JULY New Users Contest WIP Thread

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Comments

  • deloquenciadeloquencia Posts: 47
    edited December 1969

    Hello,


    one of the last tips in this WIP thread I wanted to share is how to move models in relation to each other.
    Imagine you've posed two models which i.e. holds hands or dances close to each other.
    After moving them around you either don't want to repose them or to do math and calculate
    the exact position to rebuild the pose.

    With grouping them into one null object you can translate/move, rotate and even scale them both together
    at the same time. The pose won't change - the hands still holds and the dancers are still close to each other.

    Another thing you can do with null objects is to organize and group lights, cameras, background objects, etc.

    Either select the items before you group them in a null object or afterwards move them into it.
    When you doing it afterwards it sometimes happens that the position of the moved models is reset to 0.
    Just copy the parameters before moving the model into the null object and then paste them back to it.
    Could be a bug in 4.0

    See you all next month... :-)

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  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    So can you use the last selection, "target null with with selected items," to target one hand from model A, to a null object parented to model B's hand? If so, that's similar to a Target Helper Object in Carrara.


    I used one once [Target Helper] to have an animated model keep her hand parented to her hip during a walk cycle. I could work on the walk without having to worry where the hand was going to go. I also used that method to simulate twirling a model above V4s head. I made my model, parented a target helper to it, applied a spin and then had the hand of the V4 track the target, and posed the hand. looked pretty good.


    In my two contest submissions I used Targets to assist in posing. This was especially useful for the human subject, as I could pose the feet and legs using the Targets, and then adjust the orientation of the hip and other areas without messing up the feet and legs.


    For the dino picture, I used Targets on all the feet and the heads and tails to assist in the posing process. If there is a similar feature in your software of choice, I would suggest practicing with it. It won't solve all the issues, but it may simplify some processes.

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  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,341
    edited December 1969

    Nice dinosaur render, evilproducer! I've bought a bunch of dinos (Predators and Prey Bundle and Dinosaur Bundle) and have been waiting to play with them, not quite sure how to build an appropriate environment for them to play in. Yours looks great.

    Well, I'm going to sleep on it, but I think this is it. Feedback still appreciated, though. Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions and encouragement this far, and good luck to everyone in the contest!

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  • deloquenciadeloquencia Posts: 47
    edited December 1969

    Hello Scott-Livingston,

    good work. I'd like to see more light in it. Two spot lights perhaps with which you highlight and emphasize your posing a little bit more.
    I think it has atmosphere but it's a little bit dark, isn't it?


    By the way, when exactly the contest will close for entries. What time and what time zone?

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,341
    edited December 1969

    Thanks! I think you're probably right. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have time to re-render with different lighting, but here's a quick attempt to "fix it in post:"

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  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 14,137
    edited December 1969

    You have till the end of day today to upload.

  • Dave SavageDave Savage Posts: 2,433
    edited December 1969

    Frank0314 said:
    You have till the end of day today to upload.

    I'm not questioning the judges here, but surely July has 31 days? :cheese:
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    YUP, but the contest thread says it ends on 30th July. Gives a day for judging, before the new contest starts.

  • deloquenciadeloquencia Posts: 47
    edited December 1969

    Hello,

    thats good to hear that we've got still time. I'm running for another entry which was on my mind since last week.
    I wanted to pose something around parkour, traceur or free climbing. I chose the last one.
    One guy here have been missing action scenes and he is right, there're missing here except for a few ones.

    @scott-livingston: The lightning looks already better than the dark grim light before. Good luck :-)
    @evilproducer: I'm not sure if this is possible.

    Free climbing, 3rd draft
    What do you think about it?
    Thanks in advance I appreciate every critical suggestion :-)

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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I like that. And thanks for the action pose. :)

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,341
    edited December 1969

    Decided it was time to stop messing with it. :)

    My entry "GENESIS" has now been posted to the contest thread. As with my first entry, I wanted to provide a little commentary here:

    First, on interpretation and meaning: it's probably best not to say too much about this, but I wanted this to have several possible interpretations in addition to the obvious one. It was also my intention from the beginning to leave "Adam" untextured. The rule on nudity was only part of the reason for this.

    Some products I used in "Ambush on the High Peaks" made another appearance here: Michael 5, Stefan for M4 and Genesis, Medieval Male Peasant Clothing, Journeyer Scout (the sash), Parkside Point Ground, Light Dome Pro (once again I used one of the jpeg backgrounds, not the lighting itself). Others include Pure Hair Classic (on both figures; untextured and with some of the surfaces hidden on "Adam"), Manly Men M5 (one of the things I used to shape "Adam"), Michael 4 Long Beard (because I was too cheap to buy Unshaven for Genesis), and K4 Basicwear for Genesis (the briefs that come with DS4, used because I made the tunic partially transparent and didn't want to violate the nudity rule).

    A few tricks in DS and GIMP I used: on the surfaces tab, turned up Ambient on the "God" figure's eyes to achieve that bright, glowing look. I did some things to the other character's eyes too, but in the end it's not really obvious. The glow near their hands was also achieved without the need for postwork; that's just a carefully-positioned point light. The halo affect started with an Uber Area sphere, and was enhanced by using the smudge tool in GIMP. The smudge tool also helped me smooth out some issues with the sash and with the beard.

    The previously-mentioned transparent clothes are a handy thing to know how do: just go to the Surfaces tab and turn down the opacity of the item in question (even going to 90% can increase realism in some instances; this one was set to 70%, I think). I also made heavy use of the softglow filter and the brightness and contrast sliders. I used the cartoon filter on the previous version I posted above, which was one of the elements in the final version. One of the last things I did was to layer together postworked versions (like the one above) and raw renders, and adjusted the opacity of each layer until I got the look I wanted.

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  • SasjeSasje Posts: 835
    edited July 2012

    deloquencia I don't want to look down it makes me dizzy, to high for me :lol: really good job.
    Scott you also do a really good job.

    Post edited by Sasje on
  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 14,137
    edited December 1969

    Hello,

    thats good to hear that we've got still time. I'm running for another entry which was on my mind since last week.
    I wanted to pose something around parkour, traceur or free climbing. I chose the last one.
    One guy here have been missing action scenes and he is right, there're missing here except for a few ones.

    @scott-livingston: The lightning looks already better than the dark grim light before. Good luck :-)
    @evilproducer: I'm not sure if this is possible.

    Free climbing, 3rd draft
    What do you think about it?
    Thanks in advance I appreciate every critical suggestion :-)

    Good job. I really like it.

  • deloquenciadeloquencia Posts: 47
    edited December 1969

    Hello,

    thank you, Frank0314, Sasje and Jaderail.

    Another tip I've got when finishing things in a hurry is the progressive rendering.
    Perhaps it's obvious what this setting in the rendering tab provides, but perhaps not.
    The setting builds the render in continuous improvement.
    This can give you a quick idea about how the final result'll look like already around 50%
    without decreasing the render quality. When taking a look at shadows this can help.

    Soon I should finish the free climbing :-)

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  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,341
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for that tip, deloquencia! I thought that was a Reality thing; didn't know it was possible in DS4 with 3Delight.

    I like how your latest is coming along so far. The lighting and the pose both look really good. Biggest difference I see in the pose between the reference and the render is the extent to which the chest/torso is visible under his chin. But it took me a while before I noticed that!

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    Nice dinosaur render, evilproducer! I've bought a bunch of dinos (Predators and Prey Bundle and Dinosaur Bundle) and have been waiting to play with them, not quite sure how to build an appropriate environment for them to play in. Yours looks great.

    Well, I'm going to sleep on it, but I think this is it. Feedback still appreciated, though. Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions and encouragement this far, and good luck to everyone in the contest!


    Thanks for the nice words. Your scene looks pretty good as well.


    I think I do have the Predator Vs. Prey bundle. The environment in this last one is what almost made me give it up. Ugh! The clouds! I had intended on putting the other dinosaurs in there, but I was hitting up against some serious time issues with the render.

  • deloquenciadeloquencia Posts: 47
    edited July 2012

    I've gone straight forward to the contest thread with the free climbing. Not that much changed...
    Thanks and see you :-)

    I've gone straight forward to the contest thread with the free climbing. Not much changed...
    Thanks and see you :-)

    Addendum:

    [...] Biggest difference I see in the pose between the reference and the render is the extent to which the chest/torso is visible under his chin. But it took me a while before I noticed that!

    @Scott-Livingston: Thanks, yes, indeed I had problems to set up the hip and the abdomen from the start, that's why I think you see more of his chest under his chin.

    Post edited by deloquencia on
  • atticanneatticanne Posts: 3,009
    edited December 1969

    Last time in here. I'll finish her up and send her on her way when I get up.

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  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    you are up - or are you
    what no Gun :coolhmm:

  • deloquenciadeloquencia Posts: 47
    edited December 1969

    Hello,

    No parkour after all :-(
    I think most of you know what's parkour, it's the art of motion in urban area.

    Just a little bit strange it is. I think when Sasje would have started this thread with an action instead of
    the tango scene, perhaps then we'd end up here with more action and not so much choreography.

    Maybe I'm wrong, but at least I followed in unconsciousness and when I already like modern dance, so
    it was obvious to me what to do. Nevermind the works what've been done so far are great.

    I think at the end most important is what you've learned, what you took with you and that you've enjoyed the contest :-)

    -----
    @Gedd: Amazing morning excercize what silently passed the WIP thread.
    I like that extreme position you did. Well done and good luck :-)
    @AtticAnne: A good base pose. Late, but nevertheless is the right hand more bended and slightly twisted.
    Also take a further look at her other hand.

  • atticanneatticanne Posts: 3,009
    edited December 1969

    bigh said:
    you are up - or are you
    what no Gun :coolhmm:

    I am now. Sometimes I just gotta sleep. I put her gun in a safe place, now I just have to find it again.

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 14,137
    edited December 1969

    Contest is now closed. Good luck to you all.

  • atticanneatticanne Posts: 3,009
    edited December 1969

    Oh, poo, Frank. I just now got through with mine. Misread and thought the 31st was the deadline. I'll just post it over in my Art Studio thread. Maybe next time.

  • Joe CotterJoe Cotter Posts: 3,259
    edited December 1969

    When do we usually hear the results?

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited August 2012

    A little while after we have managed to capture all the judges, chased them off to view the contest thread, and then come back and let us know the results of their cogitations, deliberations, ruminations, meditations or whatever other sort of discipline they employ to work out who the heck is going to win. It's never an easy task.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited August 2012

    Gedd said:
    When do we usually hear the results?
    After all the votes are in. It should be soon. And Chohole explained it much better than I did.

    We also hope to have the new Contest up before the end of the Day tomorrow DAZ time. That is U.S. Mountian time or UCT-7 in the time Zones.
    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • Joe CotterJoe Cotter Posts: 3,259
    edited December 1969

    Thanks, I was actually also making sure I didn't miss something. They post the results in the contest thread?

    Btw, good luck everyone who participated. Great work by everyone :)

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited August 2012

    Yes. The Winners are announced in the Contest thread. Not the WIP thread. So keep your eyes peeled. And Good luck to all.

    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • SasjeSasje Posts: 835
    edited December 1969

    Exciting :lol:

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    Good luck all. There was some very nice stuff posted.

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