WIP thread New Users Contest - July 2013

124

Comments

  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Jaderail said:
    The Background is a Image, that means no shadow from the Car is falling on the Ground in the Render.

    True but would a simple untextured plane primitive set up only as 'shadowcatcher' solve the issue? (really asking, since i only read about those but never tried using em yet).

    Kismet: i like the framing much more now :)

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited July 2013

    kesh said:
    Jaderail said:
    The Background is a Image, that means no shadow from the Car is falling on the Ground in the Render.

    True but would a simple untextured plane primitive set up only as 'shadowcatcher' solve the issue? (really asking, since i only read about those but never tried using em yet).

    Kismet: i like the framing much more now :)
    Yes it would and a shadow catcher TUT is running around some place, any that might like the info should check this link.
    Its on the Archives so give it time to load. http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=116187

    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • edited December 1969

    kesh said:
    Jaderail said:
    The Background is a Image, that means no shadow from the Car is falling on the Ground in the Render.

    True but would a simple untextured plane primitive set up only as 'shadowcatcher' solve the issue? (really asking, since i only read about those but never tried using em yet).

    Kismet: i like the framing much more now :)

    Carnite has two videos on how to set up what you want.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo2OVy9tf8E
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrWtXnijQ_k

    I have never tried doing it like that but have used pwcatch which works well.

  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited July 2013

    Thanks for the feedback Scott-Livingston.

    Here's what I have done so far:

    Added area light where the glowing ball of light is with intensity of 200 (I think I cranked it too high).

    Redone the lighting on the scene with 4 area light. 2 illumination on and other 2 using specular. Also with Uberenvironment2 Base

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  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    Title: Heading to the Beach

    Daz 4.6 Pro

    The sky and distant mountains are a plane with an image applied. The ground and driveway are from 2 different sets. I tried to use the plane technique from the tutorials to apply shadows to the SUV but I could not get it to work. The shadows where always white and ended up being more of a distraction, at least to me, than not having shadows at all. It was still a good exercise though and something I can maybe try in the future.

    Thank you Jaderail and bluemoon for providing those links. :-)

    Made a couple more tweaks.

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  • TobiasGTobiasG Posts: 447
    edited July 2013

    I changed the middle girls' panties, and got her a bit lower on the grass.

    I also re-did the whole lighting, to get more of a sun-feel, and less a sterile studio light. I think I like this better - what do you think?

    Edited to add: I need to add a bounce light from below. Later, after dinner :)

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    Post edited by TobiasG on
  • TobiasGTobiasG Posts: 447
    edited December 1969

    Added a bounce light, much better (imo):

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  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    t.gohrbandt: hi there, personally i'd say the render is well done and balanced on the tech side. I still perceive a bit too much of a greenish dominant in the general lighting, but that indeed is present also in real snapshots taken in a meadow/forest environment, so it's not a true critic about something i would modify.

    What instead doesn't convince me (but please take it only as a personal opinion) is the scene set-up in an 'artistical' sense. There are really two separate parts in your current scene: left, 3 girls, and right, two guys, and what bothers me is that there is mostly a separation among the two groups, also accentuated by the fact that the two guys are giving their backs to the other group and walking out of the picture.

    I think that the general atmosphere might improve a lot if you'd move the two guys some steps back, making them indeed enter the scene, eventually glancing (with satisfied surprise) at the girls who are clearly pleased to admire their sculpted bodies. This shouldn't change much in your general setup and be rather easy to do. Again it's only my impression, but i think it might be worth to try and see how that works.

  • TobiasGTobiasG Posts: 447
    edited July 2013

    Good points! I tried to connect the figures better, though I'm reluctant to have the guys notice the girls too obviously - these are arrogant, vain dudes, they expect the adoration they're getting :)

    cheers,
    Tobias

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    Post edited by TobiasG on
  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    aha! Well they truly are 'emitting' arrogance *grin*, meaning imo you have perfectly represented that in your scene. Good job :)

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Good points! I tried to connect the figures better, though I'm reluctant to have the guys notice the girls too obviously - these are arrogant, vain dudes, they expect the adoration they're getting :)

    cheers,
    Tobias

    Too much Dead Space around the Figures. I would pull the camera in closer and frame less of the scene. Yes I know you worked hard to do it all as a scene but what does the open areas add to the impact of the image? Next I still see two different pictures, girls on grass and dudes walking on grass, the composition is broken. I see no Focus to it yet. I suggest the Rule of Thirds with a Multi Focus for this image. A Multi Focus means this, one part of the image will fall ON a third point, the second will fall very close to a different third point.

    The Rule of thirds in Art or Photo's can be found with any search engine on the net.
  • TobiasGTobiasG Posts: 447
    edited July 2013

    Jaderail said:
    Good points! I tried to connect the figures better, though I'm reluctant to have the guys notice the girls too obviously - these are arrogant, vain dudes, they expect the adoration they're getting :)

    cheers,
    Tobias

    Too much Dead Space around the Figures. I would pull the camera in closer and frame less of the scene. Yes I know you worked hard to do it all as a scene but what does the open areas add to the impact of the image? Next I still see two different pictures, girls on grass and dudes walking on grass, the composition is broken. I see no Focus to it yet. I suggest the Rule of Thirds with a Multi Focus for this image. A Multi Focus means this, one part of the image will fall ON a third point, the second will fall very close to a different third point.

    The Rule of thirds in Art or Photo's can be found with any search engine on the net.

    I appreciate the feedback very much; that's why I'm posting here after all. I know the Rule of Thirds, but of course there's a difference between knowing and actually using it! :) I guess I was so focused on other things that I didn't pay enough attention to the scene as such...

    Well, I offer two more versions, both with the camera zoomed, tilted and moved a bit. I tried to get points of interests on the RoT-intersections. I think I prefer the lower render, the angle seems to work better. What do you say?

    cheers,
    Tobias

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    Post edited by TobiasG on
  • en0ken0k Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Title: Sunburn

    2nd wip using more lighting effects.

    4 point lights (1 dragon mouth, 2 sword, 1 tail tip)
    2 spotlights (above and below figure)
    1 distant light (to light up the background)

    not sure what i'm doing, but it's a lot of fun (though time consuming).

    haven't tried shaders yet. just taking my time to learn.

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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Jaderail said:
    Good points! I tried to connect the figures better, though I'm reluctant to have the guys notice the girls too obviously - these are arrogant, vain dudes, they expect the adoration they're getting :)

    cheers,
    Tobias

    Too much Dead Space around the Figures. I would pull the camera in closer and frame less of the scene. Yes I know you worked hard to do it all as a scene but what does the open areas add to the impact of the image? Next I still see two different pictures, girls on grass and dudes walking on grass, the composition is broken. I see no Focus to it yet. I suggest the Rule of Thirds with a Multi Focus for this image. A Multi Focus means this, one part of the image will fall ON a third point, the second will fall very close to a different third point.

    The Rule of thirds in Art or Photo's can be found with any search engine on the net.

    I appreciate the feedback very much; that's why I'm posting here after all. I know the Rule of Thirds, but of course there's a difference between knowing and actually using it! :) I guess I was so focused on other things that I didn't pay enough attention to the scene as such...

    Well, I offer two more versions, both with the camera zoomed, tilted and moved a bit. I tried to get points of interests on the RoT-intersections. I think I prefer the lower render, the angle seems to work better. What do you say?

    cheers,
    Tobias I agree that the second one is Better, I get the my eyes Focus Auto on it thing, which is a very good thing :cheese: .

  • edited July 2013

    This is not an entry but I would like to post it as a sort of thank you to all the great people who give their time to help new users learn the skills required to do 3d art. At least 80% of what I know, I learned in the New Users Contest and think this thread is awesome.

    On sunny days, I take my pets out to play.

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    Post edited by bluemoon_524a0e29ba on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Title: Heading to the Beach

    Daz 4.6 Pro

    The sky and distant mountains are a plane with an image applied. The ground and driveway are from 2 different sets. I tried to use the plane technique from the tutorials to apply shadows to the SUV but I could not get it to work. The shadows where always white and ended up being more of a distraction, at least to me, than not having shadows at all. It was still a good exercise though and something I can maybe try in the future.

    Thank you Jaderail and bluemoon for providing those links. :-)

    Made a couple more tweaks.


    A while ago you mentioned that you were having trouble with V6's red face...if you haven't seen it, this thread may be of interest: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/26072/
  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Zenrel: Hi there, I have a couple suggestions also regarding your scene, if I'm allowed :)

    1 the specular map on the barbecue is not matching your scene. That is not very noticeable in the reduced size pic, but is clear in the larger image (displayed when clicking on the in-post one). I would go to "surface properties" tab and delete the specular/reflection map images from there, leaving only white color as properties and turning reflection intensity to about 90%; some test renders might be needed to find a good setting, but then your barbecue would reflect what is in your scene, blending much better in.

    2 the guy imo is a bit too buried in the sand, especially his right arm. It makes it look like instead than on a beach he is in semi-solid concrete... a bit creepy! ^^ - Try translating him a couple ticks up (on y axis). Something you may also try is to add a smooth modifier to his figure, enable collision, setting the beach surface as collision object, and set the smooth and collision parameters to about 5

    3 the glow of the 'magic' orb should have much less reflection on the sand. Try modifying the beach material lowering as much as possible its reflection, glossiness and specular values

    4 (only a personal taste thing here, so feel free to disregard it entirely) I personally don't like the 'oops' pin-up like pose in general, unless when used in true pin-up renders (40's-50's like images), so i'd radically change the pose of the distant girl - again this is just my taste...

    5 i'm not sure about the ball/sphere right behind the guy... was it a volleyball (possibly the two girls were playing with it) that knocked him out? If so i'd use for it a more classical material/texture setup, because right now it looks like some alien artifact but has no evident connection with the scene... where did it come from? what is it?

    Just some points i felt like commenting on... :)

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    Title: Heading to the Beach

    Daz 4.6 Pro

    The sky and distant mountains are a plane with an image applied. The ground and driveway are from 2 different sets. I tried to use the plane technique from the tutorials to apply shadows to the SUV but I could not get it to work. The shadows where always white and ended up being more of a distraction, at least to me, than not having shadows at all. It was still a good exercise though and something I can maybe try in the future.

    Thank you Jaderail and bluemoon for providing those links. :-)

    Made a couple more tweaks.


    A while ago you mentioned that you were having trouble with V6's red face...if you haven't seen it, this thread may be of interest: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/26072/

    Thanks Scott. I will try some of the suggestions in that thread.

  • gosenagosena Posts: 4
    edited July 2013

    Title: Evona

    Character: Gabi
    Hair: Bubblegum
    Skirt: Female Business suit
    Jacket: Female Business Suit (with Snakeskin texture (real) added)
    Shoes: Sexy Silk for Genesis
    Lighting: Fiery Genesis


    Just got to the contest thread and just pulled from my WIP - may be too plain for theme. My very first!!

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    Post edited by gosena on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited July 2013

    3ch0_419 said:
    Here's an idea that I knocked out earlier this week. I'm calling it 'Dragon Burst' for now.


    I like the illumination on the dragon's face, but the background seems overly dark to me. Some dim, gloomy lighting might be all you need to improve on that. Could be spotlights, point lights, or UberArea. Szark has a couple of threads with good information on using point lights and UberArea lights.

    Nice job with the fiery breath effect!

    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Hi Everybody!

    Trying to create my own work for this contest. I am working with DAZ Studio just few months so please don't be very critical. :) Anyhow comments and suggestions are highly appreciated!

    Title: Enjoying the life!
    DAZ Studio render.


    Very nice! Might be a little "busy" with all the small animals and other objects...you could experiment with removing a couple and seeing how that looks. Could be a matter of personal taste, though. Another thing to think about...perhaps have her look at the camera (either shift her eyes or change the camera angle).
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    This is my 2nd entry to this month's contest.

    I am still working on the lighting for the 1st entry and I have had the idea for this one for about a week and just had to get it out.

    Title: Bubbles

    Program: Daz3d


    So cute! The only thing I wish is that the bubbles looked more like real bubbles... At least the one she's currently blowing, anyway--the others are understandable because of the Depth of Field. Might take some fancy work on the Surfaces pane...you could start with a glass shader and experiment from there.
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    This is my 2nd entry to this month's contest.

    I am still working on the lighting for the 1st entry and I have had the idea for this one for about a week and just had to get it out.

    Title: Bubbles

    Program: Daz3d


    So cute! The only thing I wish is that the bubbles looked more like real bubbles... At least the one she's currently blowing, anyway--the others are understandable because of the Depth of Field. Might take some fancy work on the Surfaces pane...you could start with a glass shader and experiment from there.

    I knew someone would mention the bubbles. ;-)

    I thought about trying to make them look a little "more real" but wasn't sure how to go about it. Thank you for another great suggestion.

    I can see a really busy weekend ahead.

  • gosenagosena Posts: 4
    edited December 1969

    Title: "Sunny proposal"

    Attempt at UV Mapping in snakeskin. Shirt texture "Kalahari berries". Attempt at 3 point lighting. Will be working on poke through before final. http://www.daz3d.com/forums/smileys/#

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  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    Title: Bubbles

    Daz 4.6 Pro

    This is a tweaked version. I changed the lighting and camera angle and played with the surface on the bubbles.

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  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    And here I thought this thread had petered out because I wasn't receiving notifications! :red:


    Y'all have been busy!

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    gosena said:
    Title: "Sunny proposal"

    Attempt at UV Mapping in snakeskin. Shirt texture "Kalahari berries". Attempt at 3 point lighting. Will be working on poke through before final. http://www.daz3d.com/forums/smileys/#

    You're using the snakeskin on the figures? I don't have DAZ Studio which I assume is what you're using, so I can't offer much texture help.


    What may help is the lighting. I know you're using a photograph as a background, so I would start by trying to match the lighting on the figures with the lighting in the photo. The other thing to try is a shadow-catcher. Look back a page or two in this thread and you'll find a link for a tutorial on how to set one up in DAZ Studio.


    The last thing I would suggest is to use shadows! If you look at the woman's open mouth, it looks as if it's internally lit. This is caused by using a shadow buffer or some other shadow shortcut in the renderer. I see a lot of these with Studio renders, so I assume it may be set that way by default (though I could be wrong). Not sure where to change it, so hopefully someone with Studio experience can point you in the right direction.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Title: Bubbles

    Daz 4.6 Pro

    This is a tweaked version. I changed the lighting and camera angle and played with the surface on the bubbles.


    I love what you have done with the bubbles. Aside from that I'm not sure, though...I think I prefer the original camera angle.
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    Title: Bubbles

    Daz 4.6 Pro

    Changed the camera angle.

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  • cecilia.robinsoncecilia.robinson Posts: 2,208
    edited July 2013

    This picture was done for fun only and you can see it's not serious at all. It's titled "Mermaids on the rocks" (pun intended!). You've got fun, you've got sun, a hearty dessert, a turquoise sea and two lovely ladies. What more could you ask for?

    It was my first attempt at "Lost Realms". I have only the basic textures, so I used my own shader on the smaller mermaid - I made it out of a free texture by Diana'sCreations. I never bought a pose package for "Lost Realms" too, so the poses are my own ones. The light is the default UberEnvironment set on the highest quality. The same presets were used for the little hippo (hippos are cute, aren't they?). It comes from "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" package of course. The backdrop image is a cut-out MS Office clipart plus a timber texture by NitchWarmer. The stack of pancakes is from one of the "Dine Food" sets along with the plate from "Diner Tableware". I don't have a proper drink prop for DAZ Studio and I lacked a couple of other things, so I finished the picture with stocks provided by the following lovely artists...

    Mermaid texture by Diana'sCreations
    Timber texture by NitchWarmer
    Fresia by Tigers-Stock
    Leaves by EveLivesey
    Ship by Lady Aimee-Valentine
    Drink by Camiluchiiz
    Cupcakes by AWorldOfMagic
    Boxes by CristoferWaitzh
    Sophisticated Scraps
    Island and Sea by Microsoft Office Cliparts

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    Post edited by cecilia.robinson on
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