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Comments
She needs an expression. What is the emotion you wish to convey? You don't need to touch to have interaction, but you need emotional interactions. Sometimes those can be the most difficult- especially if there is no physical contact.You can use the body and together with the face to connect the two.
Here is one of my old images that conveys this nicely IMHO
Great example
See You Later?
Is this better?
That looks better. Have you considered doing something with the body language? Arms crossed or face turned away a bit? Just thinking out loud here.
try getting a little more movement into her.
I still see the EYE problem myself. Try this one for KICKS, Create a NULL move the null far enough away that it is JUST beyond the place she would be looking. Then Expand the Figure in the Scene Tab and select one eye, USE Parameters to POINT AT with the NULL as the target, then do the same to the other eye. You can then move the Null and both eyes will update to look at the null and follow it. The Looking off into space effect should end after that.
try getting a little more movement into her.My mucky mind is at it again with that look.
Took your advice and tried this.
I understand what you are suggesting but have no idea how to do that.
Thanks everyone for your help and excellent suggestions. Even if you are driving me crazy. :-)
NM.. this one works fully for me. And I thought I sort of walked you through it. Create (create Menu all I left out I think.)
I understand what you are suggesting but have no idea how to do that.
Thanks everyone for your help and excellent suggestions. Even if you are driving me crazy. :-)
Looks much more alive! The closed eyes give it a bit more of a candid look. Less staged.
Hope you don't mind me picking your image to bits nedkelly. It is a great start don't get me wrong but your subject matter is lost in a sea of emptyness. light emptiness that is. Can I suggest reframing (example below). I also drakened to other in Photoshop but well placed spot lights should be able to do the same.
Good example of two figures intereacting though..
For any newcomers can I suggest reading up on composition http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/12654/
No I dont mind at all Pete, it's pretty much the reason for posting here.
I disagree with you though. You would be right if it were a portrait but by cropping the image you lose the sense of the setting, where the actors are. As an experienced photographer and film-maker I have learned that sometimes a wide shot is every bit as important in telling a story as a close up. From the cropped shot you cant tell that the figures are in a bar dancing to the jukebox.
Kismet, it's true they do tend to drive us crazy.. but we learn so much on the way that it's worth it *smiles warmly* I was ready to go ballistic at some point last contest, but in the end I realised I had learnt a lot during the quite crazy ride *grins* And not only from what they adviced me, but also from what they adviced and explained to the other who were in the contest
So here is a special thanks to all of you who take your time to help us newbies along.. *pounces around to deliver hugs, cake and fresh fruit* (yes Szark, I pounced again...*smiles teasingly* )
Too true but you still have a lot of empty LIght space that doesn't work to make your subject matter stand out.
If you read that link I sent in particular a link (in the framing section) to a post by LycanthropeX http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/10909/P15/#162286
You can still have the Jukebox in the scene just tyr to make it more intimate and not so barren and open.
I'm posting this in the hopes that it might be either generally useful for people who struggle with this, and/or specifically useful to nedkelly (Ned, it sounds like you have more experience in visual arts than I do, and I suspect I'm probably just repeating things you already know about, but I hope you appreciate hearing my take on your image anyway).
I agree with Szark's diagnosis that Ned's image could be improved by putting more visual emphasis on the characters. In terms of "treatment" I think there are several options.
A close crop, as Szark suggested, is one very effective way of drawing attention to your main subject(s). But as Ned says, it does come at the cost of losing some of the setting, and thus the context of the image. It's the right choice in some but not all circumstances. You just have to ask yourself what are the advantages of a narrow field of view, and whether they are worth it considering what would be left out.
There are various ways to draw the viewer's eye to where you want it to go without cropping out all the other stuff you want in the scene. Lighting is a very important factor, as are color and contrast. Depth of field can be extremely powerful too, allowing you to leave some of the extra details in the foreground and/or background out of focus.
In Szark's post he linked to some information and examples of how to compose a scene to help draw the viewer's eye to what is most important (addressing all the things mentioned above, and more). For anyone who hasn't clicked the link, it is definitely worth a look.
Jaderail's Golden Rules Camera Prop was also linked to earlier, but it's worth mentioning again, as it can really be helpful in setting this up right in DAZ Studio (it doesn't work in other software, though there's a free Bryce version too, by David Brinnen and Horo.
Another nice artistic trick is to arrange the scene such that it contains various lines that converge on the subject. Often (but not always) this is achieved by positioning the subject in front of the vanishing point. Though it's not a perfect example, I consciously tried to exploit this technique in the the image posted below.
Finally, here are links to a few example images (selected from among the standout images in the 2013 Stonemason Catalog Contest, always a great source of inspiration) that I feel effectively show off the subject while also providing the context/setting. As you can see, there are different tactics and combinations of tactics that can be used to good effect.
By Jamahoney
By Redhorse
By Mattymanx
By scorpio64dragon
By Geminii23
Took your advice and tried this.
I think her pose and expression are much better...the emotion, or rather mixture of emotions, is clearer now. It's difficult to depict complicated feelings, and I like what you've done with it.
That having been said, what's lost here is the sense that she is walking away (people usually don't walk around with their arms crossed and eyes closed). You'll have to decide how important that is...I certainly don't think it is essential.
Took your advice and tried this.
I think her pose and expression are much better...the emotion, or rather mixture of emotions, is clearer now. It's difficult to depict complicated feelings, and I like what you've done with it.
That having been said, what's lost here is the sense that she is walking away (people usually don't walk around with their arms crossed and eyes closed). You'll have to decide how important that is...I certainly don't think it is essential.
Neither did I which is why I sacrificed her walking away for a, hopefully, more dramatic pose.
I would never have decided on this course if not for all the suggestions.
Thanks everyone.
Novica, Glad you like it *grins* specially since I do so too, like it enough to consider it done even *smiles*
EvilProducer, thanks for that idea of null/target.. must admit I have never actually played with null at all. Wil certainly try that out *already ponders different pictures*
Hi there! First post, new user, and one my first renders (the first I'm willing to show anyone). What do you think? Any kind of criticism is welcome.
I used:
Easy Environments - Road to Hell
Undead Fiend
V5
Jaguar Hair
Jepe's Elements
Onyx Dress
"Arise, my minion!"
I tried this on a new render and it worked great. Thanks for the tip.
I Moved your Post to the WIP Thread as the other is for Renders only.
Wow! There are some genuinely nice renders going on in here. It's great to see people working on two figure interactions. Sometimes it's these multiple figure interactions that are the hardest to get just "so" because you have to be aware of where the meshes might intersect and the spatial relationship between your models, but, when you put the time and effort into doing interaction poses, it really pays off.
One tip I recommend when I'm working with two models in close proximity, for example hand holding, While in the perspective view camera active, I select a part of the hand and then aim the camera on that bone by clicking on the squared corners around the plus sign button (on the upper right of the scene) with my right mouse button. This will zoom the camera in closer so that I can see what's going on.
Next I swivel the camera so that it's inside the mesh of one of the figures I'm working with. If the mesh of the other figure is poking through, I back off the "offending" mesh by double clicking it and then manually changing the rotation numbers, rather than relying on the dial. The dial is great for moving the bone for gross distances, but for the finer detail required of interactive poses, it's best to change the rotations in smaller increments and entering the numbers in the space is the best way to do this.
Now, for parts of the body where there is more flesh, you can get away with a little poke-through. Areas like the pads of the fingertips, the pad of the thumb, the fleshy part between the thumb and the index finger, and the heel of the palm. But generally, you want to make sure that there isn't any poke-through over all. The reasons for this are a)bony parts don't moosh (< a highly technical term *smile*) as they're too rigid and b) some models, like Genesis and some of Genesis' clothes, have smoothing turned on at a higher rate and any poke through of one model on another becomes amplified.
And since I'm talking about holding hands, I'd like to highlight carola.ottoson's entry, "Treasure of My Heart". She (pardon, if I'm making an assumption on your gender) did a nice job. Notice how the fingers interlace in a romantic and evocative manner? There is a definite interconnection going on there, as well as the obvious eye contact.
***Disclaimer*** Just because I'm pointing out this image, it does not diminish anyone else's entry. There are many fine entries, all demonstrating different aspects of posing for interactions. I hope to sneak in some more time and make more comments, hopefully highlighting other images. Now it's time for me to crawl back into my hole and work on some more pose sets. Lol. Keep up the good work everyone!
OPPS So sorry, I forgot JUST who you are. I need to Read before I leap. Please forgive me.
Oops! I didn't know. My apologies! (Boy is my face red. Particularly after I posted this and it disappeared from the other thread and I thought I hadn't posted it in the first place. So, I posted it again. D'oh!!!! Seriously.)
I think your allowed, I'm leaving it. Chohole can decide for herself.
*giggles* Last time I looked in the mirror I was certainly a she, I hope my womanly bits hasn't been replaced since this morning *smiles warmly with a hint of teasing* And no worries, my name is female sounding so I usually take for granted that people assume I am a female *smiles*
And thanks for your comments, I am glad I did succeed in what I hoped with those two. Making their fingers interlace like that was a lot of finetuning, but it worked. After a few choice words of cursing and a lot of coffee and some really loud Kamelot from the stereo *grins*
First DAZ render. Suggestions?
Well, I'm not a DAZ expert (obviously). That said, it's pretty dark. Maybe some more light on the guy in the background?
I changed mine a bit, too; with the characters closer together. Thoughts?
Well, I'm not a DAZ expert (obviously). That said, it's pretty dark. Maybe some more light on the guy in the background?
I changed mine a bit, too; with the characters closer together. Thoughts?
Don't forget that the magic effect from the spell is glowing, so I would think that you need some greenish light in there as well. The range and intensity can be played with, but at the minimum at least her upper torso would need to be effected. Probably the un-dead creature as well.
Looks like you're off to a great start! I think that t.gohrbandt is correct in that you need to light the seated figure better. You can still keep a dark and moody appearance while using more light.
Remember, we can only see what's in view of the camera, which grants you some artistic license. Who's to say there's not another few torches off to the left of the camera? Maybe there's even a fire pit with a heap of burning coals? As long as the light doesn't seem illogical, such as the glow of an incandescent light, you can get away with a lot.
This render uses a couple lights off camera that I kept consistent with the rest of the firelight in my scene.
Hi Dave!
I'm going to echo t.gohrbandt's comment. The render is a bit too dark to see what's going on. You can still maintain a "dark" scene while focusing the viewer's attention on important aspects of the render by the use of some well placed lights. My suggestion is to put a spotlight, angled down at about a 45 degree angle from the top right (as you're looking at the scene, or down from the background character's front left shoulder). A handy trick for focusing the light where you need it to is while in that light's view, select the bone you want to focus on. In this case, it would be the background character's head. Use the "point at" or "center on" icon (I never remember the "technical name") on the upper right hand of the scene. It's the four corners surrounding the plus sign. Click on it and the light will focus on the figure's head.
Next, open the Lights Tab, select the light you're working with and then using the Spread Angle slider, move the number lower so that you're only illuminating the face, head, and shoulders. If you wanted, you could also increase the angle to include the outstretched hand, which might be a good idea so that it becomes clearer what the action there is.
Then you'll want to set the intensity to a level that will illuminate, but not overwhelm your scene. You can achieve highly dramatic effects by using this technique to pull focus into areas that you want the viewer to catch.
I think you've got a good start with the action in your scene. Playing with the lighting will significantly help give impact to what I think you're trying to achieve.
Good luck and keep it up!