An army supposedly marches on its stomach and this is the feast being prepared before the men go off to battle. Anyway, the thingy was used to create the arch of the doorway bowl of the brazier legs of the cauldron visor of the helmet candle holders solid emblem on the shield and the outlined emblem on the wall plaque The female figure is a 2D picture, since no Poser was allowed, but I thought it should have a person there. The flames are Clay's volumeric fire which always gives a good effect, and that's it I think. Hope you like it and if you think I should alter anything let me know and I'll try to force myself to work on it somemore. I say that 'cos I've been staring at nothing else for the past 4 days. Cheers Catlin

Should also add that there was absolutely no post work done and everything was made and rendered in Bryce.

Great! I think we should start "The Thingy Cult" or somthing! LOL Lovely piece!

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Looking good. :-) May I humbly suggest, though, that you make the cauldron and the brassiere fires your primary light sources. It seems to me that your darkest shadows should be cast by these two fires, or they should at least be equal to the shadows cast by the candles. Your darkest shadows look like they are cast only by a light source on the table, such as the candle. [That's got to be one powerful candle. ;-) ] Or you could make it look like there is another light source(s) beyond the confines of the image. This image could gain a lot of atmosphere, so to speak, if areas of it darkened (increased in contrast) and shadows deepened the further they were from the fires and candle flames. Oh... and keeping or adding faint light coming through that window beyond the doorway is/would be a nice effect. You have a neat scene here, which gives you the opportunity to do some interesting lighting. Cheers!

The really strange thing about the light settings is that the candles each have a radial light with a 25 unit strength, while the radial lights in the fires are set to 250 units. I know what you mean about the strength of the shadows Alan but if I remove the candle from the table then that side of the room becomes too dark and you can't even see the detail on the helmet. I may play about with it somemore but if anyone has any concrete ideas on how to solve this lighting problem I would love to hear them. Oh and there is also a negative light behind the camera to the left where I was trying to darken it down some. Catlin

Great job Cat! try setting the whole atmosphere darker in the sky lab and decrease the overall valie of radial lights. You can also try premium render; true ambience, if you don't mind waiting for the long render... I hope this helps

Ah! Catlin! So this is where you live.......... Nice place.....for Scotland........ The Bryster

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Such a great atmosphere! It's really medieval feel... way good!

I played with the lighting some more and I think it is now looking a bit more realistic. At the moment the render time is 4hours 44minutes set to normal AA, at least that's what it says which means it will probably be triple that. Can someone tell me if candle light should be soft shadows or not? I've set them to soft and this is what's bumped up the render time. Yes Chris we still live in the dark ages up here, and that's actually a picture of me by the door and it's venison broth boiling in the cauldron. Would you like some? 8) Catlin

Put me down for Broth too, lovely picture, if thats your home itsa nicea place. Maybe we should all model our homes. Only one suggestion, for all those very good ones you gave me, for which i'm ever in ur debt. Take a look at the texture on the table, looking like its all going the same way rather than following the wood. e.g the grain might better be running along the long length of the connecting strut between legs, and same for the top. But over all very nice scene. Just one other thing, is that really you in the doorway, i always imagined you in Black silk and lace.... Tee hee.

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Whoowee venison broth at todays prices..you rich or just been poaching? lol Nice pic do hope you get the lights sorted.

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Hmmm... about my earlier post... Don't get me wrong. I really like your lighting. It's really just the direction of the shadows that's a little strange to me. It looks like there is a powerful and low light source off by the table casting them. It kind of looks like its the candle - which would be odd. I was just thinking that it might look more natural if it looked like the flames or an overhead light source were casting the primary shadows. When lighting flames with radial lights I like to keep the lights set at a 25 unit strength or less generally, and I give the light an orangish gray color. I use the darkness of the color as well as the unit strength to control the brightness of the light. If the scene is still too dark after adding the flame lights, then I begin carefully adding other lights to simulate reflected light and other light sources that might be in the evironment but not within the camera's view. I don't see why you couldn't use a very low value for soft shadows on the flame lights, but it isn't always necessary. Sometimes the sharp shadows look better. Again... Great work!!! Feel free to tell me to shut up. I'm never quite sure if I should have kept my big mouth shut. :-)

Catlin: Thanks but I'm on a diet of cold salty porridge..... Love the Arran sweater btw...... The Bryster

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All the Woes of a World by Jonathan Icknield aka The Bryster

And in my final hours - I would cling rather to the tattooed hand of kindness - than the unblemished hand of hate...

I didn't see that Poser was specifically not allowed. Anyway, you could make a 2D object from a Poser figure, and would that be good or bad or what?

Good work, catlin. Like the look of the place.

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The new version is now 24 hours into render and I only closed it to come see what's going on in here. I've toned down the lights a little and the general effect is looking better but you'll have to wait till tomorrow to give your opinions on the new version. Flak as I said before to Bryster, (otherwise known as diet man), this is how we live in Scotland. You should come pay a visit some time. 8) Thanks for all your comments everyone. With all your prodding in the right direction I'll one day make a great scene. Cheers Catlin

I can see that we English are gonna have'ta invade Scotland again.........

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All the Woes of a World by Jonathan Icknield aka The Bryster

And in my final hours - I would cling rather to the tattooed hand of kindness - than the unblemished hand of hate...

LOL................8)