June 2021 - Daz 3D New User Challenge - Scenes, Landscapes, and Working Modularly

135

Comments

  • vamokvamok Posts: 238

    aprilshowers2065 said:

    Thanks @Phatmartinosmiley I've dialed the haze back a little, upped the roughness on the chain barding (that's the proper term for it wink) and lowered the opacity on the flames.

    This reminds me of the portal to the Plane of Fear in Everquest! This is evolving very nicely. 

  • katywhitekatywhite Posts: 412

    Alewis478 said:

    katywhite said:

    Title: This is not the princess you were looking for

    Caption: My hero! <3

    Software: Daz 3D, Photoshop

    Challenge: Beginner

    Feedback is welcome!

     

     

     

     

    Very fun scene!

    How'd you do the flower petals floating in the air? Are those props? 

    Thank you! I actually took the same prop with the flowers and vines on the wall there and just made the vines invisible. And then I made a few copies at different angles to get the blowing in the wind look :)

  • katywhitekatywhite Posts: 412

    csaa said:

    @katywhite,

    I like the idea behind the scene. And the color scheme really stands out. Another winner? Yes!

    Cheers!

     

    katywhite said:

    Title: This is not the princess you were looking for

    )Caption: My hero! <3

     Thank you! =)

  • katywhitekatywhite Posts: 412

    kerry said:

    Environment / new user challange
    A great challenge for me since past projects have been lacking in environments and mostly depended on HDRI's to set the scene. My first fully Daz scene with a little postwork in photoshop.

    image
    Environment-related products used:

    Terradome 3 https://www.daz3d.com/terradome-3-iray <---- Amazing

    Trearchi Folly https://www.daz3d.com/trearchi-folly

    Tiny plants https://www.daz3d.com/tiny-plants--mossy-saxifrage

    Feedback very welcome.

    My own thoughts:

    Overall turned out a lot better than expected but was using some good quality products.
    A bit OTT with the blur in the post where the mountain blends to the sky.
    The bottom right corner just feels off balance.
    I really wasn't sure about using red flowers in the foreground combined with red outfit, there were other material options and shaders too, in the end it just felt fitting.
     

    I think the red flowers at the front actually work nicely! Having an entire red scheme there helps seperate the foreground from the background. :) 

  • kerrykerry Posts: 74
    edited June 2021

    katywhite said:
     

    I think the red flowers at the front actually work nicely! Having an entire red scheme there helps seperate the foreground from the background. :) 

    I think that's it. I even layered the render as fore, mid and background. Thanks for putting into words what I could only express as "just felt fitting".

    Post edited by kerry on
  • kerrykerry Posts: 74

    katywhite said:

    Title: This is not the princess you were looking for

    Caption: My hero! <3

    Software: Daz 3D, Photoshop

    Challenge: Beginner

    Feedback is welcome!

     

    Awww she looks happy to see him. Someone is going to get their happy ever after even, if that just means dessert after the main course.
    Great background detail, like the scatter on the trees and subtle reflection in the water.

  • kerrykerry Posts: 74

    aprilshowers2065 said:

    Thanks @Phatmartinosmiley I've dialed the haze back a little, upped the roughness on the chain barding (that's the proper term for it wink) and lowered the opacity on the flames.

    A good call lowering the flame opacity, stops them from detracting from the focal point.

  • kerrykerry Posts: 74

     

    Courtesan and Her Dragon

     

    Cheers!

    Beautiful colour scheme it really sets a mood to establish a positive relationship between your two charactors. Because my eye seems to settlle on the column to the left it could be a good place to position a prop that adds to their story. The wall decoration seems to create natural direction lines for such a thing.

  • perlkperlk Posts: 840

    Scott Livingston said:

    Great work so far, everyone!

    @perlk the difference is subtle, but I definitely think the lighting is improved in your latest version. I like Phatmartino's suggestion as well...curious to see where you will go with that!

    I got totally distracted making a freebie, but I do plan to work on it this week!

  • katywhitekatywhite Posts: 412

    kerry said:

    katywhite said:

    Title: This is not the princess you were looking for

    Caption: My hero! <3

    Software: Daz 3D, Photoshop

    Challenge: Beginner

    Feedback is welcome!

     

    Awww she looks happy to see him. Someone is going to get their happy ever after even, if that just means dessert after the main course.
    Great background detail, like the scatter on the trees and subtle reflection in the water.

    Yes that's for sure! XD

  • perlkperlk Posts: 840
    edited June 2021

    Updated... I think the windmill and generator may be a bit overkill for this tiny shack, but since they can't miss "Dancing With The Stars" re-runs, it's critical.

    june-kit-bashing-windmill.png
    1600 x 1200 - 2M
    Post edited by perlk on
  • Thanks @vamok and @kerry! I'm pretty happy with the way it's been turning out. laugh

  • kerrykerry Posts: 74

    perlk said:

    Updated... I think the windmill and generator may be a bit overkill for this tiny shack, but since they can't miss "Dancing With The Stars" re-runs, it's critical.


    A suprising addition that adds a sense of scale and distance to the mountains behind, assuming viewer is familiar with how decivingly massive these turbines can be. A local producer once placed a single blade on exhibition in my home town, it spanned the whole town square and then some.
    A calm looking scene but I gotta wonder if changing the direction of the clouds at an angle against the might mountain could add tension and add an ominouse sence of upcoming drama to the world  - Like the unexpected canncellation of dancing with stars re runs.

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780

    perlk said:

    Updated... I think the windmill and generator may be a bit overkill for this tiny shack, but since they can't miss "Dancing With The Stars" re-runs, it's critical.

    very nice work here, at first I thought the house and it's direct environment may be a bit too dark but I like how you can see more of it in the reflection on the lake, still I think a little more of the house to be seen might be nice.

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780

    sueya said:

    Here's the first version of my entry for the Intermediate challenge

    No kitbashing of unusual props, but I have combined Urban Backstreet and City Streets kits. I have also added a few boxes and a  trash can

    I have used 3 Delight here. I may add anoher figure and/or a dog. I may also add some depth of field.

    very interesting mood, the set#s work nicely together.

    I think your musician is floating a bit in the moment and you could try adding a swarm of insects under the streetlamp using instances

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780

    aprilshowers2065 said:

    Thanks @Phatmartinosmiley I've dialed the haze back a little, upped the roughness on the chain barding (that's the proper term for it wink) and lowered the opacity on the flames.

    everybody seems to like dark ang gloomy this month, maybe you want to try and reduce the opacity on your portal material and add a bit of emissive light to it? if you're using 3DL you could try a linear point light at the center of the portal

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,780

    kerry said:

    Title: Journey of the red path

    Software: Daz Studio / Photoshop

    Environment / new user challange
    A great challenge for me since past projects have been lacking in environments and mostly depended on HDRI's to set the scene. My first fully Daz scene with a little postwork in photoshop.

    image
    Environment-related products used:

    Terradome 3 https://www.daz3d.com/terradome-3-iray <---- Amazing

    Trearchi Folly https://www.daz3d.com/trearchi-folly

    Tiny plants https://www.daz3d.com/tiny-plants--mossy-saxifrage

    Feedback very welcome.

    My own thoughts:

    Overall turned out a lot better than expected but was using some good quality products.
    A bit OTT with the blur in the post where the mountain blends to the sky.
    The bottom right corner just feels off balance.
    I really wasn't sure about using red flowers in the foreground combined with red outfit, there were other material options and shaders too, in the end it just felt fitting.
     

    This is a beautiful work and I like how you used the red as reoccurring colour in your render I have the impression you used a blur filter to make the impression of depth of field in postwork?

    there is a possibility  to do that using the camera settings in DAZ as well. at the moment there are some things in the distance sharper than the flowers behind the Lady in the forefront

  • vamokvamok Posts: 238
    edited June 2021

    Pilgrimage Afar

    Renamed since I had not realized that Alewis478 had already entered a peice named Pilgrimage

    Intermediate Entry #2

    Daz Studio - No Postwork

    So, I had just spent a bunch of time working on this beautiful farm scene where I reworked a nice house into a different farm scene landscape and then rendered it for most of the day. Then before submitting it I reread the rules/expectations and came across this:

     "Ideally, your render should take a novel, unique, or inventive approach to using props and sets."

    The problem was, my scene was neither novel nor inventive despite its beauty and serene appearance. Feeling a little disgruntled and not quite ready to "give up the farm" I brought the farm into the render above. I have used a farm asset that is novel, unique, inventive, and just a touch spiteful :-). Can you find the farm prop?!

    pilgrimage.png
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
    Post edited by vamok on
  • aprilshowers2065aprilshowers2065 Posts: 699
    edited June 2021

    Title: Sentinel

    2nd Beginner Entry

    Feedback welcome!

    Sentinel.png
    2000 x 1143 - 3M
    Post edited by aprilshowers2065 on
  • @Linwelly Thanks for the suggestion, but the portal actually already has an emissive on it; it just doesn't seem to show up much, even when I bump up the luminance. All that seems to do is washout the ripple pattern, unfortunately.sad

  • Version D here. I tried to add DoF, though to be honest, I can't tell much of a differance between this and version C.

    june2021d.png
    1280 x 896 - 2M
  • vamokvamok Posts: 238

    aprilshowers2065 said:

    Title: Sentinel

    2nd Beginner Entry

    Feedback welcome!

    Oh, ominous!

    I think this shot could really benefit from a little kiss from the sun. A little directed light as a highlight would add a pleasant bit of contrast to this scene. How you implement that is up to you. Since it looks to be near sunrise or sunset I would suggest barely hitting the top of the mountains, or perhaps backlighting on your figure. You do not need a lot, and it does not need to be bright to achieve the effect. 

  • vamokvamok Posts: 238
    edited June 2021

    Shinji Ikari 9th said:

    Version D here. I tried to add DoF, though to be honest, I can't tell much of a differance between this and version C.

    See attachment for an example of a high degree of DOF

    If you cannot see a big difference with your DOF effect your f-stop value is probably too large. From perspective view with your camera selected (and visible) adjust the focal distance and f-stop sliders to get the two "plates" to fit neatly, and closely, over your figures and give that a shot. If you get too much DOF effect just widen the distance between the plates a little more.

    Sorry if you already knew all of that. Keep up the great work. I am a fan of your renders! 

    Capture2.JPG
    794 x 511 - 53K
    Post edited by vamok on
  • sueyasueya Posts: 825

    Busker -version 2

    I have added a dog . A fog plane was used to blur out the trees in the distance.

  • Version E here fixing the DoF.

    june2021e.png
    1280 x 896 - 1M
  • aprilshowers2065aprilshowers2065 Posts: 699
    edited June 2021

    Thanks @vamok! I've added a bit of light to the figure and the ledge she's standing on. Also tweaked the textures on the ledge since it looked a bit too shiny with the extra light.

    Sentinel3.png
    2000 x 1143 - 3M
    Post edited by aprilshowers2065 on
  • vamokvamok Posts: 238
    edited June 2021

    aprilshowers2065 said:

    Thanks @vamok! I've added a bit of light to the figure and the ledge she's standing on. Also tweaked the textures on the ledge since it looked a bit too shiny with the extra light.

    That little bit of light really improved the definition on the bottom of the robes/dress. Before, it was almost impossible to see the folds in the fabric. Nice! 

    The next issue is one I run into all the time, so you may not have what you need to fix it. There is nothing on the other side of those mountains and it looks like the end of the world (because it is...) I can think of two things that might reduce this issue. One would be the use of depth of field, but that would also obscure your encampment in the valley below.

    I would recommend that you toy around with matte fog ON - This is in the render tab - environment (Iray only). Click the matte fog button to on and then experiment with different settings for matte fog visibility(m). This will add distance haze to your scene and help the background fade into the background. If you not using Iray - I do not know how to achieve this effect, sorry.

    Okay, here is another spur-of-the-moment idea. You could duplicate your mountain prop and use the geometry editing tool to delete all of the pixels except for the distant range of mountains. In effect, you would just have a line of mountain peaks. Now shift that edited geometry behind your current mountains and shift it to one side a bit. If it plays out right you would have mountains behind your mountains. Possibly a little Y adjustment and they could be taller too (or scale them up). Or rotate those 180ish degrees and see if that looks better. Of course, it may be an awful idea and look terrible too, lol, I am just making suggestions!

    This is not really a beginner strategy, so if I lost you there it is okay, but this is such an awesome skill to learn. The geometry editor opens up a world of flexibility for you. 

    If you are interested here is a short video demonstrating what I am rambling on about:

    [Daz Studio] Bitesize: Using the geometry editor to remove parts of a mesh

    Good luck :-)

    Post edited by vamok on
  • Nice job, vamok...took me a while, but I think I see some silos on one of the spacecraft?

    Shinji, I think you've got the DOF down now...though to be honest, I'm not sure you need quite so much of it for this particular image, since the fog is already serving a similar purpose, drawing the viewer's attention to the foreground. I also think the image might benefit from a splash of a different color...maybe some little green lights (emissives) on the solders' suits or equipment?

    aprilshowers2065: looking good, though I might go even stronger with the lighting on the figure. Your render has a very cinematic look to it: think about how the scene would be lit if it were part of a Hollywood movie. Maybe try a bit of a rim light/backlight?

  • vamokvamok Posts: 238

    Scott Livingston said:

    Correct. Good eye! 

  • kerrykerry Posts: 74

    vamok said:

    Pilgrimage

    Intermediate Entry #2

    Daz Studio - No Postwork

    So, I had just spent a bunch of time working on this beautiful farm scene where I reworked a nice house into a different farm scene landscape and then rendered it for most of the day. Then before submitting it I reread the rules/expectations and came across this:

     "Ideally, your render should take a novel, unique, or inventive approach to using props and sets."

    The problem was, my scene was neither novel nor inventive despite its beauty and serene appearance. Feeling a little disgruntled and not quite ready to "give up the farm" I brought the farm into the render above. I have used a farm asset that is novel, unique, inventive, and just a touch spiteful :-). Can you find the farm prop?!

    Only when I saw your farm in the Render Contest did I have any idea what to look for. Good job, you made silos in space look totally every day.

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