Wow :o 
X-WARRIOR: Thank you very much for the great feedback X! The shark I spent about fifteen minutes on, so I agree it’s one of the weaker elements in the scene. I had this idea that the Protector communicated with the sharks, who helped fend off intruders. It doesn’t have to be a shark though, just an underwater beastie of some sort
I didn’t have time to rig and pose the character, but I figured he had just enough presence to get by playing his part and standing watch (at least for a wc entry :)) I like the two guard idea and might try that at some point (if I can reduce the render time).
Wu: Thanks so much Wu. You have some interesting ideas there
In this fictional world the sharks and Protectors are allies, friends of sorts, and they work together to protect Atlantis, but what you’ve described could also make for a good action scene.
BgDM: Thank you very very much BgDM. I put a lot into this, so I’m glad it seems to have been a worthwhile investment. The shark could definitely use more details. I’m still trying to get good results with displacement mapping, so once I’m good with that then there will be even more detailed models in future renders. @ndy’s displacement mapping was fantastic, and those are the kinds of results I’d like to attain in future projects.
Alltaken: Thanks! What maybe subtracts from the apparent depth is the requisite murkiness of the image. I have over 10,000 barely visible particles throughout the scene as well as mist and ambient occlusion, which I put int there in hopes of implying a heavily dense underwater scene. Zblur is also at play but not much because there’s already some blurring that’s occuring through the glow plugin (I had the blur size set relatively high).
S68: Thank you Stefano! That was funny: “Alltaken Protector”
I think @ndy’s fish would make a better protector because most people wouldn’t even think of challenging something like that if they encountered that in the ocean 
@ndy: T H A N K Y O U
You’re totally right about the sharks
(I think I’ll stop calling them sharks now and just call them fish :)) I also have a manta ray lurking in there too
Seeing your entry inspired me to work much more on mine, so I hope you do well in the wc. I hold your work in the highest regard and am grateful to know you, so keep on Blending.
Erufailon: Thanks
The fish were there primarily to reassure the viewer this was an underwater scene. I’d like to build a better shark and some other sea creatures in the future.
tlustoch: Thank you very much. After all my posts, I do hope we’re at a point where at least the regulars know I can blend
The shark is simple, but everything else in this scene is fairly complex, especially the main character and building elements, both in terms of geometry and materials and lighting. My last several projects have averaged over 2 million vertices each, but it’s not always about quantity: as @ndy masterfully showed with his Atlantean sea creature, it’s not always about the verts or number of objects in a scene, it’s about getting the most out of any model or scene, however simple or involved.
lukep: I appreciate that Luke
My lighting habits have changed recently due to my adjustment to the new ambient occlusion feature as well as area lights. I’m trying to do new things, try new configurations, and not all the time it will be optimal because I’m back in an exploratory phase these days, trying to see what else I can do using all the new Blender tools. It’s a great education
I’m delighted someone actually remembers my work (steelworks, sanctuary, and the skater… hmm… all titles that start with S :P). The focus here was more on modeling and materials with lighting coming in a close third, but this was a tricky scene to light: too dark, and the details disappear, and too light it becomes too evenly lit. I looked at a number of underwater images and they all seemed so murky and disturbingly lit, but for this I wanted to go for more of a mythical style lighting (if there is such a thing)
It’s an ongoing experiment, and who knows what the next blend will be 
thoro: Thank you thoro. I don’t use the afterglow plugin just the glow.dll plugin. The other one I heard people had problems with so I never really tried it. In this one I made the glow threshold very low, so that almost anything remotely bright glimmered a little. It has its uses. I prefer to use halo materials and halo spotlights more though because it offers more control, but it’s worth checking out if you get the chance.
orion119net: Thanks!
lemmy: Thank you lemmy. @ndy’s still the master 
TorQ: Thanks TorQ! Maybe he’s a little rusty
I tried several alternate poses but due to lighting and some other elements this one seemed to work best. I kind of wanted him to lead the viewer outside the boundary of the image so as to indicate he might see something in the distance or is just turning to check on a certain direction, sort of inverting him from looking towards the direction of the light behind him so that it’s clear he knows the light is there and is more focused on the surroundings beyond those we see here. Compositionally, that’s probably asking a little too much of the viewer, but I do like to experiment with those kinds of things to see how far I can go conceptually with a certain piece. I will likely feature him in a future scene, taking into consider all the feedback here.
Wu: It would be an honor to lose to @ndy
(besides, I’ve rather gotten used to losing :))
Hippie: Thanks man! I’m glad you like it.
RobertT