Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=785048

Ummm, I don't see enough grunge, dirt etc in this photo. Next time tell the guy to add some dirt wink. Just had to add that since one of the comments to make your image more real looking was to 'dirty it up' some. I think we'd be hard pressed to find an alley that clean here in the US states.
:-D ps don't worry about it being OT, if someone complains the rest of us will run em out of town. ;)

Message edited on: 10/12/2004 21:07

Beautiful Photo too! I see you didn't follow the original image slavishly, rather you were inspired by it. I have a question. On the first(the nearest to the viewer) drainpipe to the left of the balcony, what is that thing with the downward facing spikes that goes around the pipe like a collar? Is it something to dissuade would-be cat burglars from shinneying up the pipe? Is it ornamentation? Inquiring minds want to know,lol.

Well, this is certianly not Naples...

Yep, you are right about that Stefano, not a lot of postings lately, even in Poser forum ! :) Very good resemlance (<-spelling master :P) to that photo, U did good job on modeling stuff in it ! :)

Nah, always good to see ya stop in and say hi! Yeah, the forums/galleries has its phases, right now, its slowed a bit. We're all just pacing ourselves, lol. AS

Both are wonderful images. I'd like to live in that alley (either version) rather than where I am now :^( Gawd, don't you just love that honey-coloured stone? Sudden wild urge to go live in Italy. The Maya version is very atmospheric - the only detail that doesn't ring true for me is the plants sprouting between (through?) the stones. Doesn't seem to be anything there to support growth. My daughter spent a year in Urbino University (with the Erasmus program) and the whole blinking place looked like that!!!! Just unbelievably beautiful. Hmmnnnnn, maybe next spring, before the weather hots up there..........

Wow, that is the cleanest 'real' alley I've ever seen, looks like you could eat of the street....the image is true to the reference...=)

Stefano, your alley is good, every detail is fine modeled and well inserted. The image has your style and is great... but looking at the real alley, you missed something... the orange-yellow ambience (even in the blue shadows). I don't know maya... my 2 cent are: try to increase a bit the light of the scene trying to keep the blue of the shadows. (hope it's clear, I'm trying to be constructive) Reproducing the light of Sicilia is not an easy task! ...but you can do it!

PS - and on top of that the food is fantastic in Sicily!!!

funny thing... only the ladies (ang and zhann) noticed that the alley is too clean... that's a female touch!

Well who the heck do you think does all the cleaning work (at least here in the us) ;P of course we women recognise a good clean alley when we see one, LOL.

LOL ang! also here in Europe (except my home, where I cook and clean and my girlfriend does nothing.. :P) a big thank you to the girls out there for cleaning the world

Me too I'm a cooking/cleaning guy! But maybe that's because I work at home... gotta ask better about that, now that I think of it... @danamo: your guess is right, it's something to prevent burglars from entering in low balconies or windows. @pogmahone: Yes, that was the thing that fascinated me most, the walls. I tried to replicate them with procedurals. Frankly, I did it only for training purposes: I still prefer to use photographic textures when the goal is realism. @vasquez: I missed the yellow-orange ambience, sigh, and I know it. I spent hours trying to achieve just that, but the blue-channel in the HDR image I used to light the scene kept entering the picture. Once I got rid of that, nothing seemed to work to give that yellowish sunshine feeling. :( Of course, I have still many ways to go with Maya, but the Docs and the manual lack a lot in the MentalRay department. By the way, if someone of you stumbled upon a Mental Ray specific site in the past, I'd be very happy to have the link :) Generally speaking, Sicily is very clean. Much more than Italian metropolissss (what's the plural? metropolises?) like Naples or Turin or Milan (where I live). A big thank you to all the girls out there, even to those that don't care zilch about cleaning :) S.

I want a boyfriend who cooks and cleans and gives massages! ;-D

LOL...Ang, if I may ask, how much are you paying? DoubleCrash, excellent render and its easy to see why you were inspired. I like the fact that you took the idea of the ally and molded it to your style making it uniquely yours. Quite photorealistic and shows a mastery of the program although Im sure there is still much more to learn from it. Kudos for a job well done.

LMAO- Pay? I believe in the indian way: Trade ;-D

Actually, the dirt is there. look at the carcks and inner edges of concave geometries. It is not extensive but it is there. Dirt does not have to be excessive. But it has to be there.

LOL ang... trade? ROFLMAO!