Typhoon and Tiger Tank - WWII Aviation Art

[ActionArt]

This one has been in the WIP section for a while (viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1501) but I think it's about complete. Maybe some fine tuning yet. Anyway, hope you enjoy

[McNistor]

Hi,

A lot of work has been put in that image, although I feel it's not enough. It lacks realism, maybe you weren't aiming for that, but then it lacks style too.
Dynamism is there but not the best in my opinion. Those rockets could use some (more) motion blur.
The lighting is... I don't know, flat? Yeah lighting is the biggest flaw of this image i believe.
Please improve it!

p.s. don't want to offend or discourage you, but the modern game engines have better dynamics lighting wise. take notes from there.

[geoath]

hi Actionart!

Nice work , i like very much the camouflage colors, the zimmerit, the dust and the road material! As i've followed your wip and seen the research you've done, especially for the Tiger, i have no doubts about the accuracy of the models!!!

My only comment is that the image looks over saturated, especially in some areas like the trees on the background, the typhoons and the track guards..
maybe i'm wrong but the background could be less saturated or a bit tinted,or maybe try an overall less saturation approach, i think it fits better for the mood of such themes.

If you look at some related movies, as the tiger tank scene (which is actually a T-34) in "Saving private Ryan" or "Letters from Iwo Jima" you'll understand better what i mean..

[ActionArt]

@ McNistor - no offense of course, I want it to be as good as it can

Do you have some specific suggestions on lighting changes? "Flat" doesn't help a lot. I'll be working on it again in a week or so, I'll see what I can do.

I had more motion blur on the rockets but there was a lot of comments (on another forum) that it was too much. Maybe I'll have to put some back in.

@ geoath - Thanks! The guys on armchair general have really helped with the tank research. Nothing worse that completing a project just to find some key element is wrong.

As for saturation, I may have overdone it, I'll have to see when print proofs come back. It tends to lose a little in printing. I have my work monitor calibrated for print and I notice it looks more saturated on other monitors.

I'm afraid I'm deliberately avoiding the desaturated "Private Ryan" look for a lot of reasons. It's been done to death and after several years in the business I've found that my customers hate it. The old film/military look is despised by their wives (who make or break the purchase). They're looking for nice colorful (but dramatic) images to put on their walls. You'll notice that all my stuff is a bit over saturated (on purpose). It's a style choice. It also looks great on canvas prints, they look a bit more painted/impressionist. It's hard to describe until you see a giclee print of it and doesn't come across on screen I'm afraid (which makes online sales more difficult!). Gallery owners have told me many times the prime reason for sales (over other aviation art) is the colors.

This one is a bit tricky because of the road dust which has put a tint on much of the image. I might have to play with that a bit as well.

[McNistor]

More contrast between lighted areas and those in umbra. Specularity doesn't seem to exist on the tank model and given the fact that military machines, especially those caught in the middle of the war are rough and bumpy, scratched and when metal is scratched it shows specular light. In the war time I believe tanks are pretty rough from the very beginning. Nobody waists time with polishing and other aesthetic (useless) tasks as these in war time.
The point made above with the background seems valid to me too.
Make a "good" version and a saturated one if you need to sell it or what not.
Now I'm not a lighting guru either, so if you wanted specifics, here you have them.
I hope you don't mind but I've played with in Photoshop a little and although I didn't do any miracles, it will somewhat illustrate what I and geoath was trying to say all along.


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[Leo]

This definitely needs some DOF.

[ActionArt]

Leo, yes for sure needs depth of field. Forgot to mention I was still working on the DOF pass. Had some trouble with it but it's working now.

Thanks for the input McNistor. That would probably be a great look for a game box cover or something like that but I'm specifically staying away from the sepia tone look with the blown out highlights and black shadows, it's not a look my customers would buy.

I'm reworking the HDR image that lights the scene and the OA pass so it'll be more dynamic. Looking better so far I think, hopefully that does the trick. I'll have updates this weekend.

Thanks!

[Hirazi Blue]

I like the picture...
IMHO the background planes seem to be just "hanging" in the sky at the moment...
Almost as if they're not moving at all.
Maybe they could use some slight (motion) blur...
;)

[ActionArt]

Finally got around to doing some more refinement on this one. There's more contrast to the HDR light and OA pass. I got my depth of field pass working and there's some motion blur (slight) on the other aircraft (for Hirazi ;) ) Not quite so much saturation as well.

As for specular on the tank, there would be very little in reality since the very focus of their paint job is to avoid it and scratched areas are covered in dust in this case. I put a bit more in the bare metal damaged areas. Reference photos show almost no specular highlights at all (for good reason!)

I think it's pretty close to what I want now. Thanks for everyone's help!



Let me know if this looks too dark or too light on your screen. Mine is calibrated for print.

[Hirazi Blue]

for Hirazi ;)