Just wondering on what people thought made a great render. Not sure how to quantify it but along the lines of great lighting, atmosphere, textures that sort of thing :) Or composition, subject matter, technique I dunno, share your thoughts.

Take care

John.

Message edited on: 02/02/2005 16:06

Something with no apparent technical oversights makes a good render. To be great, it would have to be really special. Technique and everything else is totally subjective. I can't really say what I like seeing in a render until I see it. BUT... here are some things I definitely don't like seeing in a 3D work: 1) A render/animation where the character's feet are intersecting the ground, or hovering above it (float). 2) When body parts are turned in such as way that can't be humanly possible without causing great pain to an average individual really irks me, and can ruin an otherwise great work. 3) Body parts poking through clothing, or hair props that aren't aligned correctly on the figure (scalp poking through) 4) (this is a popular one) hands that are supposed to be HOLDING something, but the fingers are obviously not touching the object... or worse still... they're just pointed straight out, and the object is simply "parented" to the palm like superglue. 5) Body parts that intersect other body parts. It's safe to say that if a render doesn't have any of those things wrong with it, then I'll think it's good. Great will depend on the subject matter and how it strikes my fancy. ;-)

Another area is the eyes. They should be doing something except the dead stare. As little as a blink can bring life to the render.

Agreeing with all of the above. Composition and lighting play a big part in what I like to see in an image. I wish more folks would really put more of an effort into their lighting because it can make or break an image even if it's a simple one. I think I spend a major portion of my time, when working on any image, with the lighting and getting the pose right.

FlyByNight, you want a small pet peeve on lights? How about a torch, candle or similar that throws no light. It is a light source, no?

First & foremost, regardless of "technical brilliance", I like to see something actually depicted....a story, a song, a thought, an emotion...whatever. Even if one were to sucessfully utilize every trick, technique, & gimmick in their repetoire, if poor Vicky is jus standin' there in the temple w/ her sword & a vacant expression on her face, I ent gonna care for it. Yes, I do still like the "technical brilliance" as well, but I often see it on a "personal" scale, i,e: following a particular artist's growth/ progression or lack thereof. This could be sumpin' as simple as "Newbie-X" managing to do a decent hand pose (maxx's point #4), or "Veteran-Y" ditchin' their normal 6 hrs of postwork & lettin' the render stand or fall on it's own. And finally, a nice set of boobies is always a good ting ;-)

well, the look in the eyes that says 'somebody's home here'..;) Good detail, sharp edges, good textures..all the stuff I need to work on..;)

To be a good render, it must not have obvious flaws. My pet peeves are: * Light sources which cast no light. A 1-day gallery-duty day turned up the fact that more than 10% of the images used a giant sun or moon in the background or torches and braziers in the foreground which cast no shadows. I don't care if you spent a fortune on that gorgeous background pack... use the thing as it was intended and match your lights to it!!! Otherwise all you have is a photographer's fake painted drop from the 1840's :pfffft: * Body parts which intersect other body parts, especially when there are 2 bodies in the scene, and her arm is going into his shoulder and his thigh has a foot in it. :pfffft: * Painted highlights in the eyes which don't match the scene lighting. Why don't you just use a doll instead of investing hundreds of dollars on photorealistic textures? * The absence of shadows connecting the figure to the ground or prop. Maybe angels and fairies float a bit, but that commando wearing 300# of plate armor and another 200# of weaponry ought to be solidly planted. * Hiding the character's feet in water or cutting them off the picture entirely doesn't hide the fact that the artist can't deal with shadows. :pfffft: So, if the lighting and shadow-casting is right, and the figures touch where they ought to touch and not a smidgen more (this is what the orthographic views are good for... checking the intersections), we pass the hurdle of believability and have a good render, perhaps one worth posting to the Gallery. What makes it great? Emotional appeal, story-telling, unusual and revealing perspective, etc.. anything which reaches out and starts a dialogue with the viewer. Art is communication, after all, and if the image presents no message (other than "here is what I bought at the store this afternoon"), so what? I don't care what you bought... I want to know what is going on... who are these people and what is the story and are there hidden layers of meaning and anything which will involve me emotionally or intellectually in the image. THAT makes a great render. Carolly the Opinionated

The shadows under/up to the character thing, yes that drives me nuts too. Even if you have to postwork in some shadows, at least make an effort. Another thing is an over-posed joint, the mesh fold that occurs. I've seen some renders where that was left as-is, there are ways to take care of that. If nothing else, blur the hell out of the overlaps to soften it a bit and hide it. Hand poses. Pan around the scene as much as necessary to get that hand to actually HOLD the torch, not just surround it or be in the general vicinity. Pan in, pan around, take the time. It ~will~ show up after your 68 hour render, fix it before you invest the time. Add some sort of background, even if it's a mapped plane with a BG texture on it. Surrounding a posed character with a blank background and border of flowers or lace constitutes a future tube, not a render. BD- the casual observer

A future tube? ooooooh, that hurts! That fear alone ought to get folks to contemplate using a suitable background!

I don't know anything about great renders, but I know one when I see it. :) "My feeling about technique in art is that it has about the same value as technique in lovemaking. Heartfelt ineptitude has its appeal and so does heartless skill; but what you want is passionate virtuosity." - John Barth

Off topic, but curiously relevant to current events: "It is often pleasant to stone a martyr, no matter how much we admire him" - John Barth