December 2016 New User 3D Art Contest - Free Render Month (WIP Thread)

3141592654

Good day, I have been making students for awhile, but I finally made the effort to make my first full class setting - the Generation Seven Science Class.

 

 

 

Shinji Ikari 9th

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

Kismet2012 said:

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

dracorn said:

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

A shadowrun inspired idea that hit me last night.

It's a litlte hard to see - bring up the light a bit.

Here we go. Made some changes to the render settings and some tweeks to Cheetah.

I am really loving this scene.  Cheetah looks very determined.

Thanks Kismet, The only thing that I can think to do with this is add some DOF. I'm thinking about calling it "SH4D0W K4TT".

And here we go. I give you "SH4D0W K4TT"

rosseliani

 

 

mjc1016 said:

Ice Dragon Art said:

 

We all cheat with lights if necessary nothing at all wrong with that.

Take a good look at your favorite movie...in the credits...look at the number of people in the various lighting categories.  Yep, cheating with lights is a major part of movies/FX/CG. 

dracorn said:

Yes, this looks much better. 

However, you are having a problem with graininess in the shadows.  That is one of my main dislikes about Iray - and I can't tell you how to fix it because I use 3Delight.

Can someone help lolitojfr ​to fix the graininess?

Two 'easy' fixes...adjust the 'stop' points (time, convergence percentage, max samples...all three are in Render Settings > Progressive Rendering or in a little pop-out on the side of the render window) to allow for a longer render.  If the render is ending at two hours...double the Time to 14400 (seconds) and see if a 4 hr render clears it up.  Or if it's hitting 5000 samples before 2 hrs, raise the Max Samples parameter.

Or. add more light (not lights, although a large single poly plane as an emitter up at the ceiling shouldn't increase the time too much) and then use the tone mapping settings to bring the 'look' back to subdued/dimly lit scene you now have....

A third, almost as easy...double the pixel size of the render (if the long dimension is 1024 pixels make it 2048) and render to where it looks 'decent'...then in Photoshop/GIMP/Image editor of choice, scale it back down to the desired dimensions.

Thank you Kanegs, Dracorn, mjc 1016 and Ice Dragon Art.

Here is a better quality rendering, but I must obviously affinate my group of pointlights, as it is too wide dispatched and it shows as "stairs" in the shadows, or something like the shadows you get with LED bars (see detail).

I also increased subdivision level on her dress to eliminate that"waffle-like" effect on her left shoulder (see detail)

Rendering is in progress...

Merry Christmas!

rosseliani

3141592654 said:

 

dracorn said:

Linwelly said:

dracorn said:

I missed last month's contest.  Life took my attention away from rendering.  Darn it, life just shouldn't get in the way of Daz!

Since this is a general render contest, I decided to post it here.  I did texture replacing on most objects, with subsurface replacing and optimization on the background. 

I used AoA's Subsurface Shaders for 3Delight and tutorial on the wizardress to optimize her surfaces, and added a material zone for the collar boarder.  It's the Eowyn dress, but I only used the under dress with a couple of accessories for the shoulders and elbows from MFD.  The overdress warps over large breasts, so I nixed it. 

I was planning on adding some postwork magical effects surrounding the floating Rosevile.

It's not easy getting objects to emit light in 3DL!  For the glowing vials, I set the Ambient to a bright color and kicked the strength up to 100%, and then added a pointlight inside each vial, which shined through the semi-transparent glass.

The painting in the background is classical artwork and turned out well. 

I decided to try a slanted camera angle for more drama.  Not sure which angle is best, maybe you can help me decide that.

Nice work dracorn! The shadows look a tad flat to me, as well you might want to think about compostion aspects to make it a bit more interesting. Try different camera postions for example.

I see what you mean about the shadows being flat, Linwelly.  I turned off AoA's Advanced Ambient light, which made the shadows deeper and much more dramatic.  How's this look?

Here's the first one for comparison. 

There is so much to see in your composition that the "flying" thing is a bit lost... Maybe you could make it bigger or somehow more apparent, like closer to the camera, use depth of field... Other glowing objects are more visible, and apart the (pretty) girl, it should be the center of interest in your image.

Kismet2012

3141592654 said:

Good day, I have been making students for awhile, but I finally made the effort to make my first full class setting - the Generation Seven Science Class.

 

 

 

 

Wow.  That is a lot of figures in one image.  And they all have different poses.  Well done.

 

Kismet2012

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

Kismet2012 said:

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

dracorn said:

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

A shadowrun inspired idea that hit me last night.

It's a litlte hard to see - bring up the light a bit.

Here we go. Made some changes to the render settings and some tweeks to Cheetah.

I am really loving this scene.  Cheetah looks very determined.

Thanks Kismet, The only thing that I can think to do with this is add some DOF. I'm thinking about calling it "SH4D0W K4TT".

And here we go. I give you "SH4D0W K4TT"

I can practically hear a low growl coming from her.  Nicely done.

 

Kismet2012

lolitojfr said:

 

 

mjc1016 said:

Ice Dragon Art said:

 

We all cheat with lights if necessary nothing at all wrong with that.

Take a good look at your favorite movie...in the credits...look at the number of people in the various lighting categories.  Yep, cheating with lights is a major part of movies/FX/CG. 

dracorn said:

Yes, this looks much better. 

However, you are having a problem with graininess in the shadows.  That is one of my main dislikes about Iray - and I can't tell you how to fix it because I use 3Delight.

Can someone help lolitojfr ​to fix the graininess?

Two 'easy' fixes...adjust the 'stop' points (time, convergence percentage, max samples...all three are in Render Settings > Progressive Rendering or in a little pop-out on the side of the render window) to allow for a longer render.  If the render is ending at two hours...double the Time to 14400 (seconds) and see if a 4 hr render clears it up.  Or if it's hitting 5000 samples before 2 hrs, raise the Max Samples parameter.

Or. add more light (not lights, although a large single poly plane as an emitter up at the ceiling shouldn't increase the time too much) and then use the tone mapping settings to bring the 'look' back to subdued/dimly lit scene you now have....

A third, almost as easy...double the pixel size of the render (if the long dimension is 1024 pixels make it 2048) and render to where it looks 'decent'...then in Photoshop/GIMP/Image editor of choice, scale it back down to the desired dimensions.

Thank you Kanegs, Dracorn, mjc 1016 and Ice Dragon Art.

Here is a better quality rendering, but I must obviously affinate my group of pointlights, as it is too wide dispatched and it shows as "stairs" in the shadows, or something like the shadows you get with LED bars (see detail).

I also increased subdivision level on her dress to eliminate that"waffle-like" effect on her left shoulder (see detail)

Rendering is in progress...

Merry Christmas!

Nicely done.  Your image has improved quite a bit.  

 

Merry Christmas

 

3141592654

Generation Seven Science Class ... updated - added floor shadows, fixed glare on hair, rendered for more iterations.

For reference from left to right:

Row 1: Rune, Eva, Gianni, Guy, Arabella, Meilin
Row 2: Leo, Kenji, Josie, Karen, Dash, Kimo
Row 3: Gia, Genesis Female, Ivan, Lee, Olympia, Lilith
Row 4: Ryan, Lucian, Kalea, Aiko, Isabella, Girl

 

Linwelly

3141592654 said:

Generation Seven Science Class ... updated - added floor shadows, fixed glare on hair, rendered for more iterations.

For reference from left to right:

Row 1: Rune, Eva, Gianni, Guy, Arabella, Meilin
Row 2: Leo, Kenji, Josie, Karen, Dash, Kimo
Row 3: Gia, Genesis Female, Ivan, Lee, Olympia, Lilith
Row 4: Ryan, Lucian, Kalea, Aiko, Isabella, Girl

 

 

 

Wow that is impressive, and everybody with a different pose. I wonder what Arabella finds on the microscope. How did you manage to get that rendered?

Not much that I think could be changed as classrooms tend to be boring and have that boring light setting, so that fits very well.

 

3141592654

Linwelly said:

3141592654 said:

Wow that is impressive, and everybody with a different pose. I wonder what Arabella finds on the microscope. How did you manage to get that rendered?

My computer does not have the memory capacity to render the scene as a whole, so I split it into levels which I layered together in Photoshop. The layers include:

• 1. The Room itself
• (2) Later I added a sepatate layer for just the floor with the desks to get the shadows.
• 3. The biology props.
• 4. Last Row
• 5. Next Row
• 6 Next Row
• 7 Front Row
• 8 Teachers Desk

For the lighting, the Science Classroom comes with 16 ceiling lights (just props, not lights). I turned the 16 bulbs into emissive lights which gives a really good appearance of what schoolrooms really have - and rendered in Iray with the 'scene only' lighting selection.

I really do not want to think about how much time/money went into making all of these separate items ... but I am becoming pleased with the long-term outcome and this (as well as other similar scenes) will work well in my seminar and publishing.

AGnawKneeMoose

My first potential contest submit.  DS 4.9 Iray, no postwork.

Kismet2012

AGnawKneeMoose said:

My first potential contest submit.  DS 4.9 Iray, no postwork.

8

Great scene.  I didn't see your gunman at first.  The bright light and robot drew my immediate attention.  This is telling a great story.

I like the spot of light on the helmet of the figure and the blue rim lighting on the leg and arm.  The bullet tracers from the robot's gun and the impact dust from the wall are really helping to tell this story.

Well done.

 

sueya

I managed to get the girl's reflection to display in the mirror. I have changed her pose and her outfit.

 

 

AGnawKneeMoose

Kismet2012 said:

Great scene.  I didn't see your gunman at first.  The bright light and robot drew my immediate attention.  This is telling a great story.

I like the spot of light on the helmet of the figure and the blue rim lighting on the leg and arm.  The bullet tracers from the robot's gun and the impact dust from the wall are really helping to tell this story.

Well done.

 

Thank you very much.  The initial concept was just the soldier behind cover and the mech firing from the background.  The first hdr sky I threw in, the light happened to hit the mech and left the foreground dark and I decided I liked the idea of the big bad mech walking in full sunshine while outgunned soldiers clung to the shadows.  At some point, I realized the mech had become the star of the show and I really ought to just let that happen.  Kind of had a left to right / shooter to target flow that was working for me.  So it was more found than planned, but very gratifying to hear it translates.

Some product props and things I did:

Foreground: Platea : Fallen (Railing destroyed with an opacity mask.)
Middleground: City Ruins Building 04
Background: CityScapes Backdrops Volume 2 / Skies of iRadiance - Sunny Sky HDRIs for Iray
Mech: Heavy Assault Mech Zeus-M1
The plasma cannon light: Epic Props: Dynamic Lens Flare & Starburst for Iray
The (gratuitous?) background explosion: Iray EnviroCam
Muzzle flashes: BEAR-220 Assault Rifle Set  (Each flash is doubled with the duplicate scaled up and the opacity turned way down to soften and give a little glow.)
Tracers / Dust cloud debris :  IDG Iray FX - Props and Shaders
Dust cloud smoke: Fire and Smoke for DAZ Studio (prop with) FSL Filthy Dirty Iray Shaders
Soldier: Soldier 2.0 for Genesis 3 Female / BEAR-250 Black Ops Set / Helmet is mine, created in Hexagon.

Kismet2012

sueya said:

I managed to get the girl's reflection to display in the mirror. I have changed her pose and her outfit.

 

 

The spotlight on the floor emphasizes your dancer but leaves her a bit dark.  Perhaps a rim light to help draw her out of the shadows a bit.

 

Nice job on the reflection.  That is not easy to do.

 

Is her foot in the floor? 

Kismet2012

AGnawKneeMoose said:

Kismet2012 said:

Great scene.  I didn't see your gunman at first.  The bright light and robot drew my immediate attention.  This is telling a great story.

I like the spot of light on the helmet of the figure and the blue rim lighting on the leg and arm.  The bullet tracers from the robot's gun and the impact dust from the wall are really helping to tell this story.

Well done.

 

Thank you very much.  The initial concept was just the soldier behind cover and the mech firing from the background.  The first hdr sky I threw in, the light happened to hit the mech and left the foreground dark and I decided I liked the idea of the big bad mech walking in full sunshine while outgunned soldiers clung to the shadows.  At some point, I realized the mech had become the star of the show and I really ought to just let that happen.  Kind of had a left to right / shooter to target flow that was working for me.  So it was more found than planned, but very gratifying to hear it translates.

Some product props and things I did:

Foreground: Platea : Fallen (Railing destroyed with an opacity mask.)
Middleground: City Ruins Building 04
Background: CityScapes Backdrops Volume 2 / Skies of iRadiance - Sunny Sky HDRIs for Iray
Mech: Heavy Assault Mech Zeus-M1
The plasma cannon light: Epic Props: Dynamic Lens Flare & Starburst for Iray
The (gratuitous?) background explosion: Iray EnviroCam
Muzzle flashes: BEAR-220 Assault Rifle Set  (Each flash is doubled with the duplicate scaled up and the opacity turned way down to soften and give a little glow.)
Tracers / Dust cloud debris :  IDG Iray FX - Props and Shaders
Dust cloud smoke: Fire and Smoke for DAZ Studio (prop with) FSL Filthy Dirty Iray Shaders
Soldier: Soldier 2.0 for Genesis 3 Female / BEAR-250 Black Ops Set / Helmet is mine, created in Hexagon.

Knowing when to let go and allow the image to dictate the composition and lighting isn't always easy. 

sueya

I have added an extra light and raised the dancer slightly so that her foot is on the floor rather than sunken into it.

I have also smoothed out her legwarmers as I noticed a small hole.

 

Kismet2012

sueya said:

I have added an extra light and raised the dancer slightly so that her foot is on the floor rather than sunken into it.

I have also smoothed out her legwarmers as I noticed a small hole.

 

The extra light is helping her reflection in the mirror to show up a bit better.

dracorn

Here are some more changes I made. 

I added spotlights on the floating vial to brighten it, then turned down both the fireplace and the wall lighting on the right.  I tried it with Depth of Field, but didn't like the results - I wasn't able to focus it so that only the background was blurred - the foreground objects were blurred as well.  So this render doesn't have the depth of field.  I think the reduction in lighting on the bookshelf helps push it into the background.  I may try to blur the background slightly in Photoshop instead.

Let me know what you think, as I will be taking it to Photoshop if there are no more suggestions for changes. 

rosseliani

3141592654 said:

 

dracorn said:

Here are some more changes I made. 

I added spotlights on the floating vial to brighten it, then turned down both the fireplace and the wall lighting on the right.  I tried it with Depth of Field, but didn't like the results - I wasn't able to focus it so that only the background was blurred - the foreground objects were blurred as well.  So this render doesn't have the depth of field.  I think the reduction in lighting on the bookshelf helps push it into the background.  I may try to blur the background slightly in Photoshop instead.

Let me know what you think, as I will be taking it to Photoshop if there are no more suggestions for changes. 

What a drastic improvement! Blurring the background... it will be like kind of DOF. Try it, you'll see. And perhaps turn that electric light in your fireplace off, and light a red-orange fire instead if you have enough time.

Linwelly

Everybody remember to put your works into the entries, we're on the last day!

Kismet2012

Contest closed.  Good luck everyone.

Saphirewild

Good luck to all who entered this month!!!

Some amazing renders this month as well, I do not envy the judges this time around wayyy to many beautiful renders to decide on.

Knittingmommy

Missed yet another month as time ran out.  I saw some really great renders in the entry thread.  Good luck everyone.  

wayne.ligon

Good luck to everyone!