Winter is coming, so...

I used a couple of World Machine height_fields as basis for a function, with 
an appropriate slope/altitude map.

The title refers to the novel Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock. The scene may 
turn out as a kind of illustration to this novel.

-- 
All the best,

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'Journey to an Unknown Region_02.jpg' (179 KB)

Preview of image 'Journey to an Unknown Region_02.jpg'

Damn good looking.  The closer rocky walls look a bit sandy, though.  Don't know
the novel nor the author.

Post a reply to this message

Really good picture. The upper left corner is quite perfect.

Nonetheless, the front is too smooth, so the surface (snow and rock) is not 
looking right. It is very, very difficult to model anything natural in such 
detail that it is convincing when seen up close, even things like humus, 
pebbles, rocks, sand and snow... There are so many differently shaped rocks 
(and in other scenes: plants, trees, vines, leaves) that it is more than 
hard to get a realistic render.

I would try to cover the front in a kind of ground fog. Thus the too smooth 
rock surface and flat snows on outcrops would become less noticeable and 
look more realistic.

Apart from this, again, a really nice picture: congratulations.

Post a reply to this message

This is really excellent.

Post a reply to this message

Nice one, Thomas; very realistic, and a nice composition too, making good use of
the 16X9 format.

As has been mentioned, I also think the scene could benefit from some traced-on
rocks or other small detail, to break up the smoothness of the mountain slope
(perhaps just in the right foreground, with the rocks scaling down as they
recede into the distance, just until they 'disappear' into the other detail of
the scene.)

Trying to duplicate the chaotic/jumbled look of nature is a tough assignment;
I'm working on a similar problem, and find that no matter how much detail I add
(rocks, plants, etc.), it *still* doesn't look like enough! Adding a normal of
some kind to the mountain surface (granite, for example) can help,
too--especially if the lighting angle really shows it off, as it would in your
scene, I think.

Ken

Post a reply to this message

"nemesis" <nam### [at] gmailcom> schreef in bericht 
news:web.4b1bd0ad338ab975c0c873050@news.povray.org...
> Damn good looking.  The closer rocky walls look a bit sandy, though. 
> Don't know
> the novel nor the author.
>
>
Thanks! I agree about the foreground. That is why this is a wip :)

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

"TC" <do-not-reply@i-do get-enough-spam-already-2498.com> schreef in bericht 
news:4b1be4d0$1@news.povray.org...
> Really good picture. The upper left corner is quite perfect.
>
> Nonetheless, the front is too smooth, so the surface (snow and rock) is 
> not looking right. It is very, very difficult to model anything natural in 
> such detail that it is convincing when seen up close, even things like 
> humus, pebbles, rocks, sand and snow... There are so many differently 
> shaped rocks (and in other scenes: plants, trees, vines, leaves) that it 
> is more than hard to get a realistic render.
>
> I would try to cover the front in a kind of ground fog. Thus the too 
> smooth rock surface and flat snows on outcrops would become less 
> noticeable and look more realistic.
>
> Apart from this, again, a really nice picture: congratulations.

Thank you! Yes, the foreground needs work of course. That is why this is a 
wip. I intend indeed to add extra rocks there, but also an extra snow cover 
using one of the snow macros available. I am not sure about vegetation (fir 
trees) as I am still hesitating about the altitude suggested.

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

"Jim Charter" <jrc### [at] msncom> schreef in bericht 
news:4b1c2616$1@news.povray.org...
>
> This is really excellent.

Thank you Jim. There is going to be more work involved into this of course, 
especially ht e foreground.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the sky has been imported from Terragen, using 
Ive's tutorial and macro.

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] earthlinknet> schreef in bericht 
news:web.4b1c6bb9338ab97565f302820@news.povray.org...
> Nice one, Thomas; very realistic, and a nice composition too, making good 
> use of
> the 16X9 format.
>
> As has been mentioned, I also think the scene could benefit from some 
> traced-on
> rocks or other small detail, to break up the smoothness of the mountain 
> slope
> (perhaps just in the right foreground, with the rocks scaling down as they
> recede into the distance, just until they 'disappear' into the other 
> detail of
> the scene.)
>
> Trying to duplicate the chaotic/jumbled look of nature is a tough 
> assignment;
> I'm working on a similar problem, and find that no matter how much detail 
> I add
> (rocks, plants, etc.), it *still* doesn't look like enough! Adding a 
> normal of
> some kind to the mountain surface (granite, for example) can help,
> too--especially if the lighting angle really shows it off, as it would in 
> your
> scene, I think.
>

Thank you, Ken! I hope to show an improved version soon. There are a number 
of things I want to add especially to the foreground. Rocks is certainly 
something I am thinking about and your suggestion to scale them down with 
distance is excellent; I had not thought of it. There is a granite micro 
normal added to the rock textures here, but in fact that does not work 
really as intended. The reason I think is that the micro normal is out of 
scale in comparison with the rock wall itself. In nature, you would not see 
that at all. So, what I am going to do is try another approach by using an 
overal spherical texture showing a coarse texture/normal in front, grading 
into a smooth one towards the back.

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

"Thomas de Groot" <tDOTdegroot@interDOTnlANOTHERDOTnet> wrote:
> I am not sure about vegetation (fir
> trees) as I am still hesitating about the altitude suggested.

Maybe not foreground vegetation (as you say, it looks too high for trees), but a
treeline in the distance might make a huge difference.

Nice work, I look forward to more.

Bill

Post a reply to this message