Blender Battles, May Challenge - Then it became reality

http://battles.mudpuddle.co.nz/albums/userpics/10002/may%7E0.jpg

All entries are to go to http://battles.mudpuddle.co.nz

The Challenge

Then it became reality
I knew somthing was different, that was never there last time i remember it…

This months challenge is about compositing a 3D or many 3D objects into a photo. The artistic style will most likely be realistic, however depending on the subject matter this is up to you.

Comedy, fun, and imagination is always respected alongside good quality images.

By the end of the challenge, your image should look balanced, with the foreground and background fitting as well as possible. You will need to post the original photo, so that we can compare the result with the beginings.

The main rule of this challenge, is that at least 50% of the final image should be the original photo (its colour may be changed).

Reality
Fiction
Lighting
Perspective

Outcome
The expected outcome of this challenge is a single complete and self sufficient image, to be submitted for judging at one of these sizes.

Size: They can be either vertical or horizontal.
normal 3:4: 640x480 or 1280x960
Wide format: 1280x480 or 2560x960
250Kb for your submitted image. Larger file sized images for wide entries can be emailed to me.

Software Rules
Most modelling needs to be done in Blender. Rendering can be done in yafray, blender, or a mixture of both.
Post processing is allowed, and expected. (gimp, photoshop…)

You are allowed to use pieces from old models, as long as this is a largely original composition, with a largely new design.

Deadline
The Deadline is the End of the Month 1st June 0:00 GMT. Find the time in your location
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=5&day=1&year=2006&hour=0&min=0&sec=0&p1=0

Prize
The winner will get a 1 month, Blender Bronze subscription at Respower super/farm. http://respower.com
The winner will be able to choose when to use the subscription, within 3 months after winning the competition.

The winner may be able to choose a prize from the prize pool instead of the renderfarm prize. with the second place winner getting the other.

Tips and Tricks for Entries.

Compositing
Compositing is a major part of the professional workflow in amy 3D areas. whether it be adding real objects to an artificial scene, or adding artificial objects to a real scene.

To make your entry realistic, it is important to consider matching:
Level of detail.
Lighting
reflections
noise
between the real and the fake objects.

You may consider using glow, blur, or other effects to hide any tensions between the original and the final.

Research
Research is a must. Without it, you will be limiting your imagination to what you understand right now. Don’t just research the topic you are designing for, research anything that offers inspiration, could be beetles, could be electronic components, could be anything.

Draw your Concept
Before you model in blender, perhaps draw your concept. it doesn’t need to be a masterpiece, it just needs to serve as a Guide for your creativity. you will find you are spending less time thinking and resolving problems while modelling if you resolve them on paper.

Simplicity and Elegance
Sometimes modelling every single detail is not needed, a simple object made from 5 cleverly intersecting spheres or other simple shapes, may in fact look better than an elaborate model that took you weeks. Remember its in the lighting as much as the model, even a simple model can look amazing if well lit. We don’t want entries to be laborious, we want them to be efficient and effective.

Create a simple model, get the lighting and camera angle correct. Sort out a background, and then add details as you need

Post Production
You are free and encouraged to use post production, don’t feel you need to render the background at the same time as the foreground. If you do use post production (out of blender, i.e. Gimp or Photoshop) please include your original render also, we are all interested, and it will help prove the effectiveness of Post production, to convince others to use it in the future.

Inspiration box

http://www.ethereal3d.com/Tutorials/Compositing/Compositing.html
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.asp?g=photoshop&seqNum=173
http://www.hypnofish.com/compositing/thesis/01_zoo.html
http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/sw/Cult_e_Math/URL_GrassFinal.jpg
http://www.realtexture.de/galerie.htm
http://www.yoshii.com/zbrush/tutrial/tutorial01/Compositing.htm

http://battles.mudpuddle.co.nz/albums/userpics/10002/logo-320x60.jpg