Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 9

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    Taoz said:

    If you keep the first (or any render of the current scene) open when you do the next, it will also start rendering faster (= shorter total rendering time) because a lot of stuff is already in memory.

    Oh snap. I didn't know that. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2017

    @cismic   Very nice! I'm going out on a limb here (I don't think you'll mind though) to give a suggestion. Not a criticism- a suggestion. You might want to try lowering the lumens of some of the Ghost Lights so there's more drama, asymmetrical lighting.  Right now my eye is pulled both directions with those honey-buns in the hair, as they look pretty symmetrical with the lighting. Having one side lessened with light and strong side lighting would make a big impact on that render. I also try to avoid lighting from directly overhead, over the shoulder and above adds more drama to rim lighting.

    Here's the BOSS lights that show how a vendor sets up the lighting. Whenever I use lighting presets, I turn my figure so it's asymmetrically lit.BOSS lights are used in combination with each other or added lights, I think this one is good enough to be a stand alone. I would love to see your scene lit with BOSS. Sorry this is so small, it's the renders I did for the BOSS thread. And again, all this is just my opinion on the render, I love the energy and hair movement, colors, posing, etc. I  just tend to favor side lighting and getting things a bit "uneven" in lighting. This is what I'd love to see on that one (and it's light number 10)  Edit- if you mouse over the attached images, you'll see the BOSS light number.) 

    BossLight3.png
    188 x 250 - 53K
    BossLight5.png
    188 x 250 - 67K
    BOSSLight8.png
    188 x 250 - 62K
    BOSSLight10.png
    188 x 250 - 62K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • TaozTaoz Posts: 9,939
    Taoz said:
    Fishtales said:
    Taoz said:

    I've stopped buying HDRI. I used to be a total addict, but I find too much sameness in the quality of light and they don't produce results I can use.

    I use them rarely too, it's mostly because I'm looking for some clear or just slightly clouded dome skies which seem to be hard to find in a good quality. Maybe I'll just stick with Dreamlight's which is just a set or presets for the IRay sky, but at least it hasn't any artifacts.

    I find that the dome changes every HDRI that I put into it, even high resolution ones. I don't know what it does but they are either not sharp or are lighter than they should be. It might just be my settings though but I do get the odd one that is 'nearly' the same :)

    The lack of sharpness seems to be common and one of the reasons I'm not much for HDRIs that includes environment. Not sure what the reason is either, maybe they're just low resolution pictures that are upsized (if that makes any sense with an HDRI?). The one I've used here is 328 MB and genuine high resolution I assume, at least it looks pretty sharp to me. I've tried to reduce the size to 1/4 but then it gets very blurred.

     

    The lack of sharpness is because in most renders you are only getting a very, very small portion of the full HDR as the background. Open an HDR in an image editor sometimes and compare how much actually makes it into the shot. So they need to be around 8k to stay reasonably clear, and more like 16k for large images or really good sharpness retention. Here's a pretty good article that talks about this.

    http://adaptivesamples.com/2016/02/23/what-makes-good-hdri/

    Was thinking it was something like that yes. Thanks!

  • cismiccismic Posts: 629

    Here is a test image with Kallisto and lighting entirely scene and surround by 6 ghost light panels. Top, bottom and all sides. Now, adjusting the lights little by little to see what can be done. The light behind was set at lums of 1M with the Backdrop a night spooky moon image.  Was 56MB after 43 minutes. Will render this over the weekend. 

    Exposure Value 20.04,Shutter Speed 8000, F/Stop 10, ISO 135 Vignetting 2, Saturation 1.40, Gamma, 3.0

    The hair was actually setup as all black, even with the philw hair shaders also using all black, This setup kind of gave the gray, white, black appearance. The dress would not work with Dforce at all. Crashed once, then when from base pose to this pose and blowups like a brain mushroom. After that just received error that says unable to load simulation. will try again another day. Nah, the last sentence is mine. 

    Novica said:
    cismic said:

    There are some interesting items in fast grab right now. I'm thinking about this item now. https://www.daz3d.com/perspectx-family-room

     

    Showcased that here this past June.

    In the cart as it looks nice with all the extra props for use some place. :-) Thank you.

     

  • cismiccismic Posts: 629

    @cismic   Very nice! I'm going out on a limb here (I don't think you'll mind though) to give a suggestion. Not a criticism- a suggestion. You might want to try lowering the lumens of some of the Ghost Lights so there's more drama, asymmetrical lighting.  Right now my eye is pulled both directions with those honey-buns in the hair, as they look pretty symmetrical with the lighting. Having one side lessened with light and strong side lighting would make a big impact on that render. I also try to avoid lighting from directly overhead, over the shoulder and above adds more drama to rim lighting.

    Novica said:

    Here's the BOSS lights that show how a vendor sets up the lighting. Whenever I use lighting presets, I turn my figure so it's asymmetrically lit.BOSS lights are used in combination with each other or added lights, I think this one is good enough to be a stand alone. I would love to see your scene lit with BOSS. Sorry this is so small, it's the renders I did for the BOSS thread. And again, all this is just my opinion on the render, I love the energy and hair movement, colors, posing, etc. I  just tend to favor side lighting and getting things a bit "uneven" in lighting. This is what I'd love to see on that one (and it's light number 10)

    I really like the bosslight 10 image. Can see the coolness in the lights and could fit into many scenes. I even expanded the honeybun on the right side of her head. :-) Well, actualy that's because of the pose the fingers were growing hair! :-)  I'll work with the lihgts in a similar fashion to the boss lights and see if I can get this more edgy. Thanks for the tip. I'll post an update to the image when render is complete. I think I it will be more dramatic.

  • StonemasonStonemason Posts: 1,179
    L'Adair said:
    Novica said:
    L'Adair said:

    The snow is part of the Winter Castle product. Oddly enough, they are 3DL shaders. They render beautifully in Iray. I tried converting them with the Iray Uber Base and the snow disappeared!

    do you mean the Winter Castle has 3dl shaders?,that set only has an Iray version and has a custom built Iray shader applied.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,224
    edited November 2017

    I think the Glitter Sweet Girls skin texture works well on young males. Here I used some morph dials to make a teen G8M (we need Growing Up to do a good job with that) and used the UV Swap to apply Glitter Sweet Girls skin to him. To me, the eyebrows look more at home on a male. In the kissing image, the girl is Monique 8 with Growing Up for G8F. The pose is from Tender Moments for Genesis 3, which I converted for Genesis 8.

     

    Male Younger Joy Skin_001.jpg
    1600 x 2000 - 1M
    Teens Kissing_002.jpg
    1600 x 2000 - 2M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,636

    Awww those are supe cute barbult.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,224

    Awww those are supe cute barbult.

    Thanks, I thought I'd have a lot of trouble with the kissing pose, because the characters were morphed and scaled, but all I had to do was tweak the hand position of Monique and adjust the head very slightly. I was lucky!

  • cismiccismic Posts: 629

    In this evenings DIM there is a product update for Bend Control for Genesis 8 Female(s) and Kallisto for Genesis 3 and Genesis 8 Female. 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,636
    barbult said:

    Awww those are supe cute barbult.

    Thanks, I thought I'd have a lot of trouble with the kissing pose, because the characters were morphed and scaled, but all I had to do was tweak the hand position of Monique and adjust the head very slightly. I was lucky!

    Yeah poses with disparate height characters cause me trouble all the time.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    @barbult  Totally agree with SereneNight, that is just an adorable kissing scene!  And yep, that skin totally works on him.  Thanks for sharing how well that UV swap can be used to get more versatility from the skins.

  • cismiccismic Posts: 629
    barbult said:

    Awww those are supe cute barbult.

    Thanks, I thought I'd have a lot of trouble with the kissing pose, because the characters were morphed and scaled, but all I had to do was tweak the hand position of Monique and adjust the head very slightly. I was lucky!

    Very nice. 2nd images remind me of the gkids asking to go play at the school park.

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    L'Adair said:
    Novica said:
    L'Adair said:

    The snow is part of the Winter Castle product. Oddly enough, they are 3DL shaders. They render beautifully in Iray. I tried converting them with the Iray Uber Base and the snow disappeared!

    do you mean the Winter Castle has 3dl shaders?,that set only has an Iray version and has a custom built Iray shader applied.

    Well, that's truly embarrassing. I took the time to look at the shaders in depth, and I was most defintely wrong. I think it was that most of the properties used gray backgrounds, when I'm used to seeing colors for Iray and gray for 3DL. My apologies. I shall go correct my post now.

    I'm sorry, and I'll pay closer attention next time.

    And I love the set. That snow really does look amazing.

  • cismiccismic Posts: 629
    edited November 2017

    Joseph KravisHere is an update that is moving in the right direction. :-) With suggetions included. I've changed the background adjusted the lighting a great amount. I think the dress has to be changed. When zoomed in the textures seem off But, the type of colors works with this image. 

    Two By Two Two.jpg
    3846 x 5000 - 2M
    Post edited by cismic on
  • MelanieLMelanieL Posts: 7,368
    Novica said:
    Taoz said:

    If you keep the first (or any render of the current scene) open when you do the next, it will also start rendering faster (= shorter total rendering time) because a lot of stuff is already in memory.

    Oh snap. I didn't know that.

    Me neither. Wow, what a good idea, I must try that - thanks Taoz

    barbult said:

    I think the Glitter Sweet Girls skin texture works well on young males. Here I used some morph dials to make a teen G8M (we need Growing Up to do a good job with that) and used the UV Swap to apply Glitter Sweet Girls skin to him. To me, the eyebrows look more at home on a male...

    He looks great, Barbult - nice renders too.

  • pruggipruggi Posts: 151

    Did anyone happen to purchase the Desert Mage, who can say whether the shoulder armour is separated (the metalic looking pieces from the promo pics)? The description shows Cape and Coat, so I'm thinking they may be together with either the cape or coat.

  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,116
    edited November 2017

    Desert Mage Outfit laid out. The shoulder armour isn't removable.

    Click on image for full size.

    desert-mage-outfit-001.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 301K
    Post edited by Fishtales on
  • pruggipruggi Posts: 151
    Fishtales said:

    Desert Mage Outfit laid out. The shoulder armour isn't removable.

    Ahh that's too bad. Thanks so much for the screenshots though, this was very helpful :)

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 9,939
    pruggi said:
    Fishtales said:

    Desert Mage Outfit laid out. The shoulder armour isn't removable.

    Ahh that's too bad. Thanks so much for the screenshots though, this was very helpful :)

    But it's quite possible that you can make it invisible using Opacity. Question is though how things look underneath, if it's not meant to be removed.

  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,116
    edited November 2017

    I removed them using the Geometry Editing Tool. Those black marks are on the coat and not shadows as I moved the dome about but they never moved or went away.

    Click on image for full size.

    desert-mage-outfit-002.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 422K
    Post edited by Fishtales on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited November 2017

    Catching up! This is an older render of Trousseau, which is new to PC+ and was in the offerings within the past week. I draped it with VWD but Charlie tried it in dForce with good results. (I don't think I posted it here already, but can't remember.)

    Trousseau2.jpg
    2376 x 2588 - 1M
    Post edited by Llynara on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    Fishtales said:

    I removed them using the Geometry Editing Tool. Those black marks are on the coat and not shadows as I moved the dome about but they never moved or went away.

    Click on image for full size.

    The healing tool in Photoshop will take that right out of a render. If it's baked into the texture, you could spiff that up in Photoshop. I don't own that one yet or I'd play with it.

  • pruggipruggi Posts: 151
    Fishtales said:

    I removed them using the Geometry Editing Tool. Those black marks are on the coat and not shadows as I moved the dome about but they never moved or went away.

    Thanks again @Fishtales & @Taoz, yea I will probably end up buying it today to trigger another round of free props - the shoulder pieces and staff were the only things I really wanted out of there, but the price is so low that I can't really complain! That is strange about the dark spots though.

    @Llynara This is beautiful!!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    L'Adair said:

    Well, that's truly embarrassing. I took the time to look at the shaders in depth, and I was most defintely wrong. I think it was that most of the properties used gray backgrounds, when I'm used to seeing colors for Iray and gray for 3DL. My apologies. I shall go correct my post now.

    LOL don't take this wrong, but I got the giggles. You always know everything (well, 99.97%) and help me everytime I get stuck (which is often, of course) so when Stefan came on the thread (which we're honored) with that, I actually laughed and thought, "Okay, she's NOT a robot. She actually is human!"  You've seen me do so many DUHs it's nice to have another member of the club. (We all belong, actually.) 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    @cismic  That's coming right along! 
    Sometimes I hate Ati's app. You know, when you have that price chart showing that you could pick something up for 53 cents a month or so ago? Grrrrr. Anyway, there's not much in the Freebie section that want/need/don't have already, (only 43 things) but this little cutie struck my fancy. Armillary Sundial.  It's Poser and an obj so no DS materials (assuming I can just shader it.)  Also wanted to point out the tools, because if you do barns/farm/country the variety of shovels would come in handy.  Square Shovels  Round Shovels  and there's other tools too such as rakes, anvils, etc. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2017

    Here's the others, for fast reference. Picking them up as my second group of freebies 
    Leaf, Rake, Pitchfork
    Pick, Sledgehammer
    Axes

    Going to start rendering for you again today while doing housework, so pop back in. Keep the renders coming, loving what I'm seeing!  @llynara  That's a beautiful dress, love the flow. I don't think you'd shared that before.

    EEEEEK. We're on page 99!  (FYI, yesterday morning the thread was 46,089 view/posts, today we were at 46,654 at 11am my time (565 views/posts for 1 day) so it's rewarding to know people are seeing the renders and getting some good tips. (Thanks Taoz, that memory tip is awesome!) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    Novica said:
    L'Adair said:

    Well, that's truly embarrassing. I took the time to look at the shaders in depth, and I was most defintely wrong. I think it was that most of the properties used gray backgrounds, when I'm used to seeing colors for Iray and gray for 3DL. My apologies. I shall go correct my post now.

    LOL don't take this wrong, but I got the giggles. You always know everything (well, 99.97%) and help me everytime I get stuck (which is often, of course) so when Stefan came on the thread (which we're honored) with that, I actually laughed and thought, "Okay, she's NOT a robot. She actually is human!"  You've seen me do so many DUHs it's nice to have another member of the club. (We all belong, actually.) 

    Oh, my dear @Novica, giggle away. And if I come across as a know-it-all, I do apologize. I'm just real good at keeping quiet when I don't know something.

    Trust me, there is a lot about Daz Studio I don't know... Like most of Daz Studio. Same with Photoshop and any number of other things. I'm adept at many of the features I use frequently and pretty much clueless about those I don't.

    I am curious, and I love puzzles, so there are times when someone will ask a question that makes me want to find the answer. If I "solve the puzzle," I'll share. If I couldn't figure it out, I keep my virtual mouth shut!
    laugh

    Hugs.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2017

    You never come across as a know-it-all. EVER. You just seem to know it all! (You and @barbult  @knittingmommy  @serenenight  @llynara  @toyen  @icedragonart  @rgcincy  @fishtales  ...the list goes on.)

    Post edited by Novica on
  • BlueIreneBlueIrene Posts: 1,318
    L'Adair said:
    Novica said:
    L'Adair said:

    Well, that's truly embarrassing. I took the time to look at the shaders in depth, and I was most defintely wrong. I think it was that most of the properties used gray backgrounds, when I'm used to seeing colors for Iray and gray for 3DL. My apologies. I shall go correct my post now.

    LOL don't take this wrong, but I got the giggles. You always know everything (well, 99.97%) and help me everytime I get stuck (which is often, of course) so when Stefan came on the thread (which we're honored) with that, I actually laughed and thought, "Okay, she's NOT a robot. She actually is human!"  You've seen me do so many DUHs it's nice to have another member of the club. (We all belong, actually.) 

    Oh, my dear @Novica, giggle away. And if I come across as a know-it-all, I do apologize. I'm just real good at keeping quiet when I don't know something.

    Trust me, there is a lot about Daz Studio I don't know... Like most of Daz Studio. Same with Photoshop and any number of other things. I'm adept at many of the features I use frequently and pretty much clueless about those I don't.

    I am curious, and I love puzzles, so there are times when someone will ask a question that makes me want to find the answer. If I "solve the puzzle," I'll share. If I couldn't figure it out, I keep my virtual mouth shut!
    laugh

    Hugs.

    You've never come across as a know-it-all to me either, but one thing you come across to me as when you do know something is as a very good teacher. If ever I see a guide or explanation to something that's written by you, I know it's likely to be thorough yet accessible, and I'll understand the process when I'm done reading. Thanks for sharing the wisdom :)

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