Finished this a few months ago but never posted it here. I did the vertical render recently for a different project I'm currently working on. Just looking for some critique to improve my future projects. I learned a lot on this one, as it was my first time doing a lot with particle systems (for the feathers). A few known issues to improve next time include:
The oval highlight in the toucan's eye. This is a dead giveaway that I'm using artificial lighting.
The material on the tree branches-- I went procedural on this and I'm pretty happy with the branch in the foreground, but the others look pretty plasticy. Is a photo texture the only way to achieve realism here or do I just need to make some changes to what I have next time I do something like this?
Thanks for your input!
-Sambear
Great achievement👍👍👍!!!
Perhaps a bit of translucency or SSS around the eye, where there are no down or feathers, so that the tissue doesn’t look so much like cloth? And the same goes for the claws: to me, they look kinda ‘inorganic’ as they are now.