EP: James' Cave

Before I started to animate at the start of last week, James sent me the cave he had modeled a while ago to check that he was on the right lines and to see what I thought of his choice/ decisions.

James' cave

James' cave

James' cave

In terms of overall design, I am really happy with the look and style of the cave. I like the toon shader that James has applied and feel that it works really well as an initial/ base background, which I will be able to add a little more texture and depth to once we have the lighting and camera set up and ready to go.

However, this does not mean that the cave is perfect. At the moment the lighting isn't a little off and is too bright and lighting too much of the cave up whilst not creating enough shadow. I've spoken to James about this and he doesn't know how to change the light, as we have a very limited option of lights to use due to us using the toon shader and not having mental ray at our disposal. 

We did try to adjust the colours, as I am not sure that I want the cave brown but more of a blue-y grey, however, we are still having issues with the lighting, despite James turning down the intensity and re-positioning the light. 

Colour and lighting test

I feel that the colours are closer to what I want, however the lighting isn't doing it for me. It may be worth experimenting with making the cave brighter and adding in lighting in post, as well a little more texture to the cave walls.

This is something I will experiment with alongside James to come up with the best solution.