Carrara Challenge #4: The Twilight Zone - Work In Progress (WIP) thread

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  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969


    When I build a scene that's going to be layered, I build my complete scene (which is usually complex) and then look at it with an eye to how many layers I think I'll need and what elements I think will be in a particular layer. Then I save multiple iterations of the scene, with names such as, complex scene layer 1.car, complex scene layer 2.car, complex scene layer 3.car, etc. Then I go into those scenes and leave the lighting and cameras alone, but delete the elements that are not supposed to be in the layer. I then go into the Render room and enable the alpha channel option. I don't use the pre-multiplied option, but that's just my personal preference. Your mileage may vary. ;-) I should note that the bottom or background layer doesn't use an alpha channel.

    I usually really use the above method on animations, as for still images it's easier for me personally, just to use the multi-pass elements. The exception being my entry for this thread, where I needed a magnified background to appear in the broken glass. I did still use a depth pass to generate the mask for the glasses.

    EP, how do you make animations with multiple passes and alpha channel? I haven't tried that yet, but probably will sometime.

  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Those are some really GREAT ideas Dart, Sock, SwordVisions, and Stezza! I go away for a few days, and there's 2-3 more pages of wonderful and creative WIPs.

    What I find even more amazing is the flexibility Carrara provides to quickly turn "silly ideas" (nice term, Stezza) into awesome renders!

    This is going to be one difficult challenge to vote on!

  • VarselVarsel Posts: 574
    edited December 1969

    I'm experimenting for a possible second entry....

    Using Primivol Smog to creating some dancing girls in the morning twilight fog. :cheese:

    Doc2.jpg
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  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited October 2013


    EP, how do you make animations with multiple passes and alpha channel? I haven't tried that yet, but probably will sometime.

    I enable the Alpha channel option in the render room. I generally use the straight alpha. Then it's pretty automatic when I bring the final renders into Final Cut Pro. Just stick the background as the "bottom" layer and work your way up. It's good to have an idea of what you want on each layer.

    P.S. The screen shots are from this video:
    http://youtu.be/iS-sNje4k0o

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    Post edited by evilproducer on
  • VarselVarsel Posts: 574
    edited December 1969

    The Twilight hour, in the morning.
    Just before the sun comes up, and chases the morning mist away...

    This is Aiko 4.
    Converted to a vertex object. What I found when experimenting is that when using Primivol, the mesh should be in one piece and "watertight". Meaning that there should not be any holes in it, and only one mesh.
    So I removed all the eyeparts, everything in the mouth, and selected the holes and welded together. The nails did also have to go.
    I did also set the size of the Primivol to the same same size as the object.

    The town is Dystopia CityBlocks. The grass is my own creation, and so is the bench.

    Doc2.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 776K
  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969


    EP, how do you make animations with multiple passes and alpha channel? I haven't tried that yet, but probably will sometime.

    I enable the Alpha channel option in the render room. I generally use the straight alpha. Then it's pretty automatic when I bring the final renders into Final Cut Pro. Just stick the background as the "bottom" layer and work your way up. It's good to have an idea of what you want on each layer.

    P.S. The screen shots are from this video:
    http://youtu.be/iS-sNje4k0o

    Thanks! I'll have to look into that video editor. :) Just now foraging into animation.....

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969


    EP, how do you make animations with multiple passes and alpha channel? I haven't tried that yet, but probably will sometime.

    I enable the Alpha channel option in the render room. I generally use the straight alpha. Then it's pretty automatic when I bring the final renders into Final Cut Pro. Just stick the background as the "bottom" layer and work your way up. It's good to have an idea of what you want on each layer.

    P.S. The screen shots are from this video:
    http://youtu.be/iS-sNje4k0o

    Thanks! I'll have to look into that video editor. :) Just now foraging into animation.....

    It's Apple only! ;-) Basically, any video editor that can handle alphas should be able to do the job in some form or other.

  • cdordonicdordoni Posts: 583
    edited December 1969

    It's Apple only! ;-)

    I am amazed that developers still produce software exclusively for Mac. There must be a huge user base for FinalCut since its been around so long.

  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Just as a reminder, there is now less than TEN days remaining before the contest submission thread opens!

    Also, remember the rule that you need to post at least TWO WIPs in this thread before you post your final render in the contest thread.

    I really am blown away by all of the wonderful and imaginative artwork posted so far.

    This is going to be an AMAZING contest! Good luck to all of you!
    FD

  • DUDUDUDU Posts: 1,945
    edited December 1969

    I know that I am not likely any to gain but the important thing is to take part!

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  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    cdordoni said:

    It's Apple only! ;-)

    I am amazed that developers still produce software exclusively for Mac. There must be a huge user base for FinalCut since its been around so long.

    Apple is the company that makes FCP.

  • cdordonicdordoni Posts: 583
    edited December 1969

    Apple is the company that makes FCP.

    Yes, and they do write PC applications. It's funny that they have not ported it to the PC.

  • cdordonicdordoni Posts: 583
    edited December 1969

    I know that I am not likely any to gain but the important thing is to take part!

    Actually, this is really good.

    It has a wonderfully soft feel, and if I had not seen it here, I would never have guessed that it is a 3d render.

  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    cdordoni said:
    I know that I am not likely any to gain but the important thing is to take part!

    Actually, this is really good.

    It has a wonderfully soft feel, and if I had not seen it here, I would never have guessed that it is a 3d render.

    Agreed! Very good work! I hope you plan to post this to the contest thread. :)

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,989
    edited December 1969

    I know that I am not likely any to gain but the important thing is to take part!

    it's a splendid image, I think it grabs the topic with both hands, very eerie and otherworldly....

    if socartease was here he'd say "udderworldy" :)

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    edited December 1969

    Well, here's what I have so far. Inspired by a three second scene in the opening for "Gravity Falls".
    Is it finished? Maybe. I've been staring at it for too long to tell. :)

    But since I'm not prepared to host a contest at this time, I'm not sure if I'll actually submit it as an entry. (Probably wouldn't win anyway)

    In any case, I'm posting it here. Otherwise no one besides me would ever see it.

    Used a displacement shader for the footprints, then converted it to real geometry for further modification.
    The grass and moss is Carrara hair.
    The bushes are Carrara plant objects.
    The birch trees were lifted from Howie's Snow Scene.
    The other trees are just modified cylinders with bark shaders.
    Volumetric clouds for the background fog.
    The people are slightly modified characters I found in my Poser runtime, and are stand-ins for Dipper, Mabel, and "Grunkle" Stan.
    The man's hat came from the Carrara objects and was modified somewhat.
    The boy's cap was modeled from scratch, as were the mushrooms.

    It was a lot of fun to do. Anyone recognize the scene?


    Bigfoot... Biggerfoot.

    Bigfoot-Biggerfoot.jpg
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  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    Awesome! Very cool render Dean!

  • MicioDueMicioDue Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I would have entered this thread with my own WIP but so far I've had not time even to start a scene... but I think that some infos for Windows users on exporting videos with alpha channel may be appreciated. :)

    My system is Windows 8 64 bit, Carrara 8.5 Pro, QuickTime Player 7.7.4 standard.

    Video editing software: Adobe CS6, both Premiere and After Effects, do manage videos with Alpha channel.

    Carrara 32-bit ony, because: 'QuickTime does not currently support 64-bit, however we are actively working on a "work-around" for this situation.' says DAZ in Carrara product page. QuickTime must be installed first and (on my system) you need to run Carrara "As Administrator" to let it manage .mov format. Carrara does not allow to render Alpha channel for AVI format, even if a codec such as H.264 is selected.



    EP, how do you make animations with multiple passes and alpha channel? I haven't tried that yet, but probably will sometime.

    I enable the Alpha channel option in the render room. I generally use the straight alpha. Then it's pretty automatic when I bring the final renders into Final Cut Pro. Just stick the background as the "bottom" layer and work your way up. It's good to have an idea of what you want on each layer.

    P.S. The screen shots are from this video:
    http://youtu.be/iS-sNje4k0o

    Thanks! I'll have to look into that video editor. :) Just now foraging into animation.....

    It's Apple only! ;-) Basically, any video editor that can handle alphas should be able to do the job in some form or other.

  • KixumKixum Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Here's my second work in progress for the contest. Not much changes since the last one but a few modifications.

    The letters were made in the spline modeler. Came out nice!

    The_Twilight_Zone_02.jpg
    1650 x 1030 - 1M
  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    MicioDue said:
    I would have entered this thread with my own WIP but so far I've had not time even to start a scene... but I think that some infos for Windows users on exporting videos with alpha channel may be appreciated. :)

    My system is Windows 8 64 bit, Carrara 8.5 Pro, QuickTime Player 7.7.4 standard.

    Video editing software: Adobe CS6, both Premiere and After Effects, do manage videos with Alpha channel.

    Carrara 32-bit ony, because: 'QuickTime does not currently support 64-bit, however we are actively working on a "work-around" for this situation.' says DAZ in Carrara product page. QuickTime must be installed first and (on my system) you need to run Carrara "As Administrator" to let it manage .mov format. Carrara does not allow to render Alpha channel for AVI format, even if a codec such as H.264 is selected.

    MicioDue, I hope you will join us in the next competition if you can't get one in this time!

    I am also looking into Windows app options, and will report anything I learn.

  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    de3an said:
    Well, here's what I have so far. Inspired by a three second scene in the opening for "Gravity Falls".
    Is it finished? Maybe. I've been staring at it for too long to tell. :)

    But since I'm not prepared to host a contest at this time, I'm not sure if I'll actually submit it as an entry. (Probably wouldn't win anyway)

    In any case, I'm posting it here. Otherwise no one besides me would ever see it.

    Used a displacement shader for the footprints, then converted it to real geometry for further modification.
    The grass and moss is Carrara hair.
    The bushes are Carrara plant objects.
    The birch trees were lifted from Howie's Snow Scene.
    The other trees are just modified cylinders with bark shaders.
    Volumetric clouds for the background fog.
    The people are slightly modified characters I found in my Poser runtime, and are stand-ins for Dipper, Mabel, and "Grunkle" Stan.
    The man's hat came from the Carrara objects and was modified somewhat.
    The boy's cap was modeled from scratch, as were the mushrooms.

    It was a lot of fun to do. Anyone recognize the scene?


    Bigfoot... Biggerfoot.

    I *REALLY* like how this turned out, Dean! Very nice work!

  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Kixum said:
    Here's my second work in progress for the contest. Not much changes since the last one but a few modifications.

    The letters were made in the spline modeler. Came out nice!

    Amazing work using the spline modeler to do the lettering! I am too faint-at-heart to attempt such an undertaking! Well done!

  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Varsel said:
    The Twilight hour, in the morning.
    Just before the sun comes up, and chases the morning mist away...

    This is Aiko 4.
    Converted to a vertex object. What I found when experimenting is that when using Primivol, the mesh should be in one piece and "watertight". Meaning that there should not be any holes in it, and only one mesh.
    So I removed all the eyeparts, everything in the mouth, and selected the holes and welded together. The nails did also have to go.
    I did also set the size of the Primivol to the same same size as the object.

    The town is Dystopia CityBlocks. The grass is my own creation, and so is the bench.

    A very nice, eerie scene, Varsel! I especially like the fog-like aspect of the render. If you want feedback, I was thinking that maybe some additional lighting might give it a more 3D feel? IDK, just a thought.

    I seem to recall the bench from a previous work. ;-)

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    MicioDue said:
    I would have entered this thread with my own WIP but so far I've had not time even to start a scene... but I think that some infos for Windows users on exporting videos with alpha channel may be appreciated. :)

    My system is Windows 8 64 bit, Carrara 8.5 Pro, QuickTime Player 7.7.4 standard.

    Video editing software: Adobe CS6, both Premiere and After Effects, do manage videos with Alpha channel.

    Carrara 32-bit ony, because: 'QuickTime does not currently support 64-bit, however we are actively working on a "work-around" for this situation.' says DAZ in Carrara product page. QuickTime must be installed first and (on my system) you need to run Carrara "As Administrator" to let it manage .mov format. Carrara does not allow to render Alpha channel for AVI format, even if a codec such as H.264 is selected.


    Good information. A good way to render 64 bit and still get an alpha channel is to render to an image sequence using a format that supports alphas, such as . tiff, .png, etc. The it's just a matter of Quicktime or whatever you want to use, combining them into a movie file.
  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    There is some super cool work presented on these last few pages! It looks like it's going to be some stiff competition!

    I was hoping to do another render for this competition, but I'm not sure I'll have the time.

  • DUDUDUDU Posts: 1,945
    edited December 1969

    de3an: "Used a displacement shader for the footprints, then converted it to real geometry for further modification."...
    How are you doing that ???

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    edited December 1969

    de3an: "Used a displacement shader for the footprints, then converted it to real geometry for further modification."...
    How are you doing that ???

    Select the object and export it as an .obj file, then re-import it. The displacement will become real geometry which you can then edit in the Model room.

  • DUDUDUDU Posts: 1,945
    edited December 1969

    Thanks a lot !
    I look for that since a long time ...

  • FractalDimensiaFractalDimensia Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    de3an said:
    de3an: "Used a displacement shader for the footprints, then converted it to real geometry for further modification."...
    How are you doing that ???

    Select the object and export it as an .obj file, then re-import it. The displacement will become real geometry which you can then edit in the Model room.

    Nice little bit of information! Thanks Dean.

  • KixumKixum Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    After reading the rules carefully, I see that if I am going to post an image which will be significantly post worked, I'm required to post the source render in this thread.

    So....

    Here's my source render.

    As most people know, everything I render is 99.9% made (ie all objects modeled) by me. I have already written a full description of how I made this render but I wrote it on a different computer and don't have it here with me. It doesn't much matter anyway as I will post the description of how I made this in the formal entry thread.

    The grass, door, and flying saucer were made for different projects (the door was even made in Raydream!). The ground and telephone poles were made new for this scene.

    There are 4,000,000 blades of grass and 100,000 grass bunches in this scene.

    The starfield and the trick to get the horizon with the atmosphere was rendered using a setup I did for a different render.

    The render you see here is a composite of two renders. The first render is everything before the letters and the second render is just the letters (with the first render in the backdrop).

    The_Twilight_Zone_04.jpg
    1650 x 1030 - 1M
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