simply perfect. epsilon

Wicked looking weapon! Very cool start on a scene. I'd agree with Marlon about the floor and blade texture. (By the way -- American English lesson 1: "oxidized" -- Marlon spelled it perfectly in British English) I'd suggest roughing up the table -- it looks like it's just been purchased at Smee and Blog's olde world table shop and hasn't ever been used. There should be nicks in the legs where knights have bashed into it with their armor. I'd also skew the benches; they're perfectly parallel to the table at the moment. You might even knock one over -- like when the blade went into the table, the bench got kicked over. Might drop in some backlight (light shining from above and behind the objects) to give a little more definition to the glasses. I'd also dirty up the parchment rolls. They look too clean. When I think about this era, I think "dirt, dirt, dirt!" But then that may just be my own personal little psychological malfunction.... :o)

Hi Dethblud, The modelling of the axe is really impressive ! Beautiful work . I agree with previous suggestions, here's mine : - You could try to add a light cone with turbulence to your light to simulate particles of dust in the air . - the glasses are too dark . If you add a background to your scene, it should be reflected by the glass and give a natural look . - Your wood shader on the table and benches looks to me like rubber a little bit . Maybe it has too much highlights . You can try to add some bump too . - And maybe a coloured ambient light . A distant light that casts no shadows usually looks good . Overall, i think you should dirty up the scene, like Marlon and AzChip said . litst

These are all very good suggestions, and have gotten my mind rolling on about a million things I can do to make the scene better. One problem I am having is that I can never get glass to look right. This scene does have a background that should be reflecting in the glass but for some reason it's not (ironically the background I am using is a heavily blurred picture of Britany Spears). Any suggestions on how I can get my glass to look better would be welcomed.

Hey Dethblud, nice work here, but I, too have some comments. :) -In order to get a reflection map to work, the reflection has to be turned up pretty high. But I think that the actual curvature of the glass, in this case, is what's preventing you from seeing it. Either the image is too widened by the curvature, or it's too shrunk down. Consider re-posititioning the glass itself. Either that or making it less round. -The lighting is pretty bland, if I may say so. Maybe a torch on the wall with a yellow light inside. (Thank god for Four Elements:fire) Also I think there is too MUCH ambient light. (off-screen light) All of the shadows are very confusing, leading to a jumble as to where the objects are. I can barely see the glass in back, for instance. With torches on the wall, the lights and shadows make more sense, because you can see what is making the light, rather than just putting it in there because it looks good. -Your modelling is beautiful. I'm sure you could sell them on the Online Store if you so desired. -Your texturing is too perfect. This is a problem with a LOT of CG, but it can be fixed quite easily. Jump into the shader of the scrolls, primarily, to give them an "ancient" look. The axe is going to be difficult to "age" but be careful not to overdo it. You might try to go with a simple stone or dirt for the floor. Brick doens't make sense. -As for more general comments, I would add a small puddle of whatever the glasses are filled with; ale, grog,mead, etc. Just so the scene has that "just happened" effect. Also, I REALLY, REALLY recommend different camera placement. This view is very "human-level, straight on", and is, bluntly, boring. Consider a lower or higher angle, with a slight roll of the camera. Maybe 10-15 degrees. I can't stress this enough. I would duplicate your table, put a glass on it, and place the camera "on" the table "looking past" the glass. (Use the depth of field) Then you get some foreground, which this scene needs, plus you give the impression that this place is bigger than it is. Lastly (phew!), scale. Imagine a person at this table. Then imagine how big the axe is. I think everything else is okay. I hope you aren't offended by this all, cause I think it's got tremendous potential, and all too often, people let a great scene slip by with great modelling and little consideration to presentation. Happy rendering! Hoborg

Again thanks for the comments guys, they're going to be really helpful tonight when I sit down to work on the scene. No offense taken at any of this also (I did post asking for what I could change). Hoborg, the axe is supposed to be rather large. It's concept came from a D&D game many years ago where it was weilded by a half giant.

Ah.

dethblud, Looking good. I about fell out of my chair when you said you were using the Britney Spears image.... ;)Thats funny! Good luck with the image. Please post the next version when you get it ready. I would love to see the progress. Regards, Clint Hawkin-Z GraF-X Carrara, Ray Dream, Poser Figures and 3D Add-Ons.

Making great progress based on the suggestions you guys have given me so far. Already have the glasses and the floor looking a lot better. Not enough to post yet, but hopefully I will have enough before I go to bed tonight and post something. Thanks a bunch everyone, you have been extremely helpful!!!

Made some good progress tonight. I am going to post it in a new thread for more comments.