one clear advantage over just moving a camera: ZERO FLY-BOUNCE. Fly-bounce occurs when you rotate the camera. I did a tute on what that was, and you can find it in my .sig file below, but I didn't include the camera track solution as I considered it a pretty advanced topic. However, with camera tracking NOTHING is rotating. Yes, the camera follows another object, but this is not the same as commiting a rotational keyframe.
So... Set you camera. Create a hidden object, like a stone, and shrink it down. Locate the stone to the point you want the camera to center on. Select the camera and drag its Track button to the stone until the stone turns green. Done.
Simple stuff first: set your camera keyframes in terms of location. Go back to the beginning, and now set your hidden object locations: just because you're closing in on the book doesn't mean you can't direct the viewer's attention to objects around the room while getting there. This can create a more 'live' feeling for the viewer.
Have a play with that on small doc sizes for test renders.
Thanks Oroboros... I'll take all that in to consideration when I come to make the final animation.
At the moment I'm just testing some rough ideas and now is the perfect time to point these things out.
Yes, I've used camera tracking on invisible objects in the past. Very similar to a technique I also use to set the Depth of Field in some of my still renders though obviously it's not tracking on a still render, but certainly creating an invisible object (A stone is a good choice if there are no stones in the scene as selecting it becomes much easier) for the camera to take it's DoF information from.
Thanks again... I think a day or two just playing with the AML may be in store.
@Dave: Since you mentioned the candle glow, I won't say that was my thought while watching the test video. Beautiful work. As to Dufus 1 & 2, the idea of a metal Dufus is a nice idea for a light fixture but how is it being lit from above when green Dufus isn't? And I think adding Dufus to the scene really adds to the overall look. Whether or not it's green or metal Dufus. Had you thought of posing Dufus crouching holding the glob over his head? That way he could be crouching on a metal base of some sort that would get him away from the wall and show the mounting place and wiring tube. Just a thought.
@Dave - looking at your comparison I'd say if the green Dufus were a bit more metallic looking, it would fit better to the wall. However, on the new wall of the room, the yellowish one matches better.
@Oro - I appreciate your comments and I always read them fully. You may be right that there is not a huge community doing animations. I enjoy looking at them and sometimes I'm even awed and drool. Apart from the technique involved, an eye for the artwork is required, too. I stopped doing movies with a camera since I realised how laughable they turned out.
Below IsleH-Cartway, another attempt on a still landscape. Again three stacked terrains with different resolutions and materials.
Hi back, Horo :)
I think at the heart of any creative work is telling a story. Your last image, for instance: the image evokes dramatic events unfolding in the skies, over fresh, green, virgin tundra on jagged, relatively new rock formation. It tells a story of life out of turbulence and change, of large, destructive forces creating change and life.
Movement also tells stories, and evokes emotion. They're just different ways of story-telling, each with their own qualities, and like any artistry, requires practice, analysis and appreciation. You clearly have an eye for composition and light: if you have the render power for 7 second renders I imagine your scenes combined with movement would be hauntingly beautiful... and it's not like you have to fly over a landscape from front to back: not only would that kill the composition, it would betray your sense of scale. Landscape stories are told better with subtlety.
I challenge you to re-render that scene above as an animation :) Change nothing. Move the camera from where it is forward, so that the sharp peak on the right of the frame goes out of shot, and the highest peak on the right becomes the next edge-peak. 7-10 seconds @30fps. If you're feeling adventurous, create 3 keyframes in the IBL each about 2 keyframes apart to blow out the cloud cover quickly, simulating a lighting flash. I'll pray that the textures doesn't shimmer too much, but if it does, see if you can chop the bump down a bit.
for those that remember the last ship picture i posted, here is were i am at right now :) ...im still not finished yet but i wanted to show the progress of this scene :)
@Horo: Another fine scene, and it appears a terrific storm is moving in. Love the sky you created.
@Tim Bateman: That image keeps getting better each time. I like how the sun hits the clouds and reflects off the water.
Getting distracted by all the good stuff other people are putting up...
Just had to try the stacked terrains... Thanks Horo... It's a great technique.
@Horo - Once again, simply amazing. Have you ever done anything using actual Earthmap satellite data, such as that available from the U.S. Geological Survey site, (a link for which escapes me at this time)? I have some of the USGS data, but it's too huge to send here. For example, the DEM_TIF of Crater Lake in Oregon is over 22Meg. I think you'd make something even more amazing from something like that. Bryce is happy to take in a map of that size for use as a terrain, but, if it's not a square image, Bryce squeezes the image rather than crops it to the center. Thus, Crater Lake appears as an oval instead of round. If I crop it using the only art program I have capable of cropping, (Paint Shop Pro ... either JASC version 8 or Corel version 11), it looses data, and creates the "stairway" effect on slopes that are clearly supposed to be smooth.
@Tim Bateman - Lovin' it. I was looking at a painting in my lawyer's office of just such a scene, and thinking to myself how great Bryce would be to create one like that. Then I come home and find you did it. Wonderful!
@Oroboros - I really appreciate all the advice you provide everyone. Your ideas for framing, composition, and other scene setup are right on. I can easily envision it as I read what you say. Perhaps my imagination is better than you intended to invoke, but you do.
...and you did an excellent job at it, Dave. Really nice. I just don't see where you put the Macabre ... grave site, or skeleton, or where a creepy spider or rodent is hiding.
Horo: Another beautiful scene
Tim Bateman: The render gets better each time, love the ship.
Dave: The stacked terrain is nicely done.
Timothy Bateman all I can say is WoWWW! Brilliant work!
Savage,
You're incredible, it just has to be said every now and again.
Horo,
Everything you touch seems to turn to gold.
After all the talk about clouds I thought I would have a mess about :)
Each cloud consists of three Symetrical Lattice moved together and grouped then any pointy bits are removed from each one in the Terrain Editor and then a Cumulus_31 texture applied and messed about in the Material Lab and the diffuse colour changed to a blue tinged white. Each lattice was also re-tweaked for colour, bump height, density and shape in some of the renders. Don't ask me how I did something as it was all down to experimenting :-)
Image 1 :- three terrains and one cloud.
Image 2 :- two clouds three terrains
Image 3 :- moved the clouds about a bit and rotated them until this came out
Image 4 :- some more twisting and moving
Image 5 :- added some giant flying ducks to see if they could fly through it :-)
Not great but acceptable.
@Dave: That image turned out really well. I second what Rashad said.
@Sandy: I really like those terrains. I'm not really sold on the clouds, except in the second image where it looks like another higher mountain in the background. They are still a really good start, at least I think so.
@Oro - thank you for the kind and encouraging words.
@Tim Bateman - beautiful scene. Are you going to add foam around the ship?
@Dave - great to see that you could make it work.
Well, not actually gold, but thank you very much anyway. I think once I'm through with my terrain experiments, I start put on some vegetation.
@Sandy - the terrains are quite good, the goose probably a bit towards gigantic considering the shadow one casts on the ground, but like GussNemo, the clouds cannot convince me.
The terrains were all default ones except the flower one :-) The two dark ones is the same terrain duplicated. The ducks were just put in to see if the 'clouds' were transparent :-)
Thanks. The bodies are buried well! :cheese:
Thanks also Mermaid, Guss, Horo and Rashad... Not so sure about "incredible" but certainly dedicated. :-)
This one's not a stacked terrain, because it looked kind of cool without stacking any with it... So I just added the rocky spire.
thankyou for all the kind words from everyone :) ...and @Horo- i am planing to add some foam, well i have been experimenting, so far all my attempts have failed....or another way to put it, im very critical of my own work and havnt yet settled for one of my own ideas :) ....but! none the less, i will keep trying :)
@Dave - The depth is nicely conveyed with the haze. The spire is a great idea and it looks good, too.
Here's another of my attempts on stacked terrains, the S-Island.
Fishtales-nice experiments; the terrains look good and it seems that terrains don't make good clouds, did you try metaballs.
Dave - the terrain with the rocky spire looks awesome nice choice of material
Horo - another breath-taking render
This stacked terrains thingy looks very intereting....must have a try.
Love the above works, and, yes, that last one, Horo, from your third terrain set looks super.
Jay