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Hello Fractal, the lighting effects are beautiful, the ocean very realistic. Maybe you should do the water effects in post?
Either with a brush or render them separately so you can control them?
Thanks Head Wax and EP for the thoughtful suggestions. In the end, I rendered the dolphins without the spray. They are so small that it would probably have just looked odd. Besides I hate doing too much post work mostly because ALL my works are WIP (even finished), and I would hate to have to keep re-editing my images. ;-)
I finished my scene this evening, just in time to be away for a break. I'll be back in time to post my final product. Too bad I had no time to work on my other idea past the "proof of concept" phase, so I'll have to save it for another competition. :)
I've learned a great deal this month about realistic skies. And this competition pushed me to really work on an ocean object that otherwise I might have let languish. I'll also work up a thread on the ocean object I used while I am away.
Special thanks to Antara for running an awesome competition thread this month. You carried Head Wax's legacy well, my friend!
Also, thanks to everyone for the great camaraderie, suggestions, and words of encouragement shared by all. No words can describe, just that there's nothing more fun or meaningful than collaborative competition. It pushes us all to new heights and makes it fun. We are all winners.
Great job everyone. See you at the finish line!
FD
Loving the atmosphere so far! I can't wait to see what the final render looks like!
Oh yeah!! Dartanbeck's trees! BURN BABY BURN!!!! It's enough to make a grown man cry ... Oh, wait! That's smoke making my eyes water! ;)
Oh yeah!! Dartanbeck's trees! BURN BABY BURN!!!! It's enough to make a grown man cry ... Oh, wait! That's smoke making my eyes water! ;)
Speaking of smoke, we had grilled homegrown 1" thick Rib Eyes for supper tonight. Grass fed, butchering was $0.53 per pound including kill fee. Over-all expenses for Whopper Jr. where probably equivalent to the price of plain hamburger per pound. I haven't done an exact expense on it, as the point is to get away from mass produced beef. Damn near filled two chest freezers.
everyone to evilproducer's place for a bar-b-q :coolsmile:
Was waiting to get 8.5pro for the final render of this entry.. :)
Hope it qualifies...
Title - Paradise almost Lost
Software - Carrara 8.5pro no postwork
Items used
M4 no textures
M4 Fire Fighter - retextured
Dartanbeck's Environ Kit
Dimension Theory's EcoMantics
Val's chainsaw
Fenric's Tree Duplicator
Carrara's Fire
Carrara's clouds
freeware
Isuzu blank untextured 3ds model - from DMI models
13 items modelled creating 32 addons for Isuzu to try and create a firetruck
firetruck retextured
ShareCG
Firehose by keithm - retextured
Easy pose Rope by BionicRooster - retextured
HI,
This is an update of my attempt to produce an engraving looking image for this challenge.
So far, I'm heading this way :
All objects are shaded with the pattern wire. The width of the wire is giving the shade of grey.
Shaders has a high highlight, to give more contrast to the final picture.
The is only one light, place roughly over the camera and pointed to the centre of the scene.
I use two renders : one is photo realistic and the other one just the outline of non-realistic..
After there is only a little postwork : a threshold filter for the photo realistic render and merging with the outline.
I've chosen to do this way instead of using NPR for many reasons :
- More control with the line directions and size (done through the shader)
- NPR was taking ages before rendering just to prepare the strokes. This method is VERY fast
- Adjusting threshold allow to change the mood of the picture with the same renders.
I need now to add a jungle behind the angel (to symbolize Eden) and give some polish to everything (I'm still more in the proof of concept than a final render).
Another try with shadows and less contrast.
(and I know, Eve is hovering 2ft above the ground, but why not ?)
That is an awesome idea to use the line function in the shader to create that look. I would never have thought of that. Thanks for sharing the technique!
Frickin awesome Phil. I hate when people give me great new ideas to Try out. I've always had a thing for engraved looks. Now I have to try this in Carrara. Thanks! I guess. ...
FD
Samsung phone.
Is there going to be an Entries thread?
I am practically done my second effort (first is still on hold - it was funny, but this one has a Cow in it and therefore held my attention better!).
While I'm here, this is that "other" model I spoke of.
It was made with a no-longer-available program called 3DMeNow, something intended to make 3D Talking Heads from pictures for a wide variety of uses. It was hugely expensive, but had a decent trial that exported obj models and a limited free version too.
It exported morph targets like used in Mimic, but the polygon count always varied, so that feature was useless.
Anyway, I took a fractal that kind of looked like a face and made this thing.
I really liked it! Too bad it only runs on my old XP computer, but at least I still have a working copy.
And I really like those sketchy images!
Well done.
Very appropriate given what is happening in Yosemite right now. :-(
FD
Samsung phone
You keep this up and I'm going to have a cow sock! :-)
You keep this up and I'm going to have a cow sock! :-)
Thanks there, FD!
I found the fractal I made the model from, and the gif I made from it using my Fiancee's Eyes!
Wow, amazing stuff everyone. Philemo, you are doing much better with NPR than I did, even though you turned to photoreal. I really like where you are going. I should have turned to photoreal, also. I almost didn't even submit mine. Anyway, if you are going to composite photoreal and NPR, you might try rendering one or two more images in NPR, but don't check the box for using the object color. Instead, you might try a grayish color in the color picker and a light speckled brush for diffuse/shadow and increase the transparency setting. The results might give you additional options when you composite. Antara (on composits) and FD (on bump channel) have some good examples earlier in the thread, but in my case, their advice turned out to be pearls before swine. Sorry, I'm not at my desktop to show what this would have looked like on the St Michael image.
Philemo, here is an example from on my other image. If you want a Dore engraving look, you might want to include just a little of some options that are less "clean", and the NPR grays might contribute. This was done with the brush labeled "spotted smudge" in the drawing category. Perhaps something to contribute, perhaps not - but the render times are not horrific.
Sorry for going MIA again. But I've been busy working on some updates to my entry. More on it in the next post.
head wax, Thank you so much for your critique! As you will see when I post my latest version of the image, I've tried to take it all into consideration (I'm not sure how successfully, though, but I do like the changed one better than my first attempt).
Roygee, please let me know if those multi-passes are confusing. I know they were to me at first. But they are really a lot of fun to work with.
Sockratease, I'm not surprised your boss took the gif and ran with it. :) It looks pretty good already. And probably more sophisticated than what people he was showing it to were expecting.
I am in neuroscience. But I only had to use my 2D graphic skills so far. Mostly to prepare figures for papers and posters and to train researchers to use Gimp and Photoshop.
The fractal face looks mystifying and unsettling, especially with the eye. But your fiancée has beautiful eyes :).
I'm looking forward to seeing the cow entry... finally! :)
To All: The Final Entry Thread is going to be created. I was thinking of creating it on Sept. 1st. To keep it closer to the deadline. Do you all think that the final thread should be opened sooner?
Since the final entry thread is not for comments, just for entries, I thought that if I create it closer to the deadline, there is more chance we'd see it more continuously updated, and therefore less chance of it getting buried by all the new 8.5 excitement threads :)... Let me know what you all think.
diomede64 Your final NPR entry looks great. I am thoroughly impressed. The clouds and sky are especially impressive for me because I didn't expect it to be possible to make them look so good in NPR. Your work in this thread makes me sad that we have so few categories in the contest. Because I think your NPR deserves a special nomination.
I also love the idea in your second entry. And WOW at the modelling. Great keyboard! And genius idea with the grid. I agree with others about liking the toon shaded version better. Great stylistic choice!
If you'd like to submit that one as your final, I see no problem with that. This is a WIP thread and we are still far away from the deadline.
Also not for this challenge, but I really like your NPR render of the second scene. It has a very realistic charcoal effect! Could you share more about your setup for it? What are your shaders like bump-wise and what are your settings for the NPR?
Dartanbeck, Thank you for the tip! I'll try to remember that next time. It's one of those things in Carrara I don't quite get the logic of: like how the extrusion relates to the mouse movement is not immediately clear for me.
evilproducer, I love your second entry WIP! The expressions are so great and funny. Excellent composition and colors, too. When I saw it I thought it was another finished entry, so I am curious where you still intend to go with it. Also great job at including, yet hiding the obelisk. I also noticed it only at third glance. And did a double-take at it too. As in: Wait, was this here before?
Gareth Davies, I am loving your scene more and more. I have a feeling it's going to be one of those images, which I see and want to see the whole story/movie/animation based on it. The composition is great already, and all the characters look adorable and very naturally in motion.
Stezza, I am in such awe, I can hardly find words to express it. Your second entry is beyond awesome! It's perfect technically and it's got great emotion there too.
And no kidding it qualifies! The work you've done on that truck, adding and retexturing things, qualifies it plenty!
I am also thoroughly impressed by you getting all the fire and smoke effects done in Carrara. If you have some time to spare for us, please share how you've got those trees to burn so realistically and how long did the final render take to render?
Which brings me to another point: Did I tell you how much I love your WIP's? They are professional-presentation-quality works in themselves. It's been a true joy to follow your progress for this work.
FractalDimensia, I love the dolphin and the wave cutting. You mentioned that the cut waves were added objects, is it still the case? I am curious how they look untextured. I look forward to that ocean discussion thread :) I am loving it in each of your WIP's.
The splash from the dolphin looks great, but maybe a bit too blue? (compared to the water below it.) But I imagine it took forever to render, so I am not surprised you decided to leave it out.
Did it really take 2 days to render? even without the splash? Also, since you are probably planning some postwork for this (at least for the dolphin splash), are you rendering multi-passes for it?
And thank you for your kind words! I am very happy that people are enjoying this challenge.
Varsel, great peaceful image of Shangri-La! I really love all the little details in this image: the birds in the back, the fenced-in cows, the little brook, the heavy laden travellers. And all the poses are really really natural and expressive. The monk is welcoming, buit apprehensive, the travellers are tired ans awed and the animals and birds are carefree and happy.
On a totally different and very selfish note: if you don't mind and don't need them anymore, could you share the terrains you've created for this image? I have something similar in mind, and it would be great to have a starting point.
Philemo, wow! it does look like an etching! I think your figures already look perfect. I think it might be because of the level of detail they have: it gives enough variety of small highlight-shadow areas to have that really-fine-line-etching look.
Random thought: Maybe if you play with bump on the rocks/terrain it might give you a similar effect there? it would also add some texture variety for the environment, similar to the originals, which have inspired this.
Another random thought: if you are feeling adventurous, maybe you could add a translucency channel to your figures, to make less uniform shadows. This way when you apply the threshold, you might get more etched-like results. I haven't tested this, so it's just a hypothesis. If you do try it, though, please let us know if it works. :)
Your work so far is already really amazing!
I think based on all the excellent work people are doing in this challenge, we can publish a book at the end of it: "Carrara and great artistic styles through the centuries." :)
Thanks for the compliment Antara! I wanted to add hair to the homo erectus models, but I'm not sure I will have the time.
Regarding the entry thread, I kind of liked the way they were done before. I like to read the comments that other viewers make about all the entries. I think it would be nice to see feedback from those that haven't entered the contest, but would still like to vote. I see no problem with starting the entry thread on Sept. 1st. That gives people a whole week to make their entries and have them be seen.
Ok, this might have to end up as my final entry. Changed some shaders, added some books and a cat - everything is better with a cat added :). And a sleeping cat was definitely missing from this sleepy paradise.
Please tell me what you think.
(I will add the non-postwrked WIP later, when I post my final entry with all the credits and stuff).
I agree, about comments. I just wish the number of comments would be minimal before voting opens: to simplify browsing through entries and voting. Once the contest closes and voting opens, I'd to see reaction comments from other contestants and all the voters.
That is great! I hereby call upon the person running this contest to disqualify you on the grounds of too much talen- Oh wait. Never mind.... ;-)
I really like the cat. It's not in your face, and posed and posed and positioned beautifully. The coloration almost looks like one of our cats, who lives to take naps in places like that.
Yep, the cat definitely felt like the right idea :). But now I am curious about all your animals. You have/had(?) a cow (or many), multiple cats... Do you live on a farm? :)
Yep, the cat definitely felt like the right idea :). But now I am curious about all your animals. You have/had(?) a cow (or many), multiple cats... Do you live on a farm? :)
Well, to be fair the cow isn't a house cow. ;-)
We have twenty acres in north-central Wisconsin. We currently have one beef cow and her calf- a little heifer, a new little Jersey bull calf that will be de-horned and castrated once fly season is over, and two weeks ago we had a two year old Jersey steer. Now we have 571 pounds of beef in the freezer. ;-) We also have an assortment of ducks, geese, rare breed turkeys and various breeds of chickens. The poultry is pretty much free-range and I have the poop on my deck to prove it!
We have a Black Lab and a Beagle and a few cats for our pets. Some of the ducks and geese are considered pets by my wife.
Wow. That's a lot of animals to take care of! :)
I still hope you find the time, to add fur to your 3D creatures, though :).
And just as a reminder for everyone: the challenge runs until September 7th, so there are still 11 days left.
Wow. That's a lot of animals to take care of! :)
I still hope you find the time, to add fur to your 3D creatures, though :).
And just as a reminder for everyone: the challenge runs until September 7th, so there are still 11 days left.
I'm enjoying taking care of the one in the freezer the most! ;-)
Antara, thanks for your very kind words.. I'm glad you like it..
As for the image specs.. several lights were used with soft shadows and varying degrees of brightness and colour, the fire was a hit and miss affair till I got to where I liked it..
The smoke are just the basic clouds found in Cararra and stretched and squished till I liked what I got. When finally finished the render took around 30 minutes to do.
BTW, your image just blows mine away... real feeling with that atmosphere of dreamlike state, I wonder if she is dreaming about what she is reading.. though I would rather a maltese terrrier cross to a cat but that's just my preference :)
Antara, I just wanted to say that I mistook your theme in the render at first; I thought it was someone who had passed on, not sleeping, which actually would also fit the contest theme as it could be interpreted as either paradise lost (for the life left behind) or paradise found (for what's to come next).
Regardless, it's a beautiful render and it definitely grabbed me.
beautiful :)
it all works perfectly !
everything is better with a cat (nap) :)
that's a great effect! i didn't realise carrara was capable of that.
Hey, I was gobsmacked when I saw this. I thought it was a photo till I saw M4 in the driving seat ;)