Nature on sunset - kind a picture tutorial

[Sektor 13]

Here it is my latest background of nature and redish sun, possibly background for menu :S

So: ?



I am not completly satisfied with the picture, but i think it is still good enough. MAybe bushes needs some more work !?

By the way, i have 35 pictures - > from the begining to the final picture, it crudly show how it was done if anybody is interested, i will upload it in ZIP file !??

[LilBlueSmurf]

I always enjoy seeing other peoples techniques, and I am sure there are other people that could learn from the images.  If you have em, you might as well put them up to help out others.  You should probably put it in the 'tutorial' section though instead of adding to this thread.  The picture is nice, the only big thing I see is what you mentioned, the bushes.  The highlights make them look more like rocks or a dirt pile than bushes.

[Nacho]

You can't really imagine how I hate you... And now... for making me hate you even more; How many time did it last to make this piece of gold? Please, make my day and say than more than a week! 

[Nikolas]

Would you do this for us?
I mean would you?
Will you?
A zip for us?
Yes?
Really?
OMG?

A second tutorial in two days!

It will come SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO handy!

[Sektor 13]

It took me about 6-7 hours to make it, like almost any background these days.


Well this is not a tutorial, it is kind a emmm, i don't know , you won't see how each brush stroke was made and what exactly was use, so sorry, i don't know if this will be of any help at all... but see for yourself

-- 2.3 Mb --
http://freeweb.siol.net/zagar413/KZ/niceviewpack.ZIP

->BTW if link doesn't work yet, it is still uploading to the server so be patient.

->BTW 2 the river will be moving in the game, maybe even a nearby grass

[Mr Flibble]

Thank you, so much.
I'm very interested to see how you build things up to create such an impressive picture.

[Afflict]

 :o

WOW

Thats absolutely beautiful!

[lo_res_man]

Can I critic this? 'Cuz if I can, it may be seen as nit picking, but were is the waterfall going? The grass seems to grow right up to it, but that can't happen.As well were is the mist? just a thought. BUT it is still jaw dropping wonderful.

[Corey]

Can I critic this?

ofcourse you can, go ahead 

[Alun]

Um, lo_res_man, I'm pretty sure the waterfall is going into a ravine, which is why you can't see the mist--it's down inside the ravine.  The grass doesn't go right up to the waterfall; that's the edge of the ravine.

Granted, possibly if this isn't obvious to everyone, maybe that means it needs to be made clearer...but it was already clear to me, so I'm not sure how to do that...

[Sektor 13]

Yes exactly.

I never pictured this like lo_res_man did, but now if i look closer, maybe it is a bit unobvious... hmm
But i think if you resize the picture (two or three times)it is easier to see the "real" one.

[Desmond]

Looks awesome; thanks for the step-by-step as well.   

I think the confusion about the waterfall comes from the perspective... the waterfall and the lines on the side of the cliff/rock face are all running vertically up and down, which suggests a rather low angle.  If we were looking at a large chasm in the earth, then the near grassy field would be "higher up" to be on the same plane as the far field... right now it looks like there's a shelf, which is where the confusion comes in.  (I think the shelf is visible in the undetailed image most easily.)

Even if the ravine were really wide, I doubt we'd get a shot like that unless we were standing *really close* to the edge, or looking into it somewhat.  If we're looking in, or even looking anywhere other than directly at the horizon, having those lines on the rock face come to a vanishing point somewhere waaaay down in the ravine would help.

But the coloring is unbelievable, as usual.   

[Alun]

Actually, come to think of it, one thing that might help make the ravine clearer is to darken the cliff sides as they go down into the ravine.  There's already a little bit of darkening at the bottom, but it's fairly subtle; if the cliff faces got more noticeably darker as they extended down into the ravine, it might make it more obvious that it's a ravine and not just a cliff.

Just a thought...

[Kweepa]

The gif screws up the final image a bit - sorry.

I think the oddest thing about the image is that the river seems to come straight at the edge rather than snaking around a bit, and not from any of the mountains in the background.

[DanClarke]

Woah, awesome piece, and it's interesting to see how you build your BGs, very different from myself!

My only crit for it is that when the water flows over the edge, it's no longer under the light of the sun, so technically it should be a dark blue or grey colour to match the cold hues of the shadows. Unless of course the water is intentionally that colour...

But minor crits aside, gorgeous piece!

[Tomas]

Very nice indeed. I especially like the way you did the sky - very atmospheric. As for crits, maybe it would look interesting if you darkened the shaded parts quite a bit. They are a bit bright considering the setting sun is the only light source in this scene. But all in all, this is a beautiful piece of art. Good job!

And thanks a lot for that step-by-step tutorial thing, it's always interesting to see how people work.

PS. I actually attempted a little edit but I think I slaughtered your already beautiful painting. If you still think you want to see it click here. You have been warned.

EDIT: Actually, now that I look at my edit again I kind of like it, so I might as well show it in all its glory.

[Helm]

You render pretty well, it's the composition that's boring, in this case. A flat field, with a rentangular long stripe of water, 90 degree cutout chasm, very ordered, very unnatural.

[Snarky]

Though your point is valid, Helm, I think the obviously artificial characteristics of the landscape gives it an interesting science fiction feel, like the constructed habitats in Ringworld or Iain Banks' Culture novels.

What I find odd about the scene is how close the horizon is. Judging from the texture of the grass in the foreground and the perspective on the river, the landscapes only extends a few miles away... and then nothing!

[Das Plans]

Hey there!

Wow, this is exactly the kind of inspiration and incentive I needed! Thanks a dozen for that, Sektor. Now, there's no stopping me. I hope ... 

See you!

[Corey]

this is all really cool but i still don't know how you make this stuff