Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 8

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Comments

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049

    $42.95 list price???? What?????

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552

    It shows as 30.07 in the store with PC discount.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Okay I've been trying to find this and can't get to a straight answer. Logic tells me that if you don't want to subscribe to a product unless you really get your money's worth, I'd just subscribe a month then unsubscribe until I had enough things to warrant using it. (I'm thinking of a book for example, do the renders and then when ready to do all the post work, then subscribe. It wouldn't work for forum renders that are spontaneous.) 

    But I can't find the price for just a month, or just Photoshop. I'm finding the photography package, etc. I have Dreamweaver so I don't just have Photoshop, so not sure what's impacting what. Anyone know what the month to month is? I'm seeing 9.99 but not sure if that's for a year's worth.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited June 2017

    Ah, I found it. Monthly is around 30.00 and if you do it a year, it's 20.00  That really adds up. Oops- Edit- SereneNIght is correct, this one includes storage and more than just Photoshop. Scroll down.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552

    I get it through work for 9.99 a year. I'm not sure what the actual price is. Students can usually get a good deal through their schools if they are taking classes and they offer an education adobe discount.

    I see it as 9.99 per month for an annual plan.

    https://creative.adobe.com/plans

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    isidorn said:

    I took a dive into my EJ content and found EJ Tatijana. She's wearing Suzie Hair and the La Peligrosa Outfit and she sits on another of EJ's products. All materials are straight out of the box and there's no postwork.

    She looks really nice. The dark hair really brings out her eyes, too.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited June 2017

    It shows as 30.07 in the store with PC discount.

    Yes, I see that PC price, too. Still seems way too high to me. Why the sudden jump in brush prices, I wonder. This is more than double the price of some of his other brush packs that have even more brushes.

    Post edited by barbult on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    I get it through work for 9.99 a year. I'm not sure what the actual price is. Students can usually get a good deal through their schools if they are taking classes and they offer an education adobe discount.

    I see it as 9.99 per month for an annual plan.

    https://creative.adobe.com/plans

    You're right. i changed my post, the one I saw had website storage and other things with it. I THOUGHT I was paying about $10 a month. 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552

     

    barbult said:

    Yes, I see that PC price, too. Still seems way too high to me. Why the sudden jump in brush prices, I wonder. This is more than double the price of some of his other brush packs that have even more brushes.

    It does seem too high. There is a fair amount of similarity to the Ron's detailed smoke product with this one.  I admit, this doesn't look particularly like steam to me. Steam to me is more cloudy and there is condenscation. This looks like articulated smoke.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    barbult said:

    It shows as 30.07 in the store with PC discount.

    Yes, I see that PC price, too. Still seems way too high to me. Why the sudden jump in brush prices, I wonder. This is more than double the price of some of his other brush packs that have even more brushes.

    They seem to have multiple effects (hard to explain- like small wisps on top of larger wisps, on top of dense areas) so perhaps more complicated? For 90 brushes and 30.00 that's $3 a brush, so yep, agreed it's not cheap though. It was indeed sticker shock.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552

    I think it would be useful for a close up brush look such as when a character is smoking. For distance work you don't want crisply defined smoke. It can look unconvincing.

     

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I pay $9.99 a month for my photoshop.  And I'm not happy about it either.  But, I do use it a lot and it has some things I use regularly that doesn't come in the elements (which I also have)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Thanks xmasrose- will add when I get back. My mouse isn't working right, it's driving me nuts so I have to head to town and get a new one. 

    One last thing about the steam brushes- I got them for fire, mostly. When I saw Ron's example, that sold me. They seem awesome and my dragons can certainly use some fairly easy fire. We'll see. I have a few other things to concentrate on at the moment, but I'll try to do some renders for you. I haven't dabbled in post work very often though, because I try to get out examples in a timely manner of the products. SereneNight is the queen of meticulous post work renders. (Jealous, sticks out tongue.) 

  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454

    I get it through work for 9.99 a year. I'm not sure what the actual price is. Students can usually get a good deal through their schools if they are taking classes and they offer an education adobe discount.

    I see it as 9.99 per month for an annual plan.

    https://creative.adobe.com/plans

    I just changed mine down to Photoshop/Lightroom a couple of days ago. It was $9.99/month. All I use anymore is Photoshop, but I use it a lot. I tried Gimp and don't like it, since I've used Photoshop since it first came out. (I guess that dates me.)  As Adobe messed up my license back at 5.5, I had stayed with that for many years, as I was barely using it. I finally switched the CC, as I started using it more and wanted to be compatible with some filters. I don't like the model, but then again, I didn't like how much I was paying for renewals, either.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,401

    Even if I wanted to go Creative Cloud, I can't. No internet access at home. crying

  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454
    Novica said:
    barbult said:

    It shows as 30.07 in the store with PC discount.

    Yes, I see that PC price, too. Still seems way too high to me. Why the sudden jump in brush prices, I wonder. This is more than double the price of some of his other brush packs that have even more brushes.

    They seem to have multiple effects (hard to explain- like small wisps on top of larger wisps, on top of dense areas) so perhaps more complicated? For 90 brushes and 30.00 that's $3 a brush, so yep, agreed it's not cheap though. It was indeed sticker shock.

    Ron's items are often at 70% off flash sales, and I seem to recall one sale that was 80% off within the last couple of years (I could be having a senior moment)... I thought the glitter one was high, and this was even higher. That's the major reason I was not going to get it, but I figured maybe the jacked up price was due to a need for funds if he's battling cancer. And I do love his brushes and smart objects.

  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454
    Novica said:
    barbult said:

    It shows as 30.07 in the store with PC discount.

    Yes, I see that PC price, too. Still seems way too high to me. Why the sudden jump in brush prices, I wonder. This is more than double the price of some of his other brush packs that have even more brushes.

    They seem to have multiple effects (hard to explain- like small wisps on top of larger wisps, on top of dense areas) so perhaps more complicated? For 90 brushes and 30.00 that's $3 a brush, so yep, agreed it's not cheap though. It was indeed sticker shock.

    Ron's items are often at 70% off flash sales, and I seem to recall one sale that was 80% off within the last couple of years (I could be having a senior moment)... I thought the glitter one was high, and this was even higher. That's the major reason I was not going to get it, but I figured maybe the jacked up price was due to a need for funds if he's battling cancer. And I do love his brushes and smart objects.

    It is hard to justify though, as I have War Essentials, Detail Smoke, Flames, Fog II, Steam and Smoke, something with clouds (?) ... Drat, now I'm conflicted. If only it were the usual price. But I also want to support one of my faves... Anyone have a rich relative I could inherit?

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552

    I'm kind of interested in the Utopia Labs iray preset? Anyone get that? Do you like it. I'm tempted. I loved utopia labs and this looks fun.

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    I don't have the new Utopia one, but I've got dreamlight's light set for Abandoned city and I really like it. Lights are good, and the cameras are time saving. I have his day lights for streets of asia too, but i'm not that keen on it as the lighting is too yellow for me...can't figure out how to desaturate it. But the Utopia one looks good. Sometimes, dreamlight stuff goes on megaspecial too I've noticed.  

    I'm kind of interested in the Utopia Labs iray preset? Anyone get that? Do you like it. I'm tempted. I loved utopia labs and this looks fun.

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    jakiblue said:

    I don't have the new Utopia one, but I've got dreamlight's light set for Abandoned city and I really like it. Lights are good, and the cameras are time saving. I have his day lights for streets of asia too, but i'm not that keen on it as the lighting is too yellow for me...can't figure out how to desaturate it. But the Utopia one looks good. Sometimes, dreamlight stuff goes on megaspecial too I've noticed.  

    I'm kind of interested in the Utopia Labs iray preset? Anyone get that? Do you like it. I'm tempted. I loved utopia labs and this looks fun.

     

    Can you change the white point in the render settings?

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    I....don't know. What is the white point? 

    Novica said:
    jakiblue said:

    I don't have the new Utopia one, but I've got dreamlight's light set for Abandoned city and I really like it. Lights are good, and the cameras are time saving. I have his day lights for streets of asia too, but i'm not that keen on it as the lighting is too yellow for me...can't figure out how to desaturate it. But the Utopia one looks good. Sometimes, dreamlight stuff goes on megaspecial too I've noticed.  

    I'm kind of interested in the Utopia Labs iray preset? Anyone get that? Do you like it. I'm tempted. I loved utopia labs and this looks fun.

     

    Can you change the white point in the render settings?

     

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    It shows as 30.07 in the store with PC discount.

    Too rich for my budget. And I figure DAZ is getting half. I wonder if Ron has a GoFundMe page. I'd happily donate $15, then get the brushes later, when they are on deep discount.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    jakiblue said:

    I....don't know. What is the white point? 

    It's in Tone Mapping. Remember when I showed how it is the complementary color? So if you want red, you'd do blue, etc.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    L'Adair said:

    It shows as 30.07 in the store with PC discount.

    Too rich for my budget. And I figure DAZ is getting half. I wonder if Ron has a GoFundMe page. I'd happily donate $15, then get the brushes later, when they are on deep discount.

    That's a good idea. Reminds me of an Instagram I just saw fifteen minutes ago. "The hacker was so disappointed in my bank account, he started a Go Fund Me page." 

  • donovancolbertdonovancolbert Posts: 1,421

    The way it works is that you pay month to month, but it is an annual subscription. Adobe's model is so screwed to the consumer - but they've got digital artists over a barrel between Photoshop and Illustrator. 

    I pay $17 a month with a student discount, on a one year contract. There is some sort of penalty for cancelling early. 

  • RainRain Posts: 335

    The way it works is that you pay month to month, but it is an annual subscription. Adobe's model is so screwed to the consumer - but they've got digital artists over a barrel between Photoshop and Illustrator. 

    I pay $17 a month with a student discount, on a one year contract. There is some sort of penalty for cancelling early. 

    There's a BIG penalty for cancelling early.  Can't remember how much it was but I do recall it shocking me at the time.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552

    I picked up the billboard tool and the crowd tool and really like it! It seems useful for adding background characters especially if you use depth of field. Now I figure I have to make my own crowd characters. I'm unfortunately not entirely sure how to do that!

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    edited June 2017

    I picked up the billboard tool and the crowd tool and really like it! It seems useful for adding background characters especially if you use depth of field. Now I figure I have to make my own crowd characters. I'm unfortunately not entirely sure how to do that!

    I was thinking about getting the billboard tool. Based on what I saw in the addons, I'd say rendering your own crowd should be relatively easy. Both 3Delight and Iray can render the subject without putting in a background, and saving a render as a png will preserve that transparency. I work more in Iray, so here's my take on rendering your own crowd characters:

    1. Add a character to world center.
    2. Create and set up several cameras pointed to world center, from different directions. Maybe 4 or 6.
    3. In the Render Settings-Environment, change the default HDRI to something that will give fairly even light from all directions.
    4. Do a test render to determine if the HDRI lighting is too bright or too dark. Adjust the environment value if necessary to provide a light comparable to an overcast day outside.
    5. Turn Draw Dome off if it's set to on.
    6. Turn Draw Ground off if it's set to on. (When off, if you don't add a ground, there won't be any shadows.)
    7. In the Render Settings->General, set the Auto Headlamp to Never.
    8. Delete the character, so you have an empty scene.
    9. Save the file as a Scene, so you don't have to set it up each time.
    10. In the folder with the file, mark the file Read Only, so you don't accidentally save over your setup.
    11. Back in DS, create a scene with just the character or characters you want, (clothing, hair, props, etc.)
    12. Start with Camera 1, render and save as a png.
    13. Continue rendering with each camera, saving each render as a png.
    14. Optionally, create a mask image for each camera view by removing your HDRI and repeating steps 12 and 13.

    What photoediting program will you be using? If Photoshop, I can give you specific instructions on how to work with both the main image and mask image at the same time. At least, they will be good in CS6...
    laugh

     

    Post edited by L'Adair on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552

    I use photoshop. I think the prodcut would be greaft for crowd scenes, movie theaters, and jeering/cheering crowds. I like the ones that come with the crowd scene, however they are a bit tame. I think a mob of angry citizens, or papparazzi, or even a crowd of zombies or aliens would be interesting. Thanks for your suggestions.

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