I think it's really well done.... one thing though...as I look at the image, the shadows come from a light source at "11:00", but the lighting in the clouds seems to be coming from "six o'clock", behind the "viewer", as it were. Nice one, though. Lou.

The only light in the scene is the one in the atmosphere so I'm not quite sure how to correct this but I'll give it a go later today. Thanks for the comment.

Like the work on the clouds, looks really nice, but the stars make me think of the night while the lighting makes me think of a pale day. Depending on what you want to accomplish i would suggest either turn up the lighting a bit for day and turn down/off the stars, or add a slightly more bluish color to the overall lighting and darken the sky for night. The wave looks really good but it also looks a bit lonely. I think this can turn out great with some work, good job so far.

I like the clouds. For realism, I would make the rocks more diverse in size (you probably have the default setting of 1 in "Maximum size variation" in tab "Scaling & Orientation" of the ecosystem, I would put 5 or maybe even more). Same goes for the plants, but maybe less, 3 or 4. Regarding the rocks, I would bury them more, as they naturally would do in sand (in tab "Density", setting "Offset from surface", maybe proportional -20% or 30%). The stars maybe should be a bit less bright and less numerous, given it's daytime. Looking forward to see where this is heading! :-)

I like the clouds and I really like the swell of the ocean. Some more in the distance might be a nice addition. The land doesn't seem so natural though. Perhaps some dunes might be interesting? Then strategically placing the vegetation at the points where it would grow naturally, would make them seem a little less placed. My feeling is that sand grasses tend to grow in larger clumps. A good start though. I like it!

Need to up the AA - the plants are very pixelated with missing parts :)

I'm looking forward to see where you go with this. The wave looks pretty good to me, I'd just hope you add more of them. Sparkle effect on the stars is a little heavier than you might like, unless you're eventually going for a pretty stylized or painted look. Lighting overall could stand to be a bit dimmer, to help justify the stars coming out - bring the sun light down a bit I expect. Interested to see more!

Excellent start, I can`t wait to see where it ends up

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far, Group. @dlk30341, as stated, this is a Preview Mode render only so no AA. When I get a bit farther on I'll do a better render but it is, after all, a WIP.

Its a great start. The only thing I would think about is the division between the sand and the sea. The sand to me looks as if it is usually dry and there seems to be a sudden cutoff to the water.

It is hard to comment on this because I am not a Vue user & have no idea what the programme is capable of. The only negative thing that struck me was the sameness of the vegetation as someone has said, looks placed. However, it does look like a nice peaceable scene, & it will be interesting to see it finished.

Same here. I like it, but I use Bryce, and I'm even sadly out of practice with it. Never used Vue, so it's capabilities are unknown, but what I see, I like. :)

I am not very versed in terraine, however i think its a lovely image, with good sharp shadows of a daylight afternoon. My only critique is the "wave" that rises up. It seems like a smooth risen plane with a texture on it, instead of a rolling forward wave. Perhaps a shadow from underneath and white foam on top of its crest could correct this.

Love your work in Vue Victoria,

It starts very well!!! I am sure it will end up like a wonderful artwork :-)

I sense an air of menace here, an impending storm is on its way! A Very good, intense, sense of drama is captured in this render, that shows an excellent deft and artistic hand guiding behind the scenes. Good job,very good job indeed! DO keep it coming. DPH

I've taken all the suggestions and completely reworked the scene. After some problems with my computer not wanting to render some of the textures, and with the excellent help from e-on tech support, the image is rendering now. It's been rendering with the external render engine since 4 pm Wednesday and is just now reaching 50% but, again, that's due to some complex materials and a new volumetric atmosphere using Global Radiosity. I'll post the new image as soon as it's done.