I agree that you need to focus more on the game on the table. And also I'd recommend softening and warming the lighting. The main light source seems to be the big hanging lamp (which is beautiful, btw), which is casting that warm yellow color, and yet the light in the scene is a clean white. It should be much more red/yellowish. Also, the lamp has a broad surface area, which would cast very soft light. It looks like you are using a spot light with soft shadows on, but that doesn't seem to be enough. If you don't mind the longer render times, I would recommend eliminating the spot light altogether, and using the glow channel from the lamp to light the scene. Work with both the glow brightness and the GI intensity to get an acceptable amount of light without washing out the color of the lamp. Somebody else mentioned having a little light pouring in the door as well, and that's a great idea too, especially if it bounces off the walls a bit. GI will go a long way to giving this scene some great atmosphere. (if render times are a problem, at least dramatically increase the size of the light source for the spot's soft shadows, and increase the fadeout on the edge as well.

Message edited on: 12/05/2005 14:50

agiel- I don't know how big the sphere you put in there is, but it looks to me like it didn't work. Oh well - thanks for trying that out.

Can I make a suggestion for experimentation? I know C5's SSS assumes there are no interior objects - so if you were to put a bone model inside one of those fingers, it wouldn't have any affect. But what if you booleaned out the bone, creating a hollow in the finger? Depending how it does the scattering, that might create a fairly realistic shadow. I'd appreciate it if you'd pop a cylinder into one of the fingers and give it a try.

There are a couple simple acid tests that Cararra's new SSS could be put to - for instance, render a SSS object, with another object inside it (like the bone within a finger) and see if it occludes the translucency. And I'd love to know if the scattered light will illuminate other objects. Oh, and hi - this is my first post in these forums, though I've followed them for some time. If I'm feeling crazy, I may even upload some artwork to my gallery someday. :)