Good poins about renders, big_empty_brain.

And, of course, we are all just claiming to be working in "3D". For more realism (and much easier mesh visualization) we should all be wearing stereo glasses and making stereo images. When the ultimate view is a 2D image, "3D" is a bit of a misnomer.

One of my pet peeves is purists who see the frame (aspect ratio) as some kind of law. I ALWAYS crop any image to dimensions defined by the visual dynamics of the image itself.

Why would anyone believe that a composition would just naturally happen to fit into some particular arbitrary frame? Sure, if you're making a hollywood movie or a TV show, it has to fit the screen, but not fine art stills.

My rule for cropping is:
"If visual material does not:
A. Contribute new visual info, or
B. leverage a dynamic balance
then it get cropped."

In other words, more of the same same texture, etc. which is just there to fit a frame, is weakening your composition. That is, unless it is needed (like a teeter-totter with an off-center fulcrum to balance a heavy weight with a light one) to balance a dynamic (asymetrical) composition.

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