I've reworked my Madison House scene. Could not have done it without all your help and ideas.
Please let me know what you think.
It's in the Vue Architecture gallery titled 'Better Homes & Gardens'.

Thank you all again!
BillyGoat http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=957894&Start=1&Artist=BillyGoat&ByArtist=Yes

Message edited on: 05/16/2005 10:38

It looks good to me. But why the grey sky? There is a window on the right that has a white rectangle in it that looks odd. The front door looks over lit and the roof feels as if it lacks depth. On the left there is a shadow on a window but not on the white frame of the window. This feels odd. I like the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Sorry to be so analytical. It is just my two cents and is very good.

Wow, that's quite a difference from your first post. Looks like you've made a lotta progress in just a few days. There are a few odd things going on that I can't figure out just by looking. Don't know if you're still looking for suggestions, but I'd move the sun around. Anywhere but head on. Let some shadows and non-uniform light gives this scene more depth. Other than that, good job!

Thanks for the tips! I completely overlooked the 'smoothing' option on the door. The inside of the house has windows on the back wall - that is what you can see through the front window. I thought about putting white planes in front of them, but thought it would look odd. I went through all my atmospheres, and many of them gave the house such a dark cast. The atmosphere I chose reminded me of 'broken skies' where there are rain clouds and the sun pokes through very bright. I was worried that shadows would conceal all the garden plants that I took so long to place correctly. I'm not an artist - more of a 'director', directing other peoples models around. I learned so much from this scene - thanks to people like you.

LOL! I'm not an artist, either. I think illustrator is the word you're looking for. So that's what that white rectangle is. A house this size would be full of rooms (and therefore walls), so those back windows shouldn't show. Remove those, and let it be dark inside. Actually, with the sun on the front of the house, all you would see inside are the curtains (the human eye can only deal with so much contrast, then all goes dark)... so add some curtains. I know what you're saying about the clouds and sun. Done that myself a few times, and got the same comments. I think what you did is ok, but that's just me. I highly recommend that you try moving the sun around. The shadows aren't that dark... they won't obscure anything. Trust me, it's the one thing you really need to do. Light and shadow are so important to any rendering... artist, illustrator, or "director". Really! Even if you feel you're just not any good with lighting, any variation helps. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later. You might as well start now. :-)

I agree with the comments regarding moving the main source of light in order to bring out detail. I would also turn on soft shadows for the sun to get rid of the hard edges. Personally, I would move the viewpoint forward a little to remove the empty expanse at the bottom of the picture - it doesn't help lead the eye in to the picture. Much better than the original though - well done!

I'd also suggest varying the roof and brick texture somewhat; it looks a bit dry and repetitive; maybe the suggested change in lighting will help.