October 2017 - DAZ 3D New User Challenge: Atmosphere
Scott Livingston
Posts: 4,341
Are you new to the 3D World? Are you at the beginning stages of learning 3D rendering? Have you been around for a little bit but feel you could benefit from some feedback or instruction? Have you been around awhile and would like to help other members start their creative journey? Well then come and join the fun as we host our newest contest...
"Atmosphere"
This month's focus will be on Depth of Field/Focus.
Depth of Field is basically controlling what part of the image is in sharp focus. A couple of explanations, from the world of photography (so not everything is applicable, but the definitions and basics do apply when rendering).
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm
http://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-depth-field-beginners/
Also, keep in mind all the various items covered over the past several months, because things like Portraits can greatly benefit from applying DoF.
So far this year we have covered the following topics:
Inspiration:
Check out the amazing entries in last year's Atmosphere contest.
This site (while the instruction is intended for children) contains links to examples of how weather effects can be incorporated into art.
This site, intended for painters, contains examples and useful tips on conveying mood that can be applied to other forms of art, including rendering.
Here's a page on Amospheric Perspective, including several excellent examples.
See also my posts below for some additional examples of atmospheric 3D art, traditional art, and photography. I'll be adding more throughout the month.
Other Helpful Links:
When following tutorials, be cognizant of the different applications (Bryce, Daz Studio, Poser, Carrara Blender, etc.) and different render engines (3Delight, Iray, Reality, etc). Techniques for one may not apply directly to another. If you have some favorite portrait lighting and composition tips, please share them in this WIP thread.
Composition Golden Ratio helpers:
Bryce
DAZ Studio (Also, DS has a built in Rule of Thirds guide; just select Show Thirds Guide in the Viewport context menu)
DAZ Studio Iray Tutorials:
Creating Dust and Amosphere in Iray by Sickleyield
Adding an Atmosphere in Iray by John/retrodevil at Moonscape Graphics
Don't forget to look at previous themed contests where information and hints are available.
(In particular, October 2015's contest has some good information)
For a list of the current contest rules, please see this thread : Challenge Rules
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Comments
Some more inspiration: the art of Andree Wallin, an artist who has worked on projects ranging from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Halo 4, and Godzilla
http://www.andreewallin.com/Personal-Art
Bryce can be an excellent choice of software for atmospheric images. Here are a couple by estevez, one of the masters of that discipline:
https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/86171
https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/images/120466
And perhaps you're familiar with this classic example of atmospheric effects in DAZ Studio (3Delight...this was pre-Iray) by Szark:
https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/images/4593
Atmosphere can help you tell interesting stories about the setting, character(s), and themes of your art. I enjoy experimenting with atmosphere in my own art, as well. I've been working on this one off and on for a while. It's not quite finished, but it's getting there...
Hey, she remind me at Arya Stark!
Is this picture rendered in Iray, or in 3Delight?
This is a good one for those Halloween or Harvest renders!!!
Hi daybird. It's an Iray render. Attitude-wise at least, I think she and Arya would find some similarities.
"Piece of me you want?!"
Ohh in this case, I have a question. Which Fog has you use for the scene?
I tried a few times the https://www.daz3d.com/rdna-atmospherics-fog-vol-1, but he don't work so well in Iray, even when I imply a Iray-shader.
I used Fast Fog Iray for the visible fog, as well as for the smoke in the background. I used quite a few instances of it. I also added a subtle bloom effect using the native Iray settings in DS, which contributes (I think) to the general misty ambiance. I should mention that it's a raw render, without postwork (but also that the various effects I used contributed to long render times).
There's some information on the bloom filter settings here: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/new_features/4_8/start
@Shinji Ikari 9th: nice start!
Thanks Scott, I've got no idea where it came from though but I guess I'll see where it goes. (I was looking for an exterior location to try and have something between runs, but instead we're running the shadows once more. Maybe I'll be able to find something in my library, and have a side prodject.)
Anyway here's version b. Little more texture work and added a former member of Loan Star, (Yes that's a nod to Shadowrun-Hong Kong.) telling my my guy to knock it off.
Here's my first draft. I used 3 RDNA Fog props, but I think I need more. I am wondering if I should do a closer up shot.
I've got version c rendering as I type this, and it should be good to go when I get home from work.
The idea to light the scene with the streetlamp is not bad, but i found her left bodyside turns out to dark. It's also hard to recognice, what she does with er hands. So a close up maybe not a bad idea.
Mhh, the fog seem to turn out black and what is happen to her right leg? Or has she so bad cellulite? ;)
Joke beside: By me, such things happen, when I have overdone, twist and and bend poses. Try to set the whole right leg poses to zero and pose it new.
I also find that the background look's too seperated, throug the hard line between him and the prop. I would try to set the line between the prob and the background more in the shadow, or break it with some things...like a trashcan, gras ect.
Don't worry about all the things I said. I like the scene and that's the reason why I like to see, what you do with here in the next weeks. AND If you want, ignore all I wrote, because I'm not an artist.
Maybe most of the things I have said are nonsens. I still have too learn by myself so much.
First concept.
It's most empty and I should now start, to fill the scene with life,but after the render is done, I'm not so pleased. It's not exactly what I looking for.
Here's version c, I ment to post it after I got home from work yesterday.
I nearly erased completely my first concept and tried something different. Yes, until now it looks very rudimental, but now, I have a pleasant basis to create my scene. :)
Thanks for the feedback.
I have altered the girl's pose and clothing and tried to light her better. I deleted the original fog props and relaced them with two planes - one in front of the girl and one behind. Both have "foggy" surfaces and low opacity. I have also added some grass between the scenery and the background as suggested.
Looking good so far, I like the play of light and shadow on her face.
That's a considerable improvement! Her face is clearer, and the grass takes care of that abrupt difference between the two surfaces. I also like this choice of outfit and pose much better - there's a richness to the green sweater that's really lush. I found that fog planes worked much better for getting the softness I wanted in my piece (which I'll be posting shortly), too - the front plane softens the shadows under the bench just enough. I'd like to see just a little more of her face in the light, but that's just a personal preference. Also... I really like the leaves scattered on the ground - and great choice of creepy trees/bushes in the background.
Oh, the change of angle makes this so much more interesting! I really like how this is shaping up.
This is intriguing - I'll be watching to see how you fill the scene. One little thing - are her feet buried in stone there?
This challenge has been quite a journey of learning and experimentation for me. For background - there's a spot on my morning commute with one of the loveliest, most haunting views I've ever seen. The train passes by an open expanse of water with an apartment complex visible in the distance behind it. There are a dozen or so dead, blackened trees rising up out of the water - killed as seawater gradually salinated the water surrounding them. In the early spring and early autumn, tendrils and billows of mist rise up off the water, almost obscuring the buildings in the distance. I started out wanting to capture that eeriness, and my scene gradually shaped itself from there. Along the way, I experimented with techniques from the tutorials listed above and others I found - dug deeper into DOF, created my own fog, water and earth planes, messed with shader settings I've never touched before (and learned a lot about how to get the effects I want with them), and played with D-formers and instances for the first time ever.
I started with this, using a primitive plane for the water surface and a volume plane with an Uber iRay surface for the fog, and sun and sky only lighting.
In this, I added an HDRI sky to the background and played with the environment settings a bit, tried to shift the planes around a bit to get the separations right.
I decided to add a ghostly figure in a canoe and a distant spotlight high in the sky, and tried to tone down the orange a bit...
Played with D-formers to curve the water's edge and add some elevation to the land behind the pond - and played with the water shaders to change the color of the water. Also, found myself battling an annoying problem - the trees are from the Nature's Variance shaders set, and they use opacity settings to hide the leaves... but the shadows of the leaves kept showing up against the water and fog planes.
After this, I started playing with bloom settings and a few other things, and so botched the scene that I shut it down, opened a new blank scene and started fresh, using everything I'd learned to come up with this:
This one uses primitive planes shaped with D-formers for the water and land, a volume cube to soften all the lighting, a smoke plane from SickleYields rigged smoke set for the fog with base color and opacity adjusted, and fairy lights created from IDG iRay FX - Ribbons and Sprites (yes, I overdid it with those. Some of them are going away in the next render.)
I want to soften the shadows of the two figures, and blur the edge where the fog ends, plus, I think, add some plumes of mist coming up off the water where it's darker and not misty at all. Any other suggestions welcome, too - I'm really enjoying this one.
Hello,
I love this mean Mr. Pumpkin. I worked to make him pop out a little by adjusting the depth of field. I created this image in multiple layers, which I then recombined in Photoshop. I think it turned out pretty good, I used a blur on the background elements, which seemed to have the right effect. let me know what you think, people. Oh, and Happy Halloween.
Got it!
I nearly erased completely my first concept and tried something different. Yes, until now it looks very rudimental, but now, I have a pleasant basis to create my scene. :)
Mr pumpkin looks awesome!
Light and atmosphere are great, but one thing is a little distracting. There is a area right of Mr. pumpkin, who is blurry, but this area lies between two sharper zones.
I most prefer your first and fourth entry, but that's a personal choice. :)
Hey, the gras works great and the fog looks much better!
There is still a distracting area on her left feet and you could adjust her feets a little, so that they on the ground. You can also work on her armposition. The position from her shoulders looks a little unnatural.
The biggest problem seems the great black area in the upper left corner and the big empty zone in front of her. You don`t need them, so I would try to zoom in.
Version d here, Did some tweeking of Hercda's pose (or tried to at least.), texture work on the moniters in the back, and changed the skin of my g8m in the background after finding out that he could use textures from g3m that didn't require a certain base morph like mike7 for example.
Just a very first attemp. I've seen an episode of "My little Pony" today (Dragonshy) and got this idea. ;)
It's my first time using such effect planes.
"Dragon not so shy"