Tree line looks very believable now, much better scale.
Nice. Right out of Brave or “Tangled.”
Derek, after you asked about ideas that would solve the scaling issue, I was teared apart beetween bushes and trees… I’d prefer bushes, because their scale would serve better for the whole scene, but one of the branches of the tree on the right just composes so well with the castle wall line…
And then bum! You went for the trees and I realised, you have only one day left to finish the piece!
So, IMO, the sword is still too big compared to trees, but you improved the scene a lot already in terms of scaling objects (trees in the back look fabulous, and it’s a good move with the ones in the distance and atmosferic fog! - you added a lot of depth to the image), so I believe no one will really notice, especially, that there’s something called an artistic licence, which allows us to do some things not really realistic in terms of shape, lighting or scale…
Well, I’ll be keepping my thumbs up for you in the competition!
Well thanks for the kind words guys:P
Cherry- Thanks for the input. I do agree that bushes might work better but I’m hoping once there is more detail on the trees with leaves and ivy on them that you will be able to see the difference in depth from the camera. Right now the white texture makes them look like they are still both close to the camera and sword. In actuality the tree on the right is about 50 feet away and the tree on the left is only 10 or 15 feet away. On the dead line I believe its the 9th of September so I still have 1 week:) Thank god because there is lots still to do.
So now to todays test render…I’m playing with the idea of dense tree forest behind the camera and above kinda blocking out some of the sun. This was always my intended idea to have the foreground be darker as if looking out from a treed tunnel to the light. Some more compositing will add some glow for the distant bright castle. Do you guys have any thoughts? Is it too dark or should there just be more breaks in the trees behind the camera to allow more direct light to pass through? I did add an area lamp shining down on the foreground to replicate the green glow from the sun hitting the leaves above and passing through the leaves like SSS.
I’m liking the atmospheric effects you added… so are these big trees in the forground going to have leaves? If so, isn’t the right trees leaves going to cover up a good part of the top of the castle?
You mentioned the detail on the top of the castle…which looks really nice by the way, I wonder if you should consider more detail of some type as you move down the walls…
Thanks Harleynut, the trees are definitely going to have leaves hehe. I’ve been work on the trees in a different blend file keeping them secret:P But ya they will have leaves and ivy. The trick is going to be placing the leaves strategically so as to not block too much of the castle:)
Right now, the first thing in the picture is the castle. I don’t even bother looking at the sword. I believe that is intentional? Otherwise, I think you need to put more emphasis on the sword. Either backlighting, so the sword reflects light, therefore making it brighter than the rest of the composition 
Excellent that’s what I was going for:P I would like the castle to be first and the sword second. I will probably lighten up the foreground a bit since in the end the sword will be swallowed up by ivy vines and harder to distinguish:)
One more for the day:P Its starting to come together. Still needing the ivy but that will come soon. Added the first go at the leaves. The tree trunks are just standins still for the final sculpted version. I just threw a quick bark texture on them. The leave in the top left are a bit wonky cause the translucency was too high and there were no leaves above them to block the sun. That’s an easy fix:P I had to break the scene into different render layers due to the z pass not recognizing the transparent portions on the leaves. That has always been a pet peeve of mine…drives me crazy:) Also should note I added a mist and splash area below the water fall. I plan to add some additional misty fog along the water surface and maybe a few birds:) Also some glow compositing just to boost the sun a bit:) Any thoughts?
I think the splash needs something more… like a more spread out spray. Maybe somehow displacing the water directly under the falls might also help sell it better.
But damn, I love the color tweek you did… like the golden hour kind of look, really works well with this compostition. And even with your stand in textures and ivyless trees, they still look really good.
I’d be curious what other people think… but the reflections that are now coming off that sword seem a little too much… In some ways it’s getting lost in the compostion because of them. I would try and just slightly rotate the sword to try to capture more of a mix between the chrome and the green reflections.
Hey Derek, looks great! Those trees really add a lot. I think it might look better if you switched them though, because right now the image is much “heavier” on the right.
Really good work, Derek.
But since you added the waterfall I always think that that water is cut off at the bottom. There is this round hard line at the bottom which is bothering. The transition between water and stone should be not so harsh. Perhaps you can add an extra gloss to the stone at this area to mitigate that? And the sword is much too green now 
Thanks guys…some great input:) I plan on adding more vegitation on the left with the ivy stinging between the sword and tree. I think that should help the balance. Also the leaves on the left tree are way too light…I’m taking care of that as well:) The reflection on the weord is tough because its just that…a reflection hehe. Think about it this way…the reflection is going to be quite covered up with the ivy growing up the sword. I can play with the vegitation gehind the camera at the end pretty easily. On the water fall I did add a mist spray at the bottom where the water fall meets the lake. In this low res low sample render you can barely see it. I will continue to refine the water fall as I move to completion. In regards to the land shape at the bottom of the water fall picture this…the castle is on a island or portion of rock land that has shifted away from the cliff behind and around. The bribge is the only way in and out:P The rounded rock formation at the bottom of the water fall is actually not at the bottom of the water fall but layers of land prior to the water fall. One more note just to give some sence of scale the water fall is aproximately 90 to a 100 feet tall so the level of detail from this vantage point will not catch lots of water particles and splashes just mist mostly at least IMO. Again keep the coment rolling in I am definetly making adjustment based on your feed back:P
When I saw the first impression I was not quite sure if that composition would convince. So I learned another thing: don’t judge before you see the final result :o It’s a beautiful scene with a lot of atmosphere. My favorit area is the one in front of the sword with the tiny stones.
The only thing that I have is that I find it a bit too yellowish. Even for a sunset scene (which I guess it is - I didn’t follow the posts entirely). Looking forward to see the final render.
incredible , it turned out so beautiful.
Looks truly stunning Derek and I have loved watching it progress! 
The only crit i have would be that the sword (also the main focus) is too much in shadow in the latest render and blends in with the surroundings a bit too much. Adding a carefully positioned light source that adds a glint to the sword or even compositing in some volumentics if your feeling adventurous could probably fix this, other than that awesome work!
Nice, that you’ve gone with the trees, and indeed, in terms of scale, it all looks good now. Well, at the moment, the whole scene is starting to look great, and getting that nice atmosphere.
Still, if I were you, I’d reconsider finishing touches on the sword, based on what guys before me wrote. It is to reflective IMO, sword ain’t mirrors… It should be a bit shiny, but not so much. reflections on it should (besides being so obviuous) be much more blurry. I’d advice you to search for some swords in bushes or jungle photos on google or flickr. And I would just cover it up with ivy. That’s only my opinion, but we’re all trying to help right?
Also, I agree with what Xerubian wrote, maybe a little touch of red? But that’s entirely dependent on you, and the way you want it to look.
I’m sure the final result will not be good, but better that good.
Is looking great my friend. I think is a bit too much bloom though.
I liked the first renders more when there was not combosite. It looked more clean back then and it was day time… Sun shuning bright is a lot more appealing than when it`s sunset. (imo)
Thanks guys it sounds like I’m getting closer:P I hear ya on the glow I will tone it down a bit and also work on the sun color…it could be a morning light instead of a evening scene which might make a bit of difference. I’m moving to the ivy and the final foreground tree sculpts. Hopefully I’ll have an update in the morning:P Thanks again and keep an eye out for more updates:P
The scene looks small and heaped, and badly transmitted depth.
How about adding a little perspective and reduce the scale at the beginning to have more free space. Make a sword smaller, that did not seem that a person should be the size of a tree. (Google translator xD)