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realitysquared — Contemplation

Published: 2003-01-02 18:08:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 3368; Favourites: 48; Downloads: 357
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Description This image was created entirely using Bryce4 with some postproduction work using Photoshop6.

This image took quite a few weeks during the planning and set up stages but just about a dozen or so hours in the postproduction phase.

The first hurdle to be overcome was in designing the slope of the beach. Several attempts were made using customized Terrain forms until I finally achieved the proper slope which I had envisioned.
The stones and boulders placed on the shore were the next obstacle; dozens of randomly generated stones were discarded before the program rewarded me with something which I thought was approprioate.

Once the general layout was completed I worked on customizing the textures for the beach and stones.

An Infinite Water Slab and Infinte Plane were added next, along with some very large, very distant terrain forms to help break up the horizonline. The Plane was given the same material as the shore terrain while the material for the slab was tweaked just a bit to achieve a nice transparency and wave pattern.
A customized terrain form was created to represent a small wave rolling into shore.

The sky features the same settings as my previous work entitled From the Dust.

The free-standing stone on the left was an accident; while experimenting with using some stones as a left side focal point I was making minor adjustments to the angle of the sunlight when a peculiar shadow pattern appeared on the random stone which I had placed there temporarily as a referance. The shadows suggested a seated figure, a suggestion which I found very appropriate for the scene.

The scene itself was rendered twice. Once with the ocean's bump map and once without the ocean's bump map.

Once rendered, both scenes were merged together using Photoshop6. Various touchups were made to the shoreline and the boulders found there.
The freestanding stone on the left received the most attention while i helped it to take on the desired shape I saw in its random pattern of shadows.
Once the figure was completed I made the necessary adjustments to it's reflection in the water.

The last step was the watermarking of the image. (You get a cookie if you can name the three identifing factors.)

I'm pretty staisfied with the results.

Comments and suggestions are welcomed.
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Comments: 35

focallength [2008-04-13 21:24:11 +0000 UTC]

Gorgeous work.

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eltonsnow [2007-07-18 15:28:33 +0000 UTC]

one of my most favourite colorful background
the person-stone ^^ super
... the two halfly-appear pentagrams ( or more? ) might have some mystery ^^ maybe for treasure ^^ or maybe can activate the person-stone ^^

Excellent

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Marbeless [2007-03-31 00:11:52 +0000 UTC]

This piece is amazing! I love your work!

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Vlad1 [2007-02-27 03:20:26 +0000 UTC]

Wow, as a Bryce artist myself, this is beautiful. I never get random generated rocks that look that good. Amazing work.

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realitysquared In reply to Vlad1 [2007-02-27 12:53:35 +0000 UTC]

Well I did have to do quite a bit of post-production work in Photoshop to make it look exactly as you see here.

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cheneym [2006-07-29 23:00:59 +0000 UTC]

Love water scenes.
This one is gorgeous.
However I can not fave it because the image is too big to be seen without scrolling.
Love to fave it if you would shrink it to about 12 inches.

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Strange-gamer [2006-05-12 07:29:56 +0000 UTC]

man that is nice adding to favourites

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Zethara [2005-07-29 02:27:42 +0000 UTC]

Wow..that's some accident! Bryce 4...Ohh...Hehe, I just looked at the date of submission. Great job with this!

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eablevins [2005-05-26 18:41:13 +0000 UTC]

I love the wave coming in and the person-stone. I can't believe he was an accident. ^_^; Amazing.

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realitysquared In reply to eablevins [2005-05-26 21:21:52 +0000 UTC]

It was an accident which I had to coax quite a bit but it was a happy occurance which really changed the outcome of the image.

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MelGama [2004-08-09 11:30:17 +0000 UTC]

Really beautiful work!!!

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kickintheteeth [2004-05-27 14:08:54 +0000 UTC]

man, this is extremely awesome, super job... the detail of this is quite stunning, and the statue figure looks immense! the planets in the sky look awesome as well, i love the reflections in the water as well, some damn nice detail going into this...
Its an awesome piece no complaints at all

I think if you did another piece which was more abstract and darker that'd be pretty awesome too if you understand what i mean ?

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alteredreality [2004-04-02 17:09:24 +0000 UTC]

What I lkike about this is the incredible realism and attention to detail. The mapping on the water looks amazing, and the texture of the sand turned out excellent.

I love how the background imagery is faint enough to not draw attention away from the foreground, yet it's dark enough to be seen clearly.

This is excellently done, and I'd love to have a copy of this hanging on my wall.

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sushifreak [2003-06-13 11:08:38 +0000 UTC]

The touch up work looks great never seen bryce look so good. I think the watermarks are right left and center. The little wave is a nice touch and the good luck on the freestanding rock. Can't get over how smooth eveything looks. Must have taken quite some time to render, this size is great. Well done!

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justthorne [2003-05-08 03:49:58 +0000 UTC]

First off, thanks for such an exhaustive blow-by-blow. As impressive to read as to see the results...

Second, I'd take issue with the size too, except I see all those lovely details you want to share, and I bless you for doing do. The crest of that front wave alone is worth any hassle involved in viewing this on the client end. (I actually have a REALLY good idea for how to straddle size issues like this - I'll note you the first time I implement it if you're interested.)

Third, I didn't busy myself with pursuing watermarks. I just assumed ferret face was a treat, much as the implication of whales among the frolicking stones.

Love how you saw the opportunity and ran with it - the wooden effect is VERY successful, and adds the perfect overt surrealism to the image.

And, despite reservations expressed above, I think the orbitals, faded perfectly, are really important to the overall piece.

But it's funny - ultimately I come back to that splendid little wave.

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asclaire [2003-04-19 18:30:59 +0000 UTC]

How comes I've missed this magnificent scenery

I'm speechless, it's beautiful

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neywon [2003-03-18 19:35:32 +0000 UTC]

VEry well done, I really like the whole scene. I'm a sucker for beaches and beach scenes most of the time. But this one is just fantastic. I am so glad *belle pointed it out to me. I'm still learning to use Bryce and always love to see some work done with it that turns out this great.

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crunch [2003-02-12 20:48:42 +0000 UTC]

not exactly the greatest.

i see sand, which i never see in images like this..

but the moon thing up there is just... and the rocks dont look to good...

:\

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anon-y-mouse [2003-02-08 05:48:20 +0000 UTC]

*rubs eyes*


i sat here for half an hour, trying to find the watermarks. first was easy for me to see: pentacle on one of the rocks on shore.

second one, although i'm not entirely sure: the statue appears to have a word / initials 'carved' into the leg which we view as right - although this could be a trick of my eyes

the final one that i *think* might be one is what appears to be a gopher in the rock that the penticle is carved into. although maybe that's my brain creating things from nothing


what i love most: the three moons. [or perhaps the largest is a planet?] but most of all how the one moon is barely visible - evoking strongly the sense that this is a place in a dream, and that if you look again, the other moon will not be there, just as how pages can never be read the same twice in a dream.


this is a beautiful render - its the dreamy sort of place i've always longed to create, but never been able to. this is one of the most intricate and wonderful pieces i have ever seen originate from Bryce and i'm in love with the calm dreamscape - into my favorites so that I can remember it and be inspired by it in the days to come

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gfx-sheep In reply to anon-y-mouse [2005-09-06 16:56:04 +0000 UTC]

Theres a pentagram in the shadow on the statue, and I think theres a half submereged pentagram on the right end of the rock in the water aswell .

Asides; a nice render, but excellent post production, especially with the water, although the sea-sand line could be a little less distinct. The hazy mountains in the background give a nice feel to the image, and mean that the planets do not seem so comically out of place as they do in many poorly thought out scenes, but instead add to the mood of the scene.

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dark-angel [2003-01-22 15:54:45 +0000 UTC]

I love the wave in the water - and the statue type rock on the left. I don't think I've ever seen a landscape made in Bryce look this good. I'm impressed.

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control [2003-01-14 04:51:30 +0000 UTC]

i wasn't too impressed with this in thumbnail view, but when i hit full image,
whoaa!! Now this is what i wanna get into, but im probly too lazy to do a good job, so im gonna have to keep looking other peoples work...

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dzee [2003-01-11 18:33:43 +0000 UTC]

Stunning work, it's an amazing piece, breathtaking.
I really like the stone to the left, and water effects.
It's definatly going into my favorites.

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dinyctis [2003-01-06 05:33:29 +0000 UTC]

the detail of the water is quite impressive, ive never seen something like this, even in terragen.

great work on everything, although the planets are sort of......hmm, plain maybe? but that doesnt mean that the entire piece isnt well done.

great job, the effort paid off.

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etype2 [2003-01-05 16:41:33 +0000 UTC]

Nice work overall,especially the little wave. The shoreline looks to "perfect" in spots,very circular.
Try to introduce a little eregualarity there.
The stone sculpture is nice.

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kalimon [2003-01-04 20:24:41 +0000 UTC]

2700*1800?

here it's the perfect size for a low cost tabloid (double letter or whatever is called there) sized print (like 2 letter put togheter)

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kalimon [2003-01-04 20:21:55 +0000 UTC]

WEll RS

after thinking for a few months (me) I finally understand the strong point of your htingies: the plans....

perhaps I should plan better my own pieces...

cool piece.

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fusionx [2003-01-04 05:48:27 +0000 UTC]

i really wasnt going to fave this....thought eh its an admisn piece i wont fave it...then i looked at it and full view and was dumbfounded at how well you got a bryce image to look, everything looks so surreal and has such a beautiful feel to it, very nice job rs

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v3fusion [2003-01-03 14:50:48 +0000 UTC]

This is a really perfect wallpaper, but you should've thrown the moon away. Besides that its really very good.

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nakki [2003-01-03 00:46:24 +0000 UTC]

was worth the time. amazing scene

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ekud [2003-01-02 22:00:17 +0000 UTC]

you and i need to have a bryce chat one of these days

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phae [2003-01-02 19:03:24 +0000 UTC]

it's so calming... *sighs* very beautiful.

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kittara [2003-01-02 18:43:30 +0000 UTC]

Another Awesome work! I really like this. Especially the figure. reminds me of the easter island totums for some reason. It also brought to mind the "thinking man" statue. hehe.



~mel

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belletrist [2003-01-02 18:31:30 +0000 UTC]

*Peeking at boyaka* They say (and we all know who they are, don't we ) size doesn't matter.

This has an almost ethereal softness to it that speaks to me. Simple and emotional. Love it.

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boyaka [2003-01-02 18:13:28 +0000 UTC]

pretty cool,but is think its to big make it 1600*1200

anyway really nice overall

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