Palatine Mountains

Although I’ve been making slower than usual progress on pages this chapter, I have also been working on setting up the second location (Sophia’s hideaway in the Palatine Mountains). As I mentioned before, part of the set was built using the Gothic Construction Kit (that I used in the Smitty Gurkin chapter). However, after doing some test renders, I wasn’t happy with the way the walls and floor looked. Last night I downloaded an expansion set for the kit called Dark Haven, and replaced everything with the new stuff. I must say I’m much, much happier now.

Also, during this time, I’ve been attempting to make mountain landscapes with Bryce, software that I’ve certainly used before, but have never gotten very good at. In the first couple of attempts (this week and over the weekend), I managed to depress myself with the crappy looking landscapes I created. However, last night I made another attempt and the results were much better. The landscape is important because the hideaway set has a large balcony that will play a roll in the chapter. To make it look properly, I need to have views of the Palatine Mountains in the background. I did some test renders last night and added the new Bryce landscapes in Photoshop, and I was happy with the outcome. As I lay in bed last night, however, I realized that I still have some work to do. I really need an outside shot of the hideaway, which will require some additional work with Bryce and maybe some renders using the Fantasy Castle kit in Poser. I enjoy these creative challenges because they let me use my problem solving and my artistic skills. On the other hand, they can also be pretty frustrating when I can’t solve the problems right away. ;-)