Novica & Serene Night's Renders, Tips, Tutorials & Product Reviews Part 1
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Remember, the face is distorted due to the really close zoom- just look at the skin texture. Nice for a freebie and to start out with. I didn't do anything except load it. This is "Basic Child."
To answer a PM (private message, and yes, if you're a bit shy about posting, or want to ask a question, PM me- no problem)
The answer is no, my character Kaetl is not Basic Child or Basic Female. It is Caitlyn, who I LOVE. Kudos to Artemis3d, beautiful work!
http://www.daz3d.com/caitlyn-for-victoria-42-genesis
Here's Lana, the free basic woman texture you will have with Genesis Essentials. Compare to the Basic Child. Whatcha think? I think UGH when comparing this to the child. (no changes in settings, this is right out of the box for both, so to speak.) I love the Basic Child!
EDIT: Added second image.
Cathie
Here's where they were in my DS4.5 and I have not changed my layout, it's the default.
And here's Lana compared to Jeremy (he's on bottom) Will post a closeup of Jeremy without his gal-pal. Wow, talk about blood shot eyes! (Click all these to see them closeup.)
Jeremy.
Meet Kaetl's younger sister, Mckenzie. Wanted to show you Caitlyn in another character besides Kaetl. Will get Kaetl in a minute, after I do a screenshot of Mckenzie in the same outfit as Kaetl so you can see the beautiful texture.
Again, love that 50's shirt for fast posing. Still using Caitlyn for the texture.
Kaetl- to show how nice this Caitlyn texture does for closeups.
NOTE: these are all without the spot renders. You are comparing apples with apples that way. They all appear slightly darker when spot rendered, but as I said, there has been no alteration done to the Surfaces so you can tweak them to get these tones/hues. I just wanted everything to be the same and didn't have time to spot render ALL of these. (Going on 4:30am as it is :) )
I like how you shown your progression, really nice to see how far you have come Novica :)
I'm delighted you've stopped in! I surfed you three or four days ago and you are quite an inspiration! Eventually I'll get to animation. Of course I loved the one with the horses in it! It's interesting to try and guess which sets you're using too. Anyone reading this thread should click on Ivy's signature link and take a peek at her YouTubes. I like the music in New Dawn II Taking Back, really adds to the suspense.
Ivy's Art Studio thread http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/9050/ has one of my favorite themes- nautical! (As someone said, bring the rum!)
TIPS:
If someone is giggling with their hand over their mouth, bring their shoulders up. Try it- (of course, get where no one is watching you!) A giggle just isn't a giggle unless you are doing it so hard you're about to lean over with laughter. And right before you do- YOUR SHOULDERS COME UP AND FORWARD. Maybe we should do some giggle posts.
If your character is giggling and has their head tipped back, the shoulders can still come up, just (IMO) to a lesser extent.
BTW, this has nothing to do with Ivy- I'm working a scene and I always act them out. Kinda hard at age 56, but heh! I'm going to have the green dinosaur climb on top the guardsman's fluffy hat, and Kaetl just can't believe it!
How does talking affect your posing? Will your character be talking? Should they be?
TIP:
Instead of just getting the "general feel" of a scene, if there is going to be interaction between two characters- WHAT ARE THEY MOST LIKELY SAYING? Are you doing all your renders the same way, with all talking, or all action and no talking? Are both characters doing the same thing all the time?
Determining the character's speech vs no speech is how I start my posing, and how I rendered Kaetl.
First, I had to decide that she would not be saying anthing-she found it so humorous that dragons are afraid of a beautiful bug- but she is trying to hide it SOMEWHAT and be supportive. Well, tolerant. She is a warrior after all. In other words, if the dragons turned and looked, they'd see her smile, but that smile could be taken as a SLIGHT "Isn't that gorgeous?" She's not thrilled with baby dragon-sitting. So a half smile is most appropriate.
That wasn't by accident that the mouth is at that angle, you can see the corners of the mouth curve up, but it is not the focus of the scene, it's a supporting element. But getting those corners turned up was planned and experimented with from different angles. But I'll be posting about use of space, and it had to meet those requirements too. (So many posts, so little time, it's 75 degrees and gorgeous and I'm not out horseback riding, why? Answer- I love this stuff and appreciate all of you who have stopped in to my little corner of the world. So let's keep going)
One of the first things that may help you when you're posing would be to decide if your character is talking or not- which means you simply HAVE to get in that character's frame of mind. What would they be saying? At the point in time that you have captured, are they keeping their thoughts to themselves, would it be more effective to be sharing them, or have they finished the encounter? (and the outcome was ? Basically you show outcome with level of energy, shoulders up, down, backward forward, head same thing- etc.)
Could I look at your stand alone scene and without a title, tell what the character is THINKING? Go check your renders right now and come up with three thoughts that character could have if you were a newbie looking at them. (Hey, this could be fun to share!)
I'll be back with some different views of Kaetl's mouth that you didn't get to see. It wont be spot rendered, I'll just use the light that came with the studio.
Four things I had in mind for what she's thinking, knowing the character has stumbled on these two orphaned dragons, she has zero experience with babies, is known for being a very good warrior but also has a sense of humor and is well liked:
1." Are these two going to freak out on me?"
2. "You're kiddin' me, they're afraid!???"
3. "Oh my goodness."
4. "They're actually kinda cute."
And of course....
"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THESE TWO????"
TIP:
Let's continue with the "Get in that character's frame of mind, and what they would be SAYING."
Part 2: Reflexive action. Be a good sport and give this a try. Or don't be a good sport and try it anyway :)
I want you to be an actor/actress for a minute. (Again, when no one is around, preferably!) DO NOT LOOK IN A MIRROR.
You are mad at another person. You can't believe they just did what they did. Okay, now that you've got the feel of it, face the wall straight on, not at an angle- Now say angrily or in GREAT frustration, "Oh, get real!"
Your eyes probably squinted a billionth of a second before your mouth opened. Your eyebrows came down. Say it again- did they? If not, it was when your mouth dropped to say the "Oh.." (I'm laughing, imaging all the people saying "Oh get real" across the world, and trying to feel their eyes and eyebrows move!) Your head may have come slightly forward- because you are challenging someone, not taking a submissive stance. Say it again and this time note your chin! And my head tipped to the left! Reflexive action is that small action that occurs right before the main action. Does anyone have the link the video that shows this? I saw it months ago on YouTube and not sure what exactly it is called. I can always come back and edit.
This is important- it's those small nuances that make your characters realistic. So here's some tips-
1. For still renders: (no animation) Say the expression that your character will be saying before and AS YOU POSE IT. Why? Because it might change the angle that you want to show. Which angle would eyebrows coming down do best? Three quarter of a turn? Half a turn?Which leads me to...
2. Now, this is just my opinion- I'm just starting out at 3d, but I was a freelance national magazine artist years ago- so I'd like to think I know at least something about composition :) So that being said, I already know I am rarely using a front view. You can get SO much more from that slight turn- the eyebrows are more expressive, the corners of the mouth make more of a statement- and the lighting can be very dramatic. What do you think? Try turning your character JUST A TAD if you have a straight shot- did it make a difference?
3. Remember the discussion on teeth? Let's go back to "Oh get real!"- the bottom teeth probably won't show. (Now you can go look in the mirror) When you pose as you say what the character would be saying, you can make those teeth adjustments, instead of posing with the "overall feel" then going "Uh oh, look at those teeth!"
4. If you really want a fast way to check what your character would be doing (but it's not exactly cheap- however I feel it's worth the investment if you really want to capture those nuances) check into Camtasia or another recording device that lets you capture your screen and has webcam capability. This would be best for facial of course, but you can get distant shots too, depending on the quality and lighting capabilities of your webcam. Just film yourself as you become your character and watch what YOU do!
BTW, while we're on this topic, look at post 39, the closeup of Kaetl. This is going to be Render #2, the sequel to the first (Babies First Bug) where something has startled her. She just, in that instant, heard the noise in the woods. She is alert but not panicky. Not so the baby dragons! (I'm having too much fun.) So at the time, what I had in mind for Kaetl was, "What was that?"
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/19756/P30/#294514
And you can't see it (obviously) but she is in the same pose,kneeling, but her hands have jerked up (but fingers almost exactly the same, as only a billionth of a second has passed. That's important!) and her head is jerked up. Actually that should be a tip.
EDIT:
TIP:
If someone is reacting, like a startle, don't change their hands too soon. If you are startled, you jerk up, away, or both- and your hands don't change VERY MUCH in that first millisecond movement. But the fingers do fan out as hands come up. Try it! Definitely movement is in your SHOULDERS and your arms raise, depending on your position.
Here is WIP, the baby dragons are there, I just closed the eyeballs in SCENE to hide them from view. Her hands are barely lifted off of them, but they have changed position. I have already fanned out the fingers slightly, raised the arms, lifted the shoulders a bit, raised Kaetl up.
Kaetl isn't scared, she's alert and wary. This isn't done, just a starting point to share with you. BTW, note I do not have smoothing/collision on, which speeds up my spot render time. That blob is not her eye- it's hair. And the lighting has not been done yet- but isn't half bad, using the first set for the Babies First Bugs. She is higher up so there's no facial lighting done yet.
TIP:
Hmm, haven't tried it- but makes sense based on the title of it- a Pose Preset-
Save your scene as a Pose Preset and add to your options when posing. I'm going to do a thread in the newbie section and see how that works.
TITLE (for now): "What Was That?"
Regarding Surfaces tab: as usual, HeraldOfFire is very helpful. :) Not posting the thread, it was someone's personal issue on a product.
INFO by HeraldOfFire:
"The different material types represent what they do to a surface. ... To get you up to speed, here’s what they do:
- Texture maps are the colour for the surfaces. Whether its skin colours, a cardboard box or the marble in a monument.
- Bump maps do exactly what they say on the tin. They map little bumps and dips in the surface, giving the illusion of depth
- Specular maps are for the ‘sheen’ of an object. It adds those more subtle details when figures or objects catch the light.
- Displacement maps are for ‘real’ bumps. When these are used, instead of the system faking bumps, like with bump maps, it alters the actual geometry of the surface.
- Normal maps are similar to bump maps, but are far more advanced. Used in combination with displacement maps, they can give amazing results."
INFO: Everything you wanted to know about Pose Preset-
Wow, every time I ask a (seemingly) simple question, Jaderail blows my mind with extra tips and tricks. Do you want to know how to keep a posed figure from zipping to World Center in XYZ? (coordinates 000) Check out this thread! Thanks Jaderail, as always!
(When you get a pose preset, if you don't do this, it scoots to the center of the plane, coordinates 000. So if you want your object to stay where it's act, do what Jaderail says.)
***
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/20111/
Learn what to do with this- to make that happen!
Info: Getting Lighting To Match A Background Image- By Jaderail
This was suggested on another thread by Scott-Livingston, and it's brief, concise and so here ya go.
***
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/4310/P345/#223684
Jaderail started a thread for new users awhile ago, so hopefully you've already found it. The above post was from that thread. Here it is from the beginning: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/4310/
Thank you Jaderail!
Topic: Angle Of Render And Use Of Spaces
As I mentioned before, I will rarely be doing a straight-on render shot of the face. The lighting and angles of the face are just more appealing to me (just personal preference) as an artist to at least slightly turn the face at an angle. There's another interesting aspect to that:
IT INCREASES THE DEPTH OF YOUR SCENE.
Let's look at my Picasso Cliff.
The first view shows a cliff by water (yes, that's the blue scribbles) with a head-on view.
The second view is what I learned to do in elementary school to draw cliffs. Have the tops protruding and take the dirt from an indented-somewhat angle down from there. BECAUSE IT STICKS OUT you get a better feel of the cliffs ins-and-outs than a front view. Even a slight from the side (instead of the full blown from the side) would give you a better feeling of depth. You can tell which parts extend further (stick out) better than the front view (good luck with THAT.)
So first:
TIP:Consider using at least a slight angle instead of a full frontal shot.
(Obviously, there are times when for dramatic effect, front views are the ultimate shot. I'm just asking you to at least test a slightly different angle.)
Now let's add the element that almost had me wearing out my blue camera cube. Surprised it didn't just vaporize from the turn left, turn back right, tilt up, tilt up right, no back left, down...you get the drift. And that is-
TIP: Leave spaces and watch what lines up with each other.
If you think you have the angle you want, sorry to disappoint you. If you want to get it right (IMO as always) then you want spaces to REALLY add to the depth. I won't discuss leaving space in the foreground or background to pull you forward or push you back in the scene in this tutorial. Just know that impacts your viewer too.
The first thing for me was not a space, but it was a requirement that everything else HAD to be built around. Kaetl's face HAD to be outlined by the dark maroon cloak so that it would have a beautiful outline. So she could never be turned more than what was allowed to have the cloak behind her face. (Nuance, nuance- meaning teeny tiny details that will really define your render as well thought out and make it better)
Next, the green dragon's front teeth- the one to the farthest right (as you are looking at it) could not be touching the wing. There had to be SPACE between it. BUT- his raised eyebrows HAD to BE IN FRONT OF KAETL'S SILVER ARMOR TO SHOW UP. Are you getting the gist of why my blue cube was seeing so much action? So far....
the maroon had to be behind Kaetl's face
the tooth could not touch the wing (and I didn't want it to be on the tip, the point of the wing)
the eyebrows had to be on Kaetl's armor
And I wanted spaces here:
Between Kaetl's fingers that were holding the back scale. I worked five hours on that hand to get every finger the way I wanted it.
NOTE: I was also learning sliders vs Universal Tool cube (what I call it in the videos, the cube that appears when you click the tool, at the pivot point, that has the arrows and rotation arcs to move the object) That hand is just like I wanted it, from EVERY angle, every finger is where it should be even though you can't see them, so I could do any angle and not have to worry how it would look. If I have time, I will go get closeups for you of both hands (by using the close the eye of the objects in the Scene tab, I'll make the other objects disappear so I can get a clear screenshot for you.)
Look at that hand- the space between the fingers really improve the lightweight touch. Imagine reaching out to touch a delicate flower. (Do it, reach forward- your fingers will be at least slightly spread.)
TIP: Reaching lightly? SPREAD THE FINGERS.
Next, didn't want the green dinosaur's eyes to be flattened. This was a challenge because I'm trying to show Kaetl's face and not the top of her head, so the camera needed to be closer to the ground and shoot up. But that makes the dragon's eyes smaller (the one on the far right, as viewing it) and also the angle had to KEEP both those eyes. (Having fun yet? And you newbies perhaps thought this scene was so simple, right?) So add to to the list (and there's something about spaces that have to do with the eyes, check the list-
the maroon had to be behind Kaetl's face
the tooth could not touch the wing (and I didn't want it to be on the tip, the point of the wing)
the eyebrows had to be on Kaetl's armor
green dragon's eyes both visible, not flattened- and NOT IN SPACE UNDER ARM.
I wanted Kaetl's right arm (as viewing it) to be bent out from the body, and wanted that to be shown in the render. Only a space between the arm and body would do that. Reach out like you are going to lift a newborn baby that's lying down (obviously, it's not old enough to be sitting up!) and get your hands under the head and booty. One of your shoulders comes forward (it was my left) Your elbows come up and out. And look at your fingers- SPREAD. Dainty / careful / hesitant hands have spread fingers.
Now, go look at the arm on the left (as viewing, by purple dragon.) Oh, whaddaya know- a space between the arm and body there too. Surprise, surprise? NO. When you are posing, turn, turn, turn and see where you want space between body parts/ objects to add to your depth of scene.
TIP: Leave space between colors if one will overwhelm the other, or distort the shape.
Look at the background and the difference in colors by the tip of the tail. I had to settle on this because the other things were more important (compromise, grimace) To get Kaetl's face correct, it was hard to keep those green blobs off the tip of the tail and the scales on his back. What you don't see is that I eliminated four or five green blobs that aligned with his back scales. SEE HOW THE WING STICKING UP HAS NO GREEN LEAVES LIT BEHIND IT? That was also no happy accident. But I had to settle for two blobs by the tail tip. If you didn't notice them right off the bat, I did my job. I did make sure that first one didn't go into the scoop of his tail. Couldn't change the lighting either, impacted other things. Moving the leaf made it worse and something had to go there, was too bare.
So now we add to the list. Oops, left out the fingers being spread out- will insert.
the maroon had to be behind Kaetl's face
the tooth could not touch the wing (and I didn't want it to be on the tip, the point of the wing)
the eyebrows had to be on Kaetl's armor
fingers had to be spread out with space between several fingers showing
green dragon's eyes both visible, not flattened- and NOT IN SPACE UNDER ARM.
no lit green leaves on back wing or tail
The next one you probably already know, if you've ever knelt down quickly or knelt at all:
TIP: Spread the knees apart when kneeling- it's better for balance. And anyone kneeling quickly won't have their knees together.
Kaetl knelt quickly, the knees apart (space) show her position better, and having that space allows the viewer to see her body extending back (legs and feet) and so improves the depth of scene. Note the foot has space between it and the knee.
TIP: Space can also show rigidity.
Those shoulder armor sections just won't bend when the character moves, they are rigid. I wanted to use lighting (another post, I'll show you the amount of lights it took to get this scene, particularly those shoulder pieces sticking up) and use space to improve the viewers' 2D look at rounded surfaces. By leaving a space between both shoulder pieces and the hair (right side as viewing) and the shoulder (left side as viewing) the lighting really added more pizzaz. (Go ahead, look at the thin line of light on top of both those edges. No accident. And it's purple, and the inside of the right shoulder piece is NOT lit. More on that when I describe the lights.)
the maroon had to be behind Kaetl's face
the tooth could not touch the wing (and I didn't want it to be on the tip, the point of the wing)
the eyebrows had to be on Kaetl's armord
fingers had to be spread out with space between several fingers showing
green dragon's eyes both visible, not flattened- and NOT IN SPACE UNDER ARM.
no lit green leaves on back wing or tail
gap between knees to show body extending back
shoulder pieces had to have spaces between hair (right side-as viewing) and shoulder (left side-as viewing)
space between the purple dragon's head and Kaetl's arm
dragons away from Kaetl, feet apart IF POSSIBLE.
And also- I looked at the space at her wrist on the right hand (as viewing) holding the back scale, and was happy with it. The elbow was more important. The two baby dragons had to be out from Kaetl, with space between them. That was easy. The green one I wanted hi aes feet apart, but I put everything else first and that just happened to fall into place. I also wanted space between the purple dragon's head and her arm to show the head was forward, and not nestled against the arm.
I've brightened the render so you can see things.
So, there you go. Use spaces and get NUANCE. :)
Cathie
BTW, if anyone wants to post a render of theirs showing good use of spaces, feel free! Help the newbies! (Including ME!) Please circle the areas if you have time. If you have anything which shows using space in foreground or background, that would be appreciated. I don't have any as Kaetl is my first render.
Here's the hands. If you're bored with hands, or have a great deal of expertise, you won't hurt my feelings by skipping. Just want to share this thought though- Just like Georgia O'Keefe did great things with closeups of flowers, if you do your fingers very precisely, you might be surprised that just the hands could be entered in some of these contests. There was a hand contest for newbies- you just missed it :)
After the hands- I'll be doing something really neat. See what you can do with your finished render- watercolor, oils, cartoon- and FOR FREE. You'll be glad you're popping in to my studio :) Okay, so here's the hands and why they are the way they are. You won't spend hours once you get the Universal Tool cube and sliders (bend, twist, side by side) down pat, but for me, was about an entire 8 hour day for these two (my very first ones, keep in mind, so putzing along.)
Want you to look at these two together, and the angles. The back hand really changes doesn't it? The spread fingers. Throughout all of these, I had to be sure when bending fingers that they didn't go through the dragon.
Now for nuance-My main thing was getting parts of the dragon to rest next to the fingers and go between fingers- you will see nails going between the fingers, and back scales coming up. So watch for those things in the all the fingers posts. Work on your nuances and then you can Georgia O'Keefe it and create works within works. Closeups? Bring it on!
Enjoy :)
More views of holding green dragon's hand. None of these are spot rendered btw. They look better when they are, but these were my screenshots after I finished the hands and as I was working. Interesting- and thrilling- when you have the ability to see things from all angles. It's AMAZING- like a whole new world just by rotating. You'll get goosebumps the first time you do it (and for many of you, every time you do a render you've worked hard on!)
The last one, above, and this one are my favorite views. Too bad no one got to see them in the final render, lol. I think however, that last finger could have a bit of bend in the middle.
Now on to the other hand...
One hand wasn't more challenging than the other, but let me say this- I can hardly wait to learn how to pin something, and what I'm supposed to pin. Moving and placing one part of the body moved the other when I first started out (shoulders) so pinning is in my near future (and yes, a video will be made. Haven't found a good one yet that gets into the nitty gritty.)
You likee?
And it's a free program. Many of you already know about it. Just playin' around with it, below.
And for pencil, you can go lighter or darker.