WIP: ships over planet

[jnddepew]

I decided to try and do a matte painting in photoshop. (at least I think that's what I'm doing.)

any way. It looks kind of weird and out-of-balance right now, but more will be added in. I got the background off the web, made the ships in lightwave, and the rest in photoshop 7.0 what do you think?

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u245/jnddepew/mainrender001.jpg

[Stooch]

why did you even use photoshop? seems like a simple background image in lightwave trick should be enough. also stylistically id add a bit of blue fill. seems like your ships are awfully close to the planet, so wh ynot give em some flavor. the green lasers should interactively light up the firing ships. also, your ships are a bit boring shape wise and texture wise. compositionally, it could be more interesting as well.

what made you put the ships so far on the left side? dont you think your image is unballanced? look up composition tutorial on google. i know i linked to one before but im too lazy to go look it up again.

[jnddepew]

whoo! thanks for all the constructive criticism.
This is only the first WIP. (I just decided to try a matte painting and threw together a few things) More will be added later.

[Stooch]

i recommend you make a flat plane in LW and texture map the image onto it. give it 0 diffuse and 100 luminousity, 0 out the rest of the channels. i Would then work ont he placement of the ships. think diagonals, motion, dynamism, composition, image ballance. dont just stick em randomly. you are just slapping 2 ships in the scene but if you arrange them with thought, you can make the image 10x better!

[othornton]

I agree with Stooch, there's a lot of empty space in this image dying to be filled. Maybe a space station or flagship of some sort?

What was done in PS? The lasers and thrusters? Either way, pretty good job there.

-Oliver

[jnddepew]

I WILL add more stuff in. that's why this is a WIP.

[jnddepew]

Alright, I've updated it a little bit. what do you think? MORE TO COME!

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u245/jnddepew/mainrender002.jpg

[Stooch]

im not getting a sense of scale here. the big center ship is supposed to be huge? also, im niot getting a sense of speed. also these ships feel like they are just slapped ontot he canvas, what is the ship on top left shooting at? why are there 2 ships facing exactly the same direction when they are being fired at? what is the ship on the bottom right firing at? the lighting is also flat, there are no shadows on the main ship.

[Steamthrower]

I would suggest that you use a camera perspective closer to the earth and "look up" more to the action. Right now the ships seem a bit small. Also if you make the shadows a bit more intense it will help with the depth of the image.

Also I'd add motion blur to the smaller fighters, to give the illusion that they are going a lot faster than the station. Also if you could put a fighter very close to the camera that would give more dynamics to the image.

[StevieB]

Okay, I just want to step in and say 1 thing really quickly Jnddepew, you might be reading the above posts and get dissapointed or angry but PLEASE DON'T!!! Both of the above posts are only trying to help you realise how to make this image better and more realistic. All they are really doing is helping you plan out how to make it into an even better final image. Please don't take the above posts teh wrong way!

[Steamthrower]

Yes: thanks Steve for that clarification!

[RonGC]

Okay, I just want to step in and say 1 thing really quickly Jnddepew, you might be reading the above posts and get dissapointed or angry but PLEASE DON'T!!! Both of the above posts are only trying to help you realise how to make this image better and more realistic. All they are really doing is helping you plan out how to make it into an even better final image. Please don't take the above posts teh wrong way!

I agree. Unfortunately some people are not able to take the time to phrase their critique in a more polite manner.

However that said, work on some of the items that were pointed out to you and get back an update to us so we can see how things are coming along.

Ron

[SP00]

I think one thing that will help is to give the 2D image a wide 3D perspective. Like a fisheye look, but not so dramatic.

[Skinner3D]

The background looks good and the ships look really good, but I agree with the others in that they just aren't playing well together.
The planet and the horizon are the parts that bug me. The left side of the planet needs to be more clear, it kind of get lost in the haze. The other thing I notice, your horizon needs to curve more. Right now it has the curvature of being closer to the planet than the camera currently is.
That be my two cents worth :D

[JBT27]

I'd try to blend the Moon better with the limb of the planet - it looks alot like it's sitting in front or on top at the moment. Maybe make it bigger?

Also, the shot still lacks dynamism - you have a smaller ship positioned at the corners of the big central ship, so standing back you have that classic five dots type of arrangement - one in each corner and one in the middle.

It's OK, but why not try putting the camera more in the thick of the action, or if you want the shot to standoff, then have a ship or three powering into the fight in the foreground?

Looking good though :thumbsup:

Julian.

[rakker16mm]

I would go with more open framing. The large ship will feel bigger if it is coming in from one of the edges or corners but we can't see the whole thing. This way our imagination comes into play and we have to wonder how big that ship actually is. I would probably go with the upper right hand corner.

Also to add to the feeling of movement pick a point on the opposite side just outside of the frame of the larger ship for it's vanishing point. If the ship is coming into frame from the upper right hand corner then I would make the vanishing point the lower third of the left side.

This way the line of perspective will give a sense of depth and that will also increase the feeling of size. The more of the edge on the right hand side you use will increase the effect, even where the parts of the ship are not protruding very far into frame. More greebles and detail on foreground objects will add much depth as well as a sense of scale.