I'd appreciate some input on this work in progress background before I start adding more detail. Mostly I'm looking for advice on how to get the sunlight right. I'm going for that really sharp contrast between cold blue and warm orange but I don't want it to look too out of place. I'm restricting myself to use the EDG32 color palette, so only these colors are available:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/S0KuIg3.png[/imgzoom]
Here's the background:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/a5WR8LO.png[/imgzoom]
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/jFhHz9I.png[/imgzoom]
My suggestion is to try to differentiate between the light beams and the surfaces hit by them. This is the closest example I could find:
[imgzoom]https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZVoBShnok6M/WMPUXDBwJCI/AAAAAAAAA4o/prVOAWWeN6AhDal3PrkFP17K7QK5-Z2SACEw/s1600/gk1_141-640x480.png[/imgzoom]
From this 304's blog post, it's definitely worth checking: http://ben304.blogspot.cz/2017/03/windows-as-visual-tool.html
Also the green outline seems needless to me. What about using the lightest shade of blue for walls behind the light, or some transition between yellow and blue?
The composition seems great to me, the character fits perfectly!
I know this kills your pallet by introducing many colors behind the shaft of light, but its my suggestion anyway
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/3KCQvW1.png[/imgzoom]
The notes' and blackboard's shadows should point away from the window.
There is not any shadow under the bed.
The the vertical foot piece of the bed should be lighter since it is facing the window.
The door's highlights are too yellow, probably.
I think your original version is great the way it is. However I think there's no need to have the light reaching the door frame.. also the shadown of the paper could benefit from another direction.
Great work (nod)
Thanks a lot for the comments! The examples and paintovers you provided helped a lot. This is what I came up with without sacrificing the palette:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/P1j9Sgm.png[/imgzoom]
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/VrpcmyB.png[/imgzoom]
Does the yellow reflection on the floor look too weird, should I just go with the first one? Anything else you can think of?
Think I like the 1st one without the yellow better, unless there's a specific reason for the yellow (other than mean there's a light source there).
Quote from: Cassiebsg on Mon 07/08/2017 18:11:26
Think I like the 1st one without the yellow better, unless there's a specific reason for the yellow (other than mean there's a light source there).
Someone lost control of their bladder. :P
I still prefer the first one :-\
The main reason I liked it is the sharp use of orange breaking all the blues.
Well, the original version does have more character, yes. (nod)
Quote from: Cassiebsg on Mon 07/08/2017 19:05:38
Well, the original version does have more character, yes. (nod)
I agree, so I'm trying to find a middle ground. Here's another alternative:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/4vthEh9.png[/imgzoom]
I hope you don't mind me playing with the background a little..
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/gTqPFlk.png[/imgzoom]
I treated the light as surface light only. Not on the atmosphere. So the space between the window and the wall casts a shadow on the wall, I added an element to benefit from the light/shadow game as well..
btw, awesome palette I feel jealous :P
Not bad AnasAbdin, but I like Ubel's latest the best. (nod)
AnasAbdin, I really liked your idea so I decided to incorporate it! I feel like it's very close to what I wanted in the first place!
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/pA9o6PR.png[/imgzoom]
Thanks for the paintover! And thanks again to all of you, you've been a big help :)
Looks awesome! And your sq5 avatar represents most of us AGSing (laugh)
The geometry looks a little off to me. If this is sunlight (the light source is far away), then in order to hit the wall it must be angled away from the camera, but the shadow of the box is angled towards us.
Exactly what I noticed; here's a quick paintover of the original I did yesterday:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/C2mlgfu.png[/imgzoom]
Wanted to add more suggestions but I don't have time right now.
I adjusted the shadows and a few other things and added a few more details. As it is now, I'm fairly happy with it so I'm gonna leave it at that for now. Thanks guys! :)
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/uzCvqnl.png[/imgzoom]
Looks great, i like what you did with the door (nod)
I know you said you were happy (and were gonna leave it now) but I wanted to chime in.
I like the most recent version you made (though I think Kris' lighting was a tad more accurate) but the thing that was bothering me is the bright/stark light on the right side feels too harsh to not affect the left side of the image. So I did a quick (very down 'n dirty) paint-over to demonstrate what I mean:
(http://i.imgur.com/LbIJdH0.png)
I didn't take the time to use the exact palette but there are enough blues in it to recreate the gradient I used!
Just a thought! I think it looks pretty great in your most recent version I just thought the addition of the gradient would punch it up a bit more!
Also ... I'd add a similar gradient effect on the door as well (but I didn't have time to do that as part of the paint-over)
The brightness difference between the blues in my palette is a bit too great to create gradients in such manner without it appearing too distracting. Quick testing resulted in this, which looks ok from afar, but zoomed in it's too cluttered.
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/Yw2MHDX.png[/imgzoom]
Your edit has that nice old Lucas Arts style game vibe to it but it's not necessarily what I'm going for. :) I get what you mean about the monotone brightness issue though, not sure what to do about that without using dithering, which I'm trying to avoid. It doesn't bother me too much but I'll keep it in mind and try to figure something out.
On the topic of gradients, is there a reason why the sky is reversed (lighter on top, darker at the bottom, unlike in reality)?
Quote from: Snarky on Wed 09/08/2017 08:15:03
On the topic of gradients, is there a reason why the sky is reversed (lighter on top, darker at the bottom, unlike in reality)?
No reason other than brainfarting. Fixed.
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/RaRJZVG.png[/imgzoom]