Epic Pumpkin Contest WIP

Contests and Challenges

Okay I lied, guess I will be making my own thread. Decided I'm gonna be posting a lot more than I previously estimated so it was worth making a thread for. For context my scene is going to be a slightly stylized and my pumpkins specifically rotten or old, if that helps any critiques.

  • smurfmier1985 replied

    thecabbagedetective That gravestone looks A-MA-ZING!! your stuff blows my mind every time 😬💥💣

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    ssmurfmier1985 Well damn that's high praise, thank you! Hopefully the final project will be just as good!

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    So I could use some advice: what's a good way to get a strong rim light without the lamp completely illuminating the ground? 'Cause it seems whenever I use area lamps it lightens the floor as much as it does the character, which for a dark scene is quite a problem.

  • yukino hatake(yukinoh1989) replied

    thecabbagedetective  wow that gravestone is cool done . really good . you sure are making someting awesome . cant wait to see the finished scene :D

  • smurfmier1985 replied

    thecabbagedetective Have you tried Kents hack to enhance the rim light? With the layer weight node, like he showed in character week. That worked pretty good for me. I uused a not strong spotlight I think.

    you can also if it's still too light with that darken your image with compositing afterwards.

    EDIT: by the way, I'm pretty psyched, just finished my pumpkin! 😃 Gonna sleep on it one more night give it a final look with fresh eyes tommorow, then I'll submit it 😊

    Looking forward to your final piece!! 🎃

  • malhomsi replied


    thecabbagedetective in my last project i used 2 spots lights to solve the problem, composition can help , or u can cheat it with a a fresnel node to fake reflection 

    good work so far , Kudos for the amount of work and effort

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    yyukinoh1989 Glad to hear you're liking it so far!

  • smurfmier1985 replied

    thecabbagedetective hey Aaron, haven't spotted your entry yet.. how is it going? 

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    ssmurfmier1985 Damn I completely forgot the layer weight node trick existed until I read this, you may have saved my render! Thanks!


  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    ssmurfmier1985 Just uploaded, you should see it now, just trying to get everything in order lol.

  • smurfmier1985 replied

    thecabbagedetective well done on creating a dark mood while not making it so dark you can't see!! Love it :-D

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    ssmurfmier1985 Glad to hear it! Do you think it should be a little brighter though by any chance?

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    mmalhomsi Glad to hear you're liking it, definitely took these tips into consideration. Thanks!


  • smurfmier1985 replied

    thecabbagedetective I like the brightness , but a little brighter is also good. Follow your gut :)

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    ssmurfmier1985 Ta for that! Tried increasing the brightness but then the flames become way too blown out so I think I like it where it is for now.

  • Aaron Rudderham(thecabbagedetective) replied

    Welp, that's that done, it was a fun month! And stressful, very stressful, but I learnt a lot. Even if I don't win (which lets face it, is likely) I improved my Blender game like crazy so that alone was definitely worth it. You can check out my render either on the competition page or the gallery. 


    My lighting game alone has improved, for reference this was my attempt at a similar thing two weeks ago:



    Quite the improvement methinks...


    Well good luck to you all and I'll be seeing you around, have fun!

  • smurfmier1985 replied

    thecabbagedetective I think the learning experience and having fun with it is the most important part of this contest 😊

    You did awesome work this month Aaron! You improved your skills by A LOT

    enjoy your well deserved break playing games 😉