Add some emotions to your scenes
Ron Knights
Posts: 1,733
I rarely comment on people's albums. I've always been terrible at those things. I will make a greater effort to drop into the ArtStudio more often, if you'll have me!
I saw someone's picture over at a DAZ related forum on Facebook. It's clear a lot of effort was used to make the picture. But it had no life to it. I saw a bunch of robots standing in a scifi scene... All too many pictures are lifeless like that. I have been a fumbling amateur for almost 20 years. I have gained some recognition for the outlandish scenarios and expressions of my characters. I will continue to inject emotions into my scenes.
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You are very welcome, if you want to share some of your 3Delight renders and maybe give/get some tips and inspiration, feel free
show-us-your-3delight-renders#latest
I very much agree that emotions are important and often overlooked. But also morphs have their limitations, lol I've seen some pretty scary smiles for example. It's an artform in itself to combine facial expressions with bodylanguage and get it right;)
Sven Dullah yes, I totally agree about the need to get emotions, expressions and poses (body language) right. Some of my outlandish pictures stem from my inability to find "pre-made" pose or expression sets that suit my needs. Sometimes I'm just frustrated because the merchants only use numbers to describe the various poses or expressions. I can't tell what is implied just by looking at a tiny thumbnail. I doubt that I have much wisdom to offer. I made tutorials for many years, despite the fact that I remain a bumbling newbie. I finally decided it was time to retire.
Here is a really fun expression mixer that you might enjoy.
I know what you mean about the pre made poses, they very rarely match what you have in mind. Better do it from scratch if you ask me;) And, hey, we all have something to offer, we are all unique. Even if someone decides to copy someones work, the new version will mirror that person's way of looking at the world. Well that's my 2cents, the good thing about being a wannabe artist and hobbyist is you can allow yourself to have a good time, I'm so glad I don't have deadlines to worry about
I also find that after applying the emotion or pose it looks like another emotion or action then the one listed for the pose.
You can get better facial emotions using the Power Pose tab but I in my attempts find that although there are many facial pose bones to pose it is difficult to not over extend the bone for a the pose and to follow the neighboring bones one by one to create a natural expression. The bordering bones you are moving in Power Poser should have a IK movement following the bone you are moving to keep the expression natural (or whatever those automatic bone following movements are called). And you have to do that for the entire face so every emotion in various states of being expressed! ow!
I really struggle with this myself. I think I may try to use a preset pose then maybe dial it down a bit. (no idea why I have never thought of this before. Sometimes, I wonder how I get through the day lol) Thank you, you apparently sparked something in my overworked brain.
Thanks, everyone for your comments and support. I never worry about anyone copying my work. I don't pretend to be some important artist. I don't expect to make money from my art. I want to entertain myself and others, stretch my abilities, etc. In the past 19 years I created an extensive cast of crazy characters, and done a few crazy cartoons. I've even done some YouTube videos of my cartoons and illustrated stories.
Alas, I lost all of my work awhile ago. One hard drive crashed. I got frantic and wiped out my backup drive. I still have some newer versions of my characters. These days I'm lazy. I may not create so many characters "from scratch." I'll most likely just use the "out of the box" characters, but give them my own spin.
I just came across this thread and thought I'd mention my XprssnMagic products. I've made them for every generation of figures, but find that even older users keep discovering them.
The main benefit, aside from several thousands of possible eye and mouth expression combinations, is that you can "audition" them with the good-sized front and side preview images, and toggle to the neutral face. (Be sure to check out the user guide.)
Hope they can help avoid those "scary smiles" - unless that's your goal! Elisa/gryffnn
Expressions can be a bit hit or miss to say the least, I often just start dialling in parts of the expression that I hope will work and keep on hoping.
And this is the first I've heard of the Power Pose tab. Just managed to find how to add it
Why is this so hidden?
I'm wondering just how many other parts of Daz I don't even know exist.
Less is more :) At least, that's what I find with prefab expressions. Dialling them in at 100%, usually ends up pretty scary ;) If I use then at all, it's a hint and work from there.
The same goes for poses, although 0-pose is still my favourite starting point. I occasionally do use prefabs, but they rarely suit my needs. Especially hands hardly ever match what I need or want. And hand are very important for body language (although 3D hands in general miss someof the expressiveness actual hands have, but that comes with the medium :) )
It's hard to convey a story with a character without expression/body language. Although sometimes.. that's the point ;)
With expressions I never use them from the list as they are but dial them every part myself. Worst thing is always the smile/ happy dial. It's a brought misconception the the corners of the mouth go upwarts when smiling, they mostly go back depending on the person even down plus it moves into the cheeks as well. on top of that all my character smile differently.
I make my own, I tend to find premade expressions often don’t look good on my characters. But I tend to raise the mouth and I prefer less diabolical smiles.