November 2015 New User Contest "Materials" (WIP-THREAD)

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  • AtiAti Posts: 9,132

    End of November. Thank you everyone for this great month! I learned a lot, both from the feedback you gave on my renders, and from the feedback on everyone else's renders.

    I especially liked this month because I was always a bit afraid of shaders. ("What if I need to change render engine, and my shaders break?" "I love 3Delight, but what if I want to render a scene in Iray and I don't have the right shaders?") I got a lot more comfortable with shaders during this month, and also learned that there are indeed times when it's best not to use extra fancy shaders, just go with the old-fashioned textures. Then I don't have to worry about changing render engines either. On the other hand, there are some really useful special-purpose shaders that give such great results, I do not want to risk losing them with another render engine. (One such shader I just recently bought is the Dirt Shader, I believe it's by Stonemason. I didn't have the chance to do a render with it for the actual contest, but I love its results, and will be using it quite often in the future. I would never have gotten that without this month's topic. During the current sale, I purchased a few more special-purpose shaders, and I'm sure they will be used in renders of future months.)

    I hope everyone else found this month useful, too, and learned a lot. Special thanks to all the "mentors", thank you for your time and patience this month.

    See you all in December! :)

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    Totally agree with Ati!  Learned a TON from all sides.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have learned much more quickly by doing these than I would ever have done on my own.  And I feel like I am making some good friends as well.  Can't wait to see what next month brings

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    isidorn said:

    Do I have time to make a new render for this months challenge?

    You have until DAZ Midnight tomorrow.  Sometimes last minute renders work out.

    Thanks I have been working on a new render for a few days now messing with shaders and the Shader Mixer so will post it as soon as it is rendered!!!

    Saphirewild, don't forget that we're only allowed two entries each month and you already have that. I would think you would have to remove one of them if you're to submit a new one.

    You can submit as many images as you like to the WIP thread for feedback but as isidorn indicated, only 2 can be submitted to the Entries Thread for judging.

  • dHandledHandle Posts: 617
    dHandle said:
    dHandle said:
    dHandle said:
    dHandle said:

    I have been continuing on with the tutorial for this month, and here's the latest version.  Its still a WIP of course.  I have been learning a ton of new things about DAZ this month that I am extremely happy about.  I have been like a "kid in a candy store".  laugh  Oh, that's DAZ candy by the way... very tasty!  heart

     

    Finally got some time to work on stuff over the Thanksgiving break.

    I never did get back to DollyGirl's project after all the trouble I had, but I did get started on another releted project that was inspired by this month's topic.  I went looking for a free 3D model of a Star Wars X-wing Fighter, (The movie is coming out later this month!  Woohoo!)  I've been trying to get it textured for DAZ and in After Effects.  I'm happy to say I managed to do both!  I even got started on a scene in After Effects where the fighter has launched, opened to the X wing attitude, and is firing at ...well something to be determined...  The model is on the ground.  I had to change it around to make it look like it was flying.  Hide landing gear...open wings...fire the cannons

    I also put a pilot inside the cockpit...a DAZ model...then I decided why not try a whole DAZ scene. So I worked to bring the x-wing model into DAZ and re-texture it.  I'm not really happy with the quality of the textures I had to work with. It's an ugly texturing job.  All I have to work with is the diffuse textures (no bump, specular, displacement or anything else), and there's about 2 dozen of them!  (edit:  there's 61 different texture images!) Think it was easy figuring out what goes where?!  Shees!

    I just finished this last night after working back and forth between DAZ and After Effects.  I know it needs a LOT of work, but it's great progress for me.

    I'm considering retexturing the whole thing...

     

    Wow! You've definately been working like crazy. I like your image, the background has beautiful colors. I don't envy you with retexturing the X wing. It looks like it's sorta an olive drab. Are you going for the traditional colors? I've done a lot of work in After Effects, in fact, it was AE and it's Cinema 4D Lite that got me started in 3D ages ago.

    Are you working the textures in Photoshop or just trying to figure out what goes where?

    Are you animating in DAZ then bringing it into AE as a movie clip? If you bring Photoshop into the mix that might help you organize the textures.

    It's a big project that's for sure! Looking good so far!

    Cheers,
    Kath

    Thanks Kathryn! 

    Yeah, I was looking at some images of the traditional colors of the X-wing for reference.  Not exactly sure how I want to proceed.  It will definitely be a first for me retexturing a whole model.  This thread has definitely made me think it's doable though.

    Yes, I have Photoshop, and I already made a few small changes.  There were huge white spots in places that I didn't like, so I filled them in.  Whatever color scheme I decide to go with, I definitely want to add bump, disp, spec, etc.  And I was looking at earlier posts about using a geometry shell to add grunge, dirt, rust  and scratches.  I just need to go slow, and work on small pieces at a time...like start with the fuselage maybe.

    I have 3DS Max and Maya for modeling programs.  I am definitely NOT up to speed with either of them.  In fact, I have never used Maya.  I got it free in an eductaional bundle of stuff, including 3DS Max that I am vaguely familiar with.  (That's part of my problem...I bounce around between all these highly intensive programs without mastering any of them.)

    I don't know enough about animating in DAZ to bring a clip into AE.  I'm using Element 3D v2, and trying to find tutorials to piece something together.

    On top of all that finals are coming at school. (Even teachers have a lot of work going into finals week!)  I may have to wait until Christmas break before getting into it hot and heavy.

    We'll see...

    Okay Photoshop you can make your bump, normal, spec, and displacement maps. That tutorial I posted earlier shows how to do it easy peasy in PS. So that will help you out there. I have Element 3D too - I love Video Copilot's tutorials.

    Animating in DAZ is very similar to AE. You have animate blocks on your timeline that are close to hitting the stopwatch in the timeline in AE at various points. The nice thing about these blocks is a lot stuff comes already set up - like a walk cycle for example. Not what you wanted for xwing but it's useful for characters. 

    As someone with experience in Maya - I think you'd be better off with Blender. I pounded my head against the wall for almost a year with Maya and 3D Max - I had the education package too (former department secretary for English & Foreign Languages at the local unversity here - so I was the one scheduling everyone for their classes, overloads, Finals rooms and times - hehe! I know how it goes hun!). I went through tutorials and despite experience with C4D, and a little with Blender, me and Maya did NOT get along. I just went back to Blender. The interface is awful on Blender but the tutorials on YouTube are pretty good.

    There's a free program UV Mapper I believe that will allow you to do what you need, but Photoshop will allow you to do the same as well and it's not that hard. If you want, I'll be happy to walk you through it and it will take all of five minutes. And if you go with photoshop, you can also add your dirt and grunge but it's also good to experiment with the other ways to do all of this as well.

    So if you need any help on that end of the spectrum, just holler and I'll be glad to do what I can.

    Cheers,

    Kath

    Yeah, I remember looking at your tutorial earlier this month (before I had all those problems with the Nellie, Suki, Pookie models) and I remember thinking they were going to be useful at some point.

    However at THIS point, I need to get the diffuse maps straightened up first.  Finally!  Some actual ART WORK!  Hee!

    Thanks!

    David

    Kathryn said "There's a free program UV Mapper I believe that will allow you to do what you need, but Photoshop will allow you to do the same as well and it's not that hard. If you want, I'll be happy to walk you through it and it will take all of five minutes."

    A 5 minute walkthrough sounds hard to pass up!  Let's do it!

    Thanks Kathryn! 

    "D"

    Well, the best laid plans of mice and men. I have a very sick cat this morning so I'm trying to get her in to see the vet. Waiting for a call back. It's not my Dad's cat but my Maine Coon. So that kinda throws things for a loop for me.

    BUT I don't give up easily so I want to figure this out. lol!

    So let me get a better idea of what you're dealing with here. You said you had a bunch of textures you were trying to sort.

    Are they not attached to the 3D mesh at all and you're trying to figure out which one goes where?

    From what I saw in your earlier image the mats, however they're assembled don't look entirely accurate to the traditional xwing are you wanting to create new ones from scratch?

    No matter how you look at it for the majority of situations - not all but most - it's easier to keep what you have and work on fixing and modifying from there - you can totally overhaul the textures and it will save you a bunch by starting with what you have.

    If you want to start from scratch, then Photoshop isn't going to be the best way to go with a complex model. If it was a soda can - no problem, but complicated gets . . .  complicated and that's usually best done in a program that's designed for texturing like Blacksmith.(Which I'm just starting to learn.)

    Is it possible for you to do a screen shot of what you're looking at? 

    And the guy who is delivering my storage building just called - they're on their way. So I'm going to be in and out on the computer today.

    Cheers,

    Kath

    Ouch!  Sorry about your cat.  Wow!  Maine Coon cats are BIG, aren't they?  I wouldn't want to be around one in a bad mood...!  Hope he's feeling better soon.

    I don't really need to start from scratch for this model.  I mapping is already done, it's just ugly.  Also, I'm not that familiar with what it all means.  I have the .obj file for the model, the .mtl file for the materials, and all of the texture maps in a map folder. (all 61 of them!)

    I've attached one of the textures for the fuselage of the fighter.  I kinda sorta understand the concept, but have no idea which parts of the texture map go with which parts of the model.  If I wanted to use these to retexture the model so it had the traditional colors...mostly white with red trim...how would I go about that?  I thought it would be a bit more intuitive.  I could just change the color scheme to white, and put a red racing stripe down the side. 

    Now I'm not so sure...

    Thanks for taking a look at these.

    "D"

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  • SamutSamut Posts: 50

    I'm coming in at the last minute with an entry for this month. I came across an old screen shot from 2006 of a character for the MMO City of Villains (if any of you remember that). The idea of updating this character took hold and here's the most recent test render, stopped at about 50% convergence, along with the old 2006 shot for comparison/hilarity.

    This character (Lazlo the Evil Clown) seemed nicely suited for showing multiple materials, between the greasepaint on his face, rubber nose and skull cap, cloth hat and outift, and of course his nice shiny gun. Actually implementing all this turned out to involve a lot of stuff stacked on top of each other - geo shells! Supersuit! Layered Image Editor! The combination I'm using is probably way too complicated than necessary but it works and there isn't time to redo it and make the deadline.

    There should be just enough time to change the background (going to swap out the window and wall for a bank exterior), lighting, and gun, and scoot it in right before time's up.

    Thanks to everyone for the discussions this month - I learned a lot just following along.

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  • Revision. I wondered why no matter how many lights I put on the water spray it never lit up much at all. Again, it's using an iRay shaded object and rendering in 3Delight. :(

     

    Hi, try working in your image editor with levels and saturation.  Note how the saturation enhances the glow of liquid so that it fills more of the room.  Working with the mid-range in levels brought out more details to be able to see the young girl and weven the rust patterns on the door.  You want your viewer to be able to see your work.  :)  Don't be afraid to strengthen your lights.

     

    I had no idea such a thing was even possible in an editor - I've never touched post-work. Which one?

    I use photoshop elements but any image editor will work.  Elements won't do 3d but the full version of photoshop will so I always make sure all of my work in Daz is done before I postwork. Gimp works as well as do most of the other paint programs out there.

    How is it possible to do the things he's suggesting, though? I mean, how can it up the light level when it's not working with a 3d image?

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 101,429
    edited November 2015

    Revision. I wondered why no matter how many lights I put on the water spray it never lit up much at all. Again, it's using an iRay shaded object and rendering in 3Delight. :(

     

    Hi, try working in your image editor with levels and saturation.  Note how the saturation enhances the glow of liquid so that it fills more of the room.  Working with the mid-range in levels brought out more details to be able to see the young girl and weven the rust patterns on the door.  You want your viewer to be able to see your work.  :)  Don't be afraid to strengthen your lights.

     

    I had no idea such a thing was even possible in an editor - I've never touched post-work. Which one?

    I use photoshop elements but any image editor will work.  Elements won't do 3d but the full version of photoshop will so I always make sure all of my work in Daz is done before I postwork. Gimp works as well as do most of the other paint programs out there.

    How is it possible to do the things he's suggesting, though? I mean, how can it up the light level when it's not working with a 3d image?

    You can't literally change the lights*, but you can adjust the overall tone of the image - look for a function named Levels or equalisation, for example. Using selections you can also target specific areas of the image.

    * Though if you do a separate render for each light and then stack them in an image editor in screen blending mode you can directly edit the relative intensities.

    Post edited by Richard Haseltine on
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604

    Don't forget, only a few hours to go.  Make sure you transfer your entries to the entry thread.

  • Revision. I wondered why no matter how many lights I put on the water spray it never lit up much at all. Again, it's using an iRay shaded object and rendering in 3Delight. :(

     

    Hi, try working in your image editor with levels and saturation.  Note how the saturation enhances the glow of liquid so that it fills more of the room.  Working with the mid-range in levels brought out more details to be able to see the young girl and weven the rust patterns on the door.  You want your viewer to be able to see your work.  :)  Don't be afraid to strengthen your lights.

     

    I had no idea such a thing was even possible in an editor - I've never touched post-work. Which one?

    I use photoshop elements but any image editor will work.  Elements won't do 3d but the full version of photoshop will so I always make sure all of my work in Daz is done before I postwork. Gimp works as well as do most of the other paint programs out there.

    How is it possible to do the things he's suggesting, though? I mean, how can it up the light level when it's not working with a 3d image?

    You can't literally change the lights*, but you can adjust the overall tone of the image - look for a function named Levels or equalisation, for example. Using selections you can also target specific areas of the image.

    * Though if you do a separate render for each light and then stack them in an image editor in screen blending mode you can directly edit the relative intensities.

    Thank you!

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,669
    isidorn said:

    Do I have time to make a new render for this months challenge?

    You have until DAZ Midnight tomorrow.  Sometimes last minute renders work out.

    Thanks I have been working on a new render for a few days now messing with shaders and the Shader Mixer so will post it as soon as it is rendered!!!

    Saphirewild, don't forget that we're only allowed two entries each month and you already have that. I would think you would have to remove one of them if you're to submit a new one.

    I am wanting to change one of them anyways so thanks Isidorn

  • dHandle said:
    dHandle said:
    dHandle said:
    dHandle said:
    dHandle said:

    I have been continuing on with the tutorial for this month, and here's the latest version.  Its still a WIP of course.  I have been learning a ton of new things about DAZ this month that I am extremely happy about.  I have been like a "kid in a candy store".  laugh  Oh, that's DAZ candy by the way... very tasty!  heart

     

    Finally got some time to work on stuff over the Thanksgiving break.

    I never did get back to DollyGirl's project after all the trouble I had, but I did get started on another releted project that was inspired by this month's topic.  I went looking for a free 3D model of a Star Wars X-wing Fighter, (The movie is coming out later this month!  Woohoo!)  I've been trying to get it textured for DAZ and in After Effects.  I'm happy to say I managed to do both!  I even got started on a scene in After Effects where the fighter has launched, opened to the X wing attitude, and is firing at ...well something to be determined...  The model is on the ground.  I had to change it around to make it look like it was flying.  Hide landing gear...open wings...fire the cannons

    I also put a pilot inside the cockpit...a DAZ model...then I decided why not try a whole DAZ scene. So I worked to bring the x-wing model into DAZ and re-texture it.  I'm not really happy with the quality of the textures I had to work with. It's an ugly texturing job.  All I have to work with is the diffuse textures (no bump, specular, displacement or anything else), and there's about 2 dozen of them!  (edit:  there's 61 different texture images!) Think it was easy figuring out what goes where?!  Shees!

    I just finished this last night after working back and forth between DAZ and After Effects.  I know it needs a LOT of work, but it's great progress for me.

    I'm considering retexturing the whole thing...

     

    Wow! You've definately been working like crazy. I like your image, the background has beautiful colors. I don't envy you with retexturing the X wing. It looks like it's sorta an olive drab. Are you going for the traditional colors? I've done a lot of work in After Effects, in fact, it was AE and it's Cinema 4D Lite that got me started in 3D ages ago.

    Are you working the textures in Photoshop or just trying to figure out what goes where?

    Are you animating in DAZ then bringing it into AE as a movie clip? If you bring Photoshop into the mix that might help you organize the textures.

    It's a big project that's for sure! Looking good so far!

    Cheers,
    Kath

    Thanks Kathryn! 

    Yeah, I was looking at some images of the traditional colors of the X-wing for reference.  Not exactly sure how I want to proceed.  It will definitely be a first for me retexturing a whole model.  This thread has definitely made me think it's doable though.

    Yes, I have Photoshop, and I already made a few small changes.  There were huge white spots in places that I didn't like, so I filled them in.  Whatever color scheme I decide to go with, I definitely want to add bump, disp, spec, etc.  And I was looking at earlier posts about using a geometry shell to add grunge, dirt, rust  and scratches.  I just need to go slow, and work on small pieces at a time...like start with the fuselage maybe.

    I have 3DS Max and Maya for modeling programs.  I am definitely NOT up to speed with either of them.  In fact, I have never used Maya.  I got it free in an eductaional bundle of stuff, including 3DS Max that I am vaguely familiar with.  (That's part of my problem...I bounce around between all these highly intensive programs without mastering any of them.)

    I don't know enough about animating in DAZ to bring a clip into AE.  I'm using Element 3D v2, and trying to find tutorials to piece something together.

    On top of all that finals are coming at school. (Even teachers have a lot of work going into finals week!)  I may have to wait until Christmas break before getting into it hot and heavy.

    We'll see...

    Okay Photoshop you can make your bump, normal, spec, and displacement maps. That tutorial I posted earlier shows how to do it easy peasy in PS. So that will help you out there. I have Element 3D too - I love Video Copilot's tutorials.

    Animating in DAZ is very similar to AE. You have animate blocks on your timeline that are close to hitting the stopwatch in the timeline in AE at various points. The nice thing about these blocks is a lot stuff comes already set up - like a walk cycle for example. Not what you wanted for xwing but it's useful for characters. 

    As someone with experience in Maya - I think you'd be better off with Blender. I pounded my head against the wall for almost a year with Maya and 3D Max - I had the education package too (former department secretary for English & Foreign Languages at the local unversity here - so I was the one scheduling everyone for their classes, overloads, Finals rooms and times - hehe! I know how it goes hun!). I went through tutorials and despite experience with C4D, and a little with Blender, me and Maya did NOT get along. I just went back to Blender. The interface is awful on Blender but the tutorials on YouTube are pretty good.

    There's a free program UV Mapper I believe that will allow you to do what you need, but Photoshop will allow you to do the same as well and it's not that hard. If you want, I'll be happy to walk you through it and it will take all of five minutes. And if you go with photoshop, you can also add your dirt and grunge but it's also good to experiment with the other ways to do all of this as well.

    So if you need any help on that end of the spectrum, just holler and I'll be glad to do what I can.

    Cheers,

    Kath

    Yeah, I remember looking at your tutorial earlier this month (before I had all those problems with the Nellie, Suki, Pookie models) and I remember thinking they were going to be useful at some point.

    However at THIS point, I need to get the diffuse maps straightened up first.  Finally!  Some actual ART WORK!  Hee!

    Thanks!

    David

    Kathryn said "There's a free program UV Mapper I believe that will allow you to do what you need, but Photoshop will allow you to do the same as well and it's not that hard. If you want, I'll be happy to walk you through it and it will take all of five minutes."

    A 5 minute walkthrough sounds hard to pass up!  Let's do it!

    Thanks Kathryn! 

    "D"

    Well, the best laid plans of mice and men. I have a very sick cat this morning so I'm trying to get her in to see the vet. Waiting for a call back. It's not my Dad's cat but my Maine Coon. So that kinda throws things for a loop for me.

    BUT I don't give up easily so I want to figure this out. lol!

    So let me get a better idea of what you're dealing with here. You said you had a bunch of textures you were trying to sort.

    Are they not attached to the 3D mesh at all and you're trying to figure out which one goes where?

    From what I saw in your earlier image the mats, however they're assembled don't look entirely accurate to the traditional xwing are you wanting to create new ones from scratch?

    No matter how you look at it for the majority of situations - not all but most - it's easier to keep what you have and work on fixing and modifying from there - you can totally overhaul the textures and it will save you a bunch by starting with what you have.

    If you want to start from scratch, then Photoshop isn't going to be the best way to go with a complex model. If it was a soda can - no problem, but complicated gets . . .  complicated and that's usually best done in a program that's designed for texturing like Blacksmith.(Which I'm just starting to learn.)

    Is it possible for you to do a screen shot of what you're looking at? 

    And the guy who is delivering my storage building just called - they're on their way. So I'm going to be in and out on the computer today.

    Cheers,

    Kath

    Ouch!  Sorry about your cat.  Wow!  Maine Coon cats are BIG, aren't they?  I wouldn't want to be around one in a bad mood...!  Hope he's feeling better soon.

    I don't really need to start from scratch for this model.  I mapping is already done, it's just ugly.  Also, I'm not that familiar with what it all means.  I have the .obj file for the model, the .mtl file for the materials, and all of the texture maps in a map folder. (all 61 of them!)

    I've attached one of the textures for the fuselage of the fighter.  I kinda sorta understand the concept, but have no idea which parts of the texture map go with which parts of the model.  If I wanted to use these to retexture the model so it had the traditional colors...mostly white with red trim...how would I go about that?  I thought it would be a bit more intuitive.  I could just change the color scheme to white, and put a red racing stripe down the side. 

    Now I'm not so sure...

    Thanks for taking a look at these.

    "D"

    Actually that image is the entire ship it's just one section of uv mat for the fusalage. Even though my tut uses a fur brush - it's right up your ally for this project because you're using the same principles to work on the texture in photoshop and transfer back and forth. Once you have the texture in photoshop, apply your red and white and scuff marks.

    Have you ever worked with Pattern layers in Photoshop before?

    So what you'll want to do - find something online CG Textures? Wherever jpg you can find that's a base color suitable for your xwing and find one that's seamless to save yourself some hair pulling. If you want to scuff it up and give it just general battle damage that would be good. Don't make it specific - like a piece behind the engines whould have smoke while the fusalage wouldn't so just keep it general wear and tear. Hold off on the red stripe for now. Once you have the jpg where you like it go Edit/Define Pattern and name it. That saves it to your patterns in photoshop.

    Then open your existing mat whatever section you want to work on in Photoshop. Go to Layer/New Fill Layer/Pattern and then select the one you just made. This will put it on top of your existing texture. On the layer you just created in the Layers Panel, change the blending mode. Try various ones Screen, Overlay, Softlight - heck, I try them all to get one I like. You can see how the blending modes make it transluscent at times so it blends naturally with your texture. If you need more you can reduce the layer's opacity. That way it will blend nicely and look like it's part of the original texture. If you don't get what you want the first time around, try this same method with various images and patterns you create. You can use gradients and layer masks to limit your effects to a certain area.

    Save your new texture to a new file folder with a new name DON'T SAVE OVER YOUR ORIGINALS. Sorry but want to make sure. ;) Then you can put them back on the model in daz.

    Now on stuff that needs the red stripe, figure out which texture it is out of the new ones you made then you can put a new layer with the red stripe.

    If the ones you made don't quite scale correctly, maybe the scuffs you put on are a little large for the scale or whatever. In DAZ under the Surfaces tab down at the bottom you will see Horizontal Tiles and Verticle Tiles. Making those a higher number adds more tiles therefore makes the texture image smaller. So you should be able make some adjustments there. More specific stuff will have to be handled on a case by case basis, I'd have to see it and see what you want to do with it to tackle it specifically.

    And thank you, the vet can't take the cat until tomorrow but Maine Coons while large have almost dog-like personalities - so Whiskers is very very sweet no matter what happens.

    Cheers,

    Kath

  • kathrynlochkathrynloch Posts: 378
    edited December 2015

    Revision. I wondered why no matter how many lights I put on the water spray it never lit up much at all. Again, it's using an iRay shaded object and rendering in 3Delight. :(

     

    Hi, try working in your image editor with levels and saturation.  Note how the saturation enhances the glow of liquid so that it fills more of the room.  Working with the mid-range in levels brought out more details to be able to see the young girl and weven the rust patterns on the door.  You want your viewer to be able to see your work.  :)  Don't be afraid to strengthen your lights.

     

    I had no idea such a thing was even possible in an editor - I've never touched post-work. Which one?

    I use photoshop elements but any image editor will work.  Elements won't do 3d but the full version of photoshop will so I always make sure all of my work in Daz is done before I postwork. Gimp works as well as do most of the other paint programs out there.

    How is it possible to do the things he's suggesting, though? I mean, how can it up the light level when it's not working with a 3d image?

    GIMP which is free and Photoshop basically work in layers. You have your base layer that you open in PS with all of your colors. I know Photoshop so I'll relate that process but it translates to GIMP and others. Anyway, PS can do what is called an Adjustment Layer. There are various effects you can create with the different types of adjustments. Look first for a Levels Adjustment.

    I hope you can read my scribbles in my screen shot. I clicked on the Levels Adjustment icon and on the flyout I will adjust those arrow sliders.

    Here's the second image of what those sliders did.

    It's hard to tell but he's a little bit darker on the body.

    Each layer stacks and affects the layer below it all the way to the bottom. You can change this behavior by using what's called a clipping layer or clipping mask but that's more complex.

    You can even change the color entirely. I used a Hue/Saturation/Lightness adjustment (HSL) to make him an ice dragon.

    There are a bunch of videos on YouTube that go over the basic adjustments. If you up for more in depth work Lynda.com has great tutorials but they charge - you can get a free trial though and go through quite a bit before it expires. 

    Hope this helps!

    Cheers,

    Kath

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    Post edited by kathrynloch on
  • SamutSamut Posts: 50
    Chohole said:

    Don't forget, only a few hours to go.  Make sure you transfer your entries to the entry thread.

    We have until midnight Mountain Standard Time, right? So a little over two hours? My last render's coming along well; here it is at 66%.

    Lazlo-66Percent.GIF
    1836 x 884 - 779K
  • Heres my latest.  I've been workinhg on her hair. I added an additional morph so I could get it further to the shape I wanted.  Then I used the Kozaburo morphs to finish it.  I find that it is always worth checking the readme file just in case there are any morphs or other features that I may not be aware of included with the DAZ product.  For the hair, I didn't realize that the morphs were in the neck of the figure.  

    I decided to use my rabbit figure and reduce him down to a suitable scale. I applied the velvet texture with a violet diffuse color. I decided to make the bunny violet so there was no mistaking he was a toy rabbit, and not real.  I used a carnival glass shader for his eye whcih seems to work pretty well even though its small and far away.

    I am going to continue on with the project.  I see there are some tiny pokethrough holes in the boots (strange, I thought I had already fixed those).

    :-)  

    DollyGirl said:

    As I mentioned before the Suki model has issues with the mapping or maybe a lack there of. Along the seams is some major distortion so when you apply the texture map you will find that things are stretched. For this reason and because I did not want to remap the object I approached the issue by using a shader preset and chose a texture that would not emphasize this issue.
    For the dress these are the shaderes that I used.
    http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=73388
    http://www.sharecg.com/v/59005/gallery/7/Material-and-Shader/KerWar-Fancies-01
    http://www.sharecg.com/v/36035/browse/6/Texture/Universal-Lace-ENGAGED-for-Rhis-Hatz

    I picked them because there are some interesting things to learn from these shaders. The first one listed uses a gradient texture file that works really well when you have stretching because your eye can't see a set pattern so misses the areas of stretching. That took care of the stretch issue but there is not much of a change in texture or bumpiness in this shader. So I applied the second shader's bump and specularity presets to get my bumps and shinny spots. To keep the stretching from showing on this I had to go into the Shader Mixer and add an additional tiling model to the displacement path of the shader. You can see what I added in the image below. To hide the stretch on this I went with 10 tiles in the Horizontal and Vertical directions. The KerWar shader is a nice shader to learn about bump and specularity. Lots of presets so that you can play with these parameters to see what 3Delight does with the values. I added the lace shader to the cuffs of the sleeves. The belt and collar I used the leather shader contained in this package of shaders.
    http://www.sharecg.com/v/27568/gallery/7/Material-and-Shader/Ultimate-Shader-Pack-for-DAZ-Studio-UPDATED_2011
    This is the shader I used on the boot leathers and the pants. I used the lace shader on the cuffs of the pants. And I used the same shader on the cuffs of the boots as I did on the shirt.
    For the bear I used, Fisty's shaders http://www.daz3d.com/sparkles-for-studio from the store. She has a set of velvet shaders that work really well with Uber lights.
    I tried to use a different shader on her hair but when I did that her hair line did not work so I left Koz's texturing alone. For her skin I applied the subsurface scattering shader that comes with Studio. Something to be aware of is that the MilGirl model has two layers of mesh for her eyebrows. You can get yourself all messed up and confused if you don't remember that the surface EyeBrows is the bottom layer and needs the face texture applied to it with no transmap applied and the UpperEyeBrows is the top mesh and needs to have the transmap applied. I use the tutorial by Age of Armour http://www.daz3d.com/subsurface-shader-basics to work this shader. It is a complex shader and AOA just makes it more simple to get a handle on how to get that lovely looking skin. After I had applied the SSS shader I noticed that Nelly's face was washed out a bit so I added some color to her cheeks. If you want this look then I can upload the rouge layer so that you can apply it to her face to give her that bit of rosy cheek look children get.
    Next I will talk about the IRay render.

    Hi DollyGirl.  I would be appreciative of the rouge layer please!  I would like to see how you added this to your figure.  Also, do you think you will be able to do the Iray version tutorial?  That would be great!  

    Thanks again!! laugh

    Sonja11 said:

    I am learning a ton of new things this month, but I wish it was spread over two months!  :-)

    I have a question.  As an example, if I wanted to make a lampshade glow gently with the light of the bulb from inside, what would be required?  I wouldn't want the detail of the bulb showing through the shade.  Another example would be a shade on a window that only let the light through a bit, and all the detail of the scenery in the background behind the window and shade would be mostly masked.

      

    3Delight or Iray?

     

    I would be happy with either but preferably Iray.  smiley

     

    Sonja11 said:
    Sonja11 said:

    I am learning a ton of new things this month, but I wish it was spread over two months!  :-)

    I have a question.  As an example, if I wanted to make a lampshade glow gently with the light of the bulb from inside, what would be required?  I wouldn't want the detail of the bulb showing through the shade.  Another example would be a shade on a window that only let the light through a bit, and all the detail of the scenery in the background behind the window and shade would be mostly masked.

      

    3Delight or Iray?

     

    I would be happy with either but preferably Iray.  smiley

    Well for 3Delight you could try a point light. it basically glows but much smaller than a spot light and glows all the way around so its useful for things like lamps etc.  Iray, I have no idea I am not super familiar with that yet.

    Same principle just go to the Create Primative and select a sphere. Make it the size you need then select it in the Scene tab then in the Surfaces tab. Hit it with the Daz emissive shader. (Shader Presets/Iray/DazUber)

    Your menu options on the surfaces tab will change twirl down the arrow and click on Emissive.

     

     

    You'll see Emission Color and below that Emission Temp. You want to set the number on Emission Temp to 6500. This will give you a neutral white when your Iray Render Settings Tone Mapping the White Point there is set to 1.00 across the board.

    Now on Luminance Units the default in that pull down menu is cd/m^2. This setting is how your units are measured when you chance the Luminance slider above. I tried W for Watts thinking I could gauge it like a 60W bulb - nah didn't work for me. So I followed Sickle Yield's advice and set it the kd/m^2. All that means is that you don't need as large of a number to get your brightness. 5000 which is the default is really low, but change to kd/m^2 and it's really bright. Then you can change the Emission color to whatever you want, I'd try a soft, faint, orange for what you want to do.

    Okay on the left click off of Emissive and click on Geometry below it because for what you want to do the cut out is probably going to be the most important thing. If you know what an alpha channel is in Photoshop, then that's basically what a cut out is. You can put all sorts of things here - a campfire shape to make your emissive look like flames. You're going to have to play around with this but I'm thinking a circle with gradual diffusion like this:

     

    Or something like that - like I said, you'll have to experiment, but that cut out gives you a ton of control once you work out the details.

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers,

    Kath

     

    Thank you too Kath!  I will give this a try!  Much appreciated.  laugh

  • White RabbitWhite Rabbit Posts: 231
    edited December 2015

    I'm not too worried about entering the Competition as I think the biggest reward is all the new knowledge I have gained this month from all the awesome mentors here.  

    Here is my second entry.  Its a toy rabbit.  I created new diffuse, bump, specularity, and displacement maps in Photoshop and experimented with them in DAZ to get different effects.  The inside of the bunny ears are shorter and various other areas have zero fur that wouldn't make sense such as the wiskers, nails, nose, etc.  I quite like the bun!  wink

    Stuffed_Toy_Rabbit_Fur_Longer_Tail.jpg
    800 x 600 - 254K
    Post edited by White Rabbit on
  • Heres my latest.  I've been workinhg on her hair. I added an additional morph so I could get it further to the shape I wanted.  Then I used the Kozaburo morphs to finish it.  I find that it is always worth checking the readme file just in case there are any morphs or other features that I may not be aware of included with the DAZ product.  For the hair, I didn't realize that the morphs were in the neck of the figure.  

    I decided to use my rabbit figure and reduce him down to a suitable scale. I applied the velvet texture with a violet diffuse color. I decided to make the bunny violet so there was no mistaking he was a toy rabbit, and not real.  I used a carnival glass shader for his eye whcih seems to work pretty well even though its small and far away.

    I am going to continue on with the project.  I see there are some tiny pokethrough holes in the boots (strange, I thought I had already fixed those).

    :-)  

    DollyGirl said:

    As I mentioned before the Suki model has issues with the mapping or maybe a lack there of. Along the seams is some major distortion so when you apply the texture map you will find that things are stretched. For this reason and because I did not want to remap the object I approached the issue by using a shader preset and chose a texture that would not emphasize this issue.
    For the dress these are the shaderes that I used.
    http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=73388
    http://www.sharecg.com/v/59005/gallery/7/Material-and-Shader/KerWar-Fancies-01
    http://www.sharecg.com/v/36035/browse/6/Texture/Universal-Lace-ENGAGED-for-Rhis-Hatz

    I picked them because there are some interesting things to learn from these shaders. The first one listed uses a gradient texture file that works really well when you have stretching because your eye can't see a set pattern so misses the areas of stretching. That took care of the stretch issue but there is not much of a change in texture or bumpiness in this shader. So I applied the second shader's bump and specularity presets to get my bumps and shinny spots. To keep the stretching from showing on this I had to go into the Shader Mixer and add an additional tiling model to the displacement path of the shader. You can see what I added in the image below. To hide the stretch on this I went with 10 tiles in the Horizontal and Vertical directions. The KerWar shader is a nice shader to learn about bump and specularity. Lots of presets so that you can play with these parameters to see what 3Delight does with the values. I added the lace shader to the cuffs of the sleeves. The belt and collar I used the leather shader contained in this package of shaders.
    http://www.sharecg.com/v/27568/gallery/7/Material-and-Shader/Ultimate-Shader-Pack-for-DAZ-Studio-UPDATED_2011
    This is the shader I used on the boot leathers and the pants. I used the lace shader on the cuffs of the pants. And I used the same shader on the cuffs of the boots as I did on the shirt.
    For the bear I used, Fisty's shaders http://www.daz3d.com/sparkles-for-studio from the store. She has a set of velvet shaders that work really well with Uber lights.
    I tried to use a different shader on her hair but when I did that her hair line did not work so I left Koz's texturing alone. For her skin I applied the subsurface scattering shader that comes with Studio. Something to be aware of is that the MilGirl model has two layers of mesh for her eyebrows. You can get yourself all messed up and confused if you don't remember that the surface EyeBrows is the bottom layer and needs the face texture applied to it with no transmap applied and the UpperEyeBrows is the top mesh and needs to have the transmap applied. I use the tutorial by Age of Armour http://www.daz3d.com/subsurface-shader-basics to work this shader. It is a complex shader and AOA just makes it more simple to get a handle on how to get that lovely looking skin. After I had applied the SSS shader I noticed that Nelly's face was washed out a bit so I added some color to her cheeks. If you want this look then I can upload the rouge layer so that you can apply it to her face to give her that bit of rosy cheek look children get.
    Next I will talk about the IRay render.

    Hi DollyGirl.  I would be appreciative of the rouge layer please!  I would like to see how you added this to your figure.  Also, do you think you will be able to do the Iray version tutorial?  That would be great!  

    Thanks again!! laugh

    Sonja11 said:

    I am learning a ton of new things this month, but I wish it was spread over two months!  :-)

    I have a question.  As an example, if I wanted to make a lampshade glow gently with the light of the bulb from inside, what would be required?  I wouldn't want the detail of the bulb showing through the shade.  Another example would be a shade on a window that only let the light through a bit, and all the detail of the scenery in the background behind the window and shade would be mostly masked.

      

    3Delight or Iray?

     

    I would be happy with either but preferably Iray.  smiley

     

    Sonja11 said:
    Sonja11 said:

    I am learning a ton of new things this month, but I wish it was spread over two months!  :-)

    I have a question.  As an example, if I wanted to make a lampshade glow gently with the light of the bulb from inside, what would be required?  I wouldn't want the detail of the bulb showing through the shade.  Another example would be a shade on a window that only let the light through a bit, and all the detail of the scenery in the background behind the window and shade would be mostly masked.

      

    3Delight or Iray?

     

    I would be happy with either but preferably Iray.  smiley

    Well for 3Delight you could try a point light. it basically glows but much smaller than a spot light and glows all the way around so its useful for things like lamps etc.  Iray, I have no idea I am not super familiar with that yet.

    Same principle just go to the Create Primative and select a sphere. Make it the size you need then select it in the Scene tab then in the Surfaces tab. Hit it with the Daz emissive shader. (Shader Presets/Iray/DazUber)

    Your menu options on the surfaces tab will change twirl down the arrow and click on Emissive.

     

     

    You'll see Emission Color and below that Emission Temp. You want to set the number on Emission Temp to 6500. This will give you a neutral white when your Iray Render Settings Tone Mapping the White Point there is set to 1.00 across the board.

    Now on Luminance Units the default in that pull down menu is cd/m^2. This setting is how your units are measured when you chance the Luminance slider above. I tried W for Watts thinking I could gauge it like a 60W bulb - nah didn't work for me. So I followed Sickle Yield's advice and set it the kd/m^2. All that means is that you don't need as large of a number to get your brightness. 5000 which is the default is really low, but change to kd/m^2 and it's really bright. Then you can change the Emission color to whatever you want, I'd try a soft, faint, orange for what you want to do.

    Okay on the left click off of Emissive and click on Geometry below it because for what you want to do the cut out is probably going to be the most important thing. If you know what an alpha channel is in Photoshop, then that's basically what a cut out is. You can put all sorts of things here - a campfire shape to make your emissive look like flames. You're going to have to play around with this but I'm thinking a circle with gradual diffusion like this:

     

    Or something like that - like I said, you'll have to experiment, but that cut out gives you a ton of control once you work out the details.

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers,

    Kath

     

    Thank you too Kath!  I will give this a try!  Much appreciated.  laugh

    You're welcome! I forgot to add - When working with cutouts it's generally easier to start with a simple plane rather than a sphere. The sphere is good for a lightbulb effect or a basic torch glow - stuff like that but trying to put a cutout on it can turn into a pain. Most often a plain old plane laugh will be the easiest to work with.

  • Revision. I wondered why no matter how many lights I put on the water spray it never lit up much at all. Again, it's using an iRay shaded object and rendering in 3Delight. :(

     

    Hi, try working in your image editor with levels and saturation.  Note how the saturation enhances the glow of liquid so that it fills more of the room.  Working with the mid-range in levels brought out more details to be able to see the young girl and weven the rust patterns on the door.  You want your viewer to be able to see your work.  :)  Don't be afraid to strengthen your lights.

     

    I had no idea such a thing was even possible in an editor - I've never touched post-work. Which one?

    It can be a matter of working within Studio and using the settings for rendering as there are ways to strengthen the saturation or exposure.  Lighting has a big effect as well.  We got to close to the end of the deadline, and I see Kath explained some things as far as postwork.  You can still ask in here if you'd like tips for what you can do Studio-wise.

  • I'm not too worried about entering the Competition as I think the biggest reward is all the new knowledge I have gained this month from all the awesome mentors here.  

    Here is my second entry.  Its a toy rabbit.  I created new diffuse, bump, specularity, and displacement maps in Photoshop and experimented with them in DAZ to get different effects.  The inside of the bunny ears are shorter and various other areas have zero fur that wouldn't make sense such as the wiskers, nails, nose, etc.  I quite like the bun!  wink

    Very nice!

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252

    Everyone has done a great job again this month.

     

    Good luck.

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,956

    Good luck to every one as well from me, all these projects have made a great development and I got a good peace of learning things out of it for myself as well.

  • I'm not too worried about entering the Competition as I think the biggest reward is all the new knowledge I have gained this month from all the awesome mentors here.  

    Here is my second entry.  Its a toy rabbit.  I created new diffuse, bump, specularity, and displacement maps in Photoshop and experimented with them in DAZ to get different effects.  The inside of the bunny ears are shorter and various other areas have zero fur that wouldn't make sense such as the wiskers, nails, nose, etc.  I quite like the bun!  wink

    Very nice!

    Thank you ebonartgallery!  laugh

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I think we all did good!  Its was a fun month, learned a ton again.  Hope to see you all for Decembers contest!

  • Samut said:
    Chohole said:

    Don't forget, only a few hours to go.  Make sure you transfer your entries to the entry thread.

    We have until midnight Mountain Standard Time, right? So a little over two hours? My last render's coming along well; here it is at 66%.

    Love it! :)

  • Hi everyone.  I'm back from my trip.  Hope everyone survived Thanksgiving.  I took a look and there are a lot of nice renders this month.  Looks like in my rush, I messed up my second entry and entered the icon picture instead of the full size render.  Oh well, too late now.  Anyway, good luck to everyone.  I do have a couple of favorites that I'm rooting for so we'll see who wins this month.  This months theme really threw me for a loop, but I did learn some new skills so it was worth it.  It sounds like others learned a lot, too.  I never did get a chance to work on Dollygirl's example render, but I plan to work through that at my leisure now that the contest is over so I can figure out how she did that and see if I can get something close to it.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    Hi everyone.  I'm back from my trip.  Hope everyone survived Thanksgiving.  I took a look and there are a lot of nice renders this month.  Looks like in my rush, I messed up my second entry and entered the icon picture instead of the full size render.  Oh well, too late now.  Anyway, good luck to everyone.  I do have a couple of favorites that I'm rooting for so we'll see who wins this month.  This months theme really threw me for a loop, but I did learn some new skills so it was worth it.  It sounds like others learned a lot, too.  I never did get a chance to work on Dollygirl's example render, but I plan to work through that at my leisure now that the contest is over so I can figure out how she did that and see if I can get something close to it.

    Glad you made it home safely!  I will be doign Dollygirls example render as well as soon as I can find a bit of extra time. 

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,669

    I think ev1 did an amazing job on their renders and wish ev1 gl on the contest. I learned so much this month with shaders and shader mixers and how to make interesting shadows with the Mixer and how to change the clothing to something that more suits the scene. Also How to solve poke throughs and clothing mishaps with Deformers. So much more to learn about Daz and all it has to offer, the possiblities are endless it seems.

  • SamutSamut Posts: 50
    edited December 2015
    TreeDee said:
    Samut said:

    We have until midnight Mountain Standard Time, right? So a little over two hours? My last render's coming along well; here it is at 66%.

    Love it! :)

    Thank you!

    I had a question about your entry (which is great, BTW). I was showing the entries to my nine-year-old, and when he saw yours he was sure the blue stuffed animal was a Pokemon. Is that the case?

    Post edited by Samut on
  • Samut said:
    TreeDee said:
    Samut said:

    We have until midnight Mountain Standard Time, right? So a little over two hours? My last render's coming along well; here it is at 66%.

    Love it! :)

    Thank you!

    I had a question about your entry (which is great, BTW). I was showing the entries to my nine-year-old, and when he saw yours he was sure the blue stuffed animal was a Pokemon. Is that the case?

    Thanks... and he has sharp eyes that one :) "Lapras"

  • SamutSamut Posts: 50
    TreeDee said:
    Samut said:

    I had a question about your entry (which is great, BTW). I was showing the entries to my nine-year-old, and when he saw yours he was sure the blue stuffed animal was a Pokemon. Is that the case?

    Thanks... and he has sharp eyes that one :) "Lapras"

    Awesome! That was what he thought.

    My son's expressed an interest in learning this stuff, and if there are Pokemon models out there, that would be terrific. Did you get that somewhere or did you model it yourself?

  • Good stuff... would have been brilliant to have Daz3D around when I was nine... still working in clay then ;)

    I picked up the model from yobi3d.com and then created new materials and imported into Daz. Did a search on Doll and filtered to dae and obj.

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