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This is starting to become a very lovely image. I think the work you have done on the lights is good!. The woman is working nicely, not too bright, which can happen with white. The man though is still blending into the background. His clothes either need to be lighter or darker, or the wall needs to be lighter or darker.
I think something that might help is simply darkening or lightening the ambient on his clothes, slightly. That's how lighting was done before we had the power to create realistic light effects, by changing the ambient on everything! Same could be done with the background.
Another option which might work, and create a cool effect too, is rotating the direction of the light a bit so that the dark shadow it created at the man's feet is turned so that it is directly between him an the wall where you need the contrast... the dark shadow climbing up the wall might be cool.
Something that I think would help the composition as a whole to make it more dramatic and dynamic is to bring the two figures closer together... have her leaning up towards him and the cup, and him being taller, almost bending a knee and raising the cup up to her, almost like an offering. Right now they seem somewhat L shaped and stiff in all their limbs, which is not helping there be a sense of tension and thus interest. And having them closer together would help the light from the cup to reach their faces, which are reading somewhat flat. Another thing that would build tension is to turn their feet and hips away from the camera, and then their waist back towards it so that their arms end up in the same place. This contraposto adds impact to the pose. The same reversing of direction can be done with the shoulders vs the head/neck. It creates a feeling of movement.
I think one of the best parts of this image is the unified color scheme, and over the course of your entries the last few months, color is one of the places you have improved dramatically. Well done and I look forward to seeing this blossom... though not too much, you've been beating the pants off me! ((*goes looking for her pants*)) :-) (Just teasing, I am very happy for your success, it is well deserved, especially because you show your heart and soul in how much you work and grow each month!)
This is a very awesome image... very dynamic, lots of movement. I love the color scheme, and I would try other ways to create the smokey effect, I think it could be cool if you can get it to work.
As far as the composition, though, the mans head is creating a tangent... and because of this it is looking like he is coming from outside the image and photobombing yours.
Here is the link Dollygirl gave on tangents:
http://emptyeasel.com/2008/11/18/avoiding-tangents-9-visual-blunders-every-artist-should-watch-out-for/
This is working well...I think you are nearing "done". The two things that need to happen though are light on the faces. I think you might try Teofa's face light trick. She uses a faint spotlight from below. I do a similar thing but use a pointlight with no shadows from the same direction as the main light source. Sometimes making it hit only specular makes it more subtle as well.
Kudos on all the progress!
Very nice. I think it needs a bit of contrast still but that can easily be handled in postwork. A very lovely image.
Ok, so she's changed again - back to the future (so to speak) in her outfit. Also added LED eyes to the 'dog'.
Interesting challenges going between regular shaders and iRay presets on the outfit, but I think it's trending in the right direction.
Fiona - the black and white analysis is a good one...I'm developing my own quick rule: if I can't make out a figure clearly in the thumbnail, it's probably not sufficient contrast/other to stand out :-D
This is starting off well! I am going to make a list, and its going to be long, but do not be overwhelmed, its just the nature of the fiona.
Composition..
I am not sure if you are familiar with the "rule of thirds" but if this was my image, I would use the camera angle to put the space between the two heads smack dab on upper right hand "third".
The first image link shows the rule of thirds:
http://www.bestphotolessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/RuleOfThirds1.gif
And this second one shows a couple, like yours, placed at "x marks the spot".
http://www.imagesforever.co.uk/images/tutorial-images/peoplegood.jpg (the link is horizontal but the same idea applies to veritcal)
Next, your scene has two wonderful columns, right now they are framing the girl on the right, and the girl on the left is getting... chopped off.. by them. I would rotate the camera and use these two handy optical devices to frame both the figures.
Lastly, you are blessed with several other strong lines in the composition.. the perspective lines created by the architecture, the horizon line, and the line created by where the architecture meets the landscaping. Use these lines like "arrows" to draw the eye into the image where you want the viewer to focus. You have the opportunity with these lines to create a very strong focal point!
Now... a very strong focal point can be boring, and that's where your very well done posing comes into play. The poses are the best part of the image, I think! Very believable. As far as camera angle relates to the poses, you are already "cheating out" as they say in theater... putting the characters at 3/4 view to the camera. This is a very good angle for portraiture and romance. However, to make it more interesting, consider moving the camera slighly lower and to the left or right. Which figure is acting and which is receiving action? Point the camera slighly more are the "doer" and slighly less at the "recipient" to convey action... or the opposite, to focus on how the recipient feels. But in any case never try to have them completely balanced because two figures never will be, and if you try, it will look off. SO better to make it look deliberately non symmetrical. The third element, the held hand that they share? Use this along with their gaze to create a triangle that is balanced, but also has movement in it. Also, using camera angle to peer up at them from below gives a sense of the viewer looking into an intimate moment.
The lighting overall is not a bad start. They look a bit like they are floating because the shadow at their feet is so faint. I would use the trick of putting a point light equidistant from the hands, and each face. And it is necessary to soften the edges where the grass meets the sky and the building meets the grass.
All in all though, a great start. :-)
I know this looks lie a lot of words, but it is really just a few things, I tend to use a lot of words to say not very much. I hope that this is fun and that you are encouraged to continue, I love the romance the image is conveying and hope to see where it goes!
Well, I can credit Teofa with the black and white idea, back in February I think! And the thumbnail rule is another I will put in my pocket. The white is working much better and I am loving this more and more each time you post. There are few things I would put on my own wall, especially my own art, but I am SUCH an eighties bright lights and crystals girl! This image makes me happy. I have a collection of semiprecious stones and can tell you all about pegmatites and searching for crystal caves. In some ways I am a hopeless dreamer, some part of me is 11 and stuck in the land of Lisa Frank and rainbow holographic unicorn stickers... (showing my age!) :-)
There are several for whom I have not made any comments, both new and old friends. I am finding myself at a loss for anything useful to say, and I am glad to see for the most part that there has been input from many sources this month. The lively interest in these contests seems to be picking up, and that's a good thing! If someone specifically wants a comment, please feel free to pm me and ask. Likewise if you wish that I would not comment on your work! I hope everyone is having a great week. :-)
Still learning as I play. Trying to set the mood.
Firstoff, everyone has something to be able to contribute, you obviously have a good sense of light, composition and posing even if you are not trained in the program.... and oftentimes someone's "gut reaction", if they can verbalize it, is a very good source of feedback. You can say "The image feels ____" and you don't need to know how to fix it for that input to be valuable. Oftentimes as artists we spend so much time looking at our own work that we lose the ability to have a "gut reaction" to it anymore. Don't underestimate the power of your intuition. The worst thing that happens if you share it is that someone doesn't use it. But if you don't share what you feel, the image may forever be less because it lacked a critical piece of input that was yours to give. ;-)
Secondly, I agree that your image has improved a lot! The lighting is obviously a lot better, but putting them off center helps as well. I think you too should consider putting the halfway point between their gazes on the bullseye of one of the crosses of the rule of thirds grid. Upper Left. Right now he is there, but she is centered. You have the lovely tree framing them on the left, consider something to frame them also on the right. The one thing I do like better about the first image is the closer focus...
You have the opportunity here to do wonderful things with the water reflection, as well as telling a story. I can imagine him rescuing her from the water, and her looking with a passing fear and a growing admiration and gratitude into his eyes. And I can imagine all of that being reflected, in lovely symmetry, in the water below them. Here is my bible for creating water in 3delight, I dont know if it will help with IRay but if you end up using 3delight, it is very useful.
http://afina79.deviantart.com/art/Creating-Water-In-Daz-Studio-159064896
I would consider creating water effects on their body as well as drips and splashes... there are brushes for doing this in postwork as well as 3d tools if you decide to go that way. This includes cool effects like running mascara! As far as clothes go, consider that maybe she is wrapped in a found object, like his blanket, one of his shirts or a towel. There are several towel sets available, as well as conforming blankets that could be sized and textured to look like she was wrapped in a spare shirt he grabbed, or a whole host of creative things. Texturing is a wonderfully freeing option.
If you end up wanting to do a dress but it wont conform nicely to the pose.. one way to handle it is to do a render with her not wearing it, and a render with. In a 2d program like photoshop, cut out and copy the bottom of the dress, and the paste it and move it where you need it to be, using tools like "distort" and "perspective" on the cutout to shape it to the new position. Then fade out the overlap so it is invisible and get rid of what you don't need. Takes time but it works, eventually!
The much easier route is to find a dress that cuts off just above the knee.. this is why so many do.
All in all a great start, and I look forward to learning more of the story you are telling with the picture. Why are they standing in the water? How does she feel about it? How does he feel? What is about to happen? A *little* bit of the tilt of her chin from the first image might convey some emotion.. but all in all the emotion is nice so far.
Wow, nice lights. :-) Mood accomplished? A little bit of a Rudolf nose on him and some strange intensity in their faces, but a good place to start.
I'll have to play around some more. Each character already has a spotlight in front of them, but Iray plays different than 3Delight so I'm going to have to play with each light's settings and see what I can come up with.
This image has come a long ways. It looks nice, some tweaks to light as Fiona suggested.. his red nose mostly.
I like her expression.
Only major thing I would change is the World of Warcraft dagger. I would play with scaling it down and making the color more realistic.
I did some quick fiddling around with the Noble Dagger from the Dagger Dancer freebie set. I didn't perfect the hand pose, but wanted to show a scaled down version of it. You have to just experiment with the various axis and overall scaling in Poses. I "personally" would think a smaller, more concealable dagger would fit the Femme Fatale assassin.
Thanks for the comments & the info on tangents!
Here's a "quick" update for lunchtime... (not a fully resolved/converged image, but it's decent)
Pulled back the camera. I was worried about blood wick-ing up the dead guy's hair (how to do that, anyway)... so I moved the blood pool around, and added a spatter (from JoLab1985's liquids pack, which I just got since it's on sale).
Still messing with explosions, but I don't think I can do much more because the puffs of smoke really slow down Iray for me.
I don't want to use the skimpy minidress from the New Adventures set, but the bottoms of the pant legs are bothering me. I'll have to see what's causing the textures to work that way.
Tweaking lights. I'm trying to mute some of the previous lights (the torus emitter that I use around the main camera to brighten the space in front of the camera), and adding lights from guns/explosions off camera (basically primitive Cones, turned into emitters in Iray). I'm not getting enough light on the Sergeant's hand, grabbing the woman's arm, though.
I'm thinking about adding another casualty, leaning against the pillar in the background.
I definitely will do a depth of field thing for the next image.
I think you are right Teofa. I didn't know I had another dagger. I'm still getting used to finding stuff, but I'll look for it.
BTW, how do you put a picture of yourself on these emails?
Upper right ... Your Control Panel... Edit Avatar to set a portrait for forums.
I found the daggers by selecting a g2 they show up in smart content Props.
I'm very new to this, so critique away....
I made this cosmic chess match this weekend. However, when the dragon showed up, all the pieces dropped their weapons and ran.
Learned a lot about how not to light the scene. Still working on the how to part.
Daz3D: 4.8
I built the chessboard. The background is from NASA. The rest are items I've acquired.
Best Regards,
Eric
I really like the concept behind this image. Perhaps having a chess piece or two running away will help?
Very nice for a first attempt!
First nit... I think this contest calls for a minimum of 2 figures. So you'll need another something or somebody in the scene. I could suggest, but I think that would interfere too much in your process.
What light are you using now? The reflections on the floor look good.
Speaking of reflectivity, however, the swords seem really non-metallic. You're in 4.8... so can you throw some Iray shaders on the blades? Go to the Surfaces Tab, select the blade part of your props, find the Shaders in your product list, Control-Click on one of the Metal shaders (Metal - Iron, maybe), and IGNORE when it asks about replacing textures. (You could even use the Metal Flakes layer if you want to simulate rust.) This should amp up your weapon props, in any case.
The background is cool, but really muted. I guess I'd expect the stars/clusters to pop more. It sticks out the most on the sides, where the dragon isn't. The background looks like it's in shadow almost. Maybe stick some spotlights directly on those parts of the background?
The pose on the dragon is interesting, but something seems off. It almost looks submissive IMO. It's sunk back a lot where I expect it to be all pushed out & forward. Take a look at animals who are posturing. Any kind of image, from dogs to frilled lizards to lions.
Well, I can credit Teofa with the black and white idea, back in February I think! And the thumbnail rule is another I will put in my pocket. The white is working much better and I am loving this more and more each time you post. There are few things I would put on my own wall, especially my own art, but I am SUCH an eighties bright lights and crystals girl! This image makes me happy. I have a collection of semiprecious stones and can tell you all about pegmatites and searching for crystal caves. In some ways I am a hopeless dreamer, some part of me is 11 and stuck in the land of Lisa Frank and rainbow holographic unicorn stickers... (showing my age!) :-)
Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad it makes you happy (even though I had to google "pegmatites").
More tweaks. Thanks for the suggestions. It's starting to take shape.
yes, it is.
Early render.
I think I got it. I moved the face lights off to the side a bit and turned shadows on so the faces had more definition and detail since they aren't close up.
This is looking amazing Gallows.
Something about the knife she was carrying always bothered me but I could never put my finger on the problem. So glad Teofa saw the problem and you were able to make that adjustment.
Very fine work.
Nits... I don't like how the woman's face is like 3/4 in shadow. I'd also like to see a bit of a smirk or some kind of ironic look on her face, maybe? Eyes are good, though. She's just about perfect.
I might get flak for this comment, but this is one of the times when I think less might be more in terms of the woman's clothing? Her more private bits on top are already concealed by the body positions, so I think the "Old Hollywood" rule in terms of handling nudity would apply here if she were not so dressed on top. Or maybe a sheer top. Something that would help with the idea that the man is being led astray by his desires. (Knowing the software, I see the woman's top and say, "Hmmm, looks like you didn't have any female clothing except the freebies.")
The man's face (what I see, anyway) doesn't look 100% like he's thinking with his lower brain (you know what I mean). He's making good eye contact for a guy being led by his little guy... which might be okay. His mouth shows very limited expression. If I had to describe his face, "captivated" isn't what I'd say, and I think that's what you are trying for.
I guess you're trying for some tension in his right hand relative to the knife in her right hand. My eyes are pulled up towards their faces, though. I think that's the better spot to focus on IMO. (I don't like the pulled back camera. I liked the tighter camera in the earlier picture.) I like and dislike the right hand position on the man, in any case.
If you have a rapier (with a scabbard) or something (flintlock pistol?), I'd kind of want to see him armed as well. With a flintlock, you could position it on the right hip... with the sword, you'd have to rely on a scabbard or sheath on the left hip. Unless he's left handed, which would be all sorts of wrong. ;-)
Oh... the woman's dagger seems very non-metallic. If you're in 4.8, I'd recommend an Iray Metal shader to make it more reflective. Boost the reflectivity on the blade, though. Give it a cold glint or something.
Running out of comments for you!
Random Question: Since it's getting darker, why aren't their headlights on?
Random Question 2: As I sit here, I wonder how it would look if the camera were tilted, and whether that might add to the illusion of speed. Have you tried tilting the camera? The camera position is very... composed? Sedate, almost? If you rotated it (to make things deliberately unbalanced), maybe you'd squeeze a little more out of it.
Very nice! :-)
Thank you :-)
Very nice. I think it needs a bit of contrast still but that can easily be handled in postwork. A very lovely image.
Thank you fiona I will give that a try.
I was thinking that if you dropped the diffuse colour on all your background surfaces (plants, rocks and road) to something bellow 200 it might help to bring the bikes out a bit more. T me the second bike seems to get lost in the background.