Hey everyone, I’ve been away from the forum for a while (and I never posted much to begin with) but I finally have a few projects I’m ready for critique on. This one is a rendering of a real chapel in Wisconsin that my grandfather used to preach at. I started the project because I was created cover work for a sermon program (or whatever it’s called, I’m not religious) and although that project is done and finished, I really wanted to see how far I could take the render.
I’ve taken some artistic liberty with it, aiming to make it look (even) older and more abandoned. I think I’ll eventually add in some wildlife and destroy the building a little bit.
Right now I’m hoping for advice on how to push the photorealism. Stuff like what fine details I’m missing, lighting advice, merging the 3d foreground and the 2d background, etc. I know the moss on the forest floor needs work. I’m curious how to add some basic color variation on objects within a particle system, so the bushes look less uniform. Really anything is helpful.
Looks really good to me. If u going for an abandoned look the grass should probaby not look like its just been mowed. Weeds etc should be invading the interior by now and maybe some vine tendrils.
After an hour of struggling with Ivygen I got some results I’m okay with. I’d still like to figure out how to make the ivy strands thicker, and i’m having trouble texturing them. Since the moss wasn’t reading as moss I’ve gone in and replaced it with some models from Grass Essentials.
Been working on the vegetation to make it look more like a real Wisconsin forest. I’m happy with the ferns though I may thin them out a little, and I still think the forest could look more like pine trees.
I’m starting to lose direction, so all critiques are welcome!
Looking great! If anything, I think the wood of the building is too lightly colored. Wood behaves differently as it ages depending on the species and how it was finished; many woods, including pine, darken over time as the surface is oxidized and various molds take up residence. Along with darkening, long-term exposure to sunlight obviously would desaturate the wood.
But, to your credit, when I opened this thread I scrolled down automatically because for a moment I thought I was looking at your reference image! Fooled me!
I would probably introduce more wear and tear to the wood planks themselves. They almost look brand new to me. You know create more color variation, maybe add some moss and damage here and there. Other than that the vegetation looks great.
