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MEC4D

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  • MusicplayerMusicplayer Posts: 515
    L'Adair said:
    stuthurso said:
    MEC4D said:

     

    +1

    You have been sorely missed around here. I was beginning to get worried, until I saw your hdri's showing up in the galleries. Welcome home, Cath.

    +1

    So happy to see you back Cath, and doing the sort of things you enjoy, and getting the support. I love the HDRI's you are producing both here and at your own website. I'm very happy and excited to hear about the upcoming beach HDRI's which is something I mentioned about in a recent PM we had.

    Your 3d scanner and real human shapes sounds intriguing, and I'm certainly looking forward to those.

    Am I right in thinking that you once mentioned about making some real human skin shaders as part of your PBS shader series?  Renders of your characters skin always have such great realism.

    Continuing the love and support for all you do for our community, it's very much appreciated. ❤

    Kindest regards,

    ☺

     

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    Thank you so much , part of the shader is already in work on the DAZ figures as you can go just one way , having one shader for all is not possible but you can have a neutral skin that can go together with a super realistic shape and that is the secret of success , we recognize the realism by the shape and reflections of the skin not by the skin type or color so I decided to get depper into it and bring something new we really need . 

    I am glad you like the new stuff ! I planned a lot for the end of this year and all I need is just time to execute and I promise it is going to be fun !

    I will have my weekly HDRI freebie ready by tomorrow morning so check out at the house of MEC4D later

    thank you again

    and warm wishes heart

    Musicplayer said:
    L'Adair said:
    stuthurso said:
    MEC4D said:

     

    +1

    So happy to see you back Cath, and doing the sort of things you enjoy, and getting the support. I love the HDRI's you are producing both here and at your own website. I'm very happy and excited to hear about the upcoming beach HDRI's which is something I mentioned about in a recent PM we had.

    Your 3d scanner and real human shapes sounds intriguing, and I'm certainly looking forward to those.

    Am I right in thinking that you once mentioned about making some real human skin shaders as part of your PBS shader series?  Renders of your characters skin always have such great realism.

    Continuing the love and support for all you do for our community, it's very much appreciated. ❤

    Kindest regards,

    ☺

     

     

  • Rae134Rae134 Posts: 50
    alexhcowley said:

    I always have a problem with the hard-edged shadows generated by HDRIs.  Does anyone know of a way of making them softer? 

    Cheers,

    Alex.

    Hey Alex, I know Mec4D answered a way around it but it also depends on the HDRi itself. Full sun will have hard shadows, dusk/dawn shots will have soft shadows etc, just as in reall life :P

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    +1

    LOL simple is beautiful cheeky 

    Rae134 said:
    alexhcowley said:

    I always have a problem with the hard-edged shadows generated by HDRIs.  Does anyone know of a way of making them softer? 

    Cheers,

    Alex.

    Hey Alex, I know Mec4D answered a way around it but it also depends on the HDRi itself. Full sun will have hard shadows, dusk/dawn shots will have soft shadows etc, just as in reall life :P

     

  • IvyIvy Posts: 7,165
    MEC4D said:

    Thank you, Ivy , that's my eye candy of the season! This ancient China houses and gardens are wonderful, 40 Chinese artists and artisans from Suzhou hand constructed the garden and pavilions. No nails or glue was used , everything is joined together using traditional Chinese construction techniques, it is a pearl! and everything there has a meaning of traditional symbolic Chinese art and literature, it was an amazing place for meditation in my raw moments. And now I can still enjoy it using my VR sitting in my brick city backyard lol and soon you will too , in creative renders or simply VR 

    Ivy said:
    MEC4D said:

     

    wow that asian graden has my attention for sure..

     

    it sounds really great I look forward to its release.  :)

  • SummerhorseSummerhorse Posts: 684

    The Chinese garden is stunning! So excited to see these.

    Nice to see you posting here again!!!

  • KharmaKharma Posts: 3,214

    Welcome back Mec4D! it's great to see you here again. Your positivity is refreshing and you new Garden HDRI's  look fantastic, and the ones coming fabulous as well, especially the beaches.  

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 26,179

    Wonderful to see you back with new products. Yours are always some of my favorites, especially the shaders.

  • Siciliano1969Siciliano1969 Posts: 433
    MEC4D said:

    Hi thanks, yes he did, but my HD got locked by windows and could not recover everything plus a lot of negativity happened last year on top of everything and I had to take a break from the community, recover, recharge so I can do better stuff now as before. Chad may be lost but better one is on the way, I invested in 3D scanner so soon you will get all real human transferred as shapes into Genesis to the last real details  not seeing before on a Genesis geometry , I made couple test it is fantastic but more about next month as it getting too hot to running around with the camera already so time for some inside job LOL with AC on full power . As you know I love to return with new stuff and unique as that give me the inspiration to do it as I hate routines. Still I want to have the biggest HDRI database so starting again shooting in late September -October 

    vwrangler said:

    @MEC4D, I was just wondering, whatever happened to Chad for Ivan 7? I remember some discussion about him in the forum, and then he just never seemed to happen. I do understand that sometimes things just don't work out, but he did look like a great character.

    Thank you, the final one will be even better when the blue overcast is gone that take forever to get rid off as iray is so sensitive to edited HDRI and one wrong move destroy everything as you see above with the blue bleeding on the walls sometimes that need to go so another night for me tonight. 

    Siciliano1969 said:
    MEC4D said:

    Thanks, here some raw no postwork tests of the Chinese HDRI set  Not all maps in preview as it is going to be very huge set, not done yet or accurate materials just to give you an idea , everything needs to get refined still so just tests, finally, after 3 years my Manchurian Lady and her hubby ( not home at this moment ) got her real home to match her historical outfit lol I hope you have some furniture ;) 

    Wow, that looks amazing!!

    Thanks, I will have more in the late summer as I am going for couple days to the south of NJ for the white beaches, NY have ugly and dirty beaches in general, tons of plastic and soda/beer cans everywhere that I have to clone out one by one.

    Serene Night said:

    The beach pack looks useful! Can't wait

    Thanks, it will be beautiful there in late Indian summer, my favorite time, in overall wonderful location little towns and people 

    nonesuch00 said:
    MEC4D said:

    The last time I was in Montauk was 9 years ago when I was living in Long Island , I rolled down the hill from the lighthouse to the bottom , the grass was wet  in the early morning and the gravity toke me down, I could not breathe freely for a week as  I landed on my chest  ..  it is a beautiful spot but I will be not there early than September-October for the fall shots, without the fall this time LOL

    nonesuch00 said:

    OK, I suggest a set for Montauk at Sunrise or Sunset and also with a full moon, at 10, 12, 14, & 18...

     

    Oh, I can wait! Have fun! I have only surfers in the sunset and they are hardly HDRi quality.

    Thank you so much! I was waiting for the weather forever, this year it is worse one ever, almost non-stop overcast skies, but finally got lucky and on Sunday 

    drzap said:

    This is absolutely stunning work!  Definitely going on my wish list.

    That is nice to hear, thank you so much, I wish I had more time but right now it is crazy busy time for me, sleeping 4 hours a day to finish everything in time before moving into modeling again and slow down, can't wait for colder days again plus I am moving in beginning of September and I want to finish everything before that , I missed our community and all of you as all I did in the past months was shooting HDRIs and lurking from time to time , so happy to be back 

    michaeltoo said:

    Amazing work Cath. I always end up bookmarking your product threads, because you are so generous with your time, explaining how to get our renders looking great. So glad you are enjoying yourself out and about, you can certainly see it in the quality of your work absolutely beautiful. smiley

     

    Cath, you need to come to Florida for some beach shots!  Hope all is much more positive in your life as we miss you very much when you have to step a way for a bit!  That 3D scanning sounds super interesting!  What is really needed is head to foot detailed geometry of actual human anatomy.  I have seen CGI artists do some excellent work, but nothing beats the real thing.  We may not be aware of it, but our eyes do subconciously notice detail when its not there because we see it everyday in ourselves and others.  To bring us to that next step towards Ultra realism you need real data.  Hopefully in a nice full body HD morph, and female of course...not trying to be biased.  cheeky  

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    Thank you so much @23Cascade, @Kharma and @Barbult nice to be back again !

     

    23Cascade said:

    The Chinese garden is stunning! So excited to see these.

    Nice to see you posting here again!!!

     

    Kharma said:

    Welcome back Mec4D! it's great to see you here again. Your positivity is refreshing and you new Garden HDRI's  look fantastic, and the ones coming fabulous as well, especially the beaches.  

     

    barbult said:

    Wonderful to see you back with new products. Yours are always some of my favorites, especially the shaders.

     

  • TabascoJackTabascoJack Posts: 865

    Glad to have you back!

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    Thank you my friend, Florida beaches ? Oh I wish but this year no more , the budged don't allow ;) . You see when you take bad pictures of someone with real camera no matter the light conditions good or bad the person still looks real , becouse of the shape , it is going to be cool ! 

    Siciliano1969 said:
    MEC4D said:

     

    Cath, you need to come to Florida for some beach shots!  Hope all is much more positive in your life as we miss you very much when you have to step a way for a bit!  That 3D scanning sounds super interesting!  What is really needed is head to foot detailed geometry of actual human anatomy.  I have seen CGI artists do some excellent work, but nothing beats the real thing.  We may not be aware of it, but our eyes do subconciously notice detail when its not there because we see it everyday in ourselves and others.  To bring us to that next step towards Ultra realism you need real data.  Hopefully in a nice full body HD morph, and female of course...not trying to be biased.  cheeky  

     

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    Hi, long time no "see"' thank you so much , happy to be back !

    TabascoJack said:

    Glad to have you back!

     

  • Siciliano1969Siciliano1969 Posts: 433
    MEC4D said:

    Thank you my friend, Florida beaches ? Oh I wish but this year no more , the budged don't allow ;) . You see when you take bad pictures of someone with real camera no matter the light conditions good or bad the person still looks real , becouse of the shape , it is going to be cool ! 

    Siciliano1969 said:
    MEC4D said:

     

    Cath, you need to come to Florida for some beach shots!  Hope all is much more positive in your life as we miss you very much when you have to step a way for a bit!  That 3D scanning sounds super interesting!  What is really needed is head to foot detailed geometry of actual human anatomy.  I have seen CGI artists do some excellent work, but nothing beats the real thing.  We may not be aware of it, but our eyes do subconciously notice detail when its not there because we see it everyday in ourselves and others.  To bring us to that next step towards Ultra realism you need real data.  Hopefully in a nice full body HD morph, and female of course...not trying to be biased.  cheeky  

     

    Well, maybe next year for Florida.  wink  I am super excited about the 3d scanning...I think it will be a game changer!  I am a believer that the shape and detail are even more important than glowing ears with SSS. LOL Materials are important, but without detail they just look like 3d dolls.  Can't wait to see what you cook up!

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,343

    According to my mom, who still lives in Sarasota it's really a game to find parking and a place to put your towel at the beaches there.  While I miss the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters and white sandy beaches of my home state I would NOT like the crowds. 

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited July 2017

    I told you Richard, I was on 7 am on Staten Island  Beach last Sunday the parking was 50% taken already and a lot of people, since I go there often I never saw people at this hour before not even at 9 am , maybe next time at the end of summer I go to Sandy Hook Beach, it is little far from me but it has natural stone formations and very crystal white sand and the sun is from the land direction not from the water what is better for iray shots

    Also love Long Beach in Long Island NY, living there for a while 

    RAMWolff said:

    According to my mom, who still lives in Sarasota it's really a game to find parking and a place to put your towel at the beaches there.  While I miss the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters and white sandy beaches of my home state I would NOT like the crowds. 

     

    Post edited by MEC4D on
  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,343

    Folks love being close to nature, we are part of nature but there are just too many of us these days I think! 

  • drzapdrzap Posts: 795

    I'm just taking another look at the beautiful pictures and then something obvious struck me:  Your figures are in the same pose in every photo.  A dark cloud formed in my mind..... I can't use these HDRI's in my animations, can I?

    These are for still photos, right?  No need to answer my question, I think I know.........<goes to sulk in the corner>sad

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    Avengers and Transformers movies using HDRI as well so I see why not, you have 360-degree environment to fly around hide partially behind doors and trees  , I was too lazy to change the pose as it was just for testing raw files. The only thing you can't is changing to Sun position

    drzap said:

    I'm just taking another look at the beautiful pictures and then something obvious struck me:  Your figures are in the same pose in every photo.  A dark cloud formed in my mind..... I can't use these HDRI's in my animations, can I?

    These are for still photos, right?  No need to answer my question, I think I know.........<goes to sulk in the corner>sad

     

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    That's true Richard ! 

    RAMWolff said:

    Folks love being close to nature, we are part of nature but there are just too many of us these days I think! 

     

  • drzapdrzap Posts: 795
    MEC4D said:

    Avengers and Transformers movies using HDRI as well so I see why not, you have 360-degree environment to fly around hide partially behind doors and trees  , I was too lazy to change the pose as it was just for testing raw files. The only thing you can't is changing to Sun position

    drzap said:

    I'm just taking another look at the beautiful pictures and then something obvious struck me:  Your figures are in the same pose in every photo.  A dark cloud formed in my mind..... I can't use these HDRI's in my animations, can I?

    These are for still photos, right?  No need to answer my question, I think I know.........<goes to sulk in the corner>sad

     

    really?  I'm confused.  So you did more than just take 360degree panoramic photos from a static location?  If so, that is so great!!  I love that Chinese house location.  I would love to film a scene with my characters walking through that house.  I even have some Chinese furniture models I can use.  Great news.  I'm waiting.

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249
    edited July 2017

    Really lol  I guess I am going to share soon my little secrets of iray so you can do more , 360 degrees panoramas are not so static it is an environment and iray has a tools that allow you to do much more with as you may thinking, for example, you can hide behind a trees or doors partially while doing animation , you can cast shadows on the walls and floors, you can cast light on the walls and floors or reflections and many others , but about that later .. in a video tutorial and some animation samples  

    drzap said:
    MEC4D said:

     

    really?  I'm confused.  So you did more than just take 360degree panoramic photos from a static location?  If so, that is so great!!  I love that Chinese house location.  I would love to film a scene with my characters walking through that house.  I even have some Chinese furniture models I can use.  Great news.  I'm waiting.

     

    Post edited by MEC4D on
  • stuthursostuthurso Posts: 192
    MEC4D said:

    Really lol  I guess I am going to share soon my little secrets of iray so you can do more , 360 degrees panoramas are not so static it is an environment and iray has a tools that allow you to do much more with as you may thinking, for example, you can hide behind a trees or doors partially while doing animation , you can cast shadows on the walls and floors, you can cast light on the walls and floors or reflections and many others , but about that later .. in a video tutorial and some animation samples  

    drzap said:
    MEC4D said:

     

    really?  I'm confused.  So you did more than just take 360degree panoramic photos from a static location?  If so, that is so great!!  I love that Chinese house location.  I would love to film a scene with my characters walking through that house.  I even have some Chinese furniture models I can use.  Great news.  I'm waiting.

     

    Everyone can learn so much from your experience and knowledge that you may end up being begged to write a book at this rate!  "Better 3D with Mec4D", It'd be a best seller with the people on this forum anyway!  Though obviously you may have to wait until someone works out a way to add a few extra hours to a day for you to find the time to write it.  LOL

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    So I am working on a freebie for late tonight (early morning tomorrow )  thus new way of HDRI will have matching shadows with the HDRI environment no matter what program you use iray, Octane or Poser, the blue overcast was reduced to minimum , the shadows are also responding better to the distance of the floor and length of the model, not all HDRI can be edited or shot this way but I am working on it , original iray do have option for shadow colors but sadly not in DAZ Studio but hey there you have always me for alternatives lol 

    below some example of the raw data in test, you can pick it up for free for testing tomorrow morning US , around 9 am for Europe from my website 

     

    No blue shadows HDRI SHADOW2.png
    1920 x 1080 - 4M
    No blue shadows HDRI SHADOW3.png
    1920 x 1080 - 4M
    No blue shadows.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 567K
    No blue shadows HDRI SHADOW.png
    1920 x 1080 - 4M
  • stuthursostuthurso Posts: 192
    MEC4D said:

    So I am working on a freebie for late tonight (early morning tomorrow )  thus new way of HDRI will have matching shadows with the HDRI environment no matter what program you use iray, Octane or Poser, the blue overcast was reduced to minimum , the shadows are also responding better to the distance of the floor and length of the model, not all HDRI can be edited or shot this way but I am working on it , original iray do have option for shadow colors but sadly not in DAZ Studio but hey there you have always me for alternatives lol 

    below some example of the raw data in test, you can pick it up for free for testing tomorrow morning US , around 9 am for Europe from my website 

     

    Wow, that is really cool!  Can't wait to give it a try.  You're far too goot to us!  laugh

  • Siciliano1969Siciliano1969 Posts: 433
    MEC4D said:

    So I am working on a freebie for late tonight (early morning tomorrow )  thus new way of HDRI will have matching shadows with the HDRI environment no matter what program you use iray, Octane or Poser, the blue overcast was reduced to minimum , the shadows are also responding better to the distance of the floor and length of the model, not all HDRI can be edited or shot this way but I am working on it , original iray do have option for shadow colors but sadly not in DAZ Studio but hey there you have always me for alternatives lol 

    below some example of the raw data in test, you can pick it up for free for testing tomorrow morning US , around 9 am for Europe from my website 

     

    Very very nice!!

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,343

    SAWEEEEEEEEEEET!  Thanks Cath! XOXO

  • MEC4DMEC4D Posts: 5,249

    Thank you guys the freebie of the week is Online http://mec4d.com/store/hdri-harbor-1.html

    Happy Rendering 

     

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    MEC4D said:

    Thank you guys the freebie of the week is Online http://mec4d.com/store/hdri-harbor-1.html

    Happy Rendering

    Thank you. Just downloaded it. I'll give it a spin tomorrow.

    Hugs.

  • stuthursostuthurso Posts: 192
    MEC4D said:

    Thank you guys the freebie of the week is Online http://mec4d.com/store/hdri-harbor-1.html

    Happy Rendering 

     

    This is a nice treat to wake up to, sometimes being in a different time zone really pays off!  Thanks Cath heart

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