POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.binaries.images : Beach Scene : Re: Beach Scene Server Time
28 Mar 2024 18:11:40 EDT (-0400)
  Re: Beach Scene  
From: Chris R
Date: 23 Jul 2021 16:00:00
Message: <web.60fb1ee6115c8a23a22635af5cc1b6e@news.povray.org>
"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "Chris R" <car### [at] comcastnet> wrote:
> > I have been working on this for a few weeks and am about ready to move on, so I
> > thought I'd share it with the community.  The comments I receive usually end up
> > in future projects.
>
> And based on this, I'm sure a lot of us are hoping to see those!  :)
>
> > This is based on a photo of the back side of a row of colorful beach huts.  In
> > the original, all of the huts looked like they had been freshly sided and
> > painted, which wasn't terribly interesting to me, so I decided to age them quite
> > a bit so I could continue working on my raw-wood textures and aging paint
> > textures.
>
> The siding paint looks too new and glossy.  Actually everything looks a little
> too clean, but that's the nature of renders.
>
> I still have no idea how to go about using "proximity patterns," but maybe you
> could scuff up the edges and corners a bit, and add some brown, tan, buff spots
> to suggest wear by wind-blown sand. The eaves look too immaculate, and I would
> imagine that the first thing to warp and dry-rot would be those diagonals on the
> foundation posts.   Maybe use "isowood" for those.
>
> > The shingles were another new area for me to play with.  I have done tiled roofs
> > before, but this is my first attempt at a tar-shingled roof.
>
> That looks like a great texture.  I'm wondering if you could add some sand up
> there and some darker spots where some of the protective granules have crumbled
> off the tarpaper base.
>
> > The foundation posts have a layer of sand on the lee-side; you can sort of see
> > it in this view.  I have other test views with closeups that look pretty good as
> > well.
>
> I might make that a lighter color to enhance the contrast, and add a stronger
> specular component to give it that sparkly sand look.
>
> > I'm pretty happy with the sandy beach and the random stones.  I thought about
> > adding some seashells to the mix, but haven't done that yet.
>
> Not that you'd want to sully it with actual trash, but maybe if you added some
> footprints, drag marks, and other signs of life - maybe a sun-umbrella leaning
> against the side, a lost towel or sandal blown underneath by the wind, a bucket
> and/or shovel, can or bottle, dried starfish, a POV-Ray logo'd bottlecap ...
> you know - stuff.
> Stuff IN the sand is good - though I'd shove it down a bit deeper - it seems
> unnaturally proud of the surface.  Shells are a good idea, as would be
> driftwood, and a bit of those dessicated bits of dune grass straw that seem to
> be everywhere.
> A PITA seagull perched atop one would also help give it that wee little bit of
> _life_ that would take off the sterile edge of the solely architectural scene.
>
> > Thanks ahead of time for any comments and suggestions for improvements.
>
> I really like what I see when I _look_, but perhaps just accentuate what you're
> clearly doing a bit more.  The unevenness of the siding boards is great - but
> they're still to - straight, square, new.  There are no knots, or those places
> where the wood decided to suck up the paint before it dried.  No chips, scuffs,
> or hammer marks.  Put a popping-out nailhead or two.  Give everything -
> especially those vertical strips and the fascia boards some waviness and/or
> crookedness. Pop a piece loose and let it hang from one end a bit, esp along the
> bottom edges.
> I mean, they're beach huts.  "But everyone who hears these words of mine and
> does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on
> sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against
>
> wind and shifting sands, and _people_ are gonna beat the snot out of those
> things.  They're going to lean and expand and contract, and crack and split, and
> work themselves apart. So make 'em more political - you know - crooked.  :D
> And the way the red hut diagonals are above the sand, but the others are
> starting to get buried in it - is absolutely perfect.
>
> The paint texture is looking great on the yellow hut, and those horizontal
> regions (fading?) on the leftmost blue and green huts is great.  I can almost
> see it on the red one, but the way it looks suggests more shiny specularity of
> glossy paint - so maybe it needs to be tweaked somehow to works across a broader
> range of base colors.  I'm impressed with the normals and that there are so many
> isosurfaces in the scene.  That makes my inner raytracing mathematician all warm
> and fuzzy.  :)
>
> As far as the composition - that gets a little tricky.  In my head I have "beach
> scene" as being glaringly brighter, and more "open".  So, maybe open up the
> scene a bit on top and bottom to show more sand and sky, and put some kind of
> white media fog thing encroaching on the scene from the direction of the sun?
> Maybe explore a lens flare and see if that adds anything to the scene...
>
> Not sure what your global scene layout/geometry is, but maybe move the camera so
> you can see through the gaps in between the huts and get some sense of distance
> - some open ocean and foggy horizon to add depth to the scene.   Maybe if you do
> that, you'd have enough distant stuff to add in some heat mirage.  The sky kinda
> seems washed out - maybe deepen the shade of blue a bit?  It would also make the
> clouds POP, which I think they should - given all the reflective lighting from
> underneath by the beach sand?
>
> Nice, simple scene - but yet there are so many little details, many of which you
> are obviously already aware of, and trying to craft into your scene.  Make it
> any more real, and I'm going to start smelling salt, seaweed, and boardwalk
> food.
>
> Good job!
>
>
> - Bill

I have a lot to digest in here, but thanks for the detailed look at the image.
I was afraid people had moved on from POV, so it is good to see some real
enthusiasts on the message board.  I always like to come to this particular
group to see what amazing things other people are doing with it.

-- Chris R.


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