The Final Flame

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Jigsaw Puzzles!!

DB Jigsaw Puzzles!

7.36/10 rating
(138 votes)

For this piece I wanted to create the impression that the forest was sitting on a plate of stone.
Pickle Jar Variations what's this?

Member Comments

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Hilaria
"One of my favorites"
I really love this one, especially the trees. It captures the feel of late autumn so well. Would you consider releasing a new version? You have so many mountainous autumn scenes these days, I would love to have more that just focused on trees.

Tue November 5, 2019 at 12:45 pm

eethomp
"So pretty"
I love this! It looks so restful. Any chance of a multi-screen render?

Sun January 25, 2015 at 7:33 am

horcruxhp
"Lovely!!"
Any chance of getting this in multi-screen format?

Sat November 8, 2014 at 8:34 pm

horcruxhp
"Lovely!!"
Any chance of getting this in multi-screen format?

Sat November 8, 2014 at 8:33 pm

Romarch
"Indian Summer"
The combination of blues, reds (purples in some works) and golds really works for me! I haven't seen this palette for a while, but it's probably my favorite and has been since, ohhh, "Sanctuary" ('99) or so. Your blues in scenes like these are especially remarkable for their warmth, never mind that blue is usually classed as a "cool" color.



The headscritches about the overhanging bank: Maybe if the reflections of the water didn't go quite so far up the rock? Or if the haze didn't reach down far enough to obscure the streambank so much in the first place? That makes the angle of projection look less defined that I think you meant it to be. But definitely keep the water; the contrast between it and the leaves provides a lot of the warmth and appeal of the piece.

Fri October 31, 2014 at 9:03 pm

OMeyers
"Sweet!!!"
Will be rendering multi-monitor views of this?

Mon October 27, 2014 at 11:08 am

Chris
"4/5"
See, I really like this one ... it has a sort of oil-on-canvas look to it that, while different, is very appealing to me. Can we get a multi-screen render of this?

Sat October 25, 2014 at 10:26 am

Wdino
"3/5"
The noise doesn't get to me much, but the texture on the trees does. It's a little thing, but moss tends to grow preferentially on one side of the tree. The bands/rings evenly distributed now just look...fake.

Mon October 20, 2014 at 12:04 pm

Lee
"The Final Flame"
2/5



It's just okay... nice, but not memorable. I do like that 'noisy' composition on the trees and sunlight, but really dislike the water reflection. I think the entire composition would be better if you eliminated the stream entirely... the darkness of the water and bank makes it feel heavy and cumbersome; without it, the entire composition is bright and cheerful, like a bright autumn day should be.

Mon October 20, 2014 at 11:23 am

Mason
"Continuation"
Double-post! Also worth mentioning as far as areas to improve (upon me taking a second look past first impressions): The leaf-line looks quiet fake as far as what might be considered realistic, there looks to be a literal 'line' where none may cross. As is, it seems to be almost a cliff face at the moment, with the leaves either landing on solid ground or already flowing away in the water. Following this, while the leaves make sense and look better if the 'line' mentioned earlier differentiates between water and land (sans cliff) the blue lines of reflecting water makes it look like there is a cliff face, in which the lighting is wrong (bad angle) to create such an effect (something which I'd imagine more in caves than outdoors).

Fri October 17, 2014 at 11:24 pm

Mason
"3/5"
(As always I am not an artist here, and enjoy realistic nature scenes the most). I enjoy this piece in that I like the water "fire" effect near the shore as well as the colors and sun rays. At the same time given how the trees and leaves look, I feel more like I've gone back to the 1990's images almost, unrefined and feeling almost blocky. I'm hoping the more thorough render of the final product fixes this issue. Also as a side note, the leaves tend to change hues slightly in nature, generally from one leaf to another. I'm being anal now, I know, but I figured I might as well say it in the hopes that one may be given the full attention to detail (eg. possibly add in some yellow/orange tint to the leaves). As a random aside, the thumbnail version of this looks phenomenal (with the sunlight almost being the centerpiece in the picture--something for the pickle jar?

Fri October 17, 2014 at 11:14 pm

Ryan
"Re: Noise"
Yeah I tried to render this one as quickly as possible so I cut down some of the volumetric settings. I've also been using the "Final" quality setting rather than the much more computationally expensive "Superior" render setting to save render time (thinking that the since I was rendering at 4K it would smooth out when I sized the image down).



The "Final" setting anti-aliases the objects but not the textures. It isn't always necessary, but in this case (where all the leaves are 2D textures) I think it may be necessary. I will do one more render at the "Superior" setting and it should improve the noise situation.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 11:02 pm

Drew
"Agree with Harry"
It seems like some recent updates (maybe since starting to use the new software?) have actually regressed in quality. Compare this to the detail of Highland Spring, Elegy, Wintermoon, or any of the classics from a few years ago, and it seems to be a major step back.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 9:03 pm

Tor
"Not Sure"
For me the problem isn't the noise. When I look at this I see the leaves and then a sharp divide to something else. I can't tell if I'm looking at water and whats under it, if it's rock catching reflected light or something else. It is better than the previous iteration though.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 3:23 pm

Harry
"2"
Sorry but this isn't working for me at all.

I fully agree with those saying its noisy (IMO beyond extreme noise).

Also the "under-caves" are really hard to distinguish from the water and any detail as well.

Finally the bark of the trees in particular looks rather fake. The only way I can describe it would be an extremely low resolution texture in a game.



In summary I feel that (and it could well be because it is a work in progress render) everything bar the leaves on the ground in this image has travelled from your past and the past technology of about 1998.



Sorry to be so brutal but this idea is beautiful either in a painting style or in a realistic style.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 2:57 pm

Harry
"2"
Sorry but this isn't working for me at all.

I fully agree with those saying its noisy (IMO beyond extreme noise).

Also the "under-caves" are really hard to distinguish from the water and any detail as well.

Finally the bark of the trees in particular looks rather fake. The only way I can describe it would be an extremely low resolution texture in a game.



In summary I feel that (and it could well be because it is a work in progress render) everything bar the leaves on the ground in this image has travelled from your past and the past technology of about 1998.



Sorry to be so brutal but this idea is beautiful either in a painting style or in a realistic style.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 2:56 pm

Martin
"I vote noisy, too"
I like the concept overall, but as others have said, it looks very grainy, almost like the scene is covered in white noise. Perhaps it's the white bark of the trees that's contributing to this effect? Maybe darkening them would help? I dunno, but I'm looking forward to your revision(s)!

Thu October 16, 2014 at 2:17 pm

Clawed
"Another for Noisy"
I want to love it, it reminds me so much of the mountains where I went to college, but I just can't get over how granular and noisy everything is. I keep feeling like I'm seeing jpeg artifacting rather than a painting.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 1:59 pm

betsey
"still perfection"
love it....

Thu October 16, 2014 at 11:24 am

Littlemom
"8"
Beautiful autumn render. The only complaint I have if at all is the blue part on the bottom hard to tell if it's water, or rocks


Thu October 16, 2014 at 11:10 am

Marlowe
"Really beautiful"
I agree with most comments here that this scene seems to have strong influences from impressionism or even pointilism but I think it really works. It reminds me of the flickering light you see when the wind goes through the leaves.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 9:36 am

BenĀ®
"noisy indeed"
Could be because I'm viewing on my phone, but the rays of light seem very pixelated to me. I love the scenery, but it doesn't seem final to me. Also, on screens with bad contrast, it's difficult to see what's between the water and the trees.

If I look between the pixels, I see an Autumn scene that really appeals to my imagination :)

Thu October 16, 2014 at 9:19 am

Paul
"Noisy"
Going with the "noisy" reaction here. Yes it's more of a painting feel, but it doesn't work for me. Looks almost like random dithered colors.

Thu October 16, 2014 at 8:57 am

BobC
"Beautiful"
I also saw, and loved, the painting-like aspect of this work. This is a nice alternative to the (also lovely) photorealism. I like the handling of the light in the upper part - the sunlight so bright that it makes the sky yellow-orange. (As in the earliest draft of "Panoply" which, alas, never got put in the Pickle Jar)

Wed October 15, 2014 at 5:50 pm

Deanna
"Niiice"
I also love the feel of this, as though I'm gazing at an impression-era painting. The Fall oranges aren't overpowering, either, and the balance of blue is lovely. Don't change it too much... :)

Wed October 15, 2014 at 1:42 pm

betsey
"perfection"
I know you're not quite happy with it....but I am.....

Wed October 15, 2014 at 9:10 am

Alec
"Gorgeous"
I love the contrasting orange and blue, very well done. Almost looks like an impressionist painting due to the leaf and bark patterns.

Tue October 14, 2014 at 1:44 pm

Jim
"I like it"
It looks much like an oil painting. A nice change-up.

Tue October 14, 2014 at 1:28 pm

cmmnoble
"very nice"
The colors are beautiful. I love the impressionistic feel of this one. :-)

Tue October 14, 2014 at 11:13 am

Brian
"Noisy"
First draft and still working on the bottom of the frame, got it. Outside of that, I would recommend more contrast between the leaves, sunlight and the black on the birch. Maybe thin out the trees towards the back to show more depth. Past-Peak foliage is my favorite time of year because of the depth you can see though the trees. I look forward to your final take on it.

Tue October 14, 2014 at 9:06 am

Jenanne
"Thank you for the fall render"
Particularly love the trees, rays of sunlight, and the leaves floating in the river. I like the color of the water, but the surface doesn't look quite finished somehow, and I agree with JMK that the river bank needs work. Looking forward to the final Final Flame. Overall, though, this is a winner.

Tue October 14, 2014 at 8:23 am

Topher
"Very nice"
I love this one. It doesn't look at all real to me, it looks very much like a painting, but that doesn't detract for me.

Tue October 14, 2014 at 6:14 am

JMK in CT
"Needs work"
I love the trees. There is an over abundance of light rays. The fallen leaves look great. From the edge of the leaves down to the water is a just a blob. I cant even tell what it is supposed to be. I think with a few tweaks this will be awesome.

Tue October 14, 2014 at 6:12 am

Terry
"Like it"
Nice piece, how are things Ryan haven't seen many updates on Facebook of late - hope everything is ok?

Tue October 14, 2014 at 3:50 am


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