About this image

The image I uploaded is pretty much as good as the graphics are ever going to get within the game's engine. In my opinion it looks good but it's still game graphics. The models and environments of this game are worth more in my opinion. Mods continue to come out to improve the quality of the game but they never go above and beyond to enhance visual quality. I would never pride myself based on content 100% made by someone else. If I'm going to use their content to film a movie or make a picture I want it to at least be custom rendered by me. This can be done using 3DS Max, Vray and Skyrim. It's basically Skyrim without Bethesda's Engine and the limits that come with it.

Here is an example of the quality that can be achieved through rendering in 3DS Max:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60108153@N05/9548232793/

I'm kidding. Those are skyrim models and textures but they're missing everything that makes the game look good. Games are all smoke and mirrors. Getting the best quality picture for the least amount of resources. For example, in a pre-rendered frame we don't need to fake shadows with Ambient Occlusion, we're able to actually render the ^%$*ing shadows as they actually are. We don't need to darken edges or bake the shadows into a material as WoW and modern games do. Sure CG as a whole has its tricks to fake effects but Skyrim, in this case, is looking like a computer game! Stay loyal to the games art and characters but leave the engine behind unless you're actually wanting to play the game.

I see so much to gain from separating that which is the game for playing and the game for presentation, image and film sharing. This is mainly meant for those sharing the screenshots and making movies with the game. If you have the intention of doing these things, why not take it a step further?

I post this in the screenshot section because I want to teach people how to do this. Anyone is free to add me on Steam if you wouldn't mind learning some CG. Many people posting screenshots aren't displaying Skyrim anymore, they're showing completely custom characters with custom armor and textures filtered and edited in Photoshop. At that rate you might as well be in DAZ Studio, using medieval characters and calling it Skyrim (Yes, people do this.) My take on this is, if you've crossed that line, exercise that freedom to learning other programs in the process. Give it a try, I promise to help and it's a great way to spend your time. 3DS Max is free for students and has a free trial. There are also other free programs you can use. I will help you acquire them.

My Steam name is Victel if anyone is interested.