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I'm curious: For future reference, does this effectively mean there are now no limits for the size of a picture? I typically render most of my stuff in full 1920 X 1080 HD size, to capture all the little-but-important details.
Oh my, Kismet, this image is wonderful. I like the detail you have added. You are most welcome, my dear. I too learned lots of interesting things. Who would have thought you had to worry about tangents!
Yes, Dolly, Cris, and Scott, thank you so much for your help and suggestions. It's been invaluable! :)
This is beautiful! Really goes to show how an image can improve if you stick with it. :)
:-) Greetings KISMET2012! Compositionally, I don't feel the church adds anything to an otherwise wonderfully maturing piece of art. Simplicity is often times one of the best compositional guidelines. Grist for the mill. . .:)
Funny thing you would say that, when I noticed the church in the backgrund I immediatly thought that a nice little aspect.
@Kismet that is a wonderfull render now
Thank you Dollygirl, Scott, giovannipaoloartist and Linwelly for the comments and feedback. :cheese:
Ok, took some time away to work on entries for the Daz Creative mag superhero contest, and now doing a big over night render to figure out where I left things with my thing for here!
(This is more a post to get me focused than anything else, right now :))
Very good, Kismet. It's great to see how you've chosen to evolve your image. It's now lush with life; a wonderful place to walk and enjoy the scene.
Here is my work, I had a lot of troubles with that LAMH preset, it simply didn't rendered when it was time for it to show on picture, even after 10 hours on normal render setting, and before that i tried 2 more times but as it was rainy my computer was shuting down. Strange because before it did, and i haven't been doing anything unusual. Anyway here is picture done on normal setting, i think it looks nice, though i liked it better with longer beard :).
I think this is pretty much done, and that I will not have time to work on it more. I have read Golden Rules of Composition done by Jaderail and checked most of links listed in the first post though i should go over them once more. This render was done on High setting.
Before you call this one done, have you tried subdividing the cattails? That might result in smoother, more natural-looking curves.
This is looking better to me. If you do have time to keep playing with it, I'd ask yourself to consider: what is the main light source? and think about increasing the intensity of that light. It's not that the image is too dark, but I feel like the lighting is rather even throughout the scene, and it would look more dramatic (and possibly more realistic) if there was more of a contrast between light and shadow.
Also, consider increasing the ambient strength of the flames, and/or adding point lights at those locations (or intensifying the strength of them, if you've already got some lights there).
I'm curious: For future reference, does this effectively mean there are now no limits for the size of a picture? I typically render most of my stuff in full 1920 X 1080 HD size, to capture all the little-but-important details.
We stopped using size as a judging factor a little while back but it looks as though I forgot to update the rules (Bad Ann Bad) That has now been remedied :)
Before you call this one done, have you tried subdividing the cattails? That might result in smoother, more natural-looking curves.
Had to do some research on how to do this but finally figured it out.
Here is the latest version with the subdividing applied.
I will shamlessly use the fact that renders are not limited to a certain size anymore. If I am going too far please stop me.
The idea to use the shadow of the dagger was a brilliant solution, thanks for that dollygirl. With this I could use the DOF and make the guy in front fuzz out. I added another light for the shadow of the dagger and one to give the dragon a better highlighting. And last but not least for the first time i successfully applied an uberenvironment light.
I'm really happy with this one an I guess it goes into the entries if I'm not stopped because of size issues
I like the lighting much better, and I agree that the depth of field is a nice touch. Very good work!
I have tried to use just lighting in the composition of this. Would love some feedback.
Well, I've made progress today...
Trying to decide between mist/no mist and havent' started looking at depth of field yet....
I'm trying to focus purely on composition, rather than my usual spectacle....recreating an image from a music video that's stuck in my head for ages...
Oh, and if anyone can suggest what the weird doted artifacts on the rug are, that'd be great..something to do with the light hitting the rug, which is a very flat cube primative with a texture jpg/displacement jpg put on it.
The lighting looks great and I love the tilted camera angle as well as the color palette. In terms of composition, my eyes want to focus more on the weapons than on the character. I think this is partly because of the bright specularity of the weapons, and partly because the character's head is so close to the top of the frame. Maybe consider the rule of thirds and move the character's head was a bit lower in the frame (1/3 the way down).
Nice work. I like both, but for what it's worth, I definitely like the mist version better. Not sure what the stuff on the rug is, but with the mist it actually looks like it belongs there. :) If you want to get rid of it, though, try either removing the specular map on the rug (assuming there is one), or else turn the specular strength down. Also check to see if reflections are enabled; you probably want to turn them off (0%) if so.
The lighting looks great and I love the tilted camera angle as well as the color palette. In terms of composition, my eyes want to focus more on the weapons than on the character. I think this is partly because of the bright specularity of the weapons, and partly because the character's head is so close to the top of the frame. Maybe consider the rule of thirds and move the character's head was a bit lower in the frame (1/3 the way down).
Thank you Scott, maybe I should 'grunge' the weapons a bit. Will also try moving the head down.
I really like the use of colors in this image. The angle of the camera is also interesting and the light color and distribution is wonderful. I think that I would make the ambient light of the image just a tad bit brighter. I would also introduce some movement say some flags flapping in the breeze off the turret walls. I think that lightening up the scene will allow the eye to move away from the strong geometry on the pants, where there is significant contrast and up to his face. I think the flags would add something more to his story and pull the eyes further up to the top of the image. Adding some movement, such as a bird flying or leaves rolling across the floor or that the sun on his back is cooled by the breeze will add a bit more reality and help the viewer place themselves in the scene.
I really like the use of colors in this image. The angle of the camera is also interesting and the light color and distribution is wonderful. I think that I would make the ambient light of the image just a tad bit brighter. I would also introduce some movement say some flags flapping in the breeze off the turret walls. I think that lightening up the scene will allow the eye to move away from the strong geometry on the pants, where there is significant contrast and up to his face. I think the flags would add something more to his story and pull the eyes further up to the top of the image. Adding some movement, such as a bird flying or leaves rolling across the floor or that the sun on his back is cooled by the breeze will add a bit more reality and help the viewer place themselves in the scene.
Thank you Dollygirl, the character does have hair but I forgot to turn it on for the render. I love your ideas about the flags and the leaves, will look into them and see if I can find some.
Gulan, this is merely a suggestion in visual form to try and show what I mean with some things to consider for your image. If you focus on your wizard, and make him the hero, you don't need the crystal ball on the pedastal, perhaps. Add contrast with the brightness of your magic and let it cascade onto your figure. Use diagonals with your wizard to break up all the straight verticals and horizontals, his body, his staff...an outstretched arm implies more power than one passively held near the body. This of Gandalf when he uses his staff.
Ultimately, the choices are yours to make this your own piece. I do not mean to tell you what I've done is what you must do, but rather to show you some possibilities.
Good luck...don't be timid with your story. It's a good story, so it's worth taking time to learn what you can do to improve it. Rare is the artist who is satisfied that a piece is finished. We always strive to make it better...that's what pushes us to excel. :)
This is such a nice image. The only suggestion is either changing the camera angle, the figure's position or scale to break some tangents.
And I agree with some grunge as Scott suggests.
Hi, Linwelly. You have the start of a good story here. Some suggestions to push the story. Find ways to give your viewer the elements they need to know, at a glance, what your story is...so if it's called "No dragonslaying here" give them imminent danger. Let them see it, coming at the dragon and young person. I let the bladetip touch the dragon visually because that create more menace. Now your young person has something to defend. You might consider a color contrast and maybe tree removal to strengthen the silhouette of the dragon.
It's all about telling the story without them having to read what it's supposed to be. So that when they see the title, "No dragonslaying here" they think...oh yeah, i got that right away!
Good luck. It's great to see everyone making such great choices and are so open to suggestions.
I really like how you got the expressions on the faces of the two band members and their poses add lots of movement to your render. As Cris told gulan7 these are just suggestions. One way to help explain what I am trying to say.
Below is your image with the sweet spots identified. Where the spots are happens to be little interest. There could also be a better balance, in size and in light focus between the guy and the backup singer. The way they are now positioned they both compete the same amount for the focus of the image. The back wall is also fighting for the focus. It is so bright that the eyes can not move off of it to see the other parts of the image.
The first thing I would do is figure out what my story is focused on. Am I trying to tell my viewer about the joy of singing, or that I have to cross my legs every time the lead guitar player picks up the microphone, or that the hottest part about a concert is the babe that is singing backup. Once I know what I am going to tell then I am going to balance out my characters so that the theme of my story will come through. I will do this by making the element, guitar player or hot babe the focus and I will see that it gets moved to one of the sweet spots. I will consider color balance as well to improve what it is I am trying to tell. I would dim down the yellow wall. I would also do a google search on stage lighting and see how the big boys do their lighting.
As always, these are observations based upon my preferences. My preferences are not the be all and end all of things. You have a good start and I hope that you will continue to work on your image.
And in the words of Cris:
Good luck...don't be timid with your story. It's a good story, so it's worth taking time to learn what you can do to improve it. Rare is the artist who is satisfied that a piece is finished. We always strive to make it better...that's what pushes us to excel.
Had to do some research on how to do this but finally figured it out.
Here is the latest version with the subdividing applied.
Man who would have thought. Glad you stuck with it Kismet. Impoved the image quite a bit.
Thanks Scott...yeah, yanked down the specular on the rug down to 10% and it killed the sparkle, which will save me photoshoping it later.
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Dolly, so you're thinking a framing like this works better with the sweet spots more accounted for?
(I tend to not get some formal, and just go with what feels right in layouts, with how I visualize usually falling into golden rules/golden rectangle forms naturally more or less, but as it's the specific theme of this contest, I'm trying to play stricter with myself.).