Dark Limit:
Have a look at these three…
http://matrep.parastudios.de/index.php?action=view&material=154-tri-tone-hard&fc=18
http://matrep.parastudios.de/index.php?action=view&material=569-toon-ink&fc=18
http://matrep.parastudios.de/index.php?action=view&material=188-cartoon-white
I have used all three at some point and time on my project…
Hope this helps…
Cujo
Cheers thank you so much Cujo!
Ok…
Another update… decided to dump the stormy skies and go for more of a “common day of work” look. Dropped the camera angle closer to the water to give you the perspective of being in a small vessel as this huge ship passed by… Did quite a bit of work modifying the wake and tension of the water… still need to add particle spray… but getting closer…
Opinions and insight greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks Cujo 
The waves look very good already - can’t wait to see with particles.
The sky still seems too dark compared to the reflections on the water Also, it looks like a zenith part of sky rather than a horizon and maybe a bit too close.
The camera seems to be slightly above the anchor holes - that’s still quite high up, isn’t it?
Basically, wat Sidcom said:
The sky is dark, brighten it up, and “drop” the camera(move it down a bit) and point it slightly up(that way it will be like you are looking up from a small boat)
The water looks much better, well i mean the foam, cuz the water was good in the first place.
Ok… another update…
I adjusted the clouds again… and went back and added back in
the tiny wave/ripples again…
Whatya think now?
Render times are not bad… will start with particles next probably…
Talk to me?
Cujo 
Oh ya i think that looks better. But the camera(if you still care about the position) still doesnt appear to be close to the water. Actually if it is, you will probably not see the whole ship…
Hey, try to add the Bloom effect, go into compositor and blur the sky a bit, add a rgb curve and make it convex(like a facing down parabola shape) instead of a straight line. then combine the blur witht he original using, screen node i believe with factor of 1. and then combine that with the rest of the scene. (I think that is the way to do it, try it out tell me how that goes)
Heyy DDD…
If I get too much lower witht eh camera, we loose all of the wake efffect I spent time creating…
and you said to do what??? Bloom effect… that’s a new one on me…
something like this???
http://www.blender.org/typo3temp/pics/61389a332f.jpg
???
you got a example of that? or a tute?
Cujo
If I get too much lower witht eh camera, we loose all of the wake efffect I spent time creating…
I see…well i acually think it is fine how it is.
Bloom effect… that’s a new one on me…
Haha, no, not the screen-shot you provided.
A bloom effect makes the image look brighter and have a “hazy” look to it.
** Here take a look at these examples from NFS Most Wanted: http://www.tweakguides.com/NFSMW_6.html
** The Wiki Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_(shader_effect)
** Andrew Price’s “Bring the Rain!” Tutorial, wich breifly covers how to make it in the compositor: http://vimeo.com/12598986
This is kind of a strange suggestion, but maybe more sky above the ship would look good.
(Like, keep everything as it is, but moving up the upper frame border - if you know, what i mean).
Because as it is, it feels kind of depressing with the low clouds and all.
Ok guys…
Spent some time today with the family at a picnic, but when I got back in this evening, I set down and went thru those images and tutes. Hopefully, this is what you meant…
Personally for me, I am very pleased with how this image turned out… but of course, I will listen to opinions…
I added the bloom effect as discussed, and tweaked at it about a dozen times before getting this (which I like)
I also turned up the emit value of the wake (which got darkened in the new setup)
Again I like this look… The other images looked good… but the sky looked almost TOO real (being a photo) and it didn’t blend well I don’t think with what I had in the boat and the lake water… I think now it is balanced better and looks better…
Thanks and keep the input coming…
Cujo
The waves look even better now.
The bright spots of the sky are too bright, try turning them down a bit (without making the overall sky darker, because that’s good as it is.)
The grey line on the horizon shouldn’t be there imho.
And the effects shouldn’t be affecting the ship (it’s all blurry now.)
This is a great project:yes: i love it. Doing the sea is is on my list of things to do with one of my projects so its very interesting to see how you’ve gone about it.
A very informative thread thanks for sharing.
My only crit is that the ocean is looking a much better colour but i don’t like the bloom effect on the ship, just doesn’t do it for me. It looks a little too high contrast.
Thanks
Paul
The sky turned out pretty good(exactly what i was hoping for), but the new sea color is darker and doesn’t go with the color of the sky.
The waves are set for a storm scene i think, while the clouds are set for a sunny scene.
Bring back the original waves(the latest ones before the bloom) If you need help(you said they got darker b/c of the compositor)show me your node setup, i might be able to help.
And yeah, the ship got blurred with the clouds, so … if you need node help with this too, show ur nodezzzzzzz.
Also, i would love to see a storm scene using the new waves!!! Use that Making rain tutorial i sent you!
This is coming along very nice
Another note:Is the ship finished?(I am asking, because of the holes in the white structure(the helm?)
Hmm… well: i guess it is still the waves-to-sky brightness ratio, that needs fixing.
I started up GIMP and tried, what the combinations of your last 2 pics would look like. Maybe they give you an idea.
DDD: I think, he left out all the inner parts of the ship, got confused by that at first too 
Edit: For the bright version, i’d use a part of sky with less clouds.
Edit2: And the sky is too blurry, for a bright day (that might actually fit well for the darker setting).
Hmm, i think the first one looks like an almost perfect overcast day, the second one needs more brightness both the clouds and water.(well really the water is almost the same color the sky is cuz for the most part it is reflecting the sky) Gd job sitcom, these gimp edits really give you a new perspective, that should help him out.
i suggest googling some references
Well, it really depends…
as you can see on this picture, the water can actually be very dark, even on a sunny day.
On other pics you can see, that if the sky has a very intense blue, the water will reflect that (and therefor be brighter).
So I agree, that the second pic could be too dark on both parts - depending on the tone, but I disagree, that sky and water should be the same.
Ok…
Some clarification time…
The ship… 90% complete… all forward areas are complete… BUT for this work with the water…I only imported a partial model at this time to give me a idea of the look without the slowdown of the full model…
Water changes… the only real changes to the water over the last 3 pics… were that I darkened the water slightly (.100 per rgb) and added back in the tiny chop waves… and as a note… the waves have no REFLECT on them at all… the reason is this:
The sky is not done like the one in tutorial DDD posted… it is more like a cylinder with open bottom and top… that wraps around the scene… (my thinking was this would allow me to do 360 degree images). I did not use a image in the world environment. I only had the mist set up and AO (both of which are now turned off in the last image with the bloom).
I will post my Comp. node setup in just a second for you guys to see…
Cujo
UPDATE ***********************************************************
Here is the compo node setup…
So anyway…
Does that look correct DDD?
Suggestions on the node?
Also be aware… I am in 2.49B NOT 2.5
Cujo
Aaaah, I see what is happening, you are not blurring the ship after all, it is just the blur from the sky that gets mixed in!
Ok, so i dont see where the compositor makes the waves darker though…
Well at any rate, if you think that the blur leaking onto the ship is not what you want, you can try out different nodes in the last “combining” step. Maybe “screen”(sub option of the Mix node), or Alpha over Node.
When in the compositor, you generally have to experiment a little.
Lets see what you get!
