Tutorial: Word Balloons

Word Balloons Take Up Space, Usually Lots of Space

There's not a lot of hard and fast rules in the art of making comics, but there is a least one: Word balloons take up space. If you're going to use them, you need to plan for the space they will consume. Usually this means including things in your image that are expected to have word balloons placed on top of them.

This space can be what in a non-comic render would be called "dead space", areas of the render where there's just nothing of interest. Or it can be parts of the render that are not central to the purpose of the panel. The image below has both "dead space" and non-critial parts. Only the two central figures are key to the purpose of the panel. The rest can be covered with word balloons, if needed.

Notice that well over 50% of the panel can be covered in word balloons. This is quite common.

Stylized Word Balloons

In the second panel shown above, Knur is given stylized blue word balloons. Stylized word balloons let the reader know that the character has a special sounding voice. In the case of Knur, he is an AI powered hologram, and so his voice sounds artificial.

Once established, stylized word balloons can be used to let the reader know who's speaking even when that character is not in view.

I honestly would have thought You drew those Stezza if you had not said otherwise

thanks to toonPro 

@Mistara Nessie looking for Groot!  

There is also a product that was just released that can be quite helpful.

Sonja, A product... interesting. Will look around. Surely, I will run into it. dForce has a few tricks to figuring out it's settings. And as cool as it is, takes a while to get good results predictably and to know what perils to look out for.

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Here is an image that started off as an inspiration based on someone else's suggestion in an old thread called "An Oddly Specific Request" that they were looking for a texture/character with a medeterranean or spanish looking cast. They suggested a few paintings by Bouguereau as examples. The face reminded me of Sean Young in Bladerunner a bit with her sentimental heavy eyes. And so, began a little side image.

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Aside: As an added note related to that original thread, this image by Bouguereau would make a pretty good basis for a Facegen morp and texture set since it is a pretty straight-on image and relatively evenly lit.

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I used Facegen to take measurements from Sean Young's face and then disgarded the pictures bad images for a texture set generated in Facegen.It came off looking pretty good. The rest is just incremental adjustments.

 

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The smoke was fun because to get it moving in actual space I mapped it on a plane that was warped around a bit. and placed the head of the smoke stream as the child of a null object so that I could rotate around that origin point in space. It's a little adventure creating this stuff!

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I was going to side-light with an emissive panel, but when I created a default panel it was lying on the floor by default and it struck me that might be a good location for a dramatic light. It was a "happy accident".

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From doing the test-renders, it appears that it will take about 6 hours to render the full detail, which is good as I have a drawing group happening this afternoon during which I can let my computer chew on the image a bit.

P.S. - The thing that stands out to me is the hand and wrist. What to do beyond masking it behind a bracelet or other obstruction? It isn't central to the image as much as the eyes, but it's geometry throws me off a little in that it looks a bit plastic like. Image maps? a set of normal map creases behind the wrist... something to create some wrinkles on a bent back wrist?  There is always post-work, but I like to minimize that if possible. Anybody do any wrist-bend fold morphs?

"More Human than Human is our Moto" - Eldon Tyrell

Sorry, that's GMT, they always do an update with the conversions later, I think it's about 2pm Central time.? 12pm Pacific? 1pm Mountain, and 3pm Eastern.

 

https://digitalartlive.com/event/20-powerful-postwork-procedures-with-pd-howler/

Another webinar coming up! use "postwork10" to get a discount.  It doesn't matter which render engine you use, this is about postwork of the image in PD Howler. If you aren't interested, please spread the word! Sorry, that's GMT, they always do an update with the conversions later, I think it's about 2pm Central time.? 12pm Pacific? 1pm Mountain, and 3pm Eastern.

Thanks!

PS. has anyone else tried the techniques from the previous webinar? And I've been told that the recording will be on the DAZ store sometime this week.

Question of the night: Why, when people read ALOUD that they're supposd to travel on foot to a destination, do they immediately run to a taxi, thus incurring a 30 minute penalty for violating a rule they read out loud?  And both partners said'taxi' at the same time!!  It cost them first place and a huge prize.

Dimwits. :-|

I watch this program to reassure myself that I'm not the biggest idiot in the world. :-O

 

The world is full of idiots!  I used to tell my friend this all the time.  Eventually, he saw enough to realize I was right!  You, my friend, should know this already!  You are no idiot!

Dana

I was in a Wal-Mart store yesterday* (while out on my mini-adventure avoiding cabin fever), standing in line at the check-out.  The three unkempt women with the cart ahead of me had an overfull cart of crap and were arguing about which stuff they should keep.  Consequently, they were unloading as rapidly as drugged sloths.  Meanwhile despite this glacial unloading process the checkout person couldn't keep up, and items were piling up on her counter.  Having oodles of time on my hands my eyes started to wander and settled on the gossip rag in the display next to me.  I stared mouth agape at the headlines and finally had had enough foolishness and said in an easily heard voice "How did the world get so stupid?", turned my cart around while muttering "let me out of here I need to find some sanity" and moved about a quarter mile down the isle of check-outs until I found one with a very short line and a half intelligent looking person at the till.  I was pleasantly surprised that she was even more than half-intelligent, and we had a quick conversation about the only thing in my cart, "Grape Nuts" breakfast cereal and the state of cereal consumption.   And people wonder why I call my short trips uptown "mini-adventures".

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* I normally avoid Wal-Mart like the plague because the parking lot is usually full, the store is too big to wander in less than an hour, and the traffic in & out is frightning, as are the people one gets too close to.    I had gone into Wal-Mart specifically for the Grape Nuts because it's the only place around here that I've found that sells them (because Wal-Mart sells everything).   It seems Grape Nuts are out of favor these days among smaller grocery stores, because only old people (like me) remember it.  And us old people are mostly too wise or too frail to compete with the typical Wal-Mart patrons.  While in Wal-Mart I did wander and oogle at all the stuff that defines modern life with the intention of looking for something that I couldn't live without.  But having a modicum of sophistication I was able to avoid throwing anything else into my cart despite the forest of big yellow signs telling me what a great price they had on it.   (Same avoidance technique I use in the DAZ catalog.)

 

** My recipe for warm Grape Nuts:  A little hot water from the tap (the hotter the better), enough to wet but not cover the cereal and a teaspoon of honey.  Stir to a consistancy of oatmeal.  Eat before it cools. Yummmm! 

...I only ever set foot in a Walmart once (with a friend was looking for new cookware).  That was one time to many.  The videos I see on YouTube and pics on Pinterest are no joke, it really is that bad even here in Portland OR.  When I looked at the prices on a few items, I didn't really see much of a savings (in some cases if any) over many other stores in the city here.

Fortunately I can get the food items I like at one of the regular supers within walking distance (including Grape Nuts which is about the only cold ceral I'll buy - and yes, using hot water is the best) and fortunately the nearest Walmart is a multi bus trip away so I'll never waste my time going there.

Oh, and that news the other month about Whole Paycheque prices coming down after Amazon took them over, hasn't happened here. Stopped at the downtown store to pick up a few hard to find items on the way back from dropping off my special election ballot at the central library on Monday, and if anything, prices have gone up since the last time I visited there.  They are also purging a lot of items (including some I like) as well. I have the feeling this store is about to become the next Amazon Go outlet.

And on a more innocent note, here are some posts of Sakura 8 https://www.daz3d.com/sakura-8

The background is the Central Park HDRI by Mec4D. Had to get that because I grew up in NYC right near the 59th street entrance to Central Park!

Also on laptop and iPad postwork. Just tests really.

I bought Gardens Vol. 1 and Central Park. The attached renders illustrate the problem: #! was done using the default settings, #2 with Environment Intensity turned down to 50%, #3 with Intensity and Saturation turned down to 80%. Besides reducing the available light, turning down Environment and Saturation settings darkens the car (and the car interior, supposing it had a tiny driver that I wanted to show).

re: Tom Robbins's words of wisdom, I've tried to live by them since I retired 8 1/2 years ago at age 58 (I was a surveyor on Canada's Wet Coast). Must be on my 4th or 5th childhood by now. Can't keep track any more...

On the subject of HDRIs, you might want to check out https://hdrihaven.com/ if you haven't already. They're free, they're super high quality--up to 16K--and Greg Zaal seems like a really square guy who deserves all the support he gets, including mine.

Cheers, eh? (as we're alleged to say in Canada).

Question - Have you ever tried to paint a figure?

What challenges did you face?

 

Well, with this guy, the challenge is reaching inside all the little crevices to get the details, like his gold chain under his lekku. 

Very good!  Did you air brush that?

Base coats are airbrushed, with that gentle highlight on the pants, but I've moved on to brush work. All the texture in the skin has been done via a glazing technique. Lots and lots left to go! I think I'm about 6-8 hours of work in so far, and not even done with the skin yet. I've been painting him up on-stream. You can check out the VoDs if you're interested: https://www.twitch.tv/hana_hanabi/videos/all Thursdays at 5:30pm Central and Sundays at 3pm central, although those times will be changing soon when I start my new schedule at work in Feb.

I've decided this year I need to render stuff I buy and not just stockpile it. I picked up Northern Winter Village yesterday. I like what I'm seeing. It comes with a 3DL or Iray scene with five buildings and a mountain surround. The village has pine trees, steps, a central square, street lamps, and paths through snow mounds. It reminds me of some of the skiing villages I've been at.  It renders with a light that's similar to late afternoon at northern latitudes - the sky is still blue but the lights have come on and are casting a glow on the snow. There is no sky with the set, so I used one from Eternal White Skydome and HDRI which is a fitting companion. 

I wanted to also use winter clothes I've picked up the past 6 months. Karen 7 has on Autumn Jackets for Genesis 3 Male(s) and Female(s), JeanZ for Genesis 3, Comfeez Boots for Genesis 3 Female(s), gloves from Nomad for Genesis 3 Male(s) and Female(s), and a knit cap from City Dweller Outfit for Genesis 3 Female(s). The hair is Fantasia Hair for Genesis 3 Female(s). I had to play around with the hair and cap morphs to mostly hide the hair sticking through the cap. The same for the boots and jeans as I wanted the tuck in look (easier if you stick with the jeans outside the boots). The gloves also needed attention as they widen to an extra large cuff - I used the geometry editor to select the parts of the gloves covered by the coat sleeves and hid the polygons. All in all it went together well. 

Mely3D is one of the PA's and I have their French Ski Resort. I plan to put the two together although I'll probably have to use the scene optimizer (mostly because I know the ski resort is memory intensive). For just the winter village, it did drop me to CPU rendering but the times were not bad - about an hour for 1200 by 960.

I have some 4000+ products in my runtime and when I do a thematic scene like this, I constantly find out how much I'm missing. If it was summer time, I'd have no problem, but cold weather has fewer offerings.

Here's two different Iray renders (click on images for larger versions).

 

 

You're welcome! I haven't taken them out in a while, myself. ​As to access, I think you fly in to those pods where the arches meet the central disc. There's a recessed opening, and a scaled-down (1/120th) traffikar or Dystopian Aircar would just fit.

1. they are different in angle to the camera resulting in slight different size and shape of the 2D visual

2. there are the already described differences in the shadows and the reflections from one face on the other already mentioned, the shadows I woudl as well thing are caused from the different angles

3. the left faces seems to have a slightly higher gloss especially on the nose ridge, I can't say if that is caused by the small difference they have in position or if that is what is caused by your indicated difference

4. the left face seems to be a tiny bit lighter in colour regarding the central facial area

I finally got Sakura to work--now her eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows are showing up when I installed through Connect rather than DIM... I think she's adorable, but I'm definitely going into that uncanny valley with this one. Tried out Mec4D's Central Park HDRI (plus extra lights) with it and a drop of iPad postwork (still sick in bed with flu!) Central Park was my childhood stomping ground so I couldn't pass that up when it was on sale. I see her products are on sale again, but I really miss those loyalty rewards...

Very cute, Wonderland! So sorry to hear you've got the flu. We spent a good chunk of December sick with Influenza A. My entire family had it at the same time. Guess who was sick and got to stay up with sick kids? So glad it's over (it really wrecked Christmas this year!)

Thanks @Llynara. I got sick a couple days after Christmas so missed New Years Eve and am STILL sick! Horrible cough, asthma, just started antibiotics. When I went to the doctor, she coughed in my face! Everyone seems to be sick in LA and it was 70/80 degrees until a few days ago.Raining yesterday and today. Sorry, so OT here, but I discovered something cool because of this: Himalayan Pink Salt lamps! (Available on Amazon.) Great for people who spend a lot of time in front of the computer. They are gorgeous and help remove EMFs...

Errrr. Antibiotics with a viral infection?

Yeah, I have bronchitis and the first thing I researched was treatments - and antibiotics aren't really helpful for viral infections. 

I finally got Sakura to work--now her eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows are showing up when I installed through Connect rather than DIM... I think she's adorable, but I'm definitely going into that uncanny valley with this one. Tried out Mec4D's Central Park HDRI (plus extra lights) with it and a drop of iPad postwork (still sick in bed with flu!) Central Park was my childhood stomping ground so I couldn't pass that up when it was on sale. I see her products are on sale again, but I really miss those loyalty rewards...

Very cute, Wonderland! So sorry to hear you've got the flu. We spent a good chunk of December sick with Influenza A. My entire family had it at the same time. Guess who was sick and got to stay up with sick kids? So glad it's over (it really wrecked Christmas this year!)

Thanks @Llynara. I got sick a couple days after Christmas so missed New Years Eve and am STILL sick! Horrible cough, asthma, just started antibiotics. When I went to the doctor, she coughed in my face! Everyone seems to be sick in LA and it was 70/80 degrees until a few days ago.Raining yesterday and today. Sorry, so OT here, but I discovered something cool because of this: Himalayan Pink Salt lamps! (Available on Amazon.) Great for people who spend a lot of time in front of the computer. They are gorgeous and help remove EMFs...

Errrr. Antibiotics with a viral infection?

I finally got Sakura to work--now her eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows are showing up when I installed through Connect rather than DIM... I think she's adorable, but I'm definitely going into that uncanny valley with this one. Tried out Mec4D's Central Park HDRI (plus extra lights) with it and a drop of iPad postwork (still sick in bed with flu!) Central Park was my childhood stomping ground so I couldn't pass that up when it was on sale. I see her products are on sale again, but I really miss those loyalty rewards...

Very cute, Wonderland! So sorry to hear you've got the flu. We spent a good chunk of December sick with Influenza A. My entire family had it at the same time. Guess who was sick and got to stay up with sick kids? So glad it's over (it really wrecked Christmas this year!)

Thanks @Llynara. I got sick a couple days after Christmas so missed New Years Eve and am STILL sick! Horrible cough, asthma, just started antibiotics. When I went to the doctor, she coughed in my face! Everyone seems to be sick in LA and it was 70/80 degrees until a few days ago.Raining yesterday and today. Sorry, so OT here, but I discovered something cool because of this: Himalayan Pink Salt lamps! (Available on Amazon.) Great for people who spend a lot of time in front of the computer. They are gorgeous and help remove EMFs...

What you are looking for is called a D-former in DAZ Studio. With your figure selected, go to the menu bar and Create > New D-Former. A popup dialogue will prompt you for a name. If it is only going to be used temporarily, I usually just use the default. Your choice. Click "OK", and nothing will seem to happen. Go to your Scene pane and expand the figure's node heirarchy if it isn't already, and you'll see two new entries for your D-former: one for Field, and one for Base. Selecting the one for Base will highlight all the vertices on your figure in the Viewport, and you'll see the default will have the central portion of the figure highlighted in red, with the remainder in yellow. That indicates the strength of the deformer field, which can be adjusted as required. The default deformer field is a sphere, as you can see, with the figure at the centre. If you expand the D-Former Base, you'll see the D-Former itself. Selecting this, then switching to your Parameters pane will allow you to use the sliders there to deform your figure. But you want one for just the top of the figure's head, so select the Field item back under the Scene tab, then back to the Parameters tab. Since you don't need the field to be that big, you can start by shrinking it down until it is somewhat larger than your figure's head, then translate it up so it is positioned roughly encompassing the head. By using the X, Y and Z scaling sliders and the translation sliders you can size and position your deformer to give you more or less what you are after.

The little sticker on my laptop says Intel Core i5. Not too good with the more technical stuff, but could this be a reason why my renders seem to be taking longer?

Yes, if you are doing CPU renders. I CPU render too. Those folk talking of 0.5 - 4 hour renders are rendering with nVidia GPUs.

Ok, I'm going to sound stupid now. What's the difference between CPU renders and GPU, which would you recommend and how do I know which one I'm using? I should probably know this stuff by now!

Simply said, you need a lot of calculations to render an image. Each calculation is done by a core. A core can do one calculation at a time. Your CPU (Central processing unit) has probably 2 cores, plus 2 virtual cores = 4 rendering cores. The nVidea cards (GPU=Graphic procesing unit) have anywhere between 500 and 2500 (I think) so-called Cuda cores, which do the calculation. So the stack of neccessary calculations gets worked off much faster than your four CPU cores, hence your render is "completed" much faster.

Also, Iray only works with nVidea graphic cards, as AMD cards don't have the neccessary cuda cores for this.

EDIT: You can find out if you are rendering with CPU or GPU if you check your log file. ou can alsosee if you have a GPU available in REnder settings, in the advanced panel. Note that you might have to update your card's driver to render, and if the scene you try to render is larger than your VRam, it's going to CPU anyway.

I finally got Sakura to work--now her eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows are showing up when I installed through Connect rather than DIM... I think she's adorable, but I'm definitely going into that uncanny valley with this one. Tried out Mec4D's Central Park HDRI (plus extra lights) with it and a drop of iPad postwork (still sick in bed with flu!) Central Park was my childhood stomping ground so I couldn't pass that up when it was on sale. I see her products are on sale again, but I really miss those loyalty rewards...

Very cute, Wonderland! So sorry to hear you've got the flu. We spent a good chunk of December sick with Influenza A. My entire family had it at the same time. Guess who was sick and got to stay up with sick kids? So glad it's over (it really wrecked Christmas this year!)

I finally got Sakura to work--now her eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows are showing up when I installed through Connect rather than DIM... I think she's adorable, but I'm definitely going into that uncanny valley with this one. Tried out Mec4D's Central Park HDRI (plus extra lights) with it and a drop of iPad postwork (still sick in bed with flu!) Central Park was my childhood stomping ground so I couldn't pass that up when it was on sale. I see her products are on sale again, but I really miss those loyalty rewards...

Oooo so cute. Love the pose Wow didn't see this set before and its a flash sale. Caught it in the nick of time

I finally got Sakura to work--now her eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows are showing up when I installed through Connect rather than DIM... I think she's adorable, but I'm definitely going into that uncanny valley with this one. Tried out Mec4D's Central Park HDRI (plus extra lights) with it and a drop of iPad postwork (still sick in bed with flu!) Central Park was my childhood stomping ground so I couldn't pass that up when it was on sale. I see her products are on sale again, but I really miss those loyalty rewards...