Scott Livingston's Render Thread

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  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Thank you, Kismet2012 and barbult!

  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited December 1969

    Been quite some time I admit. A recent render I did had me thinking of your Sansa Stark work. I so wish I could use Maggie's nose mouth and chin, without the entire body. Perhaps there is a way that is far beyond my skills at this point, tho I'm beginning to think there are some shapes that G2F just can't do.

    Pythor looks rather difficult, considering how square the body is. I almost think any of the Egyptian gods would be easier, lol. Hmm, no legs, just arms, perhaps one of the mermaid morphs might help there, (extremely skeptic) possibly. I think you just about nailed the head and neck.

    Lilith 6, yea, Far to Barby-like for my tastes. I think it was more the face options I went for there, and the desire for more "Amazing Skins" options to work with. Same with Olympia 6 (alone), I dislike the figure beyond 50% dial as well. Your mix there looks really good, including the room and fireplace.

    Bromodan, good points, if only implied in reference to our time. Back then, fame and glory was as far as word of mouth, or the local village. There was more opportunity for many to succeed, then there is today. Fewer people on earth, and more localized economies, today almost everything is global, and far more people competing for the fewer recognized status whatever's, lol.

    Then again, some of us are contempt with simply enjoying life, rather then trying to be out in the fire of fame.

    I think I've all but given up attempting to create custom figures, as the Genesis2 morph sets still lacks features I keep wanting. Perhaps the rest from my first dreaded Multi-Axis Trainer (MAT) experience was all that was needed, tho even a quick dabble didn't end well. I'm resigned to the idea that I will simply have to make my own custom Genesis2 morphs at this point. In fact there was a pose I wanted to do on my last render, that there just was no mouth pose slider for in my collection, lol.

    It looks like that Hexagon purchase is going to be far more useful then I initially thought. Good to hear from you, and see things are progressing for you, and happy late birthday.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited January 2015

    Thank you for the feedback, zarcondeegrissom!

    I've added Maggie to my wishlist, after hearing you praise her several times, and others Artemis3D's work more generally, I figured it's about time.

    Not sure I agree that there was more opportunity for people to succeed in the Middle Ages, especially if success is defined as upward social mobility...but other than that, you make good points about fame and glory, local vs. global economies. I'd imagine that local fame was much easier to achieve in premodern times. In Bromodan's case, his upward mobility was unusual, which was part of the reason he became famous in more than a local sense (the other reason being that his fame spread from three points: his hometown, the region where the battles took place, and the capital).

    I'm thinking of making custom morphs too, but for now I've been content to play with those available on the market, plus Genesis and Gen 4 morphs ported through GenX2. I've found the Ghost of Macbeth morphs for G2M adds a lot of variety...looking for something similar for G2F as I agree that a lot of the characters and morph sets seem to fall into a fairly narrow range (though there are exceptions, and I've enjoyed using, for instance, some of Thorne/Handspan Studios's, SickleYield's, and Male-M3dia's morphs). I'm looking to pick up Cris Palomino's It Takes Character very soon to expand my options, and maybe some of Cake One's and/or Dogz's morph sets too.

    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited January 2015

    Latest Elivia WIP...experimenting with Age of Armour's Atmospheric Effects Cameras. Used and tweaked BWC Skies 2 for lighting and skydome.

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    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited December 1969

    Very nice render, I like the backdrop as well.

    praise? well she has some head shape features that are rare today on Genesis2, And her mat doesn't take ages to >start< to render (Under 45seconds on this newer comp). This is pretty much what you get with A3D's older item, Maggie.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/40092/

    That was quite some time ago before I knew much about the Content Library, and I have not found any other parts to Maggie. At-least there is a shape slider, I sometimes wish there was more options for borrowing her face. Tho I am happy to have her around.

    Well, I must bring mother to the store before snow flies, so enjoy, and be safe.

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    I've admired Elivia before and she's coming along very well. Good mix of strength, character and (naturally) beauty. We see plenty of that last one, but it's noteworthy when they all turn up together. She has a proud and determined look that I like.

  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited December 1969

    Jindi said:
    I've admired Elivia before and she's coming along very well. Good mix of strength, character and (naturally) beauty. We see plenty of that last one, but it's noteworthy when they all turn up together. She has a proud and determined look that I like.

    I liked Zoey for that as well.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Thanks ZDG, Jindi, and Teofa! Teofa, did you mean Zoey for V5? She's a Raiya character, just like Elene (whose textures and morphs, mixed with others, I used in creating Elivia). Many of Raiya's characters have that combination of traits.

    So, I think I'm getting ready to retire this little guy: Putting him here for the sake of posterity...

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  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited December 1969

    Yes, that Zoey. I use the skin mats even more than the figure preset.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Self-portrait render.

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  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Nice smile! We'll miss the other guy with his noble and serene demeanour, but it's good to see the 3D you, Scott.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited March 2015

    I've been working more on the self-portrait; still not satisfied enough with it to make it my new avatar...I'll probably end up using Iray on it, I guess.

    Here's one I can share with you though...it was featured in DS Creative this month. The character is the lovely Alisha for V4 and Genesis, except the skin and morphs were applied to David 5 instead of the V4 shape. It's called, "All The World's A Stage." (I recently finished reading the complete works of Shakespeare, and that was very much on my mind as I was making this). This is just a plain ol' DS/3Delight render with a little postwork.

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    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Been a while since I posted here...there are a couple of new renders up in my gallery. I won't cross-post them here. Instead, here's a first draft of Maaku, a character from my fantasy world. He's the uncle of Elivia, who has been featured previously (and I should have a new, Moniquified version of that character ready to post fairly soon). Maaku is a prince of the Kalai people, an island-dwelling nation that's somewhat of an ethnic melting pot. By trade he's a sea captain, as most Kalai noblemen are, and in mainland Lorania he's generally thought of as a pirate, though he'd be quick to stress that he is in fact enforcing the law, not violating it (various laws governing trade by sea are commonly ignored). Maaku's eyes are supposed to be kind of golden, but they wound up looking very green in this render.

    Maaku is basically Darius with few modifications (I used some of Cayman HD's morph).

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited December 1969

    I really like Maaku's eyes, whether they are green or gold. They really catch your attention. He is a very "solid" character in that he definitely has a presence. Nice job!

  • ColemanRughColemanRugh Posts: 511
    edited December 1969

    Been a while since I posted here...there are a couple of new renders up in my gallery. I won't cross-post them here. Instead, here's a first draft of Maaku, a character from my fantasy world. He's the uncle of Elivia, who has been featured previously (and I should have a new, Moniquified version of that character ready to post fairly soon). Maaku is a prince of the Kalai people, an island-dwelling nation that's somewhat of an ethnic melting pot. By trade he's a sea captain, as most Kalai noblemen are, and in mainland Lorania he's generally thought of as a pirate, though he'd be quick to stress that he is in fact enforcing the law, not violating it (various laws governing trade by sea are commonly ignored). Maaku's eyes are supposed to be kind of golden, but they wound up looking very green in this render.

    Maaku is basically Darius with few modifications (I used some of Cayman HD's morph).

    Excellent character. I like the different blends of elements you use for him.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Thank you, Novica and ColemanRugh!

    I haven't had much rendering time recently, but here's one that I have been working on. This is Tse Lien, another character from my fantasy novel(s) (I've got at least 30 that I'd like to render). As you might be able to tell from the ears, Tse Lien is an elf. More specifically, she belongs to the Xing race, sometimes known as the Exlied Elves as they were forced from their ancestral homeland by another group of Elves, the Arveians. Xing have several distinctive features, including skin color (it should have a slightly bluish or grayish cast), but other elves and humans find their catlike eyes particularly unusual--and unnerving.

    Life in Lan Xing is rarely pleasant, and Tse Lien has had a rough upbringing, to say the least. But she's a survivor, ready to take her fate into her own hands.

    This portrait is still just a draft. Not sure I got her skin quite right. Tse Lien is a mix of Stephanie 6, Mei Lin 6, Belle 6, Giselle 6, and S4 shape, with other morphs including SickleYield's Fantastical Features G2F. Skin textures are from Naoki for V4 and V5. Not quite sure how or why Forest Scout (which is a Genesis outfit, and designed for males) AutoFit to this custom G2F character quite so well...it even bridges in the breast area! I did use SickleYield's Dress Rig as the AutoFit template; that might have had something to do with it.

    Iray render using one of the Yosemite HDRI's.

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  • ColemanRughColemanRugh Posts: 511
    edited December 1969

    Great character. Cool idea with the outcast elves too.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. This is fanart of SnowSultan's character Smacky (who you may remember from awesome renders like this one).

    DS4.8/Iray render with no postwork. I've got a postworked version up in my gallery (which I like better, but I thought I'd share the raw one here). You can find the list of content I used there, too.

    In case you're wondering about the lighting, it's just an HDRI plus a single photometric point light (located just off the left side of the frame).

    smacky1e.jpg
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  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    A new Mirian portrait. I'm now using Precious for Teen Josie skin and Flirty Hair, and I have updated the morph formula again (aiming for realism). Rendered in Iray. Still a few things I might change about the character but I'm happy with how she looks now.

    For comparison purposes:
    Original Genesis version of Mirian from 2012
    G2F version of Mirian from 2014

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  • Been a long time...but I finally finished up Elivia and Maaku!

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  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited August 2015

    Her knife is a little too 'clean'...or is it too new?

    Post edited by mjc1016 on
  • mjc1016 said:

    Her knife is a little too 'clean'...or is it too new?

    I was texturing it as if that part was the sheath, not the blade...but I agree, it doesn't quite work.

    Well. I did say "finished up," but her outfit's not really done yet.

  • For the sheath you really need a good leather shader, not just a change in the Diffuse setting. Two I recommend are the R72 Natural Plain Leather Shaders and the PD Soft Leather Shaders. Both are free. 

  • Thanks to both of you for your feedback! I'm working on a new version...

  • Finally a new avatar...a bit different from the version I had posted upthread. Not 100% perfect but I do think it looks like me. smiley

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    I noticed your avatar- I like it. Seems like a chipper, friendly dude- like you! 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Been a long time...but I finally finished up Elivia and Maaku!

    Elivia and Maaku are quite nice- he definitely looks like a  totally in control character, and she can certainly back him up!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited September 2015

    I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. This is fanart of SnowSultan's character Smacky (who you may remember from awesome renders like this one).

    DS4.8/Iray render with no postwork. I've got a postworked version up in my gallery (which I like better, but I thought I'd share the raw one here). You can find the list of content I used there, too.

    In case you're wondering about the lighting, it's just an HDRI plus a single photometric point light (located just off the left side of the frame).

    Scott- love the lighting! However you might want to move the front character a bit more to the side or definitely move her hand. She's appears to be clawing the other gal's chest, even though DOF makes the hand in front of it. Could be a bit better placed?

    Post edited by Novica on
  • So...how is everybody?

    I've been doing a lot of lurking, a lot of rendering (though mainly experimentation, not finished artsy pieces), and a lot of non-3D related real life stuff. But finally I have some new stuff I'd like to share here!

    To start with, here are a couple of new portraits of the lead characters in my fantasy novel WIP: Mirian (who has appeared in this thread several times before) and Daran (who I haven't shared a render of in quite a long time...this is his first appearance in this thread). Mirian's portrait isn't much changed from an image I posted in the Gallery a while back...but the hair looks better (I think), the morph is slightly changed, and DOF has been added. Both figures are Genesis 2. No postwork on either.

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  • What the hell, you two! I told you to stay in character!

    (Daran and Mirian again...well, sort of...)

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