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WIP Thread for New User Contest - August 2013

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  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,505
    edited August 2013

    Just throwing in some inspiration for you (did this last summer when oppa gangnam style was hot).

    Free Oppa poses for Genesis can be downloaded here (will require rendo account or registration though).

    oppa_pw.jpg
    1600 x 1280 - 284K
    Post edited by Totte on
  • ExperimenterExperimenter Posts: 161
    edited December 1969

    I have an idea from the Song "Get to France" from Mike Oldfield. But I do not have a special line. The Music especially the last part with the backpipes reminds me of William the conqueror.
    Would that match the topic of this contest?

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Experimenter said:
    I have an idea from the Song "Get to France" from Mike Oldfield. But I do not have a special line. The Music especially the last part with the backpipes reminds me of William the conqueror.
    Would that match the topic of this contest?

    I have to admit I would really like to see what you come up with for that one.

  • SasjeSasje Posts: 835
    edited December 1969

    It’s NAE
    It’s fun to make renders , I saw some words about music and made this render.
    Made in Daz, renderd in LuxRender.
    It’s a great theme :-)

    “Music is to the soul what words are to the mind.”

    music_bew.jpg
    800 x 1035 - 414K
  • en0ken0k Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    evilproducer said:
    And here I was hoping for an Evil Dead/Army of Darkness picture! Still looks like it could be a fun one.
    WTB bruce campbell face morph for genesis. lol
  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited August 2013

    I have issues with the trees in the background as you can see the outlines. The background is the Worldbase XT Lushlands and I tried using the shadow bias but it doesn't work. I was thinking of adding individual trees in. Anyone knows how to solve this?

    You guys think the fireflies makes the picture too busy? Should I push them back towards the forest?

    "What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" - Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

    Apples.png
    1536 x 864 - 2M
    Post edited by Zenrel on
  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    Zenrel said:
    I have issues with the trees in the background as you can see the outlines. The background is the Worldbase XT Lushlands and I tried using the shadow bias but it doesn't work. I was thinking of adding individual trees in. Anyone knows how to solve this?

    You guys think the fireflies makes the picture too busy? Should I push them back towards the forest?

    "What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" - Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

    Hi Zenrel... I hope you don't mind my opinion :) I think the trees issue will be fixed if you use some DOF (depth of field) in your render... It will bring out the girl more and push the trees to the back... with the background blurred.. you probably won't even see the outlines... The fireflies are waaaaaaaaaaaay too many.. giggles... and they are too big and bright.. I would transparent them a bit so they are just specks in the distance... and lastly this was not asked... but since I'm giving my opinion...(holds breath...) what is she holding in her hand??? since it is the same color as her leg... it looks like she has a knee in her hand or something... I think I'd ditch it... whatever it is. whew.. Over all .. great lighting... and a wonderful mood to the render.. the shadows are spot-on on the tent too... I like it :) Thank you for sharing :)
    (that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it :))

  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,050
    edited August 2013

    WONDERFUL contest idea... I just got finished doing a render similar to this thread over at DeviantArt. Since my render is a little risqué... you can all check it out along with the song lyrics that inspired it at http://llolalane.deviantart.com/art/Two-Hearts-Beat-389472713. ENJOY!

    I had a blast creating it.. I think I will use one of my own poems for my inspiration and try a go at this thread :)

    Happy rendering everyone!!!

    Post edited by Llola Lane on
  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    Zenrel said:
    I have issues with the trees in the background as you can see the outlines. The background is the Worldbase XT Lushlands and I tried using the shadow bias but it doesn't work. I was thinking of adding individual trees in. Anyone knows how to solve this?
    Carrara? ;-)

    Seriously though, I can see what you're talking about. It's not that bad. If you can't get rid of it in Studio, do you have a photo editor you could use to paint out the artifacts?

    You guys think the fireflies makes the picture too busy? Should I push them back towards the forest?

    "What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" - Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples


    You did a great job on the lighting. It really sets the mood well. I myself, have sat around campfires on nights like that, so I can almost smell the smoke from the fire.

    The fireflies are a bit distracting. I think the issue is twofold. There are way to many and they all seem to be in the exact same state of illumination, which wouldn't be the case in real life. If you were to snap a photo, you would capture some at full illumination, some would be dimmer do to the cycle of their blinking.

    The tricky part of the fireflies is also that in my experience, they aren't really that attracted to firelight. They tend to keep a bit of a distance and twinkle in the long grass of my pasture.

  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited August 2013

    llolalane said:
    Zenrel said:
    I have issues with the trees in the background as you can see the outlines. The background is the Worldbase XT Lushlands and I tried using the shadow bias but it doesn't work. I was thinking of adding individual trees in. Anyone knows how to solve this?

    You guys think the fireflies makes the picture too busy? Should I push them back towards the forest?

    "What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" - Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

    Hi Zenrel... I hope you don't mind my opinion :) I think the trees issue will be fixed if you use some DOF (depth of field) in your render... It will bring out the girl more and push the trees to the back... with the background blurred.. you probably won't even see the outlines... The fireflies are waaaaaaaaaaaay too many.. giggles... and they are too big and bright.. I would transparent them a bit so they are just specks in the distance... and lastly this was not asked... but since I'm giving my opinion...(holds breath...) what is she holding in her hand??? since it is the same color as her leg... it looks like she has a knee in her hand or something... I think I'd ditch it... whatever it is. whew.. Over all .. great lighting... and a wonderful mood to the render.. the shadows are spot-on on the tent too... I like it :) Thank you for sharing :)
    (that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it :))

    The object that the girl is holding is an apple. Is there a DOF feature in Daz?

    Edit: I found a DOF tutorial, I'll go take a look at that and repost. Thanks for the feeback!

    Post edited by Zenrel on
  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited December 1969

    evilproducer said:
    Zenrel said:
    I have issues with the trees in the background as you can see the outlines. The background is the Worldbase XT Lushlands and I tried using the shadow bias but it doesn't work. I was thinking of adding individual trees in. Anyone knows how to solve this?
    Carrara? ;-)

    Seriously though, I can see what you're talking about. It's not that bad. If you can't get rid of it in Studio, do you have a photo editor you could use to paint out the artifacts?

    You guys think the fireflies makes the picture too busy? Should I push them back towards the forest?

    "What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" - Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples


    You did a great job on the lighting. It really sets the mood well. I myself, have sat around campfires on nights like that, so I can almost smell the smoke from the fire.

    The fireflies are a bit distracting. I think the issue is twofold. There are way to many and they all seem to be in the exact same state of illumination, which wouldn't be the case in real life. If you were to snap a photo, you would capture some at full illumination, some would be dimmer do to the cycle of their blinking.

    The tricky part of the fireflies is also that in my experience, they aren't really that attracted to firelight. They tend to keep a bit of a distance and twinkle in the long grass of my pasture.

    Okay, I'll post another image with no fireflies.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited December 1969

    3ch0_419

    That is a beautiful, touching image- I'm sure your father would be very, very pleased. That is so sweet for you to do it as a tribute to him and to remember his birthday.
    Cathie

  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited August 2013

    Here's an updated version from the help so far. What do you guys think?

    Edit: I added a second picture with some fireflies in the background to add a little detail of life. With the DoF, you barely notice it, but not a huge difference.


    "What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" - Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

    Apples_fireflies.png
    1536 x 864 - 1M
    Apples2.png
    1536 x 864 - 1M
    Post edited by Zenrel on
  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    Zenrel said:
    llolalane said:
    Zenrel said:
    I have issues with the trees in the background as you can see the outlines. The background is the Worldbase XT Lushlands and I tried using the shadow bias but it doesn't work. I was thinking of adding individual trees in. Anyone knows how to solve this?

    You guys think the fireflies makes the picture too busy? Should I push them back towards the forest?

    "What a healthy out-of-door appetite it takes to relish the apple of life, the apple of the world, then!" - Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

    Hi Zenrel... I hope you don't mind my opinion :) I think the trees issue will be fixed if you use some DOF (depth of field) in your render... It will bring out the girl more and push the trees to the back... with the background blurred.. you probably won't even see the outlines... The fireflies are waaaaaaaaaaaay too many.. giggles... and they are too big and bright.. I would transparent them a bit so they are just specks in the distance... and lastly this was not asked... but since I'm giving my opinion...(holds breath...) what is she holding in her hand??? since it is the same color as her leg... it looks like she has a knee in her hand or something... I think I'd ditch it... whatever it is. whew.. Over all .. great lighting... and a wonderful mood to the render.. the shadows are spot-on on the tent too... I like it :) Thank you for sharing :)
    (that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it :))

    The object that the girl is holding is an apple. Is there a DOF feature in Daz?

    Edit: I found a DOF tutorial, I'll go take a look at that and repost. Thanks for the feeback!

    AHH.. an apple that makes sense... can you turn it a bit towards the camera so it looks like an apple more??? and maybe add a dark RED to it (or green if you like green apples.. giggles)

    The DOF is pretty easy once you know how to do it in DAZ... it's in the LIGHTS/CAMERAS TAB... then the CAMERA TAB... Turn ON DEPTH OF FIELD... it's a little tricky to set the focal distance and f/stop... I just go to PERSPECTIVE VIEW... then highlight the camera and zoom in to the item I want to have in focus... there's a box that will move with the FOCAL DISTANCE and F/STOP sliders. That should work... You'll need to play with those sliders to see how you want it. :)

    There may be another way to work with DOF.. This is what I do.. hope it all makes sense... I have my fingers crossed for you :)

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    If you check the older WIP threads for the New User Contests you will find a VERY good one on DOF. And others that all New Users might like to read, like lighting, posing and others.

  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Zenrel: hi there, i like your render much better now! Those fireflies were really too many ^^

    I only have one sensation that still needs to be knocked off before saying "now it's finished and good for final submission" and it concerns the girl's pose.
    Imo it seems a bit unbalanced, and if anyone would try to crouch like that, they'd inevitably fall on their butt. The ankles should be bended more, so all the figure can get more centered on the vertical between her heels and her toes (it's there where the baricenter of the figure needs to be) . So: ankle bended more, knees a bit closer to the fire and the floor, her hip gets also forward and her bottom almost sits on her heels. At that point from her abdomen up you can also vary a bit their bending and rotations to get a pleasing pose.

    Last thing, a very soft fill light (dark blue distant coming from just a bit right of your camera position).

  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    kesh said:
    Zenrel: hi there, i like your render much better now! Those fireflies were really too many ^^

    I only have one sensation that still needs to be knocked off before saying "now it's finished and good for final submission" and it concerns the girl's pose.
    Imo it seems a bit unbalanced, and if anyone would try to crouch like that, they'd inevitably fall on their butt. The ankles should be bended more, so all the figure can get more centered on the vertical between her heels and her toes (it's there where the baricenter of the figure needs to be) . So: ankle bended more, knees a bit closer to the fire and the floor, her hip gets also forward and her bottom almost sits on her heels. At that point from her abdomen up you can also vary a bit their bending and rotations to get a pleasing pose.

    Last thing, a very soft fill light (dark blue distant coming from just a bit right of your camera position).

    Or... if you don't want to change her pose... she can always sit on a log stump... lol... I loooooove the new render.. WHAT a difference DOF makes :) I really think everyone should use it more in their renders. It makes the item you are looking at POP! The apple looks more like an apple... I think I'd still turn it so that the stem is facing the apple. Coming along great!!! Thanks for sharing.

  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited August 2013

    Another update from the feedback so far.

    Fixed the pose to have center of balance look which I adjusted the legs and ankles.

    Added the soft dark blue fill light on the right side of the camera.

    Rotated the apple.

    camping1.png
    1536 x 864 - 2M
    Post edited by Zenrel on
  • TobiasGTobiasG Posts: 447
    edited December 1969

    The apple is still rather dark, I think. Could you light it up somehow? This way, it doesn't pop out much.

  • Llola LaneLlola Lane Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    Zenrel said:
    Another update from the feedback so far.

    Fixed the pose to have center of balance look which I adjusted the legs and ankles.

    Added the soft dark blue fill light on the right side of the camera.

    Rotated the apple.

    WOO HOOT!!! Looks great... hope YOU are happy with it :) Not sure if you know how to ADD a tiny bit of AMBIENT to the apple.. but it's still a little dark for me... it may be my monitor. At least if I zoom in .. I can see it's an apple now :) Thank you for sharing!

  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited December 1969

    Let me try to adding some ambient to the apple.

  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Really beautiful :)

    Watching it full size it looks great. Though the max 800 pixel rule is always a big enemy of subtle nuances and i especially saw it tends to make dark zones too dark (had the same problem in my last render of the July contest... the small crab looked always too dark) - so i went to touching its material specs because adding a spotlight would have influenced also all the surrounding elements:
    with the object (apple) selected, go to surfaces panel and browse til you find its 'ambient' related values. Activate ambient (there is an on/off switch), then choose a nice orange/red color as ambient color and finally play with the ambient strength cursor. I guess a value of about 8% should be sufficient to make the apple just a tad brighter, without making it look unreally lit up. It's a try and fail tuning and tweaking thing, so it might need a bit of tests before finding a good solution.

  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited August 2013

    Added ambient to the apple to brighten it up a tad bit.

    And made a size (786 x 562) render for the contest, but the file size is 494kb. Is there a way to lower it under 400? (not added to the attachments)

    camping2.png
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
    Post edited by Zenrel on
  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    great touch to the apple.

    About the file size: did you render directly to the final size or used some graphic program/software to resize it?

    Every graphic software should allow you to use a more/less compressed file (at least for jpg format) - so you can cut a bit on the Kb without loosing sensibly on the quality.

    Or else, you could try rendering in jpg from Daz studio (or in png if your current render was jpg) and see if you achieve a smaller filesize.

  • ZenrelZenrel Posts: 245
    edited August 2013

    kesh said:
    great touch to the apple.

    About the file size: did you render directly to the final size or used some graphic program/software to resize it?

    Every graphic software should allow you to use a more/less compressed file (at least for jpg format) - so you can cut a bit on the Kb without loosing sensibly on the quality.

    Or else, you could try rendering in jpg from Daz studio (or in png if your current render was jpg) and see if you achieve a smaller filesize.

    Yeah, I accidentally render it to png and solved it by using a editing program to change it to jpg. Now the size is 61kb xD


    Here's the final version.

    camping2_b.jpg
    796 x 562 - 61K
    Post edited by Zenrel on
  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    Very nice! I like the composition a lot.

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,823
    edited December 1969

    I wasn't aware it had to be below 800 anymore? Thought it had changed to 2000?

  • derekmccaughey2010_a63ad0a6abderekmccaughey2010_a63ad0a6ab Posts: 104
    edited December 1969

    I actually really like this months contest, maybe its something to do with this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia‎ but recently when working with one of my characters a particular song keeps popping up in my head. I'm going to see if I can combine the 2 into a nice picture.

    Does anyone know of a free sand prop? Or have a nice background picture of a beach at nightime?

  • mori_mannmori_mann Posts: 1,152
    edited December 1969

    An example of what you're not suppposed to do: captioning a pic!

    I was re-reading my favourit books (Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, just for the record) and this 'poem' always makes me cringe as much as giggle. I chose for giggle and made this. Everything is a WIP, character, skin, hair choice.. but I had fun, so I'm going to share anyway. Character is my take on a character from teh books.

    Dimple_test_4_smaller_txt.jpg
    2000 x 1600 - 2M
  • keshkesh Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    mori-mann: bwahahaa ^^

    i love the inspired stance of your character!

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