stalkeron's CGPortoflio Gallery

The Dream Maker

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:38:58 +0000

It's been more than a year since I've been able to post something on CGtalk. There will be more environments comming up the next weeks, all of which compose the 'Emotional Landscapes' gallery for the year 2007.

This is the opening piece. It's not a complex environment, but one meant for contemplation. The years pass and our dreams remain. Are dreams supposed to be beautiful because they do eventually end?

Tech data: got the starting model off the net, put it through Maya and then detail it in Mudbox, using actual terrain images as stencils to paint the rocks. Furthermore, enhance the body in Vue using a displacement material. All rendered in Vue, GI, original size 3200x1800. Minor corections in PS

Interactive zoom:
http://www.moondash.net/interactiveZ/emotionallands/kidlayonwater.htm

C&c welcomed....

Will post more soon

Desert Temple Colony - The Paths Taken

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:24:42 +0000

This is one of my personal favorites. A warm fantasy look that invites you in...

Tech Data: The organic shells and cones are easy to come by. I used Xenodream for that. Also, the main organic building like structure was generated there. Then went to Maya for some minor cleaning, had problems exporting some objects from Xenodream to Maya then smooth and export to .obj. The vegetation is all Vue, rendered with Radiosity for soft warm shadows.
Populating ecosystems needed a trick and took a while, the structure has several levels and you can't populate in vue only by taking different meshes on top of one another.It has about 7-8 levels but I didn't end up with the renders of the inside caves. Maybe in the future

Photoshop for some minor corrections, depth blur and filter effects(more in the second image)

C&c welcomed as usual

Second image from the environment:

Details from both images:

Stela Fields - A Lifetime

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:23:51 +0000

Hello,

This is the 'Stela Fields' Environment from the 'Emotional Landscapes' series. I'm afraid it's only a small tribute to the film director Akira Kurosawa, whom I greatly respect. Each stone represents a life that has passed, but still stands in the memory of others - the great fields of life.

Tech data: The stones are modeled in Maya then detailed in Mudbox.The flowers are done with PaintFx in Maya, then imported into Vue. I used Vue for the render, global illumination.
Main image size:3200x1800; second image size:4800x2700.Minor adjustments in Photoshop.

C&c welcomed as usual... enjoy...

Second image: 'The Circle - A rest in the tall grass'

Some details from both images:

Holding...

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 11:22:42 +0000

The center piece of the 'Hands of Nature' series and possibly the best. It symbolizes the unity and piece for which so many of us strive for. Used hands from Poser, rendered in Vue with Global Illumination, background is personal photo composited in Photoshop.Full story behind at:

http://www.moondash.net

Thanks for passing by...
C&c welcomed...

Forest Caravan

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 11:18:20 +0000

Mages and travellers out on a journey. Caught in a vision while passing through the forest. Models from AXYZ design, modified in Maya. The rest is Vue, Rendered with volumetric fog and GI. Original res 3200x1360. Story behind at:

http://www.moondash.net

Enjoy. opinions welcome...

Stoney Complex - Guardians of the City

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:07:33 +0000

This was my entry for the Vue competition, but did not make it. A lot of different procedural terrains are involved and the clouds are made with custom density maps. Global radiosity was used for the final render, the organic structures were done in Xenodream and corrected and arranged in Maya. Perhaps more vegetation was needed but I had only little time to finish the image...
Minor color correction and sharpening in Photoshop

Hope you like it though...

'Honeycomb Fingers' Valley Environment

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:20:13 +0000

Hello,

I've decided to post this more complex environment.It's a kind of abandoned colony, a bit surreal

The 'fingers' are done in Maya, then it's all put together into Vue at about 70-80 billion polygons, took a while to figure out how to get the ecosystems to scatter those things(12 different pieces) together and maintain an organic aspect.Bees were in mind for the organization.The two 'fortresses' overlooking the valley are generated with Xenodream,terrain work in Geocontrol. Original size 4800x2700

Hope you'll enjoy it... c&c welcomed...

A closeup:

A different render view, closeup on one castle

The opposite part of the valley:

The Rusty Hills - Standing Still

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:09:27 +0000

Hi,

This is my last entry for this year, a new 3D environment celebrating the light of the sun. Inspired from Van Gogh's colors and fighting spirit.
Used Geocontrol for the terrain, Maya for the tree models and textures... and Vue to fill up the landscape and render at 3200x1800 original resolution, Radiosity... to get those burning colours fullscreen view suggested...

Hope you'll like the feeling of it...

Second image from the environment:

Detail from the first image:

Old memories - Under the bridge

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:46:22 +0000

I tried to depict a daydreamer's vision of an old memory. Used Bryce for the terrain, Maya for the objects, Vue for the vegetation and render - with volumetric fog and global ambiance. Original image is 3200x2400, can be found as part of a larger story on my new website at
http://www.moondash.net

hope you like it, glad to be back on cgtalk...

c&c welcome

Telling Stories - Everwatch

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:30:12 +0000

Time is frozen, time is made up. Our dreams must not stand alone, and people are thus built so they can not exist on their own. Zen master or just a teenager in love, we need one another.

Tech data: for this environment I made a rough mesh for the terrain in Maya, detailed it in Mudbox, the rocks are the same, though they feature displacement. The castle the two are looking at and the seashells on the ground are generated in Xenodream. The two are done in maya, hair is made using the built-in hair system, flowers generated in maya as well. All textured in Vue.Minor corrections in Photoshop.
Rendered with GI at 3200x1800, 3 spectral clouds layers.

Hope you'll like it, would like to hear some impressions...

Some details from the render

Life Trees - Crimson Valley

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:25:11 +0000

Hi,

Another environment from 'Emotional Landscapes'. The pine trees are done in Onyx Tree, then modified in Maya. Terrain in Geocontrol, all texturing in Vue, rendered at 3200x1800 with radiosity,minor corrections and Depth blur in Photoshop.

Hope you'll like it

Detail:

The Lost Spires - Flight

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:06:54 +0000

Made this one for the Vue 2008 competition, unfortunatelly didn't make it too far.Didn't have much time to work on it(found about the competition this year late), about 4-5 days plus 2 days for the 3200x1360 render.

Spires and ships made in Maya, the rest is spectral clouds in Vue, including the ship's trails...

Hope you'll like it a bit

Lost Columns - Under the Blankets of the Sun

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:31:44 +0000

Hi,

This time a very simple scene, all done in Vue with spectral skies and metaclouds. Original size 3200x1800. Global Radiosity. Motion blur and z-depth added in Photoshop.

Enjoy

MayHappening - Over the Hills

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:47:36 +0000

HI,

Another environment from 'Emotional Landscapes'. The trees are modeled and textured in Maya, then imported into vue. The sunflowers as well. I used Photoshop with two main mixed filters to get the painting effect by applying those filters through the Z-depth, so they would melt one into another and liked one of the renders more like that, so that's the main image post. The second image from the same environment only has some depth blur.

Rendered in Vue with global radiosity for the grass colour and slight shadows GI was not enough this time. Original size on both images 2400x1350

c&c welcomed

Second Image:

Details from both images:

Abstract 'tree-lamps'

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 21:37:00 +0000

Wanted to depict a mixture between a modern ornamental lamp and a crystal tree. Used mental ray from Maya and HDRI. Crits are welcomed...
website: http://www.moondash.net
>> Hi resolution image <<

Glop Colony

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 11:36:57 +0000

Perhaps a bit strange, the image depicts a frozen, petrified colony of shapes called glops. The terrain was done in Bryce, the shapes in Maya, the vegetation and rendering put together in Vue. Global illumination used to get it right. Original size 3200x2240. Find it on:

http://www.moondash.net - just launched

thanks. critics welcome as usual...

'Organic Tower Domes' Environment

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:53:12 +0000

Hi,

Another image from the 'Emotional Landscapes':
This one is an organic 24 level high tower, populated with vegetation and stone domes. The structure is roughly generated in Xenodream, cleaned up and enhanced in Maya, then each level is populated by hand in Vue - there is a trick to that Minor corrections and Z-depth in Photoshop
The main image is the top view - GI lighting, 4800x2700

c&c welcomed...

Environment View (3200x1800) :

Close-up of the structure:

In remembrance to every passing

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 23:06:29 +0000

This is an image I made with a scene from the movie 'Stalker', by Tarkowski in mind. It describes one of my wishes: for the so called 'dreamers' who say that people can live in peace and that war is not 'part of our nature' to be heard more often. Perhaps they will finally prevail. All done in Vue, original res 3200x1630, DOF added in Shake, redered with global illumination. Find out its story at

http://www.moondash.net

c&c welcome... as usual

Crystal Trees In Cosmos

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 16:52:35 +0000

The 'Crystal Forest' environment marches on the fantasy side and measures up to both the fairytale atmosphere and aesthetic view of a scene closer to that 'what if' of our imagination materialized in perception. In a nutshell, it is a custom made, unreal, translucent, crystalline world. It was designed to embody celestial beauty, mystery and things beyond mankind or his creation. The trees are polygon made and retain the pertinent history from their PaintFX counterparts; they were ray traced with actual refractions and reflections and rendered in layers as well, for low memory reasons. The rock textures are created by combining procedurals with real images, while the galaxies and stars are images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This scene has 25 point lights, linked to a dynamic system, scattered through the environment, which light the trees stronger than the ground when they pass through. Unfortunately, the fireflies corresponding to those lights are not present in the scene yet. This image is a 'skyview'.
Hope you like it. enjoy...
website:
http://www.moondash.net
>> Hi resolution image <<

White Path Below The Darkness

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:12:54 +0000

A dark, underground world... only one path moves through as it shines, following the bleek black hills under a pitch black sky. Heavy vegetation hides inverted shadows of a golden pattern(projected through a light). Trees are polygons with PaintFx hystory(bark and leaves have fractals mixed with high res textures). Vegetation is animated PaintFx. Each stone from the path is individually cut. The clouds are Maya fluids, textured, canvas effect done in Photoshop. All mixed in Shake with Z-depth. Hope you like it...
website: http://www.moondash.net
>> Hi resolution image <<

Distant Desert Seashells

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 15:25:28 +0000

Where once was a sea now a desert keeps the giant shells of long gone creatures. People turned them into dwelling places and gathered round an oasis. It's midday...(also have sunset shots and in-city shots).
Terrain done with Bryce, textured in Maya. Clouds are 3 layers of fluids. Palm-trees are polygons with PaintFX history. Render times low, except clouds...
pls leave your thoughts on it...
website:http://www.moondash.net
>> Hi resolution image <<