I don't know if it's what you were going for, but this is very evocative of the Golden Lotus in Mists of Pandaria in World of Warcraft. Looks very much like it could come straight out of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms before it got Garrosh'd.

I happen to like this version better than the first, and I especially love the flower, though I also would like if you could improve the lily pads. The texture has lots of visible squares (which doesn't seem to go with the organic feel), and the outlines of the lily pads have clear linear segments, instead of a smooth curve. I also find that the lily pads look a bit too flat. Other than that, this is a great render!

Yaro, I agree, to add to that a little, in V1 I thought that even though the lilly pads seemed small (knowing what there size is in real life) it made the flower, the "Pot of Gold" that much better, like it was this oversized beautiful creation.



I believe you over thought this one Ryan. It happens, either way I'm happy you made V1 even tho ipo V2 doesnt hold a candle to it. And btw I think you're allowed a pass from time to time, you do such good work, over the years I've been so impressed.

IMHO I prefer the first version. Like you said, the original was greatly rated by members.



I actually rather liked the scale issue and I thought it was done on purpose, being that the background flowers were blurry and normal sized I thought the point was to bring the larger than life and be-a-u-tiful flower to the forefront.



Maybe make this one the pickle-jar version? :)



P.S. I can also see those squares in the left lily pad, even though the squares seem to disappear in the lower resolution images; interesting. Makes for a crazy focal point, once you see it you keep going back lol. Besides the little nuance of the squares it still looks amazing :D

The leaf on the left bothers me. You can see the tiny squares that compose the leaf, so it really looks digital instead of photo-realistic. The edge of the leaf is also way too sharp.

I like V1 Better than V2. V1 had a realistic feel to it. When you think about V1, you think about the lighting, the reflection on the water and nature feel. V2 however has a unrealistic feel and lacks the lighting and the reflection of the water.

I liked V1 but V2 is magnificent!

Eh, I liked the scale issue. Your nature works are very realistic, but sometimes I like things larger than life. ;)

Prefer this one better. Took me a while to "get it", that the leaves are beneath the surface...but yeah. This is tops.

Gorgeously pretty as always.

They are both good, but I actually prefer v1. I really like the blur effect.

Gorgeous, as usual. Would like to see it with blue water.

Gorgeous, as usual. Would like to see it with blue water.

Looks better, crisper, with more focus on the centerpiece, and better scale. Most importantly to me, there's less blurring. I think you've finally nailed the "subtle blur" amount here - very close to perfect. Great work.

This new version is even better than the original! I just wish it was a little brighter in the upper-left corner of the dual-screen, but that's being REALLY nitpicky. I love it! :)

It would be awesome if there was a Pandora version of this.

the only thing better would be a dual screen version!

I've not rate much of your work of late but is amazing Ryan, the technology has moved so quick that things became "photo realistic" a long time ago and then it became the job of the artist again to create amazing things which the software couldn't.



I guess you shouldn't give something 10 because it implies nothing could perfect it it but right now today this is perfect :)

*wondered during what

I am on some serious flu meds, so my vision is blurry and occasionally includes random jiggly motions. I sat down at my computer station and honestly wondered what fever dream I'd put up a video on my background because the water was moving and the flower petals looked like they were fluttering a bit like in the wind.



That's when you know you need to go back to sleep. And maybe lay off the meds for a while!

Wow! Incredible detail in flower leaf and water surface. Perhaps a pickle jar version to capture that shaft of light feeling provided in the 2004 orginal

Couldn't have said it better myself:



Ted: "Not grainy!"

"I've noticed in the last couple years so many of the renders looks really grainy and often have overexposed areas. Maybe it's just the new version of Vue. This one lacks those flaws which I really appreciate. I can take grainy and overexposed photos on my own easily. I come here to see what isn't (quite) possible in real life."

This is such a peaceful image. It made me take a nice deep breath, just what I needed. I have particularly enjoyed some of your work with flowers and this one has a lovely amount of detail with a subtle nod to whimsy/fantasy with the gold center.

It's always hard for me to give a number rating so I'm glad you have the comment box as well. I really like this image. It's very pretty but it's also dark enough that I don't lose my desktop icons on it. As long as you're in the mood for it keep doing updates! I'm loving them.

Awesome! I agree with others about the clarity and less graininess! To quote you:



"You may have noticed that I have been spending quite a bit of time on updating my gallery. I've gotten so many requests for old favorites at modern resolutions, but it seems like running in place to simply go back and re-render the original scene. It's a lot more fun and challenging to create something new but inspired by the original concept."



While I do agree with this 100%, would it be possible to do just re-renders for the pickle-jar on oldies? Or would that chew up too much time?

Keep up the great work!

Exquisite, may be one of the best ever!

I absolutely love this render. Simply Amazing!!!

Stunning! This gets better?

I think the flower looks great. It just seems to be floating there in mid air though. I also feel the Lilly pads are kinda 2 dimensional.

I agree with a bunch of previous comments - I am super pleased to see so little grain in this one! It truly looks like a photograph!

Some of my favorite images are some of your old pieces. I love seeing updates. Most of the time they don't lose the "flavor" of the old image. A good balance between new and updates is always welcome!!

Looks great. I love to put your work up and hear people ask where I got the "picture". This is a huge candidate for photography confusion.

like the updates, but would love to see some more new stuff too.

Very crisp. It's been a while since we've seen something with edges this clean and texture details this vivid. Very good.

I've noticed in the last couple years so many of the renders looks really grainy and often have overexposed areas. Maybe it's just the new version of Vue. This one lacks those flaws which I really appreciate. I can take grainy and overexposed photos on my own easily. I come here to see what isn't (quite) possible in real life.

Its amazing, so much detail in all aspects of the piece.

This is beautiful! I really love that you're reworking some older images, and this update is remarkable!

Love this one. Nice and peaceful.

Love it, just in time for Spring.

It's awesome! I love everything about it, every single thing...I thought it was a photo!

This is an update I LOVE!

I almost thought this was a photograph before I realized it came from the Digital Blasphemy feed. Well done!

Wow. Nearly photo-realistic! Congratulations.

I like the perspective and detail on this new one. As always, your skill gets better with each new render. Thanks for the update!