Zgyptian art

[frogdot]

I still have a problem with pixelated edges, mostly the curved ones. This image was done at around 1200 pixels wide. Is it necessary to work humongous? Tried drawing the heiroglyphics in gold, but ended up adding them later in PhotoPaint, along with smoothing the edges.
http://phazedance.critical-depth.net/z/zegyptx.jpg

[rhom]

Nice to see some more of your images FrogD.Looks like a scarab there-I like it.
I'm all over the map as far as resolutions-image 2 was done at 1500x1500-and sometime I'll work at 2560x11920-and there is no rhyme or reason as to why I change- except if I'm in a hurry.

[ed_the_atom]

That looks good to me Frogdot....a lot of Eygptian symbolism in there.....well done I reckon.

Image size..I work in the default size...I'm to lazy to change the setting.

[impending]

Hi frogdot, I like your image - the glyphs and scarab are great!

As far as image size - yes you will have to work with larger images. I generally work at 2048 and I'm sure someday I'll wish I had worked on larger scales but my puter groans if I go much larger. In a matter of years our monitors will run at much higher resolutions and I won't be able to go back and simply render at a higher resolution without much effort.

Back to your question - even at 2048 I can see the jaggies if I really look - particularly on curved objects. Zbrush is unusual in how it deals with antialiasing - it doesn't, really - at the default antialiasing setting but you don't need any when rendering large. Compare the edges in Zbrush to the ones you create in Bryce - note Zbrush puts a one pixel black edge around every object and there is no antialiasing attempt at the material level.

I like this method - a lot :D Why - because Zbrush can produce extremely sharp images, even at the material level. The black pixel edges enhance the illusion of sharpness yet themselves are not obvious.

Place your objects with marker in a small document, create a mockup of your intended image - when you are ready to being painting - resize the document, clear each layer then using the markers replace your objects. Painting is not an issue in the larger document size but moving, sculpting etc is. A side benefit is the precision in painting when you may zoom to your hearts content in the large document.

Enjoy

jd

[Kathy]

I've been too busy studying the build side of things to get the mathematical reason behind it, but I can tell you this, when I took everything up to 1200+, my output looked WAY better. I can also say the utilizing Photoshop for sizing etc, has also completely changed how my work looks (as far as jaggies)

Yeah, I think ya gotta think big....

[Zoid]

Hi Frogdot,

I like this kind of picture. It works on the basic - colors and composition level, and it also works on the - makes you think about it level. I'm also like ed_the_atom. I like to work at the default size because I'm lazy and I want to work fast. Maybe someday if I think I'm good enough I'll try a larger file size, but until then I use this trick to subdue those offending jaggies. This technique is based on some good advice that Shinzaho has posted coupled with something I picked up in the "Materials Pallette" document that you can download from the Pixologic site.

At the very end of your image making session, after you've set lights, fog, depth, antialias settings and done your final "best render", then go to Layers>modifiers>bake. Then choose either the glow brush or blur brush and and set it, with zadd on, to a very small brush size. 5 or less. You can smooth out the most offensive jaggies with a minimum of blurrieness by adjusting the zdepth as you go. Hope this helps :)

[juandel]

ah, what a lovely one, frogdot! what are the headlines in the INTERNATIONAL HIEROGLYPH TRIBUNE today? that %&$§-scarabeus is hiding the most important part! :D