Trapped in Time

[Duhast]

I got to thank the Splash contest because it gave me some inspiration to use a model that i had previously discarded (the animal inside the stone)

I made 2 renders (Yafray + HDRI) of the stone, one clean and another with scratches on top, and merged them with Paint Shop Pro.

[TFRC]

Great materials, nice model. I recomend turrning the dof off or at least down though -- it looks fake

[blenditall]

Great job, excellent realism. But I basically agree with TyFric. Of course, one always searches for the opportunity to use DOF, but here I think it doesn't fit in.
Are you going to add a background? (you could do DOF there;))

[lubrio]

Maybe if the chain is larger enough, the DOF should be more usable.

[shr1k]

the dof might work if you had something in the for ground out of focus also. I like dof and a little scene like this could use it well if its not overdone.

[ART [ Pendragon ]]

Great job...very nice materials. 5 stars for me!

[Artistotle]

Nice modeling, composition, lighting, and colors. The only thing i don't like is that the DoF could have been less grainy (higher quality) and that the scratches shouldve been set to affect specularity. Right now they look like a flat texture on top of the amber. Also I find it a little odd that the bug is perfectly level with the edge of the image..I would have rotated it to follow the length of the rock. Nice image so far, I only had those few small crits.

[Squiggly_P]

I agree with the DOF comments already made. The texturing is terrific. To make this even more realistic i think you might want to add some little air bubbles inside the amber.

[BgDM]

Moved to the gallery.

BgDM

[conartist6]

IS there actually DoF in this image? To me it looks like you ran a guassian blur over the chain starting halfway down... If so, real DoF would be great. I don't see why you can't use the scratches as is without the need for a merge, but I suppose you know what you're saying. Finally, I think you should just screw that cheesy chain entirely. It kinda (totally) degrades the ethereal feeling you've built up with the stone and the title, especially since you haven't composed a surface into the image and the chain is just hanging off to the side distracting attention from where it should really be. Otherwise, great work, and I really love what you were able to do with the light in the stone. Happy blending!

[FuzzMaster]

it's cool, not sure if it's gallery material

[andy circus]

I've never read so many 'DOF' before :D, I like it though!
I just saw this one in the gallery the other day.

[psytr0ll]

nice, maybe the scratches could be a bit sharper
, DOF like said

[kbot]

I saw it earlier and always wondered who made this. Great picture.

[blubernuget]

it's cool, not sure if it's gallery material

i agree with the fuzz:spin:

[afro.thunda]

freeze fool!

[SSimpossible]

Fantastic! Great Job; is that the Windlass font?

[Skyler]

Congratulations on getting to gallery!

[31Orcas]

I have to say I like the DOF, however, it changes the main focus to the end of the chain rather than the stone, IMO.

Overall, great render, a bit simple but I think it's gallery worthy. The more [in the gallery] the merrier.

[kristopherwile]

Not to keep harping on the depth of field, but try thinking about how a real camera would act in the real world and capture that image if you had taken a photo of your model. Realistically, the chain isn't far enough way for that kind of DOF effect.

Just want to say though, I really enjoyed this piece!

[bryananthonydgm]

Wow! Nice rendering dude. Nice material used and very good choice of model. :)

[GraphiX]

Bravo. What kind of bug were you going for?

[mgibert]

Actually I like a lot the effect of the small depth of field!
Congrats!

[Coobas]

Really nicely done render

[venombite]

wow, very stunning. very realistic material. good job