Novica & Serene Night’s Renders, Tips, Tutorials & Product Reviews PART 2

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Comments

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,122
    edited December 1969

    tjohn said:

    Wow! Is that my character? Cool in uniform.
    Hope everyone finds the character formula useful. Since you're the reason I made him, SereneNight, why don't you give him a name? :)

    I am quite honored. I suggest you call your morph Titan. Since he is buff, strong and cool-looking. This is your exact head morph, minus the head size dial which I made zero instead of 4. The bod is just default M6 with bodybuilder added =-)
    Titan it is then. The head shape kinda says "Marine" doesn't it?

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited November 2013

    tjohn said:
    Titan it is then. The head shape kinda says "Marine" doesn't it?

    It certainly does, which is just what I was looking for exactly. =-) You should make your own morphs and sell them. You have a good eye for such detail =-) I would've bought a head that looked like this! To me M6's head is so thin and narrow I can do not much with it. I can deal with one character like that, but every character with such narrow features- Kind of hard to do much with.

    Titan's head is quite appealing and versatile and goes well with the larger sized more muscular bodies as well. =-)


    EDIT:

    For a comparison you can see Sarge in two versions here,
    Version 1 is default M6 with bodybuilder added
    Version 2 is using tjohn's titan settings for a wider faced older look.

    Both Sarge's are using Sedor's gun poses reviewed earlier, and Sarge's yellow armor and red beret and his usual skin and scowl. =-)

    One thing that really impresses me about gen 6 is the flexibility of the face. You can really add a lot of expression here which was impossible with genesis 1 series.

    Sarge-con-titan.jpg
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    Sarge-no_titan.jpg
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    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited November 2013

    Today’s Review

    Perseus Hair

    http://www.daz3d.com/perseus-hair
    By 3d Dream Mairy

    Skins:
    Bree (v5 base)
    FW Danica http://www.daz3d.com/fw-danika

    Bodies:
    Danica
    Gia


    I’m always on the lookout for cool hair, especially short curly styles which have a nice soft quality to it, and don’t take forever to render and which you can use for both genders. I had overlooked Perseus hair before until the genesis hair sale, so color me happy. Perseus hair looks really very nice, has a number of morphs (including some really unique conical and handle-bar ones which might be useful for sci-fi or fantasy), and has a nice little diadem which you can add or remove to the hair or forehead as you see fit. As usual there are different styles included and different colors

    The hair comes with 10 diadem textures, 10 colors, 27 style morphs. It works great on gen 2 female (seen here), and applies to men (although haven’t tried it yet). The only downside that I noticed was that on one of the unique hairstyles I noticed some texture/hair distortion on the scalp. This will probably not be a problem since the hairstyle wasn't one I intend to use. Otherwise, this hair fits and renders nicely.

    Images 1-3 just different hair colors and styles. Image 4. Distance shot.

    danika-1_SSS.jpg
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    danika--hair4.jpg
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    4.jpg
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    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited November 2013

    Mia For V6
    Portia Hair 2
    Casual Jeans and T-Shirt for Genesis and Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Don't Just Stand There
    DAZ Barn
    Alisha For V4 And Genesis

    http://www.daz3d.com/mia-for-v6
    http://www.daz3d.com/portia-hair-2
    http://www.daz3d.com/casual-jeans-and-t-shirt-for-genesis-2-female-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/don-t-just-stand-there
    http://www.daz3d.com/alisha-for-v4-and-genesis

    I think Don't Just Stand There is a must have for Genesis 2. Even if you don't use the pose, there's bound to be a pose that is quite a good starting point for anything you do standing around. Mia's pose had no tweaks.

    The outfit went on quite easily, the boots not so much but were easy to fix. I did an edit>add smoothing modifier and it told me I couldn't! So hmmmm. All I did was go to the boot, break it down in the Scene to get to the shin, and Y Scaled to make it taller and then scaled it with either X or Z slightly. Repeat with other boot. Voila, fixed. I've never had an item refused smoothing modification before, that was weird.

    TURN OFF PARTS OF THE BARN THAT YOU DO NOT SEE- it really added to my render time. I was like, "DUH." That barn has a lot to it, and 95% of it wasn't visible. Remember to turn off what isn't in the aspect frame. That means for portraits, close the eyes over in Scene tab on the hip, shins, feet, thighs, etc- they aren't in the render!

    Portia Hair will take a long time to render. It has a high shine option, which I used. The hair is beautiful!
    DAZ Barn has wonderful textures- look at that wood!

    Lights were Alisha V4 and Genesis. No additions- out of the box.

    miaDazBarnAlishaV4Lites3.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited December 1969

    Doing a closeup of Mia and Portia Hair. It has taken 2 hours and is only at 21%. There is no scenery. It's definitely the hair. Shading rate is .30 and other hair renders a lot faster (but this hair, like I said, is very pretty.) Don't know if it's the high shine option that is adding time or not- and I am not doing a test render to find out, have other things to do. This will post hopefully later tonight, if it is still going, I am canceling the render.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited December 1969

    "Model here is FW Danika skin with gia bod applied."

    Hmm, what's with that white line next to her top lip, then the maroonish line parallel to that, outlining her top lip? Is the lighting doing that? In the first picture, it actually cuts through the two peaks of the lip and you can see it around the beginning of the bottom lip too. Kinda funky. The skin is beautiful, and so is your lighting- but that lip makes me curious as to what is causing that outline.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited November 2013

    Mia has a nice skin and I like the barn as a backdrop. I'll be honest. Don't care for the breasts. Seem huge for such a dainty figure.

    EDIT The problem with the skin was a layering issue. Base skin was not DANICA but was Bree. Mystery solved. Reapplying Danica solved the issue in the headshots. Danica is much paler than Bree who has a goldener skin. When the makeup for Danica was applied it naturally had a paler outline..

    I have corrected the two headshot renders.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited December 1969

    You'd REALLY not like Mia if you saw the original :) I am rendering her at the moment so can't go in and give you the exact scale down, but the chest was the first thing that got shrunk! (Also very rounded, didn't seem that realistic to me. Like it didn't have any of the "natural" slider applied.

    I switched off the Portia Hair, it was just taking way too long. Trying Pen Hair but will be a few hours (which is fine, I'm headed out.)

    Glad you figured out the glowing lines :) The renders are beautiful!

  • starionwolfstarionwolf Posts: 3,670
    edited November 2013

    Novica said:
    TURN OFF PARTS OF THE BARN THAT YOU DO NOT SEE- it really added to my render time. I was like, "DUH." That barn has a lot to it, and 95% of it wasn't visible. Remember to turn off what isn't in the aspect frame. That means for portraits, close the eyes over in Scene tab on the hip, shins, feet, thighs, etc- they aren't in the render!

    thanks for the tip about turning off pars of the barn and body parts. I learned something new.

    Edit: i fixed the quote. I'm not sure what happened to the left bracket in the last "quote" tag.

    Post edited by starionwolf on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited November 2013

    Novica said:
    You'd REALLY not like Mia if you saw the original :) !

    LOL. I had the same issue with Daphne. I understand that chest sizes come in all different sizes but when they get too big, I start wincing for the girl with her back pain. I wish there were some characters aside from the teens with some smaller natural breasts. Not intending to be controversial, since we all like different stuff, I just find the super large Décolletage to be a bit boilerplate.

    EDIT:

    I really like the cute gap between Danica's teeth. It adds character to her figure.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    I forgot to mention, I like the Alisha lights. Those render well too Novica. =-)

    Did anyone pick up Tertius?

    http://www.daz3d.com/tertius

    I am curious about how that water renders. Looks nice. Sets with good water can be a challenge to find.

  • starionwolfstarionwolf Posts: 3,670
    edited December 1969

    if you want a render I can buy it right now. I'll post the render later after I finish some a 2D drawing.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    if you want a render I can buy it right now. I'll post the render later after I finish some a 2D drawing.

    Oh, that's very generous of you. But I don't want you to buy it unless you were already going to. Just was curious what people's impressions of the water was. =-)

  • starionwolfstarionwolf Posts: 3,670
    edited November 2013

    the water takes a long time to render with shadows in Studio 3. I should've used Daz Studio 4 and the advanced spotlight. Opps.

    The water is clear and it reflects the sky-dome and the tower.

    edit: The water has little 2D waves and crests on it. You can see the white light shimmering on the water.

    daz_Tertius.jpg
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    Post edited by starionwolf on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited November 2013

    Mia For V6
    Pen Hair For Genesis And V6
    Aaron For Genesis Young Teen Justin

    http://www.daz3d.com/mia-for-v6
    http://www.daz3d.com/pen-hair-for-genesis
    http://www.daz3d.com/aaron-for-genesis-young-teen-justin

    You're welcome Starionwolf :) The inside of the barn seemed quite nice (although I breezed through it.)

    I used Mia again (same chest, lol) with the Pen Hair since I had already rendered that, just to test the timing. It was definitely the Portia Hair, as I was at 50% in half the time it took for Portia Hair. So this is Mia again, on top of the Victoria 6 HD.

    The lighting: You'll like Aaron, but here's a tip, if he is at 0/0/0, this has a spotlight THAT I ADDED at the following coordinates:
    XYZ translation: -46.74 / 182.36 / 58.51
    XYZ rotation: -4.68 / -40.18 / 0.47
    Color: Pure White 255's. Only 27%. (Depends on the skin mats of your character. She is VERY light skinned.

    I think I turned the UE2 down to 50.2%, I don't think that was the original setting. I left the color the same.

    Again, this is Mia out of the box so far as the face goes, no morphs. She was placed on the Victoria 6 HD model.

    miaPenHairAAron_lights2.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited November 2013

    Pier View
    Meet Me At Sundown
    Easy Environments: Mountain Trail
    Breaking Waves

    http://www.daz3d.com/pier-view
    http://www.daz3d.com/meet-me-at-sundown
    http://www.daz3d.com/easy-environments-mountain-trail
    http://www.daz3d.com/breaking-waves

    Okay, this is to show you what the Easy Environments: Mountain Trail background and lights do WITHOUT TWEAKING. I am still trying to figure out what all these things do with the waves, so let's just say this is one set. Another thing I did (which I am trying to re-create) adds a bit more dark at the top of them. I will be adding Meet Me At Sundown to the render (I think) but wanted to get this seen as we were referencing water. The Mountain Trail lights have ELEVEN distant lights. Of course, the Pier needs more lights, but again, this is "out of the box." Everything near World Center, didn't move anything.

    BTW- the pier and Meet Me At Sundown are both PC.
    EDIT: Oops, forgot the waves. I put them in the title and the link.

    PierViewBrkgWavesEZEnvrnt.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited December 1969

    BTW, that render, with a .40 shading rate and really good settings, only took about six minutes!

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    Novica said:
    Mia For V6
    Pen Hair For Genesis And V6
    Aaron For Genesis Young Teen Justin

    Again, this is Mia out of the box so far as the face goes, no morphs. She was placed on the Victoria 6 HD model.


    Nice face on that model. I like the scalp portion of the hair.

    the water takes a long time to render with shadows in Studio 3. I should've used Daz Studio 4 and the advanced spotlight. Opps.

    I like the water. Thanks for showing that!

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited November 2013

    Mountain trail looks good as a nautical backdrop. Never had much luck with breaking waves personally, but if anyone can make it work, you certainly will. I think where the product really shines is for distance work. The waves in the distance look pretty good.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited December 1969

    There's two things that come with the waves and I had to take a break, am looking at each thing now. There's dark ribbons which go along the top of the waves so I'll play a bit and see what does what. :)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited December 1969

    The Sub_D choice makes the caps a bit whiter, but I'm not seeing a softer option so far as "out of the box." I think I'll try out the Meet Me At Sundown with depth of field and see how that background looks. This will take awhile, aka tomorrow probably.

  • starionwolfstarionwolf Posts: 3,670
    edited November 2013

    one thing I forgot to mention about Tertius is that you can load only the water, the base/ground and one building like I did. You can also load the walkway and each building individually. ok, i'm going to bed. Bye

    Post edited by starionwolf on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited November 2013

    Logan
    Newport Outfit For Genesis 2 Males
    Newport Outfit For Genesis 2 Males Textures
    Pier View
    Meet Me At Sundown
    Easy Environments: Mountain Trail
    Breaking Waves

    http://www.daz3d.com/logan
    http://www.daz3d.com/newport-outfit-for-genesis-2-male-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/newport-outfit-for-genesis-2-male-s-textures
    http://www.daz3d.com/pier-view
    http://www.daz3d.com/meet-me-at-sundown
    http://www.daz3d.com/easy-environments-mountain-trail
    http://www.daz3d.com/breaking-waves

    So this is the Meet Me At The Pier and you get a BUNCH of goodies for a ridiculously low price. The bottle of wine says Marry Me, the engagement ring in a box which opens or closes- nice touch! I brightened the flame on the candle, and that would depend on your lighting. PC- pick this up for $1.00 today! You can have the curtains or not, they load separately.

    This is with the Mountain Trail lights, no adjustments. Just wanted to see how it did out of the box.

    Table
    Table Cloth
    Daisies with Vase
    Single Daisy
    Daisies for Hair (L and R)
    Wine Bottle
    Wine Tray
    Wine Glass
    Ring Box
    Ring Box Open
    Silverware (Spoon, Fork, Knife)
    Gourmet Bread
    Bread Plate
    Bread Knife
    Chair
    Candlestick
    Curtains
    Dinner Plate

    The second one, rendering now, is the exact same scene but testing the Ruins of Angkor Wat light set. It's showing on sale at 50% off for me right now. I showcased it previously, love that set! This render will again be "out of the box."

    Will post the render here when it is done, you'll have to watch for it if you're subscribed to the thread as it won't show up in an email notice. Will probably be an hour.

    EDIT: Way too dark on Angkor Wat lights. So not shown. Lighting hitting at wrong places, so that would be a no-go on this setup.

    PierViewBrkgWavesEZEnvrntLoganMine3.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • starionwolfstarionwolf Posts: 3,670
    edited November 2013

    nice render. Ruins of Angkor Wat is on sale because it is part of the Black November sale today. http://www.daz3d.com/sales-promotions#black_november

    Vehicles, environments and buildings/sets are on sale.

    Post edited by starionwolf on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited November 2013

    One thing to watch for- the sale doesn't have things logically grouped together. As I bought the city stuff during Stonemason's sale, I needed vehicles and the combo was not located anywhere near the other two items, which are not located near each other either!

    If you want a ton of pickup truck options, both dirty and clean, and then burnt up- this will get you all that. All 50% off. It's the only thing I'm buying in the sale.

    EDIT: Look closely at the thumbnails and see the wide variety of commercial vehicles you get- even Border Patrol! It also has stuff for the horse trailer!

    http://www.daz3d.com/back-catalog-vehicles/diamond-in-the-rough-combo
    http://www.daz3d.com/back-catalog-vehicles/on-the-job-for-pick-em-up-truck

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    I like the romantic render. I like renders that tell stories, and a romantic story is wonderful..

    The new 50% off sale is delish. Lots of great environments going cheap right now. Now, where is my $5.00 off coupon? =-)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited November 2013

    Is there a coupon valid right now?
    http://www.daz3d.com/warhead - do you have this one? It's 65%.

    I lied, I am also getting
    http://www.daz3d.com/back-catalog-vehicles/traffikar
    http://www.daz3d.com/back-catalog-vehicles/traffikop-bundle
    http://www.daz3d.com/back-catalog-vehicles/airsled

    even though I should bookmark and wait for a 60 to 70% sale, I think the vendors need some support and at these prices, they are more than reasonable enough to buy. Plus, you never know when vendors are going to leave, and I have yet to have a single regret when any of them have done that. :) (Aka, I have everything of Lisa's, everything of Ken's, etc.) So folks might want to keep that in mind when wishlisting stuff that is 50% if it isn't a budgeting reason. If a better price comes along in 30 days, you can always get the difference. Hate this being at the end of the month, paychecks aren't available and funds run low. My mom always gives me my Christmas money early to have for Black November. :) Smart 86 year old gal!

    EDIT: I ended up putting the first stuff (the previous post, the pickup trucks) on wishlist and going for the traffikar since I have a lot of futuristic stuff. Plus it all came to over $56 and I'm not doing that, would blow my budget. I did get the Warhead one, see the thumbnails. Looks cute underwater too!

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    I don't have any of those sets. They look good, particularly the car with the police texture. That would be useful.

    I've noted that I tend to like those enclosed vehicles for distance work, and I like to use the scooter style products a lot.

    This is one I've been eyeing: Skyjet http://www.daz3d.com/skyjet looks interesting.

    I'm also interested in the old fashioned police car I've seen in the store. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

    Sadly, I just purchased HD Michael 6 and Easy environments the Rock, so I'm sort of holding off on buying stuff until they offer a coupon or a discounted gift card.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892
    edited December 1969

    I'm with you (see edit on previous post) as I'm budgeting too. :) I don't recall seeing that AntFarm product before, the AirSled. What a cutie!

    CAUTION: AH-9200X - Fast Attack Aircraft does NOT mention it is for Cararra, but it is. I asked on another thread. If it ever says NA for compatible software, always open up the What's Included and see the file extensions. If it is .CA it is Carrara. So you Carrara users:
    http://www.daz3d.com/ah9200x-fast-attack-aircraft

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    That's a cool looking aircraft. Too bad it is for Carrara users. Although my wallet is relieved. Warhead is a good price, and I don't recall seeing the antfarm product either. He/She makes awesome stuff. Usually a lot of nice detail there.

    Rendering m6 High DEF now. It is quite slow.

This discussion has been closed.