Ravine

Thanks! Thankyou for your reply to my request for TIR. Much appreciated!

Thank you. Many of my images are inspired by my visits to Derbyshire, which conincidentally enough, often took place on two wheels. Sometimes via mountain bike and sometimes motorbike (the lazy option). Derbyshire is not an extreme landscape, it's a bit hilly and a bit rocky, nothing overly dramatic, but it does offer many such ravines and plenty in the way of greens and browns and purples. I always like it there. Lincolnshire (home) is a bit flat for my tastes.

So beautiful! I am at peace in this scene. I can even smell the crisp sweet air. It's a place I've been before. You are the master! This piece just takes me away. I used to ride motorcycles with my husband in far off places like this. Brings back wonderful memories. Thanx!

Horo... OK, I'm sorting out the water now and re-rendering!

Rashad, if you're not heading for money, a tutorial on preparing a leaf from a photograph, create the UV map, the transparency and the secondary light may be an option to spread the gospel. A lot of talk about the trees, none about the water - I'm not happy with it. The pattern and reflection are excellent, but it looks thick, not fluid. It looks polluted. I would have readily given a fiver for this splendid piece of art, if it were not for the water. Willows would have their roots in the water. Of course, the ravin might be normaly dry and has been flooded by an earlier down pour. Then, the water might also look somehow stale with all the pollen that were on the ground and now swim on the surface. However, the water runs and is not stagnant. There is a contradiction in the picture around the water and that is what upsets me.

Thanks. Aye, well, the secondary lighting and the transparency do add significantly to the render time. This image took a little over twelve hours to render. Horo is right about the tree types, no pulling the wool over his eyes there... I just took a tree and slapped on your leaf template and hoped no one would notice they were the wrong type... some hope. As for DAZ, if you can put together a "package" there is no reason why you should not use them to broker it through their site. If you want to use this image as an example I have no problem with that. But I guess the problem you will have is that your technique does not offer instant gratification, and I suspect that is what appeals to a lot of people who buy content in that it provides instant results for little or no effort or time consumed on their part. I am converted to your concept having had chance to have a play with it myself, but I'm not sure how you could go about convincing others who perhaps might well baulk at the idea of a twelve hour render?

no ambient, no skydome, no problem! This image makes me so proud! Amazing image. The foliage transparency "trick" again looks amazing and adds tons of realism to the scene. The secondary lights do indeed provide a better sense of ambient than the ambient channel. I notice the depth and realism of the water and the banks. Secondaries get along very well with the haze field. The scene has alot of depth, a tell tale sign of the secondaries. I love the way the secondaries pick up the bump and modeling contours of your amazing trees and hills. Fortunately, your tree trunks did not go screwy the way mine did. Horo mentioned the leaf shape you chose not fitting the bark texture you chose for the tree at left, and I guess he's right. The transparent leaves still look great though. I like the way you built the scene. Overall, it is very photorealistic. There are a few little things like Horo mentioned, but otherwise, perfect. I am proud to see the foliage transparency trick making into your work David. This transparency trick really is profound as it opens the door to ambient free rendering. David, you are a trully gifted artist and there is very little anyone could say contrary, but these secondary lights are actually even improving YOUR images. I have never seen one of your scenes lit this well. especially in the shadows. Thank you for taking my advice on secondaries. The secondaries were the last piece of the realim outdoors puzzle. Between transparency and secondary lights, and IBL, the sky is the limit on realism. How long was the render by the way? I know that when I came onto this site 6 months ago or so people thought I was crazy badmouthing ambient expression and proposing this foliage transparency thing. People had been rendering foliage for years using ambient and could see no reason to change. Ambient used to look realistic, as it was the only option. In the end I had a powerful and proper message, that is evidenced in scenes like this one. There really is alot more realism when ambient is restricted to hot or glowing objects. They are called leaf templates because I want people to eventually create their own leaves based upon this system. Any photograph of a leaf can be made into a template if you repeat the current set-up. I have about a dozen unique leaf textures, all from scans of plants in the park outside. I will upload a couple more now that people have had time to play with the first few. When DAZ sees the new images we are rendering with transparency, they will definetly take an interest. Maybe they'll let me put together a product for sale.

The trees are again beautiful. The trunk on the left suggests a birch or maybe a beech, but the leaves do not match. At right, old sturdy oaks (?). The angle of view is excellently chosen. The creek - something's wrong with the colour. Maybe a bit more transparency could do the trick. Sun and sunrays fit this picture. Also, light and shadow - particularly on the right - look very natural. The terrain looks very good at some distance, but not so nearby.