October 2016 New User Contest - Atmosphere (WIP Thread)

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  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Here's a new idea in the spirit of the month. Might call it "Cyber Thriller" if I go with it.

    Your image is a little dark on my monitor but I love the concept.

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Here's a link to my first and only video that I rendered in DAZ almost 2 years ago.

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22879643/thriller.avi

    (Warning it's 300+ MB in size.)

    Can anyone guess the dance he's doing?

    I haven't seen that video in a quite some time but from what I remember it looked like you nailed that dance sequence.

  • JesterVIIJesterVII Posts: 175
    edited October 2016

    Seen this contest ad was like what the heck I'll give it a whirl. Haven't done any in a while. It's tittled "The Master Returns."

     

    Edited to fix spelling

    Master Returns.jpg
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    Post edited by JesterVII on
  • Here's a link to my first and only video that I rendered in DAZ almost 2 years ago.

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22879643/thriller.avi

    (Warning it's 300+ MB in size.)

    Can anyone guess the dance he's doing?

    I haven't seen that video in a quite some time but from what I remember it looked like you nailed that dance sequence.

    Wasn't me Kismet. I used this.

  • JesterVII said:

    Seen this contest ad was like what the heck I'll give it a whirl. Haven't done any in a while. It's tittled "The Master Returns."

     

    Edited to fix spelling

    "A great idea, you have." "Supposed to be floating, am I?"

  • Here's a new idea in the spirit of the month. Might call it "Cyber Thriller" if I go with it.

    Your image is a little dark on my monitor but I love the concept.

    Here's version b. I was listening to to the song last night and it hit me.

    oct2016-7b.png
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  • Geez! Go away for a bit with computer troubles and come back to a ton of posts on this thread!  :)  I'll never catch up.  I see a lot of great pictures in here.  Hopefully, I'll have things completely back up soon.  If I'm lucky, I even still have my scene file I was working on.  :)  You guys all are doing really great with the theme!

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Geez! Go away for a bit with computer troubles and come back to a ton of posts on this thread!  :)  I'll never catch up.  I see a lot of great pictures in here.  Hopefully, I'll have things completely back up soon.  If I'm lucky, I even still have my scene file I was working on.  :)  You guys all are doing really great with the theme!

    I am sorry to hear about your computer issues Knittingmommy.  I'm crossing my fingers your scene file is okay.

  • I haven't found that particular file yet, but I'm hopeful.  I really don't know that I want to try putting that scene together again.  It was one of those few that didn't have a scene preset so I spent two days putting the whole shebang together before I could even set up the rest of the scene.  I put the some of my computer saga, with screenshots, in my thread.  Looks like it will be a few days at least before I'm back to rendering again.  I'll get there, though!  :)

  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723

    There is a lot going on in here.  I hope he doesn't lose control of all of those elements.  wink

    Naw. He's been practicing since he was a summoner-lad. Just another day at the office for this guy. Thanks for helping me come up with the title: Just Another Day at the Office. laugh

     

  • social_stigmasocial_stigma Posts: 107
    edited October 2016

    Here's a rough render of another idea.

    lost girl.jpg
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    Post edited by Chohole on
  • kanegskanegs Posts: 80
    kanegs said:
    kanegs said:

    So I decided to take a step back... I went back to the original pose and just changed the arm and hand, then I moved the camera closer.

    Yep, I think this is what Sonja was recommending. This looks great.

    I think it looks a lot better without the overhead lights. I found them really distracting, esspecially with the glow. I kind of like the glow in the image overall, but that really intense glow in the bottom part of the crack in the door is a little distracting.

    But I am liking this rendition the best!

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I made a few more changes:

    • I toned down the bloom effect.
    • I increase the surface bump intensity.
    • I metalized the door handles.
    • I also made some changes to his hand/finger pose on the door--it's a little more subtle and I'm not sure it's an improvement.
    • Finally, since we can just start to make out his face, I opened his mouth.

    Changing his hand is not an improvement. It becomes subtle, and that tones down the atmosphere of danger and menace. The hand before was WONDERFUL. Now it's just a subtle touch. Seriously. I also liked the higher bloom because it added more unworldliness but it's not as important as the hand, personally.

    I moved the hand again and added some dust to give it more atmosphere (there's dust infront of the doorway, and behind the demon).

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

    This took 60 hours to render--no post work.

    atmos-demon-1c.png
    1920 x 1080 - 3M
  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723
    edited October 2016

    Here is another scene rendered in 3Delight with the Arcane Summoner outfit, Argenou hair, Sorcerer for Genesis Poses, Ron's brushes, UberEnvironment2 light, and portrait lights in Studio Light Pro DS 4.6.

    Summoner.jpg
    1000 x 1294 - 910K
    Post edited by dawnblade on
  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    I love the shadow of the hand, but if it's going to be there, I feel like the caster needs more of a shadow as well. Appreciating the hand leaves me with a sense that the caster is floating.

  • ewcarmanewcarman Posts: 180
    dawnblade said:

    Here is another scene rendered in 3Delight with the Arcane Summoner outfit, Argenou hair, Sorcerer for Genesis Poses, Ron's brushes, UberEnvironment2 light, and portrait lights in Studio Light Pro DS 4.6.

    This is very nice.Love the special effect. I'm trying to understand the hand image in the lower right. Your summoner is looking up, so I expect he isn't looking at some translucent beast being raised from below. At any rate, just wondering about that. Nicely done.

  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723

    I love the shadow of the hand, but if it's going to be there, I feel like the caster needs more of a shadow as well. Appreciating the hand leaves me with a sense that the caster is floating.

    ewcarman said:

    This is very nice.Love the special effect. I'm trying to understand the hand image in the lower right. Your summoner is looking up, so I expect he isn't looking at some translucent beast being raised from below. At any rate, just wondering about that. Nicely done.

    Thank you @dreamfarmer and @ewcarman. I was surprised that no shadow was rendered for the caster. I think I need to turn the UberEnvironment2 sphere a little more and render again. I've used that light in other scenes and it has generated shadows. It is set to occlusion with directional shadows too so I think I just need to rotate it more.

    What to do about that hand in the lower right corner. I added it with the thought that it was the hand of a creature being summoned, but then I should have bent the caster's head down towards it. I really liked his pose because it looks like he is concentrating on what he is doing, but you both have given me something to think about.

    There's also the screaming head, which neither of you mentioned so I'm thinking it's not easy to see. So I might move it up to the caster's hand, and just remove the hand down at the bottom right. I was hoping to keep both, but not sure that will work out well. I'll see what I can come up with!

    Thanks again for your feedback!

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,648
    edited October 2016

    Here is another idea I had using Daz Studio rendering in IRay (Only got to 75% so still pixeled) no postwork.

     

    !!Monstor Mash Cellar.png
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    Post edited by Saphirewild on
  • ewcarmanewcarman Posts: 180
    edited October 2016
    dawnblade said:

    I love the shadow of the hand, but if it's going to be there, I feel like the caster needs more of a shadow as well. Appreciating the hand leaves me with a sense that the caster is floating.

    ewcarman said:

    This is very nice.Love the special effect. I'm trying to understand the hand image in the lower right. Your summoner is looking up, so I expect he isn't looking at some translucent beast being raised from below. At any rate, just wondering about that. Nicely done.

    Thank you @dreamfarmer and @ewcarman. I was surprised that no shadow was rendered for the caster. I think I need to turn the UberEnvironment2 sphere a little more and render again. I've used that light in other scenes and it has generated shadows. It is set to occlusion with directional shadows too so I think I just need to rotate it more.

    What to do about that hand in the lower right corner. I added it with the thought that it was the hand of a creature being summoned, but then I should have bent the caster's head down towards it. I really liked his pose because it looks like he is concentrating on what he is doing, but you both have given me something to think about.

    There's also the screaming head, which neither of you mentioned so I'm thinking it's not easy to see. So I might move it up to the caster's hand, and just remove the hand down at the bottom right. I was hoping to keep both, but not sure that will work out well. I'll see what I can come up with!

    Thanks again for your feedback!

    OK, I saw wisps of smoke but I didn't make it out as a screaming head until you pointed it out. Perhaps if the head were more in the line of sight of your summoner, then it and the hand would more naturally be seen as part of a bigger whole. The hand is much more well defined than the head, so there might be a disconnect there too. If the head were just a little less wispy? Not sure really, but now that I see what you are going for, looking forward to seeing what's next.

    Post edited by ewcarman on
  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723
    ewcarman said:

    OK, I saw wisps of smoke but I didn't make it out as a screaming head until you pointed it out. Perhaps if the head were more in the line of sight of your summoner, then it and the hand would more naturally be seen as part of a bigger whole. The hand is much more well defined than the head, so there might be a disconnect there too. If the head were just a little less wispy? Not sure really, but now that I see what you are going for, looking forward to seeing what's next.

    It's OK that the hand is more defined because it's from a separate creature. But I still might remove it and just go with the head to simplify the scene.

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780
    edited October 2016
    kanegs said:
    kanegs said:
    kanegs said:

    So I decided to take a step back... I went back to the original pose and just changed the arm and hand, then I moved the camera closer.

    Yep, I think this is what Sonja was recommending. This looks great.

    I think it looks a lot better without the overhead lights. I found them really distracting, esspecially with the glow. I kind of like the glow in the image overall, but that really intense glow in the bottom part of the crack in the door is a little distracting.

    But I am liking this rendition the best!

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I made a few more changes:

    • I toned down the bloom effect.
    • I increase the surface bump intensity.
    • I metalized the door handles.
    • I also made some changes to his hand/finger pose on the door--it's a little more subtle and I'm not sure it's an improvement.
    • Finally, since we can just start to make out his face, I opened his mouth.

     

    Changing his hand is not an improvement. It becomes subtle, and that tones down the atmosphere of danger and menace. The hand before was WONDERFUL. Now it's just a subtle touch. Seriously. I also liked the higher bloom because it added more unworldliness but it's not as important as the hand, personally.

    I moved the hand again and added some dust to give it more atmosphere (there's dust infront of the doorway, and behind the demon).

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

    This took 60 hours to render--no post work.

    when I compare these two (you need to click on open previous quotes to see which two I mean) I actually think the upper one is better. I understand your intention of getting a creepy mood, but the latest one is doo dark in the overal tones. There is not much for the eye to keep the attention. So I would suggest something in between for the bloom and the light settings. A tad more of light will make the dust in the air more visible as well.

    Post edited by Linwelly on
  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780
    edited October 2016

    Here's a rough render of another idea.

    The idea is very nice I would like to see this one less grainy (though the grain does have its own merrit in this one). What I wonder is that the light beams don't seem to have an effect on the environment. The way it is right now they might even be added in postwork ( I have nothing against postwork but for this contest the idea is to manage the atmosphere with the render machine).

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780

    Here is another idea I had using Daz Studio rendering in IRay (Only got to 75% so still pixeled) no postwork.

     

    Saphirewild, there are two things I would advise to check, for one if your people are standing on the ground, and if they do to check if you have a heavy shadow bias (not sure if that is the same in Iray though). I'm not sure where you want to go with that glowy stuff behind the mummy guy, so I'll wait for the next alteration.

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,648
    edited October 2016

    I was doing the tutorial from SY about dust and atmosphire in IRay. I was trying to set the mood comming from upstairs to the CELLER!!!!

    I am going to work on it again tomorrow as we have company tonite

    EDITED TO ADD: HIM and HER are grounded not sure why the shadows went everywhere in IRay.

    Post edited by Saphirewild on
  • BorisBadenovBorisBadenov Posts: 51
    edited October 2016

     

    dracorn said:

    This is beautiful!  I can see a ship coming in to land on the far platform.

    Thanks @dracorn.

    I did consider sticking with a sci fi theme, but from the beginning I envisioned something like this.  Still needs work.  Poke-through is a problem I have no experience with in Cararra.

    BeneathTheStorm3.jpg
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    Post edited by Chohole on
  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,333

    Well, in a short time frame, there's always GIMP or Photoshop to fix the poke through.

  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,333

    Here's a new idea in the spirit of the month. Might call it "Cyber Thriller" if I go with it.

    Your image is a little dark on my monitor but I love the concept.

    Here's version b. I was listening to to the song last night and it hit me.

    I love it!  Great concept!

    Beautiful copper coloring as well.  Since it's monochromatic, you can add some interest by changing the color of their eyes - I would suggest green or blue to complement the red/copper.

    I have to ask - what was the song you were listening to?  I.e., what are they dancing to?

  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723

    Moved screaming head up to caster's line-of-sight.

    Adjusted caster's pose so that he is looking at the beast's head. Removed creepy hand to avoid distraction.

    Added a spotlight to cast a shadow on the summoner's right side. Kind of cool how it landed on the wall across from him. Also added a bit more fog and magic effects at/below his waist.

    Summoner7.jpg
    1000 x 1294 - 973K
  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780

    I was doing the tutorial from SY about dust and atmosphire in IRay. I was trying to set the mood comming from upstairs to the CELLER!!!!

    I am going to work on it again tomorrow as we have company tonite

    EDITED TO ADD: HIM and HER are grounded not sure why the shadows went everywhere in IRay.

    then look if there is a shadowbias in your lights, though I don't know how and where to find that in Iray

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780
    dawnblade said:

    Moved screaming head up to caster's line-of-sight.

    Adjusted caster's pose so that he is looking at the beast's head. Removed creepy hand to avoid distraction.

    Added a spotlight to cast a shadow on the summoner's right side. Kind of cool how it landed on the wall across from him. Also added a bit more fog and magic effects at/below his waist.

    Just wanted to ask if you use the Brushes inside DS or as postwork?

  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723

    @Linwelly, I used Ron's Brushes in Photoshop for the magic effects, screaming head and fog. Lights, DOF and shadows are in DS.

     

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