FROM THE COMMUNITY COLLECTION
Premium Play
Render time 7 hours 10 minutes and 6 sec. A considerable increase in render time. And for what? Well, the DOF effect is expensive and I used 64 rpp. I also took the single light source and turned it into a light ring (see the tut by Horo and myself). By turning the single point into fifteen single points this gives a better (in my view) and faster to render soft shadow effect. Of course the differences are subtle. But well, that is in essence the point I am trying to make. From the first itteration with IBL and this there is a significant difference in render time, is it worth it? That is up to each individual artist, personally I do prefer the Premium DOF effect with soft shadows version, dispite the longer render time... But this is an embelleshment, as a strategy for making pictures efficently I try for the fastest technique first and then, when I have tweaked everything to my satisfaction, finish off with the "expensive" effects. If however, this image had contained a lot of transparent materials, then DOF may not have been an option within Bryce and some kind of "fudge" involving distance mapping and post work could have sufficed.
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Indoor vs. Outdoor Thanks richter. You put names to the differences I've noticed. That is probably why I prefer Playground: it's inside and that is usually were we would expect children to play - at least in this time of year on the northern hemisphere.
The both pics are wonderful in their own different (I'll explain) setup. I take the "Premium Play" as an outdoor render and the "Playground" as an indoor rend. The shadows caused by the lighting here in Premium give me the impression that the scene is lit by a strong and very high positioned light source (yes, the sun), as those shadows stay strictly under each obj and fade out quickly. Such interaction between light, shadows and obj-s might be quite successful if we are rendering a vase, cup, bottle (and any other small object) near an open window where we've made sure that the Sunlight don't "direct-hit" the vase. The Playground is a different matter. I see a room which is probably lit by an outside source, but the main light here could be provided by a bulb in the "room". The shadow banding is more noticable and I think it's natural to be this way due to the small size of the toys. We cannot expect the shadows' edges to soften as quick as in Premium. I like the DOF also, but since there are so many toys present, the near focus should cover the whole foreground area instead of slightly blurring it. Depends on the artist's choice. Once again, I like them both, David. You showed how different can look a single render in two different lighting setups.
I'm not sure which one I prefer. Playground has more light and stronger reflections and of course stronger shadows. This one is softer. It is more professional. The subject permits some un-professionalism, though. Without the "blink comperator" option, only the DOF appeared obvious. Switching fast between both versions shows all the differences.
dof Depth of field is a very powerful effect. It is mathematics at it's best. Your dof settings are very well considered and do a great job of drawing us into the scene. Was it worth the time? Yes. It is a still frame. An animation would probably take too long to render with these effects but a single frame deserves the very best we can give it. Once the scene is produced it is timeless. I love it.