Understanding Creepy
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Honestly, if you want to understand what people use, look through the gallery. And not just a couple of pages. Go back through 20, 30, or more pages of the gallery.
And even then it won't be accurate, because not everyone uses the gallery here, or even at all. (I prefer using deviantArt, and I have dozens of images I've rendered that I've not loaded anywhere - not because they aren't good, but because they either were for a specific project, or because they were gifts, or for whatever reason I didn't feel like uploading it for public opinion.)
Wow, now there's a good idea. Thanks, I never thought of that. I didn't even know there was a gallery
I like creepy at this time of year
Don't you mean "dark" rather than "creepy"?
Anyway, FWIW I did as DaWaterRat suggested and scanned a bunch of pages from the gallery. And from my perspective it looks like somewhere around 25% (one out of four images) on each page fall into what I call the "war/guns/fighting/zombie/skeleton/undead/dragon/monster" category. Not surprising, IMO. On the other hand, very few were in the sexy/pinup category from what I saw. Although maybe DAZ controls that to some extent.
On the other hand (oh wait, I only have two...) I did find a surprisingly gorgeous image that has become my new favorite. It's called "Fashion Walk" by Karuchi. Wow. Gives me incentive to start doing more in D|S.
https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/456096
From a purely mercantile point of view, while some areas might be 'safe,' they also tend to, naturally, be highly competitive and saturated markets. There are LOADS of pretty young women and skimpy clothes in the store. ANOTHER one of those will probably do ok, but you are then competing against everyone else doing the same thing.
A less tapped market is less tapped for a reason, but on the other hand you have a chance of really catching the eye of people who want something else.
Look at George; by all conventional wisdom he shouldn't have done well. Male, not Hollywood 'perfect.' But my impression is that he did very well, because he didn't face much competition and the figure was designed very well.
Well, there's part of the perception/communication issue. I don't lump combat scenes and Zombies in the same category. Or Dragons, for that matter. To me, you have at least three different "categories" there, only one of which I associate with "creepy/dark" - the Zombie/Skeleton/Undead/(some) Monsters one. War/Guns/Fighting is Combat, which isn't automatically dark or creepy to me (though I understand how they can be for others), and Dragons are just awesome, and perfectly capable of being in images that are neither dark nor creepy. (do a google search for Daio's P-dwagons. ... might be p-dragons)
I'm nto reading this whole thing...
PAs make what they feel like making OR what they think will sell OR what someone (DAZ?) pays them to make. But generally we have fun making things, all sorts of things :)
So if you don't want to make certian kinds of things .. don't.
However since you mentioned you like trains .... please make trains? *lol* I'm working on a steampunk graphic novel and the DS market is are woefully short of good trains and train related things (asiding the lovely modern set of trains Tomalin did for Parkside)
LM
I suppose we can discuss minute details of specific definitions, but I think the general point is that there are some things that people generally try to avoid. Stuff like war, guns, fighting, zombies, skeletons, the undead, dragons, and monsters. I mean those things are generally not something you want to encounter in real life. At least most people. We try to avoid them because they are the opposite of enjoyable.
So the question is why does that change in the 3D world? Why are those things suddenly so enjoyable in the fantasy world?
Hmm... do you never watch a dramatic movie or read a sad book? Because that's not really what you want to have in real life either? Sounds awfully boring to me.
Why are they enjoyable in the film world. Because it's escape. It's a release from the ordinary, hum drum existence. Same for the 3D world.
On the other hand, there are things that are wonderful and gorgeous and happy and exciting in real life, and for some people those are things they want to pursue in the fantasy world. And that is the opposite of boring for those people.
I'm not sure why sad and dramatic = not boring. There's a lot of other stuff that's not boring, and it doesn't have to be negative does it?
A good rule of thumb for life is do what you enjoy doing, the process, the journey. You may never be rich but you will always be happy.
If you want money, be prepared to make scarifies to what makes you, you. That's the existential answer.
Last I checked, Zombies, (animated) Skeletons, the Undead and Dragons didn't exist at all in our world.
My daughter is currently at the dojang where she's a junior instructor and 3rd degree black belt, so while she doesn't want to get in a fight, she has learned to. And as I've learned from my limited stage combat experience, it actually can be pretty fun. Lots of people have fun shooting guns at the range or hunting too.
As for monsters - depends on your deffinition. Dangerous as it is, if I were given a gift of diving with Great whites - I'd accept with little hesitation. And Great Whites are pretty close to "monsters" from a human perspective.
I don't think it changes that much in the 3D world as compared to, say TV and Movies. Action and horror movies are popular. People like to imagine they'd handle the situation as well or better. People like the security of having the adrenaline rush without actually being in danger. Watching Wuxia moves and the incredible fight scenes can be just as beautiful and entrancing as watching a ballet.
Besides. Zombies and Vampires and Monsters you can Fight (in fantasy). You can take a sword or a stake or a gun and end the problem. It's not so easy when the problem is your dad dying of cancer, or you're house has been sold out from under you because you didn't pay your taxes, or you can't find a job because you're "too old" to be employable, but not old enough for social security. (Note - these are not neccisarilily examples from my personal life). It's escapisim.
I mean ... here https://dawaterrat.deviantart.com/art/Meishin-Character-Shot-712116080 - is this a "dark" or "creepy" image? A young woman practicing her swordwork in the middle of a brilliant sunny day?
I'm gonna weigh in on this from the standpoint of A: my comic projects, and B: as an actor/producer/crewmember on my friend Jon's indie films... DO WHAT YOU WANT. If it's well done, people WILL SUPPORT YOU. Catering to any audience is a recipe for disaster. Jon's first film I starred in, a horror film called The Traveler(NOT the Val Kilmer film, we were out first), was intended to be a simple gory supernatural slasher about a group of people being tormented and killed by a supernatural entity(your truly). Me and one of the lead actresses saw potential in making it something unique: an intelligent and classy take on a slasher, and voiced our opinions. and alot of people on the crew and online agreed, so Jon re-edited the film, then ended up shooting a TON of new material, ultimately recutting the film three times to appeal to a certain type of horror fan(which me and the actress never intended all this to happen btw, we just thought we should have limited reshoots to tweak certain scenes, and he ran with it cos we had TONS of problems making the film.), and ultimately the film went from a decently acted and fun low budget slasher to a pompous, condescending, bloated and ultimately kinda boring low budget slasher.Jon finally gutted most of the new footage, and dropped the extra story elements, taking it back to what it was originally... and people are liking it far more.
I tend to live by the Monty Python credo: do what YOU want to do, do it as well as you can, and if people don't like it, so be it. Just keep trying to do what you want as well as you can, and SOMEBODY WILL support you. And if it's never a big success, again so be it.
Like what? Usually art is meant to invoke some emotional response. A movie must grip you somehow. It can be straight drama, mystery, horror or comedy. One may make you jump, the other cry, the other laugh, or all at once. I mean, by shutting out all possible negativity you kinda defy all norms of storytelling. Can you tell a story of a guy who gets up every morning and then goes home again, does nothing for some hours and then goes to sleep, rinse repeat? Is there any interest to anyone in this? Of course not. Something out of the ordinary needs to happen. Something funny. Something sad. Something horrible. Possibly even just in his mind, but something needs to happen. You can't write about nothing.
You keep bringing up games which are all just pew pew to you, which only shows how little you know about them. Games today are often choke full of stories that are delivered to you in a far more interactive way than a movie ever could. Because you're living them. You're the character. In many games you get to make your own character and story even, to a degree. You'll meet other characters, deep, flawed, funny, richly written by real writers and acted by real voice actors, often even animated by actual actors through motion capture (Ellen Page in Beyond Two Souls for example). Are there games that are mostly just about shooting everything dead? Sure, but if you look at the whole game landscape today the variety is greater than ever. Not every game that has shooting is about shooting either. It's just a gameplay element that is an obvious choice for any action-oriented game. It's harder to tell a story through a detached strategic view of the world as you would have in Sim City or Civilizations than it is in a first or third person game that has you moving around as the actual character and reacting in real time to events that unfold before you. Some indie games have veered from this and made first person games that have no combat whatsoever and are all about exploration and story. Some call it walking simulator. Gone Home is a good example. No shooting, no horror (although slightly unsettling athmosphere at times), but enough story for you to want to keep going and find out more about what's happening.
So from the overwhelming responses I guess we can say that most people here feel that dark = exciting, and you can't get the same level of excitement from stuff that isn't dark? And that's fine. But personally I tend to find dark = objectionable and not enjoyable. To me, exciting = beautiful and ultimately better than what you can get in the real world. But clearly I'm an exception. For example, the link to the image I posted above...to me that is stunning and enjoyable, far more than a sword fight or some undead zombies.
I guess I'm just weird.
Please make trains, especially if you're willing to branch out from simple freight trains. Make a big complicated multi-product project with interiors and exteriors and multiple detailed textures. Since for the first many years, you'll be making products AS a hobby, you might as well make whatever you darn well please. If Daz doesn't think it will sell, they won't accept it and you can sell it via another broker and if it turns out to be a sleeper hit (get it? get it?), you can bring an improved version over to Daz and it certainly looks from past examples like they'll sign you up (but it will still be hobby money) or maybe you'll be happy at another broker. But until you accumulate a massive backlist, there's no point in worrying over 'what sells'. Make what you find beautiful. Somebody else will find it beautiful, too. That's very satisfying.
People like and can find multiple things exciting or interesting artistic subject matter. It’s not an either or situation. One can like images of beauty and also like images depicting darker fare.
While I'm not much of a fan of zombies, vampires or other simlar stuff, I do love sci-fi creepy. Some PAs fill that particular niche better than others. Now, I'm guessing, but I do know a few PAs and since most of them have day jobs, I'm going to assume that for making 3D stuff a PA either plays to his/her strengths or they make what they themselves enjoy or it becomes too much like work (even though it is). I can't speak for those PAs who do this for a living, but I'm still gonna guess that they follow either one or both of the two reasons I listed. :)
Laurie
That is undeniable
I didn't say dark = exciting btw. I was merely trying to convey that art is meant to invoke some emotional response and that response can be anything positive or negative. And I don't mean as in 'this is good or bad art' but as in 'this makes me laugh or cry'. So you had a positive response to that excellent image, great. Have you noticed those types of renders are by far the most common? Portraits, people having fun, poeple doing... well anything? Might have to do with the fact that we sell an awful lot of people here. And lo and behold they are not all covered in blood.
More on topic, I'm with RawArt and others. You're asking the wrong question. You need to make what you enjoy, and then you can perhaps ask yourself how to better monetize it. Say you like trains. Make that your must-have criteria. So, there are probably not too many train nerds out there. Find ways to make it more than just a train. Make a proper interior that people can put their characters in. Think about ways they can use your train in their renders and stories. Put it in an environment, a train station maybe or a bit of a landscape or coming out of a tunnel. Capture people's imagination, make it a theme, a movie set, a location. Not just a thing. Whatever you do, do not make it creepy or dark, because you hate it and then most likely the product will suck too.
Precisely Bluejaunte. +10
This thread is clearly just an exercise in people talking past each other, so it is being locked.