add some focal blur, a better texture for the mariner, and it will be
PERFECT.

Mick Hazelgrove wrote:
> 
> Hi All
> 
> I managed to get the grass sorted with a 2x2 area light, any bigger and
> render time rocketed! The figure gave much more trouble and it will have to
> stay as is: spotlights were horrible and served only to increase render time
> and light up the surroundings. I've tried double illuminate, increased
> ambience, reflection etc. but nothing really makes it more 3d, anyway I
> suspect it would be more or less a silhouette in the real world.
> 
> Mick
> 
>  [Image]

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Mick Hazelgrove wrote:
> 
> Hi All
> 
> I managed to get the grass sorted with a 2x2 area light, any bigger and
> render time rocketed! The figure gave much more trouble and it will have to
> stay as is: spotlights were horrible and served only to increase render time
> and light up the surroundings. I've tried double illuminate, increased
> ambience, reflection etc. but nothing really makes it more 3d, anyway I
> suspect it would be more or less a silhouette in the real world.
> 

I think you've managed to convey the right "feel" of a seaside setting, I'd know
the sea was there even if the water wasn't visible. Actually, it reminds me very
much of a beach near my father's old family home.

What strikes me as a bit odd is the position of the sun. The coloration of the
sky (which quite is superb) would suggest that it's early sunset, yet the sky is
still relatively high above the horizon... I may be wrong about this, though.

The figure - personally I think that from this angle against the sun, he would
be even more of a dark shilouette. The sun is behind the edge of a cloud - but
only just.

-- 
Margus Ramst

Personal e-mail: mar### [at] peakeduee
TAG (Team Assistance Group) e-mail: mar### [at] tagpovrayorg

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Hi Margus

> What strikes me as a bit odd is the position of the sun. The coloration of
the
> sky (which quite is superb) would suggest that it's early sunset, yet the
sky is
> still relatively high above the horizon... I may be wrong about this,
though.

You could be right, skies are so difficult, I've seen every kind of sky
imaginable, maybe even this one. I shall claim artistic licience.

> The figure - personally I think that from this angle against the sun, he
would
> be even more of a dark shilouette. The sun is behind the edge of a cloud -
but
> only just.

I agree, which is why I'm not going to worry too much about its lack of
3Dness.

Mick

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Love it - and I honestly can't see anything wrong with the figure.

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The Mariner looks better... I like the cape and gray hair... =)
The cape still seems plain or bare in contrast to the beautiful sky...
Maybe a tweed pattern on the cape...?
Black or darker slacks would balance the black hat...

Mick Hazelgrove wrote:

> Hi All
>
> I managed to get the grass sorted with a 2x2 area light, any bigger and
> render time rocketed! The figure gave much more trouble and it will have to
> stay as is: spotlights were horrible and served only to increase render time
> and light up the surroundings. I've tried double illuminate, increased
> ambience, reflection etc. but nothing really makes it more 3d, anyway I
> suspect it would be more or less a silhouette in the real world.
>
> Mick
>
>  [Image]

Post a reply to this message

Mick Hazelgrove wrote:
		 The figure gave much more trouble and it will have to
> stay as is: spotlights were horrible and served only to increase render time
> and light up the surroundings. I've tried double illuminate, increased
> ambience, reflection etc. but nothing really makes it more 3d, anyway I
> suspect it would be more or less a silhouette in the real world.
> 
> Mick

	Mick - this is utterly brilliant. 


	Some off-the-wall ideas tomake the cape look more 3D:

	
	Would gamma adjustment help?

	You could render a cape in isolation with cape-optimized lighting, then
image-map that onto the real cape, with 100% ambient lighting. 

	 Or use a normal-based pigment in MegaPov?

	 Or a spotlight with a black planar patch _exactly_ edge-on to the
camera to catch the light before it hit anything else?? No, you said the
spotlight looked bad as well. 

	 It is also possible that a very intense (greater than 1) but wide
metallic phong or specular highlight on the cape would do the trick -
metallic to match the color, and high intensity to comensate for
thecolor's darkness.   Or a much dimmer nonmetallic one, if the light
color is suitable.

	-Robert Dawson

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