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May 2015 New User Contest - Action [WIP Thread]

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  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,372
    edited December 1969

    miniil said:
    I add expression for student.
    And I tried to center subjects.

    I think it's my last try for this month beacause I have to post my picture today to not be too late.

    Thanks a lot for your comments.

    Nice student-teacher interaction.

  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,372
    edited December 1969

    kathrynloch said:
    The Blurst of Times said:

    I'm not sure I like the spin blur. It almost looks like he's holding a butterfly net, and he's out catching butterflies.
    For another way to blur the axe, have you tried the Depth of Field effect? You have to set it on the camera, but it's worth experimenting with.

    The way your subject masks the background, coupled with the dimensions of the trebuchet kind of make it look like the horse & rider are on fire.

    I still think the left and right of the image aren't adding very much to your story.

    Thanks Blurst, but honestly, not seeing the butterfly net here. lol! I did change it however.And yes, I do have the depth of field effect on the camera and have tried a bunch of different things with that. I got a foundation of the effect I wanted and only bumped it a little in Photoshop. At first, I just thought to adjust the spin blur but then I tried different ones in the Blur Gallery and find that the Tilt Shift blur seemed to give me a nicer balance. I blurred the end of the handle just a bit and made the axe a bit sharper.

    In PS I've got almost everything set as smart objects so I can try non-destructive tweaks. I changed up the layer blend modes on the flames then put more smoke in so it's easier to see the structure of the trebuchet. I also duplicated some flame and smoke layers putting them behind the trebuchet as well as over the top of it, so the fire and smoke extends a little - as if other things are burning in the background that we can't quite see. The smoke along the bottom I thought helped block out the horse and rider more so it doesn't appear as if they were on fire - it helps separate them from the background. Then I increased the size of the trebuchet in the background. You can't see the sling anymore but with adjusting the fire, you can see the big counterweight better. Some folks might realize it's a trebuchet but I think most will because of the counterweight. I also adjusted the depth of field blur on that - so hopefully now the edges don't detract from the image I can always crop it a little if I was unsuccessful.

    So hopefully this is improved.

    Kathy, this is certainly come a very long way since your first posting. Good job!

  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,372
    edited December 1969

    h_habash said:
    Another render after at least 7 times trials, I'm still struggling with my scene and hope to complete before the contest close :cheese:

    You are definitely working on this hard. I commend you for staying with it and working through it. I think your dragons are looking good. The hero's pose is a bit off balance. The ones throwing spears are a bit too static. When in doubt about your poses, there are three things to do:

    1. Google sword fighting. Google spear throwing. Look up images and this will give you some ideas for poses. Take note of where the weight is when they stand and fight or prepare to throw a spear.

    2. Find some movies that involve the type of fighting you need. LOTR movies will have scads of this.

    3. It never hurts to try the poses out yourself. If you stand straight and try to throw a stick, you'll find it has less power than if you stand with legs spread and bent to help the thrust.

    Keep working on all of this; it's easy to see the improvements you've made just in the span of this contest preparation.

  • kathrynlochkathrynloch Posts: 378
    edited December 1969

    Cris Palomino said:

    Kathy, this is certainly come a very long way since your first posting. Good job!

    Hi Cris!

    Thank you so very much!

    I must say I really enjoyed participating in this and look forward to next month's contest. Even though I'm not experienced with DAZ at least I was able to help others a little - we're all artists here and even a general sense of balance and composition or whatever can help out

    I am a little concerned that I might have done too much postwork in my image where I saw that other folks didn't have any. OTOH photoshop and postwork is another tool in the artist's toolbox and if there's an appropriate tool for the job, it makes sense to use it.

    It's been a lot of fun. I found the feedback I received enormously helpful and I learned a lot. So thank you to everyone for their help and good luck to all who entered! I can't wait to see what y'all have in store for next month.

    Cheers,
    Kath

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