Hello, this is something that I've modeled in Wings and textured and rendered in Bryce. It's a 120 light cage around a sphere of default grey which was given 0 ambience, 0 refraction and about 45% transparency. I wish I could have done it in a Premium render, but it would have probably taken days, and it's obviously not finished. Bon, these are my questions: 1. Where can I find a decent cigarette ash texture or how can I make one? 2. Is this radiosity? How much more realistic is it from a normal light cage with the sphere applied under it? 3. How's the modeling and the textures? etc. Thank you Drac

Drac, use a terrain with some noise applied for the ash pile... This is not radiosity, it is global illumination. Radiosity would be if the objects colors would bleed into eachother. The modeling is fairky nice, But the cigarette needs a logo or something like that, and definately some smoke. I'd say a scene like this is better WITHOUT the dome, and to just use a normal light, to make it more dramatic.

what about the texture and the actual ash but of the cigarette though?

butt rather

drac.. nice work, great texture on the cig. max... 99 times out of 100 I agree with you and keep my mouth shut... but, IMO, I wouldn't put a logo on it and give free advertising to a tobacco company... If they paid me, well that's different. However, a simple line, and the seam that's usually visible where the paper around the butt overlaps the rest of the cig wouldn't hurt. And smoke?.. it doesn't look lit to me. I will, however, agree about the lighting. I don't have 120 lights in my entire house. Seems like overkill to me.

that was my thought too with the cig. I smoke, quite a lot actually, but I wouldn't do that. A fake name brand, sure, but it's really not worth it. as for the whole thing, i couldn't make the smoke and everything because i didn't have the lighted ash to go on.

sorry, can't help you with that texture... but it sounds like something I might like to try playing around with when I get home from work in the morning.

I'd start looking for a granite/granitic texture. Maybe the texturing forum people would have some suggestions there. The paper has bars one millimeter apart. To get an idea of what you want to do for the texture, you may want to "borrow" a cigarette from someone, strip it vertically with a razor to get the paper, and put it through a scanner for your paper texture. If you can avoid using the cigarette "logo" on the paper so much the better so as to avoid potential copyright issues.

For the tip end I use a volume mat applied to a cylinder. The outer cylinder has a low-density grey volume mat applied, then duplicated and make it a little smaller. Increase the density and change to color to bight yellow/orange. Maybe make it additive.

For the logo, may I suggest using "Bryce"? "New Bryce virtual cigarettes...smooth smoking and cancer-free!"

The new, longer rendering smoke.... but definitely satisfying :)

Dont know if you want this but...

I'm worried about the cigarette. The filter seems too long in relation to the rest of the cylinder.... The ashtray is just fine. Just my opinion... The Bryster

Great lighting, it's not really radiosity though. Don't know why an unused cig is in an ash tray either =P.

thank you all, rochr, you're a god among men :)

Yes, was going to suggest a speckled texture for the filter but see that Rochr is on it. It also seems to me that the cigarette is a wee bit too slender. I think it should be a just a little thicker so as to lay comfortably in the ashtray cigarette notches. Nice work.

The thickness is fine for Eve or Virginia Ultra Slims. Only, the filter should be white then and a bit shorter. For a Saratoga 120's, it's almost all great except there's a line of very small holes just above the filter, and the filter is also a bit shorter.