Post Your Renders - #4: A New Hope

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Comments

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    edited December 1969

    Just a little test to see if the image posting has been improved.


    Cool! The forum resizes it for you! Not limited by the 800x800 pixels anymore! I'll assume there's the old 500KB file size still.

    Limit is now 10MB for up to 5 images.

    And max of 2000x2000 for the original image.


    This is all well and good, however, the so called "thumbnail" is now limited to much less than 800x800. The vertical dimension seems to be restricted to 500 pixels, which results in a much smaller over all image. And vertical "portrait" format images will suffer even more so.

    Would it be possible to have at least 600 vertical pixels allowed for the thumbnails?

    Yes, I know that you can click on the thumbnail to see the larger version, but I'd rather not have to do that for every image, just to see them at an acceptable size.

    Thanks.

  • edited December 1969

    namrettek said:

    Anyone else having trouble posting in the forums. I can only post every once in a while. I have to logout, and then login under the shop window, and then sometimes I can post.



    I'm not sure on the status of that bug. I've never run into it myself, but some of the other mods run into it frequently.

    Yes thast still a bug in the forum! You have to relog in a lot. EVEN if it says your logged in you arent! Go to LOG IN. IF IT DOESM NOT GIVE you the LOG INPAGE with your name and pass word but still says you are logged in YOU ARE NOT!

    LOG OUT! then LOG BACK IN!

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    I'm using Firefox instead of Safari for the forums. But then again, I'm on a PPC. Safari seems to work fine with the forum on the Intel Mac, but it's a higher version number.

  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    The Dragon

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  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hesitation

    Hesitation.jpg
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  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited August 2012

    The Lake

    Image removed for nudity. Please see this thread for info: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/3279_98/

    Post edited by fixmypcmike on
  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    New Day

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  • JoeMamma2000JoeMamma2000 Posts: 2,615
    edited August 2012

    Paul, you have some nice stuff. I see you're trying to sell your work in a few venues, so I'll give you my 2 cents (as objectively as possible) on what you've posted in case it might help.

    And I'll give my input solely based on the images themselves, not what software you used or whether they are 3D, since most prospective buyers probably couldn't care less...

    You've got some beautiful landscapes in those images. Even without the characters the first two images are beautiful and very serene. "Hesitation" is my favorite, partly because of the beautiful composition. The focal length, the lighting, and the general composition all lead the viewer to a single point, the deer's face. The deer's pose and the lighting are also very nice. And it also has a bit of a story line and invokes a certain feeling in the viewer. The big nasty hunter dude having a split second of pity on a poor defenseless little deer. My only comment on the hunter character is he is uniformly dark and expressionless (of course, since he has a helmet hiding his face). I think you're missing an opportunity to make him appear a bit more dramatic and interesting. Perhaps some dapples of light on his body to make the visuals a bit more appealing, or more dynamic range in his texturing, and maybe a hint of an expression on his face might make the story a bit stronger. Or you might have him partly emerging from the dark shadow of a tree to increase the mystery. Not sure, I just think you could have him a bit more dramatic and compelling and menacing.

    The first image, while beautiful, doesn't really have a clear message. Partly because of the dragon. I think most people quickly realize he's Standard Dragon #1 used in every single dragon image ever generated with DAZ software, and IMO it really detracts from the image. First because the dragon itself really doesn't look very menacing. I'm not sure if the image is of a tired knight and his friendly pet dragon Herbert, or maybe something else. And since they are in such a beautiful and serene setting, if the message is a fight to the death with a menacing dragon it really doesn't come across. The knight's pose is great, completely captures a really exhausted guy lying down on the rocks. But I'd strongly suggest re-thinking the dragon. There are so many similar images of dragons and knights floating around, you might try to rethink things and come up with something very original. Scary dragons are dripping with saliva, with big nasty teeth, in dark, foreboding surroundings, and slimy skin, with the blood of their victims dripping from their fangs, etc....

    Actually, with the Dragon image, I even thought that if you lose the dragon altogether you'd have a gorgeous image with a bit of a story line. An exhausted knight lying down in peaceful surroundings, perhaps recovering from a successful battle with some unknown and unseen evil lurking somewhere ahead in the beautiful forest.

    And the last image, well, I won't comment because it creeps me out too much to even look at it. Not sure why, it just gives me the creeps.

    Post edited by JoeMamma2000 on
  • FirstBastionFirstBastion Posts: 7,772
    edited December 1969

    Both Hesitation and The Dragon are cool images. Well done.

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    edited December 1969

    It would seem that the forum re-sizing of images has not been completely fixed.

    I wonder what the size limitation is now (before it breaks the thread).

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,292
    edited December 1969

    JM2000 feels old age is creeping up on him! %-P
    I love it btw!
    shows how versatile a few morphs, possible vertex massaging and texture can be, which base figure was used?

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    de3an said:
    It would seem that the forum re-sizing of images has not been completely fixed.

    I wonder what the size limitation is now (before it breaks the thread).



    If I had known you was going to ask that I would have taken note of the size of the one I had to remove because it did break the formatting totally.
  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    de3an said:
    It would seem that the forum re-sizing of images has not been completely fixed.

    I wonder what the size limitation is now (before it breaks the thread).



    If I had known you was going to ask that I would have taken note of the size of the one I had to remove because it did break the formatting totally.


    Well, all of the images on this page of the thread (so far) are spilling over the right side boundary.
    They are 1800x937, 1600x918, and 1300x724 pixels.

    On the old forum this would only happen if someone linked to an oversized image that was hosted on another site, thus bypassing the forum sizing mechanism.

    Could you make sure that the proper people are aware that this is happening?

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Strangely enough it was one of "the proper people" who told us that there was a glitch, and they were working on sorting it out, so I think that they do know.

  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thank you all for the feedback, it's much appreciated.

    Here is one other - "Apocalypse"

    Apocalypse_Sm.jpg
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  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I'll give you my 2 cents (as objectively as possible) on what you've posted in case it might help.

    Thank you for taking the time with your constructive feedback, it's greatly appreciated.

  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Serengeti Zebra

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  • paulbrakepaulbrake Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Summer at The Lake

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  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    paulbrake said:
    Summer at The Lake


    The lake render is nice. I like the water splash. I do have to admit though, that the figure's head looks out of proportion to it's body, which kind takes me out of the image.

  • JoeMamma2000JoeMamma2000 Posts: 2,615
    edited December 1969

    Trying to decide on a design for a house for when I retire. This one is modeled after a real house in Northern California. One cool thing about 3D modelling is you can design a basic concept and then give it to the architect and he can make it work. Or more likely, tell you "what are you, nuts?? This will never work".

    House.jpg
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  • IlenaIlena Posts: 283
    edited August 2012

    The one with the girl and a dragon is called Rare moments of peace and the other is Power lying dormant. Both have been enhanced in photoshop in the attempt to figure out how the whole postwork part. First less than the second.

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    Post edited by Ilena on
  • VarselVarsel Posts: 574
    edited December 1969

    I've been having some fun with Carrara Terrain.

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  • IlenaIlena Posts: 283
    edited August 2012

    paulbrake said:
    Serengeti Zebra


    All of the images are good. I like this one but The dragon, Hesitation,Apocalypse the most for the story they portray.

    Post edited by Ilena on
  • EleleElele Posts: 1,097
    edited August 2012

    de3an said:
    .

    Yay, the lil' piggy is back! :D

    edit (talking bout the piggy avatar, just to be clear :) )

    Post edited by Elele on
  • RGuineyRGuiney Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Slight update to one I have been working on off and on called "The Rescue".

    Still a WIP.

    Test18.jpg
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  • JoeMamma2000JoeMamma2000 Posts: 2,615
    edited August 2012

    Ilena52, my 2 cents on your images...

    I like the sense of the images, but you really like dark images, don't you? :)

    Honestly, in my initial views of the two images, especially the second, I couldn't figure out what they were. If you bring the second into Photoshop and check the levels, you'll see that 90% of the image is almost totally black. Now I know you want it dark to imply suspense and imminent danger, but areas of total or near black don't really provide any sensation or interest. And the character hiding in the darkness is pretty much indistinguishable, and without some clear highlighting you can't see the evil in his eyes, or even what he is. Maybe a single shaft of light piercing the trees and only partially lighting his face, to show evil glowing eyes and a toothy snarl, dripping saliva, etc.

    The first image is a similar, but not as much. It is mostly black or white, with very little midrange. I honestly couldn't tell from the dragon's wings what it was, and it looked more like some sort of spear or weapon in her hand. I assume you want the second image to have a sense of serenity, but with such a high contrast image with only black and white, you're losing the opportunity to have softness and beauty, such as soft light streaming thru the green leaves casting a serene soft light on everything. I think that, by not really showing much more than the dragon's wings, you've also lost the opportunity to depict a very interesting character, a pet dragon that would make most viewers think "Ahhh, how sweet..." :)

    Given the choice between totally black and/or totally white, versus a fuller range of color and shading, I think choosing a fuller range can give you the opportunity to depict a lot more emotion and dynamics and story. And that certainly doesn't mean you need to make all your dark areas light, just give them a slightly broader dynamic range to provide some interest. The old masters of black and white film noir were experts at that. But with CG we have even more control and can paint an even broader range of emotion.

    Post edited by JoeMamma2000 on
  • JoeMamma2000JoeMamma2000 Posts: 2,615
    edited December 1969

    Here's an image I just put together to try and illustrate the point I was trying to make.

    In this image there is only one spotlight, no ambient, and a very narrow angle on the spot. As you can see, most of the image is black. However, the purpose of the black is solely to frame the important part of the image, which has a very broad dynamic range. And because of that dynamic range, you have the opportunity to show the viewer the implied power (the character's detailed muscles), the interest of the character's skin texture, etc. But you also show with just a single simple light the rage in the character's face, but also have the darkness and shadow which implies danger, mystery, etc.

    The point is that blackness in an image is not a bad thing, but if you use it where you could be exposing some useful or interesting texture, then you could be missing an big opportunity to provide emotion, tension, mystery, etc.

    Bull1.jpg
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  • JoeMamma2000JoeMamma2000 Posts: 2,615
    edited December 1969

    BTW, paulbrake, I forgot to mention your Serengeti image...

    It's just gorgeous. A rare case of someone using colors to really set a mood. Very nice. And great poses for the zebras.

    My only difficulty with the image is the rather awkward posing of the zebra's legs, especially the one on the right. It's front leg closest the camera looks like it's broken. Not sure of the names for horse parts, but the femur looks like it's broken since the "shoulder" part isn't rotated like I *think* it should be. Might be a good opportunity to check some reference images for running horses.

  • IlenaIlena Posts: 283
    edited August 2012

    With june contest where the theme was light and its tips and explanations I though I'd tackle with the topic and try to make something.Don't know if this image shows that I'm one step closer to understanding how it works.

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    Post edited by Ilena on
  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    Looks pretty good. The lighting certainly looks like you've been working on it. The only thing it lacks is a sense of movement in the main figure. With the cloudy backdrop and the dragons wheeling around in the background your scene suggests that there should be some blowing wind. The hair should have morphs to adjust it's shape to appear windblown. I'm sure that the skirts do as well. Just remember, these are only suggestions, so if you don't think it fits your idea, then that's cool.

This discussion has been closed.