right now my lighting rig consists of two spots, 1 focusing on the huts and 1 on the observatory, both are tinted blue as is but maybe i should get a little more extreme with the tinting. i also have a point light acting as sort of a key light at the camera so that the foreground isn't just black snow. i thought some fog might be neat, just a small layer but i don't know how to implement fog.Originally posted by Pure_Morning
Lighting, I think you need to pay a bit more attentino to the detail in the lighting. Remember that snow will reflect and refract a lot of light so you need to try and get this into your render. One way of achieving a better night time look is to tint your lights blue (either in the 3d render or in post it's up to you and what you feel more comfortable with (i'd be tempted to do it in post)).
it definitely is just an image plane. what can i do to give a feeling of depth? use dof? i considered it but i need to experiment with it because i don't want to make it so that the focus of the picture (the huts/observatory) are out of focusPerspective: There seems to be a lack of perspective in your scene. The stars dont look like they are off in the distance, rather they look like a plane stuck behind the geometry (which I'm assuming it is). Maybe try adjusting your camera settings to give more of a feeling of depth.
i'm a little confused by this. when you say to make a new tree that gives the illusion of being a tree but doesn't have such a defined shape, what exactly do you mean? i tried to achieve that with the tree i posted...but maybe i fell short. i decided i'm going to try to use layered textures but once again i've never used them so maybe that will help the tree become more of a tree. i'll try messing with a couple of different modeling ideas that i have to see if i can come up with a more convincing tree.Snow: More specifically the snow on the tree. I just had a chat with one of the CG supervisors here are work and I showed him your tree and we agree that looking at the amount of snow on the other objects you wouldnt see that much detailin the tree. It would be much more conical and simple in shape. Also the branches of a pine tree tend to grow upwards not downwards (think about a christmas tree). So you would see very little of the tree itself, so maybe just make a new tree that gives the general idea of a tree being there but doesnt have such a defined shape.
addendum: was just thinking about why i like my first tree more than my others, and i think it's because with the snow on the branches, they would be weighed down (think lots of snow!) so they would appear to be drooping downward. just an afterthought...
i thought having a little worn down path would be neat, you know how when snow lays and people begin walking on it, it almost starts to look like a little trench of footprints, worn down to some dirty/grassy ground... once again i have no idea how to achieve this, any help is appreciated.Footprints: I like the idea of having some footprints in the snow that would be cool. Maybe have them comnig from where the camera is upto one of the houses that would give the scene more feeling.
indeed they are, thank you very much.I hope my comments are helpful to you
Alan
here's an update with untextured trees, depth of field, some other small changes.
