Runtime IRL - HDR ProSets Competition Winners Announced

DimensionTheoryDimensionTheory Posts: 434
edited October 2012 in The Commons

I thought that it would be fun to get some closer feedback from my customers, as well as celebrate my birthday and new line of releases with a contest and a poll.

For those who don't know, HDR ProSets: Urban Recreation was released for DAZ Studio recently (Carrara and Poser soon). It was my first real world HDR set for which I'd been working hard developing the skills needed. These require a lot of planning, physically getting to the locations for pictures and such.

http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/7264/

What I figured would be interesting, is asking you guys what location sounds best. I've already got another set shot from my trip to Monterey up the coast of California, so these will be after that set. Six locations I picked out that are within 400 miles of here. You guys get to vote on which one sounds best, the place that sounds the coolest for a new set that you want, and I'll plan my road trip around that place before driving there.

Planning will probably take about a month so I imagine the trip would be early November, keep that in mind when picking the location since weather and season matters! Which ever place gets picked I will be finding stops of my own along the way, places that may be of interest for these. I'm going to let the poll run for a total of nine days, which means the next destination will be announce on my birthday the 29th of Sep!

In celebration I wanted to put together a contest of my own, for those who have my new set. What I would like is the most realistic images you can get using these scenes! Get your figures and props looking their best in real life environments, do your best to blur that realism factor. The renders which I think get closest to the real thing will win some prizes!

1st Place - Heatherlee
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/8173/P15/#110228
Pick a place of interest in route to voted destination ***
A $20 DAZ Gift Certificate
Their choice of any two DimensionTheory products

2nd Place - Barbult
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/8173/#108072
A $10 DAZ Gift Certificate
Their choice of any one DimensionTheory product

3nd Place - Kinich
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/8173/P15/#109878
A $5 DAZ Gift Certificate
Their choice of any one DimensionTheory product under $20

*** First place winner gets to pick a place of interest for me to visit during my road trip to the voted destination. The place picked shouldn't exceed 30 miles off course of my route there, I'll likely compile a list of places or collaborate with the winner to find the final place picked. This essentially means you can have a scene of your own picked out to be released in the next set.

Images must be at least 1080i, you're welcome to submit portrait format around the same resolution (1440x1920). DAZ Studio only for now, I'll have contests for Carrara and Poser later where first place winners will pick side destinations for the same trip. These will be my personal picks but I will probably share submissions with my fellow PAs to help critique. Other than that have fun and just keep that realism line blurred!

barbult said:
The contest sounds like fun. Can we enter as many images as we want, or only one? What is the deadline for entry? Do we enter by posting an image in this thread?

Edit: Can the images be postworked at all? (I'm thinking of the upcoming tutorial for grass fixing.)

As many images as you like posted here, entry deadline I was making the same as the voting deadline but if you guys think it should be longer I wouldn't mind. Let's go with two weeks from now which is the 4th of October. Post work is fine as long as it doesn't completely take away from the image.

Post edited by DimensionTheory on
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Comments

  • ZaarinZaarin Posts: 356
    edited December 1969

    Sweet, looks like you're thinking of my birthstate (Arizona)! I can always use more deserts. ;) I wish someone would do some Saharan HDRI, though... :(

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,878
    edited September 2012

    The Klingon Homeworld!

    thats my vote

    Post edited by Mattymanx on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited September 2012

    The contest sounds like fun. Can we enter as many images as we want, or only one? What is the deadline for entry? Do we enter by posting an image in this thread?

    Edit: Can the images be postworked at all? (I'm thinking of the upcoming tutorial for grass fixing.)

    Post edited by barbult on
  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 5,942
    edited December 1969

    My niece will be 16 on your birthday! :)

    As for where the next HDR should be ... Yosemite. Although anywhere you can do without 'human' artefacts visible would be spiffing!

  • DimensionTheoryDimensionTheory Posts: 434
    edited September 2012

    barbult said:
    The contest sounds like fun. Can we enter as many images as we want, or only one? What is the deadline for entry? Do we enter by posting an image in this thread?

    Edit: Can the images be postworked at all? (I'm thinking of the upcoming tutorial for grass fixing.)

    As many images as you like posted here, entry deadline I was making the same as the voting deadline but if you guys think it should be longer I wouldn't mind. Let's go with two weeks from now which is the 4th of October. Post work is fine as long as it doesn't completely take away from the image.

    Post edited by DimensionTheory on
  • ZaarinZaarin Posts: 356
    edited December 1969

    Also, perhaps for a future running, have you considered Olympic National Forest in Washington? It's really beautiful and quite out of the way.

  • Zev0Zev0 Posts: 7,039
    edited December 1969

    By realism I take it you're judging strictly on lighting and not figure choice?

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,713
    edited December 1969

    do they have grizzly bears in Yosemite?
    make sure you bring a friend who runs slower than you!!!

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    OK, here is my first one. It is similar to one I posted in the other thread, but he has better hair.

    Contest_UR_BikeRamps_Motorbike.jpg
    2000 x 1250 - 2M
  • DimensionTheoryDimensionTheory Posts: 434
    edited September 2012

    Zaarin said:
    Also, perhaps for a future running, have you considered Olympic National Forest in Washington? It's really beautiful and quite out of the way.

    Places like this are very much on my list for later, they would just require quite a bit more time and funding to work out a trip that far from home. I'd love to go back to Yellowstone.

    By realism I take it you're judging strictly on lighting and not figure choice?

    Yeah, I won't judge on how well the stuff used matches the theme of these backgrounds or whatever. Throw some aliens and things in there if that's what you want, just make it look like it's actually there best you can (through shaders, placement etc). Barbult's image is a good example, with the reflections on the bike. Even if that was some impossible robot figure it would still fit nicely.

    Post edited by DimensionTheory on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517
    edited December 1969

    ...love to see a beach set.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    OK, here is another one. This is Stonemason's City Courtyard placed in UR Baseball.
    Title: View from the fire escape

    Contest_City_courtyard_UR_baseball.jpg
    1803 x 1080 - 1M
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    I'm not sure what the rule of pictures being at least "1080i" means. The city courtyard picture I just submitted is 1803 by 1080. Is that large enough, or should I rerender it at a higher resolution? What are the minimum horizontal and vertical pixel sizes for landscape orientation images?

  • DimensionTheoryDimensionTheory Posts: 434
    edited December 1969

    1080i is technically an animation term because it deals with framerate but I just meant 1080 HD standard which is 1920x1080. Don't worry about it though, your image is close enough.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    This one uses UR Courts.

    Contest_UR_Courts_picnic_table_phone_bike.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 5,942
    edited December 1969

    A bit big to attach directly I think, but here's one I did earlier ...

    http://fav.me/d5f5u66

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    Victoria 5 relaxing in the shade of the big tree in UR Park Bench.

    Contest_UR_park_bench_V5_2PS.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 1M
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    Car wash on UR Trails.
    Judging by how shiny clean this car already is, I think he's been through this car was at least once already!

    Contest_car_wash_UR_Trails.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 1M
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    Where is everybody? I'm monopolizing this thread. I'm leaving town for a couple weeks in a few days, so I have to post all my renders now. Can you tell I love this product and try to use it in every possible way?
    Here is DM's Steps to Eternity in UR Baseball. I rotated my scene to obscure as much "baseball" scenery as possible. I just wanted the sandy ground without modern structures.

    Contest_DM_StE_UR_Baseball.jpg
    2000 x 1600 - 2M
  • KinichKinich Posts: 855
    edited December 1969

    'Bigfoot Lives!'

    Some postwork in GIMP, minor adjustments to the curves and used Virtual Photographer plug-in to achieve the final result.

    Great set by the way, can't make much comment about the the next destination as living in the UK I'm not that familiar with the suggested location, if I get a chance I'll do a bit of research, but for me I'd like to see locations without the urban elements, more naturalbackdrops but that is just a personal preference.

    Well its 00:25 here in the UK so I'm off to get some sleep.

    Bigfoot-Lives-Edit.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 559K
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    Kinich said:
    'Bigfoot Lives!'

    Some postwork in GIMP, minor adjustments to the curves and used Virtual Photographer plug-in to achieve the final result.

    Great set by the way, can't make much comment about the the next destination as living in the UK I'm not that familiar with the suggested location, if I get a chance I'll do a bit of research, but for me I'd like to see locations without the urban elements, more naturalbackdrops but that is just a personal preference.

    Well its 00:25 here in the UK so I'm off to get some sleep.


    This is great! I like the details like the birds and the squirrel and the food on the table.
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited December 1969

    This one is in the UR Grassy. Now I've posted images with each of the environments, I think.

    Contest_Juggler_Audience_UR_Grassy.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
  • KinichKinich Posts: 855
    edited December 1969

    barbult, glad you liked Bigfoot Lives! I always think the small details can add to a lot to an image, especially if you are going for realism, the world is full of little details.

    Anyway here is another one.

    Make Art - The Daz Installation

    Postworked in GIMP again, curves correction and Virtual Photographer used again. This time I also did some work on the plinth to blend it into the grass a bit better using the clone tool.

    Make_Art_-_The_Installation.jpg
    1080 x 1920 - 434K
  • HeatherleeaHeatherleea Posts: 247
    edited December 1969

    Finally had some time to create a little something.

    train1a.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 482K
  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 5,942
    edited December 1969

    Did another using the HDR whcih should fit here (both for content and size ...)

    And after barbult's girls wash it ... one of mine just has to go and pose on it ..

    Car_1.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 1000K
  • HeatherleeaHeatherleea Posts: 247
    edited December 1969

    From this angle the grass really looks great.

    banquet.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
  • DimensionTheoryDimensionTheory Posts: 434
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for all the awesome submissions everyone! Hopefully we get some more people in here to heat things up.

    I wanted to let people know that I posted the grass modification post work tutorial in the main product thread. Head on over to get an edge on these realistic renders!

  • HeatherleeaHeatherleea Posts: 247
    edited December 1969

    Had time to get a couple more done.

    duddty.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
    buddyddd.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 1M
  • willowfanwillowfan Posts: 238
    edited December 1969

    Using UR-Trails

    dark-raven-gen.jpg
    937 x 1500 - 378K
  • DimensionTheoryDimensionTheory Posts: 434
    edited December 1969

    Well I guess it's been kind of obvious for a while now but the winner is Yosemite national park!

    Thanks to everyone who voted, I'm excited to head up there. I'll start looking into the trip today and figure out when exactly I'll be going.

    There's also 4 more days left for the contest! Still plenty of time to submit some amazing images.

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