May 2016 New User 3D Art Contest "Action & Props" - WIP

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Comments

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Yay I finally got time to do a WIP my lappy finally decided to co-operate with me!!!!

    Rendered seperately in Daz Studio 4.9 3Delight and postwork done in PSP9

    Any and all comments or advice is so welcome at this stage

    I have a couple of suggestions on poses.  Your guy in red that is kneeling, his right foot looks like it is very close to the edge of the rock platform.  He has a bit of twist putting his foot on an angle.  If you rotate either his thigh or shin it should straighten his foot and get it away from the edge.  I would start with the shin.

    For the guy that has fallen I would suggest you rotate his arms so they are a bit more to the side.  His left arm could be out from his body and the right arm with the knife could be a bit straighter as he does not want to lose that knife.  When someone falls it is natural for us to want to break that fall.  I cannot tell from this angle but he also looks like he has an arch in his back.  His back should be more rounded with his head towards his chest in an effort to protect his head from hitting the ground.

     

    I Googled some images of people falling backwards that might be helpful.

     

    I can see shadows under and around your figures but they seem to be very soft.  To me this gives the appearance that the people are not anchored and have a floating feel.  Was this rendered in 3DL or Iray?  If it was 3DL are you using Deep Shadows or Raytraced?  Deep Shadows are good for test renders as they speed up rendering but Raytraced is better for final renders.

     

    Hope this helps.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    Thank everyone.  I can easily just take the ocean out of the scene at this point since I haven't done anything to it other than drop it into the scene.

  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,165

    Here's version f. Mostly changes to the cheetah girl's pose to try and balance her some and a shot of recoil from her gun(as well as her trying to fight said recoil.)

    may2016f.jpg
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  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,802

    Here's version f. Mostly changes to the cheetah girl's pose to try and balance her some and a shot of recoil from her gun(as well as her trying to fight said recoil.)

    Shinji this is a really nice render, I love what you did with the lights. What I miss a little is the action, movement, things that are off balace.

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,653

    Yay I finally got time to do a WIP my lappy finally decided to co-operate with me!!!!

    Rendered seperately in Daz Studio 4.9 3Delight and postwork done in PSP9

    Any and all comments or advice is so welcome at this stage

    I have a couple of suggestions on poses.  Your guy in red that is kneeling, his right foot looks like it is very close to the edge of the rock platform.  He has a bit of twist putting his foot on an angle.  If you rotate either his thigh or shin it should straighten his foot and get it away from the edge.  I would start with the shin.

    For the guy that has fallen I would suggest you rotate his arms so they are a bit more to the side.  His left arm could be out from his body and the right arm with the knife could be a bit straighter as he does not want to lose that knife.  When someone falls it is natural for us to want to break that fall.  I cannot tell from this angle but he also looks like he has an arch in his back.  His back should be more rounded with his head towards his chest in an effort to protect his head from hitting the ground.

     

    I Googled some images of people falling backwards that might be helpful.

     

    I can see shadows under and around your figures but they seem to be very soft.  To me this gives the appearance that the people are not anchored and have a floating feel.  Was this rendered in 3DL or Iray?  If it was 3DL are you using Deep Shadows or Raytraced?  Deep Shadows are good for test renders as they speed up rendering but Raytraced is better for final renders.

     

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks so much Kismet, I am going to work some on the guys tonite when I get the chance when I get back from doing some shopping laughdevil

  • bunglebungle Posts: 38
    edited May 2016

    @bungle that is such a fun scene.  I'm not sure which version I like better.  Both have good points about them.  If I had to lean toward one I would say probably the postworked version which I don't usually say about an iray render as I like the more realistic stuff, but I really like the softened effect you got with postwork.  There are things I like about the sharper unpostworked version, too, though.  Sorry about that wishy washy kind of input!

    I cleaned up the render and the postwork, moved my lights to kill the fireflies, and added in my prop. I'm still looking for crtiques and suggestions.

    f26fR2-post.jpg
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    Post edited by bungle on
  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,165
    Linwelly said:

    Here's version f. Mostly changes to the cheetah girl's pose to try and balance her some and a shot of recoil from her gun(as well as her trying to fight said recoil.)

    Shinji this is a really nice render, I love what you did with the lights. What I miss a little is the action, movement, things that are off balace.

    Here's version g that I ran last night.

    may2016g.jpg
    1031 x 872 - 760K
  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited May 2016

    @bungle  I like what you did here.  There is still a little bit blurred distortion around the edges for a kind of modified DOF effect and yet the girls' faces are in focus now.  I like the sharpness of the image in the floor, too.

    Shinji - I like the expended shells on the ground.  That's kind of a nice touch.  Not sure if that type of gun would do that, but then it is Sci Fi so anything is possible.  I have to ask if that missile is headed straight at her or if it will miss and it's just the camera angle.  I love her expression, though.  It's like she sees it coming, but she isn't giving up.  I would probably jump out of the way.  But, then I'm a weak, puny human!  I do like what I'm seeing.  You have really come a long way since your first image way back when!

    So, I finally got my act together since I finally figured out what I wanted to do.  Action isn't exactly my thing.  However, I have a friend who likes hockey and it's the middle of all the playoff games, here and over on his side of the pond.  So, I thought a little hockey action was in order since I actually have some hockey gear for M4 and stuff.  This is just the basic setup with some temporary mesh lights and blacked out background.  I found a free hockey rink that I managed to get into DS, but I'm still working on all of the surfaces.  I'm, also, working on doing some custom texturing for the hockey uniforms.  Right now, they just have the default textures that came with the pack.  I can't do too much with the textures until my friend sees this image so I can pick his brain about any favorite players' numbers and what the proper uniform color is as I found two different colors and I'm not sure which one is the right one for his team for the first guy.  The other guy will be sporting my team's colors.  Although, it remains to be seen if my player will be sporting the US uniform for the World Championship or if I go for my favorite US team who is currently still in it for the Stanley Cup.  I guess that depends on whether or not they beat Tampa on Monday.  We'll see if I can pull it off!

    Anyway, it will be interesting to see what my friend says when he sees this post.

    HockeyPlayers01.jpg
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    Post edited by Knittingmommy on
  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,165

    @bungle  I like what you did here.  There is still a little bit blurred distortion around the edges for a kind of modified DOF effect and yet the girls' faces are in focus now.  I like the sharpness of the image in the floor, too.

    Shinji - I like the expended shells on the ground.  That's kind of a nice touch.  Not sure if that type of gun would do that, but then it is Sci Fi so anything is possible.  I have to ask if that missile is headed straight at her or if it will miss and it's just the camera angle.  I love her expression, though.  It's like she sees it coming, but she isn't giving up.  I would probably jump out of the way.  But, then I'm a weak, puny human!  I do like what I'm seeing.  You have really come a long way since your first image way back when!

    So, I finally got my act together since I finally figured out what I wanted to do.  Action isn't exactly my thing.  However, I have a friend who likes hockey and it's the middle of all the playoff games, here and over on his side of the pond.  So, I thought a little hockey action was in order since I actually have some hockey gear for M4 and stuff.  This is just the basic setup with some temporary mesh lights and blacked out background.  I found a free hockey rink that I managed to get into DS, but I'm still working on all of the surfaces.  I'm, also, working on doing some custom texturing for the hockey uniforms.  Right now, they just have the default textures that came with the pack.  I can't do too much with the textures until my friend sees this image so I can pick his brain about any favorite players' numbers and what the proper uniform color is as I found two different colors and I'm not sure which one is the right one for his team for the first guy.  The other guy will be sporting my team's colors.  Although, it remains to be seen if my player will be sporting the US uniform for the World Championship or if I go for my favorite US team who is currently still in it for the Stanley Cup.  I guess that depends on whether or not they beat Tampa on Monday.  We'll see if I can pull it off!

    Anyway, it will be interesting to see what my friend says when he sees this post.

    The missle is missing them knittingmommy, I agree though that it looks like she's about to eat it.

    You've got a good start on your's also.

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    @bungle  I like what you did here.  There is still a little bit blurred distortion around the edges for a kind of modified DOF effect and yet the girls' faces are in focus now.  I like the sharpness of the image in the floor, too.

    Shinji - I like the expended shells on the ground.  That's kind of a nice touch.  Not sure if that type of gun would do that, but then it is Sci Fi so anything is possible.  I have to ask if that missile is headed straight at her or if it will miss and it's just the camera angle.  I love her expression, though.  It's like she sees it coming, but she isn't giving up.  I would probably jump out of the way.  But, then I'm a weak, puny human!  I do like what I'm seeing.  You have really come a long way since your first image way back when!

    So, I finally got my act together since I finally figured out what I wanted to do.  Action isn't exactly my thing.  However, I have a friend who likes hockey and it's the middle of all the playoff games, here and over on his side of the pond.  So, I thought a little hockey action was in order since I actually have some hockey gear for M4 and stuff.  This is just the basic setup with some temporary mesh lights and blacked out background.  I found a free hockey rink that I managed to get into DS, but I'm still working on all of the surfaces.  I'm, also, working on doing some custom texturing for the hockey uniforms.  Right now, they just have the default textures that came with the pack.  I can't do too much with the textures until my friend sees this image so I can pick his brain about any favorite players' numbers and what the proper uniform color is as I found two different colors and I'm not sure which one is the right one for his team for the first guy.  The other guy will be sporting my team's colors.  Although, it remains to be seen if my player will be sporting the US uniform for the World Championship or if I go for my favorite US team who is currently still in it for the Stanley Cup.  I guess that depends on whether or not they beat Tampa on Monday.  We'll see if I can pull it off!

    Anyway, it will be interesting to see what my friend says when he sees this post.

    The missle is missing them knittingmommy, I agree though that it looks like she's about to eat it.

    You've got a good start on your's also.

    I figured it was, but thought I would ask.  You managed to get a great expression on her face, though.  I definitely would think twice before changing that in any future versions as it's a great expression!  I have no advice as I really kind of like your image and I'm not sure what I would be able to suggest for improving anything.  And, don't go changing that missile just because I asked!  As long as it is where you want it, it looks fine.  I just asked because I was curious.  I couldn't tell, but thought it was probably going between them.

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited May 2016

    @Shinji  I agree wtih Knittingmommy about the Cat Girl's expression and the other changes you have made to your image.  All those little extras make a huge difference. 

     

    Are there any morphs for the cat ears?  Most animals with upright ears lay them back when angry or upset.  Either way this is a great image.

     

    Post edited by Kismet2012 on
  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    @bungle  I like what you did here.  There is still a little bit blurred distortion around the edges for a kind of modified DOF effect and yet the girls' faces are in focus now.  I like the sharpness of the image in the floor, too.

    Shinji - I like the expended shells on the ground.  That's kind of a nice touch.  Not sure if that type of gun would do that, but then it is Sci Fi so anything is possible.  I have to ask if that missile is headed straight at her or if it will miss and it's just the camera angle.  I love her expression, though.  It's like she sees it coming, but she isn't giving up.  I would probably jump out of the way.  But, then I'm a weak, puny human!  I do like what I'm seeing.  You have really come a long way since your first image way back when!

    So, I finally got my act together since I finally figured out what I wanted to do.  Action isn't exactly my thing.  However, I have a friend who likes hockey and it's the middle of all the playoff games, here and over on his side of the pond.  So, I thought a little hockey action was in order since I actually have some hockey gear for M4 and stuff.  This is just the basic setup with some temporary mesh lights and blacked out background.  I found a free hockey rink that I managed to get into DS, but I'm still working on all of the surfaces.  I'm, also, working on doing some custom texturing for the hockey uniforms.  Right now, they just have the default textures that came with the pack.  I can't do too much with the textures until my friend sees this image so I can pick his brain about any favorite players' numbers and what the proper uniform color is as I found two different colors and I'm not sure which one is the right one for his team for the first guy.  The other guy will be sporting my team's colors.  Although, it remains to be seen if my player will be sporting the US uniform for the World Championship or if I go for my favorite US team who is currently still in it for the Stanley Cup.  I guess that depends on whether or not they beat Tampa on Monday.  We'll see if I can pull it off!

    Anyway, it will be interesting to see what my friend says when he sees this post.

    I am not much of a hockey fan so cannot really be very specific about critiqueing the poses but the guy in red's pose does not feel agressive enough to me somehow.  Hopefully your friend can give you some good advice. 

     

    It looks like a great start and I am looking forward to seeing it develop.

     

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    bungle said:

    @bungle that is such a fun scene.  I'm not sure which version I like better.  Both have good points about them.  If I had to lean toward one I would say probably the postworked version which I don't usually say about an iray render as I like the more realistic stuff, but I really like the softened effect you got with postwork.  There are things I like about the sharper unpostworked version, too, though.  Sorry about that wishy washy kind of input!

    I cleaned up the render and the postwork, moved my lights to kill the fireflies, and added in my prop. I'm still looking for crtiques and suggestions.

    You have done a great job of focusing the attention on the combatants bridesmaids.  I just love that shoe flying through the air in the background and I can just imagine a very indignant Bride upset about her cake being destroyed.

     

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,802
    Linwelly said:

    Here's version f. Mostly changes to the cheetah girl's pose to try and balance her some and a shot of recoil from her gun(as well as her trying to fight said recoil.)

    Shinji this is a really nice render, I love what you did with the lights. What I miss a little is the action, movement, things that are off balace.

    Here's version g that I ran last night.

    I agree with knitting, it would be great to see her jump out of harms way!

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,802

    @bungle  I like what you did here.  There is still a little bit blurred distortion around the edges for a kind of modified DOF effect and yet the girls' faces are in focus now.  I like the sharpness of the image in the floor, too.

    Shinji - I like the expended shells on the ground.  That's kind of a nice touch.  Not sure if that type of gun would do that, but then it is Sci Fi so anything is possible.  I have to ask if that missile is headed straight at her or if it will miss and it's just the camera angle.  I love her expression, though.  It's like she sees it coming, but she isn't giving up.  I would probably jump out of the way.  But, then I'm a weak, puny human!  I do like what I'm seeing.  You have really come a long way since your first image way back when!

    So, I finally got my act together since I finally figured out what I wanted to do.  Action isn't exactly my thing.  However, I have a friend who likes hockey and it's the middle of all the playoff games, here and over on his side of the pond.  So, I thought a little hockey action was in order since I actually have some hockey gear for M4 and stuff.  This is just the basic setup with some temporary mesh lights and blacked out background.  I found a free hockey rink that I managed to get into DS, but I'm still working on all of the surfaces.  I'm, also, working on doing some custom texturing for the hockey uniforms.  Right now, they just have the default textures that came with the pack.  I can't do too much with the textures until my friend sees this image so I can pick his brain about any favorite players' numbers and what the proper uniform color is as I found two different colors and I'm not sure which one is the right one for his team for the first guy.  The other guy will be sporting my team's colors.  Although, it remains to be seen if my player will be sporting the US uniform for the World Championship or if I go for my favorite US team who is currently still in it for the Stanley Cup.  I guess that depends on whether or not they beat Tampa on Monday.  We'll see if I can pull it off!

    Anyway, it will be interesting to see what my friend says when he sees this post.

    Seems like a lot of work ahead of you with all the texturing you plan. I guess this would work great with some motion blurr.

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,653

    @bungle  I like what you did here.  There is still a little bit blurred distortion around the edges for a kind of modified DOF effect and yet the girls' faces are in focus now.  I like the sharpness of the image in the floor, too.

    Shinji - I like the expended shells on the ground.  That's kind of a nice touch.  Not sure if that type of gun would do that, but then it is Sci Fi so anything is possible.  I have to ask if that missile is headed straight at her or if it will miss and it's just the camera angle.  I love her expression, though.  It's like she sees it coming, but she isn't giving up.  I would probably jump out of the way.  But, then I'm a weak, puny human!  I do like what I'm seeing.  You have really come a long way since your first image way back when!

    So, I finally got my act together since I finally figured out what I wanted to do.  Action isn't exactly my thing.  However, I have a friend who likes hockey and it's the middle of all the playoff games, here and over on his side of the pond.  So, I thought a little hockey action was in order since I actually have some hockey gear for M4 and stuff.  This is just the basic setup with some temporary mesh lights and blacked out background.  I found a free hockey rink that I managed to get into DS, but I'm still working on all of the surfaces.  I'm, also, working on doing some custom texturing for the hockey uniforms.  Right now, they just have the default textures that came with the pack.  I can't do too much with the textures until my friend sees this image so I can pick his brain about any favorite players' numbers and what the proper uniform color is as I found two different colors and I'm not sure which one is the right one for his team for the first guy.  The other guy will be sporting my team's colors.  Although, it remains to be seen if my player will be sporting the US uniform for the World Championship or if I go for my favorite US team who is currently still in it for the Stanley Cup.  I guess that depends on whether or not they beat Tampa on Monday.  We'll see if I can pull it off!

    Anyway, it will be interesting to see what my friend says when he sees this post.

    Hiya there Knitting you have hit on my fav sport Hockey!!! I have goggled some ice hockey pics for you to refer to when it comes to posing the players, I agree with Kismet about them being agressive because that is the backbone of hockey is aggression. they need to have snarl like looks on their faces for sure, maybe even have a fight starting on the other side of the rink if you have oneyou have taken on a major task with hockey let me tell you!!!

  • Shinji Ikari 9thShinji Ikari 9th Posts: 1,165

    @Shinji  I agree wtih Knittingmommy about the Cat Girl's expression and the other changes you have made to your image.  All those little extras make a huge difference. 

     

    Are there any morphs for the cat ears?  Most animals with upright ears lay them back when angry or upset.  Either way this is a great image.

     

    I'll have to look when I get home from work, she's the new cheetah girl morph for G3F.

  • tcmeehantcmeehan Posts: 20
    edited May 2016

    Hi all!

    This is my first time entering.  I would love to get some feedback.  I just started using Daz3D so I don't have many options for props.  This render uses the volleyball set that comes with the tutorials. The people are both from the Callie 6 pro pack I grabbed on sale earlier this week.  I didn't do any post-render work but I do have Photoshop if anyone has ideas that involve it.  I am still learning the lingo so be patient with me.

    Thanks!

     

    bluethursday_Spike1.jpg
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    Post edited by tcmeehan on
  • tcmeehantcmeehan Posts: 20
    edited May 2016

    image

    -can't get my image to paste in my comment:(

    Post edited by tcmeehan on
  • bunglebungle Posts: 38
    edited May 2016
    tcmeehan said:

    Hi all!

    This is my first time entering.  I would love to get some feedback.  I just started using Daz3D so I don't have many options for props.  This render uses the volleyball set that comes with the tutorials. The people are both from the Callie 6 pro pack I grabbed on sale earlier this week.  I didn't do any post-render work but I do have Photoshop if anyone has ideas that involve it.  I am still learning the lingo so be patient with me.

    Thanks!'

    You have great instincts. The render came out very nice. I particulary like the skewed camera angle. A few suggestions:

    1) Your shadows look great, but with an outdoor sunlight scene, you can achieve very dramatic shadows

    2) The spikers left wrist looks unnatural

    3) The legs on the defender look like she's falling not jumping

     

    To put the image in the post. Click the image and copy the url. Edit the post and click the image button. Paste in the url, and then delete the numbers from the dimension box (so it will autoscale to the browser).

    Post edited by bungle on
  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,802
    tcmeehan said:

    Hi all!

    This is my first time entering.  I would love to get some feedback.  I just started using Daz3D so I don't have many options for props.  This render uses the volleyball set that comes with the tutorials. The people are both from the Callie 6 pro pack I grabbed on sale earlier this week.  I didn't do any post-render work but I do have Photoshop if anyone has ideas that involve it.  I am still learning the lingo so be patient with me.

    Thanks!

     

    Welcome to the new user Contest, you made an awesome start on a difficult topic, your image is action pure and the use of DOF is very effective, very well done!

    Feedback from bungle is spot on. I would add one aspect to that, I would rotate the spiker by a little so the right calf is seen a little more.

  • tcmeehantcmeehan Posts: 20
    edited May 2016
    bungle said:
    tcmeehan said:

     

    You have great instincts. The render came out very nice. I particulary like the skewed camera angle. A few suggestions:

    1) Your shadows look great, but with an outdoor sunlight scene, you can achieve very dramatic shadows

    2) The spikers left wrist looks unnatural

    3) The legs on the defender look like she's falling not jumping

     

    To put the image in the post. Click the image and copy the url. Edit the post and click the image button. Paste in the url, and then delete the numbers from the dimension box (so it will autoscale to the browser).

    Thanks for the Suggestions Bungle and Linwelly!  I will work on them later today and post the update.

    Post edited by tcmeehan on
  • MilosGulanMilosGulan Posts: 1,950
    edited May 2016

     

    Here is what I have been working on lately. It is interior of Lazy Lion Inn and beside tavern maid, You can see Lex Rewan who is ranger. He is not yet finished and my idea was to add him some magical body runes to his now a bit Japanese look, but I will have to work on it a bit more and I am not sure if I will be able to make it as I have planed. This tavern should be a meeting place for adventurers and beside him my plan is to add few more, but for this picture I think focus will be just on him and for now he is trying to order another drink :)

    Lazy Lion Inn Interior Lex Rewan.jpg
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    Post edited by MilosGulan on
  • MilosGulanMilosGulan Posts: 1,950
    edited May 2016

    Here is update to this picture, I think it is pretty much done by now.

     

    23.jpg
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    Post edited by MilosGulan on
  • HollokoHolloko Posts: 75
    edited May 2016

    I tried some different ideas with my render. I simplified the sequence by eliminating two of the characters, as suggested ewcarman. I modified the middle pose to a more powerful movement. I added some props, turning the character into a hoplite.

    I also decided to play around with Visual Style shaders to give it a cartoon look. I have some more work to do with that to get the look I want. If anyone has some experience with VS, I would appreciate some input. I'm trying to figure out how to do the lighting properly in VS. I have to think about it completely differently. Instead of using colored lights to get the effect I want, I have to change the color of the shaders, etc. I was also having a difficult time getting the shadow to cast (visibly anyway) on the ground when I added shaders to the ground. I feel like the occlusion is not showing up well. I plan to do some practice renders with crazy colors for each variable so I can clearly see what is doing what.

    I did another camera angle with only the middle figure visible to play around with some possibilities.

    Finding clothes that look right is kicking my backside. The position is extreme and it ends up distorting the clothes. I tried the dynamic skirt for Hercules, which is the look I want. I can load it fine on one of the characters and it looks good. When I try to add it and drape it to the other two figures, it gets all sorts of weird. The textures get distorted and they skirt starts stretching all over the entire scene (sometimes covering the whole thing). I double checked my settings and they appear to be fine - colliding with the correct figure.

    I watched some tutorials on dformer, Knittingmommy. I've never tried it before. I hope to try this week to solve the clothes problem and add some hills, etc. to the terrain using dformer. 

    I may be trying too many new (to me) things at a time...but I'm having fun with it anyway!

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    Post edited by Holloko on
  • bunglebungle Posts: 38
    edited May 2016
    tcmeehan said:

    This is my first time entering.  I would love to get some feedback.  I just started using Daz3D so I don't have many options for props. 

    I don't think you should change your volleyball scene, but this is just an FYI for everybody. DAZ lets you easily import OBJs as props. I've also found that with Iray these often can look fantastic if you apply a shader or edit the surface properties manually, and don't even bother with UVs or texture maps. There are several websites that have OBJ form 3D models for download for free, which you can incorporate as a prop. You can also edit these props in Blender (free 3D tool) to alter their shape.

    Three skills I'm beginning to learn that have really helped me out:

    1) Learning to surface shade with Iray: there are a bunch of threads and this feels overwhelming and complicated at first, but keep at it and you will start to get the hang of it.

    2) Learning to make bump maps. You can actually download bumps from all sorts of real surface scans and apply them to your surfaces. You can also edit and blend bump maps in Photoshop or Gimp. This is most important for closeups.

    3) Editing models - Whether its Genesis or a prop, you can edit the model in other 3d tools (like blender). These can be reimported to DAZ as a prop or morph target for a figure.

    Post edited by bungle on
  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    Holloko said:

    I tried some different ideas with my render. I simplified the sequence by eliminating two of the characters, as suggested ewcarman. I modified the middle pose to a more powerful movement. I added some props, turning the character into a hoplite.

    I also decided to play around with Visual Style shaders to give it a cartoon look. I have some more work to do with that to get the look I want. If anyone has some experience with VS, I would appreciate some input. I'm trying to figure out how to do the lighting properly in VS. I have to think about it completely differently. Instead of using colored lights to get the effect I want, I have to change the color of the shaders, etc. I was also having a difficult time getting the shadow to cast (visibly anyway) on the ground when I added shaders to the ground. I feel like the occlusion is not showing up well. I plan to do some practice renders with crazy colors for each variable so I can clearly see what is doing what.

    I did another camera angle with only the middle figure visible to play around with some possibilities.

    Finding clothes that look right is kicking my backside. The position is extreme and it ends up distorting the clothes. I tried the dynamic skirt for Hercules, which is the look I want. I can load it fine on one of the characters and it looks good. When I try to add it and drape it to the other two figures, it gets all sorts of weird. The textures get distorted and they skirt starts stretching all over the entire scene (sometimes covering the whole thing). I double checked my settings and they appear to be fine - colliding with the correct figure.

    I watched some tutorials on dformer, Knittingmommy. I've never tried it before. I hope to try this week to solve the clothes problem and add some hills, etc. to the terrain using dformer. 

    I may be trying too many new (to me) things at a time...but I'm having fun with it anyway!

    I was recently reading an article that was saying that all those wonderful ancient Greek reliefs were, at one point in time, painted...

    That's looking pretty good. 

  • ewcarmanewcarman Posts: 180
    edited May 2016
    Holloko said:

    I tried some different ideas with my render. I simplified the sequence by eliminating two of the characters, as suggested ewcarman. I modified the middle pose to a more powerful movement. I added some props, turning the character into a hoplite.

    I also decided to play around with Visual Style shaders to give it a cartoon look. I have some more work to do with that to get the look I want. If anyone has some experience with VS, I would appreciate some input. I'm trying to figure out how to do the lighting properly in VS. I have to think about it completely differently. Instead of using colored lights to get the effect I want, I have to change the color of the shaders, etc. I was also having a difficult time getting the shadow to cast (visibly anyway) on the ground when I added shaders to the ground. I feel like the occlusion is not showing up well. I plan to do some practice renders with crazy colors for each variable so I can clearly see what is doing what.

    I did another camera angle with only the middle figure visible to play around with some possibilities.

    Finding clothes that look right is kicking my backside. The position is extreme and it ends up distorting the clothes. I tried the dynamic skirt for Hercules, which is the look I want. I can load it fine on one of the characters and it looks good. When I try to add it and drape it to the other two figures, it gets all sorts of weird. The textures get distorted and they skirt starts stretching all over the entire scene (sometimes covering the whole thing). I double checked my settings and they appear to be fine - colliding with the correct figure.

    I watched some tutorials on dformer, Knittingmommy. I've never tried it before. I hope to try this week to solve the clothes problem and add some hills, etc. to the terrain using dformer. 

    I may be trying too many new (to me) things at a time...but I'm having fun with it anyway!

     

     

    This is really looking good. The cartoon look is really cool. I like the way the shadows are accenting the muscles on the actors, especially the more subtle bits on the legs. I think you are on the right track with the deformers. I use them to fix stuff all the time. KnittingMommy's tutorials should be all you need, but just in case - this is the one I learned from when I was just starting (which wasn't that long ago, but it pre-dated KnittingMommy's work)

     

    I don't have anything constructive to say at this point - even the grip on the shield looks really good. I can't wait to see what you do next with this.

    Keep having fun - you'll learn so much more that way!

    Post edited by ewcarman on
  • WonderlandWonderland Posts: 6,742
    edited May 2016

    @bungle, never mind, this comment was about your earlier two renders, didn't see the new one which is great!

    Original comment: Try layering both versions and playing with opacity! I like the lighting on the straight render but the blur effects of the postwork one.... Sometimes layering several different versions, playing with opacity and even partially erasing some sections can give you great results! Oh, and don't forget the burn and dodge tools!

    Post edited by Wonderland on
  • WonderlandWonderland Posts: 6,742
    edited May 2016

    @tcmeehan

    I'm brand new to DS too, (but long time Poser user,) so I can't give you too much advice for the render itself although I would suggest playing with the sun/sky render setting (try different times of day!) The render itself reminds me of a product promo render which is great if you're doing a product promo and really great for a new user, but I would suggest postwork to make it more into a piece of art. The characters I think are too stylized to go for a photo-realistic scene so I would bring it into Photoshop and try something arty... Maybe add clouds, play with filters and brushes, dodge and burn, contrast, layering, actions, etc...

    Post edited by Wonderland on
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