Digital Art Zone

WIP THREAD FOR NEW USERS CONTEST, October 2012

"Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-Leggedy Beasties and things that go bump in the night"

Intent: To have fun for the Halloween month

This thread is intended to be used to share your progress or possible final submissions with the members of the community as well as those running the contest. Please feel free to post your images for advice and tips, to get feedback, or to even just simply show off your hard work! Throughout the month myself and others will be popping in to give help and advice as you work to make your creative visions for the contest come to life.


We have people standing by to give you hints and tips,

When working on this image, or indeed any image, it may help to start by either picturing the type of image you would like to make or by browsing the net and seeing what inspires you.

You can interpret the Halloween theme any way you wish, the more different interpretations of the theme, the more fun the contest becomes.

We are not putting up any specific tutorials on the subject at the start of the contest, We will be following the thread carefully, and will insert tutorials as and when we feel that there is a need for them, when people ask for advice.

"We would like to thank Khory who has graciously decided to sponsor this months contest" She will be awarding a special prize to the winners of this months "Halloween"contest. To view some of Khory's items please see her store front here Khory's Store

Closing Date: October 30th 2012

Ok, my first attempt so far, decided to work on making a zombie, total noob at this so dont expect much, started from the base model, main noticeable modifications are the eyes and teeth, may do some more work on them though as not 100% about them, any tips for me are welcome :)

No problem. These contests are for the total newbie. We want you to learn more about your program of choice and feel comfortable making quality renders. Your off to a good start.

For some good quick tips and tricks read the past WIP threads for the other contests. And also just ask questions right here. If I knew what you want help with I'dd give you a ear full.

So, what are your plans to "zombify" your character? Any area you have questions about?

well its the mouth thats bugging me most, i've got the top teeth in the correct position, though everytime i try to get the bottom row in a good position they drag the gums into view with them, think i've gotten an ok balance though still a little unsure.

Also any tips on making the skin look a little more, well dead and older, wrinkles decay etc...

EDIT: got the teeth sorted now, looking much neater and tidier.

u1bd2005_2 - 03 October 2012 11:01 AM

Also any tips on making the skin look a little more, well dead and older, wrinkles decay etc...

Is this Michael 4 or Genesis?

genesis, been doing a bit of work on the skin and clothes too, got nice skin texture simply by opening a 250x250 blank texture and splatting it with some spray paint on paint, quite enjoying my work so far

Hi everyone, here is my first draft.

Have no idea yet what the setting/environment will be like... but this is the atmosphere I want (well, sort of, lighting is so hard to master)

I took a Genesis kid and used the trollskin - same thing for the head but with heavier bump and color.

Maybe there are more kids in the back playing with the rest - I don't know yet

Any feedback much appreciated.

bartman23 - 03 October 2012 11:37 AM

Hi everyone, here is my first draft.

Have no idea yet what the setting/environment will be like... but this is the atmosphere I want (well, sort of, lighting is so hard to master)

I took a Genesis kid and used the trollskin - same thing for the head but with heavier bump and color.

Maybe there are more kids in the back playing with the rest - I don't know yet

Any feedback much appreciated.

looks good, but try to play around with the lights and maybe a background, backprop ore something

@u1bd2005_2: Some stuff that should be of use for your render...

SickleYield's conversion of DieTrying's morphs: http://www.sharecg.com/v/58198/View/11/Poser/DieTryings-182-V4-Morphs-for-Genesis
Great for things ranging from multiple ethnicities to simple morph adjustments. For your purposes, using Full body -> Distort will help make something asymmetrical, perfect for an undead who's figure is probably a little "off". A good set to get even if you weren't doing a zombie render.

EvilInnocence's Torn Shirt for V4: http://www.evilinnocence.com/torn-shirt-for-v4.html
Daz 4's autofit function will allow you to use clothes from some other figures. A tattered shirt should work well and oddly enough it's one of the few things where errors wouldn't be as big of a problem since this is for a zombie.

3-d-c's The Streets (multiple parts): http://www.sharecg.com/v/41337/View/11/Poser/The-Streets---Part-02
The Streets is a full set of parts for urban areas which could work well for a zombie apocalypse. The linked one is an endroad so it works well as a standalone as opposed to downloading a road and still needing to get buildings.

Sorry but this is not the type of thing I like doing, so I won't be taking part in this competition. Shame really as I enjoyed the others.

Wendy you could always do a comic Halloween scene. Like my Skele Come Dancing

For once, I've started a proper render already for this, rather than just saying it looks exciting and not bothering.

Hallowe'en is very much in my bag because I love doing Pagan styled images, being a bit of a lazy witch myself. My image melds traditional ideas of Samhain, a Celtic Festival of the Dead upon which the original Hallowe'en customs are thought to have derived, and the current trend of a scary witchy character. I have ideas of how I want the final image to look and I am going to have to pay special attention to lighting. Lighting is my favourite thing in the world these days and I am loving playing with different ideas, some of which don't conform to the norm.

Cool, new contest! Thanks Khory for sponsoring!

u1bd2005_2: Bump and/or displacement maps would help give the skin some texture. Cranking up their values (in the surfaces tab) might work well for a zombie. You can also play with the Aged morph that's part of the DieTrying morph set that ZamuelNow recommended. If I were trying to make a zombie, I'd use a "regular" skin texture and add a diffuse color to it, instead of starting with a blank texture--but your way is also valid, so do whatever suits you (I probably couldn't paint a decent skin texture for the life of me).

bartman23: I love it! I've rendered Trollkids a couple of times myself. Can't wait to see where you go with this one.

wilmap: Sorry you won't be joining us, Wendy (Aww, not even a trick-or-treating render? Doesn't need to be something gruesome...). Hope to see you in November's contest.

In case anyone is missing the tutorials that usually come with these WIP threads, here's a link to mine...still a work in progress, but hopefully you find it helpful. It explains how to use virtually any hair prop or figure on Genesis: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/5646/ Anyone else have any tips to share, on any topic?

General question: we have this contest, Rawn's contest (http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/8813/), the PC monthly render challenge, and the forthcoming PC anniversary render contest, all with similar themes. And I wouldn't be surprised to see more Halloween contests crop up this month (actually, I bet there are already others I'm missing). Can we submit our entries for this contest to others, assuming it's okay with the sponsors of those contests?

wilmap - 03 October 2012 01:12 PM

Sorry but this is not the type of thing I like doing, so I won't be taking part in this competition. Shame really as I enjoyed the others.

Just a halloweeny setting like pumpkins on hay bails and autumn leafs kind of thing will work. I does not have to be zombies and stuff. Kids in costumes trick or treating any thing pretty much.