Science Fantasy

IceScribe

I pretty much agree with some posters here. Science fiction is more of the problem-and or-solution in a story, and fantasy relies on non-scientific developments, either can go heroic/adventurous and can go into dystopian and horror. "Bulletproof Monk" combines supernatural force versus science (the old Nazi mad doctor device) in an ordinary urban scene.

Geminii23

Science Fantasy...and a bit of Horror!

This one is called Final Fantasy Z. Inspired by the Final Fantasy games with a dash of Zombie Apocalypse!

nobody1954

No one has mentioned Ann McCaffrey's Pern series. One of the best examples of combining science fiction and fantasy.

WendyLuvsCatz

LOL nobody1954 HAS mentioned them
needless to say I have all her books too!

K T Ong

H P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos would be the ultimate fusion of horror, fantasy and SF. Lovecraft virtually scoffs at the boundaries set by the three genres. You can look at the Old Ones both as extraterrestrials and as supernatural beings -- and I'd say they're ultimately both.

The worlds of DC and Marvel Comics would surely be an inseparable blend of fantasy and SF as well. Green Lantern's powers are based on a form of alien super-science, whereas Wonder Woman is patronized by the Greek gods. The powers of Spiderman, Iron Man and the Hulk are all science-based (mutations, advanced technology etc) whereas those of Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange are nothing if not magic.

XoechZ

Thanks for all your input!

This topic does not seem to be so uncommon or unusual as I thought.
But most of you are talking about movies or literature. Very interesting, sure. But since we are here at the DAZ forum, I want to narrow down the topic to cg art, especially renders in DAZ Studio.
So, how would you set up a scene according to this genre. Which items and props could be useful? Or, more general, how could you transfer an idea - based on a Science Fantasy movie or book - to a render scene?

Valandar

You cannot say what items and props would be more useful to a "science fantasy" setting, because there's just too many of them, and the concept of "science fantasy" is just infinitely too broad.

And to transfer an idea to a render scene is just like how you'd do it for anything else. Consider how you envision it, and look for the clothing, props, and sets (or make them yourself if you know how) that best fits what you're trying to do.

And nobody mentioned the setting of the tabletop game Rifts, by Palladium Games. Set 300 years after nuclear war caused Earth's leylines to erupt, Earth now plays host to fantasy races, eldritch abominations, superheros and villains, aliens from outer space, and powerful magic and psionics, while some human kingdoms try to strike back with superscience and technology so advanced one of the lightest powered armors could wipe out a battalion of modern M1A3 Main Battle Tanks.

Xenomorphine

Yeah, as I wrote earlier, it really depends on the setting which you choose and it's best to simply learn from the best examples of that genre. :)

Are you using vampires? Zombies? Witches? Future-based or steampunk? Contemporary, post-apocalyptic or historical? As with any CG art using Daz, it's what you make it. Peruse through your product library and see what you can combine to the best effect or, alternatively, just look down the relevant categories in the store.

Technically, you could have two characters in a pitch-black room and have one posed like they're being held aloft by the other using telekinesis, but with both wearing modern or futuristic clothing. It'd essentially be classified as what you're after, but it would require clarification with text to inform the audience of what they're looking at. Would be easy on your bank account, though. ;)

There really isn't anything stopping you from purchasing, say, a sewer system and then depicting something fantasy-related within it. Or having a couple of vampire characters and showing one wearing an energy weapon on their belt. Subtle, but the end result would place it in 'science-fiction fantasy'. It's all about context.

R25S

something like this.

Xenomorphine

You might find these useful, however - something specifically designed for a fusion of both genres:

http://www.daz3d.com/tech-staves

Hoping Valandar or someone else will eventually make some 'Krull'-inspired combined sword/energy gun weapons, along the same lines. :)

Miss B

nobody1954 said:

No one has mentioned Ann McCaffrey's Pern series. One of the best examples of combining science fiction and fantasy.

That's only because you beat me to it. ~grin~

I had a very long "discussion" with the friend who lent me the first 18 of the Pern books to read years ago. She insisted it was Science Fiction, and I kept repeating "with a dash of Fantasy". After all, there be dragons, and we all know dragons are fantasy.

If I had to categorize them, I'd say they are 80% Sci-Fi and 20% Fantasy because the dragons played a very large part in the survival of Pern and every living thing on it.

Ryuu@AMcCF

Miss B said:

nobody1954 said:

No one has mentioned Ann McCaffrey's Pern series. One of the best examples of combining science fiction and fantasy.

That's only because you beat me to it. ~grin~

I had a very long "discussion" with the friend who lent me the first 18 of the Pern books to read years ago. She insisted it was Science Fiction, and I kept repeating "with a dash of Fantasy". After all, there be dragons, and we all know dragons are fantasy.

If I had to categorize them, I'd say they are 80% Sci-Fi and 20% Fantasy because the dragons played a very large part in the survival of Pern and every living thing on it.However, I think you would find that Anne's dragons were the most scientific aspects to Pern. They're genetically engineered from the native Pernese fire-lizards. In several of Anne's other scifi series, she has telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation as scifi elements--both the fire-lizards and the enhanced natives are endowed with them.

Unfortunately, much of the fantasy that exists in Pern comes from how she built their society.

There's really nothing that says that dragons can't be highly technologically advanced species. After all, that IS where Rassilon stole the time-travel tech he furnished to Omega ;-)

Jaderail

XoechZ said:

So, how would you set up a scene according to this genre. Which items and props could be useful? Or, more general, how could you transfer an idea - based on a Science Fantasy movie or book - to a render scene?

Asking that question of a group of Artist, each with their own styles and ideas, will more than likely get you a different answer from each person. The only one that can answer that is you, what is your vision of that scene? Which items would you like in it? How would you illustrate that book if you decided to do it? One project I have always wanted to do was the Rendezvous with Rama series of books. That's more Sci-Fi than Sci-Fant but I do have a Vision of how I would do it. That's what you must find yourself, the vision you wish to show from the idea you follow.

Jason Galterio

Jaderail said:

XoechZ said:

So, how would you set up a scene according to this genre. Which items and props could be useful? Or, more general, how could you transfer an idea - based on a Science Fantasy movie or book - to a render scene?

Asking that question of a group of Artist, each with their own styles and ideas, will more than likely get you a different answer from each person. The only one that can answer that is you, what is your vision of that scene? Which items would you like in it? How would you illustrate that book if you decided to do it? One project I have always wanted to do was the Rendezvous with Rama series of books. That's more Sci-Fi than Sci-Fant but I do have a Vision of how I would do it. That's what you must find yourself, the vision you wish to show from the idea you follow.

Agree here.

I would experiment and try nontraditional combinations. Like sword and sorcery style architecture using sci-fi textures and vice versa.

TheWheelMan

XoechZ said:

Thanks for all your input!

This topic does not seem to be so uncommon or unusual as I thought.
But most of you are talking about movies or literature. Very interesting, sure. But since we are here at the DAZ forum, I want to narrow down the topic to cg art, especially renders in DAZ Studio.
So, how would you set up a scene according to this genre. Which items and props could be useful? Or, more general, how could you transfer an idea - based on a Science Fantasy movie or book - to a render scene?

The question makes no sense whatsoever. We're talking about a purely subjective thing based on YOUR imagination and creativity. There are no rules or expected elements to such a thing. And even if there were, there would still be millions of permutations of such a thing.

Are you trying to create art to sell? Because otherwise, I don't understand why you would be asking such questions. Your art is your art. Nobody else's opinions on content matters.

Miss B

Ryuu@AMcCF said:

Miss B said:

nobody1954 said:

No one has mentioned Ann McCaffrey's Pern series. One of the best examples of combining science fiction and fantasy.

That's only because you beat me to it. ~grin~

I had a very long "discussion" with the friend who lent me the first 18 of the Pern books to read years ago. She insisted it was Science Fiction, and I kept repeating "with a dash of Fantasy". After all, there be dragons, and we all know dragons are fantasy.

If I had to categorize them, I'd say they are 80% Sci-Fi and 20% Fantasy because the dragons played a very large part in the survival of Pern and every living thing on it.

However, I think you would find that Anne's dragons were the most scientific aspects to Pern. They're genetically engineered from the native Pernese fire-lizards. In several of Anne's other scifi series, she has telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation as scifi elements--both the fire-lizards and the enhanced natives are endowed with them.

Unfortunately, much of the fantasy that exists in Pern comes from how she built their society.

There's really nothing that says that dragons can't be highly technologically advanced species. After all, that IS where Rassilon stole the time-travel tech he furnished to Omega ;-)
All true. They wouldn't have had the dragons to help them survive if they didn't have doctors and scientists among them to do the genetic engineering.

I loved everything about that series, irregardless of whether it was considered Fantasy or Sci-Fi. :nods:

Chohole

Talking of dragons, has anyone read the Keltiad series, by Patricia Kennealy. I have always loved the concept of the Flag ship of the Keltiad Space Fleet being built in the shape of a golden dragon because, as it never came into the atmosphere, it didn't need to be normal space ship shape.

GhostofMacbeth

chohole said:

Talking of dragons, has anyone read the Keltiad series, by Patricia Kennealy. I have always loved the concept of the Flag ship of the Keltiad Space Fleet being built in the shape of a golden dragon because, as it never came into the atmosphere, it didn't need to be normal space ship shape.

Been a few years but I did read them.

Miss B

No I haven't read them Cho, but I'm certainly going to put them on my To Read list. Thanks for the recommend. :coolsmile:

JOdel

TheWheelMan said:

XoechZ said:

Thanks for all your input!

This topic does not seem to be so uncommon or unusual as I thought.
But most of you are talking about movies or literature. Very interesting, sure. But since we are here at the DAZ forum, I want to narrow down the topic to cg art, especially renders in DAZ Studio.
So, how would you set up a scene according to this genre. Which items and props could be useful? Or, more general, how could you transfer an idea - based on a Science Fantasy movie or book - to a render scene?

The question makes no sense whatsoever. We're talking about a purely subjective thing based on YOUR imagination and creativity. There are no rules or expected elements to such a thing. And even if there were, there would still be millions of permutations of such a thing.

Are you trying to create art to sell? Because otherwise, I don't understand why you would be asking such questions. Your art is your art. Nobody else's opinions on content matters.

Sounds like the poster is looking for the "Make Art" button. Nobody's found it yet.

robkelk

JOdel said:

TheWheelMan said:

XoechZ said:

Thanks for all your input!

This topic does not seem to be so uncommon or unusual as I thought.
But most of you are talking about movies or literature. Very interesting, sure. But since we are here at the DAZ forum, I want to narrow down the topic to cg art, especially renders in DAZ Studio.
So, how would you set up a scene according to this genre. Which items and props could be useful? Or, more general, how could you transfer an idea - based on a Science Fantasy movie or book - to a render scene?

The question makes no sense whatsoever. We're talking about a purely subjective thing based on YOUR imagination and creativity. There are no rules or expected elements to such a thing. And even if there were, there would still be millions of permutations of such a thing.

Are you trying to create art to sell? Because otherwise, I don't understand why you would be asking such questions. Your art is your art. Nobody else's opinions on content matters.

Sounds like the poster is looking for the "Make Art" button. Nobody's found it yet.

I'll make the suggestion again: Offer to host a monthly Freebie Challenge with this as the theme. If you do, you'll see many different takes on the subject.

mjc1016

JOdel said:

Sounds like the poster is looking for the "Make Art" button. Nobody's found it yet.

I've seen one before...it's called a Paypal button...but nobody seems to want to use it.