underwater scene

[chim]

hi

was making an underwater scene this is what ive got so far needs a lot more detail (maybe some fishs, palnts,......etc) but something dosnt look right dosnt look like its underwater any comments on how to improve it.

thanks

chim

[HowardM]

cool, but i dont think the seafloor has such jagged 'dunes'...flatten them out.
add some colored coral reef...and fix that bottom right corner!
:)

[Dave3D]

Hmmm, like the watery effect again cant say much for the ground

[Elmar Moelzer]

Add some particles to the water
right now the water looks very, very clean.
I also think that you might consider blurring everythign a bit. It looks real sharp.
I dotn really like the ground. It looks weird with all those spikes.
CU
Elmar

[chim]

thanks a lot guys for ur comments (keep em coming)

ur right EM the water does look too clean and requires to be blured (thats what is missing) and the seabed need to fix that too..

will be posting more images as i progress with the scene

thanks

chim

[anieves]

ok, here is what I think having done some uw scenes myself.
1-how deep is your scene supposed to be 10feet? 100feet?
this alone will give you a great deal of info. Colors are absorbed gradually the deeper you go, red is the first one to go.

2- Light is scattered and bent on impact with the water therefore the "God Rays" will be seen until certain depth. I guarantee you that at 70 feet you will never see that natural phenomena, hell at 45 feet is rare to see (I'm a SCUBA diver) Also the water has to be nutrient rich and there has to be debris in order for that to show.

3- the ground doesn't look sandy, it looks rocky, work more on the procedurals, also you must have non planar polys there and therefore the artifacts.

4- I agree with the other comments about the bumps make them subtle.

[anieves]

oh I forgot to mention, if you put an object in your scene now as is it would look like a miniature due to the "God Rays" being so close to the sandy bottom. If I were to put a depth in the scene I would say it is around 10-15feet.

[marvin]

Chim,

I like the look so far. The texture on the ground does need some more work. One thing that I think will help is if you use fog. It's hard for me to tell if there is any in there right now, but if you have it, it's too clear as is. This will help "dirty up" the water.

marvin

[mattclary]

Looks pretty good! Did you use volumetric lighting or did you fake it somehow? My few attempts at underwater scenes never came out this nice.

[riki]

I like the colour scheme and the water looks good. But the horizon looks curved. Definately needs more detail. You should do some research look at photos etc. I agree with others about the ground texture and the spikes.

[John Fornasar]

The objects with the two headlights seem to be diving saucers (am I right?), so all the above about the ocean floor is right on, those sand dunes look to be about 20' high, wouldn't happen...

Even in the clearest Bahamas water, you couldn't see the saucers at the distance they are at, but that's what CG is used for in movies, illustrating the "impossible to film", so go ahead - but as anieves said, you wouldn't have the rays at that depth. The effect is more like an Aurora Borealis on an alien planet.

The floor also looks to be convex, I get the impression that it's the surface of an asteroid.

The bubbles appear to be the closest object to the camera, and they look like they were emitted from the flare in the background (another diving saucer?), so my mind tells me that it is receding, but the light reflections on the bubbles are reflecting the flare, which would make the flare closer than the saucer closest to the floor, yet I can't make out what the flare is on - it's confusing.
At any rate, the light reflection on the bubbles should probably be on top, reflecting the sky.

It's been a long time since my last dive, but alot of equipment back then was Safety Yellow, and it usually appeared a greenish yellow in the water. Check out some of the scuba, fish, and island vacation sites on the web for color pictures, it'll help a bunch.

Post again when you are ready, I'm getting the urge for a deep dive.

[chim]

thanks guys for ur comments

the scene does contain fog need to increase it a bit, ive also used a vol light for the rays but as anieves said that has to go, ive also removed the spikes on the ground and made it much smoother,

work is in progress (a little slow though busy with some other stuff) will post more images as soon as i have something,

thanks again
appreciate it

regards
chim

[jonerwin]

Looks good, like the color scheme. I hear ya, John Fornasar, I feel like diving too. Haven't gone yet this year.
Try adding some particles maybe. When I dive the watter seems full of these little bits of stuff everywhere.

[anieves]

Originally posted by jonerwin
Looks good, like the color scheme. I hear ya, John Fornasar, I feel like diving too. Haven't gone yet this year.
Try adding some particles maybe. When I dive the watter seems full of these little bits of stuff everywhere.

The little bits of stuff is a combination of nutrients in the water (plankton etc.) and debris.

Cool to know I'm not the only diver here:)

My last dive trip was to go see the Spiegle Grove in the Keys last year. AWESOME man made ship wreck!

[jonerwin]

So what's the deepest you've been to? I've just got a basic certification. I've been diving about a year. It's a great feeling to be nutral boyant, it's like flying.

[starbase1]

I really like the overall feel a lot - I agree with the comment about the bottom being too spiky, but that's easy enough to fix.

I would not like to see bits floating in the water personally, but perhaps some distant very tiny fish would be helpful in a sense of depth in the image? I mean really distant - very little detail required, (a cutout would work fine!)

Neat.

[sparky]

I read an interesting article on Finding Nemo, and they talked about some stuff that would probably be helpful. I'll see if I can find it, but it said that there are some things that are important to underwater scenes.

1) The caustics caused by the light coming through the uneven surface of the water. (which you've got)
2) Ebb and Flow - everything is always moving at least a little back and forth. (which is only applicable if you animate)
3) Little tiny particles are everywhere. Without them it won't look real. (which I can't think of anything to put in parentheses for)

I think that was it.

[Remi]

Nothing more to say that hasn't been said already...it's a good start.....get rid of the lens flare too....if that hasn't been said yet....keep us updated:)

[chim]

hi guys,
well its not much (been a little busy) have increased the fog, removed the god rays and the flare, removed the spikes from the floor, couldnt really get the dirt in the water (tried with particles and hypervoxles.... wasnt getting the right look ...... any suggestions)

will keep updating

thanks
chim

[sparky]

particles don't work? they could be pretty flat, and have edge transparency.

or if it's just a still, use big planes w/ particles mapped on?