The challenge was a nice break for me this go around... I've decided to learn some post work and I'm trying to draw poser hair... and lets just say so far even a chiapet would be offended at the outcome.

Woops.. vines from 3dPlants.com.. and nest made in Plant Studio.

Excellent scene and a good render. Good luck with the post work hair. :)

a bit dark(no pun intended).

Thank ttops and biker. Biker... I wanted the scene to contrast a little with the challenge title. Yet even a baby hawk has a beginning. So yes I wanted a darker mood (it's a night scene) but I definitely don't want a "technically" dark image. That's one thing I've noticed, on my new computer the images do look alot brighter and more crisp. I always just assumed my internet surfing PC (five year old monitor) was the culprit so never really paid it much attention. Favor to ask.. if the picture is just TOO dark could someone run it thru an editing software (like photoshop) and bring it up to acceptable levels for their monitor. I want to see the difference it makes when viewed on my monitor here. Thanks for your input.

It is dark but then I imagine that the moon is rising just behind the big rock.....beautiful work although jpeg compression spoils it a bit...

I was building scenes in a dark room (helps me to concentrate on the monitor) and kept being told they were too dark. I started working with the lights on and the problem stopped. Maybe the luminance is turned up too high on your monitor or something like that. (This is a little too dark on my monitor, also) But there's nothing else in this pic to complain about...nice job!

very good image. I can imagine the mooon just rising too.

Ok like I have zero experience doing renderings as I'm a newbie but I like this! Love the dark, misty feel to the image.

Great render. It is a little dark but the dark gives the image a certian feeling.

This may be lighter than you want BlueArdor, but I do hope you like. Adjusted the contrast/brightness then played with the curves, done in Photoshop 7.

BTW, I do love the image, it's brooding, like a storm is going to start. Catlin

Dangit TJohn, your bird got out again. lol I often render in the dark too, probably cuz my grandmother would shake her finger at me and say "money dont grow on trees" when I would leave one on when it wasnt needed. I imagine it's better for they eyes with some lights on too. Thanks to everyone for the comments as well. One more question because I'm still curious about my monitor. This render is full daylight minus some volumetrics. Does it appear bright enough? Blue

I'm on the imac. The first pic looks like a definite night scene. The second one looks like a definite daylight scene. The first one does not seem too dark, although I always thought hawks slept at night, so I can't understand why this one is awake. The second one doesn't seem too bright, but the hawk and the nest don't draw the eye. As for your monitor and having lights on in the room - I would load up a few different pictures (either your own or others) then play with the lights and the monitor settings to see what combination lets you work the best. Lin

Thanks cat. That definitely helps. I'm going to take it over to my other pc and compare. The problem is my newer monitor has three different brightness settings built in... all you do is press the button and it changes it automatically. I really have no way of comparing my brightness setting to anyone elses, only to my old monitor (which sometimes blinks and dims and flickers lol). Thanks again... Blue

Lin, it's a "nighthawk" lol. He sometimes plays poker with the "nightowls" on thursdays.

On my new monitor everything looks bright and lively but when it comes to printing I've always got to lighten the image. Perhaps one day, probably by pure chance, I'll get all the setting right and have perfect color and brightness. Catlin

Has anyone considered that maybe we need to look at the GAMMA settings. In Bryce, Gamma makes huge adjustments to renders. In Blue's case maybe you ought to render with the Gamma setting switched on...or not...your choice. We may all have different gamma settings, especially because we don't all use the same brand of monitor. I'm sure we can all make corrections by changing the COLOR Profile for our monitors....

Some thoughts:

An image on a Mac looks lighter than the same image on a PC.

LCD screens have a very different gamma than a CRT, and most people with LCDs do not have any special gamma software to compensate. Images made to look good on an LCD often look too dark on a CRT.

I created the following alignment page several years ago specifically for CRTs on a PC. It is not accurate for LCDs or Macs, though may get you closer than nothing on those too. Be aware that to even see the dark gray boxes within the black box at the bottom of that page you will have to stare at the box for several seconds. Even the lightest of those 5 boxes should seem black when you first glance at it.

http://www.djdesign.com/test/monitor/

Blue, Catlin's is already too bright on my monitor so try about halfway between the two would be my guess. - TJ

My monitor at work was much darker than the one at home. The first pic on this monitor shows a lot more detail. Night scenes are hard to pull off without some evident stars. The true ambience in the real world at night tends to gray everything out until you really can't see much texture. Trying to duplicate this effect in Bryce can make everything look a bit flat. On my home monitor, the first pic looks fine, now. Oh, and the Eyebis is easy to catch, just show him something colorful to distract him and through a net over it. It tastes like chicken, but is a little tough and stringy for me.

through=throw

Daver, thanks for the link. I dont know what it means but no matter how I set the brightness or contrast, the first box is never visible. Probably means I should just get a new monitor. Bryster, I did a render with Gamma correction set and it definately made it brighter. I think if I change some of the colors, I'll be able to keep the mood that I want as well as having a brighter render. Thanks for the input!