What’s up everybody I am currently having trouble improving my GFX. It’s gotten to a point where like I’ve done a lot of this stuff I can do to make it look pretty good (volumetrics, particles, realistic textures and lighting.) And just don’t know where to go from here.
Here’s some of my work down below from oldest to newest. all 2025 though. All I really wanna do is just improve like my renders and how they look. If anyone has any suggestions that would be really appreciated!
For sure! And thanks for pointing that out too, it’s already noticeable the improvement in a couple weeks. That’s the thing though, not sure where to go from here because it feels like my newbie gains have worn off. The last 3 have felt like banging my head against the wall because I had no idea what to do to make it look better in one aspect than the last.
I want to learn something new every project, so I guess I’m going to have to brainstorm myself. Tysm though!
Of course it’s not, I myself have made some but the main issue I face is with proper lighting. How do you light scenes in a cinematic ways? It’s not just merely placing a few lamps and calling it a day.
I think that there’s too many shine. They divide entire composition into unreadable sections. Reflections add more unreadability here - sometimes it fit, but not in case of letters.
1st and 3rd are best, 5th is the worst
But all of them are overally great - 8/10
You should have asked for lighting first then bruh… nonetheless the main four techniques I use are the 3 point light set up, shoot the shadow side, HDRIs, and volumetric lighting.
3 Point Light Set Up
This is like the gold standard of photography and shooting. The key light is the one that goes first, it illuminates your subject so you can create shadows and depth. The fill light is used to make those shadows less harsh. The rim or backlight is used to separate the character from the background by giving it an outline. Play around with the colors and lightness to create new moods and intensities.
Always shoot the shadow side. Basically, instead of shooting your subject at their lightest, shoot them at their darkest side. This brings out the most detail on your subject, preventing them from looking overexposed. First one in this example is way better because her features pop out more in the shadows.
Volumetric Lighting. I use this one all the time because it makes everything look so cinematic. You can achieve great depth in your background and great focus on your character combining all the other principles of lighting. Add volumetrics and your scene can look 100x more atmospheric.
Hopefully this helps. I don’t know everything about lighting, but if you were to take away one thing: Make sure you can see your main subject above all else.
Looking at everything, yeah some of my stuff is way overexposed. Thanks for catching this I’ve been letting the fundamentals slip, making my designs actually readable
You did help a lot. I’m curious tho, for the yellow part why add more light there? It is a bit dark but I wanted to add some contrast because I don’t want to obscure the face. You’re still absolutely right, it’s a bit too dark.
Yeah you’re right, I think it’s not only the light levels that are causing it to look unreadable, but also the fact the colors blend in together too much. I’ve forgotten those fundamentals of value.
I’m assuming
the first is good because the character contrasts really well with that jungle area
The third one is good because the white contrasts really nicely with the dark
Whereas the 5th one is just purple on purple, no difference in lightness or color. I had so much trouble working with a limited color pallet for that thumbnail
Was that your thought process going into this? A lot of them are unreadable I agree cause of lack of contrast
but I’m learning as I type this comment, tysm again.
Almost right, first was the best for me due to no eye-hurting light, third is good because of how text contrasts on the background, and scene overall was good.
Fifth was the worst due to being reflective, light, and solo-purple.
I hope you will be one of the best GFX creators, cuz you have one of the greatest works I have seen here.
These GFXs look great! Nice job on all of them! The graphics and lighting of them all is excellent! I’d say make some of them less filled/packed so it’s not as confusing with a lot of things in one picture, other than that, they’re good! How long have you been making GFXs for? Will you make more?
Yeah, spot on. I’m quite a generalist right now. I’m getting good at like the general skills of designing, lighting, texturing, materials, and compositing. But nothing that would truly set me apart in like modelling, animation, etc. I haven’t hyperfocused on a singular skill yet.
What would an example of unique style be? I know a unique specialty would be like animation or GFX, but style would be something closer to like someone’s unique art style? Or their unique touch. Idk how to explain this lol, help me out here
Thanks for the feedback as well, it’s genuinely helping a lot.
Yooo thanks Philip! Yeah, I agree. Less is more for a lot of things in life, including design. I did a lil too much ;-; next design will be more intentional with its elements.
I’ve been making GFX and using 3d software on and off for about 3 years. I started in 2021 but took a long break in 2022 until 2025. Realistically I’ve been in the game for only 6 months and wish I was more consistent. I will be making more (i love doing this) but I’ll probably be transitioning to more animation as well since that’s what I wanna learn next! Thx for asking bro
I really appreciate your amazing feedback, ima take it in stride for all of my projects from now on.
I hope you will be one of the best GFX creators, cuz you have one of the greatest works I have seen here.
That means the world to me!! I honestly don’t think I’m anything special yet but it’s gonna get there. Best of luck to you too man, I promise to make it to the top in a year or two.
Ohhh so a wow factor, I gotcha. I’ll figure out all the fundamentals and principles then find a way to break through. You might not even know yourself what that wow factor could be for me but thanks for pointing me in the right direction AamTum : D
too shiny
maybe add here some light
part inside arm?
