NEW USER Contest April 2014 “WIP Thread”
Jaderail
Posts: 0
New User’s Contest - April 2014
Sponsored by FeralFey
Are you new to the 3D World? Are you at the beginning stages of learning 3D rendering? Have you been around for a little bit but feel you could benefit from some feedback or instruction? Have you been around awhile and would like to help other members start their creative journey? Are you a Veteran of the Forums and contests? Well then come and join the fun as we host our newest contest…
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“Spring Fling”
Work In Progress Thread for April New Users Contest.
Please post all none entry images and comments to the WIP thread and only WIP Renders here Please.
This month’s contest is about the things you have learned in the last two Contests it has a Double Focus, Lighting and the use of Depth of Field.
Objective: Create a render in the program of your choice that shows off not only your use of Lighting and skill with Depth of Field but also represents the season of Spring to you. Some examples: A lush field of flowers with a focus on a group of flowers, children in a park flying kites, pick a focus here many options, enjoying some time in the sun in any way or sitting in the shade watching a sunset. The options are very open for this contest I think.
We will be looking at creativity, composition and the over all theme as presented.
This month's contest is being sponsored by Feralfey
For a list of the current contest rules, please see this thread: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/3440/
For many tutorials and examples of Lighting see these threads "Beginning to see the Light" and “3D Lights & Magic” and "MOOD LIGHTING"
For help with DOF see these threads "Lets Get Focused (DoF)" and "Depth Of Field"
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For those veterans of the forums that would like to help, because this contest is designed for the beginner to learn from, we will be randomly selecting posts offering helpful tips and/or critiques to receive a special voucher as well so whether you are a seasoned artist or an aspiring one, there is fun for everyone!
Closing Date: April 30th 2014
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Comments
I started on a scene today (so I'll hopefully get done more than in the last two contests...). I'm not sure which version I prefer - the sundown scene looks better, imo, but the daylight scene fits the contest's them better, I think.
I was fiddling with some volumetrics, but this scene doesn't really profit much from that. With too high a density, the sun/sky is obscured, and with a lower density, the volumetrics get lost in the DoF. The displacement map of the pale green silk is still a WIP, I'm afraid; I want to get the wrinkles to look more natural.
Thoughts, ideas, crushing criticisms? Thanks for your time!
No crushing criticisms here (I hope). ;-)
I agree with you regarding the sundown scene. It has a richer feel. I like the DOF with the trees in the foreground. They help frame the image.
I do not, however, see much difference in lighting between the 2 versions. Light from a sunset/sunrise (which this could also be, only you know for sure) should have a more orange or red tint to the light (if I am not mistaken). I would think orange in your case.
I hope you have the time to develop this image this month. You have a way of creating such serene images. I would really love to see the final product.
Thanks! :) I actually prefer horror, but it's difficult to fit that in this month's contest... ;)
That render is mush better. What kind of shadows are you using on the lights?
Thanks. I picked "Indirect Lighting with Soft Shadows". I guess Directional Shadows might get a better result, but I was impatient. The Keylight - a spotlight from the sun, towards the camera - uses Raytraced Shadows, with 40% Shadow Softness.
There We go. This is a great start. Hope to see this one go all the way to the Entry Thread this time.
My first entry for this month's contest.
Hmmm... I like the set up. I like the idea and the DOF are all done well. But to me the Environment is just too dark texture wise to match the lighting. To me the deep dark colors just are out of place in this image.
Thanks Jaderail.
I still want to add some grass to the ground and was thinking about adding another child in the distance looking for eggs. Then I want to work on the lighting.
I used a skydome and replaced the lights that came with it with AoA's Distant and Ambient Lights. To start out with I set up AoA's lights with the same settings (or as close as I could get them) to the lights that came with the skydome.
You could try to soften the shadows a bit, and/or to add some slight tint to the (sun-)light (something yellow, something blue, something stolen,... no, wait. Wrong song). Right now, the light is somewhat hard. Just a thought, though - it's certainly a very good start! :)
Good start, and I think your plans to add grass and another child are good ideas.
Regarding the lighting, make sure that the skydome isn't blocking the lights (Cast Shadows should be turned off, on the Parameters pane). I've made that mistake before!
If the ground uses tiling textures, you may want to experiment with increasing the tiling settings on the Surfaces pane.
TobiasG: I like it very much! I was debating saying something to you about the sun, and I'm going to go ahead and say it: it doesn't look very realistic. This isn't necessarily a problem; as is, it's evocative of the flag of Japan which is pretty cool and appropriate to the image (if you want to play this up, you could go with a redder hue). So if you're happy with it, then I think it's fine to leave it alone. If you do want to increase the realism factor, the sun should be much brighter (certainly brighter than the sky around it) and the character should be more strongly backlit (like this). Really it's up to you--I'm not sure that realistic=better in this case, but I thought I'd put that out there...
Thanks for the feedback - definitely any feedback is valuable; after all, I don't have to follow it :)
As to the back- (or rather front-) light, I agree with you. I'll play around with this some more, and try to get some sort of rim light effect going. The relatively long render time of the UberLight is annoying me a bit, but maybe I'm just impatient... Well, no maybe about it ;)
The sun is by necessity not realistic - I painted it myself. Making it more red is a great idea, and it's easy to test this out (and whiten the sky a bit). More realistic isn't something I'm going for, though. I like the semi-stylized look (both here and in general).
I'll play with it and see how it goes!
Good start, and I think your plans to add grass and another child are good ideas.
Regarding the lighting, make sure that the skydome isn't blocking the lights (Cast Shadows should be turned off, on the Parameters pane). I've made that mistake before!
If the ground uses tiling textures, you may want to experiment with increasing the tiling settings on the Surfaces pane.
Thank you Scott. I didn't even think about the tile setting on the ground.
I also checked and Cast Shadows was turned off...but the only way to know for sure is to check. :)
Hi everybody,
this is my work for this month´s contest.
Title: "Primavera"
Posing: DAZ Studio Pro 4.6
Rendering: Reality/LuxRender
Any suggestions? :-)
MIBA
I reddened the sun (definitely a good idea!) and desaturated the sky a bit. I took some color intensity from the Uberlight, and added a rim light.
I might work some more on the cloth, but mostly, I'm OK with the results. Maybe I'll fiddle with the sky some more.
Thoughts?
Edit: On the Rim Light, I left the Shadows on by accident. That's nonsense, of course - the shadow on the arm from the grass shouldn't be there. I'll re-render tomorrow.
The redder sun and other adjustments to the sky looks great.
Well done Tobias.
Thanks!
This is the corrected version.
Very nice
Very nice
Agreed!
Latest version.
Worked on the lights, added and tweaked props.
Hey TobiasG, hurry up and get that posted to the Entry Thread before Real Life pops up and the chance to enter vanishes on you again. ;-P
Kismet2012 that looks great now, the work you have done has improved this one 100% in my eyes. Well done.
Thanks for the kind words, and the help!
Jaderail: As you command :)
@ genxmem Your entry is fine but I wish to point out that I'm not seeing very much Depth Of Field. The lighting is pretty much just a over all base lighting. This contest is about using both Depth of Field and Lighting to focus or Highlight the main part of the idea.
To me you have a very good Start for a WIP but it is not a finished Render at this time. If you like I can move that image to here, the WIP thread and we other users can offer you tips to improve it. If you prefer to just keep it as an entry that also is your choice. I'm only trying to be helpful and offer you advice. You have plenty of time before the contest ends to give the image more punch.
Also a reminder to everyone. keep within the rules on image size. Images not abiding by this rule run the risk of possibly being disqualified.
I realized after posting that my WIP was too big. I will make sure any future postings are the correct size.
I realized after posting that my WIP was too big. I will make sure any future postings are the correct size.
Actually, I like to render at a bigger size, to see more detail (and possibly errors). For the contest, any pic can be shrunk to the right size with just a few clicks.
What grass did you use in your render? looks nice.
I realized after posting that my WIP was too big. I will make sure any future postings are the correct size.
Actually, I like to render at a bigger size, to see more detail (and possibly errors). For the contest, any pic can be shrunk to the right size with just a few clicks.
What grass did you use in your render? looks nice.
Very true...as long as you remember to shrink it to the required size. :red:
It is Grassy Grounds Megapack - http://www.daz3d.com/grassy-grounds-megapack
Funny that. I was making a render like that out of free will a while ago, but never finished it. I guess this should give me inspiration to finish the render. I'll post it up as soon as its done. You practically described my render to the T :P
POST moved from the ENTRY Thread. Please do not post comments to the Entry thread.
My entry for the contest.
Software used : Bryce
Title : Hanami