Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
And so you wander back in :) Good to see you!
Welcome back. I'm the same way about usage and maintaining skills. Sad to say, I even forget things that I HAVE been using.
Great to see you posting again. Look forward to seeing what you decide to come up with now.
Wow man, you're back, that's a happy surprise!
Good to see you back. Have fond memories of everyone helping each other at NU challenge. You had some good insights.
Best wishes!
Hey, guys, that's such a wonderful welcoming! Thank you so much. I'm so glad to see you all!
@Tynkere, @Linwelly, @Diomede, @mori_mann, I'm going to have to dig into your threads and see what all of you have been up to lately. I had a crisis of identity and destiny--wasn't sure I'd ever do art again. I know that probably sounds strange to artists like yourselves, but it's just the way it was. Hard to explain. I've recommitted to the dream and making it reality however. So, for better or worse, I'm back!
I just built a PC that should really improve on my last one--it was still running Windows 7 until just a few weeks ago. It's the machine I use for writing and other things now. This is my first new computer in, gosh, almost ten years. I'm learning a lot. I'm really proud of it, so I'll share some: http://www.3dmark.com/sd/5695037. I know that's not the best test for the type of PC I have, but I cannot help grinning every time I think about beating 99% of reported tested machines. Also, even at that level, I'm nowhere close to the top one hundred scores. At the upper end of 3dMark tests, I place better than 98%: http://www.3dmark.com/spy/8939890. In Superposition, I would place 295. Granted, a lot of people aren't recorded in the official scores for these lists because you have to buy in to get listed (and I didn't). But I cannot help but be proud that I built this PC myself.
Why would I do put so much into this machine? I did it because if I didn't I don't know that I could ever commit fully to digital art. I'd always hover in the background, at the edges of what's going on, because I'd be in limbo. That's where I've been for the better part of the last couple of years. In limbo. But I'm back and I'm really giving it everything this time. I have to. Otherwise, I'll have spent all that money just to be able to rock the latest game and post some awesome scores, and that'd be a real shame--for me. Not judging. If you want to game, I say, "Game on, player, game on!" I've been told that I'm a great example of wasted potential. To be honest, I deserved that. But I don't want to be that anymore, and I refuse to be content to fritter away what I have.
Why am I sharing this here? Someone told me that our greatest struggles become our greatest strengths if we choose because the manure we're planted in is the very thing that fuels us. When we choose to push up toward the sun, we can help others because we know what it is to claw our way out of the crap we once were buried beneath. Maybe someone else is struggling quietly with self-doubt and afraid to commit to their art. You'll never know if you don't try. You'll never win if you don't run like you mean to. Altogether, I lost a decade to self-loathing, regret, doubt, and fear. I can't get those days back, but I can make every minute I have left count for something.
Macte nova virtute, puer--sic itur ad astra!
Congratulations on the new machine, and the renewed sense of purpose! To the stars!
At the risk of sounding philosophical...
"You'll never know if you don't try."
That’s true for me at least. Leads to regrets. “If only I had...” I try to avoid that one...
Long way of saying happy for you-- renewed enthusiasm and a new machine! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
Thank you, mates... feels good to be back. Here's an experiment. I'm not sure I like how it turned out but I'm refreshing my memory on how to do things as well as learning the new additions to DS. Full size is hanging in the gallery.
Another experiment--Inspired by a certain person who did not like the Han Solo solo movie:
I call it, "Oh yeah!" Caption: "Vroom! And also, I shot first!"
Higher quality version is hanging in the gallery.
Oops--forgot postwork. Sorry! Here's this is a little better: https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/877236
Okay, so this is something I've been working on. I'm looking for general commentary and criticisms. I know what I see, but I need to hear what others think about the thing I've been working on. Not really looking for comments on quality of the art itself, but upon the object I've created--the planet with atmostphere.
I did another planet before, in an image I posted before I left last year. I was gone over a year (and then some)--hard to believe, but no less true.
Here's another view with sunshine on water. Not quite there, but I'd love to hear feedback.
And another trial:
Still working on it... sometimes the nightside emissions work better than others. Atmosphere isn't quite what I'd like to see either. Any suggestions?
Looking good. Great to see you.
Just conversing, not necessarily suggestions.or critiques. Just thinking about some of the ways I've seen planets I like the stronger bump/normal type effect on the most recent post more than some of the earliest. For atmosphere/clouds, some people add a second sphere (or duplicate) and then apply a rough white shader with transparency maps to look like swirling clouds. Seems to work best if only very slightly bigger than the planet itself. Value of a separate "atmosphere" sphere would vary from planet to planet, of course.
Stay motivated!
Good to see you Diomede. Thank you for your input. These latest have experimental atmospheres like the kind you suggest. I was experimenting with different settings and sizes of atmosphere bubbles. The red blue planet has two bubbles... one for the clouds, which are only very whispy, and one for the actual edge of space. The problem I have with those is the light that seems to gather at the edge of darkness. Also, with the two bubbles it seems too thick as i currently have it. The most recent only has one atmosphere bubble. I do like the way the mountains create shadows leading into the dark half/night side. I had originally wanted to create a product for the store before I left last year, but was always stumped by this point on quality. Also, the better they look, the more costly the render time. So, that's also a concern.
Very cool info, thanks. So true about the trade off with render time. I experimented with creating trees, and a PA really emphasized that there are”hero” trees with lots of detail suitable for a foreground focus, and there are background trees that are often partially obscured and blurred with DOF. I imagine planets might have some similarities.
lol... thank you @Diomede, good to know. Hmm... Back to the drawing board.
Okay, so I've been busy learning and doing, so I haven't posted here in a couple of weeks--wow, time really has flown.
So, here's my post to show how I deal with the heat generated during renders. I don't know that I can post any links, but I will mention that the brand liquid cooler that appears in the display makes me very happy. I have two of them, one on CPU with radiator at top of case, one on GPU with radiator at bottom of case. Something will wear out, but hopefully it will not be the GPU since that is more costly than just about everything else onboard. If you have problems with heat, strongly consider a liquid cooler setup. I always figured it was overkill for overclockers, but now that I have it I don't ever want to go back.
Also I've been playing with FlowScape. Wow! I cannot believe how powerful and wonderful this little toy really is. For less than taking your spouse to Starbucks, you can be making amazing art fast and easy by combining Daz Studio and FlowScape. Once I figured out how to get everything to work, I produced the following image in next to no time at all:
If anyone wants to know the particulars of how I achieved this image, I've left an explanatory post over at this thread here: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/316051/flowscape-and-daz-studio-so-many-backdrops.
I made these images in FlowScape in real-time using a combination of assets from there as well as Daz.
Both were taken in Ansel using standard Nvidia filters in real-time. Set up took a bit only because I'm learning as I go. Also, loading this many resources (3 figures plus abandoned home) into FS can take some time. I exported straight to obj from Daz then imported into FS. Background skydome scene rendered in Daz using spherical camera.
Another FlowScape and Daz merger:
I've been here and there. There and back again. All around the mulberry bush. But I can't help it. I keep coming back here. I'm sorry to those of you I used to keep in touch with. It's been crazy, for all of us, this last bit especially. I hope all of you are well! You know who you are. Please take care.
Hope you're doing ok, the situation is a bit crazy for all of us so, hope you find some time to create again
Wherever you wander, and whichever bushes you are around, remember you have a community here ready to welcome you. Glad you stopped in. Be well.
I miss you guys, and the rest. Thank you for the heartfelt greetings!
I wish the best for you both.
Hope you are well.