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Beginner Challenge: Portrait Render - Expressions & Lighting - 2nd Entry
This is the first draft for this one. I lit the dancing figures in Daz and then did a small amount of post work just to make my intent with them more clear.
Comments and suggestions always welcome :- )
I'm using Iray, but I have the ground fog on and I have the haze set fairly high under the environment settings. That might be making the shadows quite faint. I could try playing around with that
Here is my entry for the Beginner Portrait Contest. There are three lights here-- two linear point lights and a spotlight. I positioned the linears to get that crazy gleam in his eyes. Feedback welcome!
Intermediate Challenge
Version 2 of Mirai Portrait
Lowered the intensity of lighting and moved the tattoo.
I used Message Shirt magic to put the fairy on the vest so don't think this counts as more L.I.E.
Thank you for the suggestions @Kismet2012.
I'm going to work on it this weekend and will probably start over on G8 instead of G8.1. I'm not sure what slowed everything down, but that saved scene takes 15+ seconds to even move a finger just a little bit. I created custom eyes (yellow) and the tattoos so it shouldn't be too hard to start over. It could also be related to the fact that I used a pose control to put the weapon in the left hand and later rotated the weapon not thinking about that relationship. That's probably why the fingers are so screwed up. I don't know. :P
It is such a subtle change but for me it made a huge difference. When the lines stopped short of the hair line they stopped my eye movement around her face. Now I am drawn right to her eyes.
Wonderful image.
I always found contests and/or challenges a great way to push myself and to help me focus on different elements of an image. Especailly any that push you out of your comfort zone.
I love the concept of this image.
Just a couole of suggestions. The dog's pose is off. He would be stretched out trying to reach the "dancers". Something similar to this image. The extended paw is great but the rest of his/her body should be streched out and "reaching" upwards. Hopefully that makes sense. Dogs will try to get as close to something they are interested in as they can.
The toes on the right foot are ot flat on the ground. I often find I need to do some minor adjustments to poses to get them to work with the figure and/or environemnt I am using.
Her facial expression is wonderful. I treally conveys how much she is enoying the music.
The dancers are adding some wonderful movement to the image.
I lvoe that the dog appears to be the only one to "see" them.
Great start.
That would do it. Fog is infamous for dissipating light.
Which lights are casting on the singer's arms? If it is the linear point lights can they be moved and/or toned down a bit without losing the gleam?
If it is the spotlight can it be focused a bit more on the signer's face?
I am finding the orangeish glow on the hands distracting. The light on the face is great. It draws the eye but then the colour/light on the hands draws my eye away and I had trouble figuring out what was going on there.
I like the tattoos and bands around the wrists.
His expression and the lighting on the face is awesome. It draws the eye which is exactly what you want.
Great image.
What a great image. What did you apply using L.I.E.? Was it the freckles?
Toneing down the light has helped. Sorry to be so nitpicky but I would really like to see the tattoo. Is it possible to rotate the forearm? She is proud of her tattoo and wants to show it off.
Hand poses involving holding anything are tricky. Any change in the position of the item being held or the hand changes everything.
I completely understand the frustration of waiting for any small change to take effect. It completely ruins your work flow. Patience is definitely not one of my virtues.
Good luck.
Thanks. Now that you draw my attention to the glowing hands, I can't unsee how distracting that is! I'm going to move the light and tone it down and see what happens. It's a liner point light. Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks. Now that you draw my attention to the glowing hands, I can't unsee how distracting that is! I'm going to move the light and tone it down and see what happens. It's a liner point light. Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks. Now that you draw my attention to the glowing hands, I can't unsee how distracting that is! I'm going to move the light and tone it down and see what happens. It's a liner point light. Thanks for the feedback!
Okay. So, I moved the red point light up and to the left, turned down the luminous flux to around 2000 (from 6000). I also made it a slightly darker shade of red. Since I was teaking anyway, I also tilted the head slightly and further juked the eyes and mouth, particularly making the mouth less (I hope) more of a snarl. Lastly I added a brow piercing and an ear cuff. This is one of many versions I made. Oh, yeah. I'd also previously had a fog plane covering part of the body, but I got rid of that as I felt the tats were more interesting. Anyway, thanks again for the feedback and the contest! It's a great way to challenge myself to learn and grow!
Ok, I figured out what it was that caused so many issues for me. It was dForce Natty Undercut Hair for Genesis 8 Female(s). Loading this causes the system to crawl and I'm unable to pose anything. To work around the issue I deleted it (hiding did not work) and added it after everything was posted and setup with lights and camera.
So now I'm left with not being sure how to improve the image for my Mirialan protector. I added a child behind her so she had something to protect and then added some fog, but for postwork I also tried using Ron's Angel Dust to give it more life. The art I see in the gallery that I really like usually has some kind of effects added on them and I think they look cool, but not sure what I tried really works with the scene. Please let me know what you think of the effects or if I should scrap them for something else to make the image look more like art instead of just a render from Daz.
Mirialan protector
Mirialan protector with effects:
You Said I Would Be Fan Club President
Yea but, I can explain....
I had some fun with this one.
I would like to congratulate everyone here, the work is looking good!
Thank You Kismet2012 you have made a real effort to help us all and it shows and it is appreciated.
Beginner Challenge: Portrait Render - Expressions & Lighting - 2nd Entry
@Kismet2012 Thanks so much for the on-point feedback regarding the dog. I think I let myself get a little frightend of the dog anatomy in posing and didnt push for what would be most natural. /thank you for the picture of the dog :-) It helped a lot, next time I will do some research myself. I adjusted the pose for the dog and the girl and shifted everything just slightly to improve the composition. Tweaked the lighting a bit more and did some postwork in PS. Also, thanks for all that you do to get back to all of us. It is pretty amazing.
Post work can definitely enhance an image and/or add something that would be difficult to do during rendering. But it can also be overdone. Finding the balance can be tricky.
When I compare your original image with the postworked version the angel dust is a little heavy and distracts me from your Mirialan protector. Did you add the Angel Dust as a separate layer? Did you save the file? Perhaps turning down the opacity on the angel dust so it has a bit more subtle effect.
I can clearly see what you are trying to achieve.
The image is really well composed and lit. The dark environment really allows her to shine.
Thank you.
You also might want to buy her some flowers or a box of chocolates.
Normally cutting off the top of the head is a no/no but it works in this image. I think it works because her shoulders are angled slightly away from the camera.
I see your tattoo peeking out and TOM on the fingers is well done. That had to be tricky to get right.
I also like the monochrome of green in the image. You made really good use of different textures and shades.
You are welcome.
And the dog looks much better. The earlier pose could have been appropriate if the dog was afraid of the spirtes dancing in the sky but I did not get the impression that was your intent. Googling images is a great way to get an idea of what looks natural. Whether it is a pose, lighting, etc.
And that foot looks much better too. Small things like that will nag at a viewer.
You got the thing that can be the hardest to get right IMHO...and that is the expression. She is really enjoying that music.
We do not always see stuff like the light's effect on the hands in our own images.
I agree that contests/challenges are great ways to challenge ourselves and encourage us to work outside our comfort zone.
Rotated arm slightly to get a better view of tattoo
Title: All Hail the Witch-Queen
Software: Daz 3D
Challenge: Intermediate
I will probably be unable to make alterations to this as I will be very busy in the next few days. Still, any comments / suggestions are very welcome.
Edit (24 July 2022): I have updated my entry to v2. I have left the old picture for reference purposes but the actual entry is v2.
oops, double post, please delete
Title: Break the Foundation
Intermediate, 2nd entry
Feedback welcome!
Title: Bond Between Very Different Worlds
Software: Daz 3D
Challenge: Intermediate
LIE on the hands. Feedback appreciated, first time making LIEs