October 2017 - DAZ 3D New User Challenge: Atmosphere

daybird

HighElf said:

Just a very first attemp. I've seen an episode of "My little Pony" today (Dragonshy) and got this idea. ;)

It's my first time using such effect planes. 

"Dragon not so shy"

​

Cool start. 

I can't see exactly if the dragon is in a cave or in a city, because the background is so dark.

The fireplanes gives the scene a great atmosphere as if the dragon have set his surounding on fire. Only the edges of the smoke are a little harsh, but I think you can fix that with Photoshop,Gimp ect.

The small Ground in the front is a little distracting. Until now I see no reason why you should put him in the scene, but maybe you have a idea in your mind and so I will wait for your next update.

Btw. It would be a nice touch to let the dragon breath fire. So the scene gets more light and even more DRAGONPOWER.

 

MilosGulan

Here is my try :)

 

sueya

I have taken your feedback into account and hopefully improved the pose of the girl to make her look more natural. I have also brought the camera closer to the subject.

Shinji Ikari 9th

sueya said:

I have taken your feedback into account and hopefully improved the pose of the girl to make her look more natural. I have also brought the camera closer to the subject.

I was just looking at this and my mind keeps telling me that there should be something coming up behind her out of the shadows. Maybe it's just the time of year causing that who knows, but anyhow looking good so far.

daybird

MilosGulan said:

Here is my try :)

 

Hi Milos,

For a short moment I thought his riding animal has headphones.(somehow I still find this idea funny. *gg*)

I'm not sure if the man offers, us viewer, as meal for his lizard. *gulp* 

I think you should add some shadows to ground the two protagonists. Gogo I wait for the next update. :)

daybird

sueya said:

I have taken your feedback into account and hopefully improved the pose of the girl to make her look more natural. I have also brought the camera closer to the subject.

First of all, don't feel the urge, to do all I said.. I'm also a beginner and not all I said will be right. I only write, what I see or think about a entry. 

I find, now she is the middlepoint in the picture.

The pose looks much better and I can feel the cold, nasty autumn  wind.

She looks sad and I think she is here to reflect her life or what ever happened to her. Maybe you can add someting  ( letter, flower, or, or, or) to tell us a little bit more about her and her story.

daybird

I feel a little guilty to spam this thread and nerve all the people here with my comments.
So I think it's time to keep my mouth for a while.

Here is my latest attempt. I changed the perspective somewhat and even this picture is already out of date, because I render my next attempt.

Kismet2012

daybird said:

I feel a little guilty to spam this thread and nerve all the people here with my comments.
So I think it's time to keep my mouth for a while.

Here is my latest attempt. I changed the perspective somewhat and even this picture is already out of date, because I render my next attempt.

I like this perspective daybird.  Does her hair have any morphs?  It should be falling away from her head.

Looking forward to seeing the next version.

Just a thought.  Do not feel compelled to do anything about it but I can image a face looking down at her from the girders above.  But maybe that is too obvious.

Kismet2012

daybird said:

sueya said:

I have taken your feedback into account and hopefully improved the pose of the girl to make her look more natural. I have also brought the camera closer to the subject.

First of all, don't feel the urge, to do all I said.. I'm also a beginner and not all I said will be right. I only write, what I see or think about a entry. 

I find, now she is the middlepoint in the picture.

The pose looks much better and I can feel the cold, nasty autumn  wind.

She looks sad and I think she is here to reflect her life or what ever happened to her. Maybe you can add someting  ( letter, flower, or, or, or) to tell us a little bit more about her and her story.

You have done a very nice job here sueya.  If you can, try to lower her shoulders a bit if you are going for a sad, despondent posture.

Kismet2012

MilosGulan said:

Here is my try :)

 

His left should and arm placement is a little awkward.  The arm looks like it needs to be lifted away from the body a bit.  Posing shoulders is not easy.  I can spend hours trying to get it just right.  Sometimes it is a matter of small adjustments to forward, bend and twist settings. 

Kismet2012

HighElf said:

Just a very first attemp. I've seen an episode of "My little Pony" today (Dragonshy) and got this idea. ;)

It's my first time using such effect planes. 

"Dragon not so shy"

​

A really nice start here HighElf.  Is he showing off for someone?

Kismet2012

daybird said:

Got it!

I nearly erased completely my first concept and tried something different. Yes, until now it looks very rudimental, but now, I have a pleasant basis to create my scene. :)

 

Man in Black said:

Mr pumpkin looks awesome!

Light and atmosphere are great, but one thing is a little distracting. There is a area right of Mr. pumpkin, who is blurry, but this area lies between two sharper zones.

Good eye daybird.

Kismet2012

Man in Black said:

Hello,
I love this mean Mr. Pumpkin. I worked to make him pop out a little by adjusting the depth of field. I created this image in multiple layers, which I then recombined in Photoshop. I think it turned out pretty good, I used a blur on the background elements, which seemed to have the right effect. let me know what you think, people. Oh, and Happy Halloween.

This is a nice start.  Mr. Pumpkin definitely stands out.  Did you render and compile in layers because your computer cannot handle the entire scene in one go?

Kismet2012

Chameo said:

This challenge has been quite a journey of learning and experimentation for me. For background - there's a spot on my morning commute with one of the loveliest, most haunting views I've ever seen. The train passes by an open expanse of water with an apartment complex visible in the distance behind it. There are a dozen or so dead, blackened trees rising up out of the water - killed as seawater gradually salinated the water surrounding them. In the early spring and early autumn, tendrils and billows of mist rise up off the water, almost obscuring the buildings in the distance. I started out wanting to capture that eeriness, and my scene gradually shaped itself from there. Along the way, I experimented with techniques from the tutorials listed above and others I found - dug deeper into DOF, created my own fog, water and earth planes, messed with shader settings I've never touched before (and learned a lot about how to get the effects I want with them), and played with D-formers and instances for the first time ever.

I started with this, using a primitive plane for the water surface and a volume plane with an Uber iRay surface for the fog, and sun and sky only lighting.

In this, I added an HDRI sky to the background and played with the environment settings a bit, tried to shift the planes around a bit to get the separations right.

I decided to add a ghostly figure in a canoe and a distant spotlight high in the sky, and tried to tone down the orange a bit...

Played with D-formers to curve the water's edge and add some elevation to the land behind the pond - and played with the water shaders to change the color of the water. Also, found myself battling an annoying problem - the trees are from the Nature's Variance shaders set, and they use opacity settings to hide the leaves... but the shadows of the leaves kept showing up against the water and fog planes.

After this, I started playing with bloom settings and a few other things, and so botched the scene that I shut it down, opened a new blank scene and started fresh, using everything I'd learned to come up with this:

This one uses primitive planes shaped with D-formers for the water and land, a volume cube to soften all the lighting, a smoke plane from SickleYields rigged smoke set for the fog with base color and opacity adjusted, and fairy lights created from IDG iRay FX - Ribbons and Sprites (yes, I overdid it with those. Some of them are going away in the next render.)

I want to soften the shadows of the two figures, and blur the edge where the fog ends, plus, I think, add some plumes of mist coming up off the water where it's darker and not misty at all. Any other suggestions welcome, too - I'm really enjoying this one.

I really like the starkness in the 2nd image and the story being told in the final image.

 

There does seem to be a discrepancy with the fog effect on the right and left side of the canoist in the final image with the fairy.  You have some really nice fog tha appears to be rising from the water around the fairy.  On the other side the fog has a hard edge and seems to stop at the water's edge.

Kismet2012

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

Here's version c, I ment to post it after I got home from work yesterday.

This camera angle really works.

Chameo

daybird said:

I feel a little guilty to spam this thread and nerve all the people here with my comments.
So I think it's time to keep my mouth for a while.

Here is my latest attempt. I changed the perspective somewhat and even this picture is already out of date, because I render my next attempt.

Please don't feel guilty - you've got a good eye, and your comments help me sharpen my eye. I've learned as much from reading your suggestions to other people as from your comments on my pieces.

I also like the perspective on this one a lot. I don't know if it's deliberate, but the clouds just above the broken section look very, very much likeFalkor,  the luck dragon from The Never-Ending Story.

Can you see it?

Chameo

Kismet2012 said:

MilosGulan said:

Here is my try :)

 

His left should and arm placement is a little awkward.  The arm looks like it needs to be lifted away from the body a bit.  Posing shoulders is not easy.  I can spend hours trying to get it just right.  Sometimes it is a matter of small adjustments to forward, bend and twist settings. 

Really nice job blending the foreground grass into the background heading back into the horizon. Getting arm angles right is the bane of my existence. I sometimes find it helps to select the hand, grab a handle with my mouse and sloooowly drag the hand to where I think it should be. That lets me watch the changes in other parts of the arm and core. Sometimes it's perfect - most of the time, I undo the change, then start at the collar and work my way down the arm making tiny changes. It's finicky work, but it makes a huge difference in the overall pose.

The little dragon also seems to be hovering just on the surface of the grass. Unbending that front foot a little and bending the toes so the claws sink a little into the grass would probably make it look a lot more real. Nice work so far!

HighElf

Kismet2012 said:

HighElf said:

A really nice start here HighElf.  Is he showing off for someone?

I've not decided yet, if I will show the whole Situation, I have in mind. But yeah, it is meant as some kind of introduction. To the viewer as well as to the characters in the world I've created for this contests. Yes, I've created a whole world, I call it the contestiverse. XD I know it's dumb, but I'm a GM after all.

daybird

Chameo said:

 

I also like the perspective on this one a lot. I don't know if it's deliberate, but the clouds just above the broken section look very, very much likeFalkor,  the luck dragon from The Never-Ending Story.

Can you see it?

Lol, yes I can, but that was never intended. Now that you show me that I always have seen the luck sky dragon in each render. 

 

Kismet2012 said:

I like this perspective daybird.  Does her hair have any morphs?  It should be falling away from her head.

I have changed the camera angle again, also the hair and still work on the scene.

I'm not really pleased with the sky and the atmosphere, because I want it look more gloomy. But it's quite a while until the month ends. Still time enough to work on the setting.

MilosGulan

Ok here is what I have done. I don't know why ground doesn't show shadow. I tried everything, I have distant light with shadow turned on and it works on character but not on the ground. I have used this:

https://www.daz3d.com/gis-terminal-lights

https://www.daz3d.com/ground-shaders-for-daz-studio

and I tried turning lights and skydome off but it seems it is not the problem it might be in textures but I am not sure and don't know how to fix it.

 

 

oni_kataki_9d8f9d5784

Here is one I did.

 

daybird

Hello oni (hope it's ok, to shorten your username.)

That's an impressive entry. I like the whole composition. Especially the dragon and his armor looks fantastic.

There are only minor things that I would try change. 

First.) Is her sword clipping in the stone, or is that only a reflection?

Second.) The pose of the hand who is holding the sword seems not fit exactly.

Third.) Reduce the light a little to give the Godrays even a greater impact. ( I know, God Rays are a pain in the ass. Until now I have not found a setting that really pleased me.)

Fourth.) Increase the rendertime and make the whole picture bigger, because you did an amazing job and I would use the picture as Background on my PC ;)

Ok, this criticism reads a little ankward. Because this entry is far above my skills and looks much better than all what I have created until now. How I said in the beginning, this is a little great work.

 

Linwelly

MilosGulan said:

Ok here is what I have done. I don't know why ground doesn't show shadow. I tried everything, I have distant light with shadow turned on and it works on character but not on the ground. I have used this:

https://www.daz3d.com/gis-terminal-lights

https://www.daz3d.com/ground-shaders-for-daz-studio

and I tried turning lights and skydome off but it seems it is not the problem it might be in textures but I am not sure and don't know how to fix it.

 

 

Milos are you using Iray or 3dl for rendering. It looks like you used Iray with an HDRI environment but didn't put the "render ground " to on

Linwelly

daybird said:

Chameo said:

 

I also like the perspective on this one a lot. I don't know if it's deliberate, but the clouds just above the broken section look very, very much likeFalkor,  the luck dragon from The Never-Ending Story.

Can you see it?

Lol, yes I can, but that was never intended. Now that you show me that I always have seen the luck sky dragon in each render. 

 

Kismet2012 said:

I like this perspective daybird.  Does her hair have any morphs?  It should be falling away from her head.

I have changed the camera angle again, also the hair and still work on the scene.

I'm not really pleased with the sky and the atmosphere, because I want it look more gloomy. But it's quite a while until the month ends. Still time enough to work on the setting.

This perspctive is even better :D

Now for atmosphere the two pillars reaching into the ska should be showning some of that. One thing I think would be nice would be godrays around one of the pillars

Linwelly

oni_kataki_9d8f9d5784 said:

Here is one I did.

 

This is very well done, nice attention to detail, the godrays are looking good, still it leaves me a bit confused with out me being able to put the finger to it. For one I belive her pose it a bit off balance and not as relaxed as I would expect in her situation. Besides that I feel a bit overwhelmes with all the things that are asking my attention. This is more o composition thing, You have used the golden spots very nice but the leading lines don't lead me though the image. I hope that meks sense? I have to say that this mainly comes to attention because the rest of the render is work very good.

ricswika

I hope this shows up, it looks good on my monitor. Night scenes are so hard to judge. Someone please let me know if it appers too light or dark for night. The only thing I might do is add some rim lighting off to one side for a bit more definition.

Title: Rat Monster

Made With: Daz Studio, Iray - No Postwork

Uses: Creepy Forest, 3 Raven Place, Monster Rat, Millinium Cat, Super Bat, Grave Yard, Atmocam

 

.

jenniferhughey

ricswika said:

I hope this shows up, it looks good on my monitor. Night scenes are so hard to judge. Someone please let me know if it appers too light or dark for night. The only thing I might do is add some rim lighting off to one side for a bit more definition.

Title: Rat Monster

Made With: Daz Studio, Iray - No Postwork

Uses: Creepy Forest, 3 Raven Place, Monster Rat, Millinium Cat, Super Bat, Grave Yard, Atmocam

 

.

Looks great on my monitor! Love the colors and the fog..maybe add some around the rat? He sticks out by being more sharp than the other figures/structures. Unless that is the idea? Love the fog. Is that a prop?

jenniferhughey

daybird said:

I'm not really pleased with the sky and the atmosphere, because I want it look more gloomy. But it's quite a while until the month ends. Still time enough to work on the setting.

I really like the perspective on this, and her hair falling away looks great. I do agree with you that the sky could be a little more gloomy, and as someone else said, maybe light or godrays coming down on her?

jenniferhughey

MilosGulan said:

Here is my try :)

 

I know shadows were mentioned, that would help a lot. I might add some foliage? Grass or shrubs, trees to break it up a bit? I like the little dragons expression, he looks very amused despite the saddle :-)

Chameo

oni_kataki_9d8f9d5784 said:

Here is one I did.

 

I kept going back to look at this because I was getting the same unsettled feeling @Linwelly mentioned, and I think I put my finger on it. She doesn't actually seem to be sitting on the rock - her bottom doesn't quite come into contact with the boulder and the bottom of her thigh is too straight - it should be a little flattened. She also looks like she's positioned too far back on the rock. If you try edging her forward, you may find the sweet spot that makes the whole pose fall into place.

 

ricswika said:

I hope this shows up, it looks good on my monitor. Night scenes are so hard to judge. Someone please let me know if it appers too light or dark for night. The only thing I might do is add some rim lighting off to one side for a bit more definition.

Title: Rat Monster

Made With: Daz Studio, Iray - No Postwork

Uses: Creepy Forest, 3 Raven Place, Monster Rat, Millinium Cat, Super Bat, Grave Yard, Atmocam

 

.

This looks really great to me - very nice work on the fog around the cottage.