Carrara Challenge #32 They Only Come Out At Night - VOTING IS NOW CLOSED, WINNERS ANNOUNCED
UnifiedBrain
Posts: 3,588
Welcome to the Entry Thread!
We are allowing entries a little earlier than usual for this Challenge. The important dates are:
April 7 - Work-in-progress thread begins
April 21 - Formal entry thread begins
May 5 - WIP and Entry deadline, voting begins
May 12 - Voting ends, winners announced soon after
A reminder of specific Carrara requirements for this month:
1. Your image reflects the theme "They Only Come Out At Night."
2. You can enter up to three images, but if you enter more than one, at least one must be nonphotorealistic, and either rendered with the Carrara NPR render engine, or created by using the Carrara Toon!part lll filter.
3. for photorealistic renders, you must use at least one Carrara lighting effect from the following list - Anything Glows, Aura, Light cone, Lens Flare. NPR renders have no lighting requirement.
4. No postwork allowed, except for signature. For the purposes of this Challenge, no postwork means no Carrara multipass rendering, and no compositing in a program other than Carrara.
Other, more general rules, are posted in the WIP thread: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/160591/carrara-challenge-32-they-only-come-out-at-night/p1
Attention artists - There are four prize categories this month, including a new one for best NPR render. So with each entry, please indicate if your image is PR or NPR. This will help the host (me) place the image in the correct category when we get to the voting stage.
Suggested template for entries:
Entry: #
Title:
Artist:
PR or NPR:
Specific Carrara requirements met:
WIP Links:
Products Used:
Additional Notes:
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Comments
Entry: #1
Title: Lady Of The Evening
Artist: UnifiedBrain
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Used Carrara NPR render engine, used Lens Flare in constructing background image (although not required). No postwork.
WIP Links: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2322441/#Comment_2322441
Products Used: V4, Party Dress, Mitsu hair, Stylish Shoes
Additional Notes: Composited on a plane using the color and alpha channels in Carrara shader room. Added some cellular in the bump channel to give the image a more abstract look.
Entry: # 2
Title: Moon Howler
Artist: Bunyip02
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Anything Glows used on the Moon
WIP Links: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2304116/#Comment_2304116
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2304261/#Comment_2304261
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2316721/#Comment_2316721
Products Used: https://www.daz3d.com/starry-sky-for-carrara
https://www.daz3d.com/carrara-fantasy-village
https://www.daz3d.com/midnight-lycan-for-genesis-3-male-s
https://www.daz3d.com/midnight-lycan-poses
https://www.daz3d.com/ms-lycan
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-generation-x2
CarrarActor Janette and Jonathon - Rendo
HFS Space System - Rendo
Additional Notes:
Entry: # 3
Title: Bogeyman going to get you
Artist: Bunyip02
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Carrara NPR render
WIP Links: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2317816/#Comment_2317816
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2319746/#Comment_2319746
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2324576/#Comment_2324576
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2324631/#Comment_2324631
Products Used: https://www.daz3d.com/gigalien-for-genesis-3-male
https://www.daz3d.com/the-exile-alien-hd-for-genesis-3-male
https://www.daz3d.com/i13-late-night-fantastic
CarrarActor Janette and Jonathon - Rendo
Additional Notes:
Entry: # 4
Title: Going Baty
Artist: Bunyip02
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Toon! part III render
WIP Links: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2322961/#Comment_2322961
Products Used: https://www.daz3d.com/starry-sky-for-carrara
https://www.daz3d.com/toonimal-bat
Lisa Botanicals Oak Tree
HFS Spacesystem - Rendo
http://www.sharecg.com/v/63303/gallery/11/Poser/Fantasy-Mausoleum
Additional Notes:
Entry #5
Artist: Kevin Wyeth (evilproducer)
Title: Northern Lights Above the River Dells
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara Requirements: Rendered in Carrara. Uses light effects (cone) on the spotlights in the northern lights.
WIP Links:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2316496/#Comment_2316496
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2320551/#Comment_2320551
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2350571/#Comment_2350571
Products used: Carrara. That's it.
Notes: I used the fire primitive, a vertex object that I modeled, some spotlights with light cones, and a surface replicator to create the lights. I then duplicated them to create multiple waves of them. The terrain is an abandoned idea for a product, called, River Dells. It is based loosely on an area of the Wisconsin River, called the Wisconsin Dells. It is most definitely not in northern Wisconsin as some "flatlanders" think.
Entry: #6
Title: Bats, Man
Artist: Mark D. Olsen (MDO2010)
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Used light cone in the background and Toon! part III render
WIP Links:
Products Used: None, everything made in Carrara. The font for the text is "Face Your Fears" by Hanoded http://www.dafont.com/face-your-fears.font
Additional Notes: Bats are simple vertex models with Carrara dynamic hair, the ceiling is a verted model and the floor is a terrain. Text is a text object with an edge glow created using Sparrowhawke3D's free Edge Falloff shader.
Entry #7
Title: Swinging in Starlight
Artist: Ted Murphy (Diomede)
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific requirements met: Used NPR renderer for figures, stars, and "Swinging in Starlight" text. Used Toon III Pro filter for other text.
WIP Links
morphing the 3DUniverse characters https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2305356/#Comment_2305356
Posing and fixing the 3DU figures and conforming clothes
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2312681/#Comment_2312681
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2312921/#Comment_2312921
Assembling the poster
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2315316/#Comment_2315316
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2316391/#Comment_2316391
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2352081/#Comment_2352081
Products used: 3DUniverse toon base figure, hair, and male clothes. Trumpet from Carrara native content.
Additional notes: The date gives us one year. We should make this dance happen!
Entry #8
Title: Headshot Holister
Artist: Ted Murphy (Diomede)
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific requirements met: Used NPR renderer and toon pro in combination to create a highlight around the gunman. Used rough brush in NPR to create the swirl dark background. Blended NPR and toon renders on a plane.
WIP Links
NPR grayscale background, black outline, on white paper (no difuse, etc)
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2324731/#Comment_2324731
Combined NPR and toon color renders in the rough brush NPR background
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2325866/#Comment_2325866
Shader room techniques and masks to combine for pulp look
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2326101/#Comment_2326101
Final cover layout with text objects
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2352516/#Comment_2352516
Products used: Genesis 2 male, psw rifle, air defender clothes for G2M by Yura
Additional notes: If someone writes the first 22 Headshot Holister books, I will write this 23rd.
Entry: #9
Title: Return of the Legend
Artist: UnifiedBrain
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara requirements met: No postwork, Lens Flare
WIP Links: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2349566/#Comment_2349566
Products Used: Millennium Dragon, Fantasy Castle
Additional Notes: Custom terrain, Realistic sky with fog effect
Entry: #10
Title: Going Nuts
Artist: Dave T ( Stezza )
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: used the glow channel to brighten up the models, modelled batwings, background, morphed the squirrel, felt tip pen & Beanie. No postwork.
WIP Links:https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2300001/#Comment_2300001
Products Used: AM Squirrel, Blank Boi, Slime Ghost, Morphing Skull, witches house.
Entry: #11
Title: Drop Bear
Artist: Dave T ( Stezza )
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara requirements met: 2 lights... glow channel, translucency, lens flare and light gel was used., morphed the koala. No postwork apart from sig.
WIP Links:https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2303771/#Comment_2303771
Products Used:AM Koala, a cheap tree I can't remember by who in the RDNA store.
Entry: #12
Title: Supweme Weader
Artist: Dave T ( Stezza )
PR or NPR: PR & NPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Modelled the fuse and images for a plane for the lit fuse.. made the soldiers hat bigger with magnets. Used glow shaders and light effects for the street light, lighter & fuse. Created the SR morph for Carrara. No postwork apart from sig.
WIP Links:https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2303771/#Comment_2303771
Products Used:Genesis, gone mad clothing, uniforms for Genesis, broken bridge, Ron's brushes.
Other info: Modelled my Supreme Ruler morph in Carrara then imported to DS to save as DUF morph for Genesis.
Imported the background which I created and will share for anyone who would like to use it. made the soldiers hat bigger with magnets
Entry # 13
Title :Night Encounter
Artist : Varsel
UFO is modeled in Carrara. The girl and boy are Genesis1. And the car is The Family Car 1950 from the store.
Using Anything Glow for the center of the UFO to light up the scene, and using Spotlights with light-cone for the capturing tractor beams.
The forrest is a modified Howie Farkes Coutry Lane.
WIPs :
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2311791/#Comment_2311791
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2333586/#Comment_2333586
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2345406/#Comment_2345406
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2355216/#Comment_2355216
Entry # 14
Artist : Varsel
First Training Session
WIPS's :
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2333601/#Comment_2333601
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2339381/#Comment_2339381
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2339801/#Comment_2339801
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2355241/#Comment_2355241
The Owls are Songbird Remix Owls by Ken Gilliland, originally bought here, but now availible from an other store.
Entry: # 15
Title: Jekyll
Artist: Alberto
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Anything glows for key light. Compositing only in carrara shaders with layers. No multipass rendering nor postwork.
WIP Links: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2358651/#Comment_2358651 , https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2358676/#Comment_2358676 ,
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2358791/#Comment_2358791
Products Used: M4 (Edinburgh), Michael 4 Business Suit, Pine Oak Mature for Howie's Arboretum 1, Nature - Plants Pack 1 and Gabriel hair
Entry # 16
Title: Thinking and Wondering
Artist: John ~Wilson Graphic Design~ (wgdjohn)
Requirements:
For myself it was time to learn a few things... so learn I did. I'd never used the Toon! part III filter, NPR or Toon!Pro from DCG. Now I've gotten my feet wet... so the World is my oyster. :)
PR or NPR: NPR
Products Used:
DAZ Carrara 8.5 Pro
Toon! part III filter used for the background and NPR for rendering it.
Toon!Pro from DCG used to render the outlined character.
Links to WIPs:
An early idea... not used but interesting.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2320821/#Comment_2320821
My new thought for the project... this one I will use but differently.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2329801/#Comment_2329801
Now for some experimenting and a screenshot of some settings.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2330521/#Comment_2330521
A change in size from Portrait to Landscape and addition of a few vertex objects.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2337211/#Comment_2337211
Almost done... still have to add my signature and some minor adjustments.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2343941/#Comment_2343941
Finished. Thanks UnifiedBrain for getting me out of my Photorealistic box.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2346361/#Comment_2346361
As usual - No Postwork
Entry: # 17
Title: Darkside of the Earth
Artist: PNewhook
PR or NPR: Photorealistic
Specific Carrara requirements met: Lens Flare, Aura
WIP Links:
First:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2332921/#Comment_2332921
Last:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2358541/#Comment_2358541
Products Used:
Carrara 8.5, Fresnel from Shoestring Shaders
Additional Notes:
Entry: # 18
Title: Peaceful Camping
Artist: PNewhook
PR or NPR: Photorealistic
Specific Carrara requirements met: Aura
WIP Links:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2333066/#Comment_2333066
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2361551/#Comment_2361551
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2364611/#Comment_2364611
Products Used:
Carrara 8.5, Michael 4, Victoria 4, Deer from GrabCad
Additional Notes:
I tried to hit multiple aspects of the "they only come out at night" theme: The bright full moon, milky way galaxy, stars, silhouettes, and the curious deer.
Entry: # 19
Title: Painted Peaceful Camping
Artist: PNewhook
PR or NPR: NPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Glow
WIP Links:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2368571/#Comment_2368571
Products Used:
Carrara 8.5, Michael 4, Victoria 4, Deer from GrabCad
Additional Notes:
Made a NPR version of the photorealistic 'Peaceful Camping' scene, with some modifications to enable a better NPR. Tried many iterations and this was as 'painted' as I was able to make it.
Entry: # 20
Title: It was a Bad Night when We Lost Ralph
Artist: headwax
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Uses Aura and Light Cone.
I also used Fresnel shader which acted with the "Aura" filter to give weird effects.
WIP post https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2329146/#Comment_2329146
Entry: # 21
Title: The Adventures of Sheriff Skull:
Artist: headwax
PR or NPR: nPR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Used Toon1Part 11 and ToonPro
WIP post https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2321356/#Comment_2321356
Entry: # 22
Title: Peter Pan Haunts Wendy
Artist: headwax
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Used Aura.
Also used Fresnel in the glow channel on Peter Pan
WIP post https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2347496/#Comment_2347496
Entry: # 23
Title: «Night Huntress»
Artist: Vyusur
PR Octane render
Specific Carrara requirements met: Used 9 spot lights, 6 bulb lights, 8 hanging burner lights.
Main characters: Genesis 3 female and Millennium dog. Gothic Arch Gallery is my own original model.
No Post Work
WIP post: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2313936/#Comment_2313936
Entry: # 24
Title: «The Gargoyles of the Baskervilles»
Artist: Vyusur
PR Internal Carrara Render
Specific Carrara requirements met: One spot light with cone effect and cloudy gel applied, 3d Aura was applied above glowing fractal noisy material on Gargoyle skin.
Main characters: Genesis 2 male with custom morphing applied and Gargoyle Hound.
No Post Work
WIP post: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2331526/#Comment_2331526
Entry: # 25
Title: «They Come Out»
Artist: Vyusur
NPR Internal Carrara Render
Specific Carrara requirements met: One spot light and one bulb light.
Main characters: a couple of Genesis 2 figures with custom morphing applied.
Male costume is Marquis outfit for M4 re-targeted for Genesis 2 base male with manual rig correction and custom Hexagon morphing.
No Post Work
WIP post: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2325656/#Comment_2325656
Entry: #26
Title: Uncle Humerus Tells Us A Bedtime Story
Artist: UnifiedBrain
PR or NPR: PR
Specific Carrara requirements met: Anything Glows and Aura on the light globes. No postwork.
WIP Links:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2375981/#Comment_2375981
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2398066/#Comment_2398066
Products Used: Gorilla for Genesis, Bridge of Cheirocrates, V4 Skeleton, Dinokanda
Additional Notes: The old fable, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire," from the twisted perspective of someone who finds the whole thing hilarious.
Entry 27
Title: Moon over the observatory
Artist Diomede
PR or NPR: PR
Specific requirements met - anything glows and aura, no postwork
WIP links
Initial landscape - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2361351/#Comment_2361351
How to for constructing the terrain and its maps - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2364586/#Comment_2364586
Adding fog, Michael 4, torch, pitchform and mixing final images - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2390621/#Comment_2390621
Products used
Michael 4, Cavalier outfit for M4, Everyman hair for M4, Red Fox by AM, Moon object uses an image from NASA on its texture map
Additional notes - Two renders mixed togethr on a plane withing Carrara
The Entries part is now CLOSED.
Voting is open!
Most of this voting procedure should look familiar, but a couple of things have been modified to help make the process easier. The most essential instructions are highlighted in red.
General
A. Anyone with a Daz account can vote.
B. Anonymous voting is allowed if you feel you have a good reason (e.g. forum moderators who don't want to give an impression of favoritism). Please PM me your votes if that is the case.
C. As the host, I will not vote except to break ties. The reasoning is, these Challenges are almost always close. It makes no sense for the host to help create a tie, and then have to figure out a way to break it.
Specific
Please vote for a total of four different images.
A. Vote for your three favorite images, in no particular order. There is no need to rank them.
B. For your final (forth) entry, please vote for a specific image (different from the first three) that you think best expresses the overall theme of "They Only Come Out At Night." This "Best Theme" award takes the place previously held by "honorable mention."
Categories and prizes
Many thanks to our sponsors!!
Votes will be compiled by the host, and then entered into four prize categories. An artist can win only one category. If an artist has the most votes in more than one category, the next higher finisher in the lower category (as they are listed) wins the prize.
Best Participation (most total votes, not/including Best Theme) $50.00 Daz item(s)
Best Photorealistic Render (most votes single PR image) $50 Daz item(s)
Best Non-photorealistic Render (most votes single NPR image) $50.00 Daz item(s)
Best Demonstration of Theme (single image) $45.00 Daz item(s)
There will also be two prizes awarded by a Carrara Professional Artist. These are additional prizes which go to the artist with the most total votes in all four categories (Best Artist), and to the image with the most total votes (Best Picture), with the provision that an artist can't win both PA prizes. Our PA sponsor this month is GKDantas. For a profile on GKDantas, go here.
Entry voting example:
Entry #46 "It Ain't Over Till The Dead Man Walks"
Artist: V. Frankenstein
Typical voting template
Entry #
Artist
Entry #
Artist
Entry #
Artist
Best Theme #
Artist
Comments:
My file I use to aid in voting. I just move the ones liked best to the top in a text editor... then narrow those down.
Entry # 10, going nuts
Artist Stezza
Entry #17, darkside of the earth
Artist Pnewhook
Entry #20, it was a bad night
Artist Headwax
Best Theme #13, night encounter
Artist Varsel
Comments:
I encourage people to look at the entries in full size before evaluating.
Whoah and wow. Very impressed with the entries. I thought that Bunyip (#3) and Vyusur (#25) had some entries that got very close to a painterly look straight out of the box. I know how difficult that is because I've been struggling to do it since 2013.
I thought Evilproducer (#5) and Pnewhook (#18) did very realistic outdoor scenes. EP captured the Dells and the northern lights and PeterN has the stars in their actual place. 
I thought UB (#1), Bunyip (#4), Mark D.O. (#6), and Stezza (#12) incorporated pure fun with the toon render which I always appreciate. 
I thought Alberto (#15), Vyusur (23), and Headwax (#22) did some amazing special effects with the PR engine, eyeglow and bodyglow. 
I thought UB (#1) and Wgdjohn (#16) had very clean and simple images conveying a clear sentiment, which if you look at my #7 you know that I like. 
I know that there are images that I didn't mention, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate them.
But at the end of the day, we can only vote for a limited number of entries. Here are the ones I voted for. Stezza's squirrel with a blueprint image hit all of my buttons - great render, tells a story, has humor, etc. Pnewhook's darkside of the Earth image has that beautiful simplicity that I like with the right amount of unreal realism (if you know what I mean). Headwax's boating skeletons image probably got me with the reflections, and the "pop" factor is off the charts. And Varsel's UFO image could only be better with cows and crop circles.
Great job, everyone.
If I wait until the end of the voting period, I suspect I would find even more things in the entries, and then change my votes. This was an excellent challenge. Kudos to Unified Brain for inspiring everyone. Thank you to Daz and M. Teixeira for sponsoring.