Hi all,
I'm in too! When I first read the "briefing", the theme "mechanical life" immediately remind me of a still life. So my concept for the image is to produce a "mechanical life", a still life with mechanical parts, based on a painting by Caravaggio.
I made a quick "montage" in photoshop, it's not great, but I guess its enough to get the idea!
Cheers
And good luck to all
Francisco Koehler
Hi,
Another modelling update. I'll try to replace one of the motorcycle exhaust's with a different model and the "figs" need some tweaking.
I let the images render for about 5 hours and I think they are quite noisy. All the materials are NOX shaders, so as the camera and the only light source (MAX primitive plan). I'm using the "factory defaults" on the renderer... any suggestions?
C&C are welcome.
Francisco Koehler
Do you use camera dof or fake dof ?, I think fake dof will render faster and it will look the same. Maybe reducing segments to 1 on plane would also help ?
Hi Vel,
Thank you for your reply. About the DOF I don't have the option checked in the bokeh camera settings, should I still check the fake dof box?
How do I get the stamp with the render time at the bottom?
Cheers,
Francisco
@cgdigi: thanks for the comments. I'll try to keep the classic feel from the reference image by Caravaggio.
here's another update. It's a overnight render (about 10 hours) most of the noise is cleared.
Cheers
Hi,
Another update. The main composition and one of the two zooms I intend to deliver.
C&C are welcome,
Cheers
Great idea but I have some doubts whether composition is good enough. Nevertheless keep on going!
Some advices on burnt noisy pixels:
- In Post tab there is Hot Pixels feature that can map overburnt pixels to neighbouring ones. There is also same tool in Final tab that can do the same with some customization. It was explained in NOX guide document.
- You can choose image filters in Post tab. Weighted AA filter may dim that overburnt pixels a bit
- In Render tab there is Fake caustic checkbox - this one will turn off caustics on scene (and will treat glass like fake (ghost) glass except for visible ones). Also there is 'max caustic rough' above which allows to set which materials (by roughness) can be considered as caustic source.
HI,
@adamg: Thank you for the kind and encouraging words!
@mookie: Thank you for your critics but could you please explain better your doubts about the composition? Do you mean the composition in the reference painting or the elements I've chose to replicate it? This Caravaggio painting is certainly not the best reference in "still-lifes", but I chose this one due to the simplicity and variety of forms.
@marchewa: Thank you very much for those pointers. I'm already making experiences based on your suggestions and I'll post results as soon as I can!
Cheers and thanks again
fkoehler - it seems like "the weight" of the image goes up and elements are squeezed in the frame. I would scale down those metal flowers and springs on the left and shrink all the objects from the basket. Now I have a feeling that all these parts do not fit the image and are too thick. Perhaps it's also because the basket doesn't seem to stay on the surface (it looks awry, I think it should lean right a bit).
Apart from that I really like your idea and I check your updates frequently! Good luck!
Hi,
@Mookie: Thank you very much for all your comments and suggestions. They are all very valuable and helpfull. As I realize now, I guess I've got carried way trying the new renderer (always exporting the scene as I moved a light or changed a material) and neglected that important part, the image composition! I must finish the modelling part as soon as I can and "correct" the composition with all the "fruits".
Until then here's another update, using a IES in the spot light and HDR to improve reflections. Also used Marchewa suggestions for AA (weighted AA filter) and Hot pixels. Image seems less noisier.
Cheers
Hi,
Another update, finished modeling of one of the "mellons" (actually the piston block and cover of a BMW R51), hope I have time to add a little more detail in the interior.
Also a revision of the composition with rescaled objects to achieve a better balanced image as Mookie pointed out!
C&C welcome,
Cheers
fkoehler - composition is much better now, man, the more progress I see the more I like this project! I'll keep my fingers crossed for final result!
Hi,
@mookie: Thanks again for your suggestions and kind words
more updates... another vegetable (a Matchless G80CS engine), some normal map testing in Nox and an updated main shot with the latest addition.
C&C are welcome
Cheers
