Camera Positioning

[NSF-95]

Hey guys I was wondering if any of you know some ways to practice good camera angles for poses cause in any good game, the camera angle is very important and while I know I'm still very new at this, I think I'm creative enough to get a decent camera position but it is nowhere as good as a professionally put in camera angle. I'm trying to practice good camera angles for Daz 3D and I'm also looking at Honey Select which has proven to be a bit more challenging than Daz 3D but if you also have some advice for getting better with them in terms of how I can put characters to blend with a map cause that and facial expressions are still a vague subject for me.
P.S: I know releasing a game demo is the best way to tell what you should and should not do but until then I'm going to post some renders as progress to me learning to Daz and other software so feel free to let me know your thoughts, please.

 

[Zippity]

Hey guys I was wondering if any of you know some ways to practice good camera angles for poses cause in any good game, the camera angle is very important and while I know I'm still very new at this, I think I'm creative enough to get a decent camera position but it is nowhere as good as a professionally put in camera angle. I'm trying to practice good camera angles for Daz 3D and I'm also looking at Honey Select which has proven to be a bit more challenging than Daz 3D but if you also have some advice for getting better with them in terms of how I can put characters to blend with a map cause that and facial expressions are still a vague subject for me.
P.S: I know releasing a game demo is the best way to tell what you should and should not do but until then I'm going to post some renders as progress to me learning to Daz and other software so feel free to let me know your thoughts, please.

View attachment 318655

Personally, camera shots work best when either viewing through the eyes of the protagonist and/or characters involved... Perhaps also some zoom outs from the various sides for full scene/event views... Mix in some zoom in's of the action now and then, perhaps from one characters point of view or the others, seems to work... Even some close in shots on the more intimate parts of the action from varying angles... But things like over the shoulder angled views (like the one above), albeit creative looking, don't have that same spark of immersion in the scene/event... It's almost as if someone else is watching the scene take place, standing just behind and to the side of the male character... Unless that is the point of the shot, to portray that feeling or emotion?

Also, typically you want to try and be realistic with the poses... Just think to yourself of the pose the characters are in, sexual content or not, and if it looks like it would technically be impossible for real folks to take on those poses (or even hold those poses for a length of time), in their various positions, then you may need to rethink the shots... Nothing ruins the visual immersion more then ridiculous character positioning and unrealistic actions... If the whole theme of the VN/Game is parody or comedy, where most things are ridiculous anyways, then it might not be so bad...

Also, if you want to add more realism, don't let the scene look so plastic or robotic... When folks are having sex, their hearts are pumping... They perspire a little bit, depending on the speed and depth of the action... Sometimes folks get lost in their own thoughts in the heat of passion... Hair gets messy, they begin to breath harder through their mouths, they have difficulty concentrating if the pleasure is intense, and so on... All these sorts of visual clues, and more, can give a scene/event that extra burst of immersion...

Those are just my impressions, although there can be some variance... Just depends again on the premise of the shots, and how immersive you want the shot to look for the player/reader...

Hope that all makes sense...

Zip

 

[mickydoo]

Just touching on what Zippity said with viewing through the eyes of the protagonist, my MC is taller than the girls, using a "pov" cam works good from a distance, but if you get into position where you would be close enough to talk to them it looks weird like the scene is on the angle and the girl is looking up to compensate, so I move it down to get the character I am talking to in the centre of the screen, but when you get closer and can see more of the head than the body it looks quite good her looking up at you. If your character is the same height it's irrelevant, but you will get the same problem with characters sitting. Its the same thing, looks good from a distance and close up, but in conversation distance it can look odd, so once again I move the camera down a bit, say to chest height. Cameras don't show perspective like we see it, we don't notice when someone is at a different height unless it's heaps. Remember whatever is on the screen needs to be the focal point, not how it is put on it, if it looks real but not quite right people will notice that before they notice something that is not quite real but looks good.

 

[NSF-95]

Personally, camera shots work best when either viewing through the eyes of the protagonist and/or characters involved... Perhaps also some zoom outs from the various sides for full scene/event views... Mix in some zoom in's of the action now and then, perhaps from one characters point of view or the others, seems to work... Even some close in shots on the more intimate parts of the action from varying angles... But things like over the shoulder angled views (like the one above), albeit creative looking, don't have that same spark of immersion in the scene/event... It's almost as if someone else is watching the scene take place, standing just behind and to the side of the male character... Unless that is the point of the shot, to portray that feeling or emotion?

Also, typically you want to try and be realistic with the poses... Just think to yourself of the pose the characters are in, sexual content or not, and if it looks like it would technically be impossible for real folks to take on those poses (or even hold those poses for a length of time), in their various positions, then you may need to rethink the shots... Nothing ruins the visual immersion more then ridiculous character positioning and unrealistic actions... If the whole theme of the VN/Game is parody or comedy, where most things are ridiculous anyways, then it might not be so bad...

Also, if you want to add more realism, don't let the scene look so plastic or robotic... When folks are having sex, their hearts are pumping... They perspire a little bit, depending on the speed and depth of the action... Sometimes folks get lost in their own thoughts in the heat of passion... Hair gets messy, they begin to breath harder through their mouths, they have difficulty concentrating if the pleasure is intense, and so on... All these sorts of visual clues, and more, can give a scene/event that extra burst of immersion...

Those are just my impressions, although there can be some variance... Just depends again on the premise of the shots, and how immersive you want the shot to look for the player/reader...

Hope that all makes sense...

Zip

I do agree with you on this, Immersion is a very big part of a scene that takes place with all of its emotions and details and expressions, which is quite essential to bringing the creator's vision to life. Although I'm new to this I'm trying to learn the software through messing around with it. I will try and apply your ideas to my pieces, thank you for taking the time to give me some pointers on the subject

 

[NSF-95]

Just touching on what Zippity said with viewing through the eyes of the protagonist, my MC is taller than the girls, using a "pov" cam works good from a distance, but if you get into position where you would be close enough to talk to them it looks weird like the scene is on the angle and the girl is looking up to compensate, so I move it down to get the character I am talking to in the centre of the screen, but when you get closer and can see more of the head than the body it looks quite good her looking up at you. If your character is the same height it's irrelevant, but you will get the same problem with characters sitting. Its the same thing, looks good from a distance and close up, but in conversation distance it can look odd, so once again I move the camera down a bit, say to chest height. Cameras don't show perspective like we see it, we don't notice when someone is at a different height unless it's heaps. Remember whatever is on the screen needs to be the focal point, not how it is put on it, if it looks real but not quite right people will notice that before they notice something that is not quite real but looks good.

When it comes to the POV cam that you mentioned, I don't think I have seen it in Daz or is it perhaps an Add-On? thank you for the pointers but I would love to get some more emphasis when it comes to POV cams, thanks again!

 

[mickydoo]

NSF-95
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Under scripts, he has a couple of POV cams, but I wasn't meaning one of them specifically, I just meant roughly putting a camera at POV height. A script for one is not worth it, the one I tried once I had to hide the eyebrows and the beard every time, it's just as easy to use perspective view through the head and adding your own camera by applying it to the active view port.

 

[9thCrux]

Finding the right camera angle can be a challenge sometimes.

If the game is in first person you have to adjust your camera height to reflect the MC height, location in the scene, head position, and so on...

If you're rendering a POV then place a camera in the characters head but consider the lens distortion and adjust it as needed; you may have a nice scene with a hot female character but some camera angles could make her look like an alien. Consider the depth of field, the focal distance, focal stop, frame width, and focal length. (you can adjust all that in the cameras tab)

And if you do third person view renders try not to use security camera-like angles, unless that is the effect you want to create.

Something else I try to be careful about is the eyes; what the characters are supposed to be looking at, in some renders you want the characters to have eye contact but then you notice that one of them is looking something else, you may find your girl looking at the guys shoulders instead of his eyes or face.

 

[Zippity]

I do agree with you on this, Immersion is a very big part of a scene that takes place with all of its emotions and details and expressions, which is quite essential to bringing the creator's vision to life. Although I'm new to this I'm trying to learn the software through messing around with it. I will try and apply your ideas to my pieces, thank you for taking the time to give me some pointers on the subject

No worries... There have been several good pointers given by several members... The key is to take what you learn and apply it to your own style... Use what you think works best for your creative style, and experiment a little bit... By experimenting, you can figure stuff out that works well and doesn't work well... I don't mean to publish your experiments, but just play around a bit... That's how I find I learn the most is by messing around with various things... There are also a ton of videos on things like camera angles... Don't just watch one source, as you learn more by learning from varying sources...

Best of luck,

Zip

 

[NSF-95]

NSF-95
About halfway down this page

You must be registered to see the links

Under scripts, he has a couple of POV cams, but I wasn't meaning one of them specifically, I just meant roughly putting a camera at POV height. A script for one is not worth it, the one I tried once I had to hide the eyebrows and the beard every time, it's just as easy to use perspective view through the head and adding your own camera by applying it to the active view port.

Thank you for this, you have given me some good ideas to play around with!

 

[NSF-95]

No worries... There have been several good pointers given by several members... The key is to take what you learn and apply it to your own style... Use what you think works best for your creative style, and experiment a little bit... By experimenting, you can figure stuff out that works well and doesn't work well... I don't mean to publish your experiments, but just play around a bit... That's how I find I learn the most is by messing around with various things... There are also a ton of videos on things like camera angles... Don't just watch one source, as you learn more by learning from varying sources...

Best of luck,

Zip

Certainly will apply these things to my experiments, thanks again!

 

[NSF-95]

Finding the right camera angle can be a challenge sometimes.

If the game is in first person you have to adjust your camera height to reflect the MC height, location in the scene, head position, and so on...

If you're rendering a POV then place a camera in the characters head but consider the lens distortion and adjust it as needed; you may have a nice scene with a hot female character but some camera angles could make her look like an alien. Consider the depth of field, the focal distance, focal stop, frame width, and focal length. (you can adjust all that in the cameras tab)

And if you do third person view renders try not to use security camera-like angles, unless that is the effect you want to create.

Something else I try to be careful about is the eyes; what the characters are supposed to be looking at, in some renders you want the characters to have eye contact but then you notice that one of them is looking something else, you may find your girl looking at the guys shoulders instead of his eyes or face.

Thank you for taking the time to help, you have also given me some good ideas that I will try to apply to my pieces!