Guys and Gals, I really need help pushing this Still Life scene to the next level. Please Help!
vertex
Hey guys, I don't know what to do with this scene. I'm not happy with it but I also don't know what to do with it. I have a bunch of Ideas but i want all of your inputs before I bash myself. I think I've just been looking at it too long and could really use some fresh eyeballs. Any help would be WONDERFUL! Thank you in advance! Also, sorry if i'm posting in the wrong area, I haven't been to Polycount in a very long time. 
Replies
- I guess in such small confined space, you have a lot going on. Quite a few materials (leather, rope, metals, wax, wood) perhaps the base you have the scene taking place is making it all too much. I could be wrong, but experiment with having a single material like wooden planks, it may help contextualize the scene.
- I don't know how far you would want to contextualize, if this was on a small table, and that table was positioned into a tight cobblestone corner, it could also emphasize the warmth of the candle light (your main light source) again, that depends how far you want to go with the scene.
I'm interested in the 'bunch of ideas' you had for it
love your texture work, it's awesome
peace
beardy
Beard3D Bandit said: LOL, trust me dude I always feel like i'm just trying to learn just like everyone else. It's nice to know I don't suck though so thank you!
Actually, i was seriously thinking of replacing the base. I really was thinking of having it on a old wooden table but at the time i thought that was too much effort for something that was mostly just a supporting visual. I really think i will do that :-). Putting in a cobblestone backwall is very doable as well but i will start with the table first and see how that goes.
as for my notes on what to do... here is the short version (i'm really hard on my own stuff)
Candle: this object is too clean for what it is. the wax shader itself 'looks' like wax but it doesn't feel like an old candle that has been used over and over again for say 10 years. it would have a lot more dirt and grime in it that would interact with the SSS of the shader. Also, the melting of the wax it too contained to the candle holder top. it would probably look better if the wax was melting over the candle holder and trace residue was around it and the 'ground' around it. Basically make the candle feel older and more used.
Candle Holder: overall this object also needs more surface wear. not a lot, but enough to know that it's old. lets say 50 years? there would be a lot of micro scratches and dirt on it that are not really visible right now. i don't think a new normal map is needed though but i may be wrong. also no AO under the candle so it looks like it is floating
Ground: basically what I talked about above and what you noted
Coins: over all the coins feel okay, they feel about 5 to 10 years old. no real patina on them so they can't be that old. the material feels like actual gold and the mold for the gold coin feels 'rough' and 'blocky' (aka, the design isn't smooth and have subtle details like say the quarter in your pocket does) the big problem is the ruby in the center... because you can't tell it's a ruby in the center! LOL. it's technically accurate to how a ruby would look but I think i need to play it up more so you can understand what it is.
Book: OH BOY, the book. Yeah this has A LOT of materials and for the most part i can identify them pretty clearly. metal looks like metal. leather kinda feels like leather. Rope is okay but needs better lighting and normal map, the pages are just AWFUL! so re looking at what old paper looks like is very needed. again this book doesn't look too old. no real wear. not really a bad thing since everything in the scene looks to be relatively 'new'. My thing would be to go through and really clarify materials better and also to play up the 'magic' of the book more. it's the most interesting thing on the table and has the most 'story' so you want to make sure it lives up to being the star object.
so my overall notes would be....
1.) where are we? is this a magical study in a dungeon or are we in a tavern? give a little context to the scene
2.) how old is everything? everything feels 'new' which again isn't a problem per say but we need the 'story' to be constant.
3.) have a clear focus, it's the book, so make sure the book is really engaging. just give that sucker more love
4.) pay more attention to how people and objects interact with each other. like wax melts, what does wax do when it melts, how would it melt on that object. are people opening this book a lot? how would the wear on that be visible to a viewer? that lock on the book feels pretty new so whatever they want locked up happened pretty recently. etc etc.
5.) lastly, GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT! why is the scene like this? who uses this? why? it doesn't need to be a novel. just a short sentence to guide visual decision making. right now i would say " Young apprentice wizard finds a book his master hid away full of dark magic" with this sentice you can say "OH! he uses the master's study so the study or the desk would be old, the candle and candle holder would be old too, so would the book, but the coins... maybe the bought the book? so the coins would be new.. yadda yadda... it just helps you to make visual decisions better than just 'it looks cool'
LOL, and that's how I crit my work...
From the scene as a whole, I don't know what the story is, but it feels like these objects belong to a warlock/wizard or even archaeologist, who has this tome among other mundane items, which would make me think he is either unaware of the potential dangers this tome holds (with he book appearing to break free from a seal (blue burning material) or is aware of the power within it, and has confidence in it's capability. For me personally, with the demonic looking face on the front, with the rope going through it's mouth, almost suggesting it being gagged to prevent it from doing harm, with the addition of the seals being magically broken. The seals being broken, also show that it's the book doing the unsealing (no evidence of anyone interacting with it)
It's great because it's projecting a very subtle presence of impending doom (similar to in movies where a person is asleep and there is a creeping fire). At first I didn't like the coins until i kept looking back at the scene as a whole and realized the book is really out of place, and that it's special and something the owner doesn't usually have.
If you were to build upon this feeling, building upon that would help sell it perhaps. A couple of things you could test with what you already have:
1. the main light source is your candle, what if the power of this book (which could be established as evil) has blown the candle out. and the main source of light is moonlight directing downwards onto your scene. this would do a couple of things, one being that it would suggest the scene is in a living space/an interior. one could also frame parts of the scene with the shadows of an actual window, or just have moonlight with atmospheric fog.
now that we have a new source of light (window + moon) and the candle has been blown out, naturally the candle could have newly formed smoke. Even the subtle direction of the smoke toward the source of light could indicate that it's an open window. (again leading towards the insecure feeling of being invaded)
2. have a feel for the color of the seals on the book, the obvious being RED for DANGER.
This is all just me rambling on, perhaps something may help you be satisfied with your work, I don't really like moving on without getting it right, so maybe something I said may trigger an idea. Sorry if it's long
peace
beardy
Also I don't know if I have this monitor set too bright, but I can see a lot of banding artifacts where the bloom is passing over the black borders.