Telescope and dome

[ARRELL]

Here is my attempt at a fairly detailed telescope and dome animation- I would REALLY appreciate any critiques and suggestions you have for how to make it better (more photo-realistic).

Some things I plan to change:

1. I mistakenly thought making the grass density fade as it approaches the foundation of the pad would be more natural, that was a mistake - it looks like hair plugs near the telescope.

2. I used backdrops for the trees in the background, but something seems off, not sure what… ideas?

3. I should probably use a brighter sky-dome, It seems too dark.

4. in the final render I will probably animate the grass… have a gentle breeze…

[video]https://youtu.be/mZfsZP71HjE[/video]

300 frames took 18 hours to render at 720p

[SterlingRoth]

Camera motion seems too fast on the way down. Other than that, looks pretty good.

[ARRELL]

With better lighting:

Attachments

[Passero]

At around 8 seconds, you reflect the background on the primary mirror. THe reflection is green (grass?) however, considering the angle of the camera, it should reflect the sky. Not sure why you get a grass reflection.

The tube of the telescope is thin. Did you use a solidify modifier? If not, please do or add some thickness yourself by extruding.

It looks like you tried to model a newton telescope however it is missing one vital piece, the eyepiece and focus mechanism.
Also, if you want to go for realism, you have to add some more counterweights because at this moment, the telescope can’t be balanced.
See below photo for reference. There is at least 10kg counterweight to balance the rig (which is my setup by the way).

Attachments

[ARRELL]

It is a R-C telescope, I did use the solidify modifier, but doubled the wall thickness at your suggestion. I added a door to the dome and improved the grass distribution, and changed the lighting… also added more counterweights.

At around 8 seconds, you reflect the background on the primary mirror. THe reflection is green (grass?) however, considering the angle of the camera, it should reflect the sky. Not sure why you get a grass reflection.

The tube of the telescope is thin. Did you use a solidify modifier? If not, please do or add some thickness yourself by extruding.

It looks like you tried to model a newton telescope however it is missing one vital piece, the eyepiece and focus mechanism.
Also, if you want to go for realism, you have to add some more counterweights because at this moment, the telescope can’t be balanced.
See below photo for reference. There is at least 10kg counterweight to balance the rig (which is my setup by the way).

Attachments

[ARRELL]

There is no eyepeice, just a small ccd camera on the backend and the mirror is gold coated, and so has a yellowish reflection.

[thorst]

In the first animation, the lighting of the backdrop-trees did not match the rest. But other than that, I think it’s great!