It looks more realistic in the video. I've also had a few thoughts on structure. Phil told me that as I'm aiming for an all-round adventure Bruckheimer style I should mix up the atmosphere. I decided to make the next scene, with the spores going through the air in the forest a lot darker. I did this by toning down the colour and changing the background as advised to a forest.
Once again, it looks better in motion as the background is blurred.
This led me onto my next idea, which was to have the next scene, after the spore has landed, to be a thunderstorm-type scene, where the leaf grows out of the top. I think this would match well, as the scene structure would go from Very Bright (Canyon) , Slightly Darker and Moodier (Forest) to the Gametophyte growing where it will begin the rain. This is also quite crucial to the process, as the sperm sacks will only burst after filling with moisture.
I have a shot structure planned for this, which I hope will look cinematic.
Hey Sam - I suggest your canyon scene just needs to be much more moody - with some theatrical lighting hitting the spore-tree thing from above to give it an aura of importance - the air-borne spores looks much more 'resolved' with the background in place; I think the background in the canyon will work as well, but, in general, your colours in the canyon scene need to better echo the khaki/earthy/mossy/dirty tones of your establishing scene - a less 'plasticky' palette?
And I like the idea of the thunderstorm accompanying the spore dispersal - very dramatic...
Thanks Phil, truth be told, I was trying to avoid changing the lighting in the canyon as I didn't want to re-render it, but I'll have to bite the bullet and leave it running for a while, I'm sure it will pay off!
Sam - truth be told, achieving a constancy in terms of art direction and the 'world' of your narrative is your prime responsibility! Perhaps some research and development stuff re. lighting etc. should have happened before you committed the time and man power to rendering an entire sequence? Sorry to be the voice of mundane wisdom, but sticking to the wrong kind of solution because of time (not judgement) is just the cg-centric mindset we're trying to beat out of you; you're in charge, Sam - THE PRODUCTION DESIGNER/DIRECTOR - not Maya or the cruel sands of time... You need to understand the rules of your piece (mood/colour palette etc.) and fight to maintain them - that's the real challenge of this cg lark! Lecture over now... :-)
I've definitely learned the lesson not to render before I'm sure it's what I want! Looking at it now, between the 1st and 3rd scenes, the colours really don't match, and the consistency isn't there. I'm sure it will look completely different come next Friday.