- Mar 16, 2018
- 332
- 2,288
I found some portable version of Photoshop and followed step by step that last part of the tutorial. I can't say that there is no difference, but I was still expecting something spectacular. In the end wasted time to get what I already had. BTW... the tutorial is pretty weird. Some parts are explained for laymen and some for professionals. Otherwise, the characteristic of every good teacher is to know how to transfer knowledge, even though you may have much less of it than someone else. Of course, you must also have a pleasant voice. In any case, something I will skip in the future and stick exclusively to DAZ Studio. I'll leave Photoshop to those who are par excellence at it.Do not go into the light
View attachment 3968893
Something I did by following the instructions step by step. The scene is not exactly identical to the one from the tutorial, but it does not affect the final result. There is one more step left, but that part of the tutorial will be done in Photoshop. Although even without that last step, I can say that that image looks just fine. It's not like I've never used image editing software, but I definitely haven't used Photoshop. The current software I'm currently using, and have been using for a long time, is more than sufficient for what I need and how much I need. The most important thing is that in the end I learned a lot of details, not so much when it comes to lighting as in making the scene itself.
To Mods: If this type of long "how I got here" message isn’t meant for this space, I apologize in advance.
To Daz Art Enthusiasts: I'm about to do a lot of Yapping, so if you're just here for the art, feel free to skip the Yapping and check out the images.
Today, I decided to build a scene from scratch, focusing on a more ethical workflow to see what I could learn. (Note: This is my first time actually playing with lighting.)
By ethical, I mean taking a mindful and patient approach to the workflow.
Character Creation
I started by creating my character, Clara:
View attachment 3974178 View attachment 3974187
I had a "white bunny" theme in mind, and luckily, I had the perfect outfit for it.
Initially, I experimented with hair colors and decided to stick with the first one as it seemed the best.
Camera Setup
Next, I set up the cameras. I used three cameras, with the first one giving the POV that you can see in the pic above and for the other two you can see the POV below.
View attachment 3974200 View attachment 3974196
Setting Up the Environment
This was my first render within the environment (I didn't add any lights; those came with the asset).
View attachment 3974202 Then, I decided to add some lighting to act like a ring light (in this case, it was a point light, but you get the idea) to highlight the main character of the scene.
This was my first attempt with the light. View attachment 3974206
It didn’t quite hit the mark—the light felt too intense. Although the "assets" deserved the highlight, they weren’t my main objective.
After some trial and error, I managed to achieve better lighting, although it still wasn’t exactly what I wanted. For instance, the shadow still looked massive, which I assume is because the light was horizontal, and the room was small, so the light traveled further after crossing the main character.
I did notice some clipping with the bed, hand, and foot, but here are the other "POVs".
View attachment 3974217
View attachment 3974219
Here i notice a lack of lighting and so i tried to put a new light behind the target this time.
View attachment 3974229
The light wasn’t great, but I didn’t attempt further adjustments and moved on to the next test: environments.
Environment Testing
So i set the Environment Map value to 20 from 2 , disabled my lights, and got this result (I also tried to fix the clipping I mentioned earlier).
View attachment 3974233
Then, I played with the Environment Map a bit more and noticed the "Environment Intensity" parameter just above it. That's when I had a realization. I reset the Environment Map value to what it was earlier and fiddled with this new parameter. I liked what I saw, so I turned my lights back on, and here’s the result:
View attachment 3974237
View attachment 3974238
View attachment 3974243
This isn’t a great render(please no one take offense at this); I’ve played enough AVNs to know that. But it’s something I think looks pretty nice, considering I spent about four hours on it—two of which were just rendering time (the first pics without the environment were 2-5 minutes; after adding the environment, the time went up to 10-12 minutes. The one where I adjusted the environment took around 15 minutes, and with 2,500 samples, it was only at 4% progress. So, I’ll need to figure out if I can optimize them or if the environment intensity is just too demanding).
Conclusion
I’m pretty happy with the progress i made today. Am looking forward to any comment/ pointers or just insights. Next step for me is i would like to explore environments more, maybe download a few new maps cause if i understand correctly the on i have is a basic middle of the day one, so probably gonna look to get some better quality ones and try doing some "Afternoon" renders next. I also want to work on my posing next so i will be changing poses as i go and moving the cams maybe doing some portrait-sized shots too.
PS: I used an RTX 4070TI for all the renders, which are in 1440p and range between 800-2500 samples.
PS2: i was told i needed to work on my camera placement(not that its the only thing i need to work on), so if you see any possible improvements let me know.
A spotlight set to a rectangle size 100x100 will give you softer more natural looking shadows - this is probably the most useful tip I have picked up with regard to lighting. As for render times, hide anything not in the shot and disable your CPU in the render settings, leave all other settings on default - others may chime in here and I’m by no means an expert so have a play and see what you like best.To Mods: If this type of long "how I got here" message isn’t meant for this space, I apologize in advance.
To Daz Art Enthusiasts: I'm about to do a lot of Yapping, so if you're just here for the art, feel free to skip the Yapping and check out the images.
Today, I decided to build a scene from scratch, focusing on a more ethical workflow to see what I could learn. (Note: This is my first time actually playing with lighting.)
By ethical, I mean taking a mindful and patient approach to the workflow.
Character Creation
I started by creating my character, Clara:
View attachment 3974178 View attachment 3974187
I had a "white bunny" theme in mind, and luckily, I had the perfect outfit for it.
Initially, I experimented with hair colors and decided to stick with the first one as it seemed the best.
Camera Setup
Next, I set up the cameras. I used three cameras, with the first one giving the POV that you can see in the pic above and for the other two you can see the POV below.
View attachment 3974200 View attachment 3974196
Setting Up the Environment
This was my first render within the environment (I didn't add any lights; those came with the asset).
View attachment 3974202 Then, I decided to add some lighting to act like a ring light (in this case, it was a point light, but you get the idea) to highlight the main character of the scene.
This was my first attempt with the light. View attachment 3974206
It didn’t quite hit the mark—the light felt too intense. Although the "assets" deserved the highlight, they weren’t my main objective.
After some trial and error, I managed to achieve better lighting, although it still wasn’t exactly what I wanted. For instance, the shadow still looked massive, which I assume is because the light was horizontal, and the room was small, so the light traveled further after crossing the main character.
I did notice some clipping with the bed, hand, and foot, but here are the other "POVs".
View attachment 3974217
View attachment 3974219
Here i notice a lack of lighting and so i tried to put a new light behind the target this time.
View attachment 3974229
The light wasn’t great, but I didn’t attempt further adjustments and moved on to the next test: environments.
Environment Testing
So i set the Environment Map value to 20 from 2 , disabled my lights, and got this result (I also tried to fix the clipping I mentioned earlier).
View attachment 3974233
Then, I played with the Environment Map a bit more and noticed the "Environment Intensity" parameter just above it. That's when I had a realization. I reset the Environment Map value to what it was earlier and fiddled with this new parameter. I liked what I saw, so I turned my lights back on, and here’s the result:
View attachment 3974237
View attachment 3974238
View attachment 3974243
This isn’t a great render(please no one take offense at this); I’ve played enough AVNs to know that. But it’s something I think looks pretty nice, considering I spent about four hours on it—two of which were just rendering time (the first pics without the environment were 2-5 minutes; after adding the environment, the time went up to 10-12 minutes. The one where I adjusted the environment took around 15 minutes, and with 2,500 samples, it was only at 4% progress. So, I’ll need to figure out if I can optimize them or if the environment intensity is just too demanding).
Conclusion
I’m pretty happy with the progress i made today. Am looking forward to any comment/ pointers or just insights. Next step for me is i would like to explore environments more, maybe download a few new maps cause if i understand correctly the on i have is a basic middle of the day one, so probably gonna look to get some better quality ones and try doing some "Afternoon" renders next. I also want to work on my posing next so i will be changing poses as i go and moving the cams maybe doing some portrait-sized shots too.
PS: I used an RTX 4070TI for all the renders, which are in 1440p and range between 800-2500 samples.
PS2: i was told i needed to work on my camera placement(not that its the only thing i need to work on), so if you see any possible improvements let me know.
He was truly an inspired Craftsman when he set up this Render.I know it's only the face, but wow... Well, actually, even in real life, there are women that be very seductive just with a smile and look, so, why not ?
I guess it is a custom character (well, she even has a name, Italian, I would say) ? Or is it a commercial asset ?