August 2017 – DAZ 3D New User Challenge – Free Month

Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
edited August 2017 in New User Contests and Events

August 2017 – DAZ 3D New User Challenge – Free Month
  

Are you new to the 3D World? Are you at the beginning stages of learning 3D rendering? Have you been around for a little bit but feel you could benefit from some feedback or instruction? Have you been around awhile and would like to help other members start their creative journey? Well then come and join the fun as we host our newest contest...
 


"Freedom!!!!"

 

This contest is a general render contest (based on having fun) where you should focus on the different aspects of 3D that you have learned so far.  For information and help, take a look at the previous challenges that you may have entered. This whole theme is to have some fun with your renders as well as practice the skills that you have been learning over the previous months, so have fun and show us what you can do.

 

Don't forget to look at previous themed contests where information and hints are available.

 

So far this year we have covered the following topics:

Composition

Lighting

Posing

Action & Props

Scenes and Landscapes

Portrait Rendering

 

 

 For a list of the current challenge rules, please see this thread :  Challenge Rules

 


For those veterans of the forums that would like to help, because this contest is designed for the beginner to learn from, we will be randomly selecting posts offering helpful tips and/or critiques to receive a special voucher as well so whether you are a seasoned artist or an aspiring one, there is fun for everyone!

 

Closing Date: August 31, 2017

Post edited by DAZ_ann0314 on
«134567

Comments

  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,161
    edited August 2017

    Here we go again, running in the shadows.

    august2017a.png
    1085 x 872 - 2M
    Post edited by Shinji Ikari 9th on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Nice start Shinji.  Not sure what that green goo is but your Lizardman better be careful where he steps.  He might get a nasty surprise.

    It is hard to tell becasue of the fog but is your Lizardman's feet on the floor?  His right leg looks like it might be lifted for a step but I cannot quite tell if his left foot is planted firmly.  The toe of his boot looks a little raised but again hard to tell because of the fog.

    Great start.

     

  • NoswenNoswen Posts: 358
    edited August 2017

    Given the topic of the month, here is the start of mine called Escape!

    Only an initial concept picture at the moment, lots and lots of work needed on it still.

    Escape 1.jpg
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    Post edited by Noswen on
  • snoopzonesnoopzone Posts: 27
    edited August 2017

    Well then, here is Arrival. My second Bryce and my 3rd 3D at all.

    arrival

     

     

    arrival_.png
    1114 x 859 - 2M
    Post edited by snoopzone on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    Noswen said:

    Given the topic of the month, here is the start of mine called Escape!

    Only an initial concept picture at the moment, lots and lots of work needed on it still.

    I like your concept and am looking forward to where you take this image.

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    snoopzone said:

    Well then, here is Arrival. My second Bryce and my 3rd 3D at all.

    arrival

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Welcome @snoopzone.  Welcome to the New User Challenge.  So glad to see a Bryce User. 

    What a great image.  You have a great sense of scale between the dinosaur and the spaceship.  One suggestion I have is to either adjust your camera slightly or possibly the dinosaur.  His tail is currently being cut off by the edge of the image and it leads the eye off and away instead of allowing the eye to wander over the image.

     

     

  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,161
    edited August 2017

    Nice start Shinji.  Not sure what that green goo is but your Lizardman better be careful where he steps.  He might get a nasty surprise.

    It is hard to tell becasue of the fog but is your Lizardman's feet on the floor?  His right leg looks like it might be lifted for a step but I cannot quite tell if his left foot is planted firmly.  The toe of his boot looks a little raised but again hard to tell because of the fog.

    Great start.

     

    Thanks for your feedback Kismet, it turned out that Lizardman's feet were actualy sunk into the floor, so I lifted him up about 4 notches. Also I gave him a cyber lens over his good eye, and gave vicky 8 (the girl crouched in the background) some crome of her own, and changed her top to something that I could make work with her new arms.

    august2017b.png
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    Post edited by Shinji Ikari 9th on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    It is all the little details that can really make an image pop.  Nice touches Shinji.

  • ItsCeoItsCeo Posts: 471
    edited August 2017

     

     

     

     

     

    Don't Cry Daddy

    All work was done in Daz Studio.

    Sometimes there comes a time in your life when you are not afraid to die.  Such freedom is liberating.

    In 1984 I was given only a few months to live.  That experience changed my life.

    Dont Cry Daddy.jpg
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    Post edited by ItsCeo on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Great emotion on the face of the Dad @ItsCeo

  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    edited August 2017

    I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a landscape render this month.( Which is not something I like to do) I usually work on portraits. I have a hard time with lighting,(it usually takes me days to get my lighting how I want) but I honestly haven't a clue how to start to light an outdoor scene. I never render outdoor scenes, and if I do I did it completely by accident, XD. 

    So I just rendered this without any lights. The only thing lighting it is the dome and scene default.

    So, where do I start exactly?

     

    NaLand.png
    2040 x 1440 - 7M
    Post edited by Aloreea on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    Aloreea said:

    I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a landscape render this month.( Which is not something I like to do) I usually work on portraits. I have a hard time with lighting,(it usually takes me days to get my lighting how I want) but I honestly haven't a clue how to start to light an outdoor scene. I never render outdoor scenes, and if I do I did it completely by accident, XD. 

    So I just rendered this without any lights. The only thing lighting it is the dome and scene default.

    So, where do I start exactly?

     

    Are you using 3Delight or Iray?

  • snoopzonesnoopzone Posts: 27
    edited August 2017
    snoopzone said:

    Well then, here is Arrival. My second Bryce and my 3rd 3D at all.

    arrival

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Welcome @snoopzone.  Welcome to the New User Challenge.  So glad to see a Bryce User. 

    What a great image.  You have a great sense of scale between the dinosaur and the spaceship.  One suggestion I have is to either adjust your camera slightly or possibly the dinosaur.  His tail is currently being cut off by the edge of the image and it leads the eye off and away instead of allowing the eye to wander over the image.

     

     

    Thank you for the very warm wellcome, and thank you for hint.

    Didn 't recognize before, that picture edge cutted objects force ones mind to rearrange the image. But indeed, I feel there is more peace in the view now. So here is the new version.

    Arrival2

    arrival2_.jpg
    1114 x 859 - 250K
    Post edited by snoopzone on
  • snoopzonesnoopzone Posts: 27
    edited August 2017
    Aloreea said:

    I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a landscape render this month.( Which is not something I like to do) I usually work on portraits. I have a hard time with lighting,(it usually takes me days to get my lighting how I want) but I honestly haven't a clue how to start to light an outdoor scene. I never render outdoor scenes, and if I do I did it completely by accident, XD. 

    So I just rendered this without any lights. The only thing lighting it is the dome and scene default.

    So, where do I start exactly?

     

    Depends on wich render you use, iray or 3Delight.

    Iray works well with outdoor scenes with less or no clouds assumed. Try it with no additional lights first, cause iray simulates sun, but it goes very bright.

    If your scene is inside or you have sunset or cloudy sky I won 't use iray but 3Delight instead. Start with a sphere, a linear point light, on high position and adjust intensity and radius for over al brightness. This will function as a sun somehow. You won 't need any spotlights, cause there are no other illumintating objects or reflecting materials as far as I can see. Hopefully the water gets some specular.

    If you want to cast shadows dependig on the altitude of an assumed sun you can add one distant light which should be slightly alligned with your sphere light. I always start with theese to light sources positioned 45 degrees offset ancle from the object-camera axis while the object is in center so the lights should be on the right or left of your cam outside FOV.

    Post edited by snoopzone on
  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    Aloreea said:

    I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a landscape render this month.( Which is not something I like to do) I usually work on portraits. I have a hard time with lighting,(it usually takes me days to get my lighting how I want) but I honestly haven't a clue how to start to light an outdoor scene. I never render outdoor scenes, and if I do I did it completely by accident, XD. 

    So I just rendered this without any lights. The only thing lighting it is the dome and scene default.

    So, where do I start exactly?

     

    Are you using 3Delight or Iray?

    I'm using Iray

  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a landscape render this month.( Which is not something I like to do) I usually work on portraits. I have a hard time with lighting,(it usually takes me days to get my lighting how I want) but I honestly haven't a clue how to start to light an outdoor scene. I never render outdoor scenes, and if I do I did it completely by accident, XD. 

    So I just rendered this without any lights. The only thing lighting it is the dome and scene default.

    So, where do I start exactly?

     

    Depends on wich render you use, iray or 3Delight.

    Iray works well with outdoor scenes with less or no clouds assumed. Try it with no additional lights first, cause iray simulates sun, but it goes very bright.

    If your scene is inside or you have sunset or cloudy sky I won 't use iray but 3Delight instead. Start with a sphere, a linear point light, on high position and adjust intensity and radius for over al brightness. This will function as a sun somehow. You won 't need any spotlights, cause there are no other illumintating objects or reflecting materials as far as I can see. Hopefully the water gets some specular.

    If you want to cast shadows dependig on the altitude of an assumed sun you can add one distant light which should be slightly alligned with your sphere light. I always start with theese to light sources positioned 45 degrees offset ancle from the object-camera axis while the object is in center so the lights should be on the right or left of your cam outside FOV.

    I want to try to do it in Iray, so does Iray simulate the sun automatically with default settings? Or do I have to change the Environment mode? or something?

  • Aloreea said:
    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a landscape render this month.( Which is not something I like to do) I usually work on portraits. I have a hard time with lighting,(it usually takes me days to get my lighting how I want) but I honestly haven't a clue how to start to light an outdoor scene. I never render outdoor scenes, and if I do I did it completely by accident, XD. 

    So I just rendered this without any lights. The only thing lighting it is the dome and scene default.

    So, where do I start exactly?

     

    Depends on wich render you use, iray or 3Delight.

    Iray works well with outdoor scenes with less or no clouds assumed. Try it with no additional lights first, cause iray simulates sun, but it goes very bright.

    If your scene is inside or you have sunset or cloudy sky I won 't use iray but 3Delight instead. Start with a sphere, a linear point light, on high position and adjust intensity and radius for over al brightness. This will function as a sun somehow. You won 't need any spotlights, cause there are no other illumintating objects or reflecting materials as far as I can see. Hopefully the water gets some specular.

    If you want to cast shadows dependig on the altitude of an assumed sun you can add one distant light which should be slightly alligned with your sphere light. I always start with theese to light sources positioned 45 degrees offset ancle from the object-camera axis while the object is in center so the lights should be on the right or left of your cam outside FOV.

    I want to try to do it in Iray, so does Iray simulate the sun automatically with default settings? Or do I have to change the Environment mode? or something?

    Here what helped me most:


    http://thinkdrawart.com/daz-studio-iray-tutorial-for-beginners

     

  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:
    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a landscape render this month.( Which is not something I like to do) I usually work on portraits. I have a hard time with lighting,(it usually takes me days to get my lighting how I want) but I honestly haven't a clue how to start to light an outdoor scene. I never render outdoor scenes, and if I do I did it completely by accident, XD. 

    So I just rendered this without any lights. The only thing lighting it is the dome and scene default.

    So, where do I start exactly?

     

    Depends on wich render you use, iray or 3Delight.

    Iray works well with outdoor scenes with less or no clouds assumed. Try it with no additional lights first, cause iray simulates sun, but it goes very bright.

    If your scene is inside or you have sunset or cloudy sky I won 't use iray but 3Delight instead. Start with a sphere, a linear point light, on high position and adjust intensity and radius for over al brightness. This will function as a sun somehow. You won 't need any spotlights, cause there are no other illumintating objects or reflecting materials as far as I can see. Hopefully the water gets some specular.

    If you want to cast shadows dependig on the altitude of an assumed sun you can add one distant light which should be slightly alligned with your sphere light. I always start with theese to light sources positioned 45 degrees offset ancle from the object-camera axis while the object is in center so the lights should be on the right or left of your cam outside FOV.

    I want to try to do it in Iray, so does Iray simulate the sun automatically with default settings? Or do I have to change the Environment mode? or something?

    Here what helped me most:


    http://thinkdrawart.com/daz-studio-iray-tutorial-for-beginners

     

    Ok, thanks this is really helpful. I'll try it out now.

  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    edited August 2017

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    NLa.png
    2040 x 1440 - 6M
    Post edited by Aloreea on
  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,161
    edited August 2017

    Here we go with version c. I felt that the crew needed a fourth member.

    august2017c.png
    1085 x 872 - 2M
    Post edited by Shinji Ikari 9th on
  • snoopzonesnoopzone Posts: 27
    edited August 2017
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    All in all an improvement, because there is no bright light in the jungle! Actually I feel like being in the midle of nowhere, surrounded by very monumental trees. But where comes boat from? Is there a lake or infinte sea behind the camera? And if so where is the sun? Behind the camera or in front?

    The pole on the left has specular but not the rest of the boat. This is kind of unreal, dont know if there is any light hitting this pole or if the material is bad.

    Post edited by snoopzone on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited August 2017
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    You can try a couple of things.

    One option:    If you haven't done so already you can try rotating the dome under the Environment tab.  I tend to rotate at 45 deg intervals then fine tune from there. 

     

     

    Second Option:  Adjust the Tone Mapping.  This allows more light into the camera.  The camera in Iray works like a digital for film camera.  Changing the Film ISO setting will automatically adjust the Exposure Value but not the F/Stop.  Googling digital camera setting for low light might also be helpful in this situation.

    Dome Rotation Screenshot.png
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    Tone Mapping Screenshot.png
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    Post edited by Kismet2012 on
  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    All in all an improvement, because there is no bright light in the jungle! Actually I feel like being in the midle of nowhere, surrounded by very monumental trees. But where comes boat from? Is there a lake or infinte sea behind the camera? And if so where is the sun? Behind the camera or in front?

    The pole on the left has specular but not the rest of the boat. This is kind of unreal, dont know if there is any light hitting this pole or if the material is bad.

    Hmm, good point. I guess I should put a light behind her then. Also XD, I'm not sure where the light from the pole is coming from. At first I though it was a headlamp and then I realized that I turned it off. 

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Here we go with version c. I felt that the crew needed a fourth member.

    I agree.  I cannot image this scene without the fourth person now.

  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    You can try a couple of things.

    One option:    If you haven't done so already you can try rotating the dome under the Environment tab.  I tend to rotate at 45 deg intervals then fine tune from there. 

     

     

    Second Option:  Adjust the Tone Mapping.  This allows more light into the camera.  The camera in Iray works like a digital for film camera.  Changing the Film ISO setting will automatically adjust the Exposure Value but not the F/Stop.  Googling digital camera setting for low light might also be helpful in this situation.

    I've already tried the dome rotation, but not adjusting the tone mapping. I'll try that. Thank you

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    snoopzone said:
    snoopzone said:

    Well then, here is Arrival. My second Bryce and my 3rd 3D at all.

    arrival

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Welcome @snoopzone.  Welcome to the New User Challenge.  So glad to see a Bryce User. 

    What a great image.  You have a great sense of scale between the dinosaur and the spaceship.  One suggestion I have is to either adjust your camera slightly or possibly the dinosaur.  His tail is currently being cut off by the edge of the image and it leads the eye off and away instead of allowing the eye to wander over the image.

     

     

    Thank you for the very warm wellcome, and thank you for hint.

    Didn 't recognize before, that picture edge cutted objects force ones mind to rearrange the image. But indeed, I feel there is more peace in the view now. So here is the new version.

    Arrival2

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Adding the extra space works.  I didn't notice the first time that the edge of the ship was also clipped by the edge. 

  • snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    All in all an improvement, because there is no bright light in the jungle! Actually I feel like being in the midle of nowhere, surrounded by very monumental trees. But where comes boat from? Is there a lake or infinte sea behind the camera? And if so where is the sun? Behind the camera or in front?

    The pole on the left has specular but not the rest of the boat. This is kind of unreal, dont know if there is any light hitting this pole or if the material is bad.

     

    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    All in all an improvement, because there is no bright light in the jungle! Actually I feel like being in the midle of nowhere, surrounded by very monumental trees. But where comes boat from? Is there a lake or infinte sea behind the camera? And if so where is the sun? Behind the camera or in front?

    The pole on the left has specular but not the rest of the boat. This is kind of unreal, dont know if there is any light hitting this pole or if the material is bad.

     

    Aloreea said:
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    You can try a couple of things.

    One option:    If you haven't done so already you can try rotating the dome under the Environment tab.  I tend to rotate at 45 deg intervals then fine tune from there. 

     

     

    Second Option:  Adjust the Tone Mapping.  This allows more light into the camera.  The camera in Iray works like a digital for film camera.  Changing the Film ISO setting will automatically adjust the Exposure Value but not the F/Stop.  Googling digital camera setting for low light might also be helpful in this situation.

    I've already tried the dome rotation, but not adjusting the tone mapping. I'll try that. Thank you

    From my imagination I would assume a sun somewhere behind the cam. I 'd suggest to add a distant light left or right of the cam pointing at the object. Because there is much brightness coming thru the trees from the dome the set time is almost high noon. So I would position the light coming from high above. You even can try a sphere light instead. Otherway if you dim the dome and tone to red the sun can be opposit the cam. On the risk that your model will loose contour.

    And how about to dislocate the upper part of the model towards your cam? I 'd be curious to see her face!

  • AloreeaAloreea Posts: 285
    snoopzone said:
    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    All in all an improvement, because there is no bright light in the jungle! Actually I feel like being in the midle of nowhere, surrounded by very monumental trees. But where comes boat from? Is there a lake or infinte sea behind the camera? And if so where is the sun? Behind the camera or in front?

    The pole on the left has specular but not the rest of the boat. This is kind of unreal, dont know if there is any light hitting this pole or if the material is bad.

     

    snoopzone said:
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    All in all an improvement, because there is no bright light in the jungle! Actually I feel like being in the midle of nowhere, surrounded by very monumental trees. But where comes boat from? Is there a lake or infinte sea behind the camera? And if so where is the sun? Behind the camera or in front?

    The pole on the left has specular but not the rest of the boat. This is kind of unreal, dont know if there is any light hitting this pole or if the material is bad.

     

    Aloreea said:
    Aloreea said:

    I'm back, so I tried the hdr environment thing and I chose this one. I like the way it fills in the scene in the back and makes the forest look dense. But now I have another question. This hdr really doesn't have alot of sun, so how do I create my own light to kind of simulate the sun? And when I do that, where should I put it so it looks realistic? 

     

    You can try a couple of things.

    One option:    If you haven't done so already you can try rotating the dome under the Environment tab.  I tend to rotate at 45 deg intervals then fine tune from there. 

     

     

    Second Option:  Adjust the Tone Mapping.  This allows more light into the camera.  The camera in Iray works like a digital for film camera.  Changing the Film ISO setting will automatically adjust the Exposure Value but not the F/Stop.  Googling digital camera setting for low light might also be helpful in this situation.

    I've already tried the dome rotation, but not adjusting the tone mapping. I'll try that. Thank you

    From my imagination I would assume a sun somewhere behind the cam. I 'd suggest to add a distant light left or right of the cam pointing at the object. Because there is much brightness coming thru the trees from the dome the set time is almost high noon. So I would position the light coming from high above. You even can try a sphere light instead. Otherway if you dim the dome and tone to red the sun can be opposit the cam. On the risk that your model will loose contour.

    And how about to dislocate the upper part of the model towards your cam? I 'd be curious to see her face!

    Ok, thanks for the suggestions. I'll be back as soon as I make progress.

  • I have version delta of my project rendering as I type this.  Well I snapped a picture of what I had at that point and sent it to my friend that I was on the phone with at the time and he compared it to the manga Akira, saying that they looked like they were walking through the mall. (What the heck?)

  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,161
    edited August 2017

    Here's that version I was talking about in my last post.

    august2017d.png
    1060 x 872 - 2M
    Post edited by Shinji Ikari 9th on
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