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Kevin, I have used DS in the past. I used the Move X, Y, Z tool... can't remember what it's called. I use the same method in Carrara. Also I'll often use the Top view or other views to move things, thereabouts, quickly.
@Greybo wanted to know over in the Commons if Movie Maker still works in DS so, of course, I had to try it out. I hadn't installed that since my big computer meltdown and I switched back to a dual boot system with Linux being my main OS. Unfortunately, I started this project a little after 1 AM last night and hit the render button at just after 3 AM so there are all kinds of mistakes in my little test video. But, the plugin works and I made fixes and am rendering again. Hopefully, it's a little better. At any rate, here is the test clip, mistakes and all.
I fixed the errors I made on the first Movie Maker Test and rendered again. The video size is more appropriate and I fixed the shadow catcher problem.
I always wondered if it would work. Were you using the most recent DS build? I like the video you made.
Thanks, WgdJohn. I'll try using the move tool and switch between the view.s
@RGcincy I used DS 4.9.3.166 to create the video. It worked fine. Thanks. It was really simple and I still managed to mess it up. :) Thankfully, it was an easy fix. I just hated having to render that again.
@Greybo also wanted to know if it could be used with Iray. The short answer is no. It doesn't work with Iray straight out of the box. I think it could but it would a lot of work to be able to use the premade skydomes. I've never been able to use that Iray Section Plane trick to be able to use 3Delight skydomes. I have no idea what I'm messing up when I try that. But, I think if that could possibly work if someone knew how to do it. It's tricky getting something like that to work with a render engine it wasn't designed to use. If I ever get the section plane thing worked out, I might try it again. I was able to use an HDRI and Movie Maker together but it is really just not the same.
I can't used most of the spin dials in DS in Linux. A lot of the dials are messed up. I don't know why some work and others don't, but the ones for moving things don't work very well. I tend to use the transform tool for most or guesstimating distances and just inputing numbers in the spin dials instead of using the dials themselves.
Okay, new image. I've had this in my head for awhile, ever since I picked up Sci-Fi Bastion by @KindredArts. It's such a great set. I kind of have a story idea going and I think I'll be using it for a few more images as the story plays out. Believe it or not, everything else I used in this image was all old stuff. I used Prototype by @Stonemason and gave him a makeover using Mec4D's PBS Shaders Vol. 3. There was a thread in the Commons complaining about how difficult he was to pose but I didn't have any problems and I did the pose from scratch.
I followed a tutorial by wildspark on DA for making nebulas in Gimp. I think it turned out really nice and I loved being able to use it for my background outside the windows. It was exactly what I needed and I used the colors I wanted to match the lighting I was using. I think I might try to expand on the basic nebula I made and try adding some fractals next time. It was a fairly easy tutorial and I only messed it up once. Luckily, the tutorial reminded me to save often. :)
I'm really happy with how my image turned out and it matches exactly the story in my head perfectly.
The Walk
As the threat invasion approaches, Nihalia walks with the only being she trusts. Their ship travels toward the Galactic Council where they will make their bid for aid and assistance before the fearsome beings known as the Crichten make good on their threats to overtake their world.
Gallery Link
edit: Fixed my mistake in who made Prototype. I don't know how I could have done that considering I had to go to the page to link him, but I put RawArt down as the vendor instead of Stonemason! Aargh! My only excuse is that while I was posting, I was working on another image and that actually does have a RawArt figure in it. Sometimes, I wonder what has happened to my brain since my birthday!
Great render! Am going to have to check out that tutorial, I am frequently looking for a good space background. Making my own would be far better.
Your space background came out great, and I enjoyed your story. Lilithai Strigoia has got to be one of my all-time favs, too. I also like what your postwork did to the color palette - great job!
- Greg
I found some good nebula brushes at http://glennclovis.deviantart.com/ in the resources section of his gallery. Free for both commercial and personal use.
Thanks! It worked out great. I tried going to NASA's site first. However, they have so many images it is a little hard to sort through them. When I came across this tutorial during a search for nebulae, I thought I'd try it. One advantage is that I could choose colors that matched the lighting I had chosen. :)
Thanks! I hadn't seen these. I downloaded them and I'll try them out when I make my next one.
Thanks. I just picked that outfit up during recent sales so this was the first time I had used the outfit.
Note that I made a goof in giving credit to the vendor of Prototype. Prototype is by Stonemason and NOT RawArt. I've fixed my original post to correct that. I'm not sure I can completely blame it on age. I think part of it is that I try to do too many things at one time. However, I have noticed that my memory is not quite what it used be which can be embarrassing at times. :)
If I remember corretly, they include a text file or PDF on how to use effectively.
I'm always looking for stuff thats for both commercial and personal use. One just never knows and I rarely pick up stuff that I have to jump through hoops to use. And if one has plans for book covers, or even if someone just out of the blue says hey, I love it can I buy a print? and you don't have that commercial ok its going to have to be a no. Which would be awful lol
Yeah, I tend to agree. If I get anything that needs attribution, I have to keep it separate and I usually end up not using it in favor of using something that doesn't have strings just in case. This is especially true since I do hope to sell some book covers eventually. I like things like this that are free for both.
I have a render going so no playing in DS for me today. I have been playing in Gimp trying to improve my brush skills. I thought I would share what I've done so far as a kind of preview. It will be an upcoming tutorial soon when I can get back into Windows and use the barebones install I have there that I've been using for the tutorials. I'll also be doing a mini tutorial on installing brushes in Gimp first so everyone is all on the same page. This particular technique is real easy once you know the basics of some tools. This tutorial will also show you how to use a couple of tools from the toolbar that I haven't shown yet so there will be a lot of information in this tutorial. Hopefully, those following the Gimp tutorials will find it useful.
Not all of my experiments can be considered successful even when I'm following a tutorial. I kind of got carried away while following a tutorial on using the "creating a disintegrating effect" in Gimp. This is definitely one of those things that will take some practice and a very tight rein on my impulses that more is better which, obviously, it's not. I like the effect. While it's kind of cool, I will have to practice more before I get this one right. Poor Ogora!
@Isidorn mentioned that it was shame my nebula wasn't very visible in my last image called The Walk. Of course, it wasn't meant to be the center of attention in that image. So, I did a quick render of Sci-Fi Bastion that would showcase the whole nebula.
Very nice. I rather like that angle myself.
Thanks, @DarwinsMishap! I really like that angle, too. I kind of cheated, too, and rendered Sci-Fi Bastion the same size as the nebula and just popped that in behind in Gimp. I had made the nebula the same size as my monitor just in case I wanted to use it for a background. I liked it so well that it is currently my new wallpaper in stead of @Isidorn's robots. I do like it when experiments and following tutorials go right. :)
Wow! That nebula background is absolutely amazing, @Knittingmommy!
Thanks, @Dawnblade! It was definitely one of my more successful attempts at a tutorial. I'm really please with how well it turned out. Sadly, as Ogora up above shows, not all attempts can be deemed a success. The nebula, though, it was a great tutorial and I'll definitely be trying it again. :)
I really like the nebula too. I will have to try that out myself. I am glad you show the successful and failed attempts at things. A person may never know when someone else might have an idea or another way to doing something or at least that is what i have found. I have not did much lately myself and havea few more things to do here at home. :)
It's getting a little easier to show some of the failures. When I first started, I had this idea in my head that I couldn't possibly show the really bad stuff or my WIPs that aren't quite there yet. However, in the last two years, I've learned almost as much from my failures as I have from my successes. It is still really hard for me to show something that I think is really bad. I don't like showing things that I've done that aren't up to the standards that I've kind of imposed on myself. However, when following a tutorial to learn a new skills, I think it's important for those of us coming behind that we show our failures as much as our successes.
I've also learned a lot from others who have shown their process and how they get from good to great. While I wouldn't consider most of what I do great, it isn't terribly horrible, either, Ogora up above, not withstanding. :) So, if I can manage to show both my missteps and my successes and how I got there, then there is the hope that someone following behind will learn from my little experiments. And, hopefully, when I try that little tutorial with Ogora again, I might actually get it right. :)
More is better . . . more Orcs, please!
- Greg
Those images of your brush skills are really nice, @knittingmommy. The second one looks like a wave. I'm looking forward to your tutorial. The first one sort of looks like milk that someone threw.
I didn't notice your response to me about the transform tool until today. Thank you for mentioning it. I will keep it in mind.
Me too, love the brush stuff is very cool and especially like the wave one.
A failure is never a true failure as long as you learn something from it. Or something like that.
Well said. :) I'll try to remember that.
I had this render I was working on and I liked how I had it set up but I wasn't really crazy about how it looked straight out of Iray. It just wasn't working for me. I thought the composition was good but that's definitely one of those things I'm not good at yet. I'm learning but I still have issues with poor composition in some of my art. I thought I wanted a little more definition and contrast in this particular piece. Since I wanted to explore Sketchy - Toon Edge and Art Style Shaders, I thought this particular piece would benefit from it if I could figure out how to work the thing. I think I'm working out the kinks and getting better at using it. I ended up with a few of images that I really liked. All of these are straight out of Iray with NO postwork.
Original before Sketchy Shaders:
Three versions with the same Sketchy Shaders but different tone mapping settings:
