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This is my last render for the evening. I decided to get the lighting right while I play around with creating morphs to fix the coat. I found that the texture I chose for the captain just wasn't working for him. It seemed flat and obscured some of the detail. So I replaced it with another and am much happier with it.
Then I struggled with some dark shadows on the captain I didn't like. Most notably is his finger casting a shadow on his chin/neck that looks weird. I used several linear point lights w/o shadows to soften the vertical shadow on his sleeve and bring in a little more light to his face. I tried a point light between his hand and face, but either the shadow was still too dark or his face became too light. Here is a limitation of 3Delight - a light addition won't make a shadow go away as in real life. I had to settle for an ok medium and decided I will do a little postwork to soften the shadows.
I discovered that the bishop was hidden in the shadow of a rook, so I played with the arrangement of the black pieces on the right so that the bishop is now prominently lit. I raised the light in the lamp to showcase the pieces a little more.
I can't twist the lamp any more, because it results on unwanted shadows on either the sailor or the captain. So with maybe a little more tweaking, the light is about where I want it. I have some nice backlighting from the moonlight I like.
Never mentioned the title, but this is "Bishop Takes Queen."
Okay this is a rough draft. 3Delight - Uber environment with sky 8. I darkened the Uber environment lights quite a bit to make it nightime using darker grey and blue greys. I have point lights on the top of the staff and along the lightning bolt. It needs..... something more. Or less lol. Not sure where to go with this, I would kind of like to make the circle glow a bit more but have no idea how to make that happen. I feel like the edges need to be darker.
Here is the second sucessful render to my scene, I've changed the point lights to linear point light in the wall lights which I belive it changed the room lighting to better, I've changed also the light prop, added extra props to the scene, now it looks like a real or closer to a kids room especially with Two boys fighting together
Another scene, still to dark in front
Lucasdestoop, that chandelier looks weird, like it is attatched to the undead body. Can you give the scene a try without the chandelier?
@Knittingmommy: Advanced Spotlight from Age of Armour might just do what you need, if I interpret the promo pictures right.
Hello Mick
Welcome to the NU Contest. It is so nice to see someone who uses Carrara.
You have set up a nice scene. I notice there are potlights in the ceiling of your livingroom but it does not appear they are emitting any light. Have you thought about turning them into light sources?
If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Great expressions. I love the smug look on the sailor's face and the look of dismay on the Captain.
I noticed in your early shots showing us the setup that the water has slight ripples. Perhaps a slight tilt to the camera angle to tell the viewer that they are on water? Or maybe tilt the boat slightly either towards or away from the camera?
I agree - lose the chandelier, but keep that pink light - that looks good. A linear point light right in front of the necromancer will illuminate her, the underside of the undead and the floor a little bit. Or, you can try a spotlight aimed from the ground up at her - that will give the cool, flashlight-below-the-chin spooky shadows on her face (this one can be a warm color). Add 2 more spotlights on either side of her, each with a cool color that is not for human skin, like pale green or blue, and not too saturated). Experiment with shadows on and off to get the effect you want. The lighting can add to an effect that she is surrounded by magic and not simply levitating the undead. Emissive light from her eyes may add to the spooky effect.
If you have any special effects to put around her hands, that will clue us in that she's using magic. Jepe's effects work great for this, and they are all on sale right now. I had bought some a while back and when he upgraded them to Iray materials, they were added to my DIM. As an alternative, you can add the effects in post work.
Hey, love the papers, bike, upside skateboard, draping cloth - now it looks like a kid's room! Lighting is much better now and the shadows add some depth. I also see that you added a twilight background behind the windows. This scene is coming along very nicely!
Muss the boy's hair a little to add to the sense of action and the fact that they've been at it for a while. Also add some movement to the hair of the girl who's trying to break it up.
Thanks Dracorn, I'd do some changes to the hairs as suggested, i likeed the idea.
You could apply a UE2 emmisive to the ring to help it glow. I have tried it before but, unfortunately, have not had a lot of luck making it work.
UltrueViolet Light and Glowing Shaders for DAZ Studio might be helpful if you own them.
Szark has an excellent tutorial on UE2 lights here.
This looks closer to what my room was like when I was a teenager.
You have a nice highlight on the hair of your standing figure in purple but the kids fighting in the middle of the room still look a little dull. The ceiling is not visible above them. Could a potlight live there that would help to light them up and make them stand out a bit more?
You have some really nice godrays coming through the windows. Is this an Iray render?
Do you have light emitting from the candles?
I agree with cherpenbeck that the ceiling chandelier is in an unfortunate location.
I belive most of us has the same issue when we're teenages
Thanks Kismet, I'll see what I can do about lighting, there is already 4 point lights in the middle of the room to do this, I'll try to increase the intensity and check the result.
I was about to start my second scene, but decided to continue with this one to the end.
So, here is my second attempt. I added the red lightsaber light and increased the HDR intensity. Also, I rectified the blade of the lightsaber (thanks Siotrad!).
Have you tried to disable the casting shadow in the lantern body, it will remove the shadows casting in the captain and the sailor arm.
Jack, I really like the idea and the work you have so far. Here's the thing, for me, we have no evidence of a second (or more) actors in this other your explanation. I was trying to think of how you might make it more apparent that the main actor is reacting to someone else...and well, the best idea I came up with was maybe make the viewer the second actor.. ie, have the POV of the image be from the person who has interrupted yoour hacker, so she is looking at and pointing the gun at the camera, at the audience. It was just a thought.
@dracorn: I really like your image, and your process.
Are you only using the one point light in the lamp? Mightn't it be easier to rig some other lights to augment that light rather than trying to beat it into submission to make it do everything you want? You could aim some spotlights so that they overlap with the point light and don't produce ungainly shadows.
I love it the way it stands. The one keylight (if it is indeed one light only) is producting great illumination where you want it. Using more lights just might make it a little easier. Also, you could dim that point light and make those shadows less distractring.
Have you thought about any rim lights for your actors? They stand out pretty well... but a little enhacement couldn't hurt.
Thanks everyone for the tips, I will give them a try
The render was done in 3Delight
Thanks for that tutorial link I have been at a total loss on how to use the uber lights lol. Most useful and as soon as I get a chance to get back to my laptop I will give some of this a try. I now have some ideas on what to do with the circle as well.
Wasteland Garage
The biker in the garage is a little disheartend by the news he has just received.
I have just over one year of experience with digital art and I would appreciate any feedback that is offered.
Thanks for the suggestion, evilded. I struggled with that as well. The time honored, cliched approach is the threatening shadow on the wall (which I used in last month's contest), but that doesn't really fit well with this scene. I like your idea of changing the POV; I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to see what the camera angles look like.
Daz render, using sunlight, uber, 2 spots, postwork jellyfish and bubbles, backround image rendered with scene
Ok - let's see what we can do to make this one pop!
Lightning puts out considerable light - try adding a linear point light in the middle, and widen the Falloff End to cover the tree, and make the Falloff Start wide enough to touch the wizard's side. It should be lighting up everything around it, so the light bathes both the tree and the wizard, casting dramatic shadows all around. If that's not dramatic enough, aim a spotlight from the center of the lightning towards the tree. As this lighting brightens up the scene, you may need to lower your UE2 lighting so that the shadows remain dramatic.
Secondly, some wind effect seen in the hair or the back or side of the robe would also add to the drama (maybe use longer hair?), perhaps as a result of the power of the lightning bolt. Picture the scene as a movie in your mind - go all out Hollywood - what would you expect to see? Is your wizard straining because of concentration, or does he have a wild look of glee? Wide eyes with furrowed brows and a wide open smile may accomplish this.
Vary your arms a little - have one higher than the other, and bend the elbow of one to make the pose less symmetrical. These can be subtle changes.
Complement it with a body pose where his waist is twisted and his back is arched (hide the robe while you do this to make it easier):
Start at the pelvis, and bend it. This will pull his legs off the ground. Re-select G2M and rotate to put his feet back onto the ground. Now he is bending over. Select the lower abdomen and bend it back slightly (not enough to straighten him out) and twist it a little bit. Select the upper abdomen and do the same. Now select the chest and do the same. Rotate the whole character so his feet are facing to the side and his chest is twisted in the direction you want. You can also adjust his head - twist the neck and the head, even use side to side on head. Eyeball it until you get what you want - this will make him less stiff.
Am I seeing one of Jepe's effects? Add one to the tip of the wizard's staff - or maybe bump up the emitted light so that the glow is radiating off of it the same way you in crease the light in the ring. Pick a color other than white or blue to contrast, perhaps a warm color. Its light radiating onto the wizard's arm and side of his head will provide a great contrast to the blue-white of the lightning. Maybe consider changing the color of the ring as well to contrast. Try orange as a complementary color to the blue to really make it pop.
While you're at it, a little more glow to the eyes would be good as well.
I like this much better - the way the lamp light is shining above and below the shades is more natural. I wouldn't worry so much that the scene has brightened up - it looks more like a comfortable living room now. I wouldn't expect a fella to play the guitar in the dark.
Are those rings in the ceiling on the left side flood lights? Do you want to turn them on? They would add additional light to that side of the room to contrast.
Can you color the lights in Carrara? If so, add a hint of pale yellow to the lamp lights - the way that incandescent lighting will do. The flood lights on the left side can be more white, but not pure white. Everything has a cream/tan color to it, and varying the color to the lights will break this up a little.
Also, the cat seems a little too bright white for the scene - is there a way to darken him a little? In Daz Studio I would do that on the surfaces tab, and add a little neutraled tan or cream to make the cat less bleached.
I like the contrast of the green light in the garage with the orange environment light but I am finding the environment light a little too overwhelming. It seems to be washing out the details of the bikers and their rides.
What program and render engine are you using?