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
EP - I've not seen snow or frost in possibly 30 years - as a photographer, I love the starkness of the whiteout. Don't know whether I'd like to experience it, though:)
You've done a great job on the frost and the treatment of the bark is brilliant. Wish I understood the shader tree better to decipher just what you've done there.
Antara - thanks for the encouragement. That render of the room is great. I have no grounding in 2D and need to learn a lot more about layers, blending and combining passes. What, for instance, is the second pass and how did you combine the two top renders to get the great result in the third?
Sometimes I wish it has been thirty years between blizzards for me as well. But that would mean leaving Wisconsin, so I tolerate it.
The shader for the trees is actually fairly simple. If you open a plant's shader it is a Layers List shader with a different parametric mapping shader for each plant domain, and is set up for leaves branches and trunk. Under the Parametric shader is usually a Multi-channel shader.
For the trunk's color channel, I used a color gradient and set it up so that the darker areas of the black and white image map I used looked brown, like bark, and the lighter areas looked white. Or was that reversed? I'll have to look again. I also used the image map from the color channel in the bump channel. I copied and pasted the multi-channel shader into the Branch 1 and Branch 2 parametric shaders. I also pasted it into the Branch 3 shader, but adjusted it so that it was more heavily white as the third level of branches are the smaller branches and frost up more easily.
The pine needles were also colored with a color gradient, but I used a cellular function and adjusted the scale and contrast until I had a mix of white and green needles in the leaf clump. As you can see from the screen shots in my post on the last page, I skewed the gradient more towards the white end of the spectrum.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/48708/P315/#733039
Edited to add link to post with images of shader tree.
So I reworked the surface replicators that placed frost on the grass by lowering the amount of replications. I also added the fluffier looking crystals at the tips of the grass blades. I think it looks better, but still not quite what I want, so I'm rendering a version where I tweaked the grass model itself to see how it goes.
The advantage is that I'm able to use the models instead of the billboards. The disadvantage is that I have to reduce the number of replicated grass clumps.
that's a terrific render Evil, congrats.
I'm too scared to go through the last 20 pages of posts to see what magnificence I have been missing.
A Headwax check in! Terrific. I completely understand that you don't have time to check out all 20 pages of WIPs discussion. But, more than one artist is using bears. Just offer constructive suggestions for bears.;-)
A Headwax check in! Terrific. I completely understand that you don't have time to check out all 20 pages of WIPs discussion. But, more than one artist is using bears. Just offer constructive suggestions for bears.;-)
I have a bear hibernating under the old barn. If Sockratease ever tears himself away from using Carrara to create pictures he can't post or link to here, then he would know that I also have the fabled Millennium DAZ Cow in the barn. I had to close the lower doors so it wouldn't escape.
hehe heh I will go on a bear hunt :)
Here's a raw version of what I think will be the final picture. I had much less time to work on this than I had hoped, so I didn't have a lot of time to experiment with making a dramatic hoar frost that my old, trusty, 32 bit C7.2 Pro could handle. Still, there is bit, and so, while it is not as dramatic as I wanted, it still depicts a reduced level of a cold and slightly frosty morning.
Thanks for the tree shader explanation - makes sense to me now :)
Looks cold enough to freeze the brass balls off a monkey!Really good looking render:)
Hello EP
Currently have the fan on in my room due to the heat, thinking I should just print this out and attach it to the window instead.
Many thank-yous for the real-world pictures you posted, gives a far better explanation then words do of a real snow event !!!!!!!
The owl is my favorite.
Regards, Bunyip
Diomede64, that hair looks wonderful, just stepped out of a shampoo0o and blow dry :)
wonderful job Roy, it makes me feel cold though we are in the heart of summer here :) !
Hello Roygee
I had been thinking about the concept for a while, tried a few variations but this one was the best looking.
When I opened the Subdragon up I had saved him as an already arranged DUF file the setup came in wrong.
It took a few attempts at getting the skeleton-rig right, you might need to do the same with the Mil Dog.
Fur on your two-legged critter looks great - I'll need to learn how to do that myself in Carrara.
Update from me on the Dragon Ski-Boat:-
Now into Carrara, basic setup with import faults fixed up.
Crowsnest (Fantasy Gazebo) & Earrings (cages) added.
Next job is getting rid of the oars & rudders, followed by sorting out the shaders.
After that modeling a set of ice skis, cabin on the deck, battle-stations, and adding some details to getting it to look the part.
Followed by a crew, and finished off with an ice-planet terrain.
Fingers crossed that I don't run out of time.
Everyone keep up the great work !!!!!!!
looks like the cover of a book from here, I'll buy it :)
Hello EP
Currently have the fan on in my room due to the heat, thinking I should just print this out and attach it to the window instead.
Many thank-yous for the real-world pictures you posted, gives a far better explanation then words do of a real snow event !!!!!!!
The owl is my favorite.
Regards, Bunyip
It was very beautiful and I was able to get very close before she flew off. According to local bird watchers we had at least 50 sightings of arctic Snow Owls in our area last winter. As harsh as our winter was, it must have been worse in Canada for that many to come south for food.
Well, this composite is very straightforward, but I am not too happy with it, because I can clearly see the seams and the view behind the window does look photoshopped-in... Maybe headwax can suggest something better...
But if you are interested, here is what I have.
I am starting off with 2 multi-layer psd files for my base renders, plus Material Diffuse layer rendered out as a separate file.
My room render doesn't have scene lights in it, but I have a GI Brightness enhanced glowing plane behind the window and 2 GI Brightness spheres where the lights would be in the room, so I rendered it with no transparencies, but with reflections and Indirect Lighting only.
My window render is the same scene with the glow objects turned invisible, and I have imported a portion of Howie Farkes Stoney Creek Beechdale with that scene's lights included. I rendered this image with the scene lights and with Indirect Lighting and GI turned OFF. Therefore, my room is mostly black. To simplify render calculations I also places 2 vertical planes in front of my camera, leaving only the window with frame and curtains visible between the planes. The planes are the grey panels by the sides of my image.
In this case the editing I did to the base room render was really minimal - I basically just played with the level of light I wanted (duplicate of the Global Illumination layer with reduced opacity and mask some of it out), and darkened the places under furniture where I was having too much distracting bounce from my indirect lighting setting (added a mask to my Global Illumination layer and painted dark grey lines on the mask where I wanted less light to be visible). I also copied and pasted the Material Diffuse Layer into this image, then set the blending mode to Soft Light and reduced opacity by 50% - this added the illusion of subtle SSS (without render time penalty). Usually I mask out some of this fake SSS layer, but in this case I liked how it looked, so all of it is there. I then grouped these layers just for easier layer bookkeeping.
Then I grouped my window render layers (including black background) and brought them into my room render as the layer group on top.
I added a mask to this group by selecting my original glow plane in the index channel, so now only what's showing through the window is visible in my second render layer group.
Then I just duplicated various layers (as I saw fit and liked) and gave them various levels of blur and various settings of opacity. This I did almost at random, just seeing how I like the result and based on that deciding whether to leave it, delete it, reduce opacity, add more blur, etc. Since some of the layers I duplicated as set to "add" layer blending mode, duplicating them also increases the lightness of the overall composite, so that's why the window in the final image is so much lighter than in my original window render.
Then I added 2 photo filter adjustment layers - one orange, and another yellowish orange. Again, played with settings until I liked the result (somewhat). Since the filters are inside my window group, they are masked by the overall group mask, so they only affect the area seen through the window.
I am attaching my window group layer stack.
(I will be back tomorrow to comment more, I just wanted to answer this question first.)
I decided to try and use a Depth pass to add a bit more haze to the scene. This wouldn't work if I had continued to use billboards for the grass, as the depth pass doesn't handle alpha channels.
So, in Photoshop, I copied and pasted the background layer a couple times, which makes new, editable layers with the background image.
I then went to the Channels Tab and selected the depth pass and copied it. I then went back to the Layers tab, selected the top layer and clicked the Layer Mask icon. I then Option-clicked the layer mask and when it opened, I pasted the copied depth pass into it.
I then went to Image--> Adjustments--> Invert. This inverted the depth pass that I had copied and pasted into the layer mask.
Next, I created a new, empty layer and made sure it was below the Layer mask layer.
I changed the two color chips so that one was white and one was a pale blue.
With the empty layer selected, I went to Filter--> Render--> Clouds. I adjusted the fill to 30%.
With the layer mask above, and the cloud layer sandwiched between the un-altered image below, the depth pass in the layer mask adds the illusion of haze by having the darker areas of the image display more of the cloud layer. Inverting the depth pass made the objects in the image get darker the further away from the camera they were. Adjusting the fill for the cloud layer reduced the opacity so that it wasn't an overpowering effect.
Well I have Had some time to work on this a little bit more.
In the first picture I started with Howie's Winter scene and hide all the trees. I then created my own and replicated it.
In the second render I have a basic position of the Sleigh set along with the horse.
Next comes placement of the Chicken People and working on the lighting.
Well, this composite is very straightforward, but I am not too happy with it, because I can clearly see the seams and the view behind the window does look photoshopped-in... Maybe headwax can suggest something better...
But if you are interested, here is what I have.
I am starting off with 2 multi-layer psd files for my base renders, plus Material Diffuse layer rendered out as a separate file.
My room render doesn't have scene lights in it, but I have a GI Brightness enhanced glowing plane behind the window and 2 GI Brightness spheres where the lights would be in the room, so I rendered it with no transparencies, but with reflections and Indirect Lighting only.
My window render is the same scene with the glow objects turned invisible, and I have imported a portion of Howie Farkes Stoney Creek Beechdale with that scene's lights included. I rendered this image with the scene lights and with Indirect Lighting and GI turned OFF. Therefore, my room is mostly black. To simplify render calculations I also places 2 vertical planes in front of my camera, leaving only the window with frame and curtains visible between the planes. The planes are the grey panels by the sides of my image.
In this case the editing I did to the base room render was really minimal - I basically just played with the level of light I wanted (duplicate of the Global Illumination layer with reduced opacity and mask some of it out), and darkened the places under furniture where I was having too much distracting bounce from my indirect lighting setting (added a mask to my Global Illumination layer and painted dark grey lines on the mask where I wanted less light to be visible). I also copied and pasted the Material Diffuse Layer into this image, then set the blending mode to Soft Light and reduced opacity by 50% - this added the illusion of subtle SSS (without render time penalty). Usually I mask out some of this fake SSS layer, but in this case I liked how it looked, so all of it is there. I then grouped these layers just for easier layer bookkeeping.
Then I grouped my window render layers (including black background) and brought them into my room render as the layer group on top.
I added a mask to this group by selecting my original glow plane in the index channel, so now only what's showing through the window is visible in my second render layer group.
Then I just duplicated various layers (as I saw fit and liked) and gave them various levels of blur and various settings of opacity. This I did almost at random, just seeing how I like the result and based on that deciding whether to leave it, delete it, reduce opacity, add more blur, etc. Since some of the layers I duplicated as set to "add" layer blending mode, duplicating them also increases the lightness of the overall composite, so that's why the window in the final image is so much lighter than in my original window render.
Then I added 2 photo filter adjustment layers - one orange, and another yellowish orange. Again, played with settings until I liked the result (somewhat). Since the filters are inside my window group, they are masked by the overall group mask, so they only affect the area seen through the window.
I am attaching my window group layer stack.
(I will be back tomorrow to comment more, I just wanted to answer this question first.)
So, am I reading it right in that the room model was still in the scene?
I don't know if it would help in this scene, but setting up a shadow catcher shader and applying it to an object causes that object to act as a mask for anything that is behind it.
Using your room as an example, you could render the room for the first pass, and then apply a shadow catcher to the room and the walls, doors, window frames, etc. so they would act as a mask. Then render the second pass. If you left the glass panes in the windows with their original glass shaders, anything behind the glass panes would be visible, but not behind areas with the shadow catcher. You would need to enable the Alpha Channel option in the render room of course. I also tend to disable the Cast Shadows option on objects with shadow catchers.
Very nice so far!
Hi everyone!
I'm so sorry to have nearly missed Antara's amazing holiday challenge. I've just now emerged from the twin hells that were my day job and a bookbinding job for a wedding. I promise to read all 24 pages of this WIP to get up to speed. From the sampling I've seen so far, it looks like I'm in for quite a treat!
sukyL
Currently modelling the deck-house then the battle-stations.
Looks like I won't have time to complete the render as I fully imagined but I'll do my best to get a good enough render in for the Challenge.
Then I will give the scene a full work-over after that.
EP & Chickenman
Looking good !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
does anyone know the answer to this question?
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/27826/P780/#734678
Misty Whisky may dust off the Carrara program and join the fun. I don't know the answer because it doesn't bother me, but I thought I saw it come up somewhere.
Time is getting tight, so if anybody needs a string of holiday lights for their picture and doesn't have time to male them, I have a set at ShareCG that you can use and/or modify!
http://www.ShareCG.com/v/73481/view/5/3D-Model/Carrara-rigged-Holiday-Light-String
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/27826/P780/#734678
Misty Whisky may dust off the Carrara program and join the fun. I don't know the answer because it doesn't bother me, but I thought I saw it come up somewhere.
We've been cross-posting about this. My internet connection is stupid slow for some reason.
Let there be light .......
Every good Dragon Ice-Boat needs lights as well.
Thanks for the explanation - I'm saving it to my Carrara tuts folder for reference.
You are too harsh on yourself - the room is beautifully lit, with a soft afternoon glow that looks natural and the foliage doesn't look at all photoshopped to me:)
Replicate, replicate, replicate, replicate ........
Testify!
Okay, I just noticed that the title needs to be Winter -blankety, blank, blank. Is there a reason I have to name it with that forma? I mean, I'm already following the theme. I don't mean to be a stinker about it, but sometimes there can be too many rules. My title for both my potential entries is not winter blank something or other. :shut: I know it seems like a little thing, but what I call my work is up to me, and me alone.