How to make sex scene renders not look awkward

[Dark_Sytze]

Hey guys,
Maybe a weird question. I've tried making games before, and at some point usually give up because I'm not satisfied about the quality of the renders. The problem mostly is with actual sex scenes, they look awkward, strange and unrealistic. I've tried animations but so far no success yet.

If anyone has any tips, good examples (in a game is fine as well) or otherwise feedback I'd appreciate it.

 

[Rich]

The best advice I can give is "use real life as a model." Find scenes you like and study the details of the body positioning. "Awkward" is typically a result of some unnatural aspect in the way the figures are posed.

Or cheat - there are a lot of pose packs on Renderotica with about every type of action you can think of, and many of them are pretty nuanced.

But posing people naturally is, at least for me, the second hardest thing in doing renders. (First is lighting.)

 

[MissFortune]

The best advice I can give is "use real life as a model." Find scenes you like and study the details of the body positioning. "Awkward" is typically a result of some unnatural aspect in the way the figures are posed.

Or cheat - there are a lot of pose packs on Renderotica with about every type of action you can think of, and many of them are pretty nuanced.

But posing people naturally is, at least for me, the second hardest thing in doing renders. (First is lighting.)

I wouldn't necessarily call it cheating, at least no more than using environments, as that's what they're there for. Then you can adjust accordingly to specific renders. Just find a good base pose and fiddle joints/limbs/heads/etc. as needed.

Have to agree on the latter part though, getting natural-looking poses and expressions is tough. Though toying with angles can help a bit from my experience.

 

[mickydoo]

I have a hard drive full of Pornhub premium, Onlyfans etc, but you can just go to the streaming sites, and look at the amateur vids and you will gets lots of ideas.

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

But posing people naturally is, at least for me, the second hardest thing in doing renders. (First is lighting.)

It's rather difficult and tedious, more than people realise imo, just for a single pose let alone a whole animation.
I guess the trick is to find some acceptable middle ground, which take a good chunk of time -_-!

 

[Dark_Sytze]

Or cheat - there are a lot of pose packs on Renderotica with about every type of action you can think of, and many of them are pretty nuanced.

But posing people naturally is, at least for me, the second hardest thing in doing renders. (First is lighting.)

I own and use these poses quite extensively, but they still often appear unnatural/awkward to me. I've tried gaining some inspiration from other games now, and noticed they large avoid the awkward things. (being a dik for example seems to do a lot of close ups, very few facial expressions during scenes etc.) I think this might be something I will consider as well, because the face is in most renders the hardest part to make realistic.

I have a hard drive full of Pornhub premium, Onlyfans etc, but you can just go to the streaming sites, and look at the amateur vids and you will gets lots of ideas.

While this would help, as stupid as it sounds, I don't really watch porn as it makes me uncomfortable. I have in the past gained some inspiration from more pin up/artistic nudity which in my opinion is also better looking, but not really useful for actual sex scenes.

 

[GNVE]

Something inherent to Daz is the lack of muscles flexing. When doing an intense sex scene you'd expect muscles to be tense. but since that is not really an option (there are a few sliders but not for all situations and it's tedious levels of detail to add into a render). But it sometimes makes an intense sex scene into a gentle patting match.
This is a fighting render of mine. It is meant to be an intense fight but the girls are looking relaxed (outside of the expression of Amy that is). Part of it is that my posing could be better but the muscles are quite relaxed. In this scene the muscles should be tense as they are trying to pin each other to the ground.
Now the camera is quite tame and maybe a dutch angle would've helped but even then.


To improve facial expressions I suggest that you almost never put facial expressions to the max. Also blend. If you for instance go for an orgasm the overtone is clearly joy and happiness. But when looking closer you may see an undertone of pain or anger in the expression. Having intense sex is a workout and thus the expression should reflect that. (also dutch angle works, see? )

Something else that can improve the rawness of a scene is to make the skin glossier. As said sex can be a workout meaning you'll sweat. By increasing the glossiness as I did in the image above you'll also make the scene more intense.


Then something I see many creators overlook in the daz3d art show us your dazskill thread on this forum is the eyes. As a rule of thumb never have the eyes perfectly centred. Eyes that are centred have an empty defeated look. so even the most intense sexscene will look like empty puppets going through the motions if the eyes aren't right.
Just some examples of how just changing eye position can change the conveyed emotion.



To improve animations specifically you can lengthen the loop. often times creators loop only the smallest unit possible (e.g. one time entering and pulling the dick out of the pussy. if you lengthen it you create a little variation so the sex looks a little more natural.
View attachment Editor[5].mp4

Lastly and something I struggle with in animations is the speed. It is hard to judge speed in daz and many animations are either a little slow or a little fast. I have no real solution for that unfortunately.

 

[Dark_Sytze]

Then something I see many creators overlook in the daz3d art show us your dazskill thread on this forum is the eyes. As a rule of thumb never have the eyes perfectly centred. Eyes that are centred have an empty defeated look. so even the most intense sexscene will look like empty puppets going through the motions if the eyes aren't right.
Just some examples of how just changing eye position can change the conveyed emotion.



To improve animations specifically you can lengthen the loop. often times creators loop only the smallest unit possible (e.g. one time entering and pulling the dick out of the pussy. if you lengthen it you create a little variation so the sex looks a little more natural.

Lastly and something I struggle with in animations is the speed. It is hard to judge speed in daz and many animations are either a little slow or a little fast. I have no real solution for that unfortunately.

I think I do quite well on the first part. I generally tend to use the camera with the "look at camera" script, with head movement set lower just to get the idea that someone does look at you, but not straight ahead. If this is not an option I tend to at least move the eyes a bit sideways manually.

I have already given up on animations. I rendered a 30 frame animation yesterday (not fully because it just took too long). A single render with my 3070 at 2000 iterations took about 10 minutes, meaning 30 frames would take 5 hours. And then those 30 frames are basically less than a second of animation.

Perhaps in the future if I do a larger project it might be worth the effort, but for a small game it's just not, especially for the first game that I'm dedicated to actually finishing.

Would you be willing to provide some feedback on a render I did yesterday? I think this one turned out okay, but any pointers are very welcome

 

[GNVE]

Well render time is cheap. You need to eat, sleep, work, go to school etc. Make sure to render in those times so it doesn't eat into the time you can actually work on your images.

Though in general it can be a good idea to have subjects looking at the camera (especially if your game is first person) I just like to say that you don't always have to let people look at the camera. Looking away from the camera can give a powerfull emotional signal as well (shyness, disinterest, sadness etc.)

This image is quite good . I like the posing. I'd say it would be more suitable for the beginning of a sex scene or a love oriented sex scene rather than the climax of a porn scene. (So depending on the intent it can be just perfect)

The camera seems to capture the subject quite well. Try to experiment with some different camera angles and a few close ups. I'm not saying it will improve the composition but it could. I often experiment with several compositions before locking in the camera. (That's also why photographers often make 100s of images during a shoot and then select a dozen or so to go to the client.)

The lighting can be improved in this scene. First off you have a weird drop shadow across the mans back and her right leg. (You can't see where it is coming from so it looks out of place.)

I'd go with a darker overall lighting. Get a little background light from the fire and lamp in the background and then just light the subject. It seems to fit the wood cabin more and might create a little more intimacy.

Last thing I would like to draw your attention to is the guys back. I don't know what's going on but it's really bumpy almost as if he had the measles or something. Maybe switch out the base texture if still possible? (so if you only have a dozen or so images you'd need to rerender not if you have to rerender 30 or so.)

By the way I'd suggest sharing your renders here as well. There are people far more qualified to give tips and help you improve your renders. Besides getting a few likes by people who like your work is always a good motivator.

 

[Dark_Sytze]

Well render time is cheap. You need to eat, sleep, work, go to school etc. Make sure to render in those times so it doesn't eat into the time you can actually work on your images.

First off, thanks a lot for the detailed feedback! It's really appreciated.
I generally only render when I'm actively using my PC, electricity is quite expensive, and I'd rather not leave my PC on while I'm not there (also due to possible things like overheating, lack of memory etc.) So I only really render while I'm writing game scenes, doing stuff like cooking etc.

This image is quite good . I like the posing. I'd say it would be more suitable for the beginning of a sex scene or a love oriented sex scene rather than the climax of a porn scene. (So depending on the intent it can be just perfect)

It is supposed to be the first "sex scene" in the scene, before this is only some teasing/undressing. Following this render there's two close ups, moving into a different position.

The lighting can be improved in this scene. First off you have a weird drop shadow across the mans back and her right leg. (You can't see where it is coming from so it looks out of place.)

Thanks, I'm also not too sure what's causing it, possibly a strange spot light.

I'd go with a darker overall lighting. Get a little background light from the fire and lamp in the background and then just light the subject. It seems to fit the wood cabin more and might create a little more intimacy.

I might try to do this in GIMP, more light during the renders improves the speed/quality, while making an image darker/changing colour balance is relatively easy.

Last thing I would like to draw your attention to is the guys back. I don't know what's going on but it's really bumpy almost as if he had the measles or something. Maybe switch out the base texture if still possible? (so if you only have a dozen or so images you'd need to rerender not if you have to rerender 30 or so.)

The weird bumpyness is due to N.G.S. Anagenessis, somehow the base skin includes hair/pores or something. Anagenessis changed this into weird lumpy skin, in further renders I have removed the Anagenessis, which is a bit of a shame as it does improve the realism of the skin.

By the way I'd suggest sharing your renders here as well. There are people far more qualified to give tips and help you improve your renders. Besides getting a few likes by people who like your work is always a good motivator.

I occasionally do post stuff in there, but only renders which I'm 100% satisfied with to see if anyone could provide further feedback. Sadly feedback in that topic occasionally seems lacking, and asking for very specific feedback can be difficult in between all the other posts.

Edit: an "improved version, raw from DAZ and edited in GIMP for more warmth. Im actually not sure the editing improved it, I might have overdone it.

 

[Queen Rat]

I think it's also important to know your audience. Being new to 3D art myself, I think most people playing these games would've been quite happy with the original render of the girl on the table (with some minor improvements). My novice opinion was "this is hot" and then "what is wrong with the guy's back"! I noticed the lighting issues once it was pointed out, but don't forget that the vast majority of players are not experts and the bar for acceptable is a lot lower than when the actual experts view your work.

That being said, subtle improvements do make a difference, so take all the advice you can get and improve as much as you can, without aiming for perfection.

 

[Rich]

Something inherent to Daz is the lack of muscles flexing. When doing an intense sex scene you'd expect muscles to be tense. but since that is not really an option (there are a few sliders but not for all situations and it's tedious levels of detail to add into a render). But it sometimes makes an intense sex scene into a gentle patting match.

This is a fighting render of mine. It is meant to be an intense fight but the girls are looking relaxed (outside of the expression of Amy that is). Part of it is that my posing could be better but the muscles are quite relaxed. In this scene the muscles should be tense as they are trying to pin each other to the ground.
Now the camera is quite tame and maybe a dutch angle would've helped but even then.

My observation about this is that in "action scenes," in which characters are moving - perhaps quickly - characters are almost always off-balance, precisely because they're moving. Both of your figures are in relatively "balanced" poses with their legs pretty much underneath them. You'd have more of a "feel" of action if one was in the process of toppling backward or to the side, and the other had her feet positioned behind her, as if lunging. Or that, if the point of the pose is that they're both pushing at one another, that both had their feet behind them so that they're both leaning on one another. My sense is that it's this, more than any issue of muscle flexing, that makes this scene look very static.

Further, look at the hands. They are in relatively relaxed poses. Someone struggling is likely to have the fingers much more spread, and perhaps in a more "claw-like" pose.

Camera-wise, yes, perhaps a bit of dutch angle might help. In addition, focusing more on the action, with less of the bystanders might emphasize things a bit more.

To improve animations specifically you can lengthen the loop. often times creators loop only the smallest unit possible (e.g. one time entering and pulling the dick out of the pussy. if you lengthen it you create a little variation so the sex looks a little more natural.

Indeed. Longer loops can definitely add realism. The simplistic response, of course, is "too many frames to render." But there are sneaky things you can do to break things up. For example, you might set up three separate "loops" ("do something and return back to that pose"), but then you could build an animation that want AABAAACA or something like that. Now you have a much longer, varied animation with significantly fewer frames.

Lastly and something I struggle with in animations is the speed. It is hard to judge speed in daz and many animations are either a little slow or a little fast. I have no real solution for that unfortunately.

This is Daz's biggest weakness - that you can't play back animations in real time, even in wireframe mode. My solution to this is to do intermediate renders - use OpenGL or Filament to do a very quick pass through the frames, webm it up and play it to see what it looks like, then adjust as required. Not a great workflow, but at least it lets you get closer.

 

[GNVE]

My observation about this is that in "action scenes," in which characters are moving - perhaps quickly - characters are almost always off-balance, precisely because they're moving. Both of your figures are in relatively "balanced" poses with their legs pretty much underneath them. You'd have more of a "feel" of action if one was in the process of toppling backward or to the side, and the other had her feet positioned behind her, as if lunging. Or that, if the point of the pose is that they're both pushing at one another, that both had their feet behind them so that they're both leaning on one another. My sense is that it's this, more than any issue of muscle flexing, that makes this scene look very static.

Further, look at the hands. They are in relatively relaxed poses. Someone struggling is likely to have the fingers much more spread, and perhaps in a more "claw-like" pose.

Camera-wise, yes, perhaps a bit of dutch angle might help. In addition, focusing more on the action, with less of the bystanders might emphasize things a bit more.

Thanks for the feedback I knew the poses had some issues. Your feedback helped me pinpoint better what it was and how to improve them. Having said that I still think that a little muscle flex would have been a nice detail to have and would have sold the struggle at least a little.

The camera angle had focus on the bystanders for a reason so it was bad by design. Not important for now though.

 

[Rich]

Thanks for the feedback I knew the poses had some issues. Your feedback helped me pinpoint better what it was and how to improve them.

yw. I'm still learning how to do good "action poses," but this was one of the first lessons that "they" emphasized. (In rather graphic detail - think of two sumo wrestlers leaning on one another, as opposed to standing next to one another. LOL)

Having said that I still think that a little muscle flex would have been a nice detail to have and would have sold the struggle at least a little.

I'm not arguing that it wouldn't be an improvement. But it's also a non-trivial problem. There's a significant difference between how, say, a bicep looks when one's arm just bends normally, versus how it looks with the same degree of bend while holding a heavy weight or applying a lot of force. Despite being in exactly the same pose, the two different cases involve very different muscle action and thus different levels of tension, bulge, tendon definition, etc. So, there's really no automated way for any program to distinguish between the two cases. At least, none that I can think of. Hence... sliders. LOL

The camera angle had focus on the bystanders for a reason so it was bad by design. Not important for now though.

I rather assumed that was the case. Of course, you could possibly convey "action" with a bit of camera work and multiple shots. A close-up, dutch-angle of the two engaged with one another to make it clear that the two are fighting, followed by a shot more like this one, but with the fighters slightly out of focus so that the attention is drawn to the individuals who are watching, emphasizing the spectators as opposed to the fighters, and meaning that you need less explicitly "we're fighting" posing in the second shot. (Translation - you cheat. LOL)

Also, if you wanted to get tricky, you could consider rendering the fighting figures in the foreground separately from the background, composite the two in Photoshop or GIMP, and add just a little bit of motion blur to hands or whatever in the foreground. Assuming, of course, that the image being shown has a hand or fist or foot or whatever in motion, as opposed to that instant where it comes in contact and stops.

Of course, this is me commenting on camera work without any real clue of the script, etc. LOL I just can't resist throwing my $0.02 in...

Good luck with it all!