I would appreciate it if i could get a few comments and sugestions.
The right side is with no color modification
the left if after playing with the levels, ect…
Unless the bright colors on the left are just hideous, please excuse them. Think LOTR Hobbits, this is for a fantasy setting.
Please share ANY advice.
edit
added poll
The first thing I see is that it looks like it’s just floating in the image, there is not cast shadow to show that it is on the ground. Also, see if you can find some reads or tall grass that you can add to the forground. It looks like it’s layered over some of the forgroud grass. Other then that the model is interesting. Looks like a cross between a lobster and a scorpion, very cool. Try toning down the greens just a bit, the original image is a bit washed out anyway, but the second is a bit technicolor.
Thanks a lot, that was really helpful. My logic was that if it is difficult to match artificial to live action, then make the live action look more artificial.
Now that i look back to it today with a clear mind, im not happy with it at all.
Thanks again.
try reducing the contrast of the CG element.
What software are you using for compositing? is it straight blender?
If you can take it into a program like after effects, you could really play with the levels and color balance of both layers and even add some grain to the CG element, as well as blur or whatever.
For compositing and video editing i use photoshop with a few other small tools. Works well for me, + more affordable then having to purchase AE.
I assume this is going to be an animation.
So, my first thought, is to place the character in an scene where there is less “noise”, such as grass. You want to use a dirt patch that is flat. Choose a scene that looks like your current scene, with grassy areas. A flat area will help your shadows look real and convincing.
Are you using a still image for the background, or real video (or both)? ICARUS may be an option, but can take hours of computing the camera tracking, and a very high-quality, clear video clip is recommended.
I would stick with less color (like the second picture), for realism. So your character will need to be less colorful too.
The lighting is definitely not matching the scene. You need to work on that. Since I assume this is an animation. You really should NOT use Yafray or AO, because you want to spare the resources and speed up the rendering of your frames.
There are some tricks to think of. Do most of your scenes of the character with still images. Maybe do some very short clips using camera tracking (ICARUS) and strategically place them in there. Maybe do a very short scene with rendered foreground, like a piece of grass patch. Splicing all of these together will produce an amazing video. Also avoid background scenes that have blurred depth of field, unless it looks good for your particular scene, such as an extreme closeup of your character.
Another thought to add. Try a very short clip of motion blur. Work with it, and see if it can be used. Motion blurr can add up to 7 times longer to your animation rendering time. I would only use this method for a quick action movement of the character. Slower movements of the character don’t need motion-blur.
There is no shame in post-rendering or post production, especially with animation, because there no all-in-one program for video FX. Use a program like Adobe Premiere or Ulead Media Studio to do additional FX and editing.
Thats some great stuff Spin. You make some good points that i have put a lot of thought to.
Yes very true, the grassy live action scene was a bad choice. Casting a correct shadow onto blades of grass has been one of the biggest problems i faced working on this.
I worked a lot with icarus, but its a little old, a bit outdated and no longer supported. I have purchased commercial camera tracking software and its worth every bit of what i spent.
Always been a big fan of color, maybe i went a little overboard with this heh.
Much agreed with you on post processing. its a must in most any case, especially for film.
Thats some great stuff Spin. You make some good points that i have put a lot of thought to.
Yes very true, the grassy live action scene was a bad choice. Casting a correct shadow onto blades of grass has been one of the biggest problems i faced working on this.
I worked a lot with icarus, but its a little old, a bit outdated and no longer supported. I have purchased commercial camera tracking software and its worth every bit of what i spent.
Always been a big fan of color, maybe i went a little overboard with this heh.
Much agreed with you on post processing. its a must in most any case, especially for film.