Llynara's Loony Bin (WIP Thread)

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Comments

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,892

    Very nice couple, interesting to see the different trials you've done with it. 

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    Thanks, Novica! It's certainly an education. If I can work with these older figures and get them to look good, I can make any of them look good. They make V4 and M4 look like a cakewalk sometimes, LOL

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited March 2017

    Skychaser for Genesis

    This is a cool sci fi outfit with lots of material zones, poses and even a weapon. The product description says it has:

    Shape support includes V5, V5-SM, S5, A4, TheGirl4, V4, V3, BasicFemale, Hitomi, Smay's Stalker Girl and Aiko 5.

    But I can't get it to fit right. I can see in the DIM file list that there are morphs for all those figures, but can't find a way to adjust anything in the suit, like I normally can. I've refreshed my files, exited DAZ and reloaded it, nothing. Maybe @midnight_stories can help.

    It's a cool outfit, and I'd love to get it on V3. Right now, she's looking a bit frumpy in it. Genesis looks great in it, and I've partially shaded it just to show you how easy it is to change. The surfaces are are clearly marked and easy to change.

     

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  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited March 2017

    Skychaser on Genesis with some surfaces set to 0 cutout opacity and others reshaded with Mec4D shaders for an entirely different look: 

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  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I have Lorelei. Its a stunning outfit with a bunch of different stuff. The tiaras in particular are awesome.  You sold me on that last suit as well.  Not that I need anymore stuff....

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited March 2017

    Lifted

    May love lighten your burdens
    And wash the dust from your weary soul.

    I had some fun playing with @Fabiana 's AlterGlow emissive shaders this weekend, along with @IgnatiusSerpent 's gem shaders and @Marshian 's Body of Light. I really like the results. I stuck the Ultra Genesis glass floor underneath them and love the reflections. (Click for much bigger picture and zoom in to see the interplay between the lights and the shaders.) 

    Items Used: 

    Notes on using emissives, shaders, and lights together:

    • Some lights and shaders go better together. I originally tried to use GKDantas' gorgeous Frozen Shaders with BOL here. It looks good with the chakra lights, but I think I had to turn them way up if I remember right. I wanted to bury a large red one in the heart area and get it to show up for an idea I had, but couldn't get it to work right.
    • For this image, I chose to use a rutilated quartz shader from Iggy's Gemology set, and BOL rim lights on G3F, with the color changed to a soft yellow (the default is aqua.) Rim lights showed up better than the other presets, which are buried inside of her. And they're soft, which I liked.
    • Wings- I wanted crystal, glowing wings, and was going to use BOL, but it's a long manual process to get them on the wings. Presets are for the body only. Instead, I used Fabi's AlterGlow shader, then replaced the base map with the Gemology crystal shader. I turned down the opacity to 50% and the luminance down to around 50. That was the only way I could figure out to do see through and emissive together. 
    • Heart- A happy accident. There are BOL lights parented to her hands shining through the emissive heart. I think it looked cool, so I kept them on.
    • Glass floor- I'm in love with that floor! OMG, I love the reflections!
    • HDR- that's a starfield from TerraLuna3. It's pretty minimal and I was going to do postwork on it, but I think it looks fine. There's a lot of other things going on. The only postwork in this image is cropping and siggy.

    I have Lorelei. Its a stunning outfit with a bunch of different stuff. The tiaras in particular are awesome.  You sold me on that last suit as well.  Not that I need anymore stuff....

    Ha ha- can't wait to see you render it! It's a cool outfit. I will definitely have to render Lorelei soon.  

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  • This is gorgeous. :)

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    Thanks, Diane! I pushed myself on this one. It looks simpler than it was. Isn't that always the way?

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    I love your Lifted image.  Absolutely gorgeous!  :)

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    Thanks, KnittingMommy! I really love how it came out :)

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    Love the reflections in that scene.  Its really beautiful!

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017

    Wow, it's that time again! Of course, because I spent all month using old stuff, that's what I picked. I learned so much and developed a new love for Gen 3 and Gen 4. These older products are well made. With a little patience, they are still very useful and beautiful. I have SO MUCH I didn't have time to render! That's the reason this list isn't a mile long.

    Llynara's Top picks for March

    DAZ

    1. Vega for V3 - Render 1 | Render 2 She is so gorgeous in Iray, and totally changed how I look at older items in the store and how I shop. Between her and "The Dress" for V3, I am now hooked and totally in love with Generation 3. I spent a good part of this month playing with her and with her generation. I plan on doing a lot more with them as I've found they are still very beautiful and useful. I think Vega is easily one of the best V3s out there. 
    2. Skadi for V4  Render 1 I fell in love with this outfit when I saw it on RDNA over a year ago, and had it on my wishlist for a very long time. It has so many pieces and textures to it, and it's so well made. I finally picked it up when it moved over to DAZ. It fits very well on both older and newer generations. Here it is on a V7 and a V3. Totally epic. Totally cool! 
    3. DA Real World Lighting - Render 1Render 2 I love the flexibility of this set. It simulates real world lighting very well and is easy to use. Adding a haze softens the lighting nicely. Perfect for real world AND fantasy renders of all kinds. 
    4. V3 High Fantasy Character and Clothing Bundle-  Render 1 Don't be fooled by the promos, This older bundle is an incredibly large and versatile set, it comes with multiple pieces of clothing, 2 entire V3 characters (who look very much like Aowyn and Arwin from LOTR.) There are also 14 textures for the MFD, which will work across all generations (working on a render of all of them.) This set is a STEAL.
    5. M3 High Fantasy Character and Clothing BundleRender 1 This set also comes with two characters, for M3 (they look like Legolas and Aragorn from LOTR.) A very nice, full clothing set with many textures is included.

    Other:

    1. AlterGlow by Fabiana - Render 1 Unbelievably cool emissive shader system by Fabiana. Lots of ways to use it, that I'm just beginning to explore. Very beautiful in renders. 
    2. AlterPlanets by Fabiana- Render 1 I love being able to add glowing planets to renders. Great for sci-fi, fantasy and surreal renders.
    3. Pride 2007 for M3 by Mcafee2000- Render 1 A freebie character by Mcafee 2000. Beautifully done and translates well to Iray. 
    Post edited by Llynara on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017

    So, about April...

    MDD's beautiful Ilumi is helping me figure out what April's projects will be. Here's the stuff I have to do: 

    • Camp Nano- Finish writing my next book, Kat & Mouse and kick it out the door to the editor by the end of the month
    • Book cover- get Kat & Mouse book cover done. It will involve a broken mirror and a learning curve. 
    • Taxes- UGH
    • Gardening- yeah, that
    • Spring break with high functioning autistic teenager, and two small children. And full time job. YAY!

    It's okay. I didn't want to sleep anyhow. In my "free time" (whatever the heck that is,) here are some of the things I'd LIKE to do: 

    • Continue organizing my massive content library so I can actually find stuff
    • Learn to use Terradome 3- I've finally got a video card that can handle it
    • Learn how to do tattoos and other cool stuff in the LIE editor
    • Learn how to make textures for clothing (MFD and DNA Morphing Dress especially)
    • Make a skin for a V3 (yeah, I said V3!)
    • Save the world, maybe.

    I don't know, most of that list may drive me to drink. Maybe I should add that too for good measure. I tend to write early in the morning and enjoy working on 3D art in the evenings, when my brain is too tired to put words together. Works for me.

    I want to continue my Generation 3 Revivial project for at least the rest of the year. I really enjoy it and have created galleries here and on Deviant Art for that. I still have TONS of stuff to showcase. It's just going to take time. I'm getting much better at converting older stuff to Iray and learning a lot. I'd also like to do more with Generation 4. They're still alive and well, and far easier to work with. 

    So here's to April and all the craziness it brings! 

     

     

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  • deathbycanondeathbycanon Posts: 1,227
    edited April 2017

    She's beautiful and I love the blue tones,

    My oldest is in the autism spectrum - tourette's and OCD, last night was soooo bad for... I don't think her TS has ever been so bad. She's stressing about graduation and starting collage. 

    BTW I swear I didn't touch ANYTHING! I came to check in and update you all with my word count and had gotten kicked out of the cabin again..... Camp hates me. lol 

    Post edited by deathbycanon on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    Oh no! I will let Victoria know so we can get you back in there. So sorry you're having trouble with it! 

    And I hope your daughter is able to handle the stress. Change can be difficult with autism, but wow, great for her that she is graduating and starting college! It will take a miracle to get my teenager there. He's in his fifth year of high school and may be going for a sixth. So stressful. 

    PS Glad you like Ilumi. I think she's awesome! 

  • deathbycanondeathbycanon Posts: 1,227
    Llynara said:

    Oh no! I will let Victoria know so we can get you back in there. So sorry you're having trouble with it! 

    And I hope your daughter is able to handle the stress. Change can be difficult with autism, but wow, great for her that she is graduating and starting college! It will take a miracle to get my teenager there. He's in his fifth year of high school and may be going for a sixth. So stressful. 

    PS Glad you like Ilumi. I think she's awesome! 

    I'm so sorry to hear that about your son. School can be hard for these kids. Maddie's tends to run into more social trouble then educational., no friends.... I'll be glad when she can move on from there. 

  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,345
    Llynara said:

    Skychaser for Genesis

    This is a cool sci fi outfit with lots of material zones, poses and even a weapon. The product description says it has:

    Shape support includes V5, V5-SM, S5, A4, TheGirl4, V4, V3, BasicFemale, Hitomi, Smay's Stalker Girl and Aiko 5.

    But I can't get it to fit right. I can see in the DIM file list that there are morphs for all those figures, but can't find a way to adjust anything in the suit, like I normally can. I've refreshed my files, exited DAZ and reloaded it, nothing. Maybe @midnight_stories can help.

    It's a cool outfit, and I'd love to get it on V3. Right now, she's looking a bit frumpy in it. Genesis looks great in it, and I've partially shaded it just to show you how easy it is to change. The surfaces are are clearly marked and easy to change.

     

    One of the things I found about Genesis clothing was liberal use of the auto-fit and auto-smoothing features rather than fitting morphs.  It was a source of frustration for me as there were no dials to fine tune the fit, especially when kit-bashing.  That's why I love Fit Control so much, but alas, it has no V4 or V3 support.  I was happy to see that G2 started to bring in more fitting options.

  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,345
    Llynara said:

    Wow, it's that time again! Of course, because I spent all month using old stuff, that's what I picked. I learned so much and developed a new love for Gen 3 and Gen 4. These older products are well made. With a little patience, they are still very useful and beautiful. I have SO MUCH I didn't have time to render! That's the reason this list isn't a mile long.

    Llynara's Top picks for March

    DAZ

    1. Vega for V3 - Render 1 | Render 2 She is so gorgeous in Iray, and totally changed how I look at older items in the store and how I shop. Between her and "The Dress" for V3, I am now hooked and totally in love with Generation 3. I spent a good part of this month playing with her and with her generation. I plan on doing a lot more with them as I've found they are still very beautiful and useful. I think Vega is easily one of the best V3s out there. 
    2. Skadi for V4  Render 1 I fell in love with this outfit when I saw it on RDNA over a year ago, and had it on my wishlist for a very long time. It has so many pieces and textures to it, and it's so well made. I finally picked it up when it moved over to DAZ. It fits very well on both older and newer generations. Here it is on a V7 and a V3. Totally epic. Totally cool! 
    3. DA Real World Lighting - Render 1Render 2 I love the flexibility of this set. It simulates real world lighting very well and is easy to use. Adding a haze softens the lighting nicely. Perfect for real world AND fantasy renders of all kinds. 
    4. V3 High Fantasy Character and Clothing Bundle-  Render 1 Don't be fooled by the promos, This older bundle is an incredibly large and versatile set, it comes with multiple pieces of clothing, 2 entire V3 characters (who look very much like Aowyn and Arwin from LOTR.) There are also 14 textures for the MFD, which will work across all generations (working on a render of all of them.) This set is a STEAL.
    5. M3 High Fantasy Character and Clothing BundleRender 1 This set also comes with two characters, for M3 (they look like Legolas and Aragorn from LOTR.) A very nice, full clothing set with many textures is included.

    Other:

    1. AlterGlow by Fabiana - Render 1 Unbelievably cool emissive shader system by Fabiana. Lots of ways to use it, that I'm just beginning to explore. Very beautiful in renders. 
    2. AlterPlanets by Fabiana- Render 1 I love being able to add glowing planets to renders. Great for sci-fi, fantasy and surreal renders.
    3. Pride 2007 for M3 by Mcafee2000- Render 1 A freebie character by Mcafee 2000. Beautifully done and translates well to Iray. 

    I agree with you about V4, though I have not played with V3.  Everybody is so exited about shiny and new, people tend to forget that V4 has been refined over many years and still looks great.  She has the best outfits and so many incredibly cool faerie and alien skins, makeups, etc. 

    Also LOVE this render!  The lighting, background, poses and fog at their feet remind me of classic fantasy art by Boris Vallejo or Frank Frazetta.  This would be a GREAT book cover.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I picked up Ilumi as well and am excited to give her a go.  Haven't had a chance yet but she is waiting patiently lol.

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017
    dracorn said:

    Also LOVE this render!  The lighting, background, poses and fog at their feet remind me of classic fantasy art by Boris Vallejo or Frank Frazetta.  This would be a GREAT book cover.

     

    Aww, thank you so much! Vallejo and Frazetta are two of my favorite artists. I used to pour over their art books for hours as a teenager. Anytime I can get close to their styles is a huge compliment. Now I just need a book to go with that cover, LOL.

    I absolutely love fantasy art, as well as Romanticism and Impressionism. Growing up, the walls of my room were plastered in posters of the Hildebrandt brothers. I guess I've always been an art junkie. I love lots of light, texture and of course, interesting characters!

    Post edited by Llynara on
  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,345

    LOVE Hildebrandt!  I'm kicking myself now because I never saved my Hildebrandt Lord of the Rings calendars.  Michael Whelan is another of my favorite fantasy artists.

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017
    dracorn said:

    LOVE Hildebrandt!  I'm kicking myself now because I never saved my Hildebrandt Lord of the Rings calendars.  Michael Whelan is another of my favorite fantasy artists.

    I think my mom still has some of those calendars. They were awesome! 

    Dante 7

    Just a few quick test renders of the new guy. No postwork, slapped together between crying kids, making dinner, etc. Will do something better soon, just wanted to see what Dante and his add on characters looked like. Both add ons are HD, but the HD head for Dante isn't out yet, so that might be why my renders look different than the promos. Not sure.

    Here's the base Dante 7 with default materials in The Woodsman outfit. He looks like he's been around the block a time or two. Lots of experience in that face. 

    FWSA Noah HD

    Younger, looks a little shy and very cute. Reminds me of the guys on the firemen calendars (not that I have any...) or perhaps Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing. I used the optional chest hair but not the facial hair, which is pretty sparse anyhow.

    FW Brett HD

    I used red lights here, so he looks a little sunburned. Handsome with kind of an "athlete next door" look to him. He reminds me a lot of Scott 6 here. He's very clean cut without the facial hair. He looks totally different with it. I have two more renders with his goatee and tattoos that I'll post tonight. I need to postwork the background. Was using Roads N Rails for Terradome 3 and couldn't figure out how to get it to blend in with T3 in the background. 

     

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  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017

    LOL- He does look like Patrick Swayze! At least in the render...

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  • deathbycanondeathbycanon Posts: 1,227

    yea he does!

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017

    I think this calls for a Dirty Dancing render! laugh

    In the meantime, here's FW Brett with facial hair and tattoos. They definitely give him some attitude. So does the bike. (click for bigger pics.)

     

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  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017

    I had some fun with the Nik Collection and used Silver Efex Pro 2 to do them in Black and White. Easy to do, and you can't beat free! 

    I like the vintage effect here. It looks like a "here's a crazy picture of my dad when he was young" kind of thing.

    This one is just a neutral effect, but very nice. Classic.

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  • DarwinsMishapDarwinsMishap Posts: 4,087

    Nicely done, Llynara!

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    Thanks, Darwin! I'm thinking that vintage effect might look cool in a promo render...

  • DarwinsMishapDarwinsMishap Posts: 4,087

    It might, depending on the promo. I've thought about piddling with the idea a few times. ;)

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    You should piddle cheeky 

    I really love the NIK collection. So many interesting things you can do with those and so easy to use. Lovin' me some Photoshop! LOL

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