We’ve been producing high quality images for over 25 years and we’ve learnt that what’s deemed a good or bad image is often subjective. However, there are some basic artistic and technical skills which are essential.
Throughout this year our attention has been distracted by a bad image which has been regularly published in the press. It’s a very bad image. Such a bad image that we wonder why it was ever released to the press AND chosen for publication. It lacks the most basic artistic and technical qualities.
Sometimes it’s not until you see a bad image that you really appreciate what makes a good image. Through this series of 24 images we will show some key stages of the image production process.
The bad image will remain anonymous out of respect to those involved in its production. Even though it’s a poor image, we don’t know what led to the image being released to the press. It could have been released against the wishes of the 3D artist. It might be a sketch or a work in progress image that has found its way into the public domain. Maybe other project team members should have withheld the image or commissioned a better one? We just don’t know the time and budget pressures involved so it’s probably unfair to judge the image too harshly.
As 3D artists we can’t caveat our images with excuses or explanations of the pressures we experienced whilst producing an image. We are governed by budgets, deadlines, client requirements, technology challenges and real life pressures. For example, our computer only crashed once during this image production process but this was whilst saving a 2 hour render – the render was lost and had to be re-rendered. We only had one occasion when family life interrupted our working day with the subsequent working into the night to meet the next day’s deadline. You do your best until the deadline arrives and we maintain our professional restraint and respect when we judge other images.
Examples of Poor Image Decisions
Perspective Control - Camera pointing upwards with no tilt and shift correction – three point perspective. Produces nauseating converging verticals.
Controlled Composition - Wide angle lens used to ‘fit everything in’ ends up trying to show everything yet focuses on nothing.
Creative Lighting – Default midday sun. Jarring - too bright, harsh contrast and sharp shadows. Shadows barely visible due to sun direction.
Environment Sky - Mood mismatch between environment lighting and sky. Shadows mismatch with sky. Noise and artefacts visible in sky asset photograph.
Materials – Glass - No reflections or environment lighting visible within glass. Lifeless. Building looks uninhabited.
Materials – Glass - Too reflective. Views into building limited.
Textures – Repeating & Flat - Texture maps repeat creating unnatural patterns which break any sense of realism. Flat and lifeless – no undulations, highlights or recesses.
3D Modelling - Architectural details missing – No roof tiles, flashings, window details, panelling, gutters, rainwater pipes, ironmongery, light fittings, interior, kerbs etc. Flat texture mapped roof tiles rather than displacement mapped or 3D geometry. Sharp artificial corners.
People - Scale and Perspective - 2D cutout people out of scale and their perspective does not suit their placement within image. Jarring.
Textures -People – Placement - Poorly positioned people – Standing too close to wall, looking at blank wall, walking magically out of door, coming from nowhere, going nowhere? Placement & Scale - Unrealistic texture map scale and placement - brickwork texture map should tie up with window openings and corners.
People – Seasons - 2D cutout people clothing a bad match with season and atmosphere of image. Internal people - bad masking around window, no added glass reflections and shadows in post-production.
People – Shadows, Highlights & Blending - Shadows and highlights do not match environment lighting - sunny people in shadow areas, ambient people in sunlight. Inconsistent shadow directions which do not match direction of sun. Edge fringing.
Bicycles - A favourite for incorrect perspective and bad placement.
Cars - Incorrect perspective – 2D cutout cars are often photographed close-up resulting in strong perspective – they will be out of scale for any placement other than close to camera. Inappropriate sports car.
Plants – Grass - 2D grass texture – Repetitive, unrealistic and lifeless.
Plants – Trees - Multiple repeating copies of the same 2D cutout trees. Mismatch with seasons – Spring season blossom trees with Autumn season overhanging foreground tree.
lants – Bushes & Flowers - 2D cutout assets repeating. No blending with shadows and highlights. Unrealistic.
ntourage & Assets - Arbitrarily placed entourage. Dog precariously positioned close to bottom edge of image. Out of scale hot air balloon.
Post Production – Atmosphere - No sense of atmosphere or depth. Infinite focus and clarity. Artificial straight edges and corners. Saturated colours. No post production.
Post Production – Colour Correction & Grading - Add a Photo Filter or colour Lookup Table (LUT) in desperate attempt to create an atmosphere.
Light Effects - Lens Flare - Random, unrealistic or inappropriate Lens Flare.
Light Effects - Second Lens Flare - No.
