September 2020 - Daz 3D New User Challenge - Depth of Field and Canvases

2

Comments

  • sueya said:

    The Charmer

    This is the first version of my entry for this challenge. I think it may need more light. Constructive feedback welcome. 

    @sueya - I don't know if you need more light, but you definately need to adjust where the light is. All those dark shadows behind him and on the ground are really distracting. Also, it looks like you've done a really great job posing the guy, and I would love to see the image zoom in on his upper body.

    I'm in love with your black/ivory/green color scheme, and I think your choices of character, wardrobe, and setting are all spot on. I'm really excited to see how your image develops!!

  • I feel this image could benefit from tighter DoF on the characters to give it more of a dreamy background feel, I would try with the focus point in the middle of their torsos and the fstop box just wide enough to fit them in.

    you could possibly pull it even further in/back to start just in front of their back shoulders seeing as you pretty much can't see them anyway.

     

    Thank you for the advice! I went back to my piece and changed the DoF, along with a few other details such as the camera angle and her outfit and hair color. Here is the updated version of my entry to the beginner contest: Any other advice is always welcome :)

    Title: 8

     

    I love their feet - especially hers! And they look like they are actually standing on the floor, which is awesome.

    My critique is that, despite the DoF, everything still seems a bit flat. You've got a lot of brown, and it's all very similar in terms of value and saturation and stuff. Maybe think about tweaking the materials of the set? I'd love to see your characters pop more!

  • aprilshowers2065aprilshowers2065 Posts: 703
    edited September 2020

    Title: Bad Puppy!

    Beginner Challenge, 2nd Entry

    Software: Daz3D

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  • LaPartita said:
    katywhite said:

    Trying focus and depth of field. Haven't really used this too much before so any constructive feedback would be appreciated. :)

    [working] Title: Failing Consciousness

    Challenge: DOF (Beginner Challenge)

    Software: Daz3D + Photoshop (just to fix those fireflies!)

    @katywhite - I don't know if it's just my monitor, but your image is really dark (other than the foreground, which is really bright), This could also explain all the fireflies when you rendered. Did you have the headlamp on your camera on, or even set to auto somewhere? That can really mess up your lighting, especially in a dark render.

    @LaPartita
     

    ...I actually did have the headlamp on 'auto'. Oopsie. I was wondering why the foreground was so bright. I'll try turning it off and re-rendering and see if that helps!

  • katywhitekatywhite Posts: 414
    edited October 2020

    2nd entry for the Focus and depth of field. Any constructive feedback would be appreciated. :)

    Title: Pounce!

    Caption: Pounce didn't see a point of having a name like 'Pounce' if he wasn't going to live up to it...

    Challenge: DOF (Beginner Challenge) 2nd entry

    Software: Daz3D


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  • SmoerebroetSmoerebroet Posts: 31
    edited September 2020

    AAAAAAAHHHHH! SNAAAAAAAAAAIL ATTACK!!!

    Beginner DOF:

    Cam on 150mm
    Focus between Snail and Pike Tip.
    Char: Tara
    Armor: Legend
    Pike: my own

    Aaaand the Main Char Mr. Snail Slug -> I think it was from Sketchfab.

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  • Thank you DAZ_ann0314 for the canvases tutorials.some thing new to learn and play with.

  • PhatmartinoPhatmartino Posts: 287
    edited September 2020

    Beginner Challenge: DOF

    Title: Upset Slumber

    Software: DAZ Studio

    Just started toying around with this and mostly really hoped to get some constructive criticism...

    I want this image to be dark, but it seems way too dark unless viewed fullscreen. Everything I've tried sort of "reveals" too much. For now it's lit with 4 Ghost Lights... Green and Blue scaled to 5-600% and low Luminescence, and a red right in front of the tiny figure.

    Any ideas along those lines, how to maybe make underwater bubbles look more realistic when in the foreground with DOF... And any other of I'm sure many insights the far more experienced may have would be greatly appreciated!

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  • Alias52Alias52 Posts: 284

    Running Fight 2

    Thanks to Daz_ann0314 I felt like having a go at the Canvases for the first time. I have included the png of the render as well as a jpg version of the canvases merged. What I liked was the ability to work on fairly subtle bits of the image at a time - so played with the glossy, the skin tones of the swinging character and tweaked some other bits. I don't dislike the pure render at all but I enjoyed learning the canvases.

     

     

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  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    edited September 2020

    Beginner Challenge: DOF

    Title: Upset Slumber

    Software: DAZ Studio

    Just started toying around with this and mostly really hoped to get some constructive criticism...

    I want this image to be dark, but it seems way too dark unless viewed fullscreen. Everything I've tried sort of "reveals" too much. For now it's lit with 4 Ghost Lights... Green and Blue scaled to 5-600% and low Luminescence, and a red right in front of the tiny figure.

    Any ideas along those lines, how to maybe make underwater bubbles look more realistic when in the foreground with DOF... And any other of I'm sure many insights the far more experienced may have would be greatly appreciated!

    Edit: I can't seem to get the Upload to show in the post at the right aspect ratio...

    @phatmartino, When you embed a large image into the post, you need to specify a width of 800 pixels or less, and make sure the little padlock to the right is closed, (locked.) If you don't specify the width, the forum software will squish the image to fit the post. Locking the dimensions will constrain any change in size to the image's original ratio.

    The image you attached is very dark in the browser, so dark it was difficult to see the details. I dragged it into photoshop, duplicated the layer, and set the blend mode to Linear Dodge. That made the details pop without making the image "feel" light. I just wanted to see the details you worked so hard on, but just the one thing looked really good. Do you have Photoshop or Gimp? Or another photoediting program? If so, I believe this image would really benefit from a wee bit of postwork.

    You did an amazing job with setting up the scene. I love that the creature is so large, and the human (?) is so very tiny. What I can't quite make out is if the figure is flying/floating, (like a superhero,) or if this scene is underwater. And if it is underwater, I'm not the one to give tips on possible changes. I've not done a single underwater scene! Ever.

    Edit: And after all that, I actually read the whole description! lol

    I didn't see any bubbles in the scene, but if they are there, you could try making them slightly emissive. Then again, as already stated, I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to underwater scenes. Found them! I was looking for bubbles coming from the figure and/ or the creature. In the foreground like they are, I thought it was "bokeh". If you add bubbles closer to the focal point, they may look more realistic if they're not blurry, but they would have to be in proportion to the source. (Small bubbles for the figure, somewhat larger for the creature.)

     

     

    Post edited by L'Adair on
  • Alias52 said:

    Running Fight 2

    Thanks to Daz_ann0314 I felt like having a go at the Canvases for the first time. I have included the png of the render as well as a jpg version of the canvases merged. What I liked was the ability to work on fairly subtle bits of the image at a time - so played with the glossy, the skin tones of the swinging character and tweaked some other bits. I don't dislike the pure render at all but I enjoyed learning the canvases.

    As another first time Canvas user, I really like what you did  there. The PNG seems a bit low in contrast. The JPG really makes the front figure pop out more and adds a greater range of tonal values.  One thing I might suggest is darkening the sky layer ... my eye keeps getting pulled by the bright almost white spot  in the upper left corner.

  • TirickTirick Posts: 228
    edited September 2020

    After the Fall v2

    Beginner Challenge

    Software: Daz Studio 4.12

    I upgraded my video card, and followed HenryHo's excellent advice, removing the bump maps from the out of focus objects as well as downscaling some of the textures. This let me render in full resolution to 'finish' at 10000 iterations. There is still a lot of noise, but I've found through testing that denoising makes the skin look plasticy and less realistic. I also like the effect noise seems to have on the rain, it looks more natural, at least to my eye. As well, I played around a bit more with Grungy Threads, and figured out how to apply it to the skin. This is, thus far, my favourite of the renders I've finished.

    Thank you,

    Tirick  

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  • PhatmartinoPhatmartino Posts: 287
    edited September 2020
    L'Adair said:
    @phatmartino, When you embed a large image into the post, you need to specify a width of 800 pixels or less, and make sure the little padlock to the right is closed, (locked.) If you don't specify the width, the forum software will squish the image to fit the post. Locking the dimensions will constrain any change in size to the image's original ratio.

    The image you attached is very dark in the browser, so dark it was difficult to see the details. I dragged it into photoshop, duplicated the layer, and set the blend mode to Linear Dodge. That made the details pop without making the image "feel" light. I just wanted to see the details you worked so hard on, but just the one thing looked really good. Do you have Photoshop or Gimp? Or another photoediting program? If so, I believe this image would really benefit from a wee bit of postwork.

    You did an amazing job with setting up the scene. I love that the creature is so large, and the human (?) is so very tiny. What I can't quite make out is if the figure is flying/floating, (like a superhero,) or if this scene is underwater. And if it is underwater, I'm not the one to give tips on possible changes. I've not done a single underwater scene! Ever.

    Edit: And after all that, I actually read the whole description! lol

    I didn't see any bubbles in the scene, but if they are there, you could try making them slightly emissive. Then again, as already stated, I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to underwater scenes. Found them! I was looking for bubbles coming from the figure and/ or the creature. In the foreground like they are, I thought it was "bokeh". If you add bubbles closer to the focal point, they may look more realistic if they're not blurry, but they would have to be in proportion to the source. (Small bubbles for the figure, somewhat larger for the creature.)

    L'Adair, thank you so much for taking a look, going the extra mile to even be able to see it... lol, and for the feedback! Also, for the bit about the 800px limit, nice!

    Yes, I'm pretty well versed in Ps... aparently only regarding certain things. I use it all the time to suplement my DS endeavors with Textures, Maps, etc... Almost never for post work of a final render. I need to learn more and work on that, for sure.

    It's supposed to be underwater, Great Cthulhu and a little tiny non-human. I didn't really think either would create bubbles so the one's I had were just an ill conceived attempt at filling space and trying to make it look underwater. My first endeavor underwater as well, so I feel ya. It's proving difficult. I tried sending light through Plane Primitives with different variety of sized holes in a Cutout Opacity Map, Volume Lighting, not much luck so far.

    I tried adding just a few tiny bubbles above the tiny figure and wanted to Render to see if they'd even read before doing too much with it. They don't really, but I tried playing with lighting a little more in the DS Scene as well as in Ps afterward... At least any advice about possible post work tweaks I could try in Ps, even if only to point out what in the image I should be trying to change to make it visually appealing would be awesome. Getting too neon looking? Are the eyes ridiculous and need to be toned down? I kind of know what I like, but I'd love to make this and future work something anyone could at least stand to look at. :)   

     

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  • PhatmartinoPhatmartino Posts: 287
    edited September 2020

    Edit: Oops, double post.

    Figured I might as well throw another stab in here...

     

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  • sueyasueya Posts: 826

    The Charmer v2

    I have focused more closely on the man as suggested. I have also altered the lighting. Constructive feedback welcome.

  • watchdog79watchdog79 Posts: 1,026
    edited September 2020

    Title: Damn Hot!

    Beginner Challenge entry 1 - Focus / Depth of Field

    Software used: DAZ Studio 4.12 (no postwork)

    C&C most welcome.smiley

    Gallery link with a list of products used: https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/1088112/

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  • I have used depth of field and canvases. Thank you for the tutorals.

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  • watchdog79watchdog79 Posts: 1,026
    edited September 2020

    Title: Porter!

    (old version, no longer an entry)

    Software used: DAZ Studio 4.12 (no postwork)

    This is still work in progress. I need to increase the Depth of Field effect and I desperately need to reduce the rendering time, which is currently way over 2 hours.

    Would anyone know what can I do to reduce the renderning time, please? Maybe try to delete parts of the environment that are not in the camera view? Would more or less light help too, perhaps? I guess I could always reduce the resolution too, if all else fails.

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  • TirickTirick Posts: 228

    Title: Porter!

    Beginner Challenge entry 2 - Focus / Depth of Field

    Software used: DAZ Studio 4.12 (no postwork)

     

    This is still work in progress. I need to increase the Depth of Field effect and I desperately need to reduce the rendering time, which is currently way over 2 hours.

    Would anyone know what can I do to reduce the renderning time, please? Maybe try to delete parts of the environment that are not in the camera view? Would more or less light help too, perhaps? I guess I could always reduce the resolution too, if all else fails.

    Decide on your depth of field and final camera position, and get it all set up. Then, remove all prop and set elements not in the shot (and not influencing the shot, like emissives or lights). That looks like Stonemason's new set and his sets are fantastic, but they are dense with textures and vertices. 

    Then for all parts in the shot but not in focus, go through each surface and set the bump texture to none. 

    Lastly, there is a forum thread with a handy utility to reduce texture sizes automatically based on a selection. Use it with caution but its very, very, useful for reducing render times (and vram load). 

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/137161/reduce-texture-sizes-easily-with-this-script#latest

    I'm sure there are other tricks, but these are ones I've used myself to good effect.

    Tirick

     

  • PhatmartinoPhatmartino Posts: 287
    edited September 2020

    Beginner Challenge: DOF Entry #1

    Title: Upset Slumber

    Software: Daz Studio

    Still playing around... Tweaked lighting somewhat (still having a hard time keeping the kind of look I want while making it viewable), and got DOF a little more under control.

    I also grabbed https://www.daz3d.com/clone-room-construction-kit and it had a Volume that's working better and some bubbles from the tank as well! The bubbles seem like they could look great, though have to move them all around as one and find a way to use them to have some exist in the focal area, etc.

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  • JupiterclawJupiterclaw Posts: 1
    edited September 2020

    Beginners challenge.

    Daz studio.

    Title: Kitastropy


    I have never posted on the forums before or entered any contests on here, I only just noticed there is such a thing. This is my submission for the beginner challenge, made in Daz Studio its title is Kitastropy. I hope i have done this right. I only ever used Daz to make characters for stories so never really gone in depth with it but am willing to learn. So for the next challenge I will try out the intermidiate challenge. I hope you like the image I created, I usually do darker horror type stuff. 

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  • PhatmartinoPhatmartino Posts: 287
    edited September 2020

    Beginner Challenge: DOF Entry #2

    Title: Sanity Lost

    Software: Daz Studio

    So glad I noticed this challenge. Having a ton of fun playing with DOF. That and a few recent Daz Store purchases have got the creative juices flowing. Who knew? Parkside Heath's in Lovecraft Country!

     

     

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  • watchdog79watchdog79 Posts: 1,026
    edited September 2020

    I changed the scene and the format to simplify it, and I finally found at least somewhat Victorian looking handbag. Pity the gallery does not recognize the name of the product - Sensibility Expansion. In the end, I managed to lower the rendering time to roughly 45 minutes.

    Title: Porter!

    Beginner Challenge entry 2 - Focus / Depth of Field

    Software used: DAZ Studio 4.12 (no postwork)

    Gallery link with a list of products used: https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/1091737

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  • katywhitekatywhite Posts: 414
    edited October 2020

    Finally got around to fixing this one up. Adjusted the lighting to be more even. Any further feedback is appreciated!

    Title: Failing Consciousness

    Challenge: DOF (Beginner Challenge)

    Software: Daz3D + Photoshop (just to fix those fireflies!)

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  • Canvases. I have some mistakes in this render. I like canvases, still takes some time to do but a much shorter time frame then the way i was doinding it.( set the render then reset the lights to a new position and so on.) Why can i not render DAZ skydome in canvases. nothing seams to work. Feedback most welcome.

     

     

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  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    Canvases. I have some mistakes in this render. I like canvases, still takes some time to do but a much shorter time frame then the way i was doinding it.( set the render then reset the lights to a new position and so on.) Why can i not render DAZ skydome in canvases. nothing seams to work. Feedback most welcome.

    If you're talking about the HDRIs in the Environment tab, Canvases won't render those as they don't have mesh. Same with instances. A canvas without a node list works on everything that's visible in the render. (With Draw Dome set to Off, the background will be Transparent, unless you enable Alpha. Then I believe it renders a solid color. In my tests, that color was black.

    Skydomes that are actual mesh should render, but I believe all of those you'll come across in products are 3DL, and will need a lot of fiddling to let light though and still show up in the scene.

    (When you set a Canvas for the HDRI lighting, it renders the effect of the HDRI on the mesh in the scene. Same with other options for lights with canvases.)

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    katywhite said:

    Finally got around to fixing this one up. Adjusted the lighting to be more even. Any further feedback is appreciated!

    Just one thing… Did you intend for the skin of the arm to show through the sleeve? If not, look for the right foream bend bone in the Scene tab, and click on the eye icon to the left of that line. That should hide that bit of mesh, and remove the poke-through.

  • L'Adair said:
    katywhite said:

    Finally got around to fixing this one up. Adjusted the lighting to be more even. Any further feedback is appreciated!

    Just one thing… Did you intend for the skin of the arm to show through the sleeve? If not, look for the right foream bend bone in the Scene tab, and click on the eye icon to the left of that line. That should hide that bit of mesh, and remove the poke-through.

    Thanks for the tip! But in this case I wanted it to poke through - emphasis on the fact he's not having a good day. XD

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    Not An Entry

    When it comes to Canvases, I'm as big a newbie as anyone. Of course, I can't enter the challenge, but I did "play" along with the rest of you. Most of my renders with canvases were to just see how the canvases did on old scenes, but I did one scene for a challenge on another site, and I used three Beauty canvases. One for the complete image, with a transparent background; One for the young couple; And one for the small birds the figures are watching.

    It was fun seeing how I could use those layers to make adjustments on just the birds, or just the couple.

    Reconnecting, by L'Adair

    I did learn a couple of things I think are worth passing on.

    • If you don't use a Node List, (leave it set to None,) the canvas will be the whole image, including any instances, BUT if you assign a Node List to the canvas, you cannot set it back to None! I made some changes to the couple's pose and resimulated her dress, so I rendered the whole thing again. It took several hours to reach my Sample Rate goal, and when I opened up the canvases, the one for the complete image wasn't complete. Checking the settings, the previous Node List was still applied. I tested it again, but I couldn't get None to stick. If you want a Beauty canvas of the entire image, you'll have to create a new canvas with None selected. I didn't test this with other canvases, but I would expect the same behavior from any canvas that uses the Node Lists.
    • I like to set the computer to render overnight, while I sleep, and often times set the Max Sample to something very high so the render won't stop while I'm still sleeping. When I get up, I'll reset the Max Samples to a value just above where the render is at. (I do that so any spot renders can have the same sample rate.) But when I changed the Max Samples while using Canvases, the render restarted at sample 1. I tested this a couple more times, and it happened every time. (This is something I do very frequently, without the render reseting when not using Canvases.)

     I used an HDRI to light the scene, but the sky and clouds in the background are from a photo I took over the skies of Prineville, Oregon. (One of many. The skies were amazing that day, so I took a couple dozen with various settings on the camera.) 

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    Just a quick reminder the month is almost over. (Where does the time go?)

    There is still time to enter, perhaps time to do a new image. The challenge won't close until tomorrow night at Daz Midnight.

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