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I woke up this morning with the sundown shining in,
I found my mind in a brown paper bag within,
I tripped on a cloud and fell eight miles high,
I tore my mind on a jagged sky,
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.
I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in,
I watched myself crawling out as I was crawling in,
I got up so tight I couldn't unwind,
I saw so much I broke my mind,
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.
Someone painted "April Fool" in big black letters on a "Dead End" sign,
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road blew out my mind,
Eight miles out of Memphis and I got no spare,
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere,
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.
I said I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.
Kenny Rogers and the First edition recorded this song in 1968. Written by Mickey Newbury. Yup...that Kenny Rogers with the white beard. Get a load of these lyrics...have you ever? The only one I can think of that is more confusing was "Let it all Hang Out" by The Hombres (later redone by John Mellencamp!)
Let it All Hang Out by The Hombres
(Spoken)
A preachment, dear friend
You are about to receive on John Barleycorn
Nicotine and the temptations of Eve
No parkin' by the sewer sign
Hot dog, my razors broke
Water drippin' up the spout
But I dont care, let it all hang out
Hangin' from a pine tree by my knees
Sun is shinin' through the shade
Nobody knows what its all about
It's too much, man, let it all hang out
Saw a man walkin' upside down
My T.V.s on the blink
Made Galileo look like a Boy Scout
Sorry 'bout that, let it all hang out
Sleep all day, drive all night
Brain my numb, can't stop now
For sure ain't no doubt
Keep an open mind, let it all hang out
It's rainin' inside a big brown moon
How does that mess you baby up, leg
Eatin' a Reuben sandwich with sauerkraut
Don't stop now, baby, let it all hang out
Let it all hang out
Let it all hang out
Let it all hang out
:ohh:
I knew I could count on music to post all the lyrics... :coolsmile:
Kenny did not have a white beard when he did Just Stopped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was In). Look it up on YouTube, I didn't know they had blue screen technology in the 60s. I guess there are some things I've forgotten about that decade.
Dana
My goal was to render a nighttime scene of a garden with white and pastel flowers that seem to glow in the light of the moon. (Ideally I'd have used all night-blooming flowers, but that turned out to be a bit ambitious, and some morning glories do bloom at night. :) ) I also wanted to use the cool gargoyle and Fringewood's sundial, and this seemed like a good opportunity. With the lighting, I was trying to go for shafts of moonlight coming through clear spaces between clouds--a mix of cloudshadow and silvery-white moonlight. The focus is meant to be on the garden, not the human figure, but I liked the notion of a person's pose echoing the point of the sundial, and it seemed like a nice serene place to be meditating or doing yoga on a warm night.
Title: Moondial
Purchased items: None
No-count items: Genesis Basic Female
Counted free items:
01. Morning glories: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Milano-Aoyama/1324/poser/DownLoad/DownLoad01.html (2nd down on the left) (Milano Aoyama)
02. White flowering plants: http://www.runtimedna.com/newsletter/2013_02_15/index.html (Traveler) (registration required)
03. Bulrushes along waterline: http://3dplants.0catch.com/aqua01.html (3ds) (Drew Costigan)
04. Sundial: http://cgi.fringewood.com/downloads2.html (left column, 4th row up from the bottom) (Fringewood)
05. Toad on sundial: http://www.most-digital-creations.com/toad.htm (Adam Thwaites)
06. Columns under gargoyles: http://stefan-morrell.com/ (click Downloads, then the second row, second item) (Stonemason)
07. Gargoyle: http://www.123dapp.com/obj-Catch/Gargoyle/1182218 (Rebecca Kale) (registration required)
08. Tree stump: http://www.123dapp.com/obj-Catch/Araucarioxylon-arizonicum/1445276 (Jason Dingeldein) (registration required)
09. Rose on tree stump: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/293763/ (Merlin) (registration required)
10. Swans: http://www.lynescreations.com/lynefree12.htm (Lyne)
Other free items:
The main ground and islet: Terrain is by Ashpash, but I'm still searching for a link
Rockier ground rising up from the islet: http://vikike176.deviantart.com/art/Vikike-s-Ground-01-270472721 (Vikike)
Rocks (one rock, instanced/scaled/rotated): http://nobiax.deviantart.com/art/Free-Rocks-324052644 (Yughues)
Woman's blouse: http://www.sharecg.com/v/64826/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/Genesis-Summer-Tops (registration required) (Wilmap)
Woman's pants: http://www.sharecg.com/v/61927/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/Genesis-Trousers (registration required) (Wilmap)
Woman's hair: http://digitalbabes.jp/dload1.html (All Back Style, the second one down) (Kozaburo)
Woman's skin: http://www.sharecg.com/v/52334/ (registration required) (Kari)
Water plane texture: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=9438 (registration required)
Ripples in the water reflections made with D-Formers on a smaller, higher-poly plane set just below the main surface plane.
3ds format (bulrushes) converted to obj with PropViewer: http://www.sharecg.com/v/43389/ (registration required)
Lights: Uberenvironment2, two spotlights
Very nice, another nice night scene. Very Zen, too.
Dana
Thanks, Dana!
Cuisle,
Thank you for entering the contest. You have picked a very difficult technique for your render. A moon lit scene is so hard to do. Your render does a good job capturing this lighting technique.
Technical
Your links are good. You did not indicate on the counted free items which sites require registration. You only have three, runtime dna, the DAZ forms and 123dapp. Can you please indicate as such and your entry will be accepted.
Composition and Artistic
I like how you have used your freebies to create a strong sense of peacefulness. Your lighting indicates the end of day. The swans are in restful poses. Having the frog out and about also gives you a sense of evening. I like your purposeful use of the pose of the girl and of the sun dial. To me this provides the mind with some questions. Like what would happen if the girl gets up and goes within the boundary of the pillars? Does she kiss the frog? Why is the frog there? Will a shaft of light come down? So I think that from your goals stated at the beginning of your post, you have achieved what you want.
What you have works but if I had this scene I think that I would play with some Uber volume lights. cause I never have and I want to. I would use them to pull attention to what I wanted the eye to focus on. Like a dust ray pointing to the sundial. I would also work on making the edges of the picture go into shadow more. Like the garden is nestled in amongst some trees with only the sundial being in the open. I would also try moving the camera so that one of the gargoyles with a dust ray on him, was way in the forefront of the picture and the camera would look down on the sundial. It is always fun to play with the camera cause you never know when something smacks you in the face. I usually make one camera that has the shot I think I want to take and then add a camera just to fly around the scene seeing if there may be something of interest. I did this with my St Petersburg Garden render and found that I did have some interesting shots that I will go back and play with at a latter time. I don't know if you know about InaneGlory's Uberlight Pack but he has a set up for full moon light. You can download it here. As always these are just ideas, if you are happy I am happy.
So just fix the references to registered sites and I will PM you the necklace.
You give wonderful critiques and suggestions, Dollygirl. Thank you so much for taking the time. And thanks for the link to InaneGlory's lights--I didn't know about those, and I've downloaded.
I checked the RDNA and DAZ Forum links (from a browser where I was sure I wasn't signed in), and they didn't require logins to download, but the 123apps site does, and I've added "registration required" to all three just to be sure.
I'll play with Ubervolume and some other angles and add some trees at the sides and see what happens! It's getting on toward the end of the month, so I don't know if I'll be able to submit a revision, but I'll learn a lot from trying your suggestions and I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks.
[quote author="Cuisle" date="1375026240"
Title: Moondial
Thank you Cuisle for the feedback and the changes to your entry.
ENTRY IS ACCEPTED
I will be sending you a PM.
Hi! I've been working on this picture for weeks now, I keep adding to it, and I'm running out of time, so I think I will go ahead and submit it and hope it's okay. (It takes 3 hours to render and there is just so much in this scene that my computer barely loads it and won't allow anything else while it's rendering - so little changes are frustrating to carry out.)
(Sorry I've used mostly Share CG and Rendo for the freebies, my searching for freebies in Google resulted in crashing my computer while Daz was open, and somehow this corrupted my daz database - I have yet to deal with even thinking about redoing all the categories I had set up over the last few years *cries*.)
Please let me know if there are any problems or changes that need to be made, I hope this is okay! Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions.
Models used in Summer Afternoon:
ENVIRONMENT
The Hills by Fober (used the mountains, hills, fog, his grass, flowers and tree props from this set) (Registration required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/39996/browse/11/Poser/The-Hills-environment-for-DAZ-Studio-Poser
Skydome by glaseye (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/45996/View/11/Poser/SkyDome
Skydome Expansion 2 (includes sky I used) http://www.sharecg.com/v/53599/gallery/11/Poser/SkyDome-expansion-3
Zippy’s Secret Garden Registration Required (used many pieces from this, including pond, ballistrades, one of the gravel bases for the patio, changed the texture for the patio to a cement texture) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=64121
Water for Fountain: Liquid Shapes by SpaceBones (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/25522/3d-model/Liquid
Shaders by Sha (for water shader on fountain) (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/48025/related/7/Material-and-Shader/Shas-Shaders
LIGHTS (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/61739/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/UberEnvironmen2-mixed-set-1
PLANTS
Lisa’s Botanicals Free Pear Tree (link doesn’t work in IE, used firefox to open - http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=49896
Free Scene by Petra Schmietendorf (used tree and flower billboards from set) (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/48172/gallery/11/Poser/Scene-02
Flowers 19 – 20 (flower billboards) (Registration Reguired) http://www.sharecg.com/v/9775/gallery/5/3D-Model/Flower-19-and-20
Tree http://tf3dm.com/3d-model/trees-9-53338.html
Vertical Ivy (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=69601
Willow Tree (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=69519
Two Trees for Poser (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=69518
InLite Studio Plant and Tree Pack (Registration Required) http://inlitestudio.com/3d/product/plant-and-tree-pack/
XFrog Red Oak XFrogPlants Vol 1 1st row 2nd item (Registration Required) http://xfrog.com/category/samples.html
Morphable Clematis and Chestnut Tree (Registration Required)
http://www.sharecg.com/v/50865/View/11/Poser/Clematis-and-Chestnut-for-Poser
Spring Shrubs (Registration Required) About halfway down page, weekly freebie) http://www.runtimedna.com/newsletter/2013_03_08/index.html
Fatsia(Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/53431/browse/11/Poser/Fatsia
FLOWERS: Water Lily, Hydrangea, Sunflower http://web.archive.org/web/20120101023322/http://toucan.web.infoseek.co.jp/3DCG/3ds/FlowerModelsE.html
There are A LOT of well done, (different flowers here that need to be translated from 3ds to object for ds - there is a free viewer that can do this for you found here: https://sites.google.com/site/poseray/ )
Rock Throne With Ivy (used under pear tree) (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=61195
Vertical Ivy Poser and DAZ Studio(Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=69601
PROPS
Cupid Angel Figurine http://archive3d.net/?a=download&id=0f0f80cd
Asian Luxuries Rattan Chair (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=68875
Asian Luxuries Rattan Table (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=68883
Smartprop Sunglasses (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/68924/browse/11/Poser/Free-Sunglasses-for-V4-M4
Genesis Gardening Items (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/68734/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/Genesis-Gardening-Items
Andi3DRocks from mortemvetus middle row, 2nd item down http://www.mortemvetus.com/free_downloads.php?type=1&page=9 (added this because these are the rocks that are visible)
InLite Studio Vox Smartphone (Registration Required) http://inlitestudio.com/3d/product/vox-smartphone/
Garden Pack Rendo (used watering can on the patio) (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=65020
PEOPLE
Texting Poses by Structure (Registration Required) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=68125
Summer Top for Genesis by Wilmap (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/64826/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/Genesis-Summer-Tops
Genesis Trousers by Wilmap (Registration Required)http://www.sharecg.com/v/61927/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/Genesis-Trousers
Valens Hair (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/36166/View/11/Poser/Valens-Hair-For-V4/A4
35 Colors for Valens Hair Texture by Fictional Bookshelf Registration Required http://www.sharecg.com/v/55297/related/11/Poser/35-Color-Options-For-Valens-Hair
ANIMALS
Free Ground Squirrel by Lyne http://www.lynescreations.com/lynesfree7.htm
Free Cat (Registration Required) 18 down from top item on left http://www.most-digital-creations.com/free_poser_poses_textures_morphs_props_56.htm
PAID ITEMS
Volg character by StudioArtVartanian, which includes character, texture, hair, clothing, and poses (used all – adjusted one of the poses for this scene)
Lawn Mower from Daz 3D – (found a free one in 3ds format, but when opened it exploded into pieces, and I didn’t have time or knowledge to fix it)
NOT COUNTED
Genesis 2 Female with Lana Skin – free with Daz Studio 4.6
Michael 4
Elf Sandals for Genesis http://www.faeriewylde.com/FW4/index.php?topic=4608.0 Registration Required (was not sure if these can actually be counted as visible – they can just be seen on Genesis 2 Female’s feet)
XFrog Azalea XFROGPLANTS VOL 1 2nd row 3rd item (same page as claimed item) http://xfrog.com/category/samples.html
XFrog London Plane Tree XFROG PLANTS VOL 1 1st row 3rd item (same page as claimed item) http://xfrog.com/category/samples.html
Tree3 by Medievalworlds registration required (can’t be seen clearly, behind fence) http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/480774
Bugeyed GoldFish (not seen clearly, but are in pond) http://www.sharecg.com/v/42362/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/Bugeyed-Goldfish-Figure
Mats for Goldfish: http://www.sharecg.com/v/42363/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/MATs-for-the-Bugeye-Goldfish-1-1
Birdbath and Walls by faerie Dreams (used walls and birdbath – took apart, used ground plane but retextured with grass texture from CGTextures) this prop used to be here but no longer available (registration required, forum at their website) http://www.faeriewylde.com/FW4/index.php?topic=61.0
Mapps Flowers Set 2 (Registration Required) (may not be able to see in pictures) http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=25770
Morphable Boulder by 3-d-c (Registration Required) http://www.sharecg.com/v/46789/browse/11/Poser/Morphable-Boulder (moved this to not listed as I put this in scene but don't think it's visible)
-Cathy (edited to make suggested changes :) )
Wow, Cathy--that is really impressive work, and a gorgeous lush garden!
Dollygirl and music2u4u, thank you so much for the entry gifts. They are absoutely wonderful.
Thank you Cuisle! I really love your night garden, it has such a tranquil feel to it, the lighting is wonderful, I like how the white flowers look, and the gargoyles are amazing :) -Cathy
Wow! There is a lot in that scene! And it's all so well placed! Excellent! Looks like a bright, sunny day. Woverine must be working up a sweat!
Dana
Thank you so much Dana! And yes I think he probably is working up a sweat since that's a large yard, but he looks good doing it! :) I probably have way too many things in that scene, should have made it smaller, and wasn't sure whether to even put people in it, but it just kept growing! I finally had to just say enough! (I think if I added any more I'd just not be able to load that scene). -Cathy
Cathy,
Thank you for entering the contest. What a wonderful garden you have. Your attention to detail is superb such as putting the grass tufts around the bushes and edges of the plants, fountains and the fence. I also like the use of one of the freebies from another entry in a very totally different way.
Technical
All of your links check out except the Flowers link. You have it going to skydrive.live.com and skydrive says something happened and try latter. I am on IE so it might just be a browser issue but can you check please? I think the flowers are coming from Toucan's site. This is the link I have. http://web.archive.org/web/20120101023322/http://toucan.web.infoseek.co.jp/3DCG/3ds/FlowerModelsE.html. Also you say that archive3d requires registration but it does not. These issues are no biggie just something to correct. For the 3ds conversions we have been linking to Poseray for those that do not have other means of converting a model. Here is the link for it https://sites.google.com/site/poseray/. In the future you can list it as a reference for conversion and then you are safe from Music2u4u. Who happens to turn into a very stern elderly chap who is a stickler about rules.
Composition and Artist
I like that you have balanced your render with M4 and the pear tree on one side and genesis and the baluster on the other. You have a lot of empty space but because you have the wall with all of the plants running along the length of the render the eye is kept busy looking at all of that stuff instead. The use of bump in the render is good as well. The grass looks like it needs to be mowed that helps make the empty space more real and the eye does not linger. I like the color use as well. The four red flowering bushes help move the eye across the render. The strong line of the baluster helps the eye focus on the wall as well. Your render is a pleasant picture of a Saturday afternoon working in the yard. You should sign it. It is something that you have worked hard at and it deserves a signature.
Now that I have told you how good your render is, I have some suggestions for you to play with. The render is actually three pictures, with a focal point for each. I have attached each of the pictures. My favorite is the one with genesis in it. It has lots of details, some really strong lines and a strong sense of depth. If I was working on this render I would play with the position of the distant light (sun). Right now it is just behind the camera and a little to the left. I would angle it up a little higher in the x axis and more left in the y axis. I would also play with the shadows on the uber and sun lights to see if I could get a little more contrast between the light and dark portions of the render such as in the alcove area and in amongst the plants along the wall. With the dark clouds in the sky I would want that contrast to mimic what a partially sunny day would be like. I would also play with the ray-trace depth on the render tab. I would do this to try and make the water fountain more sparkly. I think there are enough objects around the fountain that there would be some good reflections coming off the water. I would start with a sample of three and see how that works. If I still see white in the fountain water then I would go up to 4 and then 5. (I did try Sha's water shader with glaseye's uber light set and had to go to 5 to get sparkle) This will take more time to render so eliminating everything that is not seen from this view would have to be done. Another thing I would consider is to instance some of the plants. This saves on memory space and the only draw back is that you only get to use one set of textures. So I would use this method on the ivy, the purple bushes, the red bushes, the mauve trees, the fatsia and anything I have multiples of in the scene as long as I did not need to retexture the plant. To instance all you need to do is select the object you want multiples of, go to Create -> New Node Instances..., Put in the number of additional plants needed click on accept and then arrange the items where they are needed. This is the technique I used in the St Petersburg Garden render for the trees and statues.
Just a note about water and glass in renders. If you want the glass or water to have that sparkly look, using 3Delight, you must use ray-tracing in your lights otherwise you get that milky look. So using the uberlights are a natural fit for glass and water and by water I mean water that you would be looking through such as a fountain spray or a fish bowl. You also need to have objects in the scene that the water can reflect, so a skydome or stuff setting around are needed as well.
Thanks again for entering. Boy I feel sorry for my judges. They have their job cut out for them.
ENTRY IS ACCEPTED
Look for a PM from me for your necklace.
I went through the entire thread to appreciate the competitors' works and all I want to say is: you guys know how to find a priceless (pun intended!) jewels!
Mmalbert made a beatiful, real-life garden. I love the idea of the elderly lady who grows her plants in some old bathtubs, dirty barrels and similar stuff. Just as if the sunset of her life was forcing her to help the new life prosper. I also find the ruins a very nice concept (you know, decay, birth, new and old...). I want to grab that model soon, I only have to register.
Dorseyland's galaxy seems a bit odd to me, but it can be I'm just not into Sci-Fi. Despite the fact, the render is nice too, the alien-thingy is quite a little ugly critter :).
Lord Ganthor's gardener is definitely a hard-working man, even if he never paid attention to grammar classes ;)! I love the doggy. At first I thought it's a DAZ MilDog, but then I discovered it's a different figure. Great! I finally have another dog save for the LE MilDog. Thanks, Lord Ganthor! I'd say the blue can's colour is a bit too bright - it makes you focus on it, whereas the main focus ought to be the man and his dog, I suppose. The rack could be less shiny too, but you can always say it's just the cheap plastic stuff they sell at supermarkets these days...
Music2U4U's garden reminds me of "Rose Cottage" fanmission for Thief series. Thanks for showing the house, I saw various artworks with it, but always thought it's a purchasable and couldn't find it anywhere. Now I'm able to get the whole collection. Also, you got really decent results with that LE MilCat. It doesn't come with any texture, so you must have either made your own shader or applied a different texture. I would try to make it a little bit more matte to simulate fur.
Jgugliuzza had an awesome idea to use that statue (MortemVetus, ah?). It adds some deep into the image. However, I agree with the judges it's a bit desolated. My suggestion is to add a figure or two in the middle or lower left corner (maybe a family picnic?). My entry's focus is moved towards the back of the patio, but it was intentional to show that there is much space there and to show off the lights by Dyald. This is a bit sad without something to lay your eyes upon. Another idea (it was mentioned before) is to move the camera further to show the pergola, but still, a sitting guy or girl would be good. If I was the owner of that garden, I would take the chairs into the house after using them to prevent them from getting too exposed to rain and so on. But that's just my mumbling.
Carola O, I like your mountains in the background and the use of trees. They look quite realistic, the same for the lovely RuntimeDNA flowers. The ruins set is nice too, although it could be brighter. On the other hand, the plants are a mix of spring and autumn flora. You have an yellow-leaf maple and some definitely spring flowers (even the name says they grow during spring). That could be corrected - you can even simply change the shader of the yellow leaves. Also, I'm not very enthusiastic towards that hill connected to the pond, it looks a bit out of place and stands out. But that's a minor con, I think.
As for Cuisle's entry, it's one of my favourites. The shadows are correct, there's a framing of leaves that suggests it's not a box and nothing around, but a living area, nice models used. The animals look relaxed. It's a really pleasing-to-the-eye glade! One thing that corrupts that laid-back feeling is the sky in the background. As somebody pointed out, it's going to rain, there can even be a storm. I hope the animals will be able to find a place to hide before the first lightning strikes!
I'm not very enthusiastic when it comes to that Asian-inspired work by Tramp Graphics. The main focus is that bridge and that's nice, but the very bright red looks unnatural for me. There are many freebies used and that's a pro, but I don't really know what purpose at least a quarter of them serve. The terrain is very varied, there are strange bumps and strands as if there were some problems with textures. The water is rather artificial, I'm afraid; the same with the mountain in the background. They're a bit too high, whereas real mountains are rather wider than higher. Maybe a more varied shader or texture would help.
Another work by Mmalbert is that so-called "fairy garden". It's quite nice, the girl brings it to life, so to say. She is not very realistic, but in this case, it's a pro - the fairies and those cartoon-like thrilling stuff going on in the sphere (cage?) aren't realistic too, right? ;)
The second entry (am I right?) Jgugliuzza posted is far better than the first one with the focus on the coffee table under the pergola. The lit candle is perfect, I wish I had it too! (I suck at lights and cameras, you know; must read or watch a tutorial or two on these two things. The part that goes for me best is posing and, recently, I found to have a knack for dial-spun characters, shaders are okay too.) You added a few things that lie loosely around and this makes it look like somebody actually visits the garden! You definitely improved your previous concept. As for the setting... To quote J. R. R. Tolkien in elventongue: Mornie alantie - darkness is falling. Neat!
Also, I love Lord Ganthor's second entry. It's remarkably Gothic, but it shows a good taste and trust me, not every work that is Gothic shows a good taste ;). It's a bit creepy, but not mocking. Something you could find in a dream after reading Edgar Allan Poe.
Dollygirl made what is probably my favourite entry. I love the 3DS models, they look so life-like! The shadows are lovely too. Definitely a great work.
The second Cuisle's entry is a nice try at night scenes. The light is enjoyable. I also like the flowers you used.
Cathy_Mod had a lovely, entertaining idea. The garden is very realistic, almost like that Sankt Petersburg Garden of Dollygirl. The guy looks a bit strange, but there are many freaks out there, so let him be if you want :D.
I also like the leafshadow, and all the details you've put in, like the cat and the pumpkin and the old cart. They make the place feel warm and human and lived-in and enjoyed. I especially like the woman herself, in her cool shaded corner, wearing that lovely blue.
Thank you so much! I left some empty space in the middle of the patio. In fact, I did it on purpose - I tried to show the specific way of living of those Mediterraenean nations. I'm some kind of a Greek geek and also know how it is like in western Turkey and Portugal. What I was aiming for was to show they tend to let the things "fly around" and they're perfectly adapting themselves to different situations, as if there was some kind of an unusual harmony between them and their surroundings. You can often see different kinds of household stuff laying around the house - kids' toys, old pieces of furniture, some adornments like flowerpots (both filled with plants and unused). The empty space lets the viewer "adapt" to all the details. When I first look at the picture, the first thing I notice is the group of kids playing. It shows the family-friendly attitude of the Greeks and other nations from around the Mediterraenean Sea Basin. Then I notice the pond with plants, the woman (I see her as an older cousin rather than a mother, but nevermind). There's place for happy laziness too. After that, the eye wanders to those various things laying around: the flowerpots, the old wooden cart, even the broken pillar (maybe the house is old and there used to be a statue of some sort?). Finally, the empty middle represents the inhabitants are constantly refurnishing the space, so that is stays alive all year round :).
Lastly, when I said if I could cut a part of the scene, I meant I can move the camer to the right, so that the kids would be framing the left side.
Thanks so much for your suggestions and comments, Dollygirl! I knew there was something off about my garden, it just seems too big really, and I wasn't too happy with the mowing man but without him the balance seemed off. I didn't even notice that just the right side would have made a better picture - I could have moved the pond over a bit and maybe got the camera closer so the fish would show up. I wanted to experiment more with the water, I really did keep changing settings on both the water and the light, because at first the shadows were barely showing up and I had a sky that was bright blue - so I changed it to the clouds and upped the strength of the light to get the shadows higher. It does use uberlighting and raytraced shadows. I was trying to get a depth of field going too but that wasn't working out too well - either it was not really noticeable or it was too severe and blurry.
And thanks for telling me about instances, I never realized you could do that! That would probably have made a huge difference in how hard it was to work with this scene - I have added it to my notes, will be experimenting with it soon!
Thanks so much for the opportunity to participate in this, I loved the subject, a lot cleaner than real gardening too lol. I have really learned a lot both in putting this together and from the comments you offer to everyone. And thanks so much for the necklace! -Cathy
Cathy, you might want to replace the man with somebody else. The garden's size is okay if the family is quite well-off and/or lives on the outskirts of the city. I'd try some animals, a dog or two for instance together with a couple, for example. Did you see Mmalbert's first entry? There's a great maturing morph set for V4 - you could use it. I just have a strong feeling such type of a guy wouldn't want - or know - to do the gardening chores.
Ah with that said then the answer to your question becomes yes.
I like the guy. You know guys they can do strange things when they are in love. Or maybe he is a secrete agent man.
I think it's great. It looks like a real yard of that size. You probably have a flair for real landscaping.
Dana
Just peeking in to see the what's happened over the past couple of weeks.
I so wanted to try my hand at garden render... I even have a bunch of possible freebies lined up... but real life just keeps butting in... sheesh!
I may not be able to get back here before the weekend so BEST OF LUCK to all the contestants!
Maybe August will yield a little more time! : )
Tell me about it - I never did get a chance to do that zen garden.
But there's still over a day and a half left (as I post this) to get an entry in...
Of course he didn't...he was in his 20s. I am talking about NOW! His hair and beard are NOW, and has been for many years, white.
:-)
ENTRY IS ACCEPTED
Look for a PM from me for your necklace.
Nice entry Cathy_Mod! I love the way you have the grass growing around the edges on all the stuff...very realistic. Now...where did I put that weed eater...lol.
Check your PM box for your entry gift from me. Thanks again.
:-)
cecilia.robinson, thanks so much for all the input on the entries. You took a lot of time to do that. It is very much appreciated. I wish more would do that, it helps all of us grow. I love to see you folks exchanging ideas. It makes us all better artists.
I am humbled!
:-)
... OK FOLKS!...WE ARE IN THE HOME STRETCH!
Get those last minute entries in. I just love all the gardens you guys have made. It just makes me wanna DANCE!
:-)
Looks at the feathered music and quirks a eyebrow* You look lonely there.. here you go *put in a few hens*
(not entirely sure that was a male, but it looekd very familiar to a male we had many years ago)
On another note, I have enjoyed this contest a lot, and it actually have give me a bit more faith in some freebies. Up until this contest I honestly had been having a seriously bad luck with freebies, half of them didn't work as they should and some I had no idea where to put and so on. But this gave me a chance to learn a bit more :)
I am glad you enjoyed yourself Carola O. Yes there are many, many wonderful models out there. As you get proficient with the structure of your software, you will find that you can fix those minor problems and make some of your non-functional freebies work. Never throw away a freebie, I say, one day you just might need it. I have been collecting for about 4 years and I have thousands of them. It is the freebies that have made me a better 3D artist. Like the necklace you were given. I learned more about modeling. It started out in a large grouping of things as one big object. Its original position was laying flat on a table. I learned how to isolate the necklace from the rest of the object. Once I did that I had to bend the necklace so it would fit on V4's body and then I had to re-map the necklace so that shaders could be applied. I did this using freebies like Hexagon, DAZ Studio 4.6 and free shaders. It is an exciting time when you start to learn about 3D. It still is for me. So many fun things to learn about.