Spooky back-lit silhouttes

lou_harper

Can you make something like this in DAZ, and how would you go about it? I have reasonably good idea, I wonder if anyone has done stuff like this.

nemesis10

1. I would render some very basic figures (no morphs, black texture)  in walking poses as a series of image files with no background.
2. i would create alpha channels for them in a photo imager.
3. I would pose the master figure in a scene with a dark HDRI or dark twilight and place primitive planes with the basic figures behind him.
4. i would place a rim light behind them, a VDB cloud with them in the center, and depth of field on the camera.

lou_harper

nemesis10 said:

1. I would render some very basic figures (no morphs, black texture)  in walking poses as a series of image files with no background.
2. i would create alpha channels for them in a photo imager.
3. I would pose the master figure in a scene with a dark HDRI or dark twilight and place primitive planes with the basic figures behind him.
4. i would place a rim light behind them, a VDB cloud with them in the center, and depth of field on the camera.

How about god rays?

GhostofMacbeth

There are a few products that assist with the god rays. I have used the one by Kindred Arts a few times but there are others

nemesis10

lou_harper said:

nemesis10 said:

1. I would render some very basic figures (no morphs, black texture)  in walking poses as a series of image files with no background.
2. i would create alpha channels for them in a photo imager.
3. I would pose the master figure in a scene with a dark HDRI or dark twilight and place primitive planes with the basic figures behind him.
4. i would place a rim light behind them, a VDB cloud with them in the center, and depth of field on the camera.

How about god rays?

The VDB cloud/rim light should produce some though i must confess I add them in post with my image editor

WendyLuvsCatz

both Carrara and Bryce do godrays

but I already know what you are going to say 

I believe 3Delight can too

lou_harper

I was thinking making figures into billboards, just to make the scene lighter. Then position the billboards in a dark scene with strong lights, maybe godrays behind them, and finally do some post in Photoshop.

Fishtales

Use a Volume Sphere or Cube to surround your figures and use a strong spotlight behind them with a narrow spread. Adjust the volume to get the right amount of fog to get the God Rays you want.

Gordig

lou_harper said:

I was thinking making figures into billboards, just to make the scene lighter. Then position the billboards in a dark scene with strong lights, maybe godrays behind them, and finally do some post in Photoshop.

I would think billboards would look fake, because there's considerable light wrap around the people in that photo that wouldn't show up in a billboard.

Hylas

- Make all your figures and clothes black, OR very dark and then render in grayscale

- Ground fog, OR a product like Atmocam

- Bloom

vwrangler

https://www.daz3d.com/easy-light-and-render--silhouettes

lou_harper

Hylas said:

- Make all your figures and clothes black, OR very dark and then render in grayscale

- Ground fog, OR a product like Atmocam

- Bloom

I forgot about bloom. Good point.

lou_harper

vwrangler said:

https://www.daz3d.com/easy-light-and-render--silhouettes

Wrong kind of silhouettes.

lou_harper

Fishtales said:

Use a Volume Sphere or Cube to surround your figures and use a strong spotlight behind them with a narrow spread. Adjust the volume to get the right amount of fog to get the God Rays you want.

Oh yes, volume cube should help. Thanks!

Snow

Was putting together a small scene for you but seems DAZ is about to crash (endless spinning logo on Mac) so I'll write it down here :/

Fishtales is right, use very bright spotlights with narrow spread (adjust beam as well) behind your subjects. Put a Volume cube around lights and subjects. You could do it with Ground Fog but it will probably be more difficult to get right. Turn on Camera DOF, focus on front subject and adjust. Set Tone Mapping saturation to 0, adjust blacks and whites and add a bit of vignetting.

That should get you pretty close to that image. Good luck!

 

Snow

Cute avatar btw!

lou_harper

Snow said:

Cute avatar btw!

Thanks!

 

lou_harper

Snow said:

Was putting together a small scene for you but seems DAZ is about to crash (endless spinning logo on Mac) so I'll write it down here :/

Fishtales is right, use very bright spotlights with narrow spread (adjust beam as well) behind your subjects. Put a Volume cube around lights and subjects. You could do it with Ground Fog but it will probably be more difficult to get right. Turn on Camera DOF, focus on front subject and adjust. Set Tone Mapping saturation to 0, adjust blacks and whites and add a bit of vignetting.

That should get you pretty close to that image. Good luck!

 

I don't need that whole scene and not exactly like that, just something in that vein. I spent whole morning experimenting with it and what worked was volumetric cube and Ghost Light–the dish light prop specifically. The spot lights just weren't quite doing it. And Bloom filter.

Fishtales

I had a change of heart about the Spotlights and so tried Linear Point Lights, five in all :)

Click on image for full size.

lou_harper

Fishtales said:

I had a change of heart about the Spotlights and so tried Linear Point Lights, five in all :)

Click on image for full size.

Looks good! Thank you for doing it. Learning something new every day. :)