So I decided after many failed attempts at making a scene in iclone I was just going to sit down and play around until I got it. I haven't finished the complete scene and I do need some advice on how to complete it? The second image is what I'm trying to create.but this is how it turned out.

Congratulations on your first scene. Great beginning.
Is your reference image an actual location?  If so, you might consider using Google Maps to get an aerial view. From the aerial view, it would be important to estimate the distance of the camera from the building (three building widths?).

Then, attempt to recreate the camera view and settings of the reference image. Create a camera and in Modify, select one of the Red or Super 35 lens. Then, select a smaller mm setting to get the depth perspective of the reference image. 

From the reference image, it appears the water plane size needs to be reduced and positioned just below the top of the wood platform holding up the building. You could check 3D Warehouse for the bridge/walkway to the left of the reference image as well as for the railings on the walkway down near the water. Same with the boats and various vendor roofs and umbrellas.  iClone has enough geometric shapes to build the dock and walkway in the middle of the reference image.  Probably enough plants as well for the foreground.

For me, the key is recreating the camera view so that I don't end up building any more of the scene than is necessary.

Good luck

Nathan

Hi Nathan!
Thanks for all the great tips and advice the reference image is a image of victoria harbourfront in Victoria bc Canada. The tips that you have suggested to me is there a tutorial or video on how to do this? This is all new to me.

@karacarson929,

D'oh! I was just there two summers ago. Beautiful scenery. I attached a snap to show how I would measure.

I have benefited from BlenderGuru on Youtube. Although his tutorials are aimed at Blender, his advice applies widely to 3D modeling.  One of his suggestions is getting scale correct, especially as it relates to humans vs other objects in the scene.

For cameras and lens, I am using quarantine to attend "Film School".  I purchased some books on cinematography and am working through them. The Language of the Lens by Gustavo Mercado helped me understand the various cameras and focal lengths. The iClone manual explains how they work in iClone.

I am working on a feature film in order to learn 3D animation. My workflow includes learning how to do new techniques only when I reach an obstacle in building, animating or rendering my scenes. That way I apply it immediately to solve my next challenge. 

I hope these resources help. This forum is usually extremely helpful; however, I found narrowing my questions down to a specific problem helps. Also, there is another section of the forums titled Showcase Yourself. The people there are good at providing feedback along with encouragement.



Nathan

Thanks Nathan!

Hi Nathan,
Not quite sure what you meant by getting the distance, So I went to Google earth and got the measurements from the building to the water and the measurement of the building.

Kara,  
Excellent. So, the distance from the water out to the flowers, where your scene begins, is maybe 60 m? 
The grid in iClone 7 can be interpreted as 1m/square.  
You could scale the building to 120m based on the grid in iClone.
Then, you scale your lawn 120m to the water, and your flowers 60m from the water. (I would also estimate the height of the water level in the image as x meters from the top of the lawn and adjust your water plane to that height.)
Place an avatar at the flowers looking back at the building. The avatar will be just shy of 2m, You can scale the avatar so she is closer to normal height.
Place a camera next to the avatar, at eye level, looking back at the building.
Set the camera to 35mm to simulate human perspective, and the view should be close to the perspective in the scene you want to replicate.
Then you can build sidewalks, bridges, docks, etc so that the scale matches the image. That's how I do it, anyway. Hope this helps.
Nathan

Nathan