July08: Modern Vase

[Infomaniac]

Hello, I decided to get in on this one (hadn't seen these contests until now :dont know )

So... I Googled some vase images and found one that I liked. They call it modern.


http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/cc013d35846db742ed3a713124bdec764g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/8e9c415dfcb846a16e9d4397dcfc68c44g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/2c6c7b84b66cb68b08db00da91b5d0ea4g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/f58b49ea3a138b6dc2624c6b835a169f4g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/4f6a563e69c370b183f81e9211780ea84g.jpg




Textures are a relatively intricate procedurals (I can post the network here if you want it) for the vase.
Rendered in Mentalray, with Photons being emmited from 4 lights around the vase. There is another simple point light rendering the rest of the room.

What do you guys think of the ambient/angles???

Thanks !
InfoManiac

[meletis]

Looks really good man!! :jump

[chrisg]

Hi InfoManiac,

I like the 4th picture of the vase. Something about the surroundings don't accentuate the vase enough. I would start by making the entire 'box' that the vase is in that reflective black material.

If you're looking for reference, the Dale Chihuly exhibits (http://www.chihuly.com/) showcase amazing glass art very well.

[laxman]

Nice, I like the caustics! Could you post the wood floor texture please
? That looks really good for procedural!

[DjVoyager]

Very nice.
Suggestion: How about a yellow or orange rope instead of black, just to get some color play going in there :).
Try putting up some low ceiling lights for ambiance, for a museum look. You don't have to show or model the actual lights.

[brandeil]

Very nice looking vase, love the colors :D

[Infomaniac]

Hello,

Thank you all for your comments :-)

laxman: Sorry, that wood is not procedural. I never ever got maya's procedural wood texture to look like good wood !!!

I actually didn't like that much the ambient I created for the vase to be in, but the caustics really worked well with mostly white in the background (doesn't interfere much with the photon colors). A dark background instantaneously decreases photonic effects. That's physically accurate, but not as exaggerated as I would like it to be.

I'm looking for another ambient...probably entirely different. Problem is I'm with very little time available, lots of work to do :-(

I will try to improve the vase's environment and come back here as soon as possible

[Infomaniac]

Updates :-)

Well...I've worked on the caustics a little bit (they're a bit more coherent now and working well with any background).

I've changed the floor...went with a very faint and low profile texture. For the walls of the cage, I've used a nice reflective blinn, BUT with very blurred reflections. I chose to blur them so much that you can barely see it. But it just catches that little bit of color variation.

Vase's lit by 4 lights. I manually created spot lights with no specularity to simulate indirect illumination (I recommend trying to do this as often as possible so that I don't rely on Final Gathering).

I've also tweaked the vase's shader in lots of places... I can go in details if you want.

So, here are the renders:

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/912f985c4762a518707bfff912cfcd1c4g.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/0835dc8841260482c6f4e640d2a642714g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/7feca0eefa4c206ac20b2632e8b8f12f4g.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/5d2099f98e84376dc4320199091653884g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/fc4d29e166c392b62c93abbe8fe7c6c34g.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/7cdaf08e1c49aab49de7ad4034577ebc4g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/5e0f274091501e8d4dcccaf66a71e4034g.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/ed0427e6d3fdb34ef8020ba239146fc14g.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/74d022c22a5203fbfbcfae6380f281e94g.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/12b84bb3f5ee5b81d319de7e95aae0654g.jpg

So...being honest:
I hated the orange :redface:
Green didn't look very cool either.
Red looks pretty exotic !!! I don't know how I feel about it yet :loud_laug
The last two pleased me.

Waiting to see what you guys suggest and think about this now !!
Thanks.

[DjVoyager]

They all look pretty good. The orange one could be better, it's got a nice contrast going on, though it's confusing to see a purple vase casting orange caustics. The purple renders seem to be working but the wooden floor gives an impression the display is still under construction :) I'm not saying the wood looks bad, perhaps applying a bit of reflection might take away that rough look. Just a suggestion.

[Infomaniac]

Well... it's already Sunday the 27th, can't believe it.

So, I've picked my background and tweaked the shaders a little bit further and now I must let go the final render. I won't have the time to tweak it anymore until the end of the contest, so there it is !!!


http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1f0bef7965b8c9f4c20027918d0329796g.jpg

It's at the resolution requested.
Hope everyone enjoys it !!! Great contest. Love the fact that it was render rather than modelling centered. I'll hopefully have more spare time for the next one !!!

See ya.

[meletis]

Thats awesome man!!!

[Infomaniac]

Thank you very much :jump

[johnny]

Very very nice job on that!!

[DjVoyager]

Infomaniac, I have sent you a PM. Please respond to that ASAP.