NEW USER Contest June 2014 “WIP Thread”

135

Comments

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited June 2014

    trk48881 said:
    Using Daz 3d. Any info or feedback on "Relaxing Evening". Is this the right idea for this month's contest. I'm a newbie all the way around the board so trying to figure this all out. Posting/blogging is all new to me...thanks....

    I think the color of the skin is a bit greenish/bluish. I know that some of it could be the lighting but it still looks off a bit. Perhaps because it is so uniform.

    For software agnostic suggestions, I would suggest that you think about what motivates the lighting on the figure. The lit pool is one source of light obviously, but it is behind her, so you may be able to find a way to add a rim light to provide a sliver of light along her body that is similar in color to the pool light. Something else to think about regarding the lighting is where is the light that lights her face coming from? Is this an indoor pool? Is she facing a window that moonlight could stream into that lights her face? A bluish/white-ish light could suggest moonlight and at the same time get rid of the sickly look to the skin.

    I don't know what your budget is, but DAZ sells wet maps which look like wet skin. These may suggest wet skin a bit more convincingly. There are a couple of them:
    http://www.daz3d.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=wet+maps&x=0&y=0
    If they're not in the budget, you may be able to brighten the highlights on the skin and reduce the spread of the effect. It's a bit of a highwire act, because if you go too far the skin can look like plastic.

    I don't know how to do it in Studio, but you could also add refraction to the water. Hopefully someone else can provide pointers on how to do that in Studio.

    I really do think a rim light or even a backlight will help to not only separate the figure from the background, but also help to define the dimensionality of the figure as well. This image uses a rim light to define the left side of the figure, a backlight for the hair and earrings, a lower intensity reddish light from the left that could be considered the key light and a dim white-ish/blusih light from the cameras POV that provides fill so the shadows aren't as deep. I did add a Depth of Field effect in Photoshop.

    Edited to add that this is the raw image straight out of Carrara. Sorry about that.

    P.S. Keep up the good work. You'll get there! It just takes a bit of practice. Also a bit of bravery to post your early images, so kudos to you and all the new users that do so!

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    Post edited by evilproducer on
  • TheDarkerSideOfArtTheDarkerSideOfArt Posts: 84
    edited December 1969

    OK here is another one,as can be seen I marked down everything which i didn't like and i know needs to be fixed or that I'm changing, just wanna know if there's anything I may have missed before starting my final render (besides the background...i always only add that last when the focus is characters :) )
    thanks

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  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    chk2033 said:
    OK here is another one,as can be seen I marked down everything which i didn't like and i know needs to be fixed or that I'm changing, just wanna know if there's anything I may have missed before starting my final render (besides the background...i always only add that last when the focus is characters :) )
    thanks

    Looks like you have a pretty good handle on what you want to do, and the render you have looks pretty good. The notation you made about maybe centering the figure is a good one, but I wouldn't center it perfectly. I would have it just right of center. I think it would balance the image a bit better and then the left side gives the eye a space to wander.

  • TheDarkerSideOfArtTheDarkerSideOfArt Posts: 84
    edited December 1969

    Thank you but..I guess my newness finally came out after posting this..
    I went back to Daz studio and decided I'll work on it tomorrow so i saved the scene and closed studio.
    woke up today only to find a tiny pic in my library of my scene only its not the scene..it says lights! i guess thats what i had selected and saved? oh well.. anyway..guess i need to redo everything again. good practice i guess..lol

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited June 2014

    chk2033 said:
    OK here is another one,as can be seen I marked down everything which i didn't like and i know needs to be fixed or that I'm changing, just wanna know if there's anything I may have missed before starting my final render (besides the background...i always only add that last when the focus is characters :) )
    thanks

    Looks like you have a pretty good handle on what you want to do, and the render you have looks pretty good. The notation you made about maybe centering the figure is a good one, but I wouldn't center it perfectly. I would have it just right of center. I think it would balance the image a bit better and then the left side gives the eye a space to wander.

    I agree with moving it to right of centre. Completely centred figurse are a bit bleh. Think Rule of thirds, and move her so that maybe her visible eye is on the one third line, vertically as well as horizontally

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • AngelAngel Posts: 1,204
    edited June 2014

    I didn't read anything that says you cant have text fields in the render.
    Correct me if I'm wrong. any critics are welcome.

    Also note: I never remake a render once it is complete. All my art is a one of a kind. So I will be going with making a new portate render.

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    Post edited by Angel on
  • AngelAngel Posts: 1,204
    edited December 1969

    I have another portrait render as well. I'll post it asap. I'm not sure which one I want to run with.

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    danwat801 said:
    I didn't read anything that says you cant have text fields in the render.
    Correct me if I'm wrong. any critics are welcome.

    Also note: I never remake a render once it is complete. All my art is a one of a kind. So I will be going with making a new portate render.

    That can be limiting. There's nothing that will wreck originality if you do low-resolution test renders.

  • AngelAngel Posts: 1,204
    edited June 2014

    low-resolution test renders.

    I dont understand what you mean. I dont post up test renders as the complete package.
    I was talking about redoing the lighting on the same render from last month.

    Post edited by Angel on
  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    danwat801 said:
    low-resolution test renders.

    I dont understand what you mean. I dont post up test renders as the complete package.
    I was talking about redoing the lighting on the same render from last month.

    Gotcha. I misunderstood what you were getting at.

  • AngelAngel Posts: 1,204
    edited June 2014

    I've decided to run with this. I like it a lot better...
    I'm not the best with male actors. I do way better renders with females for some reason. (in my opinion)

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    Post edited by Angel on
  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited December 1969

    Still needs some work. Thoughts or suggestions? I don't like the bars. I tried lasers using uber base like I did the lights on the floor but having trouble with it.

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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    hitmanwa said:
    Still needs some work. Thoughts or suggestions? I don't like the bars. I tried lasers using uber base like I did the lights on the floor but having trouble with it.
    Lay a Rule of Thirds over this and you will see the reason I'm not fully happy with the image as it is now. The Focus is bad enough it actually bothers me to look too long.
  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the reply. I had to read a bit, hadn't heard of that. Hopefully I learned something. Is this what you mean? Thanks again,

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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited June 2014

    hitmanwa said:
    Thanks for the reply. I had to read a bit, hadn't heard of that. Hopefully I learned something. Is this what you mean? Thanks again,
    Yes, the human eyes default to certain parts of images automatically, the photographic and Art rules were developed from that simple set of natural human responses. This often helps images more than many think. I have a Free use Golden Rules guide for DAZ Studio 4.5+ on ShareCG, the PDF that is included covers a few of the simple rules and instructions for installing and use in DAZ Studio. Here is a Link to my FreeBe thread if you care to check it out.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/17976/
    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited December 1969

    Checking it out now, thanks again.

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited June 2014

    Title: Brandon

    I decided to change the lights out. In the original image posted in the May contest I used 1 AoA Ambient Light and 1 AoA Distant Light.

    In the updated image I decided to use a 3 point light system with 3 AoA Spotlights.

    I am posting both for comparison. The 1st image is from May. The 2nd is the new lighting.

    Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

    Brandon_Lighting_12.jpg
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    Brandon.jpg
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    Post edited by Kismet2012 on
  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I like the new version but it seems to have lost a little of the details. Get those back and this version will look really good.

  • AngelAngel Posts: 1,204
    edited December 1969

    hitmanwa said:
    Still needs some work. Thoughts or suggestions? I don't like the bars. I tried lasers using uber base like I did the lights on the floor but having trouble with it.

    You know what I think would be really cool is if you turned up the ambiance and reflection value of the purple armor.
    Making it glow, and reflect. Just a thought.

  • TheDarkerSideOfArtTheDarkerSideOfArt Posts: 84
    edited June 2014

    My second entry
    had to change character's (the other one was a/is a custom character for genesis Im working on and I didnt like the chin when she looks up too pointy so have to fix that and enhance the rest of her this weekend)
    Kept the pent but getting all the silver to look like ..chrome-silver was a real PITA
    render settings extremely high (though some detail was lost in re sampling down to 800)
    Used adamr001 rendering script (very nice script)
    thanks for looking

    final.jpg
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    Post edited by TheDarkerSideOfArt on
  • KhoyanKhoyan Posts: 72
    edited December 1969

    This setup uses the three point light setup that Jaderail explained here. I know absolutely nothing about lighting and have a hard time getting a result I like, so I usually resort to light sets instead of doing it myself. So this was pretty easy, then.

    Not quite sure what's going on on the right side shoulder. Not sure I like the shadow cast by her nose. Also not sure if this is a "dramatic lights" enough thing to enter or if I should start over. Feedback is appreciated. Rendered in Daz Studio 4.6, no postwork.

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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited June 2014

    Khoyan said:
    This setup uses the three point light setup that Jaderail explained here. I know absolutely nothing about lighting and have a hard time getting a result I like, so I usually resort to light sets instead of doing it myself. So this was pretty easy, then.

    Not quite sure what's going on on the right side shoulder. Not sure I like the shadow cast by her nose. Also not sure if this is a "dramatic lights" enough thing to enter or if I should start over. Feedback is appreciated. Rendered in Daz Studio 4.6, no postwork.

    Well, as you have gotten this far remember the three point set up is a starting base. You can experiment with moving the main lights to see what changes, and even adding other extra lights as well. My scenes can run from 3 to 7 or more lights easy before I get the look I'm after. Read a few of the other WIP threads that were on lighting much in them will be of use to this contest.

    EDIT: to Add the Right shoulder thing is the Shadow Bias setting on the light from the left. Lower it to remove the offset you see.
    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    I added 2 more lights to try and bring out more details.

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  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited December 1969

    Another update, still tweaking it.

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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    hitmanwa said:
    Another update, still tweaking it.
    You should remove the SSS shader from the inner mouth, if not open to light it just causes the red mouth glow.
  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I added 2 more lights to try and bring out more details.
    I like it but I think your missing my point. What happened to the nice groves on the nose from version one to version 2 the old versions?
  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited December 1969

    Thanks Jade, been smacking myself trying to figure out what I did to get that.

  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited December 1969

    Ok, back to lighting but this is where I'm at.

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  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    Jaderail said:
    I added 2 more lights to try and bring out more details.
    I like it but I think your missing my point. What happened to the nice groves on the nose from version one to version 2 the old versions?

    Yes I did. Thank you. I was struggling last night. I knew it wasn't working but didn't know why.

  • HitManWAHitManWA Posts: 152
    edited December 1969

    Latest one

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