2-The Making of 'A Twisted Prison'

Step 1

The scene started out as the quintessential raytraced chrome sphere floating above a red and white checkered plane.

How can I make this interesting?

Step 2

An uncommon aspect ratio adds interest to the scene.

Step 3

Change the illumination model and make that chrome glow!

Step 4

Get rid of that mind-numbing black sky and introduce some atmosphere.

Step 5

What would some clouds look like reflected in the chrome? But they take so long to render...

Step 6

The chrome is getting boring and the clouds will have to come back later. Floating stone might be interesting.

Step 7

What if a tree grew on the stone?

Step 8

Replace the red and white with some more texture and tie that rock down so that it doesn't float off. A little adjustment to the aspect ratio, add the clouds back to the scene, et voilà.