Guild of Writers

Just wow. /me is jealous.

In this particular case, I prefer the lighter version. That is a stone cold gorgeous building and I prefer being able to see all of it .

Umm... when I asked you if you could make the walls brighter, I did not mean that bright
But... wait. Hey, that looks somehow nice. I like it.
And as Calena says, I prefer to see something of the awesomeness. It would make me sad to see most of it disappear in the dark.

With bright walls however, you should make huge use of lightmaps, eventually handpainted or manually corrected. Contrast of bright and dark areas is what makes a location look alive and interesting.
There can be still areas that dark as before, as long as there are bright areas as well.

Personally, although it's easier to see the details in the cathedral, I think the dark version felt more natural.

What bothers me with this new version is that you can't see where the light comes from. The walls are brightly lit, yet because of the glasses it seems the sky is dark and cloudy.


IMHO, you should let a lot of light stream from the windows, let it lighten the area nearby. Maybe even use a projected texture.
For instance, in this picture...

Show Spoiler

[img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8617080766_bd13697d86_c.jpg[/img][/quote]

...You could add a texture in front of the window to simulate bloom, put a lamp to lighten up a bit the walls nearby, and project a blurry version of the window on the nearby objects !

tachzusamm wrote:Contrast of bright and dark areas is what makes a location look alive and interesting.
There can be still areas that dark as before, as long as there are bright areas as well.

+1. Most games nowadays use a lot of contrast between dark/bright areas, which makes it look much more impressive.


That said, I still really love all the details in the models for the cathedral. The picture where you look at the ceiling is quite impressive and gives a good feeling of depth

I personally feel that things are WAY too bright. This is not natural nor realistic. If more light is needed it should come from the windows or lamps/torches/lights not the walls...

With all those windows and this particular type of architecture, a natural midday look is going to be very bright:

Cathedral Interiors

The structure is a study in the principle of bounced light! I personally like this one with maybe a bit more contrast for dramatic effect:

St. George Cathedral

Of course, the person that needs to be happiest with the end result is denDwaler . Especially since we don't know what he plans for the exterior of his building.

I think it mainly depends on the mood you're going to create.
In the first, dark version I got the impression of a scene in an antichrist movie, or expecting a zombie jump out of the next corner.
The new bright version would fit nicely in a book of architectural photography.
Maybe a mixture of both would be nice, not that dark, not that bright, at least not the same brightness everywhere.

These two examples show a lighting I find quite pleasing:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... inside.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... inside.jpg

Your new cathedral looks absolutely beautiful and impressive, dendwaler, but with your new textures you'd have to adapt everything else to that new look and feel of course ... I liked your previous cathedral very much, everything was already quite congruent and the textures were more soft ... couldn't you just light it up a bit? ... but it seems not otherwise you wouldn't have chosen a completely new style ... And as to your examples, tach and to dendwaler, I very much love the second style, the St. Vitus Cathedral, with warm and bright colors and smooth/soft texturing/carving and shaping ...

The only Cathedral that I am familiar with and spent time in is Dom St Peter (Trier Cathedral). I spent numerous hours touring this facility while I was stationed in Bitburg Germany (1979-1988). It was always dimly lit compared to other buildings. This is the Oldest Cathedral in Germany and houses an impressive collection of artworks and holy relics...

OK I admit it I also spent many hours on Zum Domstein

tachzusamm wrote: These two examples show a lighting I find quite pleasing:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... inside.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... inside.jpg

If denDwaler could manage this lighting . . . wowza!!! I know it's easier said than done, but good lighting depends on good models and he has the model .

I am just trying , also a little bit of more light in the old version is lot of work.
I personaly don't consider this as being more work then lighten the old one.
The main difference is that i used a complete different way of lightning and used a python script to generate a fake ambient occlusion with vertex colors.
Its a script inside Blender in the paint area named" selfshadow vcols (Ao)"
You can change several parameters inside the script to adjust it to your needings.

You can see the result the best with a very light texture.
When it is done i can go back to my old texture and look how that one performs with these settings.

For those who did not noticed it, the groundplan of the cathedral is on the picture of the journal.

I have mainly showed photo's of the south wing.
All wings will be slightly different textured.
There is also a central hall from where you can reach the 4 towers and there is ..... more.

The picture Sirius refers to is in the West wing. and the windows you see there are inside windows to the central Hall.
So thats why you don't see clouds there.

I have not yet decided which way i go, i am still busy experimenting, thats the way i learn how to do it.

I realy hope i can releae the age , but there has to be wired a lot in this age.
That also takes its time.


Here another view with a different colored texture.