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Thank you for everyone's kind words! Yes, I am still very new to this and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. I come home from work and I get stuck in DAZ3D land for like 6 hours... lol Right now I am working on a "cast" photo...
@Tynkere I used this freebie that I got over at sharecg. Like it says in the notes, some scaling will have to be done to make them fit human sized weapons.
As for grandma's passing on this Sunday, she had been 87, so we knew it was coming but had hoped that she had a few more years in her, but it wasn't to be. I'm just trying to distract myself for now so I'm not dwelling on it as I'm trying to come to grips. Thanks to everyone who's wished me and my family well in these sad times.
@Shinji - Daz will give you plenty to focus on.
The whole image is looking really good. Lots of work going into this. Glad you got her posed on that ladder and thank you for the hat tip - I am now immortalized in art.
I have never understood how to use this forum. (This is the only forum I have ever been on). Is there a cheat sheet that details how to reply to comments and show a larger picture in the body of the comments? I know this is stupid...but heh.
@Gallows - Not sure about a cheatsheet, but if you type @name, it will send a message to the person letting them know you mentioned them. Otherwise, you could hit quote to reply to someone's post, though that gets cumbersome sometimes. In order to post a large image, you just need to attach the image to your comment and post it. On Windows, you then click the gear in the upper right corner of your post, click edit, right click on the picture below your post and click copy link address. You then go to the spot in your comment where you want the image to appear, click to position the cursor, go up and click the little image button in the edit controls menu (just to the right of center top row), then, when the box appears, past the link address (ctrl-v) into the address line. If it's bigger than 800 pixels wide, be sure to go down and put 800 or less in the width box. I learned that lesson the hard way. 8p
Okay, I keep going back and forth, so I came up with one that goes kind of middle of the road - some light shafts, some clouds, some dark, some light, a lot of colors, and a little bit of postwork:
I've done a couple of other versions, but I really like this one and the last one the best so far.
@Tynkere - looks much better
Thanks ever so much. Yours is now my cheatsheet. Many thanks.
"the Sword"
Not sure where I am going with this one, but it feels dull.
@Tynkere - fantastic job with this scene. The adjusted feet pose looks much better. I really like the ability to explore your scene, with lttle details everywhere like the bird and the puppy. Water ripples are excellent. Congratulations.
@Gallows - enjoyed the iterations of your portrait.
@Cathan01 - great to see someone integrating Bryce. Does an excellent job with terrains and environments. Have my fingers crossed that the 64 bit update for Hexagon bodes well for Bryce.
@Wanderer - Wonderful job with the lighting. The poses exude action.
Here is the next step for me.
EDIT: aaargh - just noticed that the wires go through Tin Man. Have to fix scene.
Metropol-Oz 2: Tin Man's Wrath
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Here is the same render with some postwork.
Version b of my second idea. Added an enemy in the shadows, and tried to adjust some things in the render settings.
I like the posing and their facial expressions. If it looks dull or 'flat' to you-- might be the lighting. Light in back of a scene can be very effective sometimes.
For basics of lighting in photography, the following has a chart that might be useful. (Skip whatever he's talking about-- I just liked the chart below the video) Hopefully the link is still good
https://www.slrlounge.com/workshop/5-common-key-light-patterns/
Thanks. Am discovering it's probably a good idea to work on something like this as subsets. Pretty sure "Tango Alpha" probably made the set in Carrera. In DS, can only see grass in IRay preview mode, and one bald spot is proving problematic. Better than a floating Vicky though. : )
Mentioned your progress at sketchpad topic. Very clever! Thought you were going to a have Brigitte Helm look-a-like.
Hadn't thought of using Hexagon except for very simple props, or maybe adjunct for d-form tool if want to make a wrecked car prop or something. Have to re-install it.
First off, thanks for sharing that about your grandmother. You don't owe me, or anyone else here any explanation, so appreciate it.
Also thanks for tip about prop. One month is 'action props and adventure' theme or something. Since not might style, will get my butt kicked and you'll probably blow us all away on that one.
For version "B" feel free to ignore, but dunno... I kind of liked it when he was alone in a sort of S&D op. Hasn't made contact yet and he's point. Maybe take blastable nasty out and give him a squadie in the background? Just brainstorming.
Thanks. Like I said, Don't know where you came from just kind of popping in out of the blue, but really appreciate it. Need all the help I can get!
Thanks. Think I might've figured out what it might be causing some distraction in scene, but looks like you're getting good adivce at your topic. Won't comment unless asked. I mean if you're happy with it-- that's the main thing right?
Meanwhile, light at the end of the tunnel for this month's entry.
Hopefully I have enough memory left to add a few more wildlife props-- needs dragonflies or maybe a lizard or two. Problem is finding realistic rigged ones that are free.
Change log: Lillypads must have frogs & tweaked water opacity to be able to see a second fish I added.
Comments on anything about it welcome. This will probably be my last official "DS" entry at NU challenge. Have had both Bryce and Cararra for a couple of months, and need to spend time learning them also. Hopefully in time for landscape month... ; )
thanks for reading!
--Bruce
---
Edit: weeding out old imgur files. PM missing links.
@Shinji - You've always got something interesting and moody going on.
@Gallows - I think Tynkere is right. So much is about lighting.
@Diomede - Intriguing stuff here. Very much interested in seeing this done. I love the tin man.
@Tynkere - I'm always interested in hearing other opinions. Feel free to share if you care to do so. I think your image has come along quite nicely, and @Diomede is right about exploring the scene. Wonderful details you've included.
I decided to do a second image, if they'll accept it.
Winter Gives Way to Spring
Daz Studio and minor postwork in Photoshop
Thanks to Wanderer and Tynkere for feedback. Have a test render with the background, but still have a lot of work to do in Daz Studio and GIMP. especially tweeks to lighting, backdrop and atmosphere effects. As always, suggestions very welcome.
If you ever get the Hivewire Horse, Tynkere, I suggest both the Fresian horse morphs and the Unicorn (I don't remember off the top of my head if you need the draft horse to make the Fresian, but I have him too). The unicorn's facial expressions are actually from a pose pack I purchased... sorry I forgot to mention in my previous post.
Also, thanks for the help and the chance to participate. I'm learning a lot about Daz Studio through these monthly challenges.
@cathan01_6e39852 - I like the improvements you've made. I like the atmosphere. The dragon's breath is really good, too.So far, so good. Keep it up.
Wow, I was distracted from my work, but I see, things go on here. So where to start?
@Shinji I wish you and your familie much strange in this time. I think it's hard to focus on other things when you loose someone.
@cathan01_6e39852 I agree with wanderer, nice improvement. That looks like a nice book cover, I especially like the rim light is well done.
Maybe you should add a low front light, because the darkness on the dragon skin swallows much of the visibility, from the really beautiful shader for him.
@Wanderer I like your second entry even more than the first. I'm courious how you put the mushroom in that background picture, or is that melting ice in the right corner a prop?
I like the camera angle and the DoF ( Did you use a focal distance below 22?) and how you light up the mushroom and the little feary. ( Emissive? )
@Tynkere Man, that looks really good.Yyou did an amazing job this month. Even with your so called 'thame camera angle'. ;)
@Diomede Nice to see, that the emissive shader work now. Don't be worry about the wires who goes throug him. I first thought it should be that way. Yeah, plug some more in him. The saturation is a interesting contrast and I'm courious too, how you did it, that the pentagram still is colored.
@Gallows Without doing something violent, your pic give me the shiver. Great poses and expressions. How Tynkere said, the best would be to place a lightsource behind the two, to geve the scene more deep.
To all others who I have forgotten now, my apologies, it was no intention.
For myself, I still struggle with my work. Not sure if I should fill the scene even more, or clear her, to set the focus on the Amazone. The lights are also make problems. If I lower them, to avoide the bright areas on her skin, I lost many highlights in her hair. So I still search a good setting.
Grr... and I see, there is a missing shader on the baremaids dress.
TLDR
@daybird - Your insights are very good. I wanted to say something about how I struggle with lighting dark-skinned figures like that dragon of cathan's, but since I had nothing to offer suggestion-wise I didn't mention it (a weakness of mine I will need to overcome if I'm going to include more variety in my subjects). I like the details you've added. Now, like the guy with the mug, I find myself laughing a little bit when I think about this scene. The skin looks much better in this light, but I agree--it is a shame to lose the highlights in her hair. I wonder if you could add more gloss/reflection in the shader for the hair to return that look you're after under a less harsh lighting? Or perhaps you could consider doing two renders and then a little post-work magic? I know that sometimes when I can't get the lighting I'm after that has helped. Not sure how the two would look together though. You know, I hadn't said this before, but one of the things I like about this is that you actually see in your head what that left hand is doing. Or at least that's the illusion for me. I imagine her grabbing a handful of hair. And you didn't need to put it in frame. I'm thinking maybe the central figure in the background needs better lighting because it's hard for me to see his head/expression. I like the guy's gut hanging out on the right. The assorted responses are good. You can really tell their reactions. Now, please forgive me for the long-winded response to your brief questions.
Thank you for your kind comments and interest. First, let me include a cropped shot of my viewport from the camera with headlamp on (note: I've made a new version of this, because I forgot to set the render frame proportions and wanted more light on the fairy. Plus, I moved the camera a bit closer. Hopefully it's an improvement.)
I did this just to show what I've got going on in this scene. There is only one tree and only 3 unique light sources if you count the HDR of the sky. The way I achieved the look in the version posted above was to use Ultrascatter instancing (though you don't need that to do something similar, it just takes more work). To create the background, I created a large plane, moved it directly behind the tree, y - positive, and covered it with instances of the tree to fill in sky with detail. I placed my star prop light that I made for the temple image a couple of months ago in the scene, applied a low-level emissive shader to it and hid it under the rocks just to get it out of the way. I then ultrascattered 2-3% sized instances of that star over the surface of a cylinder and hid it from render. I then duplicated the node instance hierarchy of that cylinder and instancing group 2 times. Each of those I reduced the x and z scale from the one before and rotated 45 degrees to give a variety of little lights. This did not give me enough lighting on her, so I mader her a torus halo and instanced the same lights over its surface (again with Ultrascatter). In the end, I warmed her up by making a primitive plane, about her size, stood it facing her, applied emissive shading (temp 2000, lumens 100). I then pushed it's cutout opacity to nearly zero (something like .000001, which some say it doesn't need to go that low, but at only .001 I swear I saw fireflies in a render from the hidden object). This gives you light from a surface while hiding that surface from the render. In this new version, I added one more primitive near her face with a brighter lumen level to attempt to bring out her features more. Maybe it's better. Maybe not.
As for the "ice," well, that's kind of a trick of the eye. I've used 3 strategies to create the weather in this image. The rain system by Kindred Arts generated the rainfall with very little overhead. I chose a light rain to make it like the change in seasons - somewhere between ice melting off and misty rain. I just had to make sure the grid-based props didn't cut through the mushroom. I then added a couple of splashes from Out of Touch's 3d Water set. (Who knew they did something besides hair and hot clothes?) One of those is that "ice" melting in the foreground, helped along by a touch of bloom (just a touch) and DoF. The other strategy I used was not as expertly done. I modeled drops in Anim8or, then applied a water shader from SickleYield, and used Ultrascatter to spread over just the cap of the mushroom. I've debated redoing it. The smooth "stone" in front of the fairy is actually the original droplet used for instancing, but it is colored by the rocks around it so I went with it. I like that it's an illusion, too.
As for focal length, I did not touch it. I used the auto-framing feature built into the viewport. So in this case, I set an object in the center of the shot, about the same distance from the camera as the thing I'm wanting in focus, select that object (in this case a hidden sphere primitive), then click the little framing tool (I forget its name) in the corner of the viewport (looks like a focus target with a plus inside a square). That sets the focal distance automatically, which was all I needed to achieve this look. So in camera settings, Depth of Field is on and Focal Distance is set for me (in this case at 408.54). The only warning I would offer is that when you click that autoframe button, it moves the camera. If I then use undo it moves the camera back, but I think it keeps the focal distance (I could be wrong). I may have just lucked into it. I'm the first to admit I'm taking stabs in the dark. I figure I'd share all this so that if someone is trying something maybe it'll give them missing pieces of the puzzle for what they are trying to do. Thanks for humoring me.
Here is iteration #2:
Winter Gives Way to Spring
I would like to make clear that I've been acquiring these things for several years, and (again) I almost never pay full price for anything. If it isn't on deep discount or free, it usually goes in my wishlist, which has over 2,000 items in it at present. Sorry, PA's - sad but true. This is my first time using the Out of Touch water props even though I think I got it when it was first released on sale. Same thing with the rain system.
Dang it, I'd made a few changes to my second idea and ran it overnight, but having just gotten up, what do I do? Forget to save the render so I could post it. Luckly I saved the changes so all I have to do is load the file after I get home from my friend's place tonight and rneder again. Oh well.
A recast of the scene helps. My lights still more work, needs atmosphere. Thanks for all of the help. I see some amazing art and ideas here.
@Shinji - I've done it myself. Good thing you saved it.
@Gallows - I think there are definite improvements in your recast. I'm just concerned about that dagger! Is she producing it from behind her back, or does he know it's there and something is happening that I'm not understanding? Maybe another pose of the hand/arm would make it more clear? More interesting in terms of composition and lighting. I wonder if a firepit, like a brazier, would give it more warmth and better lighting. Something like one of these. Those were free at one time, but there are freebies out there as well. I struggle with lighting all the time. If you put fire in front of the figures it distracts the eye, and if you put it behind, it can cause other issues. If you want to just fake some lighting, you could try the tactic I used with the fairy above. Make a plane, give it one-sided emission, set the light low and warm, then push its cutout opacity to something like .00001 to drop the plane from sight. Then you get the warmth of the lighting without the object rendering in scene.
Here is a quick update. I did some corrections and set to render before attending a baseball game. Will have to put off going back through the thread. Apologize for not being up to date. Will go back through tomorrow.
Metropol-Oz 2 with an extra light ring, revised shaders for the chair and for Tin Man's skin, and adjusted the poses for a couple of wires.
I like the vignette effect. Nice splash of color as dragon inhales for a fireball? Might not get the chance if unicorn gores him in the paw. ; )
Nice subtle lighting from multiple directions. Not sure I *can* find anything to suggest or critique. Great use of set design, posing, color, and lighting!
Heh. Missing shader. "Oh just make it brown and skip the bump map!"
Oh a more serious note though, I like parts of both for what it's worth.
Hand in the foreground might take away from the viewer almost flinching as that fist comes right at him! Hide it and see if looks better?
Like the tubby guy cheering them on. A tavern would be a busy place, and they'd probably be taking bets.
So here's an idea-- might be hard to do-- don't know. Shift guy in dark armor or hide him-- see how it looks if give woman more space around her. Then pose one arm up like she's cheering them on, and the hand over her mouth...
Might be tricky, but pose her hand like she has her thumb and pinky whistling and cat-calling at them.
"C'Mon! Fight back ya pansy! Got ten crowns on ya!"
Just some thoughts. Great Medieval / fantasy & barroom brawl scene. : )
Something tells me if she's a thief, she's not going to be very successful... ; )
Only suggestion I might make is his right arm? For me at least, kind of confusing what it is-- looks like part of the painting or something. Have to do a double take. If you moved arm down by his side, that would eliminate any confusion, and also open up space between her face/arm and his face. Just a thought. Otherwise, that was a quick rework! Versitile of you.
Excrement happens... Least you saved. Looking forward to seeing what it looks like.
Like reflection on front of chair. I've learned quite a bit just from following you make your own set and props.
Saturation setting in "tone mapping" or post edit?
Anyway, fun piece! Would never have thought of something like that!
This will do it for park scene.
Unless anyone spots mistakes or room for improvement...
Change log:
Moved building in background: was giving weird highlight of door behind novice monk
Add small spot to lighten alcove/entryway just a tad & add dash of color
Fix Kallisto's hair so can see more of her profile
Found a free butterfly prop...
A Day at the Park
DS 4.10 | Adobe Image Ready - optimize for web
Major Products:
Medieval Hall & Garden
Victoria 8
Garrett for M8
Ivan 7
Michael 7
Kallisto G3/G8
G3M
Old Chap
Millennium Dog
Songbird Remix
Natures Wonders - Frogs | Frogs of World vol.1 mats
Butterfly - free, courtesy of AoA
Koi - free (via shareCG) courtesy of Toru Miyazawa | Koi mats by Carrie Talbert
Nature Pack V.1
Liquids (via ShareCG) courtesy of 'SpaceBones"
Here is my second published image.
Focused on using different light sources (Environmental, spotlights), basic reworking of poses (Combining two different poses into one followed by manual manipulation), adding props ( A structure).
Cheers
Double post.
Thank you all for the feedback. Will answer a couple questions before going through thread.
- for the B&W effect, I did not de-saturate a color image. Instead, I changed G8M's skin shader to a metal shader, and applied similar shaders to the chair, wire, and his suit.
- the pentagram has some color in the first version because I used a bone shader thinking it would be off-white, but the result had some color in it. I changed the pentagram to a metal shader in the 2nd version.
- In postwork, I first brightened the whole image. I then created a multiply layer and painted a blurred grayscale to darken the outer areas of the image, with the brightest area around Tin Man.
- If anyone is interested in the suit, I've posted some minimal informaiton on the modeling process in my Art Studio thread.
I am not good at postwork, so invite suggestions.
@Shinji - version b - I really like the harsh comic feel of the color tones. Reinforces the sense of danger. Bravo. Wondering if adjusting the shader of the figure coming out of the shadows could enhance even more. Otherwise, the white rectangle dominates the figure a little in my view. Or maybe address the white rectangle itself. On the other hand, the figure is supposed to be coming out of the shadows so my suggestion could be counterproductive.
@Tynkere - Thanks for your thoughts. I posted a DIM-related issue in your art studio thread. RE: your question here. I'm pretty sure TangoAlpha uses Carrara quite a bit while creating his sets, but not exclusively. He does include Carrara versions, which in my experience are easier to manage because of the way Carrara's replicators are handled compared to Studio's instances. However, that may be due simply to my greater experience with Carrara. But in either case, I often recommend reducing large sets to the portion you need for your image. It can be as simple as turning off visibility for props on the other side of a room or more involved kit bashing your own subset. Just remember that if you have objects with reflective surfaces and you delete the other side of a room without something else taking its place (dome?), you might get unexpected results.
@dakanamato - Really like the simplicity of your second published image. When I try to see the larger image, for some reason, your attached file expands in size when clicked but the image that you insertd in your post does not. When you click the insert image icon, you can set it as wide as 800.
@Gallows - Fun image. The lighting in the second looks better to my eye. If I was going to make a constructive suggestion, it might be to revisit the the dagger in her left hand. It seems to be pointed in an odd angle, not ready to strike, nor ready to protect heself, nor to loosen his belt, nor to...
@Daybird - thanks for the suggestions. Emissives now work like a charm, for which I am grateful. And for the wires, perhaps I will plug a few in his head in the next iteration. I love the camera angle of your amazon warrior. The expressions of the people in the background are priceless. RE: the shader issue with the barmaids dress. Is the shader missing? Or is the lighting washing it out with highlights? Or is a panel not visible? I am probably the worst person to ask about clutter. I like little details that populate images, but most people prefer strong depth of field to focus an image, which often obscures such details. I trust your decisions on such matters much more than mine.
@Wanderer - Winter Gives Way to Spring - very timely! The water props worked very well. I will have to take a look at Out of Touch's props. Great job. Talk about nitpicking, I really have to dig deep to try to offer a constructive suggestion. Perhaps the character's hair color too closely matches the mushroom? Unless that is the effect that you were going for.
@Cathan01 - Very energetic image. I love the contrast. Color choices are excellent. Still in nitpicking mode, I wonder if the dragon's head should be angled down slightly more to look at the unicorn's horn.
Apologies if I have missed anyone. April is barely halfway through, and everyone has already put together great images. Very hard to offer anything helpful.
@Diomede - I am so jealous of your modeling skill. You are pushing me to become a student of programs I have but leave on the shelf. I love that you can see something and just craft it. Like I said, love the tin man, but the chair and wiring is just that much extra oomph! @IceDragonArt has taught me so much about postwork, I bet she could offer something if you really need it. I think the image you've made is marvellous and makes me wonder what is happening. It feels like it could've come out of that era, like your reference images. Thank you for sharing the details of your process. I'm glad you are generous with your insights that way.
Thank you for the kind comments. Your suggestion is noted. I have to really consider it because you make a valid point. I chose her colors to help me represent a winter fairy caught in the change of season moment you see here. Let me think on it a bit. I'm not sure how I'd improve it without taking a step away from the vision, but please--whatever I choose, don't ever stop giving me feedback if you have something to share. Growth is more important to me than anything as an artist right now.
Happy to help! If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me on my art forums thread or message me. I'm usually around at some point every day.