well I just went through them three times and decidedto vote for numbers 19 16 11 10 4 6 9 2 with an honourable mention for 18 17 15 14 12 13 8 7 5 3 1 , but then I read the rules and found out I could only vote thrice .....
so I vote for
# 19 - Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
what an amazing render, but I love how it evokes old fashioned photographs
Entry: 16
Artist: dievans
Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare
- title says it all
Entry # 11
Artist: kashyyyk
Title: Sushi on a plate with a Cellphone
- crisp and clean and workmanlike and artistic
and Hm for Stezza #6
cause I just like it :)
fantastic job Dustrider, and thank you again to the kind sponsors DAZ 3D and Infinite Skills Inc! :)
I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this challenge and following the process of each artist who participated in the WIP section. Voting is so difficult, knowing how much work each render represents. I like much about all the entries and have changed my mind several times, but these are the ones I came back to most often as fulfilling the theme of the challenge:
Entry #2
Artist: Diomede
Title: Mrs. White in the Ballroom with a Candlestick
I like the composition, rich colors, and lighting of this image very much. My favorite element is the candle. The subsurface scattering on the candle is beautifully done and truly suggests that the candle is made of wax and lit by a flame. The whole scene realistically appears to be illuminated by a single candle. The shadows are well done and enhance the single light effect. The highlights on the playing pieces and dice give them great dimensionality. The angle of the board and placement of the dice and playing pieces are interesting and give a good sense of depth.
Entry # 10
Artist: Philemo
Title: Rookie night
I like the overall composition and early morning lighting effect. The texturing of the ground, cliff, and pyramid is awesome and adds much dimension to the scene. The skin textures on the hands and face are lovely. I especially like the addition of bags and wrinkles under the eyes, which really add to the sense of fatigue. The restrained reflection of sunlight on the armor brings out the essence of the material. The contrast between the bored guard and the animal action is visually interesting.
Entry: 14
Artist: Tim_A
Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
The composition of this scene is fabulous. The angle is inspired! The lighting in the stairwell is realistic and well controlled. It brings out the details of the surfaces yet is subtle enough to enhance the feeling of depth. The lighting of the figure and floor at the bottom is also well done. The modeling and materials are impressive. I would so love to see this done as a stereoscopic image.
Honorable mention suggestions:
Entry : 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
Nice lighting and impressive modeled elements. Richly detailed and visually interesting scene. I enjoyed making up stories based on the groupings and subtle posing of the figures.
and
Entry # 18
Artist: Bunyip02
Title: Vicky6 in Provence with a Yamaki GTX Concept Car
Super cool car shader! I loved your enthusiasm and your amazing rebuild after the file problem.
Well, here are my votes:
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
- This image is so wonderful and beautifully crafted that I fell completely in love with it at first sight. To me, it's absolutely and unquestionably the winner of this challenge. Compositionally, technically and artistically it stands well above all other entries. If I could, I'd give all of my 3 votes to it.
But, since I cannot (it seems, unless I am misunderstanding the voting rules -dustrider, please clarify! -if I can, then my 3 votes should go to sukyL and the following 2 can be considered Honourable mention suggestions), then here are the other 2 choices, both truly amazing in their own right, but these were harder to narrow down, since there are so many worthy entries in this round. Listed in order of entry #:
Entry # 10
Artist: Philemo
- In addition to being beautiful and very well executed, this image captures the essence of tiredness with precision rarely seen in 3D. It does so through the contrast of beautiful scenery contrasted with complete disinterest the character has for it, in addition to posture and expression. The character looks almost offended by the beautiful lighting, landscape and wildlife surrounding her, and the only element she seems to really connect with is the tranquil grey mist. It's one of those images, where every detail serves to tell the story, and it's just a very beautiful render.
Entry # 17
Artist: Jonstark
- This image looks like it's going to come to life any moment, and the figures are about to continue in their started movements and fights. The sheer narrative, compositional and emotional complexity in this image is astounding. The posing of all the 11(!!!) figures is flawlessly precise. The expressions are spot on. The lighting and composition work wonderfully to guide the eyes through the entire image and bring out the natural focus on the main character. The scene also looks very natural and realistic. Bravo!
This was *so* difficult to choose - every one of the entries is utterly awesome. I know from my own little effort how much work you guys put in to these renders, and I take my hat off to you. These are my choices:
Entry: 16
Artist: dievans
Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare
Deceptively simple, but blow the picture up big and the detail is staggering. I know from the WIPs that the goggles are supposed to be a grungy blue, but to me they could be chrome, and that makes it even more interesting
Entry # 18
Artist: Bunyip02
Title: Vicky6 in Provence with a Yamaki GTX Concept Car
I'm staggered by the transformation from the original scene. The texture and shader work is astounding. And that car... wow!
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
I love this. It's a very staged Victorian-style portrait, but rich in detail and texture, right down to the fez-wearing monkey. And it's so refreshing to see a figure that looks like a real person instead of a teen out of a swimsuit catalogue.
Honourable mention:
This was where I had to be really ruthless. I had four pictures vying for this spot, and they all deserve to be here. But it goes to....
Entry # 17
Artist: Jonstark
Title: All things considered, the drop went well
This is such a big, action packed scene, and full of little details everywhere you look. There are strains of Firefly and Star Wars, and let's face it, who can resist a fight on a spaceship! I love the fact that the interior was lit (this was a disappointment and missed opportunity in Phil's render videos - he didn't light the inside of the spaceship!) If I dare make a suggestion, it would be to add some motion blur to the combatants.
These are the also alsos that didn't make the cut. I'm going to comment on them anyway.
Entry #: 4
Artist: evilproducer
Title: Vicky on a Zeppelin, Making Out with a Puppet.
What can I say? Jammy frog! I love how the character elements have been used to hide the transition between the forest background and the airship background.
Entry # 10
Artist: Philemo
Title: Rookie night
Still not totally convinced about those hands, but I love the contrast between the dead-on-her-feet rookie and the dynamism of the ravens behind. Plus I learned tons fro the WIPs of the ground terrain.
Entry : 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
Again, lots of detail. The foreground characters are almost incidental to the stories going on in the background, and that's an interesting juxtaposition.
Voting is as usual (more than usual) difficult but it has to be done :-)
My picks are :
Entry # 19 Artist: sukyL Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
This render is amazing. IMHO, one of the best i've seen in this challenge history.
Entry#: 12 Artist: evilproducer Title: Cheesecake in a Studio with a Nearly Nekkid Vicky. Very nice cheesecake :-)
A very nice studio render and the procedural skin is awsome
Entry# 14 Artist: Tim_A Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano A very original concept beautifully done. I love it
Honorable mention
Entry# 13 Artist : Varsel Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends I like the work of Varsel and I wasn't disappointed this time. The abondance of details make this render very interesting.
Entry # 6 Artist: Stezza Title: Appleseed in the country thinking of a kiwi fruit I can't really say why, but it deserves it :-)
Would like the rules for voting changed so there are 10 Winners & 10 Honorable Mentions !!!!!!
Buuuuutttttttttt since we only get 3 votes and an HM, here's my picks:-
Votes 1 & 2 I had a great deal of trouble trying to choose between, was only able to pick a first when I considered the advice that was given which was extremely educating for me, and is well and truly on my "to do" list. Second place was great for me as it covered an area that I am looking at getting more involved in.
1) Entry # 19 - Artist: sukyL - Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
(Was first across the line by a hair on Madame Getou's Monkey's chin)
I loved the concept, shading was fantastic, great subtle shadows, and also provided a great run-down on the methods used while also helping other entrants with words of advice.
2) Entry: 14 - Artist: Tim_A - Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano (Vertigooooooooooo)
Great concept, superb lighting, inspiration for me to get started doing modelling
(Would love to see a circular version which would highlight that dizzying, spiraling down vertigo look !!!!!!!)
Vote 3 I could easily have chosen a dozen of the entries, but since I can only pick one:-
3) Entry # 7 - Artist: kashyyyk - Title: Genesis on a boat with a Monster
Loved seeing the WIPs both on the creature, as well as the splash effects !!!!!!!
Again Honorable mention could easily have mentioned over a dozen of the entries, pick for me is :-
Honorable Mention) Entry #: 4 - Artist: evilproducer - Title: Vicky on a Zeppelin, Making Out with a Puppet.
Modern day twist on the Frog & Princess fable with Steampunk scenery is a concept that I had a great chuckle with.
In addition to the modelling, textures, lighting, EP also did a second entry, was one of the team cheer-leaders, while also providing advice where he could, makes this entry my pick for HM.
Diomede 64 would be my second pick for HM.
Would like to thank Dustrider for hosting a great challenge that also enticed Noobies like me to join in.
Many thanks to all of the who participated, was a huge source of inspiration to me, and a special thank-you for all who took the time to explain what they were doing and/or methods for resolving problems/issues, and also all who were part of the cheer-squad.
Big thank-you to the sponsors !!!!!!!!
Some sensational entries. Tempting as it is for me to type a lot of stuff here about needing more votes, etc, etc, (because Bunyip is completely right, but if you didn't listen to Bunyip you're not going to listen to me...) I'm going to try to narrow it down to just 3 and give you them votes.
OK. Deep breath. Here we go. I'm not even looking at how anyone else voted until I've done this bit.
Artist: sukyL - Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
(Original idea, totally convincing, with skillful use of shaders. Basically it's one of those renders where I go green and stomp my feet and say "Why can't I do something that good?")
Artist: Philemo - Title: Rookie night = #10
(Funny and believable, great details and atmosphere and her expression is perfect. And of course a great concept.)
Artist : Varsel - Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends = #13
(Wish you could have seen my face light up when I opened this one up large. Just so much to enjoy in it, wonderful posing and expressions, 'Queen Victoria' is perfect... and yes about time she was portrayed this way.)
There were other renders I loved too.
I wasn't sure if I was allowed a HM but I just noticed others nominated one so I'll go with:
Roygee - Title : Mike Coming off His Bike in a Forest = #9
because it created that moment so well. I felt like I was tumbling off that bike.
The still life works also deserve a special mention.
Congratulations all on an excellent contest once again.
I terribly like the atmosphere of this scene, don't ask me why, it would be too long to explain… 3-Entry: 14 Artist: Tim_A
Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
Beautiful reproduction of a photo not easy to realize, well done!
HM:
Entry #9 By RoyGee
Title : Mike Coming off His Bike in a Forest
Work deserving a mention, very complete and with a render a little special.
Entry#: 12 Artist: evilproducer
Title: Cheesecake in a Studio with a Nearly Nekkid Vicky.
Very soft, a little runny, with a few nature above, it makes me desire (the pastry).
Excellent work on the character EP!
Entry #6 by Stezza- I love the composition, there's nothing flat about that 3d. It's come off like something that should be printed in large format and framed nicely. It would look good on any wall.
Entry #16 by Dievans- Lovely image, spartan in many ways. Memorable sultry stare.
Entry #4 by Evil Producer- found the work done with procedural shaders quite valuable. But that amphibian is quite the criminal!
Honorable mention:
Entry #11 by kashyyyk - The still life composition achieved an impressive level of realism
Entry #10 by Philemo- nice evocative scene
I loved the first entry by Dustrider, would have definitely voted for that one but alas, the price that hosts have to pay!
Great work everyone, it's been fun!
Been away from the forums for awhile...this contest sure took on some interesting twists. Some really great work was produced too. In the end my list came out this way:
DustRider - Vicky in the Courtyard with a Really Big Battle Axe (and a big lance too)!
- I love the use of the theme and the texturing on everything in the scene
evilproducer - Vicky on a Zeppelin, Making Out with a Puppet.
- Hilarious use of the theme...and Kermit copping a feel is priceless (wonderful work on a purely procedural skin too)
sukyL - Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
- Wow. Just wow. This one pops.
Honourable Mention:
Tim_A - Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
- love the humour and the camera perspective
Major props call out to Bunyip02's work. A little too much reflection on the car but a wonderful effort (certainly better than my first Carrara work). Also Varsel; I would have put this in my top 3 list if the room was slightly smaller so that the friends and paintings were closer to the throne.
Voting for these contests are always tough, but I think more so for this one because the amount of effort that everybody put in is so evident. I really enjoyed reading through all the WIP explanations (and learned a lot!), and the final images are all outstanding. Thanks evilproducer for that little history lesson in the companion thread - it's good to know the origins of the contest and wonderful to see and experience the supportive community that's here now.
Here are my votes:
#19 sukyL - Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
I really love this one - great character, nice lighting and a really great job on the fabrics
#14 Tim_A - Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
It was really interesting to see this one come together, and I really like how the lighting enhances the sense of vertigo in the final render.
#1 dustrider - Vicky in the Courtyard with a Really Big Battle Axe (and a big lance too)!
There's interesting narrative in the image, lots of amazing detail and a very good skin shader.
HM #17 Jonstark - All things considered, the drop went well (Michael 4 in a starship hanger with a crew, running from the law)
I appreciated the closeups of the crew in the WIPs and only wish that we could see them more clearly in the final image. Jonstark I hope you use these more. Great final image with lots of action though.
As always, this is a difficult choice! My choices are in no particular order. Sorry for my absence the past week. I'vebeen leading a tour in the middle of no where.
Entry #17
Artist: Jonstark
Title: All things considered, the drop went well.
Great scene - very complex.
Entry # 18
Artist: Bunyip02
Title: Vicky6 in Provence with a Yamaki GTX Concept Car
Great texture and shader work is astounding, especially for a first attempt.
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
Outstanding!!
Honourable mention:
Entry: 16
Artist: dievans
Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare
I wish there was one more place, very well done!!
Sorry, but I won't be able to post the results until later tonight - still need to sleep and drive about 200 miles. I should have the results posted by 8:00 MST.
Thanks to all the participants, the quality of the entries just seems to be getting better each month!
Went round and round on this, like many others have said this was very difficult for me to cut down to just my top 3 favorites. I'm just going to stop waffling and choose my fav 3 and vote, before I change my mind again in 5 minutes :)
Entry : 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
(A very complex scene that works on every level, clean and unconfusing, great textures, great poses, great lighting, splendidly well done, and I can tell a good bit of work went into this, but it seems effortless. Excellent!)
Entry # 7
Artist: kashyyyk
Title: Genesis on a boat with a Monster
(really well done, good action pose, good camera angle - the water droplets! - great texturing for the skin of the creature, the water effects and ripple motion, just well put together in toto).
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey.
(It's odd, but so damn visually interesting and nuanced, really richly done well shot, very well textured, well lit, and too much cool stuff to look at, just an all around great job)
HM:
Entry#: 12
Artist: evilproducer
Title: Cheesecake in a Studio with a Nearly Nekkid Vicky.
(I know that this was a 2nd entry by EP and not the main focus of his work for the challenge, but I'm just a sucker for a really realistically rendered human subject, and this is superb. The hair is flawless, the skin is sublime, and he did unbelievable work with procedurals, the pose is interesting in a saucy way, even the cheesecake looks real)
Gotta give it up for Roygee's Entry #9 too (Title : Mike Coming off His Bike in a Forest) as it literally makes me grin every time I see it. Kudos for a great pose, I probably should laugh at poor Mike tumbling into trouble, but what can I say I'm a fan of slapstick since I was very young watching the 3 stooges antics just dying laughing. Definitely my fav for sense of humor, followed very closely by Diomede's Entry #3(Title: A Hill Under a Jill with a Pail of Water). Oh that naughty Jill, running around behind Jack's back... with the Pumpkin King, no less :)
I can't let it pass without mentioning perhaps the best and most dynamic camera framing I've seen in any of the challenges so far, which is Tim_A's Entry: 14 (Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano). This viewpoint tickles my sense of vertigo (in a good way, it makes me shiver a little) and anything that can immediately provoke that strong a reaction from me is the awesomesauce. :) I still can't help envisioning some poor V4 or M4 tumbling down into the void... Oh geez, that Jayden6 better step back from the edge there, don't want to slip!
Huge points for realism: kashyyyk's Entry # 11 (Title: Sushi on a plate with a Cellphone) Looks nearly like a photograph. And if I liked sushi I'm sure it would make me a little hungry :). Also dievans Entry: 16 (Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare) When you blow this up full sized and take a nice close look, you'll see some stunningly realistic texture work on the skin and the materials of the goggles. I appreciate the effort it must have taken to tweak things to this degree. Also huge points for realism for Philemo's Entry # 10 (Title: Rookie night) When you blow this up to full size, and take a closer look at the skin, might be one of the most realistic skin textures I've ever ever seen coming from a native Carrara render, just superb (look at those hands! that nose, the cheeks! This is very hardcore good stuff right here)
Dang I may have hesitated too long, for some reason I thought voting wouldn't be closed til tomorrow... Ah well, at least got some comments in if nothing else :)
Dang I may have hesitated too long, for some reason I thought voting wouldn't be closed til tomorrow... Ah well, at least got some comments in if nothing else :)
Kind of caught me by surprise as well. I'm I put mine in right away as I could very easily have missed the deadline as well.
Thanks for taking the time to leave the comments. It's always good to get feedback.
The top three entries for this months challenge are:
First Place (and host of our next challenge): 18 votes sukyL (#19) Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
Second Place: 9 votes Tim_A (#14) Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
Third Place: 6 votes Varsel (#13) Title: A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
I will send the results of the voting to PhilW to aid in his selection of the Honorable Mention. Either PhilW or I will post the Honorable mention winner as soon as the selection is made.
I will wait until tomorrow to make the official contact to the winners just in case there is a justified protest (i.e. I made a stupid mistake in my count)..
Also, I accepted Jonstarks vote, even though it was a little late, it was posted less than 30 min. after voting closed (no doubt he was working on his vote post while I was working on closing the voting).
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to all the participants that made this such a fun and informative challenge!!!
Also, thanks to our generous sponsors for providing such great incentives for the challenge!!!
Congratulations sukyL - What an outstanding first Carrara Challenge entry!!!
Thanks to Dustrider for hosting a fun and dynamic challenge!
Thanks also to DAZ 3D and PhilW for sponsoring this challenge.
Special thanks to all those that took the time to critically look at all the entries and make the difficult decisions needed to vote.
Extra special thanks to everybody that posted a WIP, even if you chose not to enter. It really helps the Carrara community to grow their skills, learn new methods or even just look at an overlooked feature!
Great results everyone, congrats to the well desrved winners :)
And what a great host you made Dustrider !
My apologies for not getting an entry in, :( real life got in way - and still is for a while.
Congratulations to sukyL, Tim_A, Varsel & JonStark !!!!!!!
A big thanks to Dustrider.
Very big thanks to the sponsors.
Thoroughly enjoyed the challenge as well as everyone's WIPs/entries, comments, feedback, & support !!!!!!
This challenge definitely helped my skill levels improve, as well as getting me far more interested in Carrara.
Still got heaps to learn but enjoying it greatly.
What? Blimey! Gosh! What a thing to wake up to! :-)
I was dead chuffed when I got my first vote, and if nobody else had voted for me I would have been really happy. I never expected to get on the podium! And second? wow!
Congratulations to SukyL and Varsel and to everyone else. As someone who rarely does a "proper" render, I feel honoured even to feature on the same thread with all you awesome people.
Edit: and hey, my 400th post too! (does American cheerleadery pompom dance!)
I’ve got insomnia, what a thing to not sleep to….:-)
Congratulations to everyone who participated and to the well-deserved winners – Tim_A and Varsel! This is such a brilliant challenge for giving a glimpse at how other artists work. Thanks so much for sharing. I am overjoyed to have won first place. It was a personal victory for me to participate in this challenge (hell even to post to the Carrara forum). I’m awed and honored my work was considered worthy of recognition by such talented people. A big thank you to anyone who voted, commented, or just took a look.
Hurrah! To dustrider for such a well run challenge and beautifully thought out theme. The transformation of everyone’s works in progress to final, incredible renders truly demonstrated how Carrara rewards you if you put effort into basics like lighting and optimizing shaders. I liked Carrara a lot before, but now I think I’m totally in love.
Thank you DAZ and Infinite Skills Inc. for your incredibly generous incentives. My monthly Infinite Skills subscription just ended, so I’m jazzed about being able to have some of PhilW’s videos for keeps. PhilW I can’t say enough good things about your Carrara training series. The glowing object light setup and linear workflow has made me the happiest I’ve ever been with my renders. I can’t wait to explore the many other tools Carrara has to offer. Thanks so much!
Oh my! That leaves just one more thing….gulp….The October Carrara Challenge. I actually have something in mind. Hopefully I can reveal it soon. I hope you all like it and want to participate. For now, dustrider, evilproducer, somebody please reveal the mysteries of sponsorship and hosting to me. Oh, please tell me there are secret handshakes and funny hats.;-)
Yay! congratulations sukyL, Tim_A, Varsel and the yet unannounced 'honourably mentioned winners'. Great work Dustrider and thanks to Daz and Infinite Skills for indulging us. Looking forward to another fun one for October and wish sukyL a good run hosting it!
Thank you DAZ and Infinite Skills Inc. for your incredibly generous incentives. My monthly Infinite Skills subscription just ended, so I’m jazzed about being able to have some of PhilW’s videos for keeps. PhilW I can’t say enough good things about your Carrara training series. The glowing object light setup and linear workflow has made me the happiest I’ve ever been with my renders. I can’t wait to explore the many other tools Carrara has to offer. Thanks so much!
Hear hear! Without the glowing spheres and glowing planes instead of glass in the windows - both ideas that came from Phil's video series - my scene basically would not have been lit. So big thanks! :coolsmile:
Comments
well I just went through them three times and decidedto vote for numbers 19 16 11 10 4 6 9 2 with an honourable mention for 18 17 15 14 12 13 8 7 5 3 1 , but then I read the rules and found out I could only vote thrice .....
so I vote for
# 19 - Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
what an amazing render, but I love how it evokes old fashioned photographs
Entry: 16
Artist: dievans
Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare
- title says it all
Entry # 11
Artist: kashyyyk
Title: Sushi on a plate with a Cellphone
- crisp and clean and workmanlike and artistic
and Hm for Stezza #6
cause I just like it :)
fantastic job Dustrider, and thank you again to the kind sponsors DAZ 3D and Infinite Skills Inc! :)
I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this challenge and following the process of each artist who participated in the WIP section. Voting is so difficult, knowing how much work each render represents. I like much about all the entries and have changed my mind several times, but these are the ones I came back to most often as fulfilling the theme of the challenge:
Entry #2
Artist: Diomede
Title: Mrs. White in the Ballroom with a Candlestick
I like the composition, rich colors, and lighting of this image very much. My favorite element is the candle. The subsurface scattering on the candle is beautifully done and truly suggests that the candle is made of wax and lit by a flame. The whole scene realistically appears to be illuminated by a single candle. The shadows are well done and enhance the single light effect. The highlights on the playing pieces and dice give them great dimensionality. The angle of the board and placement of the dice and playing pieces are interesting and give a good sense of depth.
Entry # 10
Artist: Philemo
Title: Rookie night
I like the overall composition and early morning lighting effect. The texturing of the ground, cliff, and pyramid is awesome and adds much dimension to the scene. The skin textures on the hands and face are lovely. I especially like the addition of bags and wrinkles under the eyes, which really add to the sense of fatigue. The restrained reflection of sunlight on the armor brings out the essence of the material. The contrast between the bored guard and the animal action is visually interesting.
Entry: 14
Artist: Tim_A
Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
The composition of this scene is fabulous. The angle is inspired! The lighting in the stairwell is realistic and well controlled. It brings out the details of the surfaces yet is subtle enough to enhance the feeling of depth. The lighting of the figure and floor at the bottom is also well done. The modeling and materials are impressive. I would so love to see this done as a stereoscopic image.
Honorable mention suggestions:
Entry : 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
Nice lighting and impressive modeled elements. Richly detailed and visually interesting scene. I enjoyed making up stories based on the groupings and subtle posing of the figures.
and
Entry # 18
Artist: Bunyip02
Title: Vicky6 in Provence with a Yamaki GTX Concept Car
Super cool car shader! I loved your enthusiasm and your amazing rebuild after the file problem.
That is one amazing selection to choose from.
Well, here are my votes:
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
- This image is so wonderful and beautifully crafted that I fell completely in love with it at first sight. To me, it's absolutely and unquestionably the winner of this challenge. Compositionally, technically and artistically it stands well above all other entries. If I could, I'd give all of my 3 votes to it.
But, since I cannot (it seems, unless I am misunderstanding the voting rules -dustrider, please clarify! -if I can, then my 3 votes should go to sukyL and the following 2 can be considered Honourable mention suggestions), then here are the other 2 choices, both truly amazing in their own right, but these were harder to narrow down, since there are so many worthy entries in this round. Listed in order of entry #:
Entry # 10
Artist: Philemo
- In addition to being beautiful and very well executed, this image captures the essence of tiredness with precision rarely seen in 3D. It does so through the contrast of beautiful scenery contrasted with complete disinterest the character has for it, in addition to posture and expression. The character looks almost offended by the beautiful lighting, landscape and wildlife surrounding her, and the only element she seems to really connect with is the tranquil grey mist. It's one of those images, where every detail serves to tell the story, and it's just a very beautiful render.
Entry # 17
Artist: Jonstark
- This image looks like it's going to come to life any moment, and the figures are about to continue in their started movements and fights. The sheer narrative, compositional and emotional complexity in this image is astounding. The posing of all the 11(!!!) figures is flawlessly precise. The expressions are spot on. The lighting and composition work wonderfully to guide the eyes through the entire image and bring out the natural focus on the main character. The scene also looks very natural and realistic. Bravo!
This was *so* difficult to choose - every one of the entries is utterly awesome. I know from my own little effort how much work you guys put in to these renders, and I take my hat off to you. These are my choices:
Entry: 16
Artist: dievans
Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare
Deceptively simple, but blow the picture up big and the detail is staggering. I know from the WIPs that the goggles are supposed to be a grungy blue, but to me they could be chrome, and that makes it even more interesting
Entry # 18
Artist: Bunyip02
Title: Vicky6 in Provence with a Yamaki GTX Concept Car
I'm staggered by the transformation from the original scene. The texture and shader work is astounding. And that car... wow!
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
I love this. It's a very staged Victorian-style portrait, but rich in detail and texture, right down to the fez-wearing monkey. And it's so refreshing to see a figure that looks like a real person instead of a teen out of a swimsuit catalogue.
Honourable mention:
This was where I had to be really ruthless. I had four pictures vying for this spot, and they all deserve to be here. But it goes to....
Entry # 17
Artist: Jonstark
Title: All things considered, the drop went well
This is such a big, action packed scene, and full of little details everywhere you look. There are strains of Firefly and Star Wars, and let's face it, who can resist a fight on a spaceship! I love the fact that the interior was lit (this was a disappointment and missed opportunity in Phil's render videos - he didn't light the inside of the spaceship!) If I dare make a suggestion, it would be to add some motion blur to the combatants.
These are the also alsos that didn't make the cut. I'm going to comment on them anyway.
Entry #: 4
Artist: evilproducer
Title: Vicky on a Zeppelin, Making Out with a Puppet.
What can I say? Jammy frog! I love how the character elements have been used to hide the transition between the forest background and the airship background.
Entry # 10
Artist: Philemo
Title: Rookie night
Still not totally convinced about those hands, but I love the contrast between the dead-on-her-feet rookie and the dynamism of the ravens behind. Plus I learned tons fro the WIPs of the ground terrain.
Entry : 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
Again, lots of detail. The foreground characters are almost incidental to the stories going on in the background, and that's an interesting juxtaposition.
Wow they are all great, The ones I picked had the lighting, colors, realism and looks I liked the most.
#2 Diomede
#13 Varsel
#19 sukyL
Honorable mention to #18 Bunyip02
Good luck all!
Voting is as usual (more than usual) difficult but it has to be done :-)
My picks are :
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
This render is amazing. IMHO, one of the best i've seen in this challenge history.
Entry#: 12
Artist: evilproducer
Title: Cheesecake in a Studio with a Nearly Nekkid Vicky.
Very nice cheesecake :-)
A very nice studio render and the procedural skin is awsome
Entry# 14
Artist: Tim_A
Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
A very original concept beautifully done. I love it
Honorable mention
Entry# 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
I like the work of Varsel and I wasn't disappointed this time. The abondance of details make this render very interesting.
Entry # 6
Artist: Stezza
Title: Appleseed in the country thinking of a kiwi fruit
I can't really say why, but it deserves it :-)
Would like the rules for voting changed so there are 10 Winners & 10 Honorable Mentions !!!!!!
Buuuuutttttttttt since we only get 3 votes and an HM, here's my picks:-
Votes 1 & 2 I had a great deal of trouble trying to choose between, was only able to pick a first when I considered the advice that was given which was extremely educating for me, and is well and truly on my "to do" list. Second place was great for me as it covered an area that I am looking at getting more involved in.
1) Entry # 19 - Artist: sukyL - Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
(Was first across the line by a hair on Madame Getou's Monkey's chin)
I loved the concept, shading was fantastic, great subtle shadows, and also provided a great run-down on the methods used while also helping other entrants with words of advice.
2) Entry: 14 - Artist: Tim_A - Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano (Vertigooooooooooo)
Great concept, superb lighting, inspiration for me to get started doing modelling
(Would love to see a circular version which would highlight that dizzying, spiraling down vertigo look !!!!!!!)
Vote 3 I could easily have chosen a dozen of the entries, but since I can only pick one:-
3) Entry # 7 - Artist: kashyyyk - Title: Genesis on a boat with a Monster
Loved seeing the WIPs both on the creature, as well as the splash effects !!!!!!!
Again Honorable mention could easily have mentioned over a dozen of the entries, pick for me is :-
Honorable Mention) Entry #: 4 - Artist: evilproducer - Title: Vicky on a Zeppelin, Making Out with a Puppet.
Modern day twist on the Frog & Princess fable with Steampunk scenery is a concept that I had a great chuckle with.
In addition to the modelling, textures, lighting, EP also did a second entry, was one of the team cheer-leaders, while also providing advice where he could, makes this entry my pick for HM.
Diomede 64 would be my second pick for HM.
Would like to thank Dustrider for hosting a great challenge that also enticed Noobies like me to join in.
Many thanks to all of the who participated, was a huge source of inspiration to me, and a special thank-you for all who took the time to explain what they were doing and/or methods for resolving problems/issues, and also all who were part of the cheer-squad.
Big thank-you to the sponsors !!!!!!!!
Some sensational entries. Tempting as it is for me to type a lot of stuff here about needing more votes, etc, etc, (because Bunyip is completely right, but if you didn't listen to Bunyip you're not going to listen to me...) I'm going to try to narrow it down to just 3 and give you them votes.
OK. Deep breath. Here we go. I'm not even looking at how anyone else voted until I've done this bit.
Artist: sukyL - Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
(Original idea, totally convincing, with skillful use of shaders. Basically it's one of those renders where I go green and stomp my feet and say "Why can't I do something that good?")
Artist: Philemo - Title: Rookie night = #10
(Funny and believable, great details and atmosphere and her expression is perfect. And of course a great concept.)
Artist : Varsel - Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends = #13
(Wish you could have seen my face light up when I opened this one up large. Just so much to enjoy in it, wonderful posing and expressions, 'Queen Victoria' is perfect... and yes about time she was portrayed this way.)
There were other renders I loved too.
I wasn't sure if I was allowed a HM but I just noticed others nominated one so I'll go with:
Roygee - Title : Mike Coming off His Bike in a Forest = #9
because it created that moment so well. I felt like I was tumbling off that bike.
The still life works also deserve a special mention.
Congratulations all on an excellent contest once again.
oups ! double post after edit...
;-)
Entry #2
Artist: Diomede
Title: Mrs. White in the Ballroom with a Candlestick
Entry #9
By RoyGee
Title : Mike Coming off His Bike in a Forest
Entry : 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
HM
Entry: 16
Artist: dievans
Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare
Well done everyone
I hereby vote as follows:
Entry #6 by Stezza- I love the composition, there's nothing flat about that 3d. It's come off like something that should be printed in large format and framed nicely. It would look good on any wall.
Entry #16 by Dievans- Lovely image, spartan in many ways. Memorable sultry stare.
Entry #4 by Evil Producer- found the work done with procedural shaders quite valuable. But that amphibian is quite the criminal!
Honorable mention:
Entry #11 by kashyyyk - The still life composition achieved an impressive level of realism
Entry #10 by Philemo- nice evocative scene
I loved the first entry by Dustrider, would have definitely voted for that one but alas, the price that hosts have to pay!
Great work everyone, it's been fun!
Been away from the forums for awhile...this contest sure took on some interesting twists. Some really great work was produced too. In the end my list came out this way:
DustRider - Vicky in the Courtyard with a Really Big Battle Axe (and a big lance too)!
- I love the use of the theme and the texturing on everything in the scene
evilproducer - Vicky on a Zeppelin, Making Out with a Puppet.
- Hilarious use of the theme...and Kermit copping a feel is priceless (wonderful work on a purely procedural skin too)
sukyL - Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
- Wow. Just wow. This one pops.
Honourable Mention:
Tim_A - Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
- love the humour and the camera perspective
Major props call out to Bunyip02's work. A little too much reflection on the car but a wonderful effort (certainly better than my first Carrara work). Also Varsel; I would have put this in my top 3 list if the room was slightly smaller so that the friends and paintings were closer to the throne.
Bravo to all participants.
Voting for these contests are always tough, but I think more so for this one because the amount of effort that everybody put in is so evident. I really enjoyed reading through all the WIP explanations (and learned a lot!), and the final images are all outstanding. Thanks evilproducer for that little history lesson in the companion thread - it's good to know the origins of the contest and wonderful to see and experience the supportive community that's here now.
Here are my votes:
#19 sukyL - Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
I really love this one - great character, nice lighting and a really great job on the fabrics
#14 Tim_A - Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
It was really interesting to see this one come together, and I really like how the lighting enhances the sense of vertigo in the final render.
#1 dustrider - Vicky in the Courtyard with a Really Big Battle Axe (and a big lance too)!
There's interesting narrative in the image, lots of amazing detail and a very good skin shader.
HM #17 Jonstark - All things considered, the drop went well (Michael 4 in a starship hanger with a crew, running from the law)
I appreciated the closeups of the crew in the WIPs and only wish that we could see them more clearly in the final image. Jonstark I hope you use these more. Great final image with lots of action though.
Congratulations everybody!
Here's my votes for this : by entry number.
Entry #9
By RoyGee
Title : Mike Coming off His Bike in a Forest
Entry#: 12
Artist: evilproducer
Title: Cheesecake in a Studio with a Nearly Nekkid Vicky.
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
As always, this is a difficult choice! My choices are in no particular order. Sorry for my absence the past week. I'vebeen leading a tour in the middle of no where.
Entry #17
Artist: Jonstark
Title: All things considered, the drop went well.
Great scene - very complex.
Entry # 18
Artist: Bunyip02
Title: Vicky6 in Provence with a Yamaki GTX Concept Car
Great texture and shader work is astounding, especially for a first attempt.
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
Outstanding!!
Honourable mention:
Entry: 16
Artist: dievans
Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare
I wish there was one more place, very well done!!
Sorry, but I won't be able to post the results until later tonight - still need to sleep and drive about 200 miles. I should have the results posted by 8:00 MST.
Thanks to all the participants, the quality of the entries just seems to be getting better each month!
Went round and round on this, like many others have said this was very difficult for me to cut down to just my top 3 favorites. I'm just going to stop waffling and choose my fav 3 and vote, before I change my mind again in 5 minutes :)
Entry : 13
Artist : Varsel
Title : A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
(A very complex scene that works on every level, clean and unconfusing, great textures, great poses, great lighting, splendidly well done, and I can tell a good bit of work went into this, but it seems effortless. Excellent!)
Entry # 7
Artist: kashyyyk
Title: Genesis on a boat with a Monster
(really well done, good action pose, good camera angle - the water droplets! - great texturing for the skin of the creature, the water effects and ripple motion, just well put together in toto).
Entry # 19
Artist: sukyL
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey.
(It's odd, but so damn visually interesting and nuanced, really richly done well shot, very well textured, well lit, and too much cool stuff to look at, just an all around great job)
HM:
Entry#: 12
Artist: evilproducer
Title: Cheesecake in a Studio with a Nearly Nekkid Vicky.
(I know that this was a 2nd entry by EP and not the main focus of his work for the challenge, but I'm just a sucker for a really realistically rendered human subject, and this is superb. The hair is flawless, the skin is sublime, and he did unbelievable work with procedurals, the pose is interesting in a saucy way, even the cheesecake looks real)
Gotta give it up for Roygee's Entry #9 too (Title : Mike Coming off His Bike in a Forest) as it literally makes me grin every time I see it. Kudos for a great pose, I probably should laugh at poor Mike tumbling into trouble, but what can I say I'm a fan of slapstick since I was very young watching the 3 stooges antics just dying laughing. Definitely my fav for sense of humor, followed very closely by Diomede's Entry #3(Title: A Hill Under a Jill with a Pail of Water). Oh that naughty Jill, running around behind Jack's back... with the Pumpkin King, no less :)
I can't let it pass without mentioning perhaps the best and most dynamic camera framing I've seen in any of the challenges so far, which is Tim_A's Entry: 14 (Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano). This viewpoint tickles my sense of vertigo (in a good way, it makes me shiver a little) and anything that can immediately provoke that strong a reaction from me is the awesomesauce. :) I still can't help envisioning some poor V4 or M4 tumbling down into the void... Oh geez, that Jayden6 better step back from the edge there, don't want to slip!
Huge points for realism: kashyyyk's Entry # 11 (Title: Sushi on a plate with a Cellphone) Looks nearly like a photograph. And if I liked sushi I'm sure it would make me a little hungry :). Also dievans Entry: 16 (Title: Vicky In Sci-fi Goggles With A Sultry Stare) When you blow this up full sized and take a nice close look, you'll see some stunningly realistic texture work on the skin and the materials of the goggles. I appreciate the effort it must have taken to tweak things to this degree. Also huge points for realism for Philemo's Entry # 10 (Title: Rookie night) When you blow this up to full size, and take a closer look at the skin, might be one of the most realistic skin textures I've ever ever seen coming from a native Carrara render, just superb (look at those hands! that nose, the cheeks! This is very hardcore good stuff right here)
Dang I may have hesitated too long, for some reason I thought voting wouldn't be closed til tomorrow... Ah well, at least got some comments in if nothing else :)
Kind of caught me by surprise as well. I'm I put mine in right away as I could very easily have missed the deadline as well.
Thanks for taking the time to leave the comments. It's always good to get feedback.
THE VOTES HAVE BEEN COUNTED!!!
The top three entries for this months challenge are:
First Place (and host of our next challenge): 18 votes
sukyL (#19)
Title: Fortune Teller Madame Getou in a 19th Century Photo Studio with her Monkey
Second Place: 9 votes
Tim_A (#14)
Title: Stephanie in a Tower With A Piano
Third Place: 6 votes
Varsel (#13)
Title: A Regal Victoria On A Throne With Some Friends
I will send the results of the voting to PhilW to aid in his selection of the Honorable Mention. Either PhilW or I will post the Honorable mention winner as soon as the selection is made.
I will wait until tomorrow to make the official contact to the winners just in case there is a justified protest (i.e. I made a stupid mistake in my count)..
Also, I accepted Jonstarks vote, even though it was a little late, it was posted less than 30 min. after voting closed (no doubt he was working on his vote post while I was working on closing the voting).
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to all the participants that made this such a fun and informative challenge!!!
Also, thanks to our generous sponsors for providing such great incentives for the challenge!!!
Congratulations sukyL - What an outstanding first Carrara Challenge entry!!!
Congratulations to SukyI and all the winners!
Thanks to Dustrider for hosting a fun and dynamic challenge!
Thanks also to DAZ 3D and PhilW for sponsoring this challenge.
Special thanks to all those that took the time to critically look at all the entries and make the difficult decisions needed to vote.
Extra special thanks to everybody that posted a WIP, even if you chose not to enter. It really helps the Carrara community to grow their skills, learn new methods or even just look at an overlooked feature!
Congratulations to the winners! :)
And congratulations to dustrider for hosting such a great challenge with so many wonderful entries!
Great results everyone, congrats to the well desrved winners :)
And what a great host you made Dustrider !
My apologies for not getting an entry in, :( real life got in way - and still is for a while.
Oh yes, and what evil said :)
Congratulations to sukyL, Tim_A, Varsel & JonStark !!!!!!!
A big thanks to Dustrider.
Very big thanks to the sponsors.
Thoroughly enjoyed the challenge as well as everyone's WIPs/entries, comments, feedback, & support !!!!!!
This challenge definitely helped my skill levels improve, as well as getting me far more interested in Carrara.
Still got heaps to learn but enjoying it greatly.
Congratulations to sukl, Tim_A and Varsel for their well-deserved wins! The quality of the entries just get better and better - tough act to follow :)
Thanks so much to Dustrider for his tireless hosting, the sponsors for their generous prizes and Evilproducer for his guidance.
What? Blimey! Gosh! What a thing to wake up to! :-)
I was dead chuffed when I got my first vote, and if nobody else had voted for me I would have been really happy. I never expected to get on the podium! And second? wow!
Congratulations to SukyL and Varsel and to everyone else. As someone who rarely does a "proper" render, I feel honoured even to feature on the same thread with all you awesome people.
Edit: and hey, my 400th post too! (does American cheerleadery pompom dance!)
I’ve got insomnia, what a thing to not sleep to….:-)
Congratulations to everyone who participated and to the well-deserved winners – Tim_A and Varsel! This is such a brilliant challenge for giving a glimpse at how other artists work. Thanks so much for sharing. I am overjoyed to have won first place. It was a personal victory for me to participate in this challenge (hell even to post to the Carrara forum). I’m awed and honored my work was considered worthy of recognition by such talented people. A big thank you to anyone who voted, commented, or just took a look.
Hurrah! To dustrider for such a well run challenge and beautifully thought out theme. The transformation of everyone’s works in progress to final, incredible renders truly demonstrated how Carrara rewards you if you put effort into basics like lighting and optimizing shaders. I liked Carrara a lot before, but now I think I’m totally in love.
Thank you DAZ and Infinite Skills Inc. for your incredibly generous incentives. My monthly Infinite Skills subscription just ended, so I’m jazzed about being able to have some of PhilW’s videos for keeps. PhilW I can’t say enough good things about your Carrara training series. The glowing object light setup and linear workflow has made me the happiest I’ve ever been with my renders. I can’t wait to explore the many other tools Carrara has to offer. Thanks so much!
Oh my! That leaves just one more thing….gulp….The October Carrara Challenge. I actually have something in mind. Hopefully I can reveal it soon. I hope you all like it and want to participate. For now, dustrider, evilproducer, somebody please reveal the mysteries of sponsorship and hosting to me. Oh, please tell me there are secret handshakes and funny hats.;-)
Yay! congratulations sukyL, Tim_A, Varsel and the yet unannounced 'honourably mentioned winners'. Great work Dustrider and thanks to Daz and Infinite Skills for indulging us. Looking forward to another fun one for October and wish sukyL a good run hosting it!
Hear hear! Without the glowing spheres and glowing planes instead of glass in the windows - both ideas that came from Phil's video series - my scene basically would not have been lit. So big thanks! :coolsmile: