Okay, I've been working on this one for a couple of weeks now. The image is of a female hero, standing on a cliff with the wooded area and ocean down below. I would like to make the scenery a bit more - realistic. I may need to add some plants or grass or something more, but I don't wish to overdo it. Can you offer some suggestions? PS: I know this is a 1024 X 768 image, but that's the size I would like the final render to be in.

This is a good start. Your character has intricate accessories and projects a good image of hero. A few suggestions for you : - her pose is a little too rigid. She looks like she is posing in a galery of statues. Think about what you want her to do... is she setting a camp ? guarding something ? traveling ? getting ready for battle ? - You need a little more vegetation. Adding something to the foreground helps a lot usually. - She is standing in the middle of the scene. This is usually bad composition. Check out one the web for the rule of 3rd in composition. To put it shortly, if you divide your image in 9 squares, place your objects of interest on the lines of separation between the squares. - The lighting is a little dim. You can enhance the scene by adding blue and white lights, with no shadow and low intensity on the side and behind her. I guess that will do now for some suggestions :)

Thanks! I will "loosen her up a bit". I was going for something a bit dramatic. I was thinking of even putting some ships sailing in the background, invaders on their way type of thing. But if she's standing guard, she would be facing the water, not the camera. I figured I'd have to play around with the lighting some too. I will keep tweaking away at this.

Remove ambient light will also help to look less "flat". You must verify that the (beautiful) hero is not flying. Maybe change the ground texture, and/or add some herbs/rocks. Nice start !

You can also adjust the highlight on your figure in Vue. When import from Poser they tend to get muted and you get a dull look to your figure. Try this, hit the F6 key to bring up your Materials list then select each part of your figures texture for her skin and go to the Highlights. Then set the color to these settings, left side 15, 238, 237. The right sight should change to 253, 233, 222. For the Highlight Global Intensity set it to 30% and for the Highlight Global Size set to 20%. You'll see her skin wont look so flat anymore. You can do this for the other stuff that you imported also, using an appropriate color and highlight setting for what it is.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=508733&Start=1&Sectionid=3&filter_genre_id=0&WhatsNe

For an example of what I meant, check out this piece by Djeser. The character has a more interesting pose. The main subject of the scene is covering the 2/3 left side of the picture. The atmosphere and lighting are a little more dramatic.

Okay. I think I can follow you now. It will take me some time to before I post the next step, but keep an eye out!

i think the soft blue lights without shadows left and behind is the first one with some soften... Also if you change the ATM with volumetric maybe you take some more mist and fog... the heroes need more mystery..less abience in your lights maybe help...in front of her maybe you need more plants maybe a little bit high and put your figoure a little bit in right side of your render....a small amount in a spot light in front of her face with a lot of soften i think shall be good... BUT every artist has owener style:) and you are very good Artist Elektra :) Benettor

Agiel, I'm so flattered that you used one of my images as an example! elektra, I use Poser figures a lot in Vue. Tricks are to get rid of as much ambient light as you can, work on highlights of the skin textures and eye textures (they usually default to black, yuk!), and use spotlights especially in darker atmospheres to light up different parts of your figure's body. This isn't as necessary in daylight atmo as in a darker one. Also, experiment with different camera angles. I look forward to seeing more of your work. If I can offer any help, please feel free to IM me or ask in the forum!

Djeser - Thanks! I might just do that! ;-) I love that piece by the way. It's really well done and I love the lighting and colors too! Thanks for all the compliments and tips.

I haven't read all the comments posted here, so maybe somebody already mentioned all this, but I'd take that terrian (the one she's standing on) into the editor and work on it some, trying to erode it down some, maybe ues a function to clip off some of the high spots. Right now, it looks like a hill that should be somewhere behind her, rather than one she's standing on. Also, make sure you actually drop her onto the terrain so the shadows are right. For the forrest in the background, I'd sprinkle (using the scatter do-dad) some alpha plane firs in front of and among the terrian firs you've created, since this will make it look like two differnet species of tree (I think those are terrain trees, if I'm wrong ignore the following). And also (I never shut up do I?) you should take the terrain you did the firs trees on back into the editor and click the erode defusive button once or twice, since this will give you fatter, more realsitic firs. You may have to then adjust the size and position of the terrian a bit, but it will be worth the trouble. Good luck:)