Help me make this better, please

j_koko2_f2572d4e05

Hi!

I'm just starting out with Daz and First Post! Awesome community!

Below is a render of Josie in the Rose Thorn outfit. She is pretty much stock, except I used the HD skins from Victoria 6 for her body. Her eyes have the textures from Awesome Eyes.

She is rendered in Luxrender through Luxus mostly using the skin settings from Slosh and co Skin Setting thread.

Her skin (glossytranslucent w/ volume), eye materials (glass and glossy) and the Rose Thorn (metal: gold, glossy) materials have been converted to Luxus Materials.

She is lit nearly from the front with a single luxus area light. She and her clothes are the only objects in the scene.

I let luxrender run while I was away for the day, so I got obscene samples :P

My goal is to render as realistic as possible. When I look at the render, something (or things!) just doesn't feel right. Her skin? Could it be more realistic? What are your thoughts?

I'll take any advice, critique, tip, etc. :) If you need more information, settings, etc. I'll gladly post them.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Koko

RawArt

"reality" is not just found in how things are rendered or how the lights are set up.
I think you have done very well with those things.
To get a greater sense of reality you also have to consider things like posing, expression, the direction the eyes are facing and all those types of "human" things that will really set off the idea that this is a real person.
Imagine the figure as a model, and think how a real model would engage with the photographer, how would she stand, where would she look, how can she give the best story to the photographer. Then pose your figure with the same human gestures.
Maybe even work off of a photo you like to give your figure the same look.

Then she will look more human and the scene more "real"

Rawn

j_koko2_f2572d4e05

Thanks for your input Rawn. I hadn't really considered pose and stuff yet as I was thinking more of the technical aspect.

That being said, I made some adjustments and am rendering a new image today and will post it this evening or tomorrow.

Thanks!

Koko

j_koko2_f2572d4e05

Okay, pose and background and expression. So my initial question still stands on the technical aspects of the render. But other stuff is awesome too :) . How does the pseudo SSS via Luxus look on the skin, etc.

Be honest! Be brutal! Be kind and sweet. I need luvs but am a masochist.

Koko