November Contest WIP Thread
Totte
Posts: 13,965
New User's Contest - November 2014
Sponsored by DAZ 3D
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? Well then come and join the fun as we host our newest contest...
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"Turning music into pictures"
This month’s contest is about creating a render based on a song or a piece of music.
In this month's contest, your task is to create an image based on a song or a piece of music. Try to capture the mood of the music and picture what the lyrics and the music says to you. You can freely pick the song, but you have to let us know what song you picked.
Intent: To use the principles you have learned (lighting, composition, posing, expression, etc.) to effectively capture the essence of the song you have chosen.
Pick a song, then turn it into an image by using your imagination, and remember that there is no write or wrong in the interpretation of music.
For a list of the current contest rules, please see this thread: Contest Rules
Closing Date: November 30st, 2014
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Comments
Ok here is, what i have for now. It is inspired by song Sympathy for the Devil by Rolling Stones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsWR0CTWazQ, though there is Guns and Roses version too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiiUbhBH7m0 and probably some others. I just experimented with a character and this is what i have done. Another song that i like and remembered, that could be added to this picture is Paint it black, by Rolling Stones, and i like it in rugby video version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw5YcuMJQFo
I have done this pic in 1000*1000 but only later i have read that it should be 800*800 so i will have to change it, also i haven't done any lightning or other things, so this is only start. Skin looks a big shady and that is probably lightning effect of those scenes that i have loaded. I hope i will work on it more. Also i hope i will make a list of previous contests and try to learn something from there.
Here's something that I started to mess around with after seeing that this month's contest was up and running.
'Citizen/Soldier' by 3 Doors Down is what I was listing to as I worked on this.
Hi gulan7, A very nice start. Limiting the color to her is a very dramatic approach to the piece. Pulls you eye right into the image. If I were finishing this image I would start to add some dead grass and trees maybe some flying bats as well. The plants would add texture, ie some more shadow work and the bats would add some action to your piece.
Here are some free models you might try:
Bats: http://www.runtimedna.com/RDNA-Scatters-Vol-4-Bats.html
Dead Grass: http://forum.runtimedna.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=603
Dead Tree or Bush: http://dreampaint.perso.sfr.fr/poser10.html
Yes you are correct on the lighting being your issue with your devil's skin. The shading rate is not high enough. Do you know where to look for shading rate?
A very nice start looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
3cg0_419, such a noble theme you have chosen. I really like the texture on the glass of the building and I think your choice of light color is interesting. So I take it that you wish to do a night scene. Night scenes can be tough to do. One thing to remember is that cameras are not like our eyes. They need a lot more ambient light to get to the level of what we can see. So a dimly lite room to us is like a deep dark cave with no light to a camera. A trick I do to make sure that my camera has enough light is to take the finished image into Paintshop Pro and apply the One step Photo fix. This filter lightens up the overall image and kind of replicates what ambient or diffuse light would do with the scene. I apply the filter until I see too much light, that is when things get washed out or I start to loose the effect of the lighting. Those number of clicks tell me how much more light I need to add to the image. After each play with the lighting I apply the filter and when I get to the point that after one click I am getting wash out I am done.
If I were to finish this image I would make the soldier interact with the lady. I think these free poses might be a good starting point http://forum.runtimedna.com/content.php?285-A-Slient-Night-13-Days-of-Christmas-2012-Day-12. Lots of actions and there are both V4 and M4 sets so I could play around with those. I would also add some trash/junk/rubble to the scene just to add some interest. Maybe something like this free model http://www.runtimedna.com/Rubble.html or something like this http://www.sharecg.com/v/39278/browse/11/Poser/Goat-Shack-AccessoriesUpdated. I would use the free ones to see if adding something like rubble would help tell the story a bit better. If it did then I would save my pennies and get Stonemason's rubble models. I think I would use this one http://www.daz3d.com/rubble and this one http://www.daz3d.com/rubble-2-modern-ruins. Why would I do this, because free is good but sometimes you just need a master's touch to the render to make it go over the top. Renders are all about detail. The better the detail the more interesting the render will be.
I am looking forward to seeing what you decide to do. I think this is the most fun part, moving from a vague idea to something that really tells a story.
3cg0_419, such a noble theme you have chosen. I really like the texture on the glass of the building and I think your choice of light color is interesting. So I take it that you wish to do a night scene. Night scenes can be tough to do. One thing to remember is that cameras are not like our eyes. They need a lot more ambient light to get to the level of what we can see. So a dimly lite room to us is like a deep dark cave with no light to a camera. A trick I do to make sure that my camera has enough light is to take the finished image into Paintshop Pro and apply the One step Photo fix. This filter lightens up the overall image and kind of replicates what ambient or diffuse light would do with the scene. I apply the filter until I see too much light, that is when things get washed out or I start to loose the effect of the lighting. Those number of clicks tell me how much more light I need to add to the image. After each play with the lighting I apply the filter and when I get to the point that after one click I am getting wash out I am done.
If I were to finish this image I would make the soldier interact with the lady. I think these free poses might be a good starting point http://forum.runtimedna.com/content.php?285-A-Slient-Night-13-Days-of-Christmas-2012-Day-12. Lots of actions and there are both V4 and M4 sets so I could play around with those. I would also add some trash/junk/rubble to the scene just to add some interest. Maybe something like this free model http://www.runtimedna.com/Rubble.html or something like this http://www.sharecg.com/v/39278/browse/11/Poser/Goat-Shack-AccessoriesUpdated. I would use the free ones to see if adding something like rubble would help tell the story a bit better. If it did then I would save my pennies and get Stonemason's rubble models. I think I would use this one http://www.daz3d.com/rubble and this one http://www.daz3d.com/rubble-2-modern-ruins. Why would I do this, because free is good but sometimes you just need a master's touch to the render to make it go over the top. Renders are all about detail. The better the detail the more interesting the render will be.
I am looking forward to seeing what you decide to do. I think this is the most fun part, moving from a vague idea to something that really tells a story.
Thanks for the feedback, Dollygirl. To start with, I've tried lightening thing better by copying the distance lights i was using to light the scene, then removing the shadows on the copies. i might have to tone the copies down on their intencity a little as well, but we'll see.
good idea that you had of having the soldier and lady interacting in some way, so i'll see what i can do about that, i'm thinking about adding some more people in the scene as well depending on what outfits i can find in my runtime. i usualy am rendering more along the lines of scifi and what not.
I do think this needs a little more lighting. I found it difficult to make out what was in the picture (especially the figure's pose).
EDIT: I see you've done that now! :)
@Dollygirl No i don't know about shading rate. Thanks for the bat i missed it somehow :D but i was thinking the same and i worked on a dragon yesterday for the sky, i hope i will be able to fit him in :D. Btw this should be some place inside clouds above castle. Where people who can fly can reach :) thats how i imagined it. For the plants, you are right that could do good, and i will try it too. Here is that dragon i will try continuing as soon as i get some time to work on it. Very interesting i have to say :) i am just surprised with my creations :D
Ok, i have fixed ground texture, now it looks much better. For plants and other props form that dreampaint site, i have to say wow, i have downloaded those PsyDream set 1-10 before but it seems i have missed all the rest probably i have somehow forgot or missplaced them or which is very possible just left out as not important. Now they look so very good and will have to download them all, and see what can i do with them. They somehow all fit very well in this picture and probably i can use them especialy those plants set. Now i will try to see what i can do :)
Here's my WIP :)
Metallica - For Whom the Bell Tolls
There's still much to be done as I need to add gun fire, explosions and flashes of light (I have Ron's explosions for this but I want to make them objects to place in the scene before render rather than doing them all postwork)
Your welcome about the bats. So glad you have rediscovered Dreampaint. He has some wonderful products. Looking forward to seeing what you do. Adding a dragon...hmmm. Can't wait.
Nice render so far. I like the spirit of the fallen leader continuing to order his men.
Thank you :) Too bad we only have a month. I've got lots of songs I could do some renders for
Haha me neither, but here is what i have done. I tried adding cloud effect with uber volume to the spotlight, i probably should tone down the light a bit of spotlight to 30% instead of 100%, but there is problem with those transmaps (not sure how they are called, but i think that is the name) as now the wings show those white lines, and also grass, that probably has to do something with that uber volume cloud effect i added to spotlight because dragons wings are displayed correctly and he is out of area of spotlight with uber volume. I will try to work more on this tomorrow, but i am not really sure what to do except to remove that cloud effect, but i would like it to stay as i like it.
About the picture this place should be in the clouds above castle (towers of the wizard actualy) as i said before, and i remembered one similar picture that can be used for comparison. Here it is http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130510163644/dragonlance/images/c/c6/Raistlin2.jpg
I think i have those flying rocks too but will not use them here and i am hoping to make some more pictures like this.
Btw that structure is using uber area lightning, it probably should be adjusted as you instructed. I will try it tomorrow, i am using those presets from the forum, they are really great. Those pictures are done on normal quality preset.
Your welcome 3ch0_419. Lighting can be difficult. I struggle with my lighting, probably spending more than 50% of my time fiddling with the light. I shortened that time by using this free set of uber lights from InaneGlory. There is a Dawn, candle light and full moon settings in it. Once I started to use them then things got a lot easier and faster. You can find them here: http://inaneglory.deviantart.com/art/Simple-Soft-Lighting-Freebie-193115008. Once I got comfortable with the light set I went out and bought Age of Armour's lights. Sometimes you just have to play first until you get the hang of it and then spend the money on some more advanced stuff. Below is an image that is using the Dawn preset right out of the box and then I added a point light in the lantern, a spot on the tail gate of the wagon, and a spot on the cowboy squatting on the ground. It is not a good render but at least you can see what kind of light you will get. You can see that I need to change the shading rate to get rid of the dappling on the bedroll and the canvas cover on the chuckwagon. I could also increase the intensity of Uber light to brighten up the over all image. This is not to suggest that you change what you are currently doing but to show you my work flow and how I improved it by making it easier to light a scene.
kaotkbliss, a very nice start. I like your grouping of the soldiers. Their poses are believable and you have kept true to the concept of the song. I like your lighting. You can see your story. I also like the flow you created between Dead Soldier and the live ones. Adds interest and provides a way for the eye to travel through the image. Looking forward to seeing what you do next. Your selection of details will be interesting to see.
Thank you so much. I really hope I don't over do it and completely make a mess of the scene adding explosions and such.
Thank you so much. I really hope I don't over do it and completely make a mess of the scene adding explosions and such.
Don't forget to put some rocks and plants in it too. Maybe a dead tree to show a bit of war.
Moved the characters that I had in the scene and some more as well. The lines from the song that I'm focusing on are "I walk beside you, but you may not see me. The strongest among you, may not were a crown."
There is some problem with uber volume and transmaps it seems. I have tested with smoke also and took screencaps of my setting for spotlight and volume. I will have to work more with uber volume to get better with it. For now here is without it, and i think i will have to do without cloud effect until i figure how to solve the problem.
For shading rate i have learned how it works in render setting and uber environment. I have lowered it from 35 to 5 and here is result, now will do another test render on high render setting with shading rate 0.5 on uberenvironment before i decide to do final image. I hope things are ok here, maybe something else could be done, but i think it looks good, relatively :)
Here is another try. I added Depth of Field, i think it looks better especialy on the dragon and grass. My camera somehow moved and i couldn't find the same position so probably from now on i should make backups more often :).
I hate when my camera moves. Usually I can ctrl+Z back until it's corrected, but sometimes either I've saved and closed or the change happened too long ago and is no longer in the undo :(
Anyways, I like your render, on the plus side of the new camera angle, it gives a tiny bit more sky space for the dragon so it doesn't look crowded.
I tried to make it look good after it moved. I know that about ctrl+z but i was experimenting with Field of View (FOV) and with colours for Depth of Field Planes, and somehow it changed. I had backup saved, and i entered same values from there but somehow picture was shortened and i couldn't return it to previous state. I am still not sure what FOV is, and will have to read more about it and try it. Here is about it now will have to read about it and try. http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/artzone/pub/software/camera/camera_dof
Thanks for the render, i think it could be better especialy if worked on characters a bit more. But for now it is ok, i am still glad that i could make something like this, and need to learn more before i can try to make things better.
For the other pictures, i like them both and songs. I will look forward to see how will the develop. 3 Doors Down is band i liked since Landing in London song, though Citizen Soldier is new one for me and i like it . And Metallica was my favorite for many years now :) I haven't watched the video though. Now i will.
I got a new render inspiration on my drive into work today when Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction came on. I just hope I'll 1. Have enough time and 2. be able to find all the pieces I'd need to create that render :)
That is a good song :) i used to like it a lot before. There are lot of good songs, but i need one that could inspire me to really do something good. I was thinking about Jon Bon Jovi yesterday, but lol now i could make a list of all songs i like :D
This is inspired by the song Big Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall.
Still working on the lighting. I like the shadows but would like to make the horse stand out a bit better if I can.
Kismet2012- Perhaps do a distant light on OUR left and above, so it strikes the tree and the horse from the left, and with it being above, it will also do a rim lighting on top of the mane and tips of the ears. I would do a medium grayish blue and start with about 15%. The key is to get the distant light slightly past the side of the horse- aka, more toward us, the viewers. You don't want it directly to the side of it.
Hi Kismet, here is another idea for you to try. I think you could use two spots located behind the horse facing back towards the camera. I would use diffuse only on both because you said you liked the shadows as they were. I would locate them just a little higher than the horses ear. I would place one just a little to the right of the horse and angle the light so that it hits the neck and shoulders. The other would just be a little to the left of the horse and rotated to hit the neck to the rump. You may have to play around with the angles to get the highlights just where you want. Also the height of the lights will change where on the horse the highlights will go. I would start with 100% intensity and go from there. Now you have choices will be interesting to see how you solve your issue.
@Kismet2012 Google image search the English painter "George Stubbs" and get some inspiration from a master.
Gave my soldier a business suit to show what he does outside of the guard, and applied the pwEffect shader to his uniform. What I'm trying for is to let the viewer see who he is, but not have it shown to the other characters around him.
In short, I;m trying to capture both sides of his life.