Novica & Serene Night's Renders, Tips, Tutorials & Product Reviews Part 1
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Back from the barn, now it's storming! But at least it's cool, lol. Here's that render. I love Venomwhip's tail, couldn't have made those lit areas like that had I deliberately tried. It's so different from Herdbeast- which is good. I'm going to be adding some gold and blue back into the skin as it's now too ruddy. That's the fun in experimenting. If I ever get this thing done, I'll share it. (have other things I have to work on, plus Life.)
Well this is interesting. It took the ruddiness out, so to balance out specular, I tried a greenish yellow at less than 20%. Yep, I know, sounds UGH. But it's easily adaptable depending on what materials setup you're using. This works fairly well on Tamesis, and you can easily tweak it. You'll see the effects of the yellow-green in the skin glow.
So here's all the results from my tweaks, showing what you can do with UE2 and changing your main lights and the specular light.
Now, returning to the product reviews that started this entire thing-
MGM The Mill
Teenage Poses
Otherworldly Wonders: Tamesis
http://www.daz3d.com/otherworldly-wonders-tamesis
http://www.daz3d.com/teenage-poses
http://www.daz3d.com/mgm-the-mill
There is a nice variety in this pack, relax with stretched out laziness, or contemplate the world with a grin. These poses are for the Julie and Justin teens but they work on all Genesis figures. Here's just a few with Tamesis still as our figure, with her different makeup options. This is still the front door area of MGM Mill. The hair is Nordic Hair (because it's short and easy to use in poses with movement. I'm not even attempting to smooth out the stiff joints, this is just to showcase the poses.) The hair comes with a LOT of colors, and Tamesis comes with a lot of eye and lip colors. She'd be a great character to add to your collection, very versatile. Just note there are two- the regular and the Otherworldly, and the bundle.
These are still all with my revamped Predatron DS Lights setup that I tweaked.
More of the Teen Poses. There's a good variety of standing, sitting and motion poses. This will also show you the lighting and how it looks with different movements. I like the running one. Again, this is still Tamesis (Otherworldly) If you are looking for a hair color that matches the face inking, look at the Nordic Hair!
MGM The Mill
Teen Poses
Otherworldly Wonders: Tamesis
Here we go- Nooks and crannies of the MGM Mill that aren't shown in promos.
EDIT: What a nice surprise- just plopped off to the right of the front door are barrels, but also a very nice, huge potted plant! Would you have imagined this backdrop and arrangement when you think of a mill? Don't forget this nice corner when you're looking for a scene to render for your characters. Click to enlarge to REALLY get a good feel for that wall texture- would be great for closeup portraints.
Remember it does not have the WorldBaseXT, that's one of the DM's ground planes. This is also shown without the ivy, which spreads across the floor a LOT.
Again, it's a Julie Teen Pose.
MGM The Mill
Teen Poses
Otherworldly Wonders: Tamesis
Yes, you can even find a ledge to plop down with water already in it and set up for you. Just render! This would be on the far right as you look at the scene. Next, I'll show you around the left side- there's a neat place on top the hill that has a tree. You'll have to be careful with the foot placement as it is uneven and it's easy to get a toe through the sod. The sod isn't placed very far over either, and I didn't try to shift it. (Going on 4:30am here and I am going to get some sleep. Will post that other render sometime tomorrow.) You'd like this product, it gives you several places for photo ops.
Finishing up the mill with these two shots. It's 113 heat index right now, so yep, out to the barn I go again. Fan lady to the rescue. (Nova's so cute- he whinnies when he sees me and dances into his stall for the fan!) Will add the second shot later, can't wait on it.
Hope you enjoyed the shots of the mill. It's a nice set. Tamesis is a great character (Scott-L posted an image earlier I believe, during a hair review.) EDIT: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/19756/P780/#388512
If you have a Tamesis or mill render, feel free to share anytime!
Okay, here's the full shot of the mill. Remember that piece of ground by the front door (dark chocolate) doesn't come with it, that's from another set. I used it when I was doing the UE2 experiments with Venomwhip and Herdbeast by the front door. You'll see the corner to the right where the barrels and potted plant are, and closer up the wall to us, where the water feature is located.
Millennium Cat
http://www.daz3d.com/millennium-cat
Just playing with lights, this is a snippet using 3 spot lights, 1 distant light, and one point light overhead. The point light added some fill light to the arm and the darker part of the cat's face- but the main effect- look inside his ear closest to you. That is what I call a "nuance"- tiny details. Those hairs in there didn't show up until I added a dim point light.
If you don't have this cat, it's got a lot of props products and poses.
Strigoi The Ancient Vampire
http://www.daz3d.com/strigoi-the-ancient-vampire
One thing- be aware after you load the wings, they are not parented to Strigoi. Any movement and you might get a surprise!
Second, I am again impressed with the Stephanie 5 Pro Bundle poses- good ole Strigoi is strutting his stuff using one. So even if you're not using Stephanie, don't forget about those poses. They'll give you a good starting point and you can change them, or use "as is." (such as the one shown.)
Strigoi: The Ancient Vampire
Still with the Stephanie poses, wanted to test one sitting down. What would happen to the wings?
They folded and laid without any problems.
Highly recommend Strigoi- no posing problems, very flexible, you'd like him/her.
As always, if you have the product being reviewed, feel free to post your renders if you've done some or want to experiment. All these images were done with the same lightset btw, I just rotated the figure. When I used this last one, I had to move the character UP as he went completely out of the light, and rotated him around a bit.
Be sure to click to enlarge and click again on all of these, or you're missing some great details!
Ariadne For V6
Taylor hair
Clothing Textures For Charlize
http://www.daz3d.com/ariadne-for-v6
http://www.daz3d.com/taylor-hair
http://www.daz3d.com/clothing-textures-for-charlize
It can be hard to shop for characters based on promos. (Tell you something you DON'T know...) and Ariadne really can be quite striking the way promo pictures showcase her. However, there are nice makeup options that paired with cool or warm lights (or both at the same time if you want a deliberate contrast) that really change her looks. Yes, the one with gory blood all over her mouth is an option- have fun, not my thing.
I personally adore Taylor Hair on her. Short, sassy, bold. And for those of you with V6 who haven't tried it, yes the Taylor Hair goes on like a breeze. (It's for Genesis.)
I changed the surface on the trim at the top. I used the same shirt pattern for all of these so you could compare the makeup options, but click on the link at the top to see the options in the Clothing Textures For Charlize. Nice variety.
Remember, I'm playing around with lights (warm/cool together, opposite directions.) One of these is a much bolder test than the other.
I'm looking at it and I'm not sure if I kept the scene or not (I do so many of these just as showcases and not for personal use) but if I did, later I'll post a different view so folks can see what you're talking about. :) Love that you pointed it out, it will help others too.
Cathie
Ariadne For V6
http://www.daz3d.com/ariadne-for-v6
You're in for a treat- (relatively speaking, it's not something I do for you very often)
I am doing an ultra closeup of Ariadne For V6 so you can see the beautiful details. This render is going to be about a seven hour render, it's at 58% right now and her eye is huge- about 1.75" on my screen.
Sneak peek! Click to enlarge then click again. That is one weird bump setting for the white of her eye? I didn't change settings- this is out of the box. Am I correct that it would be the surface setting bump displacement? I can't go check, she's rendering. Anyone else have her that could check that?
Ariadne For V6
http://www.daz3d.com/ariadne-for-v6
Close up and personal! One of the many makeup options. This one seemed more glistening in the tiny square. It is makeup 02.
Click to enlarge then click again. This one is a huge render- you'll see a lot of the details.
EDIT: all of the makeup options DO have shadows under the eyes. Experimenting with the SSS options.
Guess The Set
Up for a challenge?
There are some interesting nooks and crannies in scenes- how well do you know the sets? This one may not be too hard, I tried to pick a highly detailed place to make it easier.
Oh, did I forget to mention...Just as you can flip a floor and make it background for portraits, this isn't a jacuzzi or bath tub. Good luck :)
So where is Ariadne? Be specific!
The one the Newest ADDICT used. Yes I noticed, but really what did you expect? All the info you do added up fast.
LOL- says the man nearing TEN THOUSAND posts. At least 1,000 of those are probably from bailing me out when I'm stuck!
Kidding aside, thanks for noticing :)
Cathie
Since Jaderail posted, it reminded me of something important.
Note his signature? The Freebie Challenge is extremely special this month. The gentleman who was going to host it this month died and when reading his story, I really wished I had gotten to know him. From that thread....
"The theme is dedicated to our very own BWSman, from Stratford, Onterio, Canada, who passed away suddenly last month, while walking to the bus stop to catch a bus to go to a meeting his club was having to help support the needy. “B”, as we called him here, lost both his legs in the course of about two years due to complications with his feet. In spite of the fact that he never complained, he would not let this “handicap” get him down, nor keep him in a wheel chair. He had artificial legs made and he carried on with life in a cheerful manner, giving of himself constantly. In fact, I knew him here for a long time, and never knew he had lost his legs until he PMed me from his hospital bed the day after he had the second leg removed. He had his laptop with him and wanted to come to the challenge and hang with us..."
It would be fantastic if that challenge this month was ultra, ultra, ULTRA fantastic (it always is fantastic!) so I chipped in $10 on the Honorable Mentions ($5 to each. No biggie.)
If you'd like to participate to help honor this dedicated member, you can do so by either entering the contest (get it rockin' and rollin'!) or by pitching in with a monetary amount. (I did $5 increments as it makes it easier.) You can contact the organizer music2u4u by PM'ing him from the thread. http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/26505/
If you can spare $5, or your time to get creative, please consider participating. :)
Cathie
Stephanie 5 Starter Bundle
http://www.daz3d.com/summer-love-sale/stephanie-5-starter-bundle
Let's talk. This bundle is 51% off, and I ADORE IT. I use parts of it so often that it isn't funny. Instead of almost $70, it is $34.28, which is 51% off. Why do I really like it?
Riley for starters. I'm not exactly sure WHAT it is, but when I am dialing up morphs she is a constant "go to." She just seems to get the nose exactly the way I want it, and the eyes move nicely. And the poses are GREAT to use for starting positions or "as is." MOST of the poses you see in my thread are Stephanie's! (Whenever I click on them to "go to product" I'm like, "Seriously, HER again????"
Pure Hair Crazy goes on easily and has nice morphs (but read below), the Sun Dress is also an "easy on" with pretty patterns, etc etc. It's one of those "Can use almost everything in the bundle" bundles. Seriously. If I were rating things in my product reviews, this would get an unquestionable TEN STARS from me to recommend to newbies for character, poses, and a wardrobe piece that work easily and look good. (The Sun Dress, poses, and Riley)
THIS IS 100% RILEY with a few morphs! (and she got Honorable Mention in my first contest.)
I'm so determined to show you Riley, I stopped what I was doing. LOOK!
EDIT: One thing I like about Riley- her eyebrows are REALISTIC. Many of us do not have those perfect eyebrows, plucked perfectly and to almost extinction on the ends. Click to enlarge and take a peek.
This is just plain default lighting. With real lighting (distant, spots) she is gorgeous. THIS IS A SHADING RATE OF 1.00 so I can crank these out- so don't blame the details on the vendors.
This is the dress in that bundle, loaded on, no poke-through. Riley has hips and is of a normal build, and you can dial down the hips to make her slender. I didn't because I want you to see the dress loaded fine with a FULL FIGURE selected.
https://www.daz3d.com/summer-casuals-fitted-sundress
And the Pure Hair Crazy that is in the bundle is easy to work with- you do need to do the "show eye" to get rid of some of what I term "crinklies" by the eye- hair strands that crinkle up and look like disjointed strands that end abruptly too. This is the hair loaded with about one minute of "fixes." You can still see a bit of crinkling by the eye and there is a drawback with this hair in that the crinkles are very noticeable from the side view.
EDIT: I took the hair off and reloaded and 2nd render shows the hair to you without any changes. If you use the FrontR-L and pull tlhe hair back (in combination with a few other "pull back" options, you can get the third render. Just start with FrontR-L under "Movement." Note you'll still have to fiddle with the forehead poke through (or whatever that small gap in there is. Looks like a little black heart, lol! I'd normally just fix that in postwork, it's faster.)
This is all without smoothing (you'd have to add it) or collision. So just be aware the hair isn't the selling point of the bundle, but still usable and cute from different angles.
Review of the Stephanie 5 Starter Bundle
http://www.daz3d.com/summer-love-sale/stephanie-5-starter-bundle
The Cool Sports for Genesis in the bundle- kinda funky. The zipper and particularly the fastener are overly large and frankly don't look like a zipper to me at all. This is shown "as is" loaded up (without hair) but I did turn smoothing (which is included) up to 17 with collision iterations at 5. The chest is still a bit lumpity (why I showed the side view) and a question I'd have is if smoothing affects clothing with what appears to be stiffer material? What else could I do to get the chest lumps out?
I haven't used this outfit and probably won't. I really don't like that zipper, it doesn't look real.
So let's do a product price comparison with what is really good in the bundle, vs buying separately.
Stephanie 5 $19.58 (sale price)
Riley $11.87 (sale price)
Stephanie 5 Poses $6.97 (sale price)
Summer Casuals Fitted Sundress $11.87
TOTAL- AND THESE ARE SALE PRICES OF 51% off- if bought on sale, separately, $50.29!!! It's 34.28 so you save $16.01 even using the sale prices of 51% off.
and that's leaving out the sports and the hair. (which if I won't use them often or at all, I can't recommend them.)
Important: If at ANY time you see any errors in the reviews (aka, smoothing would fix something, something I miss) DO POST IT. I've done this in a bit of a rush as I feel strongly about the products listed above. The lumpy chest thing in the Cool Sports isn't the reason I don't prefer to use it- I don't like the zipper. Or, if you disagree with me about a product, POST IT. You won't hurt my feelings, and I want products to get fair representation. :)
Thanx for Fun with bundles link, saves me the hassle of searching content :-)
So where is Ariadne? Looks to me, she's wondering the same thing, Lol ! j/k, I have no idea, where is Ariadne ? Truly like this render, only I would have used tears, opposed to black make up ;-)
You're welcome :)
The black makeup is part of the product review, I don't revamp things so folks can see what comes with it. I was going to actually add suds but that would have blocked the view of her! As you render and use different sets, just keep looking for that background. It's very noticeable.
Hi Cathie, nothing wrong with image, I enjoy viewing 3D renders, seeking ideas, I was just thinking out loud ;-) Very cool what your doing for newbies at the forum. Your efforts is appreciated :-)
I agree about cool sports. Kinda regret buying that one. The zipper is just strange, plus no ability to lower the hood. I used it once.
I like what you did with ariadne I admit, didn't pick that one up. Looked a little gray to me. You managed to give her warmth plus love what you did with the bath scene. I can't place the prop....
Glad to hear it wasn't just me with that outfit. I thought when it loaded on that those were just decorative stitches on top the hood. Then I was like, "Oh good heavens, that's a zipper!" It just doesn't have the depth that a zipper would have, like the jagged teeth/square edges that would be stiff, know what I mean?
I think I'm going to have to start giving clues or poor Ariadne will be stuck in her bath forever. Okay, here goes.
Here's another sliver from the set. (I feel like we're doing "Where's Waldo?")
Another tip on Ariadne's location-
TIP:
If you want to turn something really shallow into a bath, jacuzzi, fountain- Lower the body in, and put most of it BELOW THE GROUND PLANE. However, pose it so you DO keep the natural angles of the waist and shoulders.
So hint hint, for Ariadne, LOOK LOW. About 60-70% of her body IS NOT THERE. It is below the ground plane!