WIP Thread for June New Users Contest.

Loaar

dalbelo said:

I am new to art in general and CG art in particular.

Dalbelo
Daz Studio - FTW

Your post has some excellent advice on where to look for tips to help you understand how things work in general, and not just in DAZ.

I find I learn much more about a feature in DAZ when I can understand WHY something works that way, rather than just learn that selecting "X" achieves "Y".

DollyGirl

version3 said:

Thanks for the tips Dollygirl (and sorry for not doing it sooner) but I decided to bench that project and start again, I don't know how I managed it but for some reason the light on the left side of her head was shining out through her right ear.... honestly!!

Thanks to Jaderail for his three point lighting tute, it showed me a few things I am doing wrong.

Anyway this is my new project, hope you like it and feedback is welcome.

DS4 render, tweeked the brightness in photoshop.

version3, nice subject. I like the warm glow of the picture. I would remove the candle from the render. You don't really need it because of the light color choice. I would also turn his head towards the camera so that he can melt my heart.

DollyGirl

kitakoredazu said:

I changed dresses color (I guess blue is more outstanding from back, but that is not my attempt,
so I choiced green color, yeah actulally she is not so stylish lady )

and make back ground with plane and free texture in daz 4

Of course I thought long time to decide back texture(color), but, I feel the color is ok.(the color is my intention:red:)
and set 3 lights adjust again. (move ,tweak parameters , )

I add acdessory on her and moved it forword (she may like the pendant, and she know blue is not so much
her dresses and her eyes color, but, she loves it, so she wear on. maybe.)

I want to make some shadow of pendants on her skin but I can do it well.

Of course I have waited and be waiting other advices.:roll:

kitakoredazu,
You have a very pretty composition of your young lady and your color choices are pleasant. I would see if there were some make-up options for your skin texture. Since she is an unsophisticated young lady something that adds just a little more color to her cheeks. If you do that then you can up the intensity on the front lights and that should give you more shadow on her necklace. I would also increase the specularity on the necklace pendant.

On another note, to all the contestants, in DAZ4 you don't need the extra cameras to see where your light is pointing. There is an option in the render window to chose any light. Once selected you will be looking through the light at what it is lighting up.

BWSman

kylumi said:

There are so many great renders here, way better than when I started. I cannot comment on them all but, this will add to Jade's explantion of 3 point lighting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting

The most important aspect of producing a sucessful render is the lighting arrangement.
Its not just a matter of putting 3 lights in a scene and hitting the render button.
Each light needs to be adjusted for position, intensity and colour. See this: http://www.secondpicture.com/tutorials/3d/three-point_lighting_in_3ds_max_01.html

In order to get the lighting just right you will need to bring in another camera or two, this will allow you to select a desired camera and adjust its position to where you want your light to be directed.....then simply move a light to match the position of the camera.

For added effect, [not necessarily realism] the Rim Light [AKA, Back Light] is king.
The best renders are always those with the best lighting arrangements.

The problem I have with lighting is the fact it takes longer for me to set-up than the scene itself. But, once mastered, it is well worth the effort.

:-)

This isn't necessary in DS as you can look through spotlights and distant lights as if they were cameras. I believe these same lights automatically have cameras attached to them in Poser.

Another tip - for the key light; use raytraced shadows as they are more realistic than the deep shadow map.

DollyGirl

Sasje said:

I changed my second picture. :)
I used now the three spotlights and play around with it, second I rotated the model.

Sasje, I like this render a lot. Lighting is good and the subject is interesting. The only thing I would change is the white trim on the jacket. This is supose to be sheepskin. Sometimes Poser files don't play nice in DAZ so you have to manually make some changes to make the textures work. This is espicially true for fur. I would hunt around in your content directory to see if there are settings for DAZ for the trim. If not, then here is a link to Pen's free fur shader if you don't have furify by Marieah and 3DLust. Pen only has one color option but here are my settings for a white fur, Diffuse 233 233 233, Glossiness 153 153 153, Ambient 192 192 192. I set the Displace-Standard(4) min to 2.0 and Displacement(3) Displace Max to 5.00. You will need to set your advanced render settings for Bucket size to 8 and shading rate to .2 to make the shader work correctly.
http://www.pendraia.com/furpresets.html

kitakoredaz

whao! (small sound)
thanks so much chocohole,, wuuhh I m not polite man so, I apolojize to you for my rudeness before my topic,,

and Yes I needs much lighting change, not a litte. now I have three light set, so I could not choose
which I first tweak is better, yeah I understand the order of priority. it is my main linght (from her right is my main spot light)
maybe, it is intensy and rotation . thanks I try and will show again, more and more tweak..
(I did not know what IMO means, but I understand now, I use it nexttime :) )

@BWsman
acttualy I did not know well how to set background (wiht texture) in daz 4, but with your advice, I can try it.
thank you much.

I felt black is most symple, and not make much problems (for beginner as I am) but I wanted to set background.
but you pointed out what I want (you may think it is better more vivid color and this color is indistinct? (I feel )
I will try onother background after content my light.

@Dollygirl

Since she is an unsophisticated young lady something that adds just a little more color to her cheeks. If you do that then you can up the intensity on the front lights and that should give you more shadow on her necklace

yes, I agree . Woo can I add color on her cheak? I try it . and yes I mistook on front light . I challenge it first.
(I hope keep soft light, but need shadow. yes I can not do it well , it is not my image.)

thanks your tips, uu,,every time I changed view and 2 camera for lighting ,,,

I will try allthings and when I feel I get more progress, I will show it and ask teachers.

thanks so much advices , my teachers and classmates. bye now.

lorendalbert_6f378a4ce5

Loaar said:

dalbelo said:

I am new to art in general and CG art in particular.

Dalbelo
Daz Studio - FTW

Your post has some excellent advice on where to look for tips to help you understand how things work in general, and not just in DAZ.

I find I learn much more about a feature in DAZ when I can understand WHY something works that way, rather than just learn that selecting "X" achieves "Y".

Loaar,

I agree totally. For example, learning the difference between bump and displacement, and knowing when to use each one was a game changer for me. It allowed me to move past plastic looking renders into a more photo realistic realm.

Dalbelo
Daz Studio - FTW

lorendalbert_6f378a4ce5

Frank0314 said:

dalbelo said:

Here is my second version of the portrait. I didn't like the way it looked when I added the background in Gimp so I added the background in DS4 and renders it and now the hair lights are easier to see in this version.

Beautiful render. May want to rotate the light just a bit towards the front of the face so it highlights the cheeks and hair. It's just a very small tweak.

Frank0314,

Thanks for the suggestion. I really like the way the her face seems more alive. I had the key light above eye level so I moved it down to eye level and closer to the camera. I also moved the fill light closer to the camera and dropped it below eye level and rotated it up. It created some nice transitions from highlight to shadow on the torso, especially on the shoulders. I also increased the displacement value on the skin and lips so that they were so smooth. All in all, this lighting tweak created a much more dramatic image. Thanks again.

Dalbelo
Daz Studio - FTW

frank0314

dalbelo said:

Frank0314 said:

dalbelo said:

Here is my second version of the portrait. I didn't like the way it looked when I added the background in Gimp so I added the background in DS4 and renders it and now the hair lights are easier to see in this version.

Beautiful render. May want to rotate the light just a bit towards the front of the face so it highlights the cheeks and hair. It's just a very small tweak.

Frank0314,

Thanks for the suggestion. I really like the way the her face seems more alive. I had the key light above eye level so I moved it down to eye level and closer to the camera. I also moved the fill light closer to the camera and dropped it below eye level and rotated it up. It created some nice transitions from highlight to shadow on the torso, especially on the shoulders. I also increased the displacement value on the skin and lips so that they were so smooth. All in all, this lighting tweak created a much more dramatic image. Thanks again.

Dalbelo
Daz Studio - FTW

Looks great!

Chohole

I agree with Frank it is looking good. Is there any reason you are choosing to use a black background, a lighter one may bring here more into the forefront of the image.

Jaderail

chohole said:

I agree with Frank it is looking good. Is there any reason you are choosing to use a black background, a lighter one may bring here more into the forefront of the image.

I agree with you both great work, a different background would also pop the highlights in the hair much more.

lorendalbert_6f378a4ce5

Jaderail said:

chohole said:

I agree with Frank it is looking good. Is there any reason you are choosing to use a black background, a lighter one may bring here more into the forefront of the image.

I agree with you both great work, a different background would also pop the highlights in the hair much more.

Any color suggestions for the background? I'm totally lost when it comes to that subject.

Jaderail

dalbelo said:

Jaderail said:

chohole said:

I agree with Frank it is looking good. Is there any reason you are choosing to use a black background, a lighter one may bring here more into the forefront of the image.

I agree with you both great work, a different background would also pop the highlights in the hair much more.

Any color suggestions for the background? I'm totally lost when it comes to that subject.
Just lighter would work, I would try to keep it like a Photo studio for this image. No tree's or stuff, just some kind of thing you might find behind a pro photo.

frank0314

Jaderail said:

chohole said:

I agree with Frank it is looking good. Is there any reason you are choosing to use a black background, a lighter one may bring here more into the forefront of the image.

I agree with you both great work, a different background would also pop the highlights in the hair much more.

Agree. A Lighter background would definitely help with highlighting the figure all the way around.

Chohole

I would actually go for something with a sort of desaturated blue/green colour. Not explaining that too well, but sort of the opposite side of the colour spectrum to the colour of her dress,

frank0314

Sasje said:

I changed my second picture. :)
I used now the three spotlights and play around with it, second I rotated the model.

Looks great. You've shown a great amount of improvement over the last month. Only thing I may suggest is possibly a lighter background. The framing and lighting look great to me.

kylumi

BWSman said:

kylumi said:

There are so many great renders here, way better than when I started. I cannot comment on them all but, this will add to Jade's explantion of 3 point lighting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting

The most important aspect of producing a sucessful render is the lighting arrangement.
Its not just a matter of putting 3 lights in a scene and hitting the render button.
Each light needs to be adjusted for position, intensity and colour. See this: http://www.secondpicture.com/tutorials/3d/three-point_lighting_in_3ds_max_01.html

In order to get the lighting just right you will need to bring in another camera or two, this will allow you to select a desired camera and adjust its position to where you want your light to be directed.....then simply move a light to match the position of the camera.

For added effect, [not necessarily realism] the Rim Light [AKA, Back Light] is king.
The best renders are always those with the best lighting arrangements.

The problem I have with lighting is the fact it takes longer for me to set-up than the scene itself. But, once mastered, it is well worth the effort.

:-)

This isn't necessary in DS as you can look through spotlights and distant lights as if they were cameras. I believe these same lights automatically have cameras attached to them in Poser.

Another tip - for the key light; use raytraced shadows as they are more realistic than the deep shadow map.

Yes, BWSman, you are quite right, you can look directly through the lights, but as you may/may not know there are instances that your lighting [spotlight] may end up, upside down. Then when you want to look down it your scene is upside-down too???..........been there done that :lol: Its my preference really, I simply prefer the camera method.....after all, you will always look through the lens before shooting a scene and not through the lighting surrounding you. ;-)

Sasje

Thank you Dollygirl for the advice and the link, I found something in the shader map
and play around with it. I think it looks better now :-)
Frank0314 thank you, I learned a lot from all those tips and advice. :-)

DollyGirl

cho said:

I would actually go for something with a sort of desaturated blue/green colour. Not explaining that too well, but sort of the opposite side of the colour spectrum to the colour of her dress,

Flesh Forge has a simple studio backdrop with various colors including grey. There is also a UV map for those of you that would like to try your hand at texturing. Beware this is an adult site. If you go wondering you may get some surprises.
https://sites.google.com/site/fleshforge/Home/free-stuff-1/simple-backdrop

Below is a color star. What cho is trying to tell you is that with her skin warm brown the complementary color is blue. A paler blue would be better than a saturated blue.

mhomes_047ff78b8d

I took to heart everything that I have been reading here regarding proper lighting techniques and did my best to put what I learned into practice.

I changed the background, reworked the lighting and this was my end result.

Layden.

Chohole

Layden said:

I took to heart everything that I have been reading here regarding proper lighting techniques and did my best to put what I learned into practice.

I changed the background, reworked the lighting and this was my end result.

Layden.

Sorry Layden, I still think that this one is the best version

Layden's previous try

mhomes_047ff78b8d

Thank you Chohole.

I believe I will submit the previous version for the competition.

I think I got myself all confused because I was trying to incorporate what was being told to other people regarding lighting. I guess I just didn't know when to quit. lol

Thanks.

Layden

DollyGirl

Sasje said:

Thank you Dollygirl for the advice and the link, I found something in the shader map
and play around with it. I think it looks better now :-)
Frank0314 thank you, I learned a lot from all those tips and advice. :-)

Very nice Sasje. This is a much better render more real and more interesting.
Lonnie

Jaderail

I agree with Chohole, Layden. Your last version of your original render was great. We had nothing to add because it looked so good.

Sasje you have improved that image so much now. The collar and cuffs really add to it. If you wish to try anything else it would just be the background. I'm at a loss as to which way I would go with it. It might not need any more work at all. That would be your call.

P.S. I'm loving watching all these renders grow and improve. I wish the contest's had of been like this back in my day.

Chohole

Jaderail said:

I agree with Chohole, Layden. Your last version of your original render was great. We had nothing to add because it looked so good.

Sasje you have improved that image so much now. The collar and cuffs really add to it. If you wish to try anything else it would just be the background. I'm at a loss as to which way I would go with it. It might not need any more work at all. That would be your call.

P.S. I'm loving watching all these renders grow and improve. I wish the contest's had of been like this back in my day.

Ain't that just the truth. I was lucky in that my app of choice the poeple in the forums are always willing to help and give advice, but actually having a challenge that pushes you to try better, because there may just be a small prize at the end of it, is really helpful I am glad you like the direction we have taken this contest in, and glad to see that most people are taking it in the spirt that we were hoping for.

mhomes_047ff78b8d

Thank you Jaderail

I guess I just expected that I would have to work more at it. lol
I've "owned" my Daz Studio program for quite a while and in that time, I barely touched it because I really didn't expect it to be as easy as it is. And I only started to make renders last month.

Through these last two contests, (May and the one for this month), I've learned more that I had ever expected to and I'm grateful.

Layden

kylumi

OK......I was working on something else and thought it would helpful for this thread it kinda gives visual idea on how lighting can make all the difference to image.

a) The first image has a single distant light directed to the right.
b) The second image has 4 lights, one distant light directed level to right with a tint of yellow, one distant light tinted yellow direct slightly downward to the right, 1 linear point light, over the left shoulder and one spot light with a tint of blue over right shoulder pointing sideways.
c) The third image has a NIK filter applied in photoshop......[this is what I working on. How, colored Daz lights affect my NIKS!]

You can see I have created double rim effect .......... I guess that would be frowned on in photographic circles but, what the hell do they know...:lol:

Anyway, you can see the differences in my images. My idea with lighting is to give the best dramatic effect on an image as I possibly can, I like to create a high contrast/high exposure range in portraits to give them that dramatic look.
The 3 light rule is great in a photographic studio but, to replicate it in Daz is not for the faint-hearted, [in my experience, anyway].

My final image is not that great, the scene could have done with some uplight, but compared to the single distant light image there is a mile of difference.

I know some of you guys may struggle with your hardware and render times but, I would say make one good image rather than several poor ones. Take your time and get that lighting as good as you can get it, once you master that your well on your way to making fantastic artwork.

If your unsure....throw another light at it..:lol:

Check out my final version here.............. http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/1389/P15/

lorendalbert_6f378a4ce5

Here is the latest version with a cool blue background. I took some extra time to attempt some bounce lighting on her shoulders. The last thing I did was re-position the eyes because they didn't seem quite right in the previous renders.

DollyGirl

Layden said:

I took to heart everything that I have been reading here regarding proper lighting techniques and did my best to put what I learned into practice.

I changed the background, reworked the lighting and this was my end result.

Layden.

Layden,
If you are still wanting to play with your scene may I make a suggestion? Keep your spots, keep your pose, keep everything but add the Uber-environment. From your render it looks like you are using the Amy Elite texture. This is designed to use onmifreaker's Uber Human Surface Shader with the Uber light system. I like this set:
http://inaneglory.deviantart.com/art/Simple-Soft-Lighting-Freebie-193115008
You will get a really cool red head skin effect with this setup, pale, milky and velvety. Here is the link to set it up her skin.
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/artzone/azproduct/7412
Also bring back your Fantasy background as this won't bother the uber-environment. Because it is a close up I would dial down the bump number a little so she doesn't look like she has had small pox.
This suggestion in no way means that your choosen render is not good. It is just something to experience. I did this setup for one of my pin-ups in my husband's pin-up calendar and I think she was one of my most favorite pieces. The Amy texture is just downright beautiful. If you want to you could also apply the shader to the rose. Rose petals when you hold them up to the light look like skin too.
Hope you try this but you don't have to tell me that you did. I understand.
Lonnie

frank0314

Layden said:

I took to heart everything that I have been reading here regarding proper lighting techniques and did my best to put what I learned into practice.

I changed the background, reworked the lighting and this was my end result.

Layden.

I agree with Cho, this one is the best.