Boulder

November 18, 2012
3,248 Downloads
29 Likes
Blender 2.6x
Render: Blender Internal
Creator: BMF
License: CC-0

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Description:

Boulder

UPDATE 2012-11-19:

I forgot to mark my bend file as zero CC and there is no apparent way to change it once it gets posted. This file is indeed CC 0. It's all copyright free and do whatever you want with the models and textures. No credit to me is necessary.

This one of those projects that started out to be a simple experiment to make a reasonably realistic boulder that I could use in future blender scenes. But I had to see what it would looked like in a field and so one thing led to another and I ended up with a fairly complete nature scene with the boulder as the central theme.

I admit a boulder is not a very interesting subject, but I thought it turned out fairly well over all.

Although the blend file unzipped is over 5MB, the scene renders on my computer (5 years old with multi-core processor, and a lot of RAM) in just under 15 seconds. I tried to be efficient with the images and textures. Besides, I think the composition makes the scene look more complex than it really is.

Here are some of the key elements that make up this scene.

There are light rays streaming in from right to left in the background. That's done with a spot lamp using the halo selection and some alpha gels placed in front of it.

However, the total light from all the lamps combined to make the scene a bit too bright on the grass and if I turned down the halo spot, then the rays faded away. So I used a large area lamp with negative light to bring the boulder and grass back into proper illumination.

The sky and background tree line is an image.
Long and short grasses are variations of some of my previous nature scenes.
The buttercups and thistles are also models from some of my previous scenes.
The boulder is based loosely on a couple of different rock tutorials using a stencil for the moss effect and other textures, bumps, and normals for the rest.
The tree to the right is a part of a tree model from my early Realistic Grass scene I did about 10 months ago.

I was looking to create a gray sort of day with subdued lighting but with the sun occasionally breaking through the overcast to produce rays of light.

I was going to add a rabbit hiding in the grass, but it didn't work out. I sometimes like to put small details in my scenes there aren't obvious unless you look at it for a while.

rock grass leaves landscape scene

Comments:

nickbrunner

Very nice scene!

Written November 19, 2012
Delysid25

Let me first say that it is a nice scene and good work on you. I read your issue with the lighting. I still think the lighting on the rock and foreground and tree in general is still too bright. You need more contrast in there esp. with the rock, it blends too much into the grass tonal value. I haven't looked through all your stuff, indeed you have a lot, so I don't know what you all know. Have you tried compositing? With this scene you may achieve the lighting you want with god-rays in the background and the proper lighting you need for the foreground elements.

Written December 06, 2012
BMF

I agree.

I consider my modeling skills to be basic with a steep learning curve ahead. I appreciate comments on how to improve. Thanks.

Written December 09, 2012
danielglz

A very realistic scene.

Written January 03, 2013
rcgauer

Thanks for the caustic lighting... always fun to see how folks approach that.

Written February 15, 2013
BMF

Yes, there are always multiple ways to do just about anything in Blender. Some are more efficient and/or effective than others. I have a lot yet to learn.

Written February 15, 2013
matthewtsevier

Great work. I like what you did with the boulder and how you described, one thing lead to another. Usually I get my best work this way. Good work!!!

Written November 23, 2013
BMF

Glad you liked it.

Written November 26, 2013
Aryn

I really like your nature scenes!

Written March 11, 2014
BMF

Thank you. I'm working on another project at the moment, but there will more nature scenes in the future.

Written March 12, 2014
hensoup

could I use this for a VR test?

Written December 20, 2015
BMF

hensoup: You can use it for whatever you like. It's CC-0, so there are no restrictions. No need to give me credit either because I just do this as one of my many hobbies/interests.

Take care

Written January 10, 2016
GL

Awesome. I like the style of the image you created. Not too color-rich but still able to catch attention. Looking at the image is just like looking at an realism art.

Written April 21, 2017
BMF

Glad you like it. I really do need to go back and update my old works to make them more real and to convert them to Cycles.

Written April 22, 2017