I;m working on an entry for a contest for the desktop background for the next distro of Edubuntu. I’m aiming to give the feel of doing homework (sort of), but having fun doing it. Here’s what I’ve got. (This is my version 5, the thread’s version 1)
Known Issues/To Fix List:
-1. The desk/table seems infinitely wide (no left/right edges visible).
-2. The USB Flash Drive resting on the lamp has way too much brightness/reflection.
-3. Toy car looks like S&@%!
-4. Glass of orange juice is reflecting/refracting the gray world
-5. The paper is blank
-6. The scene is too empty
-7. The top of the red pencil is not lit well
Known Solutions/ To Do List:
-1. Make edges of desk, showing floor(carpeted?)/wall beyond.
-2. I tried turning down RayMir, Brightness, & Spec, helped a little, but I can’t do it much more.
-3. Make a new one (this is like my first blender model).
-4. Add a room/scene (not very detailed, but there) around the desk.
-5. Create an image to put there (GIMP or scanned drawing)
-6. Add more clutter. A mix of academic (books, calculators, etc) and entertaining (toys, games, movies, etc) to the desk. Maybe a plate of cookies if I have lots of time to spare.
-7. Change the lighting.
Actually, the rules state that you shouldn’t place the distribution name into the wallpaper, and then describes about why. (go to the link from the contest page)
It is a good start, but you really need shadows. There are none in the entire thing (except the lamp itself???!!!). Go to the lamp and enable ray shadow. It will just improve the whole image.
I think I’ve got the lighting the way I want it, but some of the shadows seem too long. Do they look good or bad? I solved Issues 1 and 2, and started on the solution to 7.
Seems a bit dark, I’ll up the brightness on my lights. I’m shaping the desk based on the one that I use in real life. @Daniel_S I turned on AO, but I’m not quite sure what you mean by “Multiply.”
Just some clarification: when i said in solution #3 that “this is like m first blender model” i was referring the the car, and not the scene as a whole.
I fixed the light on the underside of the pencil (giving the illusion of a dark streak on top) by changing the lamp that is below desk-level illuminating the front face to use ray shadow so that it wouldn’t shine through the desk. That front (of the desk, bottom of the picture) portion seems too dark, I’ll up the brightness on that lamp for the next render.
I can’t up the samples on the main lamp ray shad because it’s already at the max. I’m not using AO for this render because it made everything all gray and washed-out looking.
Version 9:
Replaced the car with a different car (what do you think? the wheels are very small:()
No more glass-reflecting-sky because the glass no longer reflects
That problems #3, #5, and #6 left to fix. (#3 only if you agree with me that the new car isn’t really that much better.)
I’m looking for suggestions on what to put in that blank space in the top right. Any ideas?
The truck has quite a bit of glare on the front. Should try to eliminate that, or just leave it? It is somewhat realistic, but it also seems to draw too much attention to that part of the scene, and doesn’t allow that part of the truck to be seen very clearly.
Let me ask you, whose desk is this? Figure out who’s sitting at this desk and why, that will help you with the details. I would presume a student (educational, ya). So how about protractors, rulers, glue, stencils, etc? May there’s some carvings in the desk, a box of candies, snacks, etc. What on the paper? what will the student be working on? Books, social studies, geography, math, science, literature, etc… Every little thing you do builds and clues to your story… think about those things and you will answer your own questions on how the space will fill. For example, why would the car be there if they are studing? The student is probably not 3-5 years old so perhaps Rubics cube shows more maturity / intellectual.
You’re progressing well and making positive steps with each render. Keep at it.
Here’s version 10
I added in a normal-colored pencil, an eraser, and another sheet of paper in the bottom left. In the top right are a card (from a game like Magic) and some dice (this image is different from the render: the dice are positioned differently).
Also in the top: a mystery item! I want to here your guesses as to what it is, because I’m not sure whether a viewer can tell just by looking at the bottom part of it. Post what you think it is, and I’ll tell in the next update (which will be sooner than this one was from the last).
Problems left to fix: 3, 4, and 5 (possibly 6). And a world must be added.
And Ambient Oclusion on Multiply. And work more on the lighting…it’s really going to look nice.
