The Last Reflection

[CoBrA b]

This was something I always wanted to do, but didn't feel I had the skills to pull off until now: a hi-res reflection terrain. I really went all out on this one, combining a reflection with Rising_Dusk's epic Black Clouds, and, of course, some lighting techniques I've picked up. The goal of this terrain is simply to show the natural beauty of the world.

I think that this is probably my best terrain yet. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

 

[supertoinkz]

Wow, what water model do you use?

 

[L2love]

He used Alpha tile I believe?

 

[Celaquil]

Quite good, but it gives that "behind those trees there is simply nothing" feel, and you should consider variating the trees a bit more. More over, I'm not entirely sure if that lighting fits the sky you made >.>

 

[Pharaoh_]

The light is a bit too intense, but I think it's fine Keiji, it might come from some clouds' break.

 

[Lexandritte]

Unreflected sand tile really stands out. I realize that there is no straightforward way to reflecting it, maybe you should consider models for all of ground? Or river rushes (and their reflections) covering the front.

 

[fladdermasken]

Who, where and what is an "alpha tile"

 

[Lexandritte]

Who, where and what is an "alpha tile"

Dear Keiji and others. This is already third such question in two weeks time. I answered other two and would answer this one if I had time. Therefore, I raise the proposal of making a damn FAQ section which you can just link to such posts. If it exists, it for some reason eluded me, and therefore others too.

 

[Pharaoh_]

Alpha texturing = the art of painting in transparency
Through some programs (image editing ones), you can create your image, which will have some channels. The 3 main channels are RGB = red, green, blue. There is also another one, alpha, which, when manipulated right, it will add transparency to some points of your texture. The black color defines transparency and the white color defines everything that stays in the picture. So, if you want to remove parts, simply go to the Alpha channel and while you're at it, get some black color to brush up the points you want to be invisible.
Here is an example (Keiji's signature):

You can see that the background of the picture shares the background of the place you are going to set it. If Hiveworkshop had blue background, the background behind the letters would be blue.

 

[WherewolfTherewolf]

Actually I'm pretty sure Cobra did this all from the editor like his last reflection terrain. The water is actually a clear tile like doodad that creates the illusion while the actual terrain is constructed above the ground so there's room underneath - the reflections are actually trees in the same place flipped upside down

 

[Belgarath]

i dislike the water, the black blurry clouds, probably blurry because of the huge size, i dislike the trees here, the gaps inside them, the lighting seems pretty blob-like
might sound a bit negative but i seriously just don't see a lot good with this, the reflection technique is pretty good but it looks like a mirror not water

 

[fladdermasken]

I'm quite new to terraining, but I must agree with Keiji. It does feel empty. Perhaps add some mountains or slopes behind it to add a depth to the image. The reflection technique is good though.

 

[Oziris]

I dislike the spam of trees. No background and those clouds just don't go with anything neither those the shrubs, dead trees and those weird brown rocks. I know the point of the terrain was the reflection, but the other minor things are as well as imported as the big stuff.

 

[Piwlady]

Unreflected sand tile really stands out. I realize that there is no straightforward way to reflecting it, maybe you should consider models for all of ground? Or river rushes (and their reflections) covering the front.

'nuff said.

 

[Fingolfin]

@Oziris: OMG, LOOK AT NATURES TREE SPAM!¤#:

Image

Anyway, i like the white mist you added above the water, it gives a very eerie feel.
However, just as Keiji says, the forest looks flat, as if they were cardboard set-pieces for some theatre, and the water looks very still.
I'd also say that the sky feels very unproportional, and their size makes it feel like they were hanging straight above the set. Kinda like a forest fire.

What i suggest you to do is to add some waves at the beaches, and maybe check on how people like Megafyr does it to make the water look a bit more misty and untransparent.
Finally, fill in the holes between the trees with something interresting (or more trees), and change sky.

This is still nice work though, you have done so much terrain progression since first i saw you publish, and coming up with this whole reflection thing was a pretty big deal for terraining (i know it was you who started it). Good luck.

 

[Celaquil]

@Oziris: OMG, LOOK AT NATURES TREE SPAM!¤#:

Image

To quote my old friend Void: Just because it is natural, doesnt mean it have to look good.

 

[Belgarath]

To quote my old friend Void: Just because it is natural, doesnt mean it have to look good.

here i was thinking void used proper grammar spelling
anyway yeah what oziris means that all the trees are in one place and just in one line and, well, spammed.

ps nature is a noob terrainer at times

 

[Fingolfin]

True. But still, i think his problem is not that he uses a lot of trees, but that the horizon feels very flat and uninterresting. There's also no real focal point.

 

[Oziris]

Fingolfin, what does Warcraft have to do with realistic nature? if you look in that way then his whole terrain is a fail :/ and yes, mother nature is a bad terrainer at some parts. When you want 999999 trees in your terrain to look good then you need to know how to place them correctly. Not in a line like Cobra did and then see an end of the world behind =/

The point of the picture i attached is to make you see some things before you go all crazy on me. To be honest Cobra your trees do not fit. You need more jungle trees like in the picture i attached and you can clearly see the reflection in this image so work on it a little more

 

[syltman]

There must be something you can do to the alpha tile itself to make the reflection less clear and "shaky".

The main flaw in my opinion is the reflection of the sand, the sand itself looks really cool tho.

 

[Megafyr]

A spam of trees looks good and is natural if there is a variation in the trees. Nature handles that better than the lacking models wc3 has to offer. That means that if you want to use many of the same trees you gotta make them look different. I don't think Cobra did a bad job on the trees. Nature looks like that. However, I think the colors all together don't look that good, and the clouds look more like smoke. Also this terrain clearly needs some reflected background!!!

 

[Fingolfin]

I agree with Megafyr. His terrains often contain tree "spam" at some degree, still, they look fantastic.

I think it is the general composition and camera angle of this terrain that makes it a bit uninterresting. Still, you shouldn't complain really, it's still a pretty nice piece, using many professional techniques.