As a break from my more in depth animation project I’m working on, I started this on the side for fun, just to give me a break. This is in no way finished, it’s just my first render that is starting to get the blocking of the camera right and the look of the image that I am going for.
I still need to add a path following the lamp posts, footsteps in the snow, a bench or two, trees, and play around in the compositor to add maybe some dof and atmospheric effects. I’d like it to fade into a hazy blue fog in the background instead of actually showing the sky.
Does anyone have any advice on making a better lamp light? I’m just using a point lamp right now, and it doesn’t look very good, but I’m not really sure what would work better.
Here’s an update. I’m messing around with the mist settings to get the foggy look I want. I’ve added a bench, although I’m not sure on the placement or size of it just yet. I also played around with the snow material a little more, but it still needs work.
Also not too sure on the placement of the camera yet. I think once I add the path and some footsteps and trees, I’ll have a better idea of the composition of the image.
Not sure if you were gonna add it later, there should be some snow building up on the lamps and bench from the snowfall. Also it seems like the lamps and bench are set on top of the snow so it looks strange since there is a good amount of snow that has fallen. Bring them down more so it looks like there is a thick sheet of snow covering the ground.
Also the shadows look very long like it would during a sunset or sunrise. Since it is foggy the shadows would be diffused and very soft.
@Flashframe All good points! Yeah I should definitely add some snow build up on the bench and lamps. And good call on the shadows too, I’m going to adjust that lamp. Thanks!
@wilmaciii Thanks! Yeah I defintely have that on my checklist of things to do. I want the lamps to have a hazy look.
I’ve adjusted the lamps in the scene to get some better shadows, although I’ll still be tweaking them a little as I go. Next on my list is to make some trees and the path, then add snow to the bench and light posts.
I’ve added some snow build up to the bottom of the bench, and brighten and added glare to the lamps. I still want to add snow build up to the lamp posts, as well as on the bench itself. This is really helping me learn the compositor, but I’m still having some trouble getting the effects that I want.
Any tips on getting a better glare on the lamps, more powerful? I guess it’s just difficult to see the effect because it’s glowing over the already bright snow.
Added some more trees and made them all a little bigger. Finally added the path, now I just need to make it look like the snow is deeper, and add footprints.Also going to add some snow on pretty much everything and some blowing in the wind.
Ok yeah the path definitely improved the image, good choice.
And trees are better too. Add some light from the lampposts and I bet it will look real nice! (I think the outdoor lighting is perfect right now, all you need is the light from the laps)
Sow i think is a bit too sparkly atm (b/c it is dark), so really it should get the sparkles from the lamp. also it doesnt always have those sparkles.
Some references… http://pixdaus.com/pics/1228260347RR6Nxep.jpg
@DDD Thank you! Yes I agree about the lamps, I am going to work on the light from those next. I really want them to shine in the dark. And I am going to turn down the glimmer from the snow too. Thanks for the reference images too.
The improvement is quite substantial between each post, great job It doesn’t actually snow pretty much anywhere near where I live so I can’t help with that, but I think the placement of your lamps is great and with some good lighting will look superb. Keep it up.
As Dakka said, the improvement from post to post is remarkable! I agree with pretty much everyone, the lamps will give it a great atmosphere, let us see it!
@Dakka Dakka Thank you, that keeps me motivated to hear that I’m actually making progress!
@Khell[PT] Thank you very much, here are updated lamps!
I’m getting close to what I think will be the final render, I may work on the lamps a little more, and maybe a few other environmental things, but otherwise I’m a little stumped on what else I should do.
I dont know if you just didnt get to it yet, but the lamps need to be like 100x brighter! and they should be casting light around them. So the image should not be all blue, but blue in the background with yellow light around the lampposts.
It doesn’t actually snow pretty much anywhere near where I live so I can’t help with that, but I think the placement of your lamps is great and with some good lighting will look superb. Keep it up.