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
Welcome countryhill. Glad you could come and play with us. You have some nice lighting and shadows going on with this image. The dust makes me think that behind the POV there is activity which is a nice way to imply that this scene could very well have happened. If I were working on this image I would see if I could get the horse and people into the sweet spots. Sweet spots are the junction of horizontal and vertical lines created when you divide the image into thirds. I have attached your image with the spots in red. If you are using DAZ Studio then there is an option in the Viewport that will allow you to overlay this grid on your scene. Then all you have to do is move the camera to put the two focal points into play. You can find the option by going up to the right hand corner and looking for the arrow with four lines behind it. Click on that and look for the Rule of Thirds. I think I would also put some extra detail in the scene such as table and chairs in the saloon and some dried, dead grass along the base of the building. I would also move the reins so that they are not going through the post and I would move the cowboy's left leg so that his pants look like they are pressed up against his right leg pants instead of going through them.
Looking forward to seeing what you do.
Here is an update, taking some suggestions and some tutorial watchin'.
Having the figure acknowleging the cats really helps the scene. I added a few more details, such as some birds, an extra cat, and some changes to the figures stance. While lighter the scene is still picking up grain so I need to boost the light a little more - that control panel on the side of the image is great for that, coupled with the camera control information. But I had to sleep and had it render overnight and ended up too dark.
I need to reposition the cats and add something to the figure's hand; its in the right place but she needs to be carrying something. I'm also not happy with the godrays - only the far one is showing, and its still too faint (but looked really good in the first part few minutes of the render). And typing that I realize that I need a brighter light, turned to max I guess, and distance from the camera to take advantage of the "dust" in the atmosphere sphere. I read it a few times in various tutorials but it takes a few blows to crack this thick skull that the effect is more pronounced by distance.
I did have one relatively serious problem - I had to get rid of the necklace. The Princess of Autumn necklass material, applied to the Fantasy Collar Set, would not lay against her (Ninieve 6, unmodified) chest, and cast a shadow. It looked like it was floating about an inch above her skin, and I couldn't get it to lay flat. I suppose I could have used a Dformer but I decided I didn't want to mess with it.
Yes I see improvement. She is much more interesting. May I suggest a rosary/cross and prayer book?
I use the Rule of Three or Golden Rule guide on my viewport to help layout a scene, and once I get a feeling to where I like to place items I have a Golden Ration file set up to tweak placement. I feel it helps with the "flow" of the image. So for example after I had the main figure and environment for what I wanted to do, I overlayed the Golden Ratio to see where I could stick some details to add some visual interest and help define the story.
Here is the update. Its still too dark, or at least I'm still getting grain on her face.
Adjusted the head and eyes of the demon int the background. To quote Peter from 'Ghostbusters' 'It's looking right at me Ray."
I love this one... there is so much in it... very expressive :) I don't think it's too dark either.
Oops, missed your post. I'll have to rummage around my Content file, not sure if I have an appropriate model. That new free cross would be great if I can get it into position.
@TreeDee - thank you :) The backstory is actually developing so its becoming sort of personal to me, so I appreciate that you find it expressive. I'll explain once I get a final render
Love the demon eyes! Definitely coming along nicely!
I don't think its too dark. I think if you go any lighter you are going to lose the ambience that you are going for. i can't help any with the graininess of the face as I am probably newer than you are.
I like the dust as well it helps bring the rest of the "town" into the picture. I do agree that something needs to go inside the saloon to make it look likes its an occupied building.
Hi Joe, love it so far. Just curious, what do you have your max samples set at and how long is it rendering? Is the rendering quality set at the default (1) or have you tried upping it a little? Sometimes, Iray seems to need longer for darker spots and upping the max samples and setting the max seconds to 0 will force it to render longer. I've found that upping the rendering qualtiy can make a dramatic difference in the render that I get out of it. When I'm doing a really good render I usually have it set at 5 and if I'm doing my final rendering, I up it a little more. I'll also up my max samples to 15,000, as well, on a final render. I only ever have my samples and quality at default when I'm rendering out test renders in Iray to see how it is all coming together. I'm still a beginner, too, especially with Iray and just played with settings and read the Iray threads to figure those things out. It is possible you have already done all that and the problem is something else entirely.
Okay, help me out here. I have a Rule of Thirds on my viewport that I didn't even know was there or what the purpose was until Kismet pointed it out to me. But, I do not have that cool looking fibernaci template that you have. So, instructions please. I might want to steal that idea. But other than holding it up to the screen, I'm totally lost on what you are doing and how you are doing it. Rendering and then doing something like that in an outside program, maybe? Share your secrets!!!
@Sonja11 Thanks, you're probably right, its getting much lighter than I originally wanted. I found the vingette setting cranked up to 20 helps darken the scene without intruding too much into the scene. And anything advice can help :)
@Knittingmommy I'm justing using defaults, unless the AtmoCam settings have changed something. I found a nice necklace with a cross, as DollyGirl suggested (in the Pirate costume) so I'm rerendering anyway. I've never touched render quality or max samples or anything like that. I'll reset them and see if that helps; thanks for that.
I used Golden Ratio templates in an outside program(s). When I used Photoshop I just found one online and copy and rotate it to get four different ones, for each corner. I make sure the render dimension preset is set ot a Golden Ratio setting (portrait or landscape). Then I get a test render and layer the templates on top. I have (an old version) of Correl Painter, and its built in. But either way I just layer them on top, and look to see where I can drop in detail and still maintain some framing with the templates. Usually if I'm using the Thirds guidelines I only have to nudge stuff a little to get it into place anyway. Nothing fancy
This is an excellent Golden Rule Camera Prop available for free on ShareCG. There are instructions on how to parent it to your camera. It has to be adjusted manually to fit your render window but I found it invaluable. As soon as I load a camera my next step is to parent this prop.
Just remember to turn it off before rendering.
Hey, now THAT is fancy! Thanks for pointing it out.
I downloaded this last night. I plan to use it my very next render and try it out. Thanks!!!
If it's the same one I'm thinking of that I have you can just go to its parameters panel and make sure "show in render" is set to No
Ok I have a delema here I have 4 different versions ofthe same image because I can not make up my mind of which one I want to use for the contest as my 2nd image and also not sure if I am using the right angles of lighting and sunlight, so if there is any advice you could give would be great!!
for some reason (Not sure y) the images will not up load
I added a figure inside the saloon, made the horse's pose more realistic and followed the rules of thirds (mostly). I need to work on the buckles of the saddle - they keep coming out yellow and make the saddle and bridle both more worn looking.
Oh - the Golden Rule Camera Prop is pretty cool.
shadowcry, could you please provide the images?
When I render I save as .tiff or .png, but to attach a file I think it only takes .jpeg And the files have to be less than 2mb. So that might be the problem.
I like the added detail and color, but you're right about those buckles - they look too clean for the scene. While I like the fact the horse has a more realistic pose its harder for me to see make out his head in this pose/camera angle, all the more so in the sepia version. Overall its shaping up nicely
Nice changes countryhill. Be assured that once you understand what the Rule of Thirds is trying to impart that using the exact spots in an image is not paramount. I had a teacher who told me that understanding how to follow the rules is necessary if you wish to break them and she was really good at breaking the rules. A wonderful artist.
I think next is that I would ask myself what is the story I am trying to tell. We know from the image that it is a western town. That a saloon gal and cowboy are on the porch and are having a conversation. It seems somewhat friendly but they are far apart and her arms are in a protective posture while the cowboy is very relaxed and engaging in the conversation. These two attitudes have me confused, espcially with her right foot in a position that is contrary to her position to the cowboy and the defensive position of her arms. I think I would write down the key elements of what my story is about. With those in mind I would then add or change the elements in the image that will enforce my story.
Looking forward to seeing what you do.
I tryed resizing the image to 450x450 and it is 55.1kb so not sure what is up with not uploading
EDITED: This is the only way it would upload to net and there was only 2 that would upload:
http://s844.photobucket.com/user/Nancy-Lin_Hovey/media/Fun By The Pool With Mom amp Auntie 2_zpsqfc11qdm.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
My general idea was that he said (or did) something that got him in hot water with the lady and now he's trying to sweet talk his way out of it.
A general idea is a good start. Now it is time to start identifying the who, what, where and when. Having this information will help place the figures in the right place with the right body language. Below I have attached your image and I cut her out and moved her a bit closer to him. I think that by just doing this she has been moved from the secondary level of importance to an equal or primary level with the cowboy. To me this makes the image more interesting. It gives more information about her importance and re-inforces the act of some wrong doing.
Looking forward to seeing what you do.
In the hole vacated by the woman that DollyGirl just moved, you could have another saloon girl (person?) peeking over the swinging doors and winking at the cowboy. That would go a long way to demonstrating what the offense was about.
On the porch, there could be a little more clutter. Some barrels, rocking chairs, checker board, drunk asleep with a bottle in his hand... The two actors and the horse set the primary characters of the story, but the world they (we) live in is messy and often the more interesting because of it. Just a thought.
At any rate, this is a fun image and I'm looking forward to seeing what you end up with.
Since I've been taking a break from my first entry, I thought I would play around with something a little lighter in tone. I'm not completel happy with the background so I may change that to something else. Let me know what your thoughts are. Not going for realism here. I used Willow and Noodles the toon cat. Rendered in Iray.
Thats fun. The black bar in the background is obsuring Noodles and the broom, and her shoes for that matter. Maybe a rim light would help?
Here's two more versions of my second entry idea, and I can't decide between the two. Both took 3+ hours to render is the thing, so any feedback to help decide which of them to make final tweeks in the coming days to make the deadline would be helpful.
-=-