Background Help: Wood Grains & Lighting

SkyWaalkes · Sun 03/05/2015 21:19:26

Hey all! Newbie to the forums here and I've been working on this background the past couple days:

This is supposed to be a small headhunters' village on a tropical island built right under a volcano. The tree is a dying version of the Erana's Peace tree from QFG1. I feel like this all needs some work. Specifically on the wood grains and lighting. I followed a tutorial for the wood consisting of a noise filter and then a motion blur. It feels uninteresting and too uniform to me. Also the lighting seems too bright and I'm still figuring out how to create shadows. How can I improve on all of this?

Also if there's anything else that's glaringly off with the BG, please lemme know.

TY!

SilverSpook · Sun 03/05/2015 21:57:21

I'd put some shadows in the corners, like where the fence touches the ground. and at the base of the tree. Maybe think more about the direction the light is coming from?

What is on the ground exactly? Is it dry grass, dirt, sand? I see what looks like green grass in the foreground.

It does look pretty foggy in there, maybe that's on purpose.

Ykni · Sun 03/05/2015 22:49:54

The wood grain looks pretty good to me. The fence has no volume however. With this horizon I would expect to see part of the top fence and either the left or right side, depending on the camera angle. Seems like the light is coming from the east, so you could add some shade in front or behind the fence, depending on where the light is exactly. Is that a haystack on the left? I would add a bit of shade on the left and bottom to give it some volume.

SkyWaalkes · Sun 03/05/2015 23:16:49

QuoteIs that a haystack on the left?

Its supposed to be a thatched roof made from hay. So basically an organized haystack. I see what you're saying though. A bit flat right now.

QuoteWhat is on the ground exactly? Is it dry grass, dirt, sand? I see what looks like green grass in the foreground.

The foreground is definitely grass and the rest is supposed to be sand. Figured with the characters walking on it more often, there'd be less vegetation.

As for the fogginess, it wasn't really intentional, though I suppose its fitting since its near an active volcano.

Thanks guys! I'll see if I can't tweak it some and add some more volume/shading to this.

SkyWaalkes · Mon 04/05/2015 03:24:32

[imgzoom]http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy52/highwaymelon/TownGate_zpsnctxl6ag.png[/imgzoom]

Worked some on the shadows and added some volume to the wall and roof. I'm not sure if I went overboard with the ground shadows though. And the tree's shadow may need some work. Also I added noise to the ground/sand. What do y'all think?

Monsieur OUXX · Mon 04/05/2015 09:54:55

You're way, WAY too shy on your lighting. Go crazy on it, add a shitload of contrast. It's a tropical island! The shadow under the tree should be almost back. And basically everything that's at more than a 90 degrees angle from the sun.

The suggestion below was made with Paint (not easy...) but if you use photoshop, just select the diffrent areas using the magic tool, and then add brightness layers to play around with the luminosity. That will turn your drawing into a great scene.

Apart from that the drawing technique is pretty and the wood technique is OK, unless you want to go super realistic.

Mathias · Mon 04/05/2015 15:19:24

If it's a vulcanic Island then you could consider making the sand vulcanic by darkening and grayening it significantly. The grains look like a good start, but it's rather plain. It wouldn't look that uniform without some recent sanding and coating. Look up weatherering on wooden fences to get a feel on how that affects the Wood. You could play alot more with various colors ranging from blue, green and Brown depending on your overall lighting/time of day. Same does the shadows.

SkyWaalkes · Mon 04/05/2015 21:42:04

[imgzoom]http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy52/highwaymelon/TownGateNEW_zpss1ashw4v.png[/imgzoom]

How does this look? Did more on the shadows and on the colors of the sand and walls. When I have some more time I'll try some little knots and irregularities in the wood grain. The tops of the boards also need some work.

Ykni · Mon 04/05/2015 22:03:06

Still a bit cautious with the contrast but it looks much better. The thatch roof still needs more shading though

Some shading on the back of the tree or highlights around the edge will look good as well I think.
A good way to check if there is enough contrast in your picture is to make it black and white. If that doesn't look flat it's ok, if it does it could do with more contrast.

I wondered what kind of look you where going for with the fence, new and crisp or old and weather-worn? If it's the latter than you could go with a more gray wood and some green mossy patches.

Monsieur OUXX · Tue 05/05/2015 13:08:44

Yes, much better but still too shy (make those sahadows even darker). In particular: Everything oriented directly upwards should be super bright. Especially that grass in the foreground. Way, way too dark. Make the sandy ground brighter. That also goes for the upper part* of the leaves, and the upper part of the fience.

*which is virtually 90% of the leaf...

Oh, and Ykni is right about the back of the tree that should be dark, like on my sample drawing.

[delete} · Tue 05/05/2015 13:27:02

Like it! It has a certain appeal, looks a bit mysterious? It's the used light and texture I guess. Very good!

SkyWaalkes · Wed 06/05/2015 00:42:52

[imgzoom]http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy52/highwaymelon/TownGateNEW3_zps84c8qzyz.png[/imgzoom]

OK. Pretty satisfied with this now. I adjusted the curves some and tried to make the boards more like you'd see at the beach. I decided to move it away from the volcano because living that close to a volcano would be dumb but it was also really uninteresting to look at. Probably would have affected the lighting too. At some point I'll put in some more stuff like shrubs, barrels or whatever.

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Mandle · Wed 06/05/2015 02:37:55

Wow! Comparing the first version and the latest version is like night and day! Well done man on asking for advice and listening and following through on it, because that latest version absolutely ROCKS!!! I would love to play a game with backgrounds as gorgeous as that!

SilverSpook · Wed 06/05/2015 07:46:22

Right on, a million times better this one. I also thought the volcano at first was a hurricane inbound, in the first image. Good job!