Ooooo.......deja-vu.....(I've said that before!)
Remember some time back Eggy when I was trying to get people to understand what was going on with 3D? Looks like its your turn to explain it now which is a good thing....it means at least you now understand it!
No disrespect to those still struggling with it, it can be confusing and in their defence I would add that the material used in the 'problem' area probably isn't helping.
Take a close look at that VERY shiny material.....where in the real world have you ever seen a material look like that? Its almost as shiny as a mirror but with colour, and do you see many coloured mirrors around? Not really.
Its too shiny for plastic, ceramic, polished metal perhaps? Hard to say....it doesn't really look like any material found in everyday life.....so the doubt starts to creep in, and that's when people start to assume its a mistake.
Its all perfectly understandable though, don't think I'm having a go at anyone....its just part of the learning curve for everyone when it comes to 'realistic' 3D, the viewer understanding what they are looking at and the creator getting it 'right' in the first place to remove any doubt.
I couldn't exactly say this is a 'good' piece, it's not an improvement on your previous work, but hopefully it shows you where some improvement could be made.....getting those materials right!
It takes a long time too but absolutely worth it in the end.
The four major parts to any 3D project are:
The Model.
The Materials.
The Lighting.
The Render.
Nail all four and your job is done.
Just as an experiment try turning down the 'reflectivity' of that material and maybe add some glossiness, fresnel reflections if PS does those or add a fall-off map to the reflections. (The usual alternative if fresnel isn't available).
Make that material a more recognisable material like 'plastic'....(Which isn't shiny at all unless viewed at a very specific angle...see 'fresnel reflectivity'...even untreated wood can become highly reflective at the right angle.)
You got much closer with your 'concrete' letters, why not these?
Just my 2¢
Regards.
MrToM.
