February 2019 - DAZ3D New User Challenge - Lighting

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Comments

  • CarlCGCarlCG Posts: 114

    @dtrscbrutal  Thanks so much for your encouraging words. 

    @Angelik M  Wow your welcome! Thank you for your kind words as well. My avatar was made with that Facegen product that used photos of my face/head to create the 3D model. Thanks for that toon version of my avatar :) it looks so nice (I've never seen myself as an angel before LOL)! So sweet of you, I'll definitely save that one. It was really interesting to see your diagrammed workflow too-I always love visualizing the inner workings of other creative minds.

  • @Kismet2012  Thanks for the recommendation, I think it was just what was needed. I went with mesh lights, which didn't work very well at all until I applied an emmision profile. The other lights in the scene would probably benefit from that too, now that I think about it. Maybe that'll let me turn down the ludicrous luminosities.

    @Shinji Ikari 9th  Good eye, that is indeed Daz Studio on the monitor. Specifically, it's my default setup, so basically a virtual blank page. I'm pretty sure your muse hasn't been giving you as much lip, as you're fairly consistently one of the early posters here. Any tips?

    @Angelik M Thanks! I had a devil of a time finding expressions that said what I wanted. Most are a bit extreme. I think the one I ended up using is stock (Confused HD), but I'm not sure how to check. The Muse's pose started from a base pose (Base Pose Sitting B), but apart from that both poses are hand-rigged. The artist's left arm gave me issues, as she refused to do anything else with it, and that pose constrains it on both ends! I swear, they're both boneheads!

    Anyhow, new version, which hopefully guides the eye a bit better:

    The Unhelpful Muse - Mk2

    The light setup is a pair of warm lamps to the left, a pair of cool lamps directed at a table behind the camera, a couple of ceiling lights, and the various computer peripherals (monitors, keyboard, mouse, gamepad, headphones).

    Blue wallpapers are courtesy of the Fedora Project. (Night version of F26's wallpaper.)

    I'm kinda confused by the banding on the middle monitor. It kinda looks like a moire effect. At first I thought I introduced it this ersion, but on second look, it's there in the last one, just less pronounced. If I were to iterate it again, I think I'd droop the Muse's wings a bit more. Also, it might benefit from a bit more contrast in the lighting. Right now the background is looking a little full-bright-y to me.

    Any other problems I've missed? 

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    @Kismet2012  Thanks for the recommendation, I think it was just what was needed. I went with mesh lights, which didn't work very well at all until I applied an emmision profile. The other lights in the scene would probably benefit from that too, now that I think about it. Maybe that'll let me turn down the ludicrous luminosities.

    @Shinji Ikari 9th  Good eye, that is indeed Daz Studio on the monitor. Specifically, it's my default setup, so basically a virtual blank page. I'm pretty sure your muse hasn't been giving you as much lip, as you're fairly consistently one of the early posters here. Any tips?

    @Angelik M Thanks! I had a devil of a time finding expressions that said what I wanted. Most are a bit extreme. I think the one I ended up using is stock (Confused HD), but I'm not sure how to check. The Muse's pose started from a base pose (Base Pose Sitting B), but apart from that both poses are hand-rigged. The artist's left arm gave me issues, as she refused to do anything else with it, and that pose constrains it on both ends! I swear, they're both boneheads!

    Anyhow, new version, which hopefully guides the eye a bit better:

    The Unhelpful Muse - Mk2

    The light setup is a pair of warm lamps to the left, a pair of cool lamps directed at a table behind the camera, a couple of ceiling lights, and the various computer peripherals (monitors, keyboard, mouse, gamepad, headphones).

    Blue wallpapers are courtesy of the Fedora Project. (Night version of F26's wallpaper.)

    I'm kinda confused by the banding on the middle monitor. It kinda looks like a moire effect. At first I thought I introduced it this ersion, but on second look, it's there in the last one, just less pronounced. If I were to iterate it again, I think I'd droop the Muse's wings a bit more. Also, it might benefit from a bit more contrast in the lighting. Right now the background is looking a little full-bright-y to me.

    Any other problems I've missed? 

    I missed the cat in the first version.  Great touch. 

    I personally find most expression poses too much at full strength.  I usually use a mix of different expressions at a lower percentage...usually less than 50%.

    When I have problems with an arm/shoulder not working I sometimes reset everything back to zero and start all over.  I use that as a last resort but it does work.  Make sure you save your scene or create an alternate version first so you can go back if needed.

    I have no idea about the banding on the monitor.  It could be an angle of the lights?  The way they are hitting the "glass" on the monitor?

    For the ludicrous light settings you could try changing them to k/cm2 (something like that...I am trying to go from memory...not a good idea generally).  This allows you to use small numbers and not have to add all those zeros.

    If there was more time I would suggest changing the angles on your mesh light to try and light up their faces...especially your "muse".

    Well done.

     

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    This Challenge is Now Closed

  • @Kismet2012  Thanks for the recommendation, I think it was just what was needed. I went with mesh lights, which didn't work very well at all until I applied an emmision profile. The other lights in the scene would probably benefit from that too, now that I think about it. Maybe that'll let me turn down the ludicrous luminosities.

    @Shinji Ikari 9th  Good eye, that is indeed Daz Studio on the monitor. Specifically, it's my default setup, so basically a virtual blank page. I'm pretty sure your muse hasn't been giving you as much lip, as you're fairly consistently one of the early posters here. Any tips?

    @Angelik M Thanks! I had a devil of a time finding expressions that said what I wanted. Most are a bit extreme. I think the one I ended up using is stock (Confused HD), but I'm not sure how to check. The Muse's pose started from a base pose (Base Pose Sitting B), but apart from that both poses are hand-rigged. The artist's left arm gave me issues, as she refused to do anything else with it, and that pose constrains it on both ends! I swear, they're both boneheads!

    Anyhow, new version, which hopefully guides the eye a bit better:

    The Unhelpful Muse - Mk2

    The light setup is a pair of warm lamps to the left, a pair of cool lamps directed at a table behind the camera, a couple of ceiling lights, and the various computer peripherals (monitors, keyboard, mouse, gamepad, headphones).

    Blue wallpapers are courtesy of the Fedora Project. (Night version of F26's wallpaper.)

    I'm kinda confused by the banding on the middle monitor. It kinda looks like a moire effect. At first I thought I introduced it this ersion, but on second look, it's there in the last one, just less pronounced. If I were to iterate it again, I think I'd droop the Muse's wings a bit more. Also, it might benefit from a bit more contrast in the lighting. Right now the background is looking a little full-bright-y to me.

    Any other problems I've missed? 

    I thought that I was seeing DAZ on the screen, I use it myself. As for tips, I'd advise trying to work things that intrest you into your work, saving under a new name when you make changes between posts so you can go back to an earlier one if you decide to try going a differant way with things, and don't be afraid to try new things and tools, you might just come up with an effect that you like.

     

    I'd try to think of more tips to pass on, but I'm going to have to be heading out for work soon.

     

    P.S. I haven't a clue as to how you got that banding pattern on the middle screen, but it's neat.

  • Thank you everyone for your help and kind words. So impressed with all the entries!

  • We got hit by a winter storm and I ended up without power for a week so I missed out on the end of this but what amazing work everybody here does.  Thanks for the inspiration and all the helpful suggestions.  Even though I didn't get to post many edits I really learned a lot from all of you.  On to the next challenge!

     

     

  • DAZ_ann0314DAZ_ann0314 Posts: 2,847

    February 2019

    Showcased Participants for the February Lighting Challenge

     

    Let There Be Light – Given to the person who best utilized light to make their image or subject pop.

     

    For those reasons we have selected sisyphus1977xx to showcase

     

    Walk the Line – Given to the image that used light in a way that accentuated the specular areas of the image.

     

    The New User we felt best showed that this month was rcbcgreenpanzer

    This image has been resized to fit in the page. Click to enlarge.

     

     

    In the Depths - Given to the person who used light in a way that created an atmosphere that added extra dimension to the image.

     

    The New User we felt best showcased that this month was amyw12

    This image has been resized to fit in the page. Click to enlarge.

     

     


    New User Welcome

    bastian2560

    This image has been resized to fit in the page. Click to enlarge.

     

  • dtrscbrutaldtrscbrutal Posts: 515

    Well done to the showcased! So many great images last month. Outstanding work everyone!

  • Wow, this was a surprise.  There were fantastic images from all and I took away many great ideas from those images to use in the future. 

    Congratulations to all.

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