We often talk about postwork, and blah, and does it add to the image or detract from it. I'm curious what your (and this means YOU!) ideas are on this particular image, which is just about done... This is straight out of Bryce, just shrunk and .jpg'd. The original render was 200DPI 8.5x11 inches, and it took over three days to render due to the ridiculous water mats/terrains, adn the spray around the cliffs...

And this is, of course, the Photoshop'd version of that image, again shrunk and .jpg'd so it would fit over the net... What do you folks think? Should I stick with the Bryce-only version or go with the postworked version?

I think the postwork makes the image more dreamy and magical and in my opinion looks better than the straight Bryce render. It is a wonderful image, looks like a lot of work went in to it. Catlin

Both look nice, but to be honest, I like the postworked one better...a lot better colors for the type of image that this is. Another type of image may require something different and maybe a straight Bryce picture, but this one I'd say roll with the postworked verson. MD PS...I'd like to master the art of postworking images, I haven't really done much of that at all and would like to learn. Does someone have a good tutorial on it or a link to a site we can put as the Spotlight Link of the Week?

Both of these are good, but the second hurts my eyes...the sky is too bright and glarry I think. This reflects off the sand and clashes. You might try to tone down the sky a bit......just my 0.2p

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Postworked looks good, I have a tough time staring into the sun too. Great Composition!

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I'd go with the second one. Lots of dramatic ligthing, maybe just tone down a bit the yellow. A wonderful image you've got, I can't wait to see it in full res. S.

I like the second one as well. I love the work on this...it is awesome. My only quibble is that my eye isn't really drawn to anything in particular. Take a peek through the spotlight link of the week and see if it suggests anything to you. That being said...again...awesome work!!!

I like the photoshopped sky, but I like the Bryce water and lower cliffs. Either way, they are both beautiful, I'm looking forward to seeing what you decide. Arleen

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To me both versions are excellent. It's seeing the sams scene on a clear day and a not so clear one. Does that make sense? Two thumbs up on both! LB

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I can Like the Postworked version better... Try this next time and see if you shave off about 2.5 days on that render/Waiting time... 1.Use the Mask render option on all of the models and the Lanscape..(Not the Water or Spray)Render at any size you want...Save it in Tiff/PSD format 2.Then do the same thing above except you mask the water and spray(I personally would get rid of the spray and do layers of Postwork in PSP or Photoshop it's faster and you achieve the results you want) this time 3.Save your file in Tiff/PSD then save your scene... 4.Render your scene again and with the water and spray as all Black(Material is in Simple and Fast library)save 5.Then bring all together as layers in PSP or Photoshop and get rid of the stuff you dont need and you just saved your self 2 days worth of waiting... I find that if a scene is going to take to long to render I can always shave off major render times by doing the Layer type of scenes... Any way you look at it stunning Textures and Modeling and the lighting is superb...AS Always B3D

Aye, the tough part for me is making a scene, all insige Bryce, that COULD be animateable. Someday, when our processors are 100 times faster! This scene did that for me, Sir Foleypro. Although static, the placement/layout would eventually let me animate it. Thus the Bryce-made spray! I'm pretty sure I could have done that in Photoshop, but making convincing spray in Bryce has always been a fantasy of mine! But I appreciate the rendering tips! Honestly, the only thing that really took time was the ridiculous water material I am working with. I'm pretty sure it's the slowest one possible. (sighs) And it would have been a day and a half if I didn't need this machine for other things on occasion... Thank you ALL for the feedback, I appreciate it and I'm pretty sure which one I'll end up using and posting...

Aye, here's the silly scene screenshot. Not at the final render resolution, obviosuly... Not too complex, but I found that chaos can play a major part in making things look "natural". The boats had to be skewed, and the flags randomized a bit... Thanks for stopping to look!

perhaps the terrain could use a little smoothing, but otherwise the work is absolutely fantastic. how did you manage the ship? :)

The postworked version is defenitely my favourite. I think the glow effect can be a bit less strong as the mountains get further away from the camera and maybe also when the mountains get higher. The haze is a bit too strong on the glow, but I like the way the clouds worked out.

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Excellent job Shadow - really like what you've done with the water. I like the PS version much better except for the lose of contrast/visability on the trees and the fort's front.

Yep, the postworked version has more magic - lovely image :-)

dude this just rocks. the postwork looks excellent--ide go w/ that one. but your lattice and terrain work is amazing---no suggestions here, serisouly this rocks.

If you are still taking votes, I also like the post-worked one best, but both are very beautiful. Lin

Aye, thanks for all of your support and comments! Had no idea this one would be such a hit, thanks go out to my little brother Pete for all of his compositional input as well... He's such a perfectionist, but perhaps it paid off!

Shadow are you from Scotland by any chance? I ask because you always say "aye" at the start of your posts and this is very Scottish. Catlin

roads..maybe just one leading from the docks to the inclined plane..minor thing..;)

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Aye, Pakled. This and the "sailing tree" are things I might do in post before I print this piece. Perhaps I'll repost it later, but I'm done with this for now, sick of being enslaved to this particular wireframe mess! Thanks for the idea, though... Catlin MC, I was born in Korea yet my ancestry is almost entirely Norwegian. Makes me a Viking Ninja, by birth...! So the "Aye" is really just a genetic holdover or some such silliness. But really, it's just a holdover from the BBS days, I mean I still type (smiles) and (grins) and (scowls) in chat, as opposed to little smiley faces and stuff! Some habits just aren't worth breaking. But I live in Auburn, it's by Seattle, Washington. Been stuck here since 1984! (laughs at self) But it's a beautiful city, and gives me endless inspiration for trees/landscapes.

OK, you can be an honourary clan member shadow. Cheers Catlin