Day 4 - using KEYSHOT - More Sci-fi Renders

[alp]

Well, it is day 4 now and I have learned how to add lights . . . I can not believe how much you can do within the program as it does not look as it could from it's simple yet very user friendly and powerful interface . . anyway been using lot's of labels, texture layers and now additional lights in the scene. Small blur effect added in post/Photoshop

[Speedster]

Day 4?  Time to take a break, eat something and get some sleep!
Bill G 

[evilmaul]

I agree with Bill, have a break!  things start to look defocused 

[Speedster]

things start to look defocused

evilmaul makes an important point that we have all discovered.  Sometimes, especially when first experiencing KeyShot, we get on a roll with all the neat toys and tools, and lose focus.  My mom was a professional artist for 70 years, and taught privately for some 35 to over 100 students a week.  She would tell her students to break often, step back, look out the window, de-focus, then look afresh at the work.  She also said that "a true artist knows when to stop, when the work is finished". 

But the important lesson she had was "you have to paint that which you don't see", but few ever understood that.  You create form with light and shadow, and the most important is that which is from behind, AKA "backlight". 

My suggestion is to work on the last image, but really focus on your lighting.  Give us the sense of form and dimension with good highlights and nice deep shadows, especially important with complex structures such as this.  Work on creating a three-dimensional quality.  Study other Forum artist's work, especially evilmaul and Tim Feher. 

A trick I always use is to work against a color background rather than the backplate.  Switching is a simple mouse click, so you can always toggle the backplate in for reference.  Use white to work on shadows, and black for highlights.  Then tweak for the backplate.  For example, your backplate throws a lot of backlight, so this should be evident in your material highlights.  Converse for the shadows.

But the bottom line is don't overdo it, and take breaks often!

Good work, and much more coming I'm sure!

Bill G