Algovincian 2024: New Year - New Junk

algovincian

Haven't been posting much here lately, so I figured it was time for a new thread for the new year and upload a couple of recent images in an effort to start posting again.

Arthur bumped into this cute little voodoo princess on a recent ride down to the bayou:

The image makes use of several recent releases from Strangefate and a doll from Thorne:

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-tribal-armor-for-genesis-9-and-genesis-8-female
https://www.daz3d.com/stf-tribal-witch-doctor-undies-and-body-paint-for-genesis-9-and-genesis-8-female
https://www.daz3d.com/stf-kadis--legendary-armor-for-genesis-9-and-genesis-8-female
https://www.daz3d.com/akubisa-for-genesis-8-female

I was so happy G8 was still supported in Strangefate's recent releases - woot! Thank you.

Arthur had been sleeping rough for several days before finally making it back to camp, and probably should have grabbed a bath & shave before having this picture taken:

I love exploring and being an in-game photographer, which is where the background in the first image came from. The second image is also an in-game screencap processed to be more photorealistic using AI, and then one of my standard post-processing scripts for pShop to make it look like an aged photograph.

- Greg

Artini

Looks great. I especially like black & white version.

 

algovincian

Artini said:

Looks great. I especially like black & white version.

Thanks @Artini. It's so cool how just a screen capture of actual game play (the color image of Arthur) can be used to create a more photo-realistic black & white image.

Here's another example - an image of a busy city street market in Saint Denis circa 1900 using the same workflow:

- Greg

Artini

It is also great. Looks like a black and white photo.

 

algovincian

I probably should have been more clear about the fact that the last image of Saint Denis also started as a screen capture during gameplay.

Of course, in-game screencaps aren't the only source of input images that can be used. DS renders also work great as input to the processing, which is why I'm posting here . . . duh! lol

Here's 2 more examples (Streets of Venice and Wild West Town) of environments rendered in DS and processed using the same workflow. The workflow is still a work in progress and a few tweaks were made since the Saint Denis image, but the basic idea remains the same:

https://www.daz3d.com/the-streets-of-venice

 

https://www.daz3d.com/wild-west-town

- Greg

 

3Diva

Love the new images, Greg! The realism with the black and white images are incredible! Looks like historic photographs! SO COOL!

algovincian

3Diva said:

Love the new images, Greg! The realism with the black and white images are incredible! Looks like historic photographs! SO COOL!

Thanks, @3Diva. The workflow is really fun to play around with. The AI didn't do so good with the writing on the signs in the old west town, though . . . doh!

- Greg

3Diva

algovincian said:

3Diva said:

Love the new images, Greg! The realism with the black and white images are incredible! Looks like historic photographs! SO COOL!

Thanks, @3Diva. The workflow is really fun to play around with. The AI didn't do so good with the writing on the signs in the old west town, though . . . doh!

- Greg

Yeah, writing and hands are my two biggest frustration with AI created content. But I do know it's only a mater of time before the models improve to the point where we no longer have a problem with writing and hands. 

algovincian

Wanted to upload some subtle expression tests for a workflow I've been playing with to check them out on different devices. Not perfect, but not bad considering each of the 4 variations for each character were generated from the same initial image:

- Greg

ETA: Here's a quick video making it easier to see the change in expression for each character:

3Diva

This traditional-looking manga style you've been able to achieve is awesome! It looks fantastic! Like Bill & Ted would say, Most Excellent! 

Gordig

Good stuff, but you might want to spellcheck the title of the thread. 

algovincian

Gordig said:

Good stuff, but you might want to spellcheck the title of the thread. 

Doh! Thanks, @Gordig. 

 

3Diva said:

This traditional-looking manga style you've been able to achieve is awesome! It looks fantastic! Like Bill & Ted would say, Most Excellent! 

Thank you, @3Diva. This workflow is better on tight face shots and not so good for full head-to-toe shots or groups. The previous algos were the exact oposite - better on wider framed shots and no good on close-ups. I can't win! lol

- Greg 

algovincian

Playing around with the new tribal weapons made by @Strangefate / @Roguey:

All of the assets in their tribal series are amazing and work so well together seamlessly:

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-tribal-weapons-and-poses

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-tribal-body-paints-vol1-for-genesis-8-and-genesis-9

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-tribal-armor-for-genesis-9-and-genesis-8-female

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-tribal-witch-doctor-undies-and-body-paint-for-genesis-9-and-genesis-8-female

The possibilities are endless! I can't decide which is my favorite? The desert shaman, or her sister, the swamp princess:

They've got two additional siblings, too - a nocturnal dweller who's been spotted on the rocky shores of the lake, and a solitary older sister who rarely comes down out of the mountains. So much fun designing these sisters!

- Greg

 

David R

The photo realism is absolutely stunning! 

algovincian

David R said:

The photo realism is absolutely stunning! 

Thanks, David. The texturing on the assets is absolutely top-notch. From the grit of the body/face paints to the petina of the metals, and everything in between, the attention to detail is incredible. I particularly like leather and bone. It's not hard to imagine how years of the sun beating down caused the bone to dry out and crack, and the leather to tighten and curl on the edges.

I'm still learning how to effectively tie rendered characters in with backdrops. It's challenging to get the lighting right and find the right balance between the physics of light & how a photo would actually look, and more artistic considerations like making sure all the details are easy to see, etc. In a real photo with the sun directly behind her like that, she would be completely dark. I had to take a little artistic license!

For my part, I've been working on a rig for DS to create/adjust lens flares in realtime using Iray preview. I feel like this helps tie the rendered character in with the backdrop. Also, I've always felt that the fringing of chromatic abberation also helps to soften the edges of 3D renders and keep them from being overly clean and stale. Again, more artisitic license was taken here as the fringing decidedly does not represent what a typical real-world sensor would produce, but I like how it looks.

- Greg

 

algovincian

You lookin at me? 

Can't recommend this bundle highly enough:

https://www.daz3d.com/all-the-rabbits-by-am?srsltid=AfmBOor7Q5lQah8Cd2YkAUyq8aM7k-lec7tG55ta2v_pm5rS9DIf59OR

There's so many bunnies!

- Greg

algovincian

Rendered this one a little while back for @Strangefate's / @Roguey's latest release and liked the way it came out:

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-dforce-duskbound-for-genesis-9-and-genesis-8-female

Love to see PAs supporting both G9 and G8 with new releases. Huge added value and much appreciated!

Always fun to whip out my favorite vehicle - their Retro UFO and testures, too:

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-retro-ufo

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-retro-ufo-texture-pack

Of course, can't go wrong with @RawArt's Lekk2 and a perfectly Star-Warsy Stonemason set:

https://www.daz3d.com/lekkulian-2-for-genesis-8-female

https://www.daz3d.com/smugglers-alley

And finally, the bounty hunter:

https://www.daz3d.com/futuristic-guardian-outfit-for-genesis-9

https://www.daz3d.com/expansiveapesuit-for-genesis-8-female (helmut)

The scene is packed with fantastic assets - cheers!

- Greg

3Diva

algovincian said:

Rendered this one a little while back for @Strangefate's / @Roguey's latest release and liked the way it came out:

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-dforce-duskbound-for-genesis-9-and-genesis-8-female

Love to see PAs supporting both G9 and G8 with new releases. Huge added value and much appreciated!

Always fun to whip out my favorite vehicle - their Retro UFO and testures, too:

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-retro-ufo

https://www.daz3d.com/stf-retro-ufo-texture-pack

Of course, can't go wrong with @RawArt's Lekk2 and a perfectly Star-Warsy Stonemason set:

https://www.daz3d.com/lekkulian-2-for-genesis-8-female

https://www.daz3d.com/smugglers-alley

And finally, the bounty hunter:

https://www.daz3d.com/futuristic-guardian-outfit-for-genesis-9

https://www.daz3d.com/expansiveapesuit-for-genesis-8-female (helmut)

The scene is packed with fantastic assets - cheers!

- Greg

That's incredibly cool, Greg! It looks like a still from a movie! Excellent art!

Artini

Remarkable image, @algovincian

I have noticed it while looking at promo images of the duskbound.

 

algovincian

Artini said:

Remarkable image, @algovincian

I have noticed it while looking at promo images of the duskbound.

Thanks @Artini. The bulk of the credit goes to the asset creators - cheers!

 

3Diva said:

That's incredibly cool, Greg! It looks like a still from a movie! Excellent art!

 Thanks for taking the time to stop in and comment. One goal was definitely to shoot for a bit more photorealism with the atmospheric effects in DS and some post effects like a little chromatic aberration.

- Greg