Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 9

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Comments

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247

    Sorry I didn't get a top 5 done this month. I was out of town for a week with only my phone to surf with.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651

    The winning number is 26 thanks.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

     

    barbult said:

    Sorry I didn't get a top 5 done this month. I was out of town for a week with only my phone to surf with.

    Although it's over for the drawing, if you'd like to post your top picks, I'd be happy to include them. You always do a great job looking at the products, not to mention your renders are gorgeous.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Oh hey, congrats to L'Adair! You have the winning number. Thanks as usual, SereneNight, for drawing a number for us. I will PM the winner with the gift card code in a few minutes. Congrats!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Okay, Rich is really pulling my chain. Love it.

    FIrst, I did this.

    Then, he did this.

    My turn. Game on dude. You asked for it.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247
    Novica said:

     

    barbult said:

    Sorry I didn't get a top 5 done this month. I was out of town for a week with only my phone to surf with.

    Although it's over for the drawing, if you'd like to post your top picks, I'd be happy to include them. You always do a great job looking at the products, not to mention your renders are gorgeous.

    OK, will do.

  • BlueIreneBlueIrene Posts: 1,318

    If it's true that DS users who read the forums are in the minority, then there will be plenty who haven't heard the rumours of G8M's imminent arrival. Maybe the Daz plan is to get as many spendy people as possible blowing their usual monthly budget in full on 'unmissable' sales, only to have them all scraping another large lump of extra cash together shortly afterwards in the rush to own an unexpected Big New And Shiney Thing.

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    The winning number is 26 thanks.

    Woo hoo! That was unexpected.

    Novica said:

    Oh hey, congrats to L'Adair! You have the winning number. Thanks as usual, SereneNight, for drawing a number for us. I will PM the winner with the gift card code in a few minutes. Congrats!

    Thank you. I promise to spend it all in one place! laugh (And relatively soon, too. I haven't yet checked out with my latest haul of cheap DOs...)

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247
    edited August 2017

    Better late than never?

    barbult's Top 4 for July

    1. Benita for Victoria 8     Render 1  Render 2 mixed with other morphs    Render 3 mixed with other morphs
    2. Voss Hair for G3F and G8F   Render 1
    3. Morpheus   Render 1    These morphs were also ported to G3F and mixed with Toon Generation 2 Render 2 as used in RRRR
    4. MA-1 Flight Jacket for G3F      Render 1   Render 2 in both renders, the jacket is autofit to G8F
       
    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247
    edited August 2017

    Somebody was asking about Iray Canvases a few pages back. For one thing, canvases with a matte primitive allow you to hide geometry behind parts of an HDRI. In this image, the tree is part of the HDRI, but the character looks like she is behind that part of the HDRI. I learned this trick from Mec4D. She has videos about how to do it and it has been discussed in her Mec4D thread in the forum. It is a little more work than just a simple Iray render.

    G3F 200 Plus Natalie Haven skin Talisken Hair Mec4D Norman Castle behnid tree bright-Canvas1-Beauty.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247
    edited August 2017

    Here is an example where an Iray Canvas allowed me to adjust the lighting in Photoshop after rendering. It is not necessary to fiddle with lighting adjustments over and over with test renders when using a 32 bit canvas render. Notice how much better the too-bright and too-dark parts of the non-canvas render have been inproved.

    Without Canvas

    With Canvas and Photoshop adjustment of 32 bit canvas

     

    Pickup under Mec4D bridge_002.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 1M
    Pickup under Mec4D bridge_002-Canvas1-Beauty HDR processing.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,834
    barbult said:

    Somebody was asking about Iray Canvases a few pages back. For one thing, canvases with a matte primitive allow you to hide geometry behind parts of an HDRI. In this image, the tree is part of the HDRI, but the character looks like she is behind that part of the HDRI. I learned this trick from Mec4D. She has videos about how to do it and it has been discussed in her Mec4D thread in the forum. It is a little more work than just a simple Iray render.

    barbult said:

    Here is an example where an Iray Canvas allowed me to adjust the lighting in Photoshop after rendering. It is not necessary to fiddle with lighting adjustments over and over with test renders when using a 32 bit canvas render. Notice how much better the too-bright and too-dark parts of the non-canvas render have been inproved.

    Very interesting! I think I need to learn more. Thanks for sharing Barbult.

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    Barbult, I'm struggling to understand canvases and how to utilize them in Photoshop. Any links to more info is greatly appreciated. So far what I've tried has ended up looking really bad. But I'll keep trying! 

  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    I have a lot of trouble with canvases too. Getting them to look good always seems like more trouble than it's worth compared to just tweaking a normal render.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247

    There is quit a bit of information on canvases in the Mec4D thread and on her YouTube channel. I have mostly experimented with 32 bit beauty canvases in scenes with HDRIs. I haven't done much with separate light canvases. When I tried the separate light canvases many months ago, I had issues with translucent objects like hair making a halo.

  • That is pretty cool... although I think the bad exposure of the top canvas with the image with the truck actually looks more photorealistic... because it has real world imperfections. 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651

    Be careful of the Psi Medbay Poses. They are installing themselves inside the People>Genesis 3 folder. So are the Psi Cockpit poses. The psi Barracks installed location is also incorrect. It is installing itself in the "architexture" folder. These typos will make content hard to find. Yes I put in orders to fix them.

  • NathNath Posts: 2,808

    Be careful of the Psi Medbay Poses. They are installing themselves inside the People>Genesis 3 folder. So are the Psi Cockpit poses. The psi Barracks installed location is also incorrect. It is installing itself in the "architexture" folder. These typos will make content hard to find. Yes I put in orders to fix them.

    And that sort of thing is one of the reasons I install manually.

  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601
    L'Adair said:

    The winning number is 26 thanks.

    Woo hoo! That was unexpected.

    Novica said:

    Oh hey, congrats to L'Adair! You have the winning number. Thanks as usual, SereneNight, for drawing a number for us. I will PM the winner with the gift card code in a few minutes. Congrats!

    Thank you. I promise to spend it all in one place! laugh (And relatively soon, too. I haven't yet checked out with my latest haul of cheap DOs...)

    Congratulations L'Adair!

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    Congrats L'Adair! 

    Those kind of mistakes are why I still keep 4.8 on my laptop.  I load everything to the 4.8 version first then I load it to 4.9 version on the PC and follow the blue bars on the laptop lol.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247

    There's a flash sale on right now. Valzheimer is included. Be aware that the fabric shaders in the Fabric Factory product have emission turned on. I'm a big fan of the Valzheimer Wear Them All products, but you know I dislike products that turn on the emissive channel for fabric. Fabric does not give off light. This is just wrong for Iray, IMHO. I'll be submitting a help request.

  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,119
    barbult said:

    There's a flash sale on right now. Valzheimer is included. Be aware that the fabric shaders in the Fabric Factory product have emission turned on. I'm a big fan of the Valzheimer Wear Them All products, but you know I dislike products that turn on the emissive channel for fabric. Fabric does not give off light. This is just wrong for Iray, IMHO. I'll be submitting a help request.

    Not strictly true. If they have been washed they well emit some 'light'

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_brightener

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2017

    In case anyone is interested in what was used in my latest Half A Million Views contest render, (yes, RGcincy got a render reply)  here's some of the main items. The props come in handy for outdoor scenes.

    Surfs Up Poses for Michael 6  (surfboard)
    Gwenbleiz HD and Beard   (character only. Used different beard. He's very versatile, also comes with scars and looks quite formidable!)
    Cargo Shorts and Tee for Genesis 2 Male  
    Croquet Set
    Canoes   (for kayak)
    Movie Sets: Low Poly Block 01    (also 3,5, 8)
    Santa Beard for Genesis 3 Male(s) 
    Beach and Pool Fun   (floats, beach ball)
    Wizardly Staves  (used ceramic shaders)
    SY Swimwear for Genesis 2 Males  (has long version, and fits G3M easily)
    3D Universe Toon Crab
    Picnic Basket    (comes with a lot of stuff, including checkered blanket)
    Selma for Genesis 3 Females  wearing Olenna Hair (Gen3F)   and Impulse Suit
    Shayla from Renderosity wearing Christina Hair and Nathy Swimsuit

    Here's Rich's list:   (you can see why he and I are finishing this up- it's a lot of work to do these scenes!) 
    Dale for Genesis 3 Males
    Adam Hair for Genesis 3 Males
    Anastasia From Russia for Rune 7
    Friday Hair for Genesis 3 Females
    One Piece Bathing Suit for Genesis 3 Females
    Western Saddle for DAZ Horse 2
    Collective3D Baseball Field (bat and ball)
    Outdoor Fun Set (lawn dart)
    Outdoor Fun Tossing Games (cornhole board)
    Squash Court (racket)
    Kimberly for Genesis Assessories (surfboard)
    Bodyboard (inactive)
    BMX Bike
    Summertime Grill
    Easter Accessories (basket)
    Public Indoor Pool (lifesaver)
    Poolside (innertube)
    Beyond the Sea (beach ball)
    By the Seaside Promenade and Props (sand bucket)
    The Gardeners Potting Shed Tools (hand trowel)
    Everyday Morphing Primitives (plane with plaid shader added)
    Everyday Drinks (champagne bottle)
    Everyday Food (plates)
    i13 Sandwiches (panini and turkey wrap)
    Coffee Shop (donuts)
    Movie sets were 7 & 9

     

     

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247
    edited August 2017
    Fishtales said:
    barbult said:

    There's a flash sale on right now. Valzheimer is included. Be aware that the fabric shaders in the Fabric Factory product have emission turned on. I'm a big fan of the Valzheimer Wear Them All products, but you know I dislike products that turn on the emissive channel for fabric. Fabric does not give off light. This is just wrong for Iray, IMHO. I'll be submitting a help request.

    Not strictly true. If they have been washed they well emit some 'light'

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_brightener

    Hmmm. I still don't like having to deal with rendering extra emission in Iray.
    Post edited by barbult on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2017

    Tip: Putting clothes on animals/objects that aren't formatted to wear them, aka, how to put pants on a crab!

    1. Put the pants on a character such as G3M.

    2. Put him in the same pose as the legs of the figure, let's say the crab.

    3. Shrink the man down using scale, then go specifically to each leg and scale that down until they fit the crab.

    4. Select the G3M in Scene and also with the Surface Tool, then go to Surfaces and use Cutout Opacity and take it down to zero to make him disappear. Now your crab is wearing the pants because the dude is hidden. IF YOU WANT TO FINE TUNE:

    5. Then in Scene, select the item of clothing. Use your Geometry Editor and select the mesh of anything you want hidden (aka, in this case, most of the shorts in back, so that only the crotch, thighs, and legs show.) 

    6. Make it a separate material zone (right click out in the viewport and Create Surface From Selected)  Name it.

    7. It now appears in Surfaces pane under your item (like the cargo shorts, which you had selected in Scene when you created the zone)

    8. Use Cutout Opacity and make that unwanted material zone disappear.

    Ta-duh. 

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • sueyasueya Posts: 832
    edited August 2017

    This is the result of trying to fit the Fedora from Iconic outfit for genesis 3 males on a different figure I found that i had to fit the hat to the hair rather than the figure.

    I used  Velvety print shaders on the dress. The tiling isn't perfect at the front of the dress.

     

    Classicdress.jpg
    673 x 886 - 62K
    Post edited by sueya on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Love the background you used with that too! It's a very pretty pattern on the dress- nice and vibrant.

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited August 2017

    Well, if I couldn't have G8M this week, I was going to pick up a male character anyhow and Lukas was too hot to resist. Holy guacamole, what a beautiful man, in the most classic sense of male beauty. Gorgeous! Rendering now, will post soon. 

    Post edited by Llynara on
  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    Yeah, I really want Lukas myself but I'm already way more than halfway through my monthly budget. But he's SO PRETTY. I guess I have a couple of weeks to decide before he goes off launch sale.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2017

    Well, here's another really neat dude. I put him in the gallery too, so if you like it, please consider doing that over in the gallery-  then when people are shopping, it will come up as one of the examples and show people a neat character.

    He's the wizard from my poke at Rich, say hellow to Gwenbleiz!   Wearing Adrian Hair.

    This is done with the Mitchell Filter, took 3 hours and 7924 iterations. The rendering converged ratio was 99.9% and rendering quality was 3.24 Tweaked all the filters for awhile until I liked the results, I do like having the noise filter on.

    Click to enlarge and click again, to really see the detail.

     

     

    gwenbleizSIG.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
This discussion has been closed.