Thanks so much for your advice harleynut97. I just found a Blender Cookie tutorial on the light path node. It looks like it’ll help a lot.
I’m also working on some new cloud shapes.
Thank you GustavN.
If I can’t figure out the light path node, then I’ll try using the compositor.
I’ve made a little progress in the past few days.
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The characters are now textured and I now have a few different clouds.
I wanted to add hair to the Spartan character, but the particle hair didn’t look quite right for this scene. What are some other ways that I can add hair? (It doesn’t have to use particles, but I’d like it to look like the character has a beard.)
I would also like to add some sort of bare patch or pit in the grass that shows more of a barrier between the two sides of the rope. I tried to add a patch of dirt by weight painting the grass, but I’m having trouble with it. I’ve tried using vertex groups and weight painting, but it doesn’t seem to be working properly… Is there something else I can do to make a dividing line?
Is there anything I can improve on before I start compositing?
Critiques and suggestions are welcome.
Their outfits look great.
Thanks a lot Anthony. It took a long time to get them to look right.
This has the potential to be very great!
Thank you very much printastic8801!
I’m really glad with how far I’ve come with this project.
I made some more changes to the scene.
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-There is now a line of rocks in the middle to show a division of the two opposing sides.
-The Greek character has hair now.
The last thing I need to do is composite the scene to do some color correction and to add a glare to the sun.
Critiques and comments are welcome.
The stone line is very well done.
the position of the sun would imply strong contrast at that angle - but the scene overall is very well lit. Maybe you need to duplicate the scene and light it differently, and composite the two together to get a controlled amount of shadow.
Anthony C: Thanks Anthony.
Craig Jones: Thanks for the advice Craig. I agree, the lighting does need some adjustments. I’ll try to fix it when I get the chance.
I may not get the chance to further work on this project. For now, this will be my final render for the competition:
(It looks a little bit blurry in the thumbnail, but the picture is much clearer after enlarging it.)
I’ve also posted it in the Finished Projects section.
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Thanks to everyone who critiqued this project. I’ve really learned a lot from it and it was a lot of fun to make!
I dig it, a lot!
Very nice work indeed.
Very funny image, and very nice details - good job!!
The stones were a great idea… I remember you struggling to find a way to decide who wins Looks like the dudes on the right have a slight edge. But congrats on coming up with a different twist to this competition and best of luck. I thought it turned out real nice.
This is by far the best image i have seen in this contest. For me it is almost certain that you will win 
just love it