Billiard

[agep]

Hi guys. I just want to share a small project I just did. Its nothing fancy, just a few billiard balls (which I suspect is the most cliché thing to make in 3d? ). Anyway, I hope you like it anyway

 

Best regards

Stian

 

[Luuk Steitner]

That looks very good. I assume you are going for a photo realistic look? I think the balls may be a little bit less bright, then it would look almost real too me.

Great job!

[Cross]

That looks very good. I assume you are going for a photo realistic look? I think the balls may be a little bit less bright, then it would look almost real too me.

Great job!

 

I think its more a tiny issue of a little too much ambiance. if you reduce the lighting just slightly it might do the trick. If need be, you can make a "negative light" over the table. (Negative light meaning a negative value for the intensity %)

 

other than that, this is an incredible piece so far!

[Paul Forwood]

That does look great! Though I wonder if the colour of the balls is just a little too saturated. I know that you can get very vibrant colours on billiard balls so maybe, as Luuk has said, it is just the brightness. I'm not sure but anyway it is another first class image from you, Stian. I like the new website too.

 

Did you finish the crash landing sequence that you were working on?

[agep]

Thanks guys for your kind words and great suggestions

 

Did you finish the crash landing sequence that you were working on?

Not yet. I'm awaiting a new and better raw video footage to work from

[brainmuffin]

My main criticism is that everything looks so new. Too new. The chalk is fresh from the package (Right brand, though!) The felt looks like it's never been played on, and the balls haven't a scratch on them.

 

Some sort of a scratch map would be great on the balls, even if only lightly. I've NEVER gotten chalk that new at a pool hall. And most of the time it seems like it's almost all used up. So again, even if only slightly, the chalk should be a bit deeper.

 

Even the best kept felt usually has some wear around both dots, and a track worn around by the bumpers.

 

I didn't say anything about the colors because, A, I've seen color variations even in the same pool hall, and B, the colors that are common here may not be the colors that are common in Europe, so IDK.

 

Other than that, it's a fantastic image.

[John Bigboote]

Actually, a teapot is the most cliche thing to do in 3D...

 

Are the 1 and 9 ball the same color? LOOKING GOOD!

 

Stian...have you tried the 'BensLens2' which adds a little barrel-roll photorealism to your shot? Could be cool!

[Tralfaz]

Looks great once again Stian.

 

Are the 1 and 9 ball the same color? LOOKING GOOD!

 

I think what looks wrong here is the 9 ball should be a striped ball and looks like a solid color ball.

 

Al

[brainmuffin]

Al's right...

[agep]

I think what looks wrong here is the 9 ball should be a striped ball and looks like a solid color ball.

Yeah, you are right. There's been a glitch. I'll update it when I get back from work today. I'll also see if I can change the colors to be not so saturated

[agep]

Ok, so I found some sparetime. Here is a small update. I've fixed the 9 ball and redone all the colors. The colors are based on a set of billiardballs I found with the help of all mighty google. They are now less saturated

 

[Paul Forwood]

Yeah. Much more natural. Seeing both versions together the top one is more eye catching but the bottom one is harmonious so I guess the one that you choose depends on what the image is for and what it is promoting.

[animas3D]

Really nice image. I like the new image better.

 

Would you let us know how you achieved the light reflections in the balls?

 

Thank you. Great work as usual.

[robcat2075]

Those look good. I remember one of the very first CG images of "motion blur" was some billiard balls.

 

I suppose if you wanted to pursue more realism, the depth of field effect looks undersampled. And maybe some wear on the balls, they look a bit too shiny.

[Tai Shan]

Great work! I had to do a double-take... very convincing. Love the textures and lighting.

[John Bigboote]

Stian---looking great!

 

 

OK---now that you have the 9 ball fixed...

 

The 'rack' is wrong...

 

MOST people don't care about ball placement- as long as the 8 ball is in the middle... but some 'pool-hall aficionados' will insist that you rack the balls in a certain protocol:

 

1 ball up front... then, since it (the 1 ball) is a solid...the next two balls in the second row would be stripes, the 3rd row would be solid-8ball-solid, the next would have stripes on the ends and the final row would have solids on the ends...

 

AND- I may be a bit loopy,,,but why does the cueball in the back look out of scale (small)?

AND AND---(Man-can I dink!- I'm ashamed) The second pool cue seems to be floating above the felt tabletop.

 

 

This would be a fun scene to animate with Newton Dynamics...

[NancyGormezano]

Nice.

 

What appears a bit funny to me is the depth of field. I don't think the chalk (foreground) should be so out of focus, I would expect a closer/greater range for depth of field, given how crispy looking the balls are - the background out of focus looks good.

 

What would add more interest for me would be a reflection of pool player(s) in the balls - current reflection image is ok - but something that has subject matter would create a story for the image. Something like a player's face (eg a loopy John Pool-Hall-Afficionado Bigboote type) leaning over to inspect the precise racking alignment of the balls.

 

I agree about adding grunge. Perhaps some pool hall smoke? for atmosphere. And maybe some beer hall smells.

 

A realism artist's work is never done. But you're close.

[John Bigboote]

HEY! I think Nancy just 'slammed' me! Now I know how Vern must feel...

 

I think Martin has that feature planned for V16... 'Smells'

[NancyGormezano]

HEY! I think Nancy just 'slammed' me! Now I know how Vern must feel...

 

No slam at all. ..I LOVE LOOPY. It feels familiar. Now as for Vern...it's almost like looking in a mirror.

[HomeSlice]

Hey Stian,

Is that one ball with 15 different decals, or is it 15 different balls?

Looks great. That's the most convincing up-close pool table felt I've seen yet. The scale on the material may be a teeeny tiny bit large, but not totally sure about that.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

AND- I may be a bit loopy,,,but why does the cueball in the back look out of scale (small)?

 

Standard cue ball is supposed to be slightly smaller than the numbered ones. This also allows the tables that bring the cue ball back when 'scratched' to 'sort' them out.

[agep]

Thanks guys!

 

Would you let us know how you achieved the light reflections in the balls?

The reflection is achieved by a pure white HDR image. A trick I learned from the Bradbury brothers

 

the depth of field effect looks undersampled. And maybe some wear on the balls, they look a bit too shiny.

The image is rendered with 16 multipasses. DOF is really hard to work with on macro images like this, because I found out that DOF doesn't work when the focus is closer than 50cm to the camera. You are right about the shininess, I hope to find some time to add some scratches

 

The 'rack' is wrong...

Yeah you might be right. I used a photo I found on the net as ref. I did only find one, so I wasn't able to double check

 

Is that one ball with 15 different decals, or is it 15 different balls?

It is 15 balls with to different materials (the color is adjusted on the models itself), one material for the solid balls and one gradient material for the striped ones.

 

Standard cue ball is supposed to be slightly smaller than the numbered ones

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the tip. All the balls are the same size