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Thanks Cherpenbeck, you're right I'll see what I can do with the camera angle to improve that. What about the font too crowed? Too small?
As I said, the big version looks good ... including font. And the title is a tad too long to make it better readable. Or you needed to make to rows of letters instead of one, but that would impact the angel.
No worries Saba! I'm glad you posted because I am an absolute dork! lol! I did some renders today and was doing the post in PS and such and of course was looking that the filters.
*head desk head desk* I COMPLETELY forgot that they stuck the bump and normal genration in there. DOH!
So I was completely expecting a post or two or three or . . . hehehe! I did fiddle with it awhile back - once - I can't even remember exactly when it came out. I've slept since then. But then as per usual, my schedule went nuts and I just completely forgot about it. So sorry about that. I was joking around with a friend that I been devoting so much time to learning DAZ that I turn into a newb with photoshop!
If Photoshop is generating the bumps or normals from there without turning the texture into a mesh itself, then I really don't see a difference in it either. As long as the UV's are doing what they're supposed, it's all good. Like I said, I haven't played with that option - it just whistled in one ear and straight out the other and didn't even slow down long enough to smack me upside the head. ;)
So sorry about the goof! Thanks for posting that because now I can try doing it your way too! hehe!
I didn't mention in the above post that I also creat the alpha for my textures (when needed) with Photoshop. So I can knock it just about everything in one fell swoop. And it will probably go faster now. lol!
Technically Photoshop was my first 3D program then jumped my way through free trials and educational optioned software. Cinema4D, Maya, 3DMax, Unity, Blender and now DAZ. Of course, because of DAZ I'm now learning Bryce, Hexagon, and plug-ins like Mimick, Animate2 and Look At My Hair is waiting for me to dig in. Plus, I've gone back to learning Blender and am making it a part of the DAZ workflow when needed.
Apologies again for totally zoning on that! Thanks for the posts Vex and Saba! I hope y'all "de-lurk" more often and jump into the fun!
Cheers,
Kath
HOLY BLEEPING BLEEP BLEEPITY BLEEP BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
That is absolutely GORGEOUS Manne! It's beautiful!!!
Okay, I'm going to put my renders away and try again. I can't even get close to doing something like this! WOW!
I will add one thing though. You know how we're always talking about contrasting colors giving an image pop like Cherp posted. But you have some metallic looking aspects as well. You can contrast those nicely using dead flat colors. It's sorta like heraldry, no metal on metal. You can't have two colors on top of each other, and you can't have two metals either. So it goes something like - vert, argent, and sable (green, silver, black). Her hair stands out against the black column but what if you put a little pink and orange in the background clouds? Because you can't go tooo shimmery. Also youj might want to pop the text a little more with just a tad darker colors. BUT DAMN! Gorgeous!!!!
Hi Cherp - how ya doing sweetie?!
Hahahahah you're very kind but I'm afraid Cherp is right, this will never do for an ebook cover the thumbnail is completely unusable. Hmmmm...I'll have to see what I CAN do to make that more presentable.
I think you're right, a little contrast would probably help. Honestly, I wasn't sure about the font color because the whole rest of he images is in such muted tones I didn't want to go too vibrant on the font color; but I hear what you're saying about the metallic on metallic, and I think you make a good point.
Okay after seeing Manne's post well, darn, lol! I absolutely love that cover but it's totally intimidating!
But I did have something unexpected happen today. I've been working my butt of on renders and finally got something decent. So I pulled the stuff into a Photoshop just to give it a little bit of a background to make the stuff easier on the eyes. Well, I started with a little gradient and a stencil brush of a mountain. Then the muse smacked me upside the head and I did this one.
Uhhh - I've painted a total of 3 digital art landscapes and ZERO in traditional media. (4 if you count the one I did for the contest last month - why couldn't have this one hit me then? Course, it's all Photoshop work I couldn't have entered it anyway, but still! lol!
This was just supposed to be a gradient background - now I'm not even going to put my render on it because it looks awful - the lighting's all wrong. lol! The plants with the purple flowers are just a custom brushes that I put green down using screen and multiply brush modes. Then I duplicated the layer. I went through the layer blending modes trying to find a nice gentle combo. I hit Divide and the purple flower appeared. But it needed the green to do that. If I tried to make some leaves show, the purple disappeared. So layer masks to the rescue! lol!
Just about everything - grass, plants, rocks and clouds are all custom brushes but also customs that are general abstracts sponges, chalk, and pastels stuffs. The water is a few different layers which I hit with the liquefy filter - several times. lol! The reflection of light on the water is a wavy fur brush and I hit it at low opacity. I couldn't find my water sparkles brushes, but the wavy fur worked great! lol! But tons of duplicated layers with various blending modes and opacity levels. Oh lots of layer styles too - especially on the sky where Outer Glow and and a couple of others came in handy!
So on the renders of Talon and Ebon that I was doing, I was of course, working on the armor textures then got an idea for posing so went OCD on that. It was crazy, I'd pose everything and I'd almost get it exactly how it wanted it - then I'd lose the whole thing and would have to start all over again. lol! But I put a couple of initial renders into one image so you can see what I was trying to do. This was a tough one!
Yes, the horse cavorting around doesn't look like a war horse getting all snarky but a circus pony performing. Part of it is getting Talon's weight and balance just right. I'm going to draw him holding the reins in post - I can't stand the reins that come with the package. But I've been using photos of tug-of-war competitions to try to get the right shift in balance and weight - not to mention the leg positions. The horse is easy for the most part. There are a couple of little tweaks I need to make - mostly because in several important aspects, while he's very nice and one of the better horse's ive seen in 3D, he doesn't move exactly like a real horse. But it's no big deal. The most difficult is getting Talon right.
But I kept working. I'm paying not only close attention to legs and feet but I had my Thirds up on screen and was looking at specific angles for horse and rider. This next one was the closest I'd come yet to hitting the balance and the lines I wanted.
Definitely not perfect but a lot better than before.
This one I thought I nailed - but then realized the horse's barrel and shoulders are just slightly off and he's leaning too far with his head and neck. I'm going to fix that and have his neck curved a bit more because Talon is yanking on the reins to keep him from taking off.
So I definitely have more work to do. But I wanted to see what y'all thought about the last two poses.
And then I've got this one - just because. lol!
Yes, it's just me being silly. lol!
Anyways the insanity continues! Stay tuned!
Oh Kathryn we all excel in our genres, and I'm a Sci-Fi/Fantasy freak from waaaaaaay back. Realistc people? romantic characters? Not so much. Which is why I really love this thread. It is totally pushing me to branch out and explore new genres and TRY to do something half-way decent out of my comfort zone. Besides you know you can't possibly compare any in progress shots with a finished piece.
Good work on that landscape, I can't do them to save my life!
I like you final pose, it has a more properly weighted feel to it. I also like how you're rolling the horse's eyes a bit, since we both know how much they enjoy getting thier heads pulled back down. :) You may also want to swing Talon's belt a bit if morphs allow as that kind of tug-a-war strain will certainly translate through his clothing.
Too cool, Manne, glad you're jumping in with both feet. New challenges are one thing but when you really step out of your comfort zone, that's entirely another. You've been doing a fantastic job. Since I'm a big fan of SF/Fantasy, I have a hard time not going too far in that direction which butts heads with genre expectation. I need to write more SF/Fantasy, but with me, I go all out world building and they take forever! I joke around that a couple of my Fantasy novels went "Tolkien" on me - meaning that I they take years to finish because when I world-build - I seriously world-build. lol!
And doggone it! I remembered to put motion on the stirrups but forgot his belt! lol! Thanks, hun. I like the last pose with Talon too but I don't think he's still quite there. It's really hard because in a lot of the photos I'm looking at for reference, people have knees and elbows locked. For tug-of-war that might be a good idea (but that doesn't sit well with me either - too much potential for injury when one starts locking joints in physically demanding sports) but especially in a still image, locked joints or limbs that are fully extended, if not done right, can absolutely kill the sense of motion and action.
If you look at the horse's back leg in the last picture, right behind Talon, you can see how the hock and pastern are really flexing, but even there it's flat to me. When horses do what Ebon's doing, they literally can lock and load. Their power comes from the hindquarters as the front end is actually bearing most of the weight. So when they engage those big muscles I've seen horses really torque with the hocks (and the horseman in me cringes because that's how gaskin injuries occur) but that joint flexing in a still image really helps. Unfortunately, that's as far as I can go with the joints. If I push it any more it looks like the gaskin muslce just blew out. So that's the tightrope act - get the pose balanced and weighted without destroying the motion. *sigh*
Oh I had to laugh that you noticed the eyes - one thing I just learned in this - don't try 3Dlux's sphere/eye follow technique on horses - even if you use one for each eye because honestly, it's not a pretty sight! I had eyeballs bouncing all over that virtual 3D space. lol! Works wonderfull on Talon tho, but it was funny but almost scary with the horse. lol!
One thing to think about is something a physical therapist friend of mine told me. People usually only lock out their joint when the strength of their muscles gives out. That's great to think about in relation to how you're setting up your poses. You know the muscle strength of your character and the tolerances you've given him for this kind of tussle.
I am looking the the back leg closest to Talon. I like the flexing on it. It could be just my angle but the back of it seems turned too far out to the right rather than pulling in under him to harness the power to get up like he is? However, that could be that torque you're referencing.
That's very true about locking the joints. Although the really sad thing was in Tae Kwon Do, I'd help teach the junior kids - the anklebiters and rug rats. lol! But I noticed a number of them started TKD with that habit already instilled. These are 7-9 year olds! Until they get to a certain age kid's really aren't that physically strong, but this was almost like laziness or not knowing any better. They'd lock up because it was easier than to develop muscle control. It was tough to get them to break the habit too. Fortunately, they learned fast that whenever us instructors saw it, a set of 10 to 20 knuckle push-ups or crunches would be handed out. That was the best deterrent ever. Makes me glad I grew up with the horses. Because you're right about the character - and it's not so much strength, it's he knows the beastie and what he's going to do. Horses, like people, are creatures of habit. If they discover they can throw students and the kids get scared and don't get back on, they can go back to the barn. Until said lesson horse encountered me - not a kid any more, but an old lady who doesn't bounce like she used to and gets really pissed when she hits the dirt. Old horse got worked into the ground when he did that. I had just purchased him and it was our first day riding and he dumped me. He didn't dump me easily, but by the fourth buck across the arena, I was on my way to meet the ground. I spat the dirt out of my mouth and got it out of my shirt, got up, and said, "come here horse" - my trainer had caught him so he couldn't run away. I got back on and we worked for an hour and a half. Lessons were normally 45 min. I was so mad I didn't feel the pain until the next day, so he got his butt worked off and my trainer was cheering me on. He still tried to toss me every once in awhile after that but I never came off again because he always did the same thing in the same place. It's especially funny because I ride dressage and the rectangular arena is marked in various spots with letters. So it was really easy to remember where and what he's going to do. I started riding and competing when I was 9 so I have unfortunately eaten my share of real estate.
You're right but the horse is actually flexing around Talon as he tries to cavort the other direction. But a what you're seeing is the limitations of the joints in the mesh that I was referencing, at least in part. Have you ever gone to see the Royal Lippizzaner Stallions perform? I've seen them several times but because of all the years I trianed dressage, I can see exactly what they're doing and those poor horses and riders are sometimes so exhausted and sick of touring that it's a miracle they don't fall flat on their faces. Competing in the a state or regional level show circuit is tough enough - nationals are even worse, but I don't see how people do performances like this. But the last time I saw the Lippazanners perform I was able to catch some okay photos - at least enough to use for reference. hehehe!
Now the above isn't a great photo unless you want to look at movement, then it's fantastic. lol! But here you can see exactly how much the hind legs can flex. The horse is putting his weight on his haunches and doing a pirouette - head and shoulders are moving in a circle around his hind legs and they stay in one spot. But the horse is actually cantering in place while he's turning this circle. So he has to balance and flex for power on the back legs but and if you look at the one on the right he's also pushing off of that lege to turn himself and get his front end up in the air. Unfortunately, getting the back legs to flex like that on the 3D mesh might be doable but really tough to get right.
This horse is performaing a piaffe - in other words, he's literally trotting in place. He has to maintain impulsion from the back legs to lift his hooves of the ground but the rider has to hold him with the reins - collection - so the horse doesn't go forward. If this was a dressage competiton he would be judged on how much impulsion his back legs generate and his balance, among other things. Unfortunately, in this pic, he'd be bombing that score terribly. While his hocks are flexing well, the rider has lost contact with the horse's mouth. The rider is really curling his legs trying to use his spurs to encourage the horse. Because of that, the rider's seat has shifted very slightly forward and off of his seat bones. He's compensating by slouching his shoulders and trying to get his weight back down, but while his legs are curled like that, it's probably not going to happen.
The horse has responded to this instantly and since the rider has lost contact with the mouth, the horse's head comes up, and he's now "off the bit". His neck is up and stiff and mouth open, that's resistantance, and if you look at the horses back, It's starting to hollow out - like he's sway-backed or something. But that happens when the horse goes stiff and that head and neck come up like that. In order to do this kind of work the horse needs to stay relaxed so he can use those back legs for impulsion. He won't tire himself out so quickly and he'll be more in balance which helps lessen the chance of injury. When the horse's back is relaxed, and he's on the bit with his hindquarters engaged, it's a huge difference. It's amazing but it makes for a much nicer and smoother ride. If anyone has over gone to a place where you can rent horses to ride for an hour or two and especially if you happened to be not so experienced, if you trotted the horse probably felt like it didn't want to bend it's legs and nearly jarred your teeth from your skull. But a majority of that is caused simply by being tight and stiff. Unforunately, that's what's happening in that pic above - everything is falling apart here so the rider probably feels like he's riding a pogostick and not a horse. Yet the photo, while awful, is fantastic to show how the joints flex and the how balance works.
And there I go again. Okay, I'm shutting up now. Sorry!
More than you ever wanted to know about horses. But if anyone ever needs any reference photos for conformation, movement, or riding, I've got tons of images that I've collected over the years and some of them are fun ones like this one:
Yup that's me and my 17.2 hand Thoroughbred when I was a kid and had more guts than sense. hehe! Not only do I have reference pics for stuff like this, but because I used to paint realistic equine models and compete with those as well, I have tons of images for color and breed references for painting and artwork. And I haven't even started on the medieval stuff yet. Yes, I have a photo of of me tilting the quintain. But I've driven y'all crazy long enough. Anyway, if anyone needs horse pics for reference holler at me. lol!
Hi Kathryn!
Nice lecture in horses, my daughter would agree (she's horse-mad, even took her horse with her to university).
Might be you don't see much postings next weeks, at the moment I have to lectorate seven books which need to be published till october (Frankfurt Book Fair). Promised the authors. And I always try to keep my promises. But I'm still lurking ...
hehe - I was slated to go to a university that had an equestrian team so I could bring my own horse, but right before I graduated high school, my parents divorced and my college fund went to the lawyers and the judged ordered my horses sold.
But college is a big change for people so it's great that your daughter got to take her best friend along. It's not like everyone can bring dogs and cats, so bringing a horse is even better.
And believe me I completely understand your situation there. But ya got me on lectorate - I had to look that one up. lol! So you have to read aloud 7 books before October or am I missing something in the translation here. I did want to mention is that I use Adobe InDesign to format all of my novels, both ebook and print and I got all out with top notch front and back matter, drop caps and nice chapter headings etc. I don't know how you run your stuff with the books but if I can ever help with any of that, I'd be glad to. Even if they're in German, as long as I can spot what goes where and clearly define chapter and scene breaks, I'm good. lol! Setting up the styles in InDesign takes the most time but once that's done reasonably it's fast and easy to apply them to the rest..
Ah well, I think the right word in your part of the world would be edit. I'm a publisher, I'm an editor, I have to edit books.
With us it's lector, lectorate ...
And I do some of the covers myself. Not all of them, my schedule is busy enough.
Manne, I like the Angel image. Definitely worthy of consideration. It's the kind of image people stop to look at, and clcik on to see a bigger version. Maybe a different font choice could help.
Okay posting a picture here. Night time scenes are always a challenge, you want to try to justify any lighting with a light source to keep the elements part of the scene. And as you try to brighten your hero to stand out from the darken background, he starts to separate and look like a tacked on element in the foreground.
Thank you FirstBastion really appreciate the feedback! Different style of font or just the spacing and size of it?
Uhmmmm...were you looking for feedback?
If not just ignore.
If so, I was noticing, Your key light is a different color from the flames and with the torch so close, it's more noticeable than you might want. An idea occured to me: can you make one of the fireballs that's coming toward the castle be fully or partially behind your hero's head? That would help to distinguish him from the background and still make the lighting make sense.
I'm not seeing a pic. Did you take it down or did the forums hiccup again?
Thank Manne, good call, I'll definitely adjust the key light towards the yellows and oranges. Good idea indeed. The fireball though, might look a bit too much like a halo effect. Thanks for the feedback, wips always need it.
Just noticed that if the mouse hovers over the image the delete option is a mere click away. Should be visible now.
okay one more try - you posted a thumbnail so it's tiny and I can't see it. hehe. What I do posting to the forums is attach the pic, click submit. Then I go into edit and hover over the image title attached to my post and copy that url. Click on the picture icon in the message box and past the url there. I hit the little Reload circle (I highlighted) and that brings up the pic with the dimensions. If over 1000 wide I knock the dimension width to about 800 or so. Then click okay and save the post.
If I try to copy the URL of the attachment into the post before I "Post Comment" to the forums, I get the thumbnail link and the image in the post is tiny. That's why I have to edit. Or you can use a service like photobucket and just post directly into messages with the URL.
And if anyone knows an easier way for me to do this - please advise. lol!
The image did get deleted from the previous post, most likely I left the browser open and my kids inadvertently deleted it when they went use the computer. So i re upped it to that post. But this should work too.
Now that is AWESOME!
But I definitely agree with Manne about the light source being different from the torch, and I agree with you on the halo effect from the fireballs. But that's a damned good idea, Manne. I really like the army in the background.
I notice you also have atmosphere is that from the DAZ render or post. I'm asking because I just picked up the Atmo Atmospheres for Itray thing when it was on sale because I was killing myself on the campfire scene for the newbie contest trying to get an atmosphere with the moon and the night sky. I just started playing around with that and my first render will definitely be interesting,
While I'm waiting for that to finish here are the two renders I did with Talon and Ebon - I think I've got the pose to start building from. What do y'all think?
The second render is an alternative angle but I like how the depth of field on the camera turned out.
just a repeat of below, somehow I quoted 2x
This looks like a 3Delight render to me. Is it?
I like the 2nd angle better too. It seems more dynamic to me.
I like the 2nd angle better too. It seems more dynamic to me.
Thanks Manne! No both of those renders are exactly the same settings as before except maybe a slight demension change on the viewport. All I did was repose Talon and Ebon. I added a depth of field to that full shot camera too but you don't see any focus changes - or at least I didn't. I saved to a new scene for the atomospheres because I didn't want to screw anything up. So the scene I rendered above doesn't have any atmosphere. Could it be that the camera DOF change was enough to make it look like a 3Delight render? Because everything else is exactly teh same - lights shaders, everything. Only the pose and camera position changed just a little. Hmmmm - maybe it's his hair, I didn't change the pose on that - kinda looks fat.
I'm not fat - I'm poofy.
Ice Age reference - sorry.
No no, sorry I meant FirstBastion's render looked 3Delight to me, not yours.