How many images do you render with a product?
Asari
Posts: 703
I searched through my small library and found out most products I only use once for one render and then it's very unlikely that I use them again. Of course I have some favorite items form the exception. I have a favorite character, a favorite lighting set, my favorite shaders ... but almost everything else is either custom made or adjusted or I only use once.
Now I don't render much ... limited time available, and also, I'm slow. Very slow. It takes me ages to setup a new render ... sketching/composition, posing, setup lighting, adjust clothing, adjust hair, adjust shaders ... takes all a lot of time. There are a lot of more productive artists here who render a lot more- what about you? Except your favorite items that you use over and over like lights or tools or scripts, how often do you use the majority of your assets?
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Going by sheer numbers, zero is the clear leader.
Images, suggests plural.
I hope on average it's one per product, but I doubt it.
One for sure, I make it a habit of rendering atleast one image with anything I bought to test it out. But favorites, (easy to setup wiith little to no tweaks required) be it outfits and/or hair, 10-15 times on average. Admittedly I probably render a little more than the average user.
Well, I usually do several test renders if nothing else - but actual, on the way to finished renders? Hmm, pass.
Since I'm making a comic I'm using scenes and characters over and over again.
But there are some ... (each sale adds to that) ... items I never used ...yet
I use every purchased product quite a few times. It's the freebies I seem to use less often, but having limited HDD space means that I will almost certainly have to use them all in the end.
Depends on the item. There are utilities, shaders and lighting products I use on the vast majority of my renders... and then there's a lot of stuff that I've yet to use at all, or that I've only used part of. That's easily the majority of what I have. And then there are items I got as weekly or monthly freebies, or as part of a bundle, that I suspect that I'll NEVER use... but I've been proven wrong on that on many occasions where it turned out the a really bad hairstyle was exactly what I needed, or where something turned out to be perfect for kitbashing. And, in the end, it's not as though it's produce that will go bad if I don't use it for a while, but what I have seen, repeatedly, is for an item that I wanted to suddenly disappear from the store without warning. So, I'd rather buy it now and know that I have it than to be sitting there in a few years really wishing I'd bought it when I had the chance.
It's very bi-modal. Either I do one or two tests, and that's it, or they number in the dozens to hundreds...
i rendered 720 seq pngs of secret lake.
360 frames for mercury
400 for the carnival swing
I have way too many products that came as part of a bundle I wish I could permanantly delete.
You can.
me too
I am trying to imagine Cybersox going through their library trying to render everything at least once, even with as many packed into a scene as they can, and aging like Methuselah while the Earth sheds itself of the human race.
I think there exists a runtime Hell where one will be forced to spend eternity waiting for renders of obscure items.
and the other question is : How many products do you use in an image?
I tend to think in series mode versus book mode. I plan the series arc before planning the episode or book arc. This allows a clear perspective on reusing characters. The problem is not all people understand the concept of a series arc and after the first release complain about unfinished details. Oftentimes during a series the characters reappear in various books. Some characters die, and new characters are revealed. Writing characters is like playing poker. You have to know when to fold them and when to hold them. You reveal some and hold back others, know the plot is not about the minor characters (easy to eliminate), and the value of the majors and the main.
I am just starting out with Daz (started in December so I guess I have a few month under my belt now) I bought a lot of stuff if it was on offer to plan to the future use. I am also making a VN so whatever I think I will need in it later on gets wishlisted and bought if it's discounted enough.
With that said I think I have hundreds of products that I haven't even tried. Some that I tried but they didn't fit yet so I didn't render.
For example to make my Main Characters I tried over 20 skins on each, tons of morphs and a lot of hair, a lot.
But, this doesn't concern me as for example when I needed to dress my MC I tried out and used over 30 outfits. If I hadn't bought them the process would have been a lot harder. Also more expensive if I had bought than and there when I needed it.
I am also buying a lot of medieval/fantasy stuff that I don't need right now for my renders. I do plan to use it in the future though so I am hording it until I start with that genre.
Hording a lot of stuff without using it is probably why I rarely buy anything that is under 80 % discounted, unless it's new. Only stuff that I really want can go as low as 70%. I can't remember the last time I bough something not discounted at least 70% that was not a new item.
As a comic artist, I use MANY renders of the same product and of course it's the bane of anyone trying to push products to their limits that they are primarily designed by the PA to be used for a single render, mostly from an angle they predict.
Problematic, as I use the same set for action scenes or repeat stories and the location should evolve or change.
So all the limitations are things you must learn to work around.
- Apartments and rooms with Non existent/working doors and windows.
- Glued together items, like a bed as one object, no sheets or mattress.
- Worse is a dresser or shelf with all the items as one contained item.
- Cars, not scaled for Daz figures and also no inside or working (steering or) wheels, doors or windows. (Has anyone EVER made a car with windows that wheel down?)
- rooms with one (or more) wall missing since the PA assumed you'd put the camera where they decided you should.
- An entire ROOM as one solid object so you can't even get to the surfaces to make changes.
- Hair with only basic morphs, some WITHOUT any morphs (like wind or length adjustments) dForce is not an excuse to have zero morphs.
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My comic book covers take exception as it's worth it - for one render to get a perfect look.
But for the regular renders, it's always about being clever to get more mileage from a purchase.
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At some point you have to break free and it's not about about the product, itself, but what it adds to your LIBRARY and the FREEDOM to make whatever you want.
It's like figures- and when the power users mention DNA. They don't want an exact character, they want elements/parts, They want a little quirk or extra character detail added to their list of possible options.
Today, I bought an outfit just for the gloves.
Just for the gloves.
It gets that serious.
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The goal isn't really to have ONE of everything, it's being able to choose the BEST fit for what I'm working on.
That perfect puzzle piece that fleshes out the vision in my mind.
So some things will be added to my Library that remain a 'close, but second choice' and NEVER get used.
Artists do NOT display EVERY piece of art they create.
And if you approach the Daz Studio assets as an artist .....(MY OPINION HERE - DO NOT BE OFFENDED as this is MY OPINION and NOT A FACT)
You should not Save/Keep/Display./share/upload/archive EVERYTHING you render.
And it's just as fair (and no disrespect to vendors) but everything you buy is NOT a solid fit for your ultimate vision.
Some products will go unused.
I accept that part of the library building proce$$.
Griffin Avid said it well. Also like to say there are some of us thats been around for a long time. I started using Poser years and years ago, I still have all that content. I do still use some of it and am in the process of converting some of it to G8 because it does pose better and I get better renders out of Daz Studio. I did take a break for awhile put myself through college and just did not have the time to sit down and put scenes together. Needless to say that asset will be there later on and you never know when your going to need that one dress that you bought and never used or the purse that was in the product.
Well I have every INTENTION of rendering something, but I usually see something in the shop and think to myself - well, that would make a great scene, and then proceed to render what I will do with it in my head. I usually kitbash everything I have, so nothing is in it's original form. The product then ends up in Narnia for a time until I need something from it and go rummaging in the DAZ content closet...and then I think WOW, I didn't know I owned this! So, it's almost like Christmas every day.