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
Spaceship basic shape done, next blending it all together, adding a few hatches and a minor interior fit-out, then getting it ready to paint.
Some fantastic creations, everyone. Great spaceship, Bunyip.
I created an ashtray to use rust. I used the 3D paint tool to create scratchy black and white maps. I then created gradients for rust colors. The maps are then used in both the bump channel and the opacity masks to limit the rust to the scratchy areas. I put in a placeholder cigarette butt, which will need to be morphed to look bent and stubbed. I will also have to think about how to add ashes. I will probably create a small bumpy surface and supplement it with a replicator.
I've also spent a little time working on the shading domains and textures of the characters. I used the 3D paint tool to create 5 o'clock shadow for the detective. He still needs hair. The femme fatale has prop hair. I used the 3D paint tool to create the jagged alpha map for the hair fringe. I will at least experiment with using prop hair for a comic render and dynamic hair for a photo-real render. Maybe I can combine them as per EP's insights.
Edit: you probably have to view full size to see the rust on the ashtray.
A felt the same way about the light on the ship, so I darkened the color in the light and reduced the brightness some more. I also did the same on the astronaut, but somehow shifted the light so it is not shining him directly. Ahh well. Something else to fix. Here's the render that ran while I was sleeping to illustrate.
Much better lighting on the ship. Really has that night time in the jungle feel.
Nice spaceship. Very interested in seeing it with all the details in place. Who cares about aerodynamics? It's really only the coolness of the design that counts. :) Cool design.
Sorry :roll: , that little thing seems to do that. I started working on it and emerged hours later (or earlier depending on how you look at it - about 2:00 am) dazed and disoriented! Glad you're feeling better. Your project is looking quite impressive so far!
Here is an update on mine. I ditched the original Time Machine model for a new one. I was lucky to find a nice one modeled after the 2002 movie on shareCG by Morpheus. It has a nice steam punk feel to it, but the mats/shaders had to be completely redone. I'll post a pre-shader fixing render tomorrow or Thursday - the computer is busy rendering what might be the final render ..... maybe (the one rendering now is about the 40th try).
Enchanted Forest really kicks the crud out of render speed, but I really like it! This render ran for about 4 hours. I decided to try to do the entire project in Carrara without any post work, including text, which means everything has to get rendered in Carrara/Octane as a single image. So this image is just a part of the roughing out process for me, I typically need several "finish" quality renders to make sure everything it "perfect" (I fix a couple issues, render, find more issues, fix, render, find more, fix, render, etc.).
Doing all the text in Carrara has proven a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. I needed to place the text in the focal plane so it is clear, and not a victim of DOF, which I'm also using in the render. I think I finally have everything in place, and all the little problems that rendering at higher resolutions always brings out so clearly.
So, the attached image is just capture of the the first round after adding the majority of the text to the render with the new time machine. It was rendered at the 2000 pixel max resolution for the forums. I will probably do one thing in post, reduce the image size to post here. the image I'm rendering now is 2400 pixels tall (to ensure I get the best details).
Text and image in one render. Very nice. And again, a good advertisement for Octane in Carrara.
My kids were looking over my shoulder while I was catching up on this thread and they had some reactions to recent additions. I haven't shown them all of the thread, so they didn't have comments for everybody. I haven't even shown them mine, yet.
evilproducer My daughter saw your image. She says it's, 'peaceful but creepy' and she says she likes it. :) My son says it's 'interesting' which is high praise from him (he's a teenager, you know).
dustrider My daughter says you image is 'cool'. My son also gives you an 'interesting'. :)
Thanks booksbydavid. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm definitely going to have to scrounge up the funds for both shader ops for the fake fresnel for some velvet work I've been needing to do and shaderplus for the glow channel after seeing Antara's image. My rings are technically glowing from the glow channel, but not emitting any light because I'm not using the indirect light setting. I think this go round, I may have to cheat a bit in post.
Sorry :roll: , that little thing seems to do that. I started working on it and emerged hours later (or earlier depending on how you look at it - about 2:00 am) dazed and disoriented! Glad you're feeling better. Your project is looking quite impressive so far!
Here is an update on mine. I ditched the original Time Machine model for a new one. I was lucky to find a nice one modeled after the 2002 movie on shareCG by Morpheus. It has a nice steam punk feel to it, but the mats/shaders had to be completely redone. I'll post a pre-shader fixing render tomorrow or Thursday - the computer is busy rendering what might be the final render ..... maybe (the one rendering now is about the 40th try).
Enchanted Forest really kicks the crud out of render speed, but I really like it! This render ran for about 4 hours. I decided to try to do the entire project in Carrara without any post work, including text, which means everything has to get rendered in Carrara/Octane as a single image. So this image is just a part of the roughing out process for me, I typically need several "finish" quality renders to make sure everything it "perfect" (I fix a couple issues, render, find more issues, fix, render, find more, fix, render, etc.).
Doing all the text in Carrara has proven a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. I needed to place the text in the focal plane so it is clear, and not a victim of DOF, which I'm also using in the render. I think I finally have everything in place, and all the little problems that rendering at higher resolutions always brings out so clearly.
So, the attached image is just capture of the the first round after adding the majority of the text to the render with the new time machine. It was rendered at the 2000 pixel max resolution for the forums. I will probably do one thing in post, reduce the image size to post here. the image I'm rendering now is 2400 pixels tall (to ensure I get the best details).
dustrider The cover is looking great. I do like the new time machine. It definitely reads better as a time machine than the previous one. The layout is interesting as well. For some reason, I especially like the diagonal vine cutting through the center. It gives the feeling of two separate vignettes or shots (dino action vs traveler action) even though its one continuous image. Your traveler's pose is really good as well. I can feel her tension and anticipation.
A felt the same way about the light on the ship, so I darkened the color in the light and reduced the brightness some more. I also did the same on the astronaut, but somehow shifted the light so it is not shining him directly. Ahh well. Something else to fix. Here's the render that ran while I was sleeping to illustrate.
evilproducer Looking good! I got worried when you switched to nighttime that the contrast colors would get lost. Now I'm pretty excited about bioluminescence.
Thanks Bunyip02. I'm definitely better today. I'm liking the spaceship a lot, especially the dome.
diomede Nice rusty shader for the ashtray. I love the outfits and hair. Nice 5 o'clock shadow too. I can't wait to see the whole Mercurese Falcon scene together. Great play on the title too. I didn't want to do any more modeling on the containment unit in my scene, so you've convinced me with your example to try the UV paint tool to make a surface to rust on the base.
PS Congratulations on the RRRR win! All were quite amusing.
I don't have time to individually comment on each wip. But I do want to say what great work you all are producing, and it's great to see all the new users giving the challange a go!
Here's my first go at the actual cover...
High praise indeed. Thank you! My condolences on having a teenager. Take solace in the knowledge that if they survive parental wrath, they will grow out it. ;-)
Tim_A That's one sweet cover! Great main title lettering. Fun story titles as well.
Hi praise indeed. Thank you! My condolences on having a teenager. Take solace in the knowledge that if they survive parental wrath, they will grow out it. ;-)
Heh, heh. There's always hope. :)
Honey, we got a floater!! Ha, ha. Love that. Nice looking cover.
Great cover Tim. Nice and twisted story titles.
I hope to have a final lighting test later. I will then work up a little tutorial or something about how the lights were set up and some of the tricks I used. That is, if I like how the lighting came out. If not, I will have to do some more work. Just a warning though, if the lighting works as envisioned, it may take a couple days to work up the tutorial as I'm in the final week of rehearsals and this weekend is the play...
EP, break a leg! or whatever the current theater catch phrase is. And agree, great cover Tim. I hope someone writes the stories to accompany your titles!
Break a leg EP. I'm stage managing a production of As You Like It, the beginning of November... :)
Post Work
I decided (thanks to an Angel) to enhance and change color to some components of my scene (only text and gorilla figure) using Gimp
I rendered separate layers using the option in in the “Render Room” file format : Photoshop and “Render alpha Channel”
I created in this way some images of the text and the gorilla figure.
After that in Gimp I assembled all the transparent images, using as background image the scene with no text ( - comic effect – w.i.p http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/47148/P180/#693165 ) and I changed to each layer, color, contrast and intensity.
Here my final image before and after.
This is not funny. I blink and we've got 3 more pages of cool additions to the thread! There is just no way to keep up.
But back in my time continuum, I still owe people thanks for the comments, so THANK YOU! :) Thank you all for your advices about shaders, composition and cover as a whole! I am still on the fence about it, and I think my setup screen shot reflects and illustrated my indecision crisis most clearly. :) Same scene, no lights, but so many cameras! I think if we still had the combined voting policy, I'd post 2 versions of this scene and let people decide for themselves :). To get the technical requirements out of the way, I am also posting the rust shader that is actually in the scene (I am not loving it, but it's not really the focus of my image and I don't want it to be, so I won't tweak it any further at this point) and the Shaders Plus setup screen grab. That one is really very very simple.
Tim_A, Your trick suggestion for the hands is pure genius! And I've done it before for things like film and photos, but for some reason it rarely occurs to me that I can cheat reality in 3D, even though I do it all the time with things like shaders and lights and gravity or physical forces or objects even, for some reason, when it comes to the poses I tend to religiously observe maximum actual, not even perceived, but actual, realism. And then someone reminds me of how it's done in real life, like you did, and I facepalm at my own stupidity again. Thank you for snapping me out of that mental block!
And I like the new version of your cover, although I almost liked the one without the human figure more, because it was more mysterious that way - more sinister than tragic. But either way, great success on getting the comic cover look and lighting on that image!
EP, I like how your image is progressing. The lighting is getting just right and I absolutely love the alien vegetation! Those pink blue and yellow glowing thingies bring the whole concept to life and make it real. It's amazing.
Bunyip02, I like your spaceship. It's very much in style of some of the historic covers out there. I look forward to seeing it shaded and introduced to the full composition.
diomede64, I am amazed and awed by the modelling you are doing for this challenge. The clothed figures and props look great! (And ready for animation... when I look at your WIPs I keep catching myself thinking that you are doing it for animation purposes, so I keep expecting to see a full animation at some point.:))
dustrider I like the new time machine much better. The whole image came together very well.
pimpy, Love the new cover! It looks fresh off the printer and makes me eager to know what's behind it. I also like how it juxtaposes sun light on the doctor and the electric glow in the chamber. Great way to add even more conflict to the already powerful scene, and I think the new colors help bring out that contrast.
For my own progress, I might soon bombard you all with more versions and choices...
pimpy Eureka!!!! The enhancements to the title and gorilla make it pop.
sukyL I like your underwater scene. If you'd like a stronger caustics effect, I am not sure you need the distant light at all, you might get away with a few strong gelled spots next to each other with just slightly soft shadows and a cone on 1 or 2 of them. Also, if you don't want to use Indirect Lighting (and I think it's wise given the fog in the scene), I'd look at the filter effects in the scene settings. If you look at your scene screen grab, the last tab on top is "Filters" in those you have 3D Aura and Glare, which help enhance the glow effects in the scene. Those are not lights, though, they are just post effect filters and if you render out passes, you can probably achieve similar results in postwork using a blurred copy of the glow render pass. You can also set your torus to be the driver for the anything glows light with glow color for light settings.
@ Antara - Your shader work well ... but my opinion is that maybe it's too bright ...but I'm wrong
@ sukyL - Thank you very much!
Antara Thanks so much for the lighting advice! Underwater scenes are so challenging. I'll definitely try out the additional spots and the filter effects vs glow render pass to see which works better. I'm not sure I follow on the torus and the anything glows, but I'll check it out. Do you think I need to bring the fog closer to the main subject? Also, I think the scene is a bit too crisp in the foreground. Any suggestions on what might make it read as watery there. Air bubbles and some subtle wavy distortion maybe?
I know it's just your scene setup, but all the cameras trained on the figures look neat. If this were an actual image, it would look as if you were making a strong statement about something like the intrusion of media or social media into private moments of life and death.
Antara Thanks so much for the lighting advice! Underwater scenes are so challenging. I'll definitely try out the additional spots and the filter effects vs glow render pass to see which works better. I'm not sure I follow on the torus and the anything glows, but I'll check it out. Do you think I need to bring the fog closer to the main subject? Also, I think the scene is a bit too crisp in the foreground. Any suggestions on what might make it read as watery there. Air bubbles and some subtle wavy distortion maybe?
I know it's just your scene setup, but all the cameras trained on the figures look neat. If this were an actual image, it would look as if you were making a strong statement about something like the intrusion of media or social media into private moments of life and death.
Hi sukyL,
I tried the same tutorial but I did not get the result I wanted.
In an underwater scene I tried it with a spot on the water surface and two shape ligth. the result looks good to me. for the fog in my scene, the distance is less than what you have posted and the color is not black .... the only thing is to try ....
I have included these images and the setting of the lights and the fog....:)
that scene looks very realistic as far as the lighting and the visibility drop off Pimpy, nice work
Gah I just looked all the other work, amazing, too many fine qualities to list individually
I cant even find my own post, and I'm dying to see what the hand suggestion was for Antara's , as usual excellent scene.
(PS the cyrillic was just being fancy)
I found a very interesting post on a blog that did c and c on text alignment on book covers - I;ll post it if I can find it,
Hi Hed wax,
Thank you ..but when you change your Cyrillic characters? I'm really curious ....