What would YOU prefer to see?

TrixterMatrix

Hello to all the dazers ^^ 

I've started using Daz Studio about a week ago, and now I just can't stop using it and trying to advance farther with my work (pretty much addicted to creating stuff),

Lately i've been wondering if adding some photoshop retouches to a picture will contribute it, or I shall leave the picture in its original state

So here is a sample of a pic i've rendered today+ the photoshoped version of it, which one do you find more unique/interesting/to your favour? 

Thanks for reading, 

Trixter

 

Three Wishes

My impression is, almost everyone who has Photoshop or GIMP does at least a little postwork on their published renders, UNLESS they're discussing a particular rendering outcome in a tutorial or trying to solve a feature-related problem.  Photorealism isn't really my thing, but I have a standard two-filter action called "Post Render" that I pretty much run every single render through just to punch it up a little.  Then I decide if it needs a little more tweaking on tone and levels.  

I wish I was good enough to get some of the breathtaking results I see in promos and gallery images, but I'm nowhere near that topnotch with my postprocessing work. 

TrixterMatrix

dhtapp said:

My impression is, almost everyone who has Photoshop or GIMP does at least a little postwork on their published renders, UNLESS they're discussing a particular rendering outcome in a tutorial or trying to solve a feature-related problem.  Photorealism isn't really my thing, but I have a standard two-filter action called "Post Render" that I pretty much run every single render through just to punch it up a little.  Then I decide if it needs a little more tweaking on tone and levels.  

I wish I was good enough to get some of the breathtaking results I see in promos and gallery images, but I'm nowhere near that topnotch with my postprocessing work. 

I know what you're talking about with those amazing renders that pops out in every corner here :P 

And I think you might be right with that every picture has its own case, so some will be better with edits and some should remain natural.

but the thing is, I know my preferences, what i'm trying to find out is what the community likes better.  

Thanks for sharing your opinion :) 

Etrigan

TrixterMatrix said:

dhtapp said:

...  I know my preferences, what i'm trying to find out is what the community likes better.  

Thanks for sharing your opinion :) 

The galleries here are far too fickle for you to try and bend your talent to suit the viewer. You won't ever succeed to your desire. Don't rely on them to devine a course of action, it is too random. As dhtapp said, the rare time you see a figure rendered on a white background with no story, post work, or supporting scenery is during a character development or process test. Otherwise, render YOUR story. Some will like it, some will not, most will be ambivilent. For my part, I always render a complete story, often with a textual component in the description. That's me, and I don't get high LIKE scores. When you look at the ribbon of high-scoring artists, most are vendors or pros. But, looking there tells you what the audience likes. For my part your full image is by far the best. It tells a story. Otherwise there's no context, no relevancy. The figure-only image lacks context. It merely shows mats and lights.

The DAZ galleries are not unique in the "popularity contest" style. Rendo's galleries, Elfwood, and most others are simply a place to display your work so others can see when you direct them to the image. 

TrixterMatrix

Etrigan said:

TrixterMatrix said:

dhtapp said:

...  I know my preferences, what i'm trying to find out is what the community likes better.  

Thanks for sharing your opinion :) 

The galleries here are far too fickle for you to try and bend your talent to suit the viewer. You won't ever succeed to your desire. Don't rely on them to devine a course of action, it is too random. As dhtapp said, the rare time you see a figure rendered on a white background with no story, post work, or supporting scenery is during a character development or process test. Otherwise, render YOUR story. Some will like it, some will not, most will be ambivilent. For my part, I always render a complete story, often with a textual component in the description. That's me, and I don't get high LIKE scores. When you look at the ribbon of high-scoring artists, most are vendors or pros. But, looking there tells you what the audience likes. For my part your full image is by far the best. It tells a story. Otherwise there's no context, no relevancy. The figure-only image lacks context. It merely shows mats and lights.

The DAZ galleries are not unique in the "popularity contest" style. Rendo's galleries, Elfwood, and most others are simply a place to display your work so others can see when you direct them to the image. 

Thank you very much! 

You gave me a new way of thinking about my renders :) 

Etrigan

You're welcome, I'd be curious as to what the "old" way was, and what your new view is. Studio is capable of rendering full scenes, not simply one figure (system capacity depending). 

TrixterMatrix

Etrigan said:

You're welcome, I'd be curious as to what the "old" way was, and what your new view is. Studio is capable of rendering full scenes, not simply one figure (system capacity depending). 

I'll sure to show you my new renders when they'll be done :P

And about multiy figure i'm pretty sure my pc can handle it (Nvidia GTX 880 4gb, Intel I7 4800MQ, SSD, 30GB RAM, Overclocked)

Etrigan

TrixterMatrix said:

Etrigan said:

And about multiy figure i'm pretty sure my pc can handle it (Nvidia GTX 880 4gb, Intel I7 4800MQ, SSD, 30GB RAM, Overclocked)

You might do a search in the Iray threads around your overclocking. I vaguely remember someone mentioning a problem with an overclocked CPU.

 

Cris Palomino

Here is the reality.  If you are actually doing images for some sort of publication (book covers, box art, promo material etc), you will do what it takes to make the piece look like the client expects.  The client isn't going to care if it's pure CG if it doesn't look great and if post-production can make it look great, that is what you do.  I've worked commercially since the 70s and digitally since the 80s.  There are full-on post production houses in this business for the express purpose of taking raw CG and plusing it out, making it look right, making it work.  I have never understood the CG purist.  Sure, make it the best you can with your CG skills, but if the job demands more, be prepared to do postwork.

If you're doing this for yourself, then you can decide what you like more, total and only CG or postwork added.  In this case, you're your own client, you decide.  For paying work, they will tell you what they want, and in some cases they tell you this by hiring you again or not.

Tramp Graphics

I tend to avoid postwork as much as possible, using as little ans is absolutely needed. I never do renders without them being full scenes unless I'm simply testing out a character's basic design, and I never add my backgrounds in postwork. They're part of the scene I render. IMO,  postwork is best limited to retouching and, if necessary, adding elements or effects which absolutely can't be accomplished in the raw render. There are others who feel a picture isn't "complete" without a full postwork makeover, often leaving the image barely recognizable from it's original raw render. Personally, though, the less postwork you need to do the better. 

TrixterMatrix

Cris Palomino said:

Here is the reality.  If you are actually doing images for some sort of publication (book covers, box art, promo material etc), you will do what it takes to make the piece look like the client expects.  The client isn't going to care if it's pure CG if it doesn't look great and if post-production can make it look great, that is what you do.  I've worked commercially since the 70s and digitally since the 80s.  There are full-on post production houses in this business for the express purpose of taking raw CG and plusing it out, making it look right, making it work.  I have never understood the CG purist.  Sure, make it the best you can with your CG skills, but if the job demands more, be prepared to do postwork.

If you're doing this for yourself, then you can decide what you like more, total and only CG or postwork added.  In this case, you're your own client, you decide.  For paying work, they will tell you what they want, and in some cases they tell you this by hiring you again or not.

Thanks for the advices! you kinda reminded me that the stuff we see everyday in the posters, magazines, commercials and even the newspapers are photoshoped in someway :P 

Also for now i'm doing it for fun, but who knows if I take it to the next level someday :P 

TrixterMatrix

Tramp Graphics said:

I tend to avoid postwork as much as possible, using as little ans is absolutely needed. I never do renders without them being full scenes unless I'm simply testing out a character's basic design, and I never add my backgrounds in postwork. They're part of the scene I render. IMO,  postwork is best limited to retouching and, if necessary, adding elements or effects which absolutely can't be accomplished in the raw render. There are others who feel a picture isn't "complete" without a full postwork makeover, often leaving the image barely recognizable from it's original raw render. Personally, though, the less postwork you need to do the better. 

 I guess thats the best thing to do, but for a newbie like me, creating a scene with realistic backgrounds and amazing lightning is almost impossible to achieve :P 

Maybe I should try reading some tutorials about creating full scenes. 

Thanks for sharing your opinion! 

Tramp Graphics

TrixterMatrix said:

Tramp Graphics said:

I tend to avoid postwork as much as possible, using as little ans is absolutely needed. I never do renders without them being full scenes unless I'm simply testing out a character's basic design, and I never add my backgrounds in postwork. They're part of the scene I render. IMO,  postwork is best limited to retouching and, if necessary, adding elements or effects which absolutely can't be accomplished in the raw render. There are others who feel a picture isn't "complete" without a full postwork makeover, often leaving the image barely recognizable from it's original raw render. Personally, though, the less postwork you need to do the better. 

 I guess thats the best thing to do, but for a newbie like me, creating a scene with realistic backgrounds and amazing lightning is almost impossible to achieve :P 

Maybe I should try reading some tutorials about creating full scenes. 

Thanks for sharing your opinion! 

No problem. The trick I find to making good complete scene for me is I don't use "cyclorama" style flat picture backgrounds. I actually build full scenes using actual scene props and figures—buildings, trees, flowers, water planes, 3D morphable ground planes with textures, bump and displacement maps, sky domes, chairs, tables, backets, everything I use is an actual object/prop/rigged figure. The only time I'll use a flat "background" plane is if I'm doing a "studio shoot" image, in which case I'll use a studio backdrop prop. No matter what, however, I always build a full 360° environment for my characters. That's what I like to see in other peole's work too. I like to see characters in a real environment not set against a background image. 

Etrigan

Tramp Graphics said:

TrixterMatrix said:

Tramp Graphics said:

No problem. The trick I find to making good complete scene for me is I don't use "cyclorama" style flat picture backgrounds. I actually build full scenes using actual scene props and figures—buildings, trees, flowers, water planes, 3D morphable ground planes with textures, bump and displacement maps, sky domes, chairs, tables, backets, everything I use is an actual object/prop/rigged figure. The only time I'll use a flat "background" plane is if I'm doing a "studio shoot" image, in which case I'll use a studio backdrop prop. No matter what, however, I always build a full 360° environment for my characters. That's what I like to see in other peole's work too. I like to see characters in a real environment not set against a background image. 

I will use a cyclorama image for some shots. Mostly a tertiary view outside a window (city at night, starfield, etc.). Otherwise, I agree with your preference.