December 2023 - Daz 3D New User Challenge - Open Render Challenge

Scott Livingston · December 2023

New User's Challenge - December 2023

Closing Date: December 31st, 2023

Toonen1988 · December 2023

I do have a older account from August 2021, but I just started to use Daz3d 1,5 week ago after building my new computer last month. So, i'm completely new to Daz3d. I would like to kick off the december 2023 open render challenge with a render I just made today. Feedback and tips are welcome! This is the first time I participate in a challenge.

I cropped it to 1280x720, the original is 3840x2160

I think I messed up a little bit with the lighting. Since this is a sci-fi Cyberpunk scene, I also tried to make a little bit of purple neon light feel to the render.

I also rendered this one.

f.boschanski · December 2023

Toonen1988 said:

... Feedback and tips are welcome
...

At first glance, i see nothing wrong with these renders. Thoughtful settings, without taking too much attention from the main subject. They give me an impression of a more casual shot, than a set up picture. Probably due to the fact that the actor does not look towards the camera and the lighting seems less artifically placed to draw attention to some areas (for the second one that is).
However, as you already stated, on second glance i found something disturbing in each of them:
for the first picture there is a harsh shadow line below the breast. my eyes always end up looking there, as it does not seem natural.
for the second picture, it is the background bulb that does not blend in. at first glance it looked as if you had acceidentally used the rubber on that spot during postwork.
only when looking at the picture in full size, i could resolve the situation for my perception.

its those two things, i would try to fix if it was mine.

Toonen1988 · December 2023

f.boschanski said:

Toonen1988 said:

... Feedback and tips are welcome
...

At first glance, i see nothing wrong with these renders. Thoughtful settings, without taking too much attention from the main subject. They give me an impression of a more casual shot, than a set up picture. Probably due to the fact that the actor does not look towards the camera and the lighting seems less artifically placed to draw attention to some areas (for the second one that is).
However, as you already stated, on second glance i found something disturbing in each of them:
for the first picture there is a harsh shadow line below the breast. my eyes always end up looking there, as it does not seem natural.
for the second picture, it is the background bulb that does not blend in. at first glance it looked as if you had acceidentally used the rubber on that spot during postwork.
only when looking at the picture in full size, i could resolve the situation for my perception.

its those two things, i would try to fix if it was mine.

There is a point light source across the room and the elbow and part of the arm is casting the shadow you are referring to. When I bring the arm to a other position, that shadow is gone.

f.boschanski · December 2023

Toonen1988 said:

f.boschanski said:

Toonen1988 said:

... Feedback and tips are welcome
...

At first glance, i see nothing wrong with these renders. Thoughtful settings, without taking too much attention from the main subject. They give me an impression of a more casual shot, than a set up picture. Probably due to the fact that the actor does not look towards the camera and the lighting seems less artifically placed to draw attention to some areas (for the second one that is).
However, as you already stated, on second glance i found something disturbing in each of them:
for the first picture there is a harsh shadow line below the breast. my eyes always end up looking there, as it does not seem natural.
for the second picture, it is the background bulb that does not blend in. at first glance it looked as if you had acceidentally used the rubber on that spot during postwork.
only when looking at the picture in full size, i could resolve the situation for my perception.

its those two things, i would try to fix if it was mine.

There is a point light source across the room and the elbow and part of the arm is casting the shadow you are referring to. When I bring the arm to a other position, that shadow is gone.

its not about changing the scene/pose..
you could probably add a counter light from bottom right i.e. to ease that shadow? other options would be to rotate or raise/lower the lights a bit
maybe play with intensity?

i am not saying the shadow is wrong. it is my personal taste only, that i would try to ease it. and maybe the one on the bottom leg too (though this isn`t as disturbing)

i am more of a hobby miniature painter than render artist. and when it comes to miniature painting and object source lightning, proper blending is one of the main goals i try to achieve.
(though there are cases where one might want a clear cut between areas for a certain effect or contrast)
experimenting with renders, for me, is a lesson on how colors, materials and light affect each other. i hope to be able to improve my painting this way... one day ;)

it could well be, that you want the strong cast shadow line. there is nothing wrong if so..
i am only giving "one" honest opinion, as you were asking for feedback.
i do not try to criticize, but be helpful within my limited ability.

Toonen1988 · December 2023

f.boschanski said:

its not about changing the scene/pose..
you could probably add a counter light from bottom right i.e. to ease that shadow? other options would be to rotate or raise/lower the lights a bit
maybe play with intensity?

i am not saying the shadow is wrong. it is my personal taste only, that i would try to ease it. and maybe the one on the bottom leg too (though this isn`t as disturbing)

i am more of a hobby miniature painter than render artist. and when it comes to miniature painting and object source lightning, proper blending is one of the main goals i try to achieve.
(though there are cases where one might want a clear cut between areas for a certain effect or contrast)
experimenting with renders, for me, is a lesson on how colors, materials and light affect each other. i hope to be able to improve my painting this way... one day ;)

it could well be, that you want the strong cast shadow line. there is nothing wrong if so..
i am only giving "one" honest opinion, as you were asking for feedback.
i do not try to criticize, but be helpful within my limited ability.

I know, don't worry about. I was just explaining where that shadow was coming from. I've tried to disable shadows from that light source, but didn't fixed it. I could indeed try to counter light it.

Richard Haseltine · December 2023

Toonen1988 said:

f.boschanski said:

its not about changing the scene/pose..
you could probably add a counter light from bottom right i.e. to ease that shadow? other options would be to rotate or raise/lower the lights a bit
maybe play with intensity?

i am not saying the shadow is wrong. it is my personal taste only, that i would try to ease it. and maybe the one on the bottom leg too (though this isn`t as disturbing)

i am more of a hobby miniature painter than render artist. and when it comes to miniature painting and object source lightning, proper blending is one of the main goals i try to achieve.
(though there are cases where one might want a clear cut between areas for a certain effect or contrast)
experimenting with renders, for me, is a lesson on how colors, materials and light affect each other. i hope to be able to improve my painting this way... one day ;)

it could well be, that you want the strong cast shadow line. there is nothing wrong if so..
i am only giving "one" honest opinion, as you were asking for feedback.
i do not try to criticize, but be helpful within my limited ability.

I know, don't worry about. I was just explaining where that shadow was coming from. I've tried to disable shadows from that light source, but didn't fixed it. I could indeed try to counter light it.

In Iray lights always cast shadows - if you have the setting to turn them off you most like have Prefercnes>Show Hidden Properties enabled in the pane's option menu (the lined, or "hamburger", button in the top corner or right-click on the pane's tab) as the irrelevant properties for the render engine should auto-hide.

Shinji Ikari 9th · December 2023

Here's my start for the month.

Scott Livingston · December 2023

Nice renders! I think the lighting in the second image is more effective than in the first, especially the rim light. They both show a lot of promise, though.

Toonen1988 said:

I do have a older account from August 2021, but I just started to use Daz3d 1,5 week ago after building my new computer last month. So, i'm completely new to Daz3d. I would like to kick off the december 2023 open render challenge with a render I just made today. Feedback and tips are welcome! This is the first time I participate in a challenge.

[...]

Scott Livingston · December 2023

That's a very dramatic flare effect! It really draws the eye--so much that the shooter gets a little lost in the shadows. Maybe consider adding some back lighting to help make him stand out a bit more? Looking forward to seeing where you go with this scene!

Shinji Ikari 9th said:

Here's my start for the month.

Shinji Ikari 9th · December 2023

Version B here.

I tried tweeking the luminosity of the energy blast some so it wasn't as intence, changed the settings on the lights in the alcove in the background and set the lights in the sewer tunnel we are in to the same settings as the ones in the alcove. I also did some conversion of parts of the scene to Iray.

The dificulty is that I'm using a pre-Iray set, and I'm trying to give the feel that the sewer we are in is somewere in the Fallout universe so the serviving light sources shouldn't be that bright if they're even working at all. The energy blast prop I'm using is ment to represent an overpowered shot from a plasma weapon of some sort.

f.boschanski · December 2023

Shinji Ikari 9th said:
...

for me, while the second version probably is a huge step forward, EDIT: it feels like a different scene. i liked the green reflections in the first iteration.
the main thing i would have adressed first, wasn`t the lighting.

i would have chosen a different angle.
with a more concious choice of positioning the main subject(s) or object()s, one could probably get closer to the desired result without even altering the lighting that much.
while i am in no ways an expert on this matter, i have been dabbling around with layout design many, many years ago.

for some its rules of thirds, for others its the golden cut, print layout had something close to the golden cut, for some its about about the mathematical aspect ratio of the canvas size...
whatever your choice of solution might be...
theory talks about a point where the viewers eyes is looking at first, how one might lead the viewers eyes and how harmony or disharmony do play a role (really hard to give a short summery in a non-native language)

anyways...
i found some old pictures of a design roster i had created back then as result of my dabbling. forgive the quality. they are probably around 20 years old. same as my long buried learnings bout this subject.
the first one shows an approximately geometric construction of the golden cut, combined with the basic printing layout i learned about.
it is interesting to learn, that the golden cut and the other one mark a spot very close to each other...

it is the center of the small right circle (ofc, depending on where you start constructing these - could end up being the left hand side or bottom left/right)
i was told, the one shown should be spot where the viewers eye hits the page/canvas first. though i personally assume, that it might be different for other cultures (as they learned to read and write from right to left instead)

based upon this, i constructed the underlying scheme on the second picture. meant to serve as a design help for websites back then...
"teaser" shows the place where the eyes hit first.. then below they are slowly led to the prime content you would like to have him focus on...

long talk for a short summary: i believe it might help to place the actor less cornered (give him some room) EDIT 2: (or cut the legs and give some room above the head instead? maybe)
and to maybe not cut the effect that much on top. (although that is probably exactly what you were aiming for and it is not necessarily a bad choice tbh)
that would probably lead to a bit more zoomed out or rotated camera setting.
imho, only once this has been altered and the shot is kinda settled, then it would be time to alter the lights to support the scenery
(not saying, there doesn`t need to be any lighting beforehand. the basic lighting probably should be set already. different shots might require different lighting support)

However... i might be totally wrong here... its just how my mind works

Shinji Ikari 9th · December 2023

Here's version C for this month.

I made a new camera to change the position of things while being able to go back to the previous viewpoint if I wanted to. The new camera was moved back some and shifted over so we see more of the energy blast while keeping the character fully in the right 3rd of the frame. I also did some tweeking of the settings on the the energy blast in reguards to the luminosity and opacancy.

suffo85 · December 2023

Hi, I'm new to Daz :)

Actually, new to all of this sort of stuff. I have no prior experience outside of occasionally adding an alpha mask to images in Gimp lol. I've been using Daz Studio for just a little over a month I think, or maybe a little less, give or take, I wasn't really counting. Anyway, here's my first submission if you'll take it into the new user challenge. :)

I did no post work, everything was done in Daz Studio 4.22

I did crunch the image to be a better filesize since the resolution is 4k and probably would not be allowed to be uploaded, and used Caesium Image Compressor for that.

Happy holidays, will post another submission later on if all is good with my participating. :)

OH!

Title is: Heartstrings

Software: Daz Studio 4.22 and Caesium Image Compressor

Format: .jpg

suffo85 · December 2023

Second submission

Title: PANIC

Software: Daz Studio 4.22, Gimp (no post work, environment textures were edited and applied before render), and Caesium Image Compressor

Format: .jpg (crunched)

EDIT:

Re-doing a second submission. My first one was eeh okay, but I'd like to re-do that entire image as I know I can do better with it.

My second submission is rendering now and should be ready to update post with it shortly. :)

suffo85 · December 2023

Okay. Second submission. Because who doesn't like fire? :)

Title: Hath no Fury

Software: Daz Studio 4.22 and Caesium Image Compressor

Format: .jpg (crunched & converted)

Changed it again....lol...I swear I won't make a habit of this.

Hellkitty742 · December 2023

My Beginner Submission "Hellfire with Hellspawn" I have been really working a lot the last month with volumetrics and trying not only to use them as props but as actual lighting ..and 8 point lighting set up with very little amount of scene lights mainly for coloring. This render was only post processed using contrast. Last month I had so many issues with the volumetric fog and lighting with background so I have driven deep into really working out what can work at what range and what cannot as well as intensity.

hilbertvanderstaal · December 2023

[Image Removed by Moderator]

Edit 12/22/2023, image updated concerning daz rules.

Intermediate Challenge: Open Render Challenge

Title: "Resonaunce - manifestation"

About:

Tick… Tick… Tick… Tick… Tick… The sound gradually disappeared in the background and was followed by a gentle hum. Slowly, Melody opened her eyes. Radiant neon-like colours were blinding her field of view and she was almost certain that these colours had already been perceivable before through the thin skin of her eyelids. But now that her eyes were open, she felt entirely disoriented and it was very difficult for Melody to process the information that she obtained from her surroundings. She couldn’t tell left from right and up from down. Everything looked so surreal.

“Why have you come, child?” she heard a deep angelic voice confront her from afar. “Step out of the dark. You are granted to speak,” the voice assured her calmly.

In front of Melody stood a tall captivating woman dressed in — what suddenly seemed to her as — one of the most seductive outfits she had ever seen. The ankle length transparent dress she was wearing flowed over her body like a current, made out of delicate tangerine-patterned knitted lace. Her limbs were decorated and wrapped up in shiny golden body chains and the black-golden makeup she wore, had the shape of a rotated bass clef seen in musical notation sometimes. On her head she had a headdress, garnished with items that were probably symbolizing the Kikada. Skulls, antlers and feathers that draped all the way down her back and around her neck she had a collar with some teeth and something that looked like a horn. In her hands, she held a metronome and a tuning fork. Melody figured that those were the ticking and ringing sounds she was hearing before, but she had no idea what their purpose were yet. As the woman stepped towards her, she noticed the flickering aureole around her head and Melody realized that this was the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Finally, she had found her. The true appearance of Amna.

Background info:

This artwork is part of a musical project I'm working on. The image and text will be featured on the album and is just a slice of a much much bigger story and I'm using Daz3D for all the artworks to visualize this.
A lot of the items I used like the dress and props are retextured. The character is completely hand sculpted with the morphing tools listed below. This is the first time I share it. Hope you like it!

Products used:

Character:
Macey and Chani HD with HD Expression for Genesis 8 Female

Morphs:
Genesis 8 Female Body Morphs
Genesis 8 Female Head Morphs
EJ Face Morphs And Details for Genesis 8 Female(s) Not available in Daz store anymore.
200 Plus Head and Face Morphs for Genesis 8 Female(s)
Breast Control Genesis 8 Female(s)

Clothing:
Hongyu's Bikini for Genesis 8 Female(s)
dForce Inquisitor Robe for Genesis 8 Male(s)
dForce Summer Muse Outfit for Genesis 8 Female(s)
Y'vas Outfit for Genesis 8 Female
Egyptian Outfit for Genesis 3 Female(s)
Axarra Headdress for Genesis 8 Female(s)

Hair:
dforce Fringe Benefits Hair for Genesis 3 and 8.1 Female
Rhogue HD for Genesis 8 Female

Jewelry & decoration:
Body Chains 3 for Genesis 3 and 8.1 Females
Feathered Fantasy Headdress for Genesis 3 and 8 Female(s)
Havoc Outfit for Genesis 3 Male(s)
Fantasy Deer Fawn Kit with dForce for Genesis 8.1 Females
Elephant skull - source untraceable
Mouse skull - source untraceable
Bat skull - source untraceable

Lighting, environment & props:
Infinity HDRI Lighting Volume 2
Neural Notions - Quantum Landscape 8k HDRIs
Iray Distance Mist
Metronome - source untraceable
Tuning fork- source untraceable

Software used: Daz3d Studio

Bastet's Muse · December 2023

Title: The Only Way To Fly

Challenge: Beginner

I fell in love with one of the poses in the set I have linked below and just had to use it. Wanting the focus to be on the character and pose, I decided to keep the image uncomplicated. I have always had trouble moving 3D items around. Posing and scaling the individual butterflies, as well as adjusting the hair, taught me a lot about what the different parameters do. So, though simple, it was definitely a learning experience.

It also took me awhile to get the character’s expression right. She is supposed to have a blissful smile on her face, but I’m not sure if I succeeded.

I have included two versions because I am not certain which one looks best. The one with lots of butterflies uses one of the butterfly flurries that come with the set so I didn’t have to pose those. I added a few more to it as well. I'm not sure why but the extra butterflies changed the lighting a bit. Yep, still a newbie.

As always, feedback is appreciated.

Character: https://www.daz3d.com/fwsa-vanessa-hd-for-victoria-7-and-her-jewelry

Hair: https://www.daz3d.com/laguna-naoko-hair-for-genesis-3-female-s-genesis-2-female-s-and-victoria-4

Dress: https://www.daz3d.com/isidora-dress-for-genesis-3-female-s

Dress Texture: https://www.daz3d.com/embroidered-fabric-shader-presets-linen-and-cotton

Pose and Butterflies: https://www.daz3d.com/dance-of-the-butterfly-poses-and-props

HDRI: https://www.daz3d.com/skies-of-economy-redux--volume-3

Stargazey · December 2023

"Remembrance of Christmases Past" - an old man, sitting alone, gazing into the firelight, remembering past Christmases.

Intermediate challenge, made in DAZ Studio, Iray, post work in Affinity Photo.

This is a bit of "mix and match" with the room, furniture and props coming from various places. The chair was a Christmas freebie a couple of years ago, the candles etc on top of the fireplace were part of a freebie this year (I think!) and the cap and nightshirt is a freebie by xmasrose, available from Rendo.

Bastet's Muse · December 2023

The more I consider the two renders, I think that the one with the fewer butterflies looks better. This is the updated version of that image. I moved and changed the colors of some of the butterflies and used a different shader on the character's hair.

suffo85 · January 1

Challenge: Beginner

Title: The Catwalk

Software: Daz Studio & Caesium Image Compressor

Format: .jpg crunched

Just wanted to do something original. Girl holding fireball seems overdone. Originally this render began as a joke and I have another version of it, but that one is probably borderline as far as content rating goes and I didn't want to test my luck. Anyway, the original amused me enough to make a second version for here to submit, and withdrawal my previous entry of "Hath no Fury." The models are all supposed to be in their "stock" clothing, as they are intended to just be themselves. The idea behind the original was all "the nines" were jealous that the cat gets all the attention.

Sadly I didn't have all the stock clothing or hairs, so I just had to substitute as best I could with things I did have.

Happy new years!

Scott Livingston · January 1

Nice job, everyone! And Happy New Year!

The contest is now closed.

Scott Livingston · January 7

Showcase for the New User Challenge December 2023

Open Render Challenge: Beginner

StarKittee - Learning to Fly

Hellkitty742 - Hellfire with Hellspawn

Open Render Challenge: Intermediate

hilbertvanderstaal - Resonaunce - manifestation

Resonaunce - manifestation

Stargazey - Remembrance of Christmases Past

Remembrance of Christmases Past

New User Welcome

suffo85 - The Catwalk

The Catwalk

Scott Livingston · January 7

Congratulations and great work, everyone! See you in the January challenge!

Hellkitty742 · January 8

Very Nice work all I loved the Imagination in these :)

hilbertvanderstaal · January 11

Thank you so much! Congrats to all!

Bastet's Muse · January 11

Congratulations on the creative renders, everyone!

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