SapphireBlue's Art, Music, Stories and Things - Visual Story Love Great and Small part 4/5
SapphireBlue
Posts: 953
SapphireBlue's Art, Music, Stories and Nonsense
I've really enjoyed hanging out in the Art Studio part of the forums over the past few months to a year, perusing many of the threads, though a little shy of inserting myself everywhere... I thought it'd be fun to start my own thread too, especially as I try and tackle some personal projects alongside some random renders and fun stuff. Feel free to leave some thoughts and comments if you feel like doing so.
I'll just use this first post to point to some of my favorite personal project posts in my thread:
- March 2024: Dreamy pop song "Leap of Faith" with a DAZ video of a cervitaur caught in grief, leaping back into life.
- July 2023: Concept track on addiction "I loathe your touch" with a largely monochromatic DAZ music video of vampire 'love'.
- May 2023: Jazzy Lofi song "Night and Day" with a DAZ music video of watercolor style renders of Sakura 8.
- March 2023: Romantic pop song "Love me Slow" with a DAZ music video of renders of Miss Red for Valentine's Day.
- June 2022: 80s Synthwave song "Leave the lights on" with my first DAZ music video.
Post edited by SapphireBlue on
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I released a song yesterday that I had decided to make a simple music video for using DAZ. Below is the cover art for "Leave the lights on" that I probably did half a year back when I originally finished producing the song. The song's in the synthwave genre, so I wanted to reflect that heavy 80's inspiration in the neon colors and shiny bodysuits. The lyrics are about finding solace in one another, which is where the couple comes in.
The music video is simple and non-animated - I wanted to try and just capture the mood of the music and something a little more conceptual, and see what might be possible. It took a bit of time, but it was a rewarding and exciting experience. I did just over 30 renders or so after planning out the idea. Some other music videos I have planned will probably be much simpler - just ideas to capture a mood, concept, aesthetic or simple narrative with a handful of renders. DAZ makes me feel like a magician!
The song video, lyrics and streaming links are here: https://www.ladyincognita.com/leavethelightson
Just the video on youtube is here:
"Leave the lights on" (Link to gallery image)
you have a lovely voice
and talent
Oh, thank you so much Wendy!
I've always enjoyed seeing how "seemingly quickly" you put together your Carrara animations and felt curious about Carrara, but my to-do list feels never-ending as it is. I was very impressed seeing you getting into mocap (?) - definitely something that seems fun to get into and try. It's crazy that we get access to all this technology these days - it's like a box of chocolates!
SapphireBlue,
I guess your hidden talent is now out in the open! As I said before, you make lovely music. Hope this new thread you have will turn out to be a fruitful one for you.
Cheers!
Thank you very much csaa!
I liked the idea of a journal-like art studio thread and hope too that it keeps me working towards weaving music, visuals and stories together. Any time we're being creative, there's a definite journey and I've enjoyed seeing snippets of other's journeys in the forums and all the interaction, ideas and tips. It's encouraging and always inspiring!
One of my favorite discoveries about DAZ is that I can be silly with it and make up total nonsense! I've made a puppet version of myself thanks to Joe Quick's puppet, and she's just crazy and full of life. I call her Puppet-Me (puppet resemblances seem shaky at best, but who cares) and have decided to live vicariously through her. She's got her own Puppet-Me magazine (covers only, no content) and is bent on taking over my instagram account (where a handful of my music producer friends follow me and are probably now wondering whether I've finally and totally lost it).
One thing I had a lot of fun with was putting out nonsensical "teaser" renders for my song in the couple of weeks before it got released. I really enjoyed making them.
Here's the first of them: An "on set" selfie of Puppet-Me with the music video cast...
With a music video, one MUST have some fun behind-the-scenes footage! At least, I decided that should be true and giggled my way through making these (before even getting a quarter of the actual music video done...) I posted them in my instagram stories from time to time for all of the 10 or so people that might have caught it. So yeah, I'm really just making these for myself. It's too fun. : )
I have to explicity state CGI, since that doesn't seem obvious to some of my producer friends. After seeing the music video, I've had a few think they were live models... (I had mentioned CGI, but I guess they might have thought that was just the background.)
On another note, it would be an interesting experience getting live dancers/models, ask them to get into those skintight bodysuits and be perfectly agile but stock still in their complicated dance poses while I fiddled with my camera......
Behind the scenes footage...
I've been meaning to try out AOBB's "Magnificent" face sculpt of Gregory Peck, alongside her "Luminous" Audrey Hepburn sculpt, and got round to it yesterday. AOBB's lovely freebie face sculpts are here. It's lovely to genre and style hop with renders, and approach things from another angle. And I totally enjoy doing BW renders.
"Luminous and Magnificent"
Link to the image in the gallery
This DAZ+ sale has been crazy as usual. It's been a frenzy of buying, a total blur of purchases... I'm exhausted!! I'll be unpacking and trying out things for a while to come. I started the sale with a selfie meme about my experience of how the sale affects my DAZ library, and decided to end it too with another selfie...
"DAZ Truths..." My DAZ Library: Pre DAZ+ sale and Post DAZ+ Sale
Link to the image in the gallery
"Making out like a bandit at the DAZ+ sale"
Link to the image in the gallery
I'm feeling a peaceful sense of relief with the DAZ+ sale madness behind me. This is my third DAZ+ sale and I've enjoyed joining in the render contest each time - it's a great way to try out new things, get inspired and learn some new tricks. So I'm finally glad to make some time to relax into a few more evocative/atmospheric renders this week for the contest.
Sharon in a sea of swirls
Link to the image in the gallery
Paris on the bridge II
Link to the image in the gallery
Up to the old lighthouse...
Link to the gallery image
SapphireBlue,
Those are beautiful renders. Good luck with the render competition.
Cheers!
Thank you so very much, csaa! I just enter the DAZ+ render contest for fun - especially as the open nature of the challenge and community feeling on the pages is a great motivation to try out new things. I always feel like I've taken several leaps in my skills at the end of it. But alas, I've been sacrificing sleep - and that doesn't work out well for too long. So it's probably time to take it easier...
I embarked on a couple more renders for the DAZ+ render contest in the last few days. Super inspiring and fun to do. Some pieces I finish up often feel like the start of a story or a song, so I always hope to return to them and explore the ideas in a series. The lighthouse render especially has unfurled lots of imagery and ideas that would be wonderful for a song and a story told in a narrative music video perhaps. So hope to get to that one of these days...
Once upon a moon
Link to the image in the gallery
"Amal my Protector"
Link to the image in my gallery
Cool Music and Voice .. Really Love it !! Maybe someday we can create some music together
I like it
Bookmarked, and followed link to youtube . Subsciber
not going to lie, I listen to your other music first, before subscribing
oh yes, I like it
Thanks juvesatriani! I appreciate it very much.
I remember reading on your DA page that you're a Joe Satriani fan. Are you a guitarist? If you've got any of your music up, do share a link. I enjoy catching a listen and hearing different styles. I'm a community mentor in an online music producer community and love the challenges and inspiration there - sadly, I've been missing on there for a bit due to getting distracted by DAZ... Every couple of months I swap how much time I spend where - it's hard to find time for everything at once.
Thank you XaatXuun! Yup, no point at all in subscribing, unless it's to your liking. Hahaha. Thanks for taking the time to listen. I'm really glad you like it.
As creatives, we create and want to share, so it may reach those people it speaks to. I enjoy creating an experience, first for myself, and then hope there are others that may enjoy it to. And if it's something meaningful to me, that it may find someone else it moves or helps too. I do a lot of different genres - feel free to skip whatever's not your cup of tea.
I need to chime in, too, since I just stumbled upon your thread - everyone's so right, such a beautiful, sweet voice! And the video is mesmerizing, kind of draws you into its depths. I also like the render with the woman and the bird very much, it has a somewhat magic quality to it. Good luck for the contest!
Aw, thank you so much tsroemi!! I'm also very glad you liked the video. It was a simple concept, but a very wonderful learning experience to make it. As it was my first attempt, it was also a fair bit of effort. With every render or project, the realization of all that we might be able to do with 3D is eye-opening. I'm enjoying the journey, but it definitely demands time, effort and learning new things all the time!
New song and music video. Thanks to the inspiration from some of my friends from the DAZ gallery, I decided I needed to try some slightly sexier renders and this is what happened. Miss Red below came into being (gallery link), and I ended up writing a song and making a music video with renders of her as a belated Valentine's Day track.
PREMISE: The song is Miss Red serenading her guy in conversational style lyrics. The imagery in the video is meant to be Miss Red inside her head whiling away the time, twiddling her thumbs, waiting for her guy to get the message. Somewhere along the way she's feeling dejected that her subtle hints are not landing, but by the final chorus she's ready to bring out the big guns and the come hither looks... : ) Here's the music video (Video has some renders that are on the sexier side, but I don't think it's anything beyond what we see everyday on the store page... )
Lyrics for the song are on my song page: https://www.ladyincognita.com/lovemeslow
SapphireBlue,
Long time no see, no hear!
Thanks for sharing that wonderful post-VDay song. I think anyone hearing it would feel weak in the knees and aching for a rendezvous.
it's all quiet after dark ... and you light the spark ... You know I wanted you ... wanted you from the start
What warm blooded person can resist that?
Cheers!
Hiya csaa! Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and listen! I appreciate it heaps!
Yes, it's been a while. Real life has been hectic and I've not been rendering or posting much, BUT I've been visiting the forums periodically to catch up on some of the threads, and the NPR one for sure. I've enjoyed seeing all your style experiments in there , and it's great to see what everyone's up to, which in turn keeps me inspired too. Thanks heaps and catch you soon!
New song and music video! This was done for a lofi day/night music challenge. I immediately thought of the sound and feel associated with Studio Ghibli and some quiet anime, and went with a jazzy lofi approach with plenty of vintage vibes.
The video is a still image narrative with DAZ renders of Sakura 8 and my character Kaito built on top of Sakura 8. I kept the narrative and scene renders simple and warm, then post-processed them to give a soft line drawing and watercolor look.
I loved doing this one a lot, but it was definitely a fair bit of work as well. Hope those who stop by enjoy this!
Lyrics are on my song page: https://www.ladyincognita.com/nightandday
Just listened to Night and Day and it was very easy to listen to. Good lyrics. The visuals renders worked too. Well done.
Yes, it is lovely!
@FirstBastion and @barbult Thank you both so much! I'm glad you both liked it. Really appreciate you both listening and leaving a comment too.
SapphireBlue,
Lovely song!!! I can't help but think of early spring blossoms giving way to late spring showers. The season of youth wears its colors well, and your song -- art, lyrics, melody and all -- captures those sentiments beautifully.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!
Thank you for the lovely comment and compliment @csaa! I really enjoyed working on this song and video, and love how versatile DAZ renders can be. This post-worked style was warm and dreamy, and a great fit for the song style. I look forward to trying other NPR and painterly styles and see how they change the feel of the renders and add to the storytelling.
Thanks again!
A non-mainstream track and video this time... This is a personal concept track about addiction. It started with a conversation I was having with a lovely Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter and producer, on the topic of 'hate to love' that she was writing a song about. My muse/subconscious latched onto that topic and ran with the idea of addiction as the 'hate to love' thing.
My subconscious took over the reins - I let it throw the lyrics and visuals at me, and I just put it together. As a consequence, the visuals are symbolic and here the substance of addiction is seen as a vampire lover. The Row House's beautiful and enigmatic Blind Masque represents our impaired perception in addiction. The splashes of red are the life in our doomed heroine - life that has been 'sucked out/bled out' by the end. The lyrics and visuals deal with the dichotomy of addiction, where it seems by turns seductive and repulsive, alluring and disturbing, but ultimately destructive if left unchecked.
A little out-there, but hope it kinda makes sense!
Lyrics are on my song page: https://www.ladyincognita.com/iloatheyourtouch
Amazing song and visuals. I'm just going to repeat what I said on Discord:
Wow. Just wow. Everyone needs to check out the lyrics because they're killer! That last line with the final image. "You leave my heart bloody" blew me away. 10/10.