In an ideal world I'd find a way to make the christmas lights illuminate the room a bit. In one of my other christmas works I had to do it in post, and it wasn't particularly effective even then. Truth be told though, I think it's near impossible to get right without it looking messy. I doubt even a hundred tiny point lights would work.. though it would still kill the renderer :D
So here's what was made after thinking through a bit. I've still got one image in mind but could you tell me where can you get a bag the kind of Santa wears and his suite? Also, have the need of a beard.
In an ideal world I'd find a way to make the christmas lights illuminate the room a bit. In one of my other christmas works I had to do it in post, and it wasn't particularly effective even then. Truth be told though, I think it's near impossible to get right without it looking messy. I doubt even a hundred tiny point lights would work.. though it would still kill the renderer :D
A well-positioned gel light or two would probably solve your problem. I know there is at least one set here at daz that should serve the purpose. And I found it, http://www.daz3d.com/shop/xmas-light-gels-for-ds
Also I won't comment on your first WIP as it looks like you intend to add more so I will wait for the next one.
HeraldOfFire you could try point lights with no shadows on low intensity but to be honest I would be using the ambient colour channel way as described on page one. How bright are xmas tree lights anyway, not very.
Still here... Insanely busy these days, but I've found some time here and there to play with ideas for the contest. I completely gave up on any elaborate lights, because, well, my ideas were well beyond what I have time or patience for. But stained glass in an old church is properly seasonal, and will glow beautifully, so here's my current idea. Based on the memory of life on Pearl Street Mall this time of year ages ago, before Pearl Street got all trendy. Haven't even started making the stained glass glow yet, that'll come soon.
Dumb question, now. When I create a new item in the scene, it always defaults to world center. Is there a way to change that? Can't find a setting for "create objects in view" or anything like that. And is there a multi-replicate, or anything similar? Trying to make the lights had me grumbling a bit. So did positioning the little buggers precisely. Grr.
Dumb question, now. When I create a new item in the scene, it always defaults to world center. Is there a way to change that? Can't find a setting for "create objects in view" or anything like that.
Funny, I'm different in that I hate it when a prop is placed somewhere non centered or a pose set has built in translations that stick characters in some random place.
Well, I finally have all the elements in place that I want in the final piece... I think. I moved the mistletoe from its previous location, since it was a bit unclear and I'll give it a bit more definition when I add in a little DoF later, but not too much as I don't want to lose much definition from the parents in the background or the scooter. I also changed the poses of the girls to 'interact' a bit more with the grinning Sam.
All that's left now is to play around with lighting the scene until I'm happy with the results. Let me know if you think the scene is too busy, or if any elements need tweaking. Feedback is always useful.
Well, I finally have all the elements in place that I want in the final piece... I think. I moved the mistletoe from its previous location, since it was a bit unclear and I'll give it a bit more definition when I add in a little DoF later, but not too much as I don't want to lose much definition from the parents in the background or the scooter. I also changed the poses of the girls to 'interact' a bit more with the grinning Sam.
All that's left now is to play around with lighting the scene until I'm happy with the results. Let me know if you think the scene is too busy, or if any elements need tweaking. Feedback is always useful.
Well, I finally have all the elements in place that I want in the final piece... I think. I moved the mistletoe from its previous location, since it was a bit unclear and I'll give it a bit more definition when I add in a little DoF later, but not too much as I don't want to lose much definition from the parents in the background or the scooter. I also changed the poses of the girls to 'interact' a bit more with the grinning Sam.
All that's left now is to play around with lighting the scene until I'm happy with the results. Let me know if you think the scene is too busy, or if any elements need tweaking. Feedback is always useful.
Not not too busy at all...now for the lighting to inject some mood.
Well, I finally have all the elements in place that I want in the final piece... I think. I moved the mistletoe from its previous location, since it was a bit unclear and I'll give it a bit more definition when I add in a little DoF later, but not too much as I don't want to lose much definition from the parents in the background or the scooter. I also changed the poses of the girls to 'interact' a bit more with the grinning Sam.
All that's left now is to play around with lighting the scene until I'm happy with the results. Let me know if you think the scene is too busy, or if any elements need tweaking. Feedback is always useful.
Not not too busy at all...now for the lighting to inject some mood.
Well, I found a way to have my cake and eat it with regards to the christmas lights. This is a preliminary render (not the final), but it'a already looking pretty good. This was done using Lux as opposed to 3Delight, using its ability to transform individual surfaces into light sources. So... I turned every christmas light into its own light source. The benefit of it is I can still change the settings on individual lights if any are too strong or weak even during a render, so I've got them carefully grouped to get the effects I want. I did have to add another 'studio' light to the scene to cover the darkened areas though.
Here's it is anyway, with some minor bloom and glare effects to really bring out the twinkle in the lights.
A lot of good information on composition. Thanks for posting all that.
Szark - 05 December 2012 10:02 AM
Anyhoo has is how I do glowing lights in Daz Studio. This is just a quick and easy why to show how it is done.
But how did you start out with the red, green, and blue dots in Daz Studio. Where did they come from?
Do you know Daz Studio has primatives? As in primative geometeric shapes...I used Spheres.
HeraldOfFire
Sweet result. Lights seem to be over bright which draws the eyes away from the subject. Mum is cropped awkwardly but overall love the feel to the image..nice and soft. That will be Lux
If you can run Lux then you can do all this in Daz Studio with Ambient Surfaces, increased Max Ray Trace Depth and Uber Enviroment 2 using the Global Ilumination setting or you could have used Area Lighting on the xmas tree lights themselves.
I didn't understand that you wanted to do everything CG wise. As I was thinking Postwork.
Well, I did a post-worked one a while back for a christmas card, but the effect looked odd. I can't really describe it well, but it's noticeably 2D as the glow doesn't interact with the scene so much as overlays it. The good thing about working with Lux is you can play with the lighting mid-render, so if something doesn't quite work you can make adjustments on the fly. You're right about needing to move 'mom' over a little. I'll see what I can do to shift her into scene without obscuring the scooter too much.
I'll admit I don't have the first clue about how to use self-illuminating surfaces in Daz using the built-in renderer. I can do 'full-bright' surfaces by turning up the ambient, but it never really stands out much more. I'll be satisfied as long as the lights don't end up looking flat. It's not very christmasy if the tree lights blend into their surroundings.
Appreciate the feedback.
Edit: Just noticed that the skirt handles on the santa outfit are still visible in that render as well! Ooops. Better make those invisible while I'm making alterations.
[ Edited: 19 December 2012 06:03 AM by HeraldOfFire ]
Edit: Just noticed that the skirt handles on the santa outfit are still visible in that render as well! Ooops. Better make those invisible while I'm making alterations.
I saw them and then forgot to mention it. Not too clear headed at the moment.
