Volcano WIP (Updated)

Hello all!

Update: I went to work on some of the suggestions that were kindly given to me, here’s the new image:


Comments and critiques welcome!
Thanks you!

Old post:

I wanted to see what people thought of this new artwork I was working on:

(Old image)

There’s something wrong with it that I can’t quite put a finger on… comments and critiques welcome!
Thanks you!

The small peak on the right is too lit up. Lava does indeed put out some light, but not that much.

Are you using the new sunbeams node? since there is so much particulate in the air, it doesn’t really make sense to have those light streaks.

The water would probably not be quite so reflective so close to an active volcano. There would be a lot of ash on the surface of the water that would interfere with the reflections.

Also, I’m not sure about the geology of it all, but the shape of the volcano is throwing me off.

Hi,
It looks nice but IMO colours aren’t vivid enough.
A volcano is melted rock, we should feel the heat from your image and that thick fog is killing the atmosphere.
Maybe a brighter light play in the smoke and some lava on one side could make it.

Thank you guys for the input-totally helpful!

Update: OK everyone… here’s the new image based off of advice given to me:


Very nice! I love the atmosphere. :slight_smile:

Thank you :slight_smile:

Good !
You’re on the right way.
If you accept some more suggestions, your smoke isn’t thick enough and should not go below the crater, like in the reference image below (google search)

Your new image feel like the volcano is exploding. It is good but and could benefit from a particle system simulating lava projection like in this image (google search again):

There is way less fog and it is better, but if I remember well there was some light in the sky (a moon ?) that is probably hidden by the smoke now. It could be good to see it anyway, it would give contrast against the red light from the eruption.

@CrusT More reference work would be good, but there are multiple types of eruptions. I think blend1 is going for an explosive type eruption and subsequent pyroclastic flow. If that’s the case, the smoke cloud will indeed flow down the mountainside. cf Mayon volcano eruption 1984



Googling “pyroclastic flow” yields many dramatic images along these lines.

I do agree that the smoke should be thicker. It looks like a mist instead of a solid mass like you see in most big eruptions.

The smoke cloud looks, very diffuse. Looking at pictures of various volcanic eruptions, including some of those already posted, it seems that the ash cloud should have a very well defined boundary, if not everywhere, at least in some areas. Not really having much experience (that is to say, any experience) using the smoke simulator, I am unable to really give advice on technical ways to do this. Apart from that though, the image you have so far looks, I think, very good.

@Stonesoup: I am not sure blend1 wants to mimic an explosive type, or to reproduce any existing type of volcano, however simply ask him if you want the answer.
IMO it would make no point to represent an explosive type in a night landscape, as there would be no light at all. Lava will be a key component of the scene as long as it remains a night render.

@Crus-T: Yes the lava is very important. But the landscape doesn’t have to be black. You could get high contrast of course, with the lava flowing in a stark black landscape, or you could go with higher exposure and ISO that shows more of the mountain and the smoke. The lava is going to get brighter too and bloom out.

@Blend1 I was thinking about the lighting in your shot. The sky is getting brighter towards the horizon. It looks nice enough, but I feel like it’s pushing the volcano into the background. It needs to stand out more. I think that if you brought the light around and darkened the sky a bit you’d highlight the silhouette of the smoke cloud more and make the volcano stand out.

Also, the lava on the mountainside is very dim compared to the light in the smoke cloud. It looks like a big lava fountain is in that cloud somewhere, but judging from the height of the ash column I feel there should be more lava on the mountain too.

If you’re looking for more reference shots both Mt. Etna and Tungurahua have been very active in the past decade or so. There’s a lot of stuff on the net for those.

Alright I’ve bugged you enough with my nitpicking. Keep up the good work. :slight_smile: