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January 2017 - Daz 3D New User Challenge - Composition

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  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,374

    This has been a great month of challenge entries and collaboration on suggestions. I've enjoyed the images I've seen here and the progress of getting to the final result.

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited January 2017

    Okay, here is what I hope is the final version of my singer.  I redid the postwork and held back to conservative.  I hope it's better.

    @Shortcut  I do all of my post in Gimp using the NIK Collection of filters.  I'm in love with them, but sometimes I go a little overboard.  I'm trying to learn some control.  I actually use several different filters and then composite the layers and play with the opacity until I find something I like.  I don't usually just use one filter.

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  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,374
    edited January 2017
    Knittingmommy said:

    Okay, here is what I hope is the final version of my singer.  I redid the postwork and held back to conservative.  I hope it's better.

    Two thumbs up!

    Post edited by barbult on
  • ShortcutShortcut Posts: 68
    edited January 2017
    barbult said:
    Knittingmommy said:

    Okay, here is what I hope is the final version of my singer.  I redid the postwork and held back to conservative.  I hope it's better.

    Two thumbs up!

    @knittingmommy

    Yep, I agree, that’s a whole lot better! You have good separation now between your figure and the background, more vibrant colour in the hair, plus the arms don't look so virulent ...

     – I’m not actually a GIMP user as I’ve always been fond of photoshop and invested a lot of hours into learning how to use it effectively.

    When you apply a filter in GIMP, does it apply the effect globally/across the whole image or layer, or can you apply local effects with selections and masking?

    I ask because from your previous postworked example it looked like an effect was applied across the whole image, which I can understand would be a source of frustration – because while you may fix one thing by applying a filter, you may also introduce another problem in another area as a result.

    If you can apply a filter locally, (ie) by adding a mask so that only your figure’s hair is affected for example, then the rest of the image won't suffer the consequences of unwanted effects.

    I will have to try out GIMP to see what's possible, otherwise I'd just be guessing. Not trying to force you into photoshop though ... it's just the tool I learnt to use and I've never seen the need to change it.

    Post edited by Shortcut on
  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    @Shortcut  Thanks!  Gimp has masks and ways to select just parts of an image.  Half the time I forget to do that so I sometimes need to go in and do it backwards and just get rid of the parts of the image I didn't want to be affected.  There are ways to do that, too, which aren't that difficult.  I've been doing a whole series of Gimp tutorials on my thread, but I haven't done a masking tutorial yet.  From what I've seen, it does it in much the same way that Photoshop does it.  I'm still learning, though,  I need to play with masks more and get a better handle on using them.

    I've only seriously been doing postwork on my images for the past six months.  I still have a lot to learn.  Before that, if I couldn't do it all in DS then it didn't get done because I didn't know how to do it.  The good part of that was that I learned a lot about tone mapping and doing effects inside DS before I ever started working with postwork in Gimp.

    @Barbult  I'm happy with the two thumbs up! :)

    I'm glad the new version is better.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    KM I like it much better now.  That sharp shadow is still there but now it fits and doesn't jump out at me.  Looks great!

    I have to say I think I enjoyed this month more than the months when I actually did a render.  Its been most interesting to see how everyone has progressed and I always find it facinating to see the beginning then see all the changes, subtle or not so subtle that wind up in the final image.  You guys all did a great job, and I really hope you had fun while doing it.  I loved participating in these challenges the last year, not only did I make some good friends I think my learning curve multiplied many times over and it would have taken me a lot longer to learn how to do things without them.  Hope to see you all next month!

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    I agree.  You guys did great this month and I think the whole thread has been more relaxed and you guys really helped each other out a lot!  I loved seeing all of the helpful hints everyone has been giving this month.  My favorite part of this thread is always seeing the progression of each image.

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    Oh, and thanks, Ice Dragon Art! I'm glad I was able to do it so we both got what we wanted with that shadow! :)

  • rcbcgreenpanzerrcbcgreenpanzer Posts: 99
    Shortcut said:

    I agree with the comment already made that your figure might be leaning down to touch something that has caught her eye. I think that is quite a powerful idea in that she is surrounded by a warm and beautiful, relaxing countryside landscape, however something else, something small and curious has caught her attention which also draws our attention and curiosity away from that idyll. Alternatively, the same beautiful landscape could be juxtaposed with your figure’s sadness, inviting us to ponder on her melancholy, or is she simply tired from a long hike?

    Perhaps you could change the time of day to assist in conveying the mood of the image? Late afternoon or evening with long shadows can be more melancholy, or bright morning can seem more cheerful and promising. Perhaps you’d like to have the sun just peeping over the edge of the hill above your figure? Has it just rained and there is something catching your figure’s eye in a reflective puddle of water? Or maybe you’d like to surround her with even more colour so that she seems almost lost in flowers and nature?

    One other suggestion I’d like to make is to change the angle of the fence in your composition. Right now it is flat and lies directly across the middle of your image from one side to the other, which makes it seem static. If you angled it and had one end of the fence dwindling off into the background you can help convey the impression of depth in the landscape and create a more interesting perspective.

    Keep going with this! I'm curious how you will continue with it :-)

    (I'm not quite sure how to best do multiple quotes)

    Updated version follows. I think the tips about the skybox and the fence helped a lot. Most of my attention was on trying to send less of a sad, melancholy vibe and more upbeat, if exhausted.

    I'm still not sure I got the emotional balance right. At least, now she has a focus, rather than just being slumped.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    Knittingmommy said:

    Oh, and thanks, Ice Dragon Art! I'm glad I was able to do it so we both got what we wanted with that shadow! :)

    In the end you have to be the one happy with lol.  I think you did a great job with balancing it out.

     

    rcbcgreenpanzer_bafa8f91a7 said:
    Shortcut said:

    I agree with the comment already made that your figure might be leaning down to touch something that has caught her eye. I think that is quite a powerful idea in that she is surrounded by a warm and beautiful, relaxing countryside landscape, however something else, something small and curious has caught her attention which also draws our attention and curiosity away from that idyll. Alternatively, the same beautiful landscape could be juxtaposed with your figure’s sadness, inviting us to ponder on her melancholy, or is she simply tired from a long hike?

    Perhaps you could change the time of day to assist in conveying the mood of the image? Late afternoon or evening with long shadows can be more melancholy, or bright morning can seem more cheerful and promising. Perhaps you’d like to have the sun just peeping over the edge of the hill above your figure? Has it just rained and there is something catching your figure’s eye in a reflective puddle of water? Or maybe you’d like to surround her with even more colour so that she seems almost lost in flowers and nature?

    One other suggestion I’d like to make is to change the angle of the fence in your composition. Right now it is flat and lies directly across the middle of your image from one side to the other, which makes it seem static. If you angled it and had one end of the fence dwindling off into the background you can help convey the impression of depth in the landscape and create a more interesting perspective.

    Keep going with this! I'm curious how you will continue with it :-)

    (I'm not quite sure how to best do multiple quotes)

    Updated version follows. I think the tips about the skybox and the fence helped a lot. Most of my attention was on trying to send less of a sad, melancholy vibe and more upbeat, if exhausted.

    I'm still not sure I got the emotional balance right. At least, now she has a focus, rather than just being slumped.

    Now she looks more like she stopped to tie her shoe and rest for a minute.  And she looks a bit sweaty too which is helping as well.

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,956

    This challenge is now closed

  • DAZ_ann0314DAZ_ann0314 Posts: 2,849

    As this is now a Challenge (with prizes) and not a "Contest" anymore, the next part of this will be a bit different than before. We will be spotlighting various artists for different reasons (and from month to month what will spotlight and why will vary). Each spotlighted artist will get a $10.00 Gift Certificate to the store as part of that spotlight and one person will get a $5.00 "Welcome" Gift Certificate. It is our intention to spotlight the hard work and dedication of those participating and to use those who did well at attempting to master the topic as an example to try and help others.

    We hope that this new format will be encouraging and make this challenge special for those that participate.

    With all the changes, please do give us some extra time as it may take a bit longer than usual to look through and pick the artists/images.

    Also, as this is all in somewhat of a testing phase, we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to go to this thread: New User Contest Revamp Discussion Thread and let us know what you think. What do you like about the new format? What would you like to see improved? How do you feel about the changes? We would love to hear from you! heart

  • dstuffledstuffle Posts: 38
    Shortcut said:
    dstuffle said:

    I've tried to take everyone's advice (and thank you all for giving it to me), and I think my scene is stronger for it (I could, of course, be wrong).

    I moved the clock forward by 5 - 15 seconds, the shootee is now down in the dirt, the horse is now looking at the shooter (as far as its reins will let it, being tied to the hitching post and all), and the smoke is just a trickle rising from the six-shooter (not the massive rolling blast).

    Please let me know what you think about this (hopefully final) draft.

    @dstuffle

    You’ve done well with changes to your image and taking people’s advice on board. I love the sepia/brown look that gives it a grittier/old world feel in keeping with the theme. Two things I would like to suggest – the first perhaps being to move the dead person in slightly so that his hand isn’t outside the frame. It’s a small thing, but it can be a little distracting as if the picture had been cropped in the wrong place. The second is perhaps consider adding a subtle vignette. The scene is very bright and a vignette can help by framing your scene and keeping the viewer’s eye inside. Not everyone will agree with vignettes, and there are a lot of different ways of doing them, but it can help a lot in directing people's attention to your image.

     

    Thanks for the suggestions.  I'll give them a shot.

  • ShortcutShortcut Posts: 68
    rcbcgreenpanzer_bafa8f91a7 said:
     

    Updated version follows. I think the tips about the skybox and the fence helped a lot. Most of my attention was on trying to send less of a sad, melancholy vibe and more upbeat, if exhausted.

    I'm still not sure I got the emotional balance right. At least, now she has a focus, rather than just being slumped.

    The change to her pose is great, it works well and now we know that she's a very tired hiker. The scene has gone a little dark though and I would suggest lightening it up a little. You can still keep that beautiful late  afternoon glow, it adds a lovely softness.

    With the fence, I meant something a little more dramatic - please see attached picture and also please excuse my very very bad hand-drawing. By having the fence dwindle into the distance, you create perspective and give the viewer a line to follow as it leads the eye through the rest of the image and back again to your subject - the hiker on the bench.

    file - Copy.png
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  • ShortcutShortcut Posts: 68
    edited February 2017
    proust.gilles_42b40cd4bb said:

    Hi !

    My 3rd scene, i wanted to do a scene with a car.

    @ proust.gilles_42b40cd4bb

    Neat! You’ve done well to position and fill the frame with the car.

    One thing I would like to suggest is to move or get rid of that pole sticking out from behind the car – it’s very distracting and looks like it’s growing out of its roof. It may not be faithful to reality to remove it but you are creating an artwork to showcase the car.

    Keep at it!

    Post edited by Shortcut on
  • DAZ_ann0314DAZ_ann0314 Posts: 2,849
    edited March 2017

    Showcased Participants for the January Composition Challenge

    Most Improved Artist - For this Showcase we looked at where the artist started their piece to where it ended up, the number of edits, and how those edits benefited the image as far as the theme of Composition.

    For those reasons we have selected dstuffle to showcase smiley
    image


    Most Creative/Unique Perspective - For this Showcase we took a look at who we felt applied a unique or creative perspective or added extra creative "oomph" to their image. The person we felt had a perspective that was most "outside the box" and original.


    The New User we felt best showed that this month was yhzmurphy
    image
     

    Best Example of the Topic - For this Showcase we took a look at who we felt demonstrated the most growth of knowledge on the topic of Composition. We payed special attention to edits that showed an attempt at applying or experimenting with different rules of composition and who we felt ended the challenge with the most rounded/solid understanding of the topic.

    The New User we felt best showcased those things this month was kanegs
    image
     

    New User - Welcome

    lolitojfr and delirious

    image  image

    Congratulations to those we spotlighted as well as to all those who participated in the Challenge. Looking, every single person who participated got votes in one of the above topics which shows that as a group you all did such a wonderful job! I am very impressed with each and every one of you, how well you worked together and helped each other, how much each of you worked towards the goals of the competition, and how lovely a group you all were to work with! smiley

    To those above who were showcased: Please use the instructions here for how to claim your prize for being showcased: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/43825/#Comment_43825

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  • DAZ_ann0314DAZ_ann0314 Posts: 2,849
    edited February 2017

    There is still a discussion going on here: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2070981/#Comment_2070981 where we are still kicking around ideas on how to keep improving the challenge so if you would like to give any feedback on your experience with the contest this month or add any thoughts on any of the ideas (or add additional ideas) we would love to hear from you heart

    Post edited by DAZ_ann0314 on
  • yhzmurphyyhzmurphy Posts: 434

    Thank-you so much.  It was a really fun challenge, and there were so many other great compositions and wonderful comments.  Congrats to the others showcased, and the other participants who created wonderful pieces.

  • ShortcutShortcut Posts: 68

    Congrats to the showcased artists and also well done to everyone who participated. It was a lot of fun joining in, hope to see everyone in February's challenge!

  • daybirddaybird Posts: 655

    Congrats to all the winner ( Hey yhzmurphy... you did itwink) and my consolation to all those who went empty. Do not be sad, after all, we had an interesting month and learned a lot again, which is the main thing. :)

  • DAZ_ann0314DAZ_ann0314 Posts: 2,849
    edited February 2017
    daybird said:

    Congrats to all the winner ( Hey yhzmurphy... you did itwink) and my consolation to all those who went empty. Do not be sad, after all, we had an interesting month and learned a lot again, which is the main thing. :)

    Yep! And as I mentioned, every single person was pointed out to me by at least one of the people who was reviewing (it's a team of people) to try to sort who to spotlight. So everyone really did an amazing job!

    Post edited by DAZ_ann0314 on
  • AGnawKneeMooseAGnawKneeMoose Posts: 26
    edited February 2017

    Congrats to the winners!  And yes, no one should feel... No one is... Oh dear.

    SadnessOnTheRails

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  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,956
    AGnawKneeMoose said:

    Congrats to the winners!  And yes, no one should feel... No one is... Oh dear.

    SadnessOnTheRails

    Haha, this is so sweet! It's like in the Jackie Chan films where in the end you see the whole team, bad guys and good guys together.

  • DeliriousDelirious Posts: 34

    Thanks for running the contests andproviding feedback. It helps and its fun!

  • kanegskanegs Posts: 80

    Congratulations everyone!

    I thought that there was more of a discussion with the new challenge format.

    Thanks for all the feedback and for the recognition!

  • rosselianirosseliani Posts: 374

    Thanks to all the team and artists, I really learn a lot about CG on the forums, and it helps me to improve my limited knowledge of the english language as well!

     

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    AGnawKneeMoose said:

    Congrats to the winners!  And yes, no one should feel... No one is... Oh dear.

    SadnessOnTheRails

    I love that!  LOL!  I happen to love outtakes from movies and that's exactly what this reminded me of.  :)

    Congratulations everyone on great images and learning lots! :)

  • mauromenichinomauromenichino Posts: 8
    edited February 2017

    Here is my last works...hope you like!

    Images removed because of Nudity                Please review the Daz Forum ToS  bullet point #1 of the general code of conduct

    Posts, threads, and images MUST NOT contain ANY nudity, violence, or profanity.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • nihaowangmannihaowangman Posts: 0

    Very much like this picture, clarity, thanks to share

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