Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 8
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I agree with @Deathbycannon - Terradome 3 is one of those additions that will really show you the limitations of your current system.
Widescreen CGI terrain is inherently tricky and prone to looking CGI. Bryce and Carrara suffer the same issue. But you can only do so many tight and portrait shots - and sometimes you want or see something a little more epic and grand in scale.
I'm not totally knocking Terradome. I'm just saying if you have a limited system - you need to know it isn't going to work exactly as advertised. I still get a lot of mileage out of it.
I took the course live. It had a lot of information that I found useful. We didn't delve too much into using the Shader Mixer. Most of the course was about all of the things you could do to create shader presets without going into Shader Mixer. You can do about 90% of what you want by changing all of your surfaces right there in the surface tab. I can tell you that after the course, I was able to take all of the information I learned and go into the Shader Mixer and play around and I could follow each of the paths and know exactly what they were doing. While it talks about Shaders and Shader Presets, the course focuses on creating your own Preset which is the bulk of what you use while changing textures. You would make a whole new Shader if you were doing something like creating a Shader like the new Iray Toon Shader that came out recently.
I found it helpful and packed with information. I learned a lot and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn how to create their own shader presets and what each of the surface parameters do in Iray. I don't know what you are hoping to learn from it, though, so I can't give you any other specifics. Ask questions and I can answer them.
Good to know leaping into that diagram can be made easier due to alternate approaches. (Thank goodness!) I would ask anyone with questions to please PM her or visit her thread (chocked full of goodies!) I honestly don't want to start question and answer sessions for tutorials here, the format on this thread is they start from the very beginning and go step by step, and are consolidated into sequential posts for easy referencing. It keeps the focus on the product showcasing, which is the main purpose of the threads since 2012.
That topic probably deserves it's own thread (if there isn't one already.)
OK thanks. Basically I just want to know what everything in the IRay surface panel DOES and how to tweak it as needed, which is something, once again I think Daz should supply for free as part of a manual to use their own software considering the fact that their products now can only be used in DS and it's not like we can use their newer products in other programs....
It looks very useful and I definitely want it, but it just annoys me that I would have to pay so much for something that Daz should supply their own documentation for. I'm more interested in just learning how to correctly use and alter the shaders I already have than creating my own. The price is high for me, even on sale, so I have to decide whether to get it or continually bombard the forums with "What does this do? What does that do? How do I do this?" It still really annoys me that Daz expects you to spend what could be thousands of dollars on tutorials when, unlike any other software, you HAVE to use their software in order to use their products. OK, rant over...
I think that's quite a valid rant.
FW Hillary HD (Gen3F) Twilight Hair (Gen3F) Summer Maxi Dress (Gen3F) Sophia Heels (Gen3F) 9 to 5 Dress Outfit (necklace)
One thing to note- the Summer Maxi Dress has a dress under that lacy outer one, you can make it a different color and get some very nice options. One thing I did not find is how to lengthen the dress, maybe I just overlooked it (but I tried for several minutes.) I wanted to show you the Sophia Heels and the full length of the dress, so just ignore that the dress should come down longer. The 9 to 5 Dress Outfit has a really cute necklace and you can change up the stones. Good for business and elegant outings.
Hillary is a ruddy character, she'll look very red if your lighting isn't cooler. This was with neutral so the ruddy shows. I did lower the saturation a tad in postwork, otherwise she'd be much redder. Love her hint of dimples! We discussed this years ago, vendors, we want dimple options!!!!
TIP: for the Twilight Hair, to shrink that massive mound on her head, it's the Tail Into Waterfall morph option. This was at 77%, you'll need to crank it up.
That's a good point as I wouldn't want to take this thread thread off topic. Anyone with questions about my impressions of the course can PM me or ask in my thread. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Yeah, I do wish there was more and better documentation. There is a fount of good advice about Iray on @Sickleyield's DA page and I highly suggest anyone who hasn't found her on DeviantArt to go straight there and read what she has to say about Iray. She has a very useful Journal post on exactly what each of the Iray surface parameters means here. Not enough detail to create your own shader presets, but enough info to play around with your surfaces to see what each one does. I have that bookmarked for easy reference.
Price is definitely a consideration and those courses are a little steep but you do get a lot of info. As with anything, wait until a really good sale and see if you can get it cheaper. And, once it isn't new anymore, you can always use your PA coupon if you are a PC member. So, a good sale and the coupon could potentially bring the price down to one you are willing pay.
I have FW Hillary HD in my wishlist. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to get her or not but her morphs intrigue me. It's amazing how different she looks with a different hairstyle and color. Her whole face just looks softer and more approachable than in her original promos. I like the soft lights and colors you used. :)
FW Hillary HD (Gen3F) Dax Hair (Gen3 M / F) UHT Hair Shaders for Iray
Dax Hair is a cute, short hairstyle for both men and women. I spent a couple hours experimenting with hair last night after reading the hair and skin Iray thread. First, if you don't have UHT (for short) you can choose the transparency and shine options, so you get a range. I showed you the high shine, which for water scenes, helps give you that glossy, wet look. I am assuming the medium shine and regular shine will also change some of the settings that I tweaked on my own.
TIP: for Dax Hair, turn off the limits (click on the cog in the Parameters morph slider, then turn off the limits) for the right and left ear so you can go NEGATIVE and increase the fluffiness on the sides. Otherwise, it's very flat.
What I did: I applied the UHT, then tweaked it using suggestions from the hair thread. Some of those included:
*increasing the Cutout Opacity to 1.25 to 1.50
*the translucency color may be default white, change it to a lighter color of the hair, same for the weight and put that at .5 (or use black to get more shadows)
*turn up the bump, if it doesn't have SubD, add it and use 2. TIP: Edit>Object>Geometry>Convert To Subd
*in a graphics program, increase the contrast on the base bump map.
*use Scatter and Transmit
*up the horizontal tiling to 2
*the higher the Top Coat Weight, the more is reflected back. Higher is shinier.
*try a wax shader for SSS to get backlight scattering, reduces the painted look. (I haven't tried this. Anyone?)
*use two of the hair, load one almost as a ghost, to increase thickness of thin hair products.
*turn up SSS and translucency and give it a neutral color (white, gray)
So here's the original (they didn't have a color close to the one I wanted to play with), Slosh's high shine (wet look) and mine. Keep in mind I started with Slosh's and tweaked from there. I would increase the highlights more (turn up reflectivity and tweak a few more dials) but I think it has a nice amount of oil in the hair, as compared to the materials that come with the hair. That one IMO seems ultra dry.
Original
UHT High Shine
My Experiment
Do note on our right side, the side of her hair right by her face. If you unclick the parameter limits, you'd have to do a bit of postwork (depending on your camera angle) for that line which is created. I didn't want to do any postwork as I might change the look of what I was trying to show you.)
Checking my notes on that hair: (not listing everything, in fairness to the vendor) which may give you a good starting point to tweak yours. Mine needs more work but I like it so far.
increased the Cutout Opacity (1.50) Translucency Weight .65
Translucency Color of 165 / 149 / 117 which is a light golden tan
Glossy Layered Weight .52
Upped the Base Bump to 15
The Base Thin Film IOR was increased to 2.48
Top Coat Thin Film 62.21
Top Coat Anisotrophy increased to .75
Top Coat Bump increased to 3.0
SSS Amount increased to .79
Reflectivity 1.22 (not much increase, I would raise this)
I'm not sure, but I think the Base Thin Film IOR and Top Coat Anisotrophy helped eliminate the ultra glossy, almost oily look. Need some experts to explain those two so far as how they relate to hair?
Thanks! I use the same lighting for most of the portraits so you folks don't get apples and oranges to compare. That set has about 20 options so you do get a variety, I just don't want to suddenly go Sun on you when I've been doing Indoor. I use Colm Jackson's Pro-Studio HDR Lighting System
BTW, speaking of wishlists. Today and for the rest of March Madness, get your wishes in on characters for which you'd like quickie renders with the lighting I'm using. Most portraits take 8-20 minutes with my computer, so if there's anyone you want to see during MM, nows the time. Other folks may render them for you too. I am still doing weight mapping, so am only doing portraits- but now's a great time to ask away before MM ends! I just got Hillary and Rane, will see who else I have that is new (to me.)
Found more new ones. Next up is LY Cayenne, Theo (Gen3M), FW Raymond HD (M7) Check back!
I'd really love to see LY Cayenne. She's been on my wishlist for a while. I have Theo and need to render him. I didn't get the Hip Hop bundle, so I forgot about Raymond. Would love to see him too.
If you have her, can you please render FWSA Lexi HD for Rune 7 as a warrior, or in a sci-fi suit like SpartechOps? Thanks! Interested in seeing if she passes the "I'm beautiful but also a badass" figure.
Ah, yeah, another thing on my wishlist. I like the lighting setup so that's nice. If you haven't already done a review, can do a couple of different presets on the lighting for one of your portraits? I would appreciate it. It can wait until after MM, though, because I don't think Colm had anything in MM so it won't be on sale this month unless he releases something in the next few days. If you've already done a review that I missed, I'd appreciate a link to the post. Thanks!
I'm doing Lexi for you now.
Thank you Sonja!
Not to detract you from Lexi. It hink FW Brooke HD https://www.daz3d.com/fw-brooke-hd-for-victoria-7 looks a lot a like. Although for Victoria would look great. I have FW Scarlett because of the high cheek bones.
Thanks and no worries, @cismic! Always looking for suggestions. Scarlett looks a bit too much like V7 (prefer not spending money on something so similar to the base figure), whereas Lexi and Brooke are quite different from V7. Thanks!
I agree on scarlett still like the high cheek bones. :-) And, until I get better and model creation. Keep adding a few for leaning and different renders. Value add. If I see something with value added in addition to moderl that also helps buying decisions.
LY Cayenne X-Fashion Chic Winter Outfit (Gen3F)
First, I like that the purse loads in her hand. (Not shown) Convenient! Second, Cayenne comes with two bodies, you really get your money's worth.
This one, let me focus on the outfit. Will then focus on the lighting and the character.
One surprise with the Chic Winter Outfit- NO SHOES! I didn't notice that from the promos, it's not a big deal as I have other shoes, but I am spoiled and expect shoes when buying full outfits. It is clearly stated by the vendor. (But shame on them for not listing the shoes in the promo credits. They listed the other products!) To me, this isn't a Winter Outfit, I can see Spring usage, etc. Or even in the summer for those really annoying Crank-Up-The-Air-Conditioner-So-Customers-Leave-The-Dining-Area-Faster. (Yes, fast food restaurants do that on purpose. There was actually a thesis study done on it. But I digress.) She's wearing Force Hair.
So for shoes, try Vacation Style Set (Gen3F) shoes, there's different color options too.
If you have trouble with a pose and pokethrough- the morphs on this outfit are limited. In one pose set I tested, (Dance of the Butterflies, Standing Pose 1) there was pokethrough on the coat from the pants, and NO expand sides to help me with that. You can shorten the coat to get past the pokethrough area- but what annoyed me was that pose wasn't an extreme one at all. There's no upper arm morphs either.
However, for most of the poses (99%) that I tested, the outfit was very fluid. Notice the one with her arms overhead- no pokethrough, no tweaking. I tested a kneeling Dance of the Butterflies, and that was fluid too. I think the Standing Pose 1 is the problem- I know it is for this outfit and yet other more extreme poses are fine.
In these lights, she, too, is ruddy. Will be showing you more options.
The What The Heck Mesh
Lexi for Rune 7. I'm sorry I couldn't let it render long enough to get all the grain out of her skin but I'm leaving for a concert in about 15 minutes and won't be back til late.
This is perfect! Thank you Sonja.
Okay, now for the lighting. Let me show you what this sucker can do! Normally, I do the "you can see it best this way" options, so let me give you a variety. Let's go dramatic with Cayenne. Ignore the fact she's not leaning over something, I was testing the pose for stretching of the jacket (there wasn't any) and I liked the way the light worked out so thought I'd share this one. These are still the Butterfly poses.
And FYI- this light product renders very quickly on my computer. VERY. Love it. Five minutes or less for these, with character, hair, outfit.
TIP: Nice backdrop materials- Decorator Kit Neutral for Iray- I used the KDN Plush 04 which was a light gray, then darkened it. (It's carpet.) The lights were blue and changed the colors of everything. I did not do a thing except click the preset (It was either 10 or 15 I think. But trust me, all you do is click!)
You can raise the ISO to get lighter renders, or in postwork, increase brightness, raise the number on shadows so they're not so intense, same with midtones. (I love Corel Photo Paint. I rarely use Photoshop, but I'll have to start doing that.)
I'm changing up the hair and lighting, back with more in a few.
TIP: Get in the habit of setting your film ISO first, because that moves the Exposure Value slider. If you start tweaking the Exposure Value, that does NOT move the ISO slider. It moves the Shutter Speed!
Pro-Studio HDR Lighting System Diesel Hair (Gen3 M/F)
I'm finding with Cayenne that she is showing up quite ruddy in many of the light presets, where other characters did not. You can easily see the effects the lights have on her, from green to very red. With each character, you will get a good feel which lights to use as I think the the thumbnails for the Pro-Studio are excellent. They show the tint/hue being applied, as well as the directional lighting.
With Cayenne, her extended width mouth will need some special consideration for expressions. I do find the mouth moves easily and there's no puckering, always a good thing.
Showing you (without moving her) ALL of the left lighting options. (15 total. And 15 right ones to match.) I stuck to one side so you can more easily compare them. It's the same from the other side, but depending on how your character is facing, it can be dramatically different. I did not tweak the settings, which I definitely do for each portrait because the lights are so different. So you are getting apples and apples.
Now, the important thing is to rotate your character using Y Rotate, which will change the lighting immediately. I try not to put the cutoff straight down the nose between light and dark, it's more interesting with a 3/4 turn.
Again, keep in mind she is quite ruddy/red IMO.
And the second batch. Now, on to other characters.
Oh ladies. Wait till you see Theo. I LOOOOVE a man in uniform.
This scenes is at 91 percent at 5 minutes 46 seconds. I wanted to show you that light set, used in an environment. This is just load and go, and renders fast. 97% at 6 and a half minutes. The set was FULLY LOADED. 100% at 8 minutes, 3 seconds. The render is 1100 pixels too!
Mayan Ruins Theo (Gen3M) Army Uniform (Gen2/3 Males) Simple Short Haircut (Gen3M)
Well, what's the deal with the lines around the irises in the eyes? EDIT: I just put in a ticket for a return, I have so many products that it's not worth my money to keep mistakes.
Click to enlarge and look at the eyes. What gives?
Regarding the lines, sometimes a texture is visible and you have to adjust the shape of the eye iris or cornea to make those go away. It is an annoyance I agree.
Cayennes eyebrows look good. Texture is a bit matte and flat-looking though.