Curse

Minami · Oct 13, 2010, 03:03 PM // 15:03

Hey Everyone,

Since some of you expressed that I should open my own thread, here it is.

I decided I won't be taking any GW1 commissions, sorry...
While I do need money in GW1 to finish my HoM, I decided I wanted to concentrate setting up my base 3D figures in preparation of taking and doing GW2 commissions.

Hope to have your business there ^_^

Until then, you can take a look at my DA gallery to see some of my works.

Cheers!

`````` http://liviazita.deviantart.com/ ```````

Minami · Oct 16, 2010, 01:55 PM // 13:55

Ok, so here is a post about how a 3D picture starts to come together.
I'm working on a picture for one of my friends, where I try to recreate what she looks like, and use that figure in a steampunk fantasy-style render.

I'll work on putting together a proper first post over the weekend.

This is what I always start out with... DAZ Studio 3 Advanced opened up, and the base figure V4 loaded in. This picture will be done using pre-made models. Making your own models is complicated, and I won't get into it. Depending on the level of detail and what you want to model and rig, it can take days, or months.

Here, the face shape and everything is still the base model's, but I loaded a texture, and selected the eyelight I imagine would be the closest to what her surroundings would be.
This skin texture is very detailed, but we'll get to that later.

Using some seriously detailed morph dials, I shaped the head to look like my friend's.

Notice on the right side of the screen, just some of the details that can be done tto achieve the look you want.

On the left side, you can see the "bones". Bones are areas that can individually be moved. That's what rigging enables. If you create a figure from scratch in a 3D program, that figure is called a "prop", and nothing can be moved on it. Until you rig it, that is.

Rigging is about 80% of the work in making a 3D model work the way most people like it.
Of course you could model an entire picture where your figure is already posed, etc, but then you can't exactly use that model for a different picture with a different pose.

As an example, let's say you want to set up a scene of a horse running. You model the horse exactly the way you want it to look in your picture. It will take you a long time to get everything just right. Then you set up everything else in your pic (textures, surroundings, lights, etc), render it, and OMG your picture looks amazing. HOWEVER, since your horse model wasn't rigged, you cannot take it again and use it in a picture where that same horse is jumping over a fallen over tree. You'd have to remodel the horse, re-texture it, etc etc.
Rigging enables you to use the same exact model without having to remodel it, because your model then has joints, which you can then move.

Hope this makes sense. ^_^

Anyways, here is the morphed head, and I added the hair too and used a black colored hair texture on it:

Now, we zoom out a bit, and I added the steampunk style clothes she's going to be wearing. The clothes are conformed to the model, and I attached them to her, which means I can pose her and move her around, and the clothes will stay on her and follow her movement. The clothes are also rigged.

Here I made the pose I think I'd like her to have, and am in the process of doing the movement morphs for her clothes. This outfit has a LOT of movement possibilities.

I created one single distant light source here (seen in the top left of the instances tab), because I'll be working on the skin texture refinements soon, and I like to have shadows being cast and enabled when I do my test renders.
I'm picking out the color of the light here, what I'd imagine would fit my background.
Usually by this time I found a background I'd like to use, but I don't have it visible here for a while. The whole background or surroundings can be either a .jpg image, or I can set up the whole shebang in 3D.

I created another camera view here, so I can zoom around and check things without having to touch my already set scene camera angle (it's frustrating to work with only one camera, since you always check minute details up close, then having to reset your exact angle you want the picture to be taken from is a PITA). This way I can just switch over to my pose camera whenever I need to refine something.

On this following pic, I did a test spot render (spot render = renders the area selected by you for quick inspection, rather than always having to render the entire pic if you just wanna see something specific).
I don't like the way her skin looks, her lips look painfully chapped and her skin looks extremely dry.

Went over to the surfaces tab, and selected all the areas I wanted changes to be made on. You can see that in the right side of the window. I selected the skin surface areas, and lowered the bump maps which were waaaay too high (120%). down to 5.5%.
Looking much better now.

Now we do a full shot test render with shadows enabled, to see how everything looks. Not bad so far. ^_^

This is where I got to yesterday, will work some more on it later. It's quite urgent that I get this picture done, I have the weekend to finish it.

More to come soon, ad I hope it was at least mildly interesting to you. ^_^

Tommy's · Oct 16, 2010, 02:33 PM // 14:33

Cool stuff Minami. I dont get a shit about it though

Those cloths and such, are those presets? You download them somewhere, or you make them yourself? And can you choose where the light is coming from and what kind of light and then the program automaticly adjusts that? That would be so awesome

Minami · Oct 16, 2010, 02:43 PM // 14:43

The clothes I use here are already modeled and rigged, I bought them here: http://www.daz3d.com/i/shop/itemdetails/?item=10945

They are very well done, they have a lot of options to use. Unfortunately they only come with one texture, but someone else created more textures for it and I might buy them.

Like I said in the post, making models (be it human figures, animals, clothes, anything) is quite difficult, if you want to do quality stuff. Especially if you want to make that figure poseable.

Yes you can set up where the light comes from. There are several major light styles:
Distant light (you use that as a light source from things like the sun, moon, etc.)
Spot light (well, it's a spot light

)
Point light (imitates light source from anything that glows, such as candles, magical energy balls, etc)

Each light setting has many setting with which you can adjust your light to look exactly the way you want it.

Once you set up the light, you do a render, and depending on your settings, the program calculates it for you where the shadows are, how dark they are, what the fall-off point is, and such. To get the lighting you want, you need to know exactly what setting does what, what the difference is between deep shadow map and raytraced shadows, etc etc.

EDIT: For instance, that clothes model I linked... here is a link to the same exact model, but with different textures on it: http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/0/a...0946&cat=&_m=d

This pack does NOT include the models, only the texture maps for it. It takes some serious skills to make textures look good.

Tzu · Oct 16, 2010, 02:45 PM // 14:45

that is interesting, thanks for sharing!

I love her oufit X3 the swooshy things are awesome..

Minami · Oct 16, 2010, 02:50 PM // 14:50

Oooh swooshy things are way awesome ^_^
That outfit can be morphed to be ridiculously gigantically swooshy, but I like the swirly thing I made in this pic *lol*

Thanks for reading

Minami · Oct 16, 2010, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Here is a super little progress thingy for right now...
Weather is awesome outside, time to take a nap in the breeze ^_^

I made my background visible, and also changed all the lighting from 1 distant light to 2 spot lights to comply with the background's lighting.
The lines you see in the picture are the spot lights' property settings, how far they shine, how wide the light is, when the falloff is, the intensity, center of beam, and so on.
Oh and I also changed the left arm's pose, I didn't like the leaning thing there, it didn't fit with the BG.

On this pic below, I am running a test render to see how the lighting looks.
This is what I do a lot, test after test... Depending on the complexity of the picture (and the size [resolution] you wanna render with), one render can take anywhere from a few minutes to hours to days. This is where the computer calculates how materials look, how lights look, how shadows look, what's transparent ad what's not, ambient light, and many other things, all depending on whether you set it up or not, and if yes, how.

This last pic, I spun some dials to create her expression and individually adjusted each eye to look where I want her to

I'm not completely satisfied with that, so I'll be fiddling with some more settings. I also tilted her head up a bit, I didn't like the shadow cast on her nose before. :P
What you see is yet another test render.

That's it for right now ^_^ Will be back to it later

KiyaKoreena · Oct 16, 2010, 04:26 PM // 16:26

That is so neat to read. :-)

Thistle Xandra · Oct 16, 2010, 11:30 PM // 23:30

thanks for sharing that step by step

it seems like a really fun tool to play with

Minami · Oct 16, 2010, 11:50 PM // 23:50

It really is

Especially once you know what everything does and you know the usual values for let's say making leather look like shiny leather in the surfaces tab, or setting up some radical lighting.

What I'm posting here is mostly just progress pictures, if I were to go in depth about explaining what I set up and why and where, these posts would be helluva lot longer

` Marshmallow · Oct 17, 2010, 02:27 AM // 02:27

WOW O___O~! Thats so cool! Her outfit is so pretty !! The only 3d program thing I've ever used was this AutoDesk Alias thing.. xD

bebe · Oct 19, 2010, 02:43 PM // 14:43

Gorgeoussssssss.... =D

I might have to request once it's open.. (=

Minami · Oct 22, 2010, 03:41 PM // 15:41

So... I'm finally finished with my Halloween piece, and as much as I'm trying not to, I can't help but hope that I place.

But then again, I tend to do that.

Dunno if it's a good thing or not, but whatevs.

I already know my wintersday picture's idea and layout, so the commishes won't be open until I'm finished with that.

I have no ideas about how much one artsy piece will cost you, so don't ask me about it yet.

I need to ask some people and look into it some more. ^_^

Minami · Nov 27, 2010, 01:49 AM // 01:49

Umm so I'm digging up my old thread here, to tell you guys that Ballistic Publishing is taking entries for Expose 9.
Ballistic Publishing is most famous for their amazing books showcasing the best art from around the world (the Exotique and Expose books).
There's no deadline posted yet, and you can only see the submission guidelines after you register for now.
Kekai Kotaki usually gets several places in both books.

It's worth a try to submit, who knows, maybe you'll get in! ^_^

As for me, I'm going to play the new Assassin's Creed for now

Perynne · Nov 27, 2010, 06:35 AM // 06:35

Uhhh... I'd love to get into Expose someday, but I think I'm definitely nowhere near good enough now.

Perhaps in a year or so, I'll dare to attempt to send in something!

And hehe, I'm STILL working on the first Assassin's Creed. Have been for months now.... keep getting distracted by other games.

InfestedHydralisk · Nov 27, 2010, 12:57 PM // 12:57

I have never played an Assassin's Creed game ever. But I think everyone should play Starcraft 2!

Minami · Nov 27, 2010, 01:05 PM // 13:05

AC is huge fun, I really like the historical conspiracy style of it ^_^

InfestedHydralisk · Nov 27, 2010, 01:12 PM // 13:12

How long do the games actually last. They used to last about to 20 hours worth of story gameplay. But games nowadays last like 8 hours max.

Minami · Nov 27, 2010, 08:01 PM // 20:01

It makes a difference how players play the game.
I like to sneak around, look at things, appreciate the reflections in the water, trampling into puddles to see if it sprays water in the air, if I see a little niche between two houses I'll go check to see if I can somehow squeeze in there, etc. ^_^
So games usually last a long time for me

If someone just plays to just practically run through the storyline with no tact and no appreciation of the look of the game, then I suppose it's a medium length game.
There's a lot to discover in AC: B, and if you read every info about people, locations, etc., it immerses you so much

I read in a review that people found the story confusing. I bet they just didn't pay attention to the details

Minami · Jan 13, 2011, 02:46 AM // 02:46

My try for realistic skin in 3D