Week 11- Finishing touches to my image of October

So far this image has come quite a long way; however at the start of the week I did feel it needed some more changes. Firstly I increased the intensity of the light in the background to draw the viewer’s eye to this section of the image as I want this to be the main focus point. However, I made sure not to make this part of the image too bright as I wanted the lights in the Diwali candles to be the brightest so these objects are not forgotten due to their size. By setting the candle light intensities to 1, the foreground light to 0.2 and the background light to 0.65 I feel I created the effect I was looking for.

Next I changed the material I used for the trunk of the tree as I felt the current one was too dominant in the scene due to the shade of brown. I found an image of bark on the internet which was a more suitable and applied it as a diffuse and bump map to get the uneven texture.

I made sure the maps were the same size and then set the bump output amount to 35. When I applied it to one of the trees and compared it to the original material I felt it was much more suitable and so applied it to all of the trees.

Lastly I made adjustments to the shape of the trees as in several cases the roots did not make contact with the ground while others were submerged. Instead of the roots being perpendicular to the trunk of the trees I changed the angle so each one sloped down into the ground slightly. This allowed all of the roots to be visible without the trees hovering above the ground.

I am pleased with the outcome of this image in general. The background of the scene has turned out well as the structure of the trees is quite realistic and the changes in the colour of the leaves are apparent. Also I am pleased with the lamps in the window as the shapes turned out well and the glow of the lights look effective. However, I do feel the material I used for the grass in the background does not work that well and if I had more time I would work on this.

I tried to base the theme of this image on the colours of red and orange and the feeling of warmth as these are the first thing which come to mind when I think of October. The two subjects I included in the scene which relate to October link to one or both of these themes, the subjects being autumn which link with the colours and Diwali which link to both.

Week 11- Finishing touches to my image of June

I am still not happy with the appearance of my image of June and feel certain areas need to be changed. I feel the main problem is sections in the background, mainly the trees. Due to this the trees were the first things I tried to improve.

I started by working on the lighter trees. I applied a blur to the material map to the value of 2.5 and changed the bump value to 18. It took quite a while to find this combination to be the best, but eventually I found this worked reasonably well. As this had improved the appearance slightly I used the same method on the darker trees.

Lastly as an attempt to improve this part of the image I applied mesh smooth in the modifier list to each tree to try to get rid of the edges which were created as a result of using the soft selection tool to modify the original shape. I feel this did help to some extent but I am still not completely happy with their appearance.

The last step I did to improve this image was to work on the grass on the plane. I increased the bump of the material map slight to 40 as I felt the slight increase would highlight the layers in the grass. I am really pleased with the way the grass turned out as the clarity of the detail is reduced over the distance and so gives the image a more realistic aspect.

Overall I feel several parts of the image went well while others did not. For example, I am really pleased with the material I created on the lake as this, along with the slightly rippled surface give a good suggestion of water. I was also quite pleased with the outcome of the heron, dragonfly and butterflies as I feel they look quite realistic. These parts do not jump out when the picture is viewed initially but are gradually noticed and so add to the scene. However, I am still slightly disappointed with the trees in the background as I am unable to get them to look how I had planned. If I had more time I would probably start these again.

In this image I wanted to create the feel of tranquillity as this is what I associate with the month of June. I feel I have created some tranquillity, especially as the colours which dominate the scene are blues and greens.

Week 11-Finishing Touches to my image for April

Currently I am reasonably happy with the appearance of my image of St George and the Dragon but feel it needs a few changes. From looking at my previous image I found that the lighting was too dark and too much of the subject was in shade. Due to this I moved the target spot light further to the left of the image.

I felt that the background to the scene looked slightly unfinished as the columns stopped randomly in the image. Due to this I increased the height of each of the columns so they reached the top of the image as though they were going up to support the ceiling. However, when I did this the size of the material maps on the columns also increased. I did feel that the blocks were slightly to large even before I did this as they were roughly the height of St George and so I reduced the size of the maps in the material editor.

At this point I was very pleased with the appearance of the columns, however I did feel the columns and flooring no longer worked together as they were no longer in proportion with one another. To solve this problem I then reduced the size of the material map I had used on this surface until I was happy with the size in relation to the rest of the image. At this point I was please with the background and so decided to go onto another part of the image.

When I re-looked at the zoomed out version of the image I was quite disappointed that the chainmail on George’s body was not visible as I worked hard on this. I edited the size of the material map to make the loops of the chainmail slightly larger but was careful not to make it too large in comparison to the rest of the armour.

The last step I felt was needed to complete the dragon was to add light to the flame coming out of the dragons mouth. For this I used an omni light with a rich orange colour of light and set the intensity to 0.5. I chose to use a slightly different colour for this flame than the torches in the background as I wanted to show this was a stronger and more intense flame. I was quite pleased with how this worked, especially how the light reflected on George’s helmet.

I am really pleased with the outcome of this image. I was able to create the atmosphere I wanted quite easily using some of the features of the software, such as the sphere gizmo to create the flame and the lighting affects. I am very happy with the appearance of the dragon, especially the shape and fierce look he has. I did have some problems completing this image, mainly when I tried to add some realistic materials, but feel I have overcome this with time.

Week 10- Continuing my image for October

To start this week I decided to do more work on the trees and so began by creating a leaf. To do this I used the line tool to draw the spline and then extruded it slightly to create the third dimension.

When I was happy with the shape of the leaf I cloned it several times and arranged the shapes in different positions and at a range of angles. I then used the gradient tool in Photoshop to create different colour combinations and saved each as bitmaps ready to be used as material maps. I tried to create several different colour combinations so the leaves were in a variety of colours.

I then applied these bitmaps to the leaf shapes randomly as I felt this would make the trees more interesting when I placed the leaves on the branches. I had to edit the coordinates slightly to make the bitmaps fit the shapes well and to do this I used planar for Object XYZ setting and set the map size to 1 for the width and height. When I was happy with the colour arrangement I grouped the objects.

The next step was to place the leaves on the trees. I cloned the shapes I had grouped and arranged them on the branches. I decided to fill the tree completely as I was trying to depict autumn and so wanted to place the image half way through the transition. To get the leaves in the exact positions I wanted I used the move and rotate tools to change the angle and position. It took quite a while to get the arrangement I wanted on all the trees, but eventually I was happy with the appearance of the background.

At this point I felt the best thing to do next was add the materials to the rest of the image. Firstly I created the colour on the wall. As this is not an important part of the image I did not want the colour to make it stand out and so chose to use a very pale yellow. I used the anisotropic shader so I could apply a slight gloss to the wall and so set the specular level to 40 and gloss level to 10. I was quite pleased with the image at this point but did wonder if it was too bright and would steal the focus from the rest of the image. At this point I decided to go onto another material and come back to this later if I still felt it needed changing.

Next I went onto the window frame. I though about using a wood effect or plain white frame, but felt the wood would be more suitable as the white might be too bright and take the focus away from the subject matter in the background. I used the wood preset and made the 2 colours of the wood a darker shade of brown so the frame would not be too much of a focus. I was quite happy with the window frames appearance and so decided to continue with the image.

Afterwards I created the colour for the window ledge. For this I used another plain colour, but this time in white. I chose this colour as it is a common colour for a window ledge and even though it would be bright I feel the small area it covered would not overpower the image. I wanted to try to create a reflective painted surface and so set the specular level to 200. Then I rendered it and was very happy with the way the bevelled shape was apparent due to the shadow.

The last step for the window was to create the material for the window handles. I wanted to create a reflective metal appearance for this and so used the anisotropic material. I chose a dark grey for the colour and then set the specular level to 100 while leaving the gloss level at 10. I was pleased with this and so went onto another part of the image.

I then went on to create the materials for the Diwali lamps. I decided to create two different materials for these as there are two different designs of lamps. I started by creating the material for the middle lamp which I wanted to have a transparent quality. To do this I used the transparency shader and applied a red ambient colour to try to continue on the colour theme of reds and oranges. I set the opacity to 90 to create the slight transparency I wanted. I then created the material for the other lamps. I tried to create a material which looked like a painted metal as I imagine Diwali lamps could be decorated like this. For this I used the anisotropic shader and applied a dull purple for the colour as I felt it would create the painted surface I was looking for. I then set the specular level to 300 and gloss to 50. I was quite pleased with the appearance of these and so will work on another material.

At this stage I went on to add lighting to the scene. To begin I added an omni light to the foreground to create a ceiling light in the room. I chose the colour of the light as white and reduced the intensity to 0.5 as I plan to make the background the focal point in the scene and therefore the light source brighter. Next I applied an omni light to each of the Diwali lamps. I chose to use an omni light once again as it would recreate a candle light source well. I changed the colour of all these lights to a shade of warm orange for two reasons; firstly this is the colour a flame gives off and it links to my theme of oranges and reds. I then lowered the intensity of each of these to 0.3 so they did not overwhelm the image. Lastly I applied the light source in the background. I left the colour setting as I wanted to try to recreate natural light and kept the intensity at 1 as this light highlights the background which I want to make the focal point of the image. Once I applied shadow to each of the light sources I was pleased with the outcome of this image.

At this point I was not completely happy with the appearance of the background and so edited it. I did not want the colour to be too powerful as it could take the attention away from part of the image. I found an image on the internet for this which I felt would work quite well.

When I set the image as the background I was really pleased with the scenes appearance as it worked subtly.

Next I applied the material to the ground. For this I used a bitmap I created. I chose to create my own bitmap for this as I felt it could be the best way to get the random arrangement of fallen leaves which I wanted.

I applied this as a diffuse map and changed the size of the map to 0.22 to try to get the leaves in proportion to the leaves on the branches. Once I made these changes to the settings I was pleased with the appearance and so went on.

Afterwards I created the material for the curtain pole. I chose to use the anisotropic shader for this as I wanted to suggest it was made from metal. I set the material colour to a medium grey and increased the specular level to 450 while leaving the gloss level at 10. When I applied it to this part of the image I was really pleased with its appearance as it was just like I wanted it to be.

At this point I decided to go back and edit the material on one of the Diwali lamps as I was not happy with its appearance. I decided to remove the transparency setting as it was not creating the effect I had hoped it would and so replaced it with the anisotropic shader. I wanted to make the outside look similar to the other lights and so used similar settings. When I rendered the image I was happier with the lamp and once I increased the intensity of the orange lights I was quite please with the image at this point.

When I looked at the image carefully I felt the background was lit too much as it was too bright in comparison to the sky. Due to this I reduced the intensity of the omni light and feel this works better as the lights in the window highlight the focal point of the scene.

I then worked on the texture for the carpet as I felt it was currently too smooth. To do this I used the blinn shader and chose a deep shade of red to continue the colour theme of red and orange. I then used the preset bitmap of noise and set it as the bump map and set the output value to 10 to suggest different strands of fibre.

I then added bark to the trees. I use one of the preset maps for this as a diffuse map and reduced the map to a size which I felt was proportional to the trunk. I was quite pleased with this and so went on to another part of the image.

Afterwards I added a paving effect to the plane by the house to suggest a patio area. I drew out this bitmap and used it as a diffuse and bump map. I made sure the sizes of the maps were exactly the same so they aligned properly. I set the bump value to 150 to get the depth I wanted between the paving slabs.

Lastly this week I made some minor alterations to the trees in background as I felt the current layout was to cramped in some areas. After a little while I was much happier with the arrangement of the trees.

I am reasonably please with the progress I have made so far but feel I still need to make some improvements to this image. Firstly I feel the background needs to be lightened slightly as I have made it a bit too dark. Also, I may make some changes to the trees if I have time as I feel the brown is too bold and quite unrealistic.

Week 9- Starting my image for October

For October I have decided to base my image around a colour theme. When I think about this month the first thing which comes to mind are the colours of red and orange, and as this is what I based my moodboard on I feel it is the most appropriate area to work on. For this 3D image I have decided to link the two areas of October which I included in my moodboard, these being the leaves changing colour in autumn and Diwali, the festival of light.

To start the image I decided to work on the background and so created the ground. For this I drew a plane and used the soft selection tool to create hills for the landscape. To create the hills I changed the falloff value of the soft selection tool from 60 to 200. I feel this went quite well and so will continue with my image.

I felt the next stage of the image was to create the trees for the background. I decided to create a tree with bare branches and then add in leaves for two reasons; firstly so I could apply leaves of a variety of colours and only place a few on the tree and a lot on the ground to symbolise the transition from summer to winter which occurs during the month. To begin this I created a box and then increased the number of segments in each dimension. I then converted it to an editable poly so I could create the branches. To get the initial transition from trunk to branch I selected vertex’s at different points around the top of the box and dragged them out to different angles and positions. From this point I selected the polygon icon and the extrude tool to continue to extend to branches from the base of the tree. Once extruded, I used the move and rotate tools to arrange the branches at different angles which looked realistic. At this point I felt the tree was coming along quite well, however when I went on to add extra branches coming from the side of the ones I had already extruded I found the whole side panel moved with it. After some time I found that I could add extra vertex’s to the extruded parts which allowed me to create a tree with a more realistic form. However, at this point I was not completely happy with the trees appearance and so decided to move on and come back to this later.

At this point I decided to edit the trunk of the tree to get rid of the pointed edges. To do this I used the soft selection tool and moved some parts of the trunk inwards and others outwards. To do this I set the falloff value of the soft selection tool to 20 so I could edit the trunk in small sections.

I then went back to working on the branches. For this I used the same technique as before, but still felt it did not look quite right so decided to once again move on to another part of the image.

I felt this next stage was to create the roots of the tree. For this I selected several of the polygons at once and moved them away from the trunk. I chose to use this technique as I felt it worked well on the beginning of the branches. I was pleased with the appearance of the roots at this point and so decided to move on to another part of the image.

At this point I felt it would be a good time to work on the foreground of the scene. To do this I began by creating the walls by using two boxes with the same width of 55 and then cloned each one to leave a hole for the window. When I arranged them I did feel the hole left for the window was too small and so increased the height of the middle blocks to correct this.

I then went on to create the window ledge. To do this I used another box and then used the bevel tool to extend the sides as they are rarely just boxes. To keep the size of bevel consistent around the window ledge I set the bevel height to 1.5 and output amount to -1.5. I was pleased with this and so went on to another part of the image.

I then went on to add the furnishings around the window. For this I started by creating the curtain pole. I used a cylinder with dimensions of 5 for the radius and the height of 374.365 so it went right across the window. I was happy with these proportions and so created the stoppers at the end of the pole. I chose to use spheres for this as this is a popular end for a curtain pole. I made the radius of the sphere 10.454 so it was noticeably larger than the pole. When I was happy with the size of the sphere I cloned it and placed one at each end of the pole.

After this I began to create the curtains. For the curtains I wanted there to be folds in the material as though they had been opened. I felt the best way to do this would be to draw a spline and extrude it. For this I used the line tool to create a snake-like curved shape and converted it to an editable poly. I then selected the polygon icon and extruded the shape before capping the end.

I then placed the curtain in the scene and cloned the object so there was one each side. I made some alterations to the size of the objects using the scale tool including increasing the height so they completely covered the window and decreasing the width so the material folds were closer together. At this point I did need to increase the length of the curtain pole as the curtains covered too much of the window and the objects in the background could not be scene properly.

It was at this point that I felt the land in the background needed to be worked on again as it was too small and the edges could be seen. Due to this I created a larger plane. I then increased the number of segments in each dimension and used the soft selection tool as I did before to create the hills. This went quite well and so I am pleased with the appearance of the background so far.

I then created the floor in the scene. To do this I used another plane and placed it in front of the wall. This went well and so I went onto another part of the image.

Afterwards I went on to create the window frame. For this I decided to use several boxes as I felt this would be the best shape for creating the frame. I started by drawing one box and setting the height to the full height of the window. I then used the bevel tool to create a more realistic shape. For each bevel I made the height 1.5 and output amount -1.5 as I felt this would be a suitable amount. When I was happy with the shape and size of this box I cloned it three times and placed them across the length of the window. I then used the exact same process for the top and bottom of the frame.

At this point I felt the window frame looked incomplete and so I added handles as though the window would open. To do this I used a cylinder for the base and capsule for the handle itself. I made the cylinder quite short and wide with the radius of 10.391 and height of 14.777. For the capsule I applied a radius of 10.643 so it was only slightly larger than the base part and the length of the capsule 90.079 as I felt that this length would be in proportion to the rest of the frame. I am reasonably pleased with the handle and so decided to go on and work on another part of this image.

I then decided to create the Diwali lamps which I planned to place on the window ledge. For this I felt the most appropriate technique to use was the lathe technique and so I started by using the line tool to draw the shape of the lamp.

I then went to the modifier menu and selected lathe from the list. This took a few attempts as I did not know where to move the pivot point to, but eventually I was pleased with the result.

At this point I wanted to add decoration to the lamp. I decided to used the Boolean technique as I felt this would be effective when a light source was placed inside the lamp, however when I tried to do this during the tutorial several weeks ago I was unable to complete this task. Due to this I looked up how to do Boolean first. I then drew a sphere and changed the radius until it was the size I wanted and then cloned the object several times and arranged them around the lamp evenly.

Then using the Boolean tool I managed to remove the circles all the way around the shape. I was very pleased with the appearance of this and so cloned the lamp twice and placed the objects on the window ledge.

Lastly this week I went back to do more work on the tree. I added a few more branches and made some more alterations before adding the mesh smooth modifier.

As I was reasonably happy with the trees appearance I cloned each of them and placed them in the scene. I tried to arrange them to make the composition look quite interesting, but also have some realism.

I am pleased with the progress I made during this week. I plan to continue working on this image next week. To do this I will firstly create the leaves and add them into the scene before adding the materials to the objects and also adding lighting to the scene.