I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Community Lead at n8n.
actually, it looks very realistic to me. I live in the Pacific Northwest of North America (Vancouver area), and I see this kind of scene all the time. the shiny plants are a kind of plant with woody stems and waxy stiff shiny leaves. Don’t recall the name, but very common in some Pacific rainforests.
BTW, the fern that appears to grow out of the water is plausible as well when the water level rises (as it’s doing right now).
The plant is called Salal and that is exactly how it looks. The leaves are waxy because it grows in a temperate rainforest. I also live in the Vancouver area, Canada. Great render! I am inspired!
If this is an entry for Andrew’s photorealism contest, then we’re all doomed. :D The biggest thing I see wrong is that the reflections on the water are too perfect. Fantastic render though.
WOW – all the nature looks perfect. The only thing that made me suspect it was a render when I first saw it was the handrail – it isn’t smooth enough for a trail that gets as much walking as this one. Otherwise perfect!
Agreed… The only other thing that grabbed me was the two sticks at the base of the ramp up. The looked placed and a bit too parallel to one another. They would not look as they do with traffic as well. Otherwise, this image rocks.
Please don’t. If you post this at CGsociety you’ll get response like “mweh”, “nothing special”, “been there and done that”. And then you’ll have more posters bashing Blender, OR you have to post it as a Cinema4D or Maya work to escape a lynching.
I see, so don’t even try? With attitudes like that, why don’t we all just stop using Blender all together as we will never compete, right. Or just never post our work so people can’t tell us how it can be improved.
Post it anyway, WITH PRIDE!! It’s about the work not the package normally, but in this case, it also highlights the packages progress and that’s something to be proud of in free software.
This : http://cgcookie.com/blender/images/sss-study/ was submitted to CGTalk and won’t even put it in the gallery. Not special enough they said. Endi got some devastating critique once too. I’ve things in the gallery from time to time that left me scratching my head.
This piece is awesome already, no need to post it there. Furthermore I know of a moderator there that wants the blender forum scratched (not that she will succeed in that, but it tells a lot about the hostility towards Blender).
he he may be LEIGH? CGTalk as well as their community are a bunch of frustrated artists and lots of corruption there as well. When they see better work made in Blender than made in Maya they get all irritated. Probably because they spent their savings buying a 3D software thinking that they will produce outstanding and unique work? CRASH ! CRASH ! When seeing free software capable to accomplish the same then you get in trouble. :) The release is to attack you and your work ! Be READY !
bohlinghaus
There appears to be this mind-set that a program or whatever needs to be frustratingly complex or horribly expensive for it to be any good. If someone wants to pay US$4000 for a piece of software, the more power to them. Open source or otherwise free software will never get the props due for that issue. If its free or cheap, its crap. To a point that is true and to drive this home, over at a website called the new boston, they will not, or would not do Blender tutorials because “Max is the industry standard”.
But GIMP and Blender can stand up to and play at the same level as the big guns. It has been proven before.
But here is the cute irony in all this. The whole “Mac v Windows” argument follows this. Macs are generally more expensive than PC’s (I can hear the mumbling now) But can you tell the difference between works done on Macs v PC’s?
Drew42
all fantastics aside, perhaps part that sites requirements is that an image is to “say” something. While this is a superbly detailed render, it’s not thought provoking at all. …Which, given the nature of the scene, that’s why one might just enter a forest. So perhaps it says something– by not saying anything…peaceful. Still, though, submit it to the internets, it’s quite tight. /2-cents/
tinonetic
You bring a valid point. “Software Discrimination” aside (which may exist), I have seen that many/some of the pics that get front-page status on CGTalk evoke emotions, tell a story. They would be “art as in real art”. They could be toon, fantasy, 3D, painted or other… Though, I have to agree there are some that get recognition for the technical achievement…esp photorealism like this one.
Tagging it with the name “Blender” makes many not take it seriously. Remember CGSociety gets a lot of advertising from the big software producers, the schools and content providers (most of which use the “industry standard” commercial packages). They know who butters their bread, and the last thing they would want to do is antagonise their main sponsors by highlighting software (Blender) that is coming to the fore as genuinely competitive.
So dont be too harsh on the forum leaders/moderators. They are artists! I can bet every single cent I have that they do acknowledge Blender and many have even used it in their 3D content creation pipeline. They are not blind or oblivious to its existence.
Keep doing what you do, keep supporting Blender, keep producing artwork/technical stuff…and if you really want hard-hitting crits, post on CGTalk. Just dont put your heart in a platter, with a knife and fork and expect it not to be stabbed almost everywhere.
I love the fact that that a Blender Training DVD will be given away free to SIGGRAPH attendants. Those lucky chums!!…(sigh)… If only SIGGRAPH would come to Africa.
:-)
NCubed
However, it is in issue 159 of 3DWorld. Yippee!
Zander Nicolic
Yep, I agree. I’ve given advice to send fine works to CGSoc in the past, but lately I changed my mind.
Let me be clear: there’s lot of good people there and many skilled artists, but moderators are generally supercilious and touchy, and the new restrictive rules stated by leigh sound absurd to me.
Also, I found plenty of bigotry about subjects, and a propensity not to share anything, which I believe is the opposite of what is sound in the web.
Turning to the image here: awesome is the word for me. But it’s true, We are looking at so many outstanding things made with Blender since 2.5 times.
I’ve been thinking the same thing! I realize this the most when I check the ‘Finished Projects’ section of the BlenderArtists forum and see that numerous images actually look amazing :D Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me, but I have been seeing much better renders recently for sure.
Oh I didnt realize this was here thanks a lot guys! I’m still doing a little bit of work here and there, I’ll be entering a finished version in Andrew’s current challenge
Its incredible Like a photo! Great job! However I don’t understand if you can make such a fantastic photorealistic image like this would it be harder to make something out of this world like an alien landscape/forest? Take a look at the movie Avatar or the game Myst to see what I mean. The problem with this image is that people would think it’s an ordinary photo. I think it would be much more awesome if you could make a photorealistic alien landscape.
So i guess this is not the reference photo right ? damn i really hope this image is posted in more sites.Blender and major4z needs more publicity! good work there! will be looking forward to see more of your work!
I will not lie I’m jealous of your talent major4z. Thats an awesome work you’ve done there. I could not imagine that cycles could have such results. As I have heard many time, its not the software you use but its the artist.
The only thing that comes out and give a hint that its 3d, its the handrail. If you can tweak that your image is just gonna be perfect.
I think that you are the favorite to win Andrew Price contest.
If you feel generous, please could you share a bit of your knowledge. The way you did your lighting setup is awesome, I’ll love to know how you did it.
“its not the software you use but its the artist.” is not true. It is the software you use and artistic ability!! Any artist needs the right tools for the job.
These are really good times for the blender community. Blender is advancing at a phenomenal rate. Cycles was much needed, and the amazing artwork I am seeing in the Blender community is evident of that.
Fooled me. The lighting and random tire treads (on the path and bridge) really convinced me. Kibitzes: Mushrooms will generally point up, and button mushrooms look slightly different if growing vertically on trees; ferns do not grow directly in water; if there is foot traffic, then there will be less pine needles on the path, and the green plants will be crushed, smaller, or non-existent on that part of the path, probably; the stick under the tire tread may very well be cracked or broken.
Very convincing. The best effects are the lighting and the tire treads.
Kibitzes:
– ferns do not grow directly in water (is it flooding?)
– mushrooms tend to grow pointing upward, even if starting sideways
– if this is an active footpath, then the green plants would be crushed, shorter, or non-existent directly under the foot traffic
– the stick under the tire tread may very well be cracked or broken
– consider adding a mist to take the sharp edges off the models
Come on, what’s so weird about a photo of some woods somewhe- OH! It’s a RENDER!? That is awesome! You have my official approval. (Whatever that means hehe)
simply awesome!
i thought its a real picture until i read the text below the image.
Wow congratulations!
the same for me !
The amount of details is impressive.
Very nice work!
That … is freakin fantastic! VERY well done, right down to the stuff on the ground! REALLY well done! GREAT work!
Great image, but the plants on the ground seem a little too shiny. Otherwise very good!
actually, it looks very realistic to me. I live in the Pacific Northwest of North America (Vancouver area), and I see this kind of scene all the time. the shiny plants are a kind of plant with woody stems and waxy stiff shiny leaves. Don’t recall the name, but very common in some Pacific rainforests.
BTW, the fern that appears to grow out of the water is plausible as well when the water level rises (as it’s doing right now).
beautiful work!
The plant is called Salal and that is exactly how it looks. The leaves are waxy because it grows in a temperate rainforest. I also live in the Vancouver area, Canada. Great render! I am inspired!
Wow and Wow… very good… love it =)
*double-fist-bumps major4z*
That must be a photo for sure ;-P…. very good work
I believed and still believe it is a picture!
O…..M…G..!!!
Really nice work !!
You are talented.
Good details.
Congrats!
If this is an entry for Andrew’s photorealism contest, then we’re all doomed. :D The biggest thing I see wrong is that the reflections on the water are too perfect. Fantastic render though.
Are you SURE that’s not a photo? ;)
WOW – all the nature looks perfect. The only thing that made me suspect it was a render when I first saw it was the handrail – it isn’t smooth enough for a trail that gets as much walking as this one. Otherwise perfect!
I’ll get on that asap
Agreed… The only other thing that grabbed me was the two sticks at the base of the ramp up. The looked placed and a bit too parallel to one another. They would not look as they do with traffic as well. Otherwise, this image rocks.
Plz try to post that at CGsociety.
Please don’t. If you post this at CGsociety you’ll get response like “mweh”, “nothing special”, “been there and done that”. And then you’ll have more posters bashing Blender, OR you have to post it as a Cinema4D or Maya work to escape a lynching.
I see, so don’t even try? With attitudes like that, why don’t we all just stop using Blender all together as we will never compete, right. Or just never post our work so people can’t tell us how it can be improved.
Post it anyway, WITH PRIDE!! It’s about the work not the package normally, but in this case, it also highlights the packages progress and that’s something to be proud of in free software.
This : http://cgcookie.com/blender/images/sss-study/ was submitted to CGTalk and won’t even put it in the gallery. Not special enough they said. Endi got some devastating critique once too. I’ve things in the gallery from time to time that left me scratching my head.
This piece is awesome already, no need to post it there. Furthermore I know of a moderator there that wants the blender forum scratched (not that she will succeed in that, but it tells a lot about the hostility towards Blender).
he he may be LEIGH? CGTalk as well as their community are a bunch of frustrated artists and lots of corruption there as well. When they see better work made in Blender than made in Maya they get all irritated. Probably because they spent their savings buying a 3D software thinking that they will produce outstanding and unique work? CRASH ! CRASH ! When seeing free software capable to accomplish the same then you get in trouble. :) The release is to attack you and your work ! Be READY !
There appears to be this mind-set that a program or whatever needs to be frustratingly complex or horribly expensive for it to be any good. If someone wants to pay US$4000 for a piece of software, the more power to them. Open source or otherwise free software will never get the props due for that issue. If its free or cheap, its crap. To a point that is true and to drive this home, over at a website called the new boston, they will not, or would not do Blender tutorials because “Max is the industry standard”.
But GIMP and Blender can stand up to and play at the same level as the big guns. It has been proven before.
But here is the cute irony in all this. The whole “Mac v Windows” argument follows this. Macs are generally more expensive than PC’s (I can hear the mumbling now) But can you tell the difference between works done on Macs v PC’s?
all fantastics aside, perhaps part that sites requirements is that an image is to “say” something. While this is a superbly detailed render, it’s not thought provoking at all. …Which, given the nature of the scene, that’s why one might just enter a forest. So perhaps it says something– by not saying anything…peaceful. Still, though, submit it to the internets, it’s quite tight. /2-cents/
You bring a valid point. “Software Discrimination” aside (which may exist), I have seen that many/some of the pics that get front-page status on CGTalk evoke emotions, tell a story. They would be “art as in real art”. They could be toon, fantasy, 3D, painted or other… Though, I have to agree there are some that get recognition for the technical achievement…esp photorealism like this one.
Tagging it with the name “Blender” makes many not take it seriously. Remember CGSociety gets a lot of advertising from the big software producers, the schools and content providers (most of which use the “industry standard” commercial packages). They know who butters their bread, and the last thing they would want to do is antagonise their main sponsors by highlighting software (Blender) that is coming to the fore as genuinely competitive.
So dont be too harsh on the forum leaders/moderators. They are artists! I can bet every single cent I have that they do acknowledge Blender and many have even used it in their 3D content creation pipeline. They are not blind or oblivious to its existence.
Keep doing what you do, keep supporting Blender, keep producing artwork/technical stuff…and if you really want hard-hitting crits, post on CGTalk. Just dont put your heart in a platter, with a knife and fork and expect it not to be stabbed almost everywhere.
I love the fact that that a Blender Training DVD will be given away free to SIGGRAPH attendants. Those lucky chums!!…(sigh)… If only SIGGRAPH would come to Africa.
:-)
However, it is in issue 159 of 3DWorld. Yippee!
Yep, I agree. I’ve given advice to send fine works to CGSoc in the past, but lately I changed my mind.
Let me be clear: there’s lot of good people there and many skilled artists, but moderators are generally supercilious and touchy, and the new restrictive rules stated by leigh sound absurd to me.
Also, I found plenty of bigotry about subjects, and a propensity not to share anything, which I believe is the opposite of what is sound in the web.
Turning to the image here: awesome is the word for me. But it’s true, We are looking at so many outstanding things made with Blender since 2.5 times.
will do!
Oh my god! That looks SOOOO real!
Fantastic piece of work!
Stunning!
I may be completely wrong, but i see more and more incredible works done with blender than it was two years ago! Nice work, Congratulations.
I’ve been thinking the same thing! I realize this the most when I check the ‘Finished Projects’ section of the BlenderArtists forum and see that numerous images actually look amazing :D Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me, but I have been seeing much better renders recently for sure.
Wonderful!
Amazing! This quality is good enough for TV advertising, Hollywood movies, etc.
Shame on you, unbeliever.
:O I was like “ok don’t tell me this a render” may be bart’s sharing his holiday pics. :P
awesome work. :)
Check BA thread link. :)
just follow BA thread, big jealous spoted
It’s from a fellow t/3/apod
you mean a fellow monk/3/y head :)
:O Amazing… Fantastic… Incredible… :O
You are in charge of constructing the matrix.
ha ha ha!
Okay I looked at the thread at BA. Yes it is definitely a 3D work. This is the first 3D image that have tricked me. Honestly the first one.
I couldn’t believe it myself but I was also sure Bart would not play a trick like that on us either.
Oh I didnt realize this was here thanks a lot guys! I’m still doing a little bit of work here and there, I’ll be entering a finished version in Andrew’s current challenge
Its incredible Like a photo! Great job! However I don’t understand if you can make such a fantastic photorealistic image like this would it be harder to make something out of this world like an alien landscape/forest? Take a look at the movie Avatar or the game Myst to see what I mean. The problem with this image is that people would think it’s an ordinary photo. I think it would be much more awesome if you could make a photorealistic alien landscape.
Holy cripes!!
So i guess this is not the reference photo right ? damn i really hope this image is posted in more sites.Blender and major4z needs more publicity! good work there! will be looking forward to see more of your work!
I will not lie I’m jealous of your talent major4z. Thats an awesome work you’ve done there. I could not imagine that cycles could have such results. As I have heard many time, its not the software you use but its the artist.
The only thing that comes out and give a hint that its 3d, its the handrail. If you can tweak that your image is just gonna be perfect.
I think that you are the favorite to win Andrew Price contest.
If you feel generous, please could you share a bit of your knowledge. The way you did your lighting setup is awesome, I’ll love to know how you did it.
Again congratulation for that awesome picture.
“its not the software you use but its the artist.” is not true. It is the software you use and artistic ability!! Any artist needs the right tools for the job.
These are really good times for the blender community. Blender is advancing at a phenomenal rate. Cycles was much needed, and the amazing artwork I am seeing in the Blender community is evident of that.
Beautiful work major4z.
This is an howesome exemple of today blender power, like to see a complete tuto to make more photorealism in blender
Since when did BN become a forum to post amazing photos?!?! :)
Fooled me. The lighting and random tire treads (on the path and bridge) really convinced me. Kibitzes: Mushrooms will generally point up, and button mushrooms look slightly different if growing vertically on trees; ferns do not grow directly in water; if there is foot traffic, then there will be less pine needles on the path, and the green plants will be crushed, smaller, or non-existent on that part of the path, probably; the stick under the tire tread may very well be cracked or broken.
Very convincing. The best effects are the lighting and the tire treads.
Kibitzes:
– ferns do not grow directly in water (is it flooding?)
– mushrooms tend to grow pointing upward, even if starting sideways
– if this is an active footpath, then the green plants would be crushed, shorter, or non-existent directly under the foot traffic
– the stick under the tire tread may very well be cracked or broken
– consider adding a mist to take the sharp edges off the models
My eyes almost popped out when I saw this..”Whaat, don’t tell me this is seriously a rendered picture?!!”
Amazing work! Must have taken some time to do all the details and tweaks.. This should be put in the gallery :)
Come on, what’s so weird about a photo of some woods somewhe- OH! It’s a RENDER!? That is awesome! You have my official approval. (Whatever that means hehe)
I will sacrifice my first born son in honour of this render.
WOW, Frontpage stuff!
did you participate in the Nature Academy?
Amazing, fooled me for a photo :)