January 2016 New User 3D Art contest “Composition” (WIP Thread)

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  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    isidorn said:

    When rendering this my computer is now starting to make threats directed at my anatomical elements and I got an error message during the last rendering. An error that resulted in DAZ being unable to save the image so I had to take a screenshot of it. Because of that the bottom of the image is cropped out.

    Put a spotlight on the lead's face (but I think I need to make it a bit stronger), made a few minor changes to the girls (including putting some weight on the blonde. She was unnervingly skinny) and changed the left wall. But I'm not sure the wall became for the better. Is it too much empty space to the left now? Attaching previous version too for easy comparison.

    Better I think.  Undecided about the wall.  The blond looks better and I can see the middle girls face better.  I would not want to meet her in the halls lol.

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668

    Bit late to the party on this one. This is what i have so far, i titled it Country Girl.

     

    Daniel

     

    She needs a more natural hand pose on the right hand it is too stiff Daniel. Other than that I think it is a great Render. BTW Welcome to the party!!! laugh

  • Thanks Saphirewild. Yah kinda up in the air about what i want to do with that. I am trying to use the deformer on the jeans to pull out one of the belt loops to put her thumb thru then the hand might make more sense. Not having much luck though it keeps tearing one of the edge loops.

     

    Daniel

  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016

    Bit late to the party on this one. This is what i have so far, i titled it Country Girl.

     

    Daniel

     

    I like the image.  Nice integration of props and character to your background.  Minor comments.. I wonder what the Bel Air would look like not cropped, pushed right and back a little and your girl pushed straight back a bit to lower her head into more of the sweet spot. (she is pushing the vertical boundaries of the image a little bit for a landscape, to me).  I like the girl's pose and where she is relative to the rest of the image, but as mentioned, the right hand is kinda stiff and off her body for the pose.  The long shadow is interesting, but indicates a pretty low sun compared to your backdrop.  Love the old shed.  I think a bit more light on her face would bring a little more focus to it and more highlights to her hair. 

    It's pretty easy to say "move this and that" but I can't see what the actual result would be. Don't take it as gospel, and if you try it and don't like it, thats OK.

    I've used those jeans, they have quite a bit of "back pocket" on them.  You might try more slimming on her glutes to compensate.  I've hooked a thumb in a pocket from this angle by getting it close and then edging in slowly till the pants "conform" to the thumb.  It isn't forgiving on the angle to pull it off.

    Post edited by Teofa on
  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,668

    Thanks Saphirewild. Yah kinda up in the air about what i want to do with that. I am trying to use the deformer on the jeans to pull out one of the belt loops to put her thumb thru then the hand might make more sense. Not having much luck though it keeps tearing one of the edge loops.

     

    Daniel

    I do see you delema with the hand I would love to see her hand kinda bent a little with the thumb into the belt hole as well be more natural for her.

  • Here's my first attempt.

    Any and all feedback (not just on composition) is welcome.  I'm brand new to this and still learning a whole bunch.

    It's a great start. People have already mentioned how the sword grabs your attention. I don't find her pose convincing. It's neither stealthy straight, nor GAP (Good Athletic Position) prepped to fight. Standing in that position for any length of time would really strain the back. Also, the story isn't clear. It appears she just sneaked in through the window, but is it to assasinate someone or did she just take an unusual way home?

  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601

    Bit late to the party on this one. This is what i have so far, i titled it Country Girl.

     

    Daniel

     

    Welcome to the party! And there's still half a month left.

  • O.K. Where to begin. Reposed the model, changed the time of day, also added some sun haze to soften the shadows some and tweaked the tone controls. The car took some tweaking, moved it right and back but when i did that had to tool around with the x and z rotations as it was funny looking against the backdrop. The jeans were giving me all kinds of fits so opted for some shorts i had. Messed around some more on the skin textures.

    Daniel

     

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  • Hrm now that i look at it i think i over did it with the sunhaze it washed out the color of the car and model too much its not as vibrant as the first picture.

  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,249
    edited January 2016

    Here's my first attempt.

     

     

    Any and all feedback (not just on composition) is welcome.  I'm brand new to this and still learning a whole bunch.

    I very much liked this first image, so will comment on that.  I took the image into Photoshop and into the Camera Raw filter which gives you a great set of tools to work with and see what can be improved.  While this is more post editing an image, the things done can be accomplished with lighting in DS as well.  So here is the image as it comes into camera raw and you can see on the histogram that is has a really short range mainly toward the dark end.

    So the first thing I did was to drive up the exposure a bit, but not so much that it didn't appear dark.  There is dark and there is dark.  If people have to work at trying to see what's in your image, it's not going to be very interesting for very long.  Give enough light to make things out.  I brought up the highlights, lowered the shadows and adjusted the exposure.  I also pressed the alt/option key when I used the white point slider till I saw some color on the sword which is the brightest thing in the image.    I upped clarity and vibrance.  You can see the side by side difference in the second image.  I also lowered to the temperature as night tends to cool things in color.

    I tried a second try doing much the same, but this time I turned the temperature even cooler and I vignetted the image.  This drives the focus in toward your figure.  The eye will always be drawn to the brightest spot in the image, here, being the sword.  By pulling up the brightness on the figure, the light points then pull your view from the sword to her.

    Work on the lighting in the scene to help you or work with post in your image editor.  Either is valid if you attain your goal.

    Seeing the new direction you're taking can work.  Again, don't make your viewer fight to hard to see things.  a bit of light to make sure you can see the silhouette of the weapon can assist.  Again, unless there are warm lights in the scene, night is going to be cooler in value.  A good way to do a dark scene is to do a good rim light as it gives things form without completely revealing.

    These, as always are merely observations and suggestions.  Good luck. :)

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    Post edited by Cris Palomino on
  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,249

    Okay I think I am making progress with her.  BUT for some reasons the blood and dirt shaders are not working correctly on the battle armour.  I can see the dirt and blood on the armour in the preview screen but it doesn't render.  But as you can see, on the skin and the handle of the sword, it renders just fine. And I still can't seem to get her face lit right, I have a spotlight shining directly on her face.  Doesn't seem to have made a difference

    Sometimes looking at it a bit different can help.  This might be an orientation to play with.

  • GallowsGallows Posts: 95

    The Prisoner

     

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  • Cris, FyreHeart, and Evilded,

       Thanks for your comments and suggestions.  I've taken her back to the drawing board to figure out what to do.   I've tried opening up the frame to the left as suggested, but wasn't happy with how it turned out.  I'm going to take a couple of days to let it bounce around my brain and see if anything jumps out.  Fyre, the more I played with it, the more I agree with you on the pose.  I found myself limiting her rotation so the pose didn't look so extremely painful.  Cris, neat stuff in PS - but I'm just learning DAZ right now, I can't even think about learning that as well.  It's on my list, though.  For now, I'll try to do it with lighting in DS.

      Back to the (figurative) drawing board.

     

  • Babalar1Babalar1 Posts: 71
    edited January 2016

    Something I started while on a road trip the other day and loved seeing the trees and farms partly hidden behind rolling hills. Added the Monet girl to bring in the big sky but now the frustrating part of making changes to hands and field grass kicks in as I can't seem to get the adjustments the way I want them to look.  AH the computer art learning curve is still new to me even after a year since starting but it's still fun and one day I'll master this monster lol ..    

    This is a smaller test render so the detail quality is lacking but it gets the idea across I think.  

      

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    Post edited by Babalar1 on
  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016
    noseeum said:

    Something I started while on a road trip the other day and loved seeing the trees and farms partly hidden behind rolling hills. Added the Monet girl to bring in the big sky but now the frustrating part of making changes to hands and field grass kicks in as I can't seem to get the adjustments the way I want them to look.  AH the computer art learning curve is still new to me even after a year since starting but it's still fun and one day I'll master this monster lol ..    

    This is a smaller test render so the detail quality is lacking but it gets the idea across I think.  

      

    Lovely.

    Perhaps her wrist bend on the left hand.  I posed with my trusty yardstick for the mirror,  and bending my wrist that way was both uncomfortable and looked "odd"

    Post edited by Teofa on
  • Ok next iteration. Moved the car around a little more, added a licence plate more appropriate to the title, tweaked the pose and expression some. Messed around with the hair styling a little. Increased the scale of the shack by 1%. One problem i am having now if someone has some suggestions is that the car bumper should be reflecting grass on the ground but it only reflects the sun sky because its an environment plate it its not put into account on reflections so its only reflecting the default iray ground and there is no way that i can tell to add an image map to the ground texture. I know it could probably be done in post but my skill in that area is very limited i.e. Noob.

    Daniel

     

    Country girl 3.jpg
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  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823

    Ok next iteration. Moved the car around a little more, added a licence plate more appropriate to the title, tweaked the pose and expression some. Messed around with the hair styling a little. Increased the scale of the shack by 1%. One problem i am having now if someone has some suggestions is that the car bumper should be reflecting grass on the ground but it only reflects the sun sky because its an environment plate it its not put into account on reflections so its only reflecting the default iray ground and there is no way that i can tell to add an image map to the ground texture. I know it could probably be done in post but my skill in that area is very limited i.e. Noob.

    Daniel

     

    I like the changes overall. Your girl is more the center of focus.  I can't help with Iray things because Iray gives me a facial tic.

  • Still not happy with the lighting, The orginal i did had some really nice balance which imo enhanced the overall scene but changing the time of day really washes everything out. Changing the light intensity jacks up the color balance of the scene...what to do what to do.

    Daniel

  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,249

    Cris, FyreHeart, and Evilded,

       Thanks for your comments and suggestions.  I've taken her back to the drawing board to figure out what to do.   I've tried opening up the frame to the left as suggested, but wasn't happy with how it turned out.  I'm going to take a couple of days to let it bounce around my brain and see if anything jumps out.  Fyre, the more I played with it, the more I agree with you on the pose.  I found myself limiting her rotation so the pose didn't look so extremely painful.  Cris, neat stuff in PS - but I'm just learning DAZ right now, I can't even think about learning that as well.  It's on my list, though.  For now, I'll try to do it with lighting in DS.

      Back to the (figurative) drawing board.

     

    Yeah, it was more to show lighting possibilities as you should be able to achieve most of it in DS.  However, you can still always finish it off in your image editor.  Most people don't consider adjusting levels, exposure and those things as postwork in the same way as an image where you paint, or move things around or add physical elements to change.

  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016

    Still not happy with the lighting, The orginal i did had some really nice balance which imo enhanced the overall scene but changing the time of day really washes everything out. Changing the light intensity jacks up the color balance of the scene...what to do what to do.

    Daniel

    Then follow your vision :) and restore the colors you liked.  I don't know Iray.  I'm used to lighting things in 3Delight.  Hopefully one of the pros will help you out.

     

     

    Post edited by Teofa on
  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016
    Gallows said:

    The Prisoner

     

    Sorry, I missed this.  Interesting concept :).   Your main figure may be a bit centered, if this were mine I would move her left a little bit into the sweet spots (camera movement. Axis tilting may do it as well)  I like how you have rotated the view so that the uprights are not parallel to the borders.  I'd rotate/tilt camera a bit more to have your base not quite lined up on the bottom border.  I'd add some mouth expression, not necessarily a lot, but something to indicate her mood a bit.

    Personal opinion.  At some point large breasts become a distraction and not in a good way. The conforming clothes have a fit, the shape gets distorted, textures get stretched, the shadows get bigger etc ect.  Feel free to ignore this part.

    I do this as a hobby.  Just suggestions, nothing written in stone. :)

    Post edited by Teofa on
  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016

    What I was attempting to explain to Gallows.  Bear with me if you all know this.

    First image is a basic straight on camera, basically parallel to all of the image elements. In some images this can be a distraction.

    This is the same pose with the camera axis tilted.  This is best done in the camera tab, using rotation axis controls.  Note how I was able to pull more of her extended pistol into the same sized frame.  Image borders no longer parallel to image elements.  (If I were to work on this more, I would remove/soften the tangent crossing her shoulders and left arm.)

    These are not full or finished renders, just some quick stuff to illustrate.  Axis rotation is just another option to put in the toolbox.

    Feel free to correct any mis-statements I may have made.

     

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    Post edited by Teofa on
  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited January 2016

    Been tinkering with this. Using the thirds rule.

    Leaping.jpg
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    Post edited by HitManWA on
  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016

    I liked the general concept of my little quickie example so I went ahead and made a render.

    Lycantha.jpg
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    Post edited by Teofa on
  • cherpenbeckcherpenbeck Posts: 1,411
    edited January 2016

    Teofa, the first picture with tilted angle looked better than this one. In this, due to the perspective and the weapon, her arm seems to be too long.

    Post edited by Cris Palomino on
  • HollokoHolloko Posts: 75

    I call this "Death of the Last Pharaoh." It refers, of course, to the death of Cleopatra after the lost battle of Actium. I'd appreciate any and all suggestions for improvement. Thanks!

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  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823

    Teofa, the first picture with tilted angle looked better than this one. In this, due to the perspective and the weapon, her arm seems to be too long.

     

    I don't see that, but thank you for your comment.

  • cherpenbeckcherpenbeck Posts: 1,411

    Okay, here it is again:

    Teofa, the first picture with tilted angle looked better than this one. In this, due to the perspective and the weapon, her arm seems to be too long.

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,937
    Holloko said:

    I call this "Death of the Last Pharaoh." It refers, of course, to the death of Cleopatra after the lost battle of Actium. I'd appreciate any and all suggestions for improvement. Thanks!

    Welcome to the New user contests. Interesting start you have with this render. What pops out to me as most problematic is that the guy in her lab looks decapitated, I'm not sure if that was your intention, but from the snake I take it death should come through it. You probably could pull the camera out a bit wich will locate the center of your fibonacci curve more to the eye than the cheek and we could see a bit of his chest. Next thing i wonder about is the brightness of parts of her headpiece, if this is rendered in 3dlight I would say there is the ambient dialed up full scale. As those are in the shadow I would expect them to be darker. I would pose the guys eyes looking at the lady ( again if he is not supposed to be dead already).

    Maybe you can try to giver her garment a different surface (texture) as it looks a bit stiff and like plastic now.

    Don't worry, you started with such a good quality I will wait what you come up with.

     

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,937
    HitManWA said:

    Been tinkering with this. Using the thirds rule.

    Great image Hitman. I llike the DOF and I thing I see s bit of motion blurr on the uhm lightsaber(?). What I'm not sure about are the size relations from the lightsaber to the girl, Is it that much closer to the camera or is it really that large. So she is jumping or flying after that thingy. Only critique is her amputated legs... the left leg is cut of at the knee by the end of the picture and the right one is hidden from the knee on. I would try to see if showing more of her left leg will remedy the problem enough or if you need to do soemthing about the right leg as well.

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