December 2015 New User Contest - Free Render Month (WIP Thread)

Kismet2012

New User's Contest - December 2015

Sponsored by DAZ 3D and ARTCollaborations

Are you new to the 3D World? Are you at the beginning stages of learning 3D rendering? Have you been around for a little bit but feel you could benefit from some feedback or instruction? Have you been around awhile and would like to help other members start their creative journey? Well then come and join the fun as we host our newest contest...

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                                "Winter Render Contest"   

                    

 

This contest is a general render contest. Try putting to use all the things you've learned over the months and create an image inspired by winter (which for us in the Northern Hemisphere means snow...and lots of it). 

I will be checking in as will the rest of the Community Volunteers to try and help with anything you all may need

For a list of the current contest rules, please see this thread :  Contest Rules
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For those veterans of the forums that would like to help, because this contest is designed for the beginner to learn from, we will be randomly selecting posts offering helpful tips and/or critiques to receive a special voucher as well so whether you are a seasoned artist or an aspiring one, there is fun for everyone!

 

Closing Date: December 31st 2015

isidorn

Oh no! Snow! There's few things in the world I hate more. I get quite enough of it every winter and coincidentaly the first snow for this winter has just arrived today.

Here's a couple photos from a few years ago that I took to show my less snowyly cursed online friends across the world. For the record, it's been worse than this too. Still, I'm grateful I don't live in some other places with even more snow.

 

Luckily, the virtual kind of snow is less horrible. Now off to think of something for this month. Good luck everyone and I'm looking forward to see what everyone comes up with.

Knittingmommy

I moved from upstate NY in the snow belt to Florida.  I like not having to think about snow anymore.  I'm in the southern part of Florida where winter means turning the AC off for a month.  At least, with the contest, it is virtual snow.  And I have lots of reference photos in the family pics.

Chohole

We moved up here 7 years ago, from south east England, where we didn't get a lot of snow. It snowed 3 weeks after we had moved in. This was taken our 2nd winter here, and as you can see I made it into a card.

 

We had a little snow a week or so back  but nothing serious yet 

 

Knittingmommy

Chohole said:

We moved up here 7 years ago, from south east England, where we didn't get a lot of snow. It snowed 3 weeks after we had moved in. This was taken our 2nd winter here, and as you can see I made it into a card.

We had a little snow a week or so back  but nothing serious yet

Chohole, who is that cutie peeking out from behind the snow pile?  Love the 'face' on the snowman/plant thing going on the right.  Was that intentional or just part of the plant peeking out of the snow?  Looks like someone gave it eyebrows.  Too cute!!!

Chohole

The Little dog was our border terrier Fred.  We lost him 3 years ago. Now we have 2 young cats, who don't like the snow, Freddie used to love it.

And the Plant was our winter sprouting broccoli, and it looked so like a snowperson we gave it a face.

here's Freddie again, searching for his snowball.

Knittingmommy

Chohole said:

The Little dog was our border terrier Fred.  We lost him 3 years ago. Now we have 2 young cats, who don't like the snow, Freddie used to love it.

And the Plant was our winter sprouting broccoli, and it looked so like a snowperson we gave it a face.

here's Freddie again, searching for his snowball.

So sorry, but at least he was loved while you had him.  I used to have a keeshound who loved the snow.  He would chase snowballs, too, and could never figure out why he couldn't find 'the one'.  He would run all over the yard trying to find that elusive snowball that had just been thrown.  His favorite time was when the snow was up over his head (not a small dog here, think overgrown pomeranian) and he would literally jump, get buried in snow, and then jump to the next mound until he had clumps of snow all matted into his long fur.  He was a jumper and could clear a six foot fence.  He would then come into the house and his snow would melt.  Then he would insist on going outside and doing it all again.  Winters were never all that fun after we lost him at the grand old age of 15.

Chohole

Knittingmommy said:

Chohole said:

The Little dog was our border terrier Fred.  We lost him 3 years ago. Now we have 2 young cats, who don't like the snow, Freddie used to love it.

And the Plant was our winter sprouting broccoli, and it looked so like a snowperson we gave it a face.

here's Freddie again, searching for his snowball.

So sorry, but at least he was loved while you had him.  I used to have a keeshound who loved the snow.  He would chase snowballs, too, and could never figure out why he couldn't find 'the one'.  He would run all over the yard trying to find that elusive snowball that had just been thrown.  His favorite time was when the snow was up over his head (not a small dog here, think overgrown pomeranian) and he would literally jump, get buried in snow, and then jump to the next mound until he had clumps of snow all matted into his long fur.  He was a jumper and could clear a six foot fence.  He would then come into the house and his snow would melt.  Then he would insist on going outside and doing it all again.  Winters were never all that fun after we lost him at the grand old age of 15.

Freddie was almost 15.  He was a character.  Really miss him.  The cats are sweet, but I do miss having a dog.

IceDragonArt

This should be fun.  I hate winter but I love winter scenes. Wierd I know lol.

 

Cris Palomino

BTW, we wanted to thank DzFire for prizes he's giving for the November winners.  He graciously stepped in at the last minute when we hadn't yet finalized a sponsor.  Thanks, DzFire.

Knittingmommy

Awesome.  DzFire has some great stuff so some winners are going to be very happy!!!

Shinji Ikari 9th

Chohole said:

Knittingmommy said:

Chohole said:

The Little dog was our border terrier Fred.  We lost him 3 years ago. Now we have 2 young cats, who don't like the snow, Freddie used to love it.

And the Plant was our winter sprouting broccoli, and it looked so like a snowperson we gave it a face.

here's Freddie again, searching for his snowball.

So sorry, but at least he was loved while you had him.  I used to have a keeshound who loved the snow.  He would chase snowballs, too, and could never figure out why he couldn't find 'the one'.  He would run all over the yard trying to find that elusive snowball that had just been thrown.  His favorite time was when the snow was up over his head (not a small dog here, think overgrown pomeranian) and he would literally jump, get buried in snow, and then jump to the next mound until he had clumps of snow all matted into his long fur.  He was a jumper and could clear a six foot fence.  He would then come into the house and his snow would melt.  Then he would insist on going outside and doing it all again.  Winters were never all that fun after we lost him at the grand old age of 15.

Freddie was almost 15.  He was a character.  Really miss him.  The cats are sweet, but I do miss having a dog.

A pair of kittens that my parents got for their wedding, well the first time they saw snow they were out bouncing in it. According to mom, all you could see was the tips of their tails popping up out of the snow. (I don't think that I was even born yet at the time.)

Keep Freddie in your hearts though, he was a cutie that one.

IceDragonArt

Appreciate it DZFire!

 

Saphirewild

This is going to be fun this month omg I am already seeing snow outside my window as we have had our first snow fall of the winter and it is not offically winter yet!!!

THANKS DZFire for the prizes!!!

Edit: Just poked my head into ARTCollaborations

And wow oh wow some amazing stuff in there I can dream to have

 

 

ebonartgallery

Christmas Morning Patrol, Ten Years After.

Ati

ebonartgallery said:

Christmas Morning Patrol, Ten Years After.

Wow, you're off to a good start here! Great overall feeling, the image immediately tells the story you're after. The only thing I would change is the framing. The lamppost on the right is is deffinitely bugging my eyes, I would not cut its top off, but bring that into the scene entirely. The one on the left is not bad, it has a bigger piece cut, so it's not disturbing. I would move the characters a bit off center. Some people prefer left, I would move them to the right. That could actually bring the left lamppost fully into the scene as well.

Kismet2012

I agree with Ati.  You are off to a great start.

 

I have taken your image into GIMP and placed markers on the Rule of Thirds points.  I think if you rotate the camera slightly and possibly either pull it back or widen either the Frame Width or Focal Length you will be able to get that lamp post on the right in the image.  Having the top of the lamp post intersect with the edge of the image is very distracting and is creatig a tangent.

 

But overall this is a great image.

 

 

Kismet2012

Cris shared this link on how to avoid Tangents in a prior New User Contest.

 

While looking for the Tangent Link I came across another article I had bookmarked.  It is very long but well worth the read.  It is about the process the artists went through in creating The Incredibles.  There is lots of great stuff on composition in this article.

isidorn

Kismet2012 said:

I agree with Ati.  You are off to a great start.

I also agree. :)  Not knowing the story behind it there's one thing I wonder though. Is that raindrops or meteorites in the sky? 

And thanks Kismet for those links. Educational stuff in there. :)

Joe Webb

I missed last month due to time issues, but I hope I can get in this one. I live in Los Angeles so no snow, and we've been promised an El Niño-full of rain, but so far my lawn is pretty near dead.

@ebonartgallery you have a good image starting, and some good advice has already been given. I like the dark, noir-ish feeling on the character lighting, but you might think about some fill, or back, light. Its been a while since I was in snow (see above) but if the snow banks are behind them I'd think they'd get some reflected, blueish tinted light. The shadows help convey the sense they aren't exactly enjoying their holiday.

ebonartgallery

Revision

ebonartgallery

Little more light....

ebonartgallery

Joe Webb said:

I missed last month due to time issues, but I hope I can get in this one. I live in Los Angeles so no snow, and we've been promised an El Niño-full of rain, but so far my lawn is pretty near dead.

@ebonartgallery you have a good image starting, and some good advice has already been given. I like the dark, noir-ish feeling on the character lighting, but you might think about some fill, or back, light. Its been a while since I was in snow (see above) but if the snow banks are behind them I'd think they'd get some reflected, blueish tinted light.

I added some of that. I wanted to try and get that look of the sun filtered down through lots of Stuff - the idea being that this is about as light as it ever gets, for them.

The shadows help convey the sense they aren't exactly enjoying their holiday.

Yeah, this generation doesn't have 'holidays' :)

Ati

ebonartgallery said:

Yeah, this generation doesn't have 'holidays' :)

Yep, it's mostly about survival, day after day. Not exactly holiday, but there is the day they remember when it all ended, and this new era started. It's necessary to bring back the old memories, to keep reminding themselves what they are fighting for. This gives hope. Without hope, it's just survival, and that's never going to end well. Okay, getting a little off topic here.  These fellows are not depressed, they are both cautious and full of power, so there clearly is a chance that they might, some day, win this war.

Kismet2012

Just for a reference this is the Miriam Webster definition of Winter

 

Dictionary

1winter

noun win·ter \ˈwin-tər\

: the coldest season of the year that is after autumn and before spring

Full Definition of WINTER

1

:  the season between autumn and spring comprising in the northern hemisphere usually the months of December, January, and February or as reckoned astronomically extending from the December solstice to the March equinox

2

:  the colder half of the year

3

:  year <happened many winters ago>

4

:  a period of inactivity or decay

 

 

"Winter." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2015. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/winter>.

isidorn

ebonartgallery said:

Little more light....

With the increased lights something else came to mind. One of my pet peeves are winter scenarios with people not dressed for it. ("I'm Jon Snow and I'm so badass I don't need a hat fighting in the freezing cold where my ears would freeze off in minutes if I was a mere peasant!") The left character would probably want to wear a jacket or something to cover her arms and the right character would probably want gloves. It doesn't look like it's extremely cold, so head covers might not be necesserary. (and what's the point in saving the world if not looking good doing it?  same hero clause that saves Jon Snow from freezing his ears off and getting away with it) But definitely some arm cover for the left character.

That's just my personal opinion though.

The right character seems btw to be just a little sunk into the ground, especially the right foot. You would probably want to have a look at that.

h_habash

Unknown Enemy Battle

 

Chohole

isidorn said:

ebonartgallery said:

Little more light....

With the increased lights something else came to mind. One of my pet peeves are winter scenarios with people not dressed for it. ("I'm Jon Snow and I'm so badass I don't need a hat fighting in the freezing cold where my ears would freeze off in minutes if I was a mere peasant!") The left character would probably want to wear a jacket or something to cover her arms and the right character would probably want gloves. It doesn't look like it's extremely cold, so head covers might not be necesserary. (and what's the point in saving the world if not looking good doing it?  same hero clause that saves Jon Snow from freezing his ears off and getting away with it) But definitely some arm cover for the left character.

That's just my personal opinion though.

The right character seems btw to be just a little sunk into the ground, especially the right foot. You would probably want to have a look at that.

The other thing that worries me is how clean and pristine the surface is where they are standing, compared to the background. There should be some traces of snow, and ice and melting snow on it.

ebonartgallery

Chohole said:

The other thing that worries me is how clean and pristine the surface is where they are standing, compared to the background. There should be some traces of snow, and ice and melting snow on it.

Any suggestions on how to do that are welcome. Esp ones that don't involve photoshop.

Chohole

Well I could do it easily in my fave app,  but I will leave it for one of those who use DS to help you 

Kismet2012

ebonartgallery said:

Chohole said:

The other thing that worries me is how clean and pristine the surface is where they are standing, compared to the background. There should be some traces of snow, and ice and melting snow on it.

Any suggestions on how to do that are welcome. Esp ones that don't involve photoshop.

One option could be the use of a geometry shell of the road.