Need for Monster Truck Speed

[James_Candy]

Edit - Updated Image

This was just a happy accident I had today while messing around. Most of my projects take months of work to complete, but this one took just an hour or so.

I wanted to create the impression of a vehicle racing through a city, and I thought, “Why not try it with the monster truck model I have?”. So here it is!

I also played around with adding chromatic abberation in the compositor, and I’m using film curves to give it a different look. I also rendered out twice as big and resized to 1280x720. It turns out that gives the image a bit of a more natural look, sharper overall and helps deal with aliasing in high contrast areas (and I can say this with certainty because I rendered 1280x720 size first for comparison).

Overall I’m very happy with how it turned out! I think this is my first test ever with a “moving car” image.

[James_Candy]

Here’s a slight variation; I wanted to try out Andrew Price’s new Pro Skies add-on (used the demo) to see what kind of results it gave. Very easy to install and use.

I also wanted to push the image a little further, so I took some inspiration from Gleb Alexandrov and composited some simple lens dust over top of the shot. It’s such a simple thing to do, but I really like the organic look it gives to the render. That one “lens dust” layer could be anything- trash in the road, dust blowing by, bugs in the air, stones being kicked up by the tires. It adds so much to the render, because it can become multiple things. It motivates me to spend a little more time in post, instead of just focusing on doing it all in-render.

I think I may try more of these little experiments. It would be a good way to develop my skills more quickly, and apply them more immediately to my short films. I think it’s also an excellent way to come up with cool shots for the videos directly!

[harleynut97]

Looks cool James, but one question … are all the decals supposed to flipped like that?

[James_Candy]

Haha, you’re right Harley! The textures are completely backwards- I converted this model from a game file a while back. If I remember correctly, the UV map was set up in a way that didn’t allow for a simple fix, so I left it that way, since the model was just for testing purposes.

If you’re interested, this is what the model looks like in the game:

[galgot]

Very good ! I do like the second render better. First one is nice , but the hot colors makes it look more “vintage” for a modern object like that one. Dust adds a lot too.
I didn’t know this Pro Skies add-on , usually use the Sun Position Add on to do my renders.
Indeed , is the image mirrored ? (Edit: never mind ,was typing while you responded)

[James_Candy]

Thanks for the suggestion, galgot! I can’t believe I didn’t think to just mirror the final image! Talk about being too close to your work.
Here is the fixed version:

I like it. Funny enough, this is the composition I had in my head before I began the project. Other factors influenced the camera position inside Blender.

I hadn’t heard of the Sun Position add-on; I’ll have to look it up. I really like using HDR maps for lighting, because I feel you get a more nuanced, realistic look in the final render. And I agree with you about adding dust! Once I practice compositing dust/dirt coming off the tires and other effects, I may revisit this render.