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Wise old man, aren't you? ;) I do like the term CGI. I guess I just never thought of applying that to what I do. It does fit, though. As for being misunderstood, yeah, I get that. I've been misunderstood for most of my life as a creative type person, I guess one more misunderstood aspect shouldn't shake me up. :)
I've struggled with that as well. I usually go for just 3Dart with or without postwork but I think I like CGI better. It does cover the entire spectrum of what I am doing lol. My family doesn't really get my artistic nature either. More in the fact that they don't really understand the driving need to create. Its not just something fun to do or a hobby, creating (for me at least) is an integral part of who I am. Thankfully, while my husband doesn't really understand it, he has always been very supportive, even if he has no clue what it is I am doing lol.
When all is said and done, does it really matter how it's labeled? You're having fun, and (hopefully) are enjoying both the process and the result. Everything else is noise.
Yep, I like CGI, too. Glad it was defined as "computer generated image," because I hate it when I don't know what an acronym means.
I know what you mean about the DeviantArt categories - I have a hard time figuring out that too. Truthfully, I do whatever it takes to make an image look great, so if that involves multiple programs (or mediums for traditional art), so be it. Guess my art is has a little bit of 'the end justifies the means' philosophy.
But how to categorize it in DA? Is it 3D graphics or digital art? It's a good question. I usually pick 3D graphics because that's where I started. If I were to digitally paint it to start, then I would put it in digital. In the end, if you put something in the wrong category and then try to post it in a group, somebody will let you know a more appropriate gallery. Like Tabasco Jack said, just pick the closest one.
So, I tried some Canvas things that didn't pan out. I totally messed up the whole thing. I'll have to give it another go at some point. However, I still like my new image with just the beauty canvas. Using new stuff that I got during MM and a few new items from elsewhere that I got a good deal on. I do have to say that I might have a girl crush on this new character. Wow! I love how she turned out. Rendered in Iray. Post in Gimp.
Rowan:
Gallery Link
Commented on this in the Iray renders thread, but at the time, didn't know it was rendered out 32-bit. Glad to hear you're trying out this workflow. The extra time to save the EXR file is well worth it - doubt you'll ever go back.
What kind of HDR processing (tonemapping) did you use? Did you use the NIK tools, or something else in Gimp?
- Greg
Very nicely done KM! I haven't been able to figure out the canvasses either, but I haven't invested the time in trying again lately either. Keep it up!
LOVE the nose ring. It really adds that little something that puts it over the top. Nicely done!
Canvasses is something I've tried once and totally failed at too lol. Also on my extremely long list of things to learn, but I have got to stick the order on my list or I will just be all over the place and unable to really learn any one thing well. (ya, we'll see how long I can stick to that lol)
I agree with Greg! I do almost of all my renders now into 32 bit and tonemap in postwork.
I did use NIK tools in Gimp. I didn't have to process too much. Tone mapping, I did mostly in DS by making adjustments in the tone mapping section. Usually, I use Tonal Rage presets for that, but I've been experimenting on my own with the settings so this one was done straight in the Tone Mapping tab. I used the Contrast Color Range and Detail Extractor filters in NIK and did a little bit of post on the eyes separately in Gimp. I'm still getting a handle of postworking techniques, but I loved learning how to make the eyes pop.
I'll get there I'm sure. Not giving up. :)
I love that nose ring, too. It came with the outfit which was a nice surprise. Also, the earings, the crazy things on the earlobes. I can't remember what those are called. I have a list, too. I tend not to follow it in order, though. :)
I'll keep working at it. Maybe the next one will work better.
Thanks for the nice comments, everyone! :)
The tone mapping tab in DS shouldn't effect the 32-bit EXR file that DS cranks out if you render a beauty canvas. It effects the 8-bit file that gets saved, but not the 32-bit file in the nested directory that gets created. The docs do say tone mapping settings can effect the firefly filter if no nominal luminance is specified, though.
If you're interested, search for "firefly_filter" in the IRay Programmer's manual section for the photoreal render options:
http://www.migenius.com/doc/realityserver/latest/resources/general/iray/manual/index.html#/concept/rendering_options_photoreal.html
Even though we're not programming IRay, you may find it interesting to browse around a bit and remember what a manual looks like ;)
Also, dave.smith_62783623a8 generously took the time to gather and post some good info (kind of a summary of parameters as far as DS users rendering in Iray goes):
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1769416/#Comment_1769416
- Greg
@Algovincian
Ah, well, I didn't know that and since I didn't end up with anything useable in the .exr file, I probably didn't notice. I'll try to remember that when I get something I can use out of it. I ended up only being able to use the Beauty canvas, I guess? The main colored image that is separate from the .exr file is the only thing I was actually able to use this go round. I plan to set up another render and try it again. I need to do some more reading in the threads I have bookmarked first. Obviously, I missed something when I went through the steps to set it up. I only ended up with one b & w image layer in the .exr file. Not sure how I managed to do that.
The way canvases are setup is somewhat (unnecessarily) complicated, IMHO.
Let's assume you've got a beauty canvas setup (start with just this canvas first), and you're rendering to a new window. Once it's cooked, you're prompted for a image filename, format, and directory. Let's say you want to save it as "test.png" on your desktop. You enter this information and then click Save.
Doing so will save an 8-bit image named "test.png" on your desktop. This image will be tonemapped (which means 32-bits mapped to 8-bits in this case) according to the tonemapping settings you specified within DS.
It will also create a directory on your desktop named "test_canvases". Within that directory, there will be a file named "test-Canvas1-Beauty.exr". This is the 32-bit file that has not yet been tonemapped. This is the file you want to open in a 3D image editing app for tonemapping.
If you have any questions about setting up a beauty canvas, or anything else, just let me know. Hope this helps.
- Greg
ETA: The reason you didn't see anything was because it hadn't been tonemapped yet. Once you open the file, try adjusting the exposure.
@Algovinician Yeah, that's basically what I did. Only in the .exr file, I had one layer and it was a B&W image. I was expecting more layers which may mean that I didn't tell DS something when I was setting up the nodes and stuff in the Advanced section, I think. I'll have to go through again and start with something really basic. I managed to do this once before when we talked about it awhile back and I got a bunch of layers in the .exr file. I'm not sure how I managed to do it and only get one layer. I'll post what I get when I do another experiment. I'll probably have another render going at some point over the weekends. I have to get some writing done! Only a week left for Camp NaNo and I am SO far behind in my word count!
So, I picked up this N.G.S. Anagenesis 2 thing during MM. It had been on my wishlist for awhile. I hadn't done anything with it, though. With the new material preset package from Design Anvil and everyone talking about the DAZ Horse 2 and how bad the skin is in Iray, I thought I'd finally take a look at this script and see how the DAZ Horse 2 looks.
I haven't rendered the horse since some barely reasonable attempts in 3Delight. As bad as it is, I think this was one of my last attempts in 3Delight:
So, I loaded up Horse 2 and converted it to Iray to kind of give me a baseline render to see what I had to start with. I chose the black material preset for this:
Then I selected one of the Anagenesis options and gave it a whirl:
Not bad, but I read the pdf and some of the suggestions floating around from various conversations and upped the bump and made a few surface adjustments. Here is where reading the pdf and having taken @Esha's surface class came in handy because I now know what all of the surfaces do and I feel comfortable playing around with surfaces and making changes to get the look that I want.
Here is what my fiddling with surfaces has gotten me so far. I've mainly messed with the coat and the head so far. There are still some things with the coat that I need to work on and I need to play with the setting for the main and tail. I used UHT2 on them, but I need to work on the mane and tail some more. I really need to work on the hooves, too. I'm not sure they are looking what I would call healthy.
Still needs a lot of work.
I like this one the best, very sweet!
This looks really nice with the sun and the background and her face in the shadow but stil anough light. Just one thing, I am really confused about how those legs are posed, I have looked at it noe several times but I don't get them legs sorted, LOL
@Linwelly Ah, well, they are sort of parallel to each other. I have a new render with her going that shows the whole scene so you'll get a chance to see how the legs are positioned. :)
Great to hear that... I bought Filter Forge Pro v5.x + Library. Unfortunalaty I only tried a few times with no luck... need to read it's manual I guess. Very interested in it's seemless texture creation.
Perhaps KM can do a quick intro to using Filter Forge.
Knittingmommy mentioned typography in her post https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2340761/#Comment_2340761 on the previous page. Immediatly Typetool3 from Fontlab sprung to mind. I started the WGD used in my avatar a few decades ago on my Amiga and with Typetool3 I created an entire font with it's full character set. I've also designed other entire font sets and modified other fonts for use in renders.
Someone, may have been KM, mentioned NPR which there are a lot of WIPs in Carrara Challenge #32 They Only Come Out At Night - WIP Thread... might be of interest to them.
just dropping in and catching up, the renders are great and the info I'm learning here is amazing too!
Once Camp NaNo is done, I can try to do a Filter Forge tutorial. I really need to finish up the Gimp tutorials that I have partially done first. I was hoping to get those done while Camp NaNo was going on, but I haven't managed to do any work on those. There's only about a week left. I need to update my word count. I'm still behind, but I've managed to get up to about 16,000 words so far. I'm going to have to do a lot of writing this week to make my word counts.
Not really a new render. I was playing with other camera angles with my Rowan character. As I promised @Linwelly, here is a full shot that shows her complete pose. The only difference between this pose and the original is a slight change in the tilt of her head.
@Deathbycanon So glad that my little experiments have helped. I just try to put out all of the information that I wished had been around when I was bumbling through trying to figure out this whole 3D thing. There are still tons of things I need to learn. :)
No hurry KM... I need to do my own word count in reading the manual for FilterForge. :) Hmm... perhaps I'll google it and see what I come up with looking for a tutorial first.
LOL, thanks, now that makes sense to me, I guess I was thrown off by the placing of the net thingy on those jeans. Thankks for unhinging my mind ;)
Looking good, only small nitpicking, the floor is blurred, the shadow on the floor is sharp.
Hope that's her bike... woudn't want her to scratch mine.
I would tend to agree with you there, @Linwelly. I have to figure out how to fix things like that yet. I'm sure I might be able to once I figure out the canvas thing. For some reason, the shadows, in Iray, don't get affected by the DOF on the camera while the background does. I'm not sure why that is. There might be some setting that I'm missing. I don't know. The floor is part of the HDR setup from the pack I used. It's one reason why I chose the original angle that I did. I didn't like the final output of the shadows on the ground and I'm not crazy with how the kickstand looks where it connects to the ground either. I was hoping this experiment would yield something in the .exr files that I could use to fix those two areas. While I did manage to get .exr files, they weren't exactly what I was epecting. At least, I'm making progress! :) I'll get it figured out.
@wgdjohn Yeah, not exactly the best pose when it comes to keeping a bike pristine, but you have to admit, it does look good. ;)
I never had any problems DOFing the shadows in Iray so I'm guessing it's got something to do with using the HdR, and then probabyl some sort of shadow catcher? I wouldn't know as using the HDR is something I'm illiterate to ( I tried but it just really was not my sort or working). I could tell you how to do it in post, but I guess that is something you would already know.
@Knittingmommy
Drop the shadow intensity back in the environment settings.
I am so looking forward to you finishing the GIMP tutorials KM when you get the time and energy :D