July 2016 New User 3D Art Contest “Portrait Rendering” – WIP Thread

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  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281
    edited July 2016
    isidorn said:

    It's not easy keeping up with this thread, but it's always a pleasure seeing everyone's progress!

    I got inspired by a promo image I saw and tossed something together that I think I will have as my second entry. This is a small WIP render. Comments and suggestions appreciated!

    I love the upper third of the image, but the extended hand with mystery (to me) object is distracting to me. I'd crop, but then I always want to crop a portrait.

    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281

    Here's an update on my previous attempt.  I pulled back a little, and changed to a more "classical" theme.  I need to adjust her hair a bit still, somehow it ended up stuck inside her head...

    It is interesting the way the girl looks quite realistic, but the horse has a fantasy aspect with the extra glossy mane that has just a bit of a pink or lavender tint.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281
    Holloko said:

    Okay, very late, but I would appreciate some feedback if you get the chance.

    Trying the toon renders again. I'm trying to add eyebrows, but I cannot figure out how to use LIE to add the eyebrows (DG toon eyes and eyebrows). Whenever I try to add them, I end up with a bunch of gray on the skin and no eyebrows. Advice would be most welcome!

    Let me know any other suggestions you have. I messed around with creating my own background this time. I don't have photoshop.

    Using visual style shaders with 3Delight. Thanks!

    I don't usually read much fiction, but I've been enjoying reading the old John Carter novels, so I decided to make a portrait based on the books.

    John Carter, My Protector

    I like the way you've done the toon style but retained a 3D look to the characters with the shading on the skin. I think that is very well done.

    As far as the LIE eyebrows go, have you tried setting the Blend Mode to Multiplicative Blend? That worked for me when I used a layer with white background and dark brows to darken the eyebrows of a character recently.

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  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281
    Kaliadder said:

    Hello.  Between work and other projects, its awhile since I've been able to sit down and do something.  I got an opportunity and decided to try my hand this month.  Any thoughts?  Particularly with the lighting, and especially her skin. I played with the gamma setting and the camera focus to promote the realism.  Her skin though is seriously lacking in the translucency (and maybe a little gloss?).  I tend to lean toward Iray in my renders, but I'm not sure how to get the translucent effect with that method. 


    As always, any thoughts and comments are welcome.

    This is a very nice portrait with good expression and lighting, which is what this month's contest is about. So, well done! The skin translucency and gloss looks fine to me, except for the ear, which looks a little plastic and opaque, as though it were not really part of her, but pasted on. I'm not sure why, but maybe because it has less direct light. (This is not a recommendation to change your lighting; I think it is great the way it is.) The skin looks very orange to me, but since she is obviously not a normal human, perhaps that was part of your intent. As far as the translucency goes, if you are you using Base Color Effect Scatter try Scatter & Transmit. If you are using SSS (Thin Walled Off), try adjusting the Transmitted Color to be close the the skin base color. You can find a 100 opinions in the forum for how to adjust skin in Iray. One family of products that I bought and love is V3Digitimes Iray skin converters.

  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,151

    I really regret trying to work on a second image at the beginning of the month when I got this one posed. I took a break from this one because I was putting off the daunting task of building these gloves. Then I had a week long family vacation, and here I am, end of the month, and what feels like a lot of work ahead of me still…

    Anyway, hoping someone can help. I built these gloves, and was surprised with how easy they were to turn into a wearable object for Genesis 3 Female… but I’m having problems with the mesh deforming when I pose the figure. Basically all the black parts are supposed to be metal, and shouldn’t bend. Also the blades on the fingers are pretty deformed as well.

    I tried putting all the individual metal pieces in rigidity groups. The problem is that I created a bunch of vertex groups in Blender to use as rigidity groups in Daz, but I can only use them as Face Groups for selection before I use the transfer utility. Once I use the transfer utility, I can no longer select the polygons via the vertex groups I made.
    However, I am starting to suspect that this isn’t the right way to be going. The more I Googled to try to solve my problem, the more it seemed that Rigidity Groups are more for preventing objects from changing too much when a morph is applied to your base model. I am thinking that I probably want to be rigging the metal pieces to the bones of the character myself, as I suspect the transfer utility is just mapping vertices to the nearest armature. But… I have no idea where to start doing that...

    I'm going to suggest that you create a thread on this problem in case it needs a bit of room for explanation.  That way we can keep the thread focused on the contest.  I do use Blender, but have only done a little rigging and no rigidity yet.  I believe SickleYield may have some articles.  If you can do that thread, I'll look for them and post what I find for you.  I would suggest putting something in the title about "How to properly create groups in Blender for Rigidity in Daz Studio".  That will define the problem at a glance and we do have a fair few in the forums that use Blender as well.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956
    edited July 2016

    Well 75 hours later and my CPU render is finally done. I did find place to pose the character that I thought was interesting but still kept with the spirit of the contest and kept it portrait style.

    However, I don't know which one to enter - the unadultered iRay render which looks more like a picture taken at night during a carnival or the Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Auto Smart Fix version of that render which makes the portrait subject much easier to see but makes the subject look like he is in flood lights.

    The weird double shadow coming out of the goldfish bowl is because to make the goldfish visible in such dark lighting I added to 1W Emissive light to the goldfish, kelp, and gravel and 5W Emissives light to the water.  

    Overall, although I was trying for a realistic iRay render it looks more like Norman Rockwell magazine cover to me, LOL, which I certainly didn't intend, but since I like Norman Rockwell art I'm happy enough with it.

     

     

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956

    I think seeing this now posted I will enter the unadultered iRay image and not the Photoshopped image. Thanks.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281

    I think seeing this now posted I will enter the unadultered iRay image and not the Photoshopped image. Thanks.

    I agree. I prefer the night mood.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956
    barbult said:

    I think seeing this now posted I will enter the unadultered iRay image and not the Photoshopped image. Thanks.

    I agree. I prefer the night mood.

    Thanks. I'm glad to know then it's the better picture & it's not some quirkiness of my monitor.

  • DefenistratDefenistrat Posts: 68
    edited July 2016
    barbult said:

    I really regret trying to work on a second image at the beginning of the month when I got this one posed. I took a break from this one because I was putting off the daunting task of building these gloves. Then I had a week long family vacation, and here I am, end of the month, and what feels like a lot of work ahead of me still…

    Anyway, hoping someone can help. I built these gloves, and was surprised with how easy they were to turn into a wearable object for Genesis 3 Female… but I’m having problems with the mesh deforming when I pose the figure. Basically all the black parts are supposed to be metal, and shouldn’t bend. Also the blades on the fingers are pretty deformed as well.

    I tried putting all the individual metal pieces in rigidity groups. The problem is that I created a bunch of vertex groups in Blender to use as rigidity groups in Daz, but I can only use them as Face Groups for selection before I use the transfer utility. Once I use the transfer utility, I can no longer select the polygons via the vertex groups I made.
    However, I am starting to suspect that this isn’t the right way to be going. The more I Googled to try to solve my problem, the more it seemed that Rigidity Groups are more for preventing objects from changing too much when a morph is applied to your base model. I am thinking that I probably want to be rigging the metal pieces to the bones of the character myself, as I suspect the transfer utility is just mapping vertices to the nearest armature. But… I have no idea where to start doing that...

    I can't help with the distortion problems, but to tell you the truth, they don't bother me at all. The focus is well placed on her eyes and it is an interesting composition. In light of the rapidly approaching deadline, I'd ignore the gloves details and concentrate on finalizing lighting to make the image a little less flat. Then let it render long enough to remove the noise and submit it to the entries thread. It is strong enough without fixing the gloves. (The fact that you made those gloves yourself is pretty impressive, although not a factor in the contest judging.)

    Yeah, best advice ever right here. I got so fixated on my gloves that I kind of didn't realize the potential my image still had, even if the gloves aren't as perfect as I want them to be.

    I had forgotten that I had added a fingernail morph, and removing that fixed the blade deformation a lot... except those pinkys... there's like just a couple of verticies that look like they got maped to the ring finger for some reason. >_<

    Anyway, I will probably take my quest to remove the deformations somewhere else on the forums as Chris suggested, and when I finish it, I will post the FINAL final image here in case anybody is interested.

    Just want to throw this out for a day and see what feedback I get. There are still a couple of things I want to fix on it. The background needs some more pop, and so do the eyes. Other than that, I just wanted to see what everybody else noticed.

    Thanks

     

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    Post edited by Chohole on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281
    edited July 2016
    barbult said:

    I really regret trying to work on a second image at the beginning of the month when I got this one posed. I took a break from this one because I was putting off the daunting task of building these gloves. Then I had a week long family vacation, and here I am, end of the month, and what feels like a lot of work ahead of me still…

    Anyway, hoping someone can help. I built these gloves, and was surprised with how easy they were to turn into a wearable object for Genesis 3 Female… but I’m having problems with the mesh deforming when I pose the figure. Basically all the black parts are supposed to be metal, and shouldn’t bend. Also the blades on the fingers are pretty deformed as well.

    I tried putting all the individual metal pieces in rigidity groups. The problem is that I created a bunch of vertex groups in Blender to use as rigidity groups in Daz, but I can only use them as Face Groups for selection before I use the transfer utility. Once I use the transfer utility, I can no longer select the polygons via the vertex groups I made.
    However, I am starting to suspect that this isn’t the right way to be going. The more I Googled to try to solve my problem, the more it seemed that Rigidity Groups are more for preventing objects from changing too much when a morph is applied to your base model. I am thinking that I probably want to be rigging the metal pieces to the bones of the character myself, as I suspect the transfer utility is just mapping vertices to the nearest armature. But… I have no idea where to start doing that...

    I can't help with the distortion problems, but to tell you the truth, they don't bother me at all. The focus is well placed on her eyes and it is an interesting composition. In light of the rapidly approaching deadline, I'd ignore the gloves details and concentrate on finalizing lighting to make the image a little less flat. Then let it render long enough to remove the noise and submit it to the entries thread. It is strong enough without fixing the gloves. (The fact that you made those gloves yourself is pretty impressive, although not a factor in the contest judging.)

    Yeah, best advice ever right here. I got so fixated on my gloves that I kind of didn't realize the potential my image still had, even if the gloves aren't as perfect as I want them to be.

    I had forgotten that I had added a fingernail morph, and removing that fixed the blade deformation a lot... except those pinkys... there's like just a couple of verticies that look like they got maped to the ring finger for some reason. >_<

    Anyway, I will probably take my quest to remove the deformations somewhere else on the forums as Chris suggested, and when I finish it, I will post the FINAL final image here in case anybody is interested.

    Just want to throw this out for a day and see what feedback I get. There are still a couple of things I want to fix on it. The background needs some more pop, and so do the eyes. Other than that, I just wanted to see what everybody else noticed.

    Thanks

     

    I don't want to derail your progesss, but I liked the less cartoony version more. smiley You did improve the ends of the gloves a lot here, though.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956

    Personally I think the less cartoon looking one is better too but I think she should be really sweaty or is she just slicing bread with those gloves? laugh

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281
    Last call for entries! Please be sure you've posted yoir images in the entries thread. Each user can enter two portraits. The contest will close At Daz midnight, about 24 hours from now. Thank you all for participating.
  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601
    barbult said:
    isidorn said:

    It's not easy keeping up with this thread, but it's always a pleasure seeing everyone's progress!

    I got inspired by a promo image I saw and tossed something together that I think I will have as my second entry. This is a small WIP render. Comments and suggestions appreciated!

    I love the upper third of the image, but the extended hand with mystery (to me) object is distracting to me. I'd crop, but then I always want to crop a portrait.

    I personally greatly prefer full figure shots so it was already a tough decision to go half-figure. The items in the hand are Credit "coins" from that fantasy coin freebie we got a couple weeks ago and I was going to make that clearer by naming the image something like "Credits makes the galaxy spin / That's all you got?" But I was struggling with DoF to keep both the character and hand in focus while blurring out the background so I decided this image (if I ever finish it) will be something just for my gallery. I've now removed the credits and changed the pose and lighting for an entry version that's been rendering for 19 hours now and still have several hours to go. With a great deal of luck I might also still be able to get an entry version of my first project done before deadline. The WIPs for that rendered in just minutes so a full version shouldn't have to take days to render.

    Hopefully, I will one day learn that saving projects until the last day before deadline is NOT a good strategy...

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956
    edited August 2016

    This is the same mesh as the Carnival Barker but I have tried to change the scale of the geometry mesh for some body parts to try and make it look like a cartoon caricature in the style of the Girl 7 and the Guy 7. I added the Toonimal Puppy because that is one of my alltime favorite DAZ models.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited July 2016

    Here are two versions of my portrait of besties Makenna and Toby.  Hopefully, I can get some input before tonight's deadline.  I already see a problem with Toby's foot which I'll have to fix as it looks like it in the floor.  I've changed the background and lights, worked out the bubbles and fiddled with tone mapping.  I'm not sure which version I like best.  I have a little time to make any changes if anyone sees anything drastically wrong with posing or something.  Off to fiddle with my second entry for awhile.

     

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    Post edited by Knittingmommy on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956
    edited July 2016

    Here are two versions of my portrait of besties Makenna and Toby.  Hopefully, I can get some input before tonight's deadline.  I already see a problem with Toby's foot which I'll have to fix as it looks like it in the floor.  I've changed the background and lights, worked out the bubbles and fiddled with tone mapping.  I'm not sure which version I like best.  I have a little time to make any changes if anyone sees anything drastically wrong with posing or something.  Off to fiddle with my second entry for awhile.

     

    I prefer the top one and it would be great if you had some sort of environmental model that you could sit them outside in with the sun coming in a the same angle but with them sitting in a mud puddle or a shallow creek or the beach when a wave has just washed over their legs.

    Those are good too and a nice studio portrait style. 

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • FrankTheTankFrankTheTank Posts: 1,131
    Mendoman said:

    And here's my next version. I made some tiny adjustments to the lighting, since I didn't like it how viewer could see inside characters left sleeve. I also added vignette, to make image a little darker and to make Gandalf the focus of the image. Personally I'm happy with this version, and unless somebody sees something really weird, I think this will be the final version.

     

     

     

    Wow, I'm loving this one. What did you use for the beard and hair?

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited July 2016

    I think I've finished my second entry.  Any last thoughts?  I changed up the light, changed the textures on the dress and moved her head fuller toward the camera so her scars are more visibly scars, hopefully, and adjusted her expression a little.  I think she looks pretty good.  Still not completely sure about the lighting, but it's better than I've gotten done in 3Delight to date so I guess that's something. :)

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  • ewcarmanewcarman Posts: 180

    I think I've finished my second entry.  Any last thoughts?  I changed up the light, changed the textures on the dress and moved her head fuller toward the camera so her scars are more visibly scars, hopefully, and adjusted her expression a little.  I think she looks pretty good.  Still not completely sure about the lighting, but it's better than I've gotten done in 3Delight to date so I guess that's something. :)

     

    This is looking good. Your lighting changes have pulled her right off the background. Really nice.

  • dHandledHandle Posts: 617

    She looks super, KM!

    Just for fun, try have her look straight at the camera with those great "go to H. E. 'double hockey sticks' " eyes. (if you haven't already.)

    Nicely done!

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281

    I see some last minute entries getting posted. Good work. Remember, only a few hours to go. Contest closes at Daz midnight tonight.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,281

    I think I've finished my second entry.  Any last thoughts?  I changed up the light, changed the textures on the dress and moved her head fuller toward the camera so her scars are more visibly scars, hopefully, and adjusted her expression a little.  I think she looks pretty good.  Still not completely sure about the lighting, but it's better than I've gotten done in 3Delight to date so I guess that's something. :)

    A nice update. Good work.

  • HollokoHolloko Posts: 75

    Thank you for various suggestions, all. Unfortunately I did not really have time to do anything with them! Just wanted all who offered advice to know I wasn't ignoring them! Thanks again.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956

    I think I've finished my second entry.  Any last thoughts?  I changed up the light, changed the textures on the dress and moved her head fuller toward the camera so her scars are more visibly scars, hopefully, and adjusted her expression a little.  I think she looks pretty good.  Still not completely sure about the lighting, but it's better than I've gotten done in 3Delight to date so I guess that's something. :)

    That one is the better entry.

     

  • Well, Holloko, for what it's worth, I feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one . frown    I gave it an honest try this month (late again as I might have been), but time and life in general just didn't work out the way I would have liked.  I've made a few adjustments, but I just don't feel right about submitting what I consider to be an unfinished piece of work.  

    However, if it's all right, I'd like to do one more post for any tips because I did try a thing or two and I would appreciate any comments.  I'm still a noob in many respects and I could use any help I can get.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,956
    edited August 2016

    This is the same mesh as the Carnival Barker but I have tried to change the scale of the geometry mesh for some body parts to try and make it look like a cartoon caricature in the style of the Girl 7 and the Guy 7. I added the Toonimal Puppy because that is one of my alltime favorite DAZ models.

    My 2nd entry I'm not entering as I could not create the sort of lighting I wanted. The light reflects very strongly off the sand as you'd expect but as anyone knows from their own beach photos that doesn't make for the best portraits.

    I did return the eye width back to the default & changed the color of the eyelashes to use the same texture as the hair & eyebrows however, I still also need to work on the face caricature more, at least inspect the caricaturization from different angles so I won't be entering it. I also need to do caricatures of maybe a dozen more of other people so I can get a technique down for creating caricatures but without having to create morph targets and the like.

    Thanks though. I've really learned a lot for this contest.

     

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited August 2016
    dHandle said:

    She looks super, KM!

    Just for fun, try have her look straight at the camera with those great "go to H. E. 'double hockey sticks' " eyes. (if you haven't already.)

    Nicely done!

    I did try to adjust her eyes slightly and have her looking directly into the camera, but I think I like the other version where she is looking slightly up a little bit better.  Here is the one with her looking directly at the camera, though.

     

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  • dHandledHandle Posts: 617
    dHandle said:

    She looks super, KM!

    Just for fun, try have her look straight at the camera with those great "go to H. E. 'double hockey sticks' " eyes. (if you haven't already.)

    Nicely done!

    I did try to adjust her eyes slightly and have her looking directly into the camera, but I think I like the other version where she is looking slightly up a little bit better.  Here is the one with her looking directly at the camera, though.

     

     

    Yeah, I agree.  The expression on this one isn't what I was envisioning.  The one where she is looking up a bit is the better of the two.

  • KaliadderKaliadder Posts: 69
    edited August 2016

    Oooohhh k .... So this has a lot more work to do (and even this has a fair amount of Photoshopping to blend ... well ... stuff).  

    @Kismet2012 and @nonesuch00 I saw both of your recommendations about here outfit.  I especially LOVE the idea of the computer board look.  However, in order to do that, I have to edit the graphic used to create the look, and even then I may have to do additional layer, etc etc.  Unfortunately I just don't have time tonight.  But the idea is by NO means forgotten.  My daughter has already made it clear that she is developing a "backstory" for her, so I'm kind of obligated to eventually finish this wink

    @barbult I played with the Scatter and Tranlucency.  After some playing with the tools, I am DEFINITELY going to break down and buy the product you recommended.  I haven't yet because 1) I'm cheap and I just know that the moment I buy it, the very next day it will be on sale! and 2) sometimes I just like to tinker with settings just to make myself learn.  Sometimes I find I can live without the help.  In this case, not so much.  That said ... well ... did I get on the right path with that ear?

    I've attached the previous version and the current version for comparison.  Please note that second version is far grainier because I cut the IRay render really really short.

    I won't be entering this.  It's just not right and won't be in time.  But any and all comments are still welcome. Not only will I likely finish this out later, but any comments would be helpful for future projects.  

    Thanks!!!!

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