I hope I don't make you guys sick of me, but I'm still on medical leave with my back, and have a lot of time on my hands. I've gotten good at telling how long I can sit at the computer before I have to take a break (about half an hour) and have broken my bad habit of staring at Bryce while it's rendering. I like the compostion, textures, and lighting on this so far and I know I've got some triangles showing and a break in the neck but I plan to fix those in postwork. Where I'm stuck and need help is the rest of the environment. What surface is he lying on? Should there be a wall behind him. I keep thinking that the background should be simple and non-obtrusive so that it doesn't take attention away from the subject, but I'm shooting blanks here. Maybe just a certain type of texture, I just don't know. Any and all suggestions appreciated. By the way, I think I'm going to call this "Shattered". Tjohn

Great idea! Perhaps some really surprised cartoon-style chickens staring at the "egg"...? :)

Whatever you want, just use a heavy depth of field.

I definitly think that DOF will be good in this image. as for the ground, perhaps if you are looking for some humor, have him laying on a countertop, with the 'brain' in a frying pan, on a rangetop. as for the background, I would think that would fall in place with my above idea(and to cut the time you spend modelling down, try doing some sort of simulated HDRI for the kitchen) my 2 cents, and I cant wait to see a completed image

This is your brain on drugs. LOL 8^) Now that's using your head.

1. Added depth of field as suggested. It does work well in this scene. 2. I wanted to keep a surreal feel, so I didn't want to add more humor. (Very funny ideas, though... may use them in the future in another pic). The frying pan idea got me thinking that since most everything was organic that the ground should be inorganic, metallic, and I found a metal plate texture that worked well. It's applied as a bump map. I tried to make it rusty but the red competed with the red in the skin and overwhelmed it. I left the rust applied as the ambient texture, subtle but it is there. 3. Moved the pic up to get rid of the horizon and sky. 4. The texture was doing that infinitely repeating thing so I tried a wall, but didn't like the results. Got the idea of putting 3 cloud objects to obscure the background. I think it gives the pic a dreamlike quality that it didn't have before. 5. Had to retweak all the original textures, because the changes I made caused them to change and not look right. This idea feels finished to me now, so I'm going to generate a 1024 image, do the postwork and put it in my gallery. I'll add a 800 image to this thread for closure. Thanks, guys, you really helped me pull out of a stall. You folks are the greatest! "Shadoobie, shattered, shattered..."

Looks great! The only small nit-pick I have is that the ground texture makes the image too "busy." Maybe decrease the bump height, and make the ambient color a flat grey to soften the hard texture. Love the clouds and the DOF looks great. Well done. BTW, what material settings did you use for the egg yolk? It looks awesome. Also, can I have that egg shell texture?

Here you go, madmax.

BTW, I find a lot of uses for the Goldenbump texture. It works great applied as a bump ht to add a more realistic diffusion (not diffuse color) to surfaces, like interior painted walls inside rooms. It doesn't add much to the render time, either.

Far out tjohn love this to bits! sorry to hear your about your back; didn't realise the doctors prescribed LSD for back pain- must get me a green card and move over the pond yessir!!! lol!!! totally love this image! however I think just a touch of salt may be what your missin' ;-}

Absolutely brill. I thought he would look good lying in a greasy frying pan with a sizzling slice of bacon, but that may be because I'm hungry right now. :I Catlin

Here's the final version, still not 100% satisfied with the neck, but the best my feeble skills can manage with PhotoShop Elem. I think the Poser4 dork is partly to blame. This isn't a difficult pose for a real human (a lot of us sleep like this :^), but I couldn't get him to pose like this for me without breaking his neck. Thanks to all who commented here. Tjohn

Thanks!

Just saw your image. . . . . . how about. . . . . using a pic or texture on the surface of something like a computer chip pattern, schematic drawings etc. I've always wondered how much info my mind could absord before it cracks.

This is fantastic, Tjohn. That's all I have to say, sorry. :) Greets, Jimi