VN Ren'Py Light of My Life [Ch. 1-7 v1.0.0] [Naughty Road]

[Dragon59]

It would be interesting to see a list of assets used to make the models. Not necessarily the models themselves. Then people can either attempt to recreate them or make their own models.

A mentoring guide for those of us who are just starting out. I tried customizing a figure and this is what I got:

 

[Dragon59]

It's an interesting notion. I'd like to release the models to the public one day, but first I want to be sure I told every story I wanted to tell with them. And tbh, I'm sort of dreading the appearance of the first fan-render of a horse-donged Macy violating Futa-Denise's back door.

Hmm... You might need to schedule a session with Dr. Amana.

Do you have any ideas why this scenario was the first thing to come to mind at the thought of loosening control of the character models?

 

[ForsakenLibrarian]

Since the girls in LomL aren't store-bought-as-is (which most girls in VNs seem to be), and I haven't released them to the public yet, I think it'll be very hard for anyone to recreate them. Basically, they're genesis 8's, with an awful lot of 200 plus head and face morphs and Gen 8 female body morphs and some natural breasts morphs thrown in, and a dash of cartoonized. Skins come from some characters in one of the Victoria 8 packs I think, but I tweaked those as well.

I'm surprised and impressed that you were able to get such unique character designs out of DAZ. I thought for sure those were custom ZBrush sculpts.

 

[naughtyroad]

It would be interesting to see a list of assets used to make the models. (...)

Well, like I said, 200 plus head and face morphs, Genesis 8 female body morphs and Natural breasts morphs are the basis. Dash of Cartoonized to take the edge of the uncanny valley. Skins are Rebekah and Elisabeth for gen8, but customized. Macy's tats come from one of the Inked packs by Shanassoulmate, and some are custom. For the other characters, that holds true as well except for the skins, although with one or two, I might have dialed in a bit of a store character, for instance Ethel (the dinner lady) has about a 3rd of Edie dialed in.

(...)
Do you have any ideas why this scenario was the first thing to come to mind at the thought of loosening control of the character models?

Well, doctor, it's been offered up as a suggestion for a custom render on more than one occasion, so I just figured that would be high on the list. But anyway, about my mother's boobs...

 

[Bill_Buttlicker]

Since the girls in LomL aren't store-bought-as-is (which most girls in VNs seem to be), and I haven't released them to the public yet, I think it'll be very hard for anyone to recreate them. Basically, they're genesis 8's, with an awful lot of 200 plus head and face morphs and Gen 8 female body morphs and some natural breasts morphs thrown in, and a dash of cartoonized. Skins come from some characters in one of the Victoria 8 packs I think, but I tweaked those as well.

Denise's ass is perfection. It's like shall never be seen again.

 

[Belfaborac]

A mentoring guide for those of us who are just starting out. I tried customizing a figure and this is what I got:
View attachment 1398645

You, Sir, are not in any way a nice and considerate man! Now I have to work myself way down a bottle of something strong before I'll have any hope of sleeping.

 

[Dragon59]

You, Sir, are not in any way a nice and considerate man! Now I have to work myself way down a bottle of something strong before I'll have any hope of sleeping.

Sorry about that. I have no idea how tweaking various aspects of the face did that. I made too many changes at once without checking to see what the rendered result was.

Her new visage is definitely less disturbing.

 

[PBS666]

Besides the custom tweaks and the posing, another important aspect of making a good looking render is the way of how you light the model and the scene. I've seen a lot of devs who only use on-axis frontal lighting, resulting in flat looking faces with ugly highlights and pinpoint catchlights smack in the middle of the eyes. Even the inside of the models mouth is lit. This is the equivalent of talking a picture with a pop-up flash. You can get away with it if your name is Terry Richardson, but most of the time this does not result in a flattering picture.
Other devs go even further and render scenes which seem to have been created inside a light box. No direction of the light, no light falloff on the background, no contrast, no depth.
Naughtyroad and a few others on the other hand, manage to light their scenes in a way that is both realistic and enhances the mood. It is also flattering for the models, making them look more attractive. As an amateur photographer, I tend to notice such things.

 

[Dolphin3000]

One of the (many) things I really, REALLY appreciate in LomL is that the models can't be found in 137 other games of wildly varying quality.

Please, pretty please, don't ever release them for general consumption!

I love these characters too, and of course, I would not like to see them appearing out of character in other developer's game. On the other hand, it would be nice to see them in a cameo scene in another developer's creation, if he would respect the original characters behavior. I wouldn't enjoy a scene involving Denise in a gang-bang action in some back alley, for instance. Even if it was just something the MC saw from the corner of his eye as he was driving downtown for the main event of his game.

 

[naughtyroad]

Besides the custom tweaks and the posing, another important aspect of making a good looking render is the way of how you light the model and the scene. I've seen a lot of devs who only use on-axis frontal lighting, resulting in flat looking faces with ugly highlights and pinpoint catchlights smack in the middle of the eyes. Even the inside of the models mouth is lit. This is the equivalent of talking a picture with a pop-up flash. You can get away with it if your name is Terry Richardson, but most of the time this does not result in a flattering picture.
Other devs go even further and render scenes which seem to have been created inside a light box. No direction of the light, no light falloff on the background, no contrast, no depth.
Naughtyroad and a few others on the other hand, manage to light their scenes in a way that is both realistic and enhances the mood. It is also flattering for the models, making them look more attractive. As an amateur photographer, I tend to notice such things.

Yeah, it pays to take a look at actual photography techniques when you want to get going with DAZ, because it tries to simulate how actual light works, so the principles apply to it practically one-on-one. Basically, when I got started and noticed my renders were not coming like I would like them, I read up on the three-point lighting system and took it from there, picking up tricks along the way ever since.
And of course, you need to think about your set when you come up with a lighting plan, or better, you need to start with the set as the lighting follows from it, and then figure out how to get that to look good on the model.

The other flaws you describe, there's good technical explanations for some, for instance a rookie artist not realizing or caring that the DAZ camera comes with a built-in headlight that needs to be disabled. For the light box effect, I assume it's overly relying on ghost lights and/or out-of-the-box products that don't adapt well to different sets.

 

[LarryK]

Yeah, it pays to take a look at actual photography techniques when you want to get going with DAZ, because it tries to simulate how actual light works, so the principles apply to it practically one-on-one. Basically, when I got started and noticed my renders were not coming like I would like them, I read up on the three-point lighting system and took it from there, picking up tricks along the way ever since.
And of course, you need to think about your set when you come up with a lighting plan, or better, you need to start with the set as the lighting follows from it, and then figure out how to get that to look good on the model.

The other flaws you describe, there's good technical explanations for some, for instance a rookie artist not realizing or caring that the DAZ camera comes with a built-in headlight that needs to be disabled. For the light box effect, I assume it's overly relying on ghost lights and/or out-of-the-box products that don't adapt well to different sets.

Even if I can't follow most of that, you sound like you know what you're doing, so I'll let you get on with it (unsupervised).

 

[red_faced]

Her new visage is definitely less disturbing.
View attachment 1398982

She has Dreamworks face.

 

[clowns234]

A mentoring guide for those of us who are just starting out. I tried customizing a figure and this is what I got:
View attachment 1398645

I've had premade poses that can randomly cause weird distortions. The eyes and the hands seem to be affected the most - at least for me.

 

[clowns234]

Besides the custom tweaks and the posing, another important aspect of making a good looking render is the way of how you light the model and the scene. I've seen a lot of devs who only use on-axis frontal lighting, resulting in flat looking faces with ugly highlights and pinpoint catchlights smack in the middle of the eyes. Even the inside of the models mouth is lit. This is the equivalent of talking a picture with a pop-up flash. You can get away with it if your name is Terry Richardson, but most of the time this does not result in a flattering picture.
Other devs go even further and render scenes which seem to have been created inside a light box. No direction of the light, no light falloff on the background, no contrast, no depth.
Naughtyroad and a few others on the other hand, manage to light their scenes in a way that is both realistic and enhances the mood. It is also flattering for the models, making them look more attractive. As an amateur photographer, I tend to notice such things.

I have learned enough about lighting in Dev Studio to know that I know little about lightning in Daz Studio. Although, I did do this one:

 

[Miðgarðsormr]

All of you are doing amazing shit with daz and other things. Meanwhile i sit here and tried that myself in the past and after a few DAYS. Entire DAYS. The best i could come up with was someone who looked like a mix of Mr. Potato and clay figures you used to make when you are a little kid.

God i have no talent fo that.

But on the bright side my daugther is going to school now for coding. Which means i will learn it as well. Which also means..... I WILL BE CODING THE LIVING SHIT OUF OF SOMETHING! Maybe i can support naughtyroad with some coding in the future. Or i hire my daughter to do so MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Edit: I have to inform the thread that i can not afford my daughter according to her salary expectations and my income.

 

[Rintal]

Yeah, it pays to take a look at actual photography techniques when you want to get going with DAZ, because it tries to simulate how actual light works, so the principles apply to it practically one-on-one. Basically, when I got started and noticed my renders were not coming like I would like them, I read up on the three-point lighting system and took it from there, picking up tricks along the way ever since.
And of course, you need to think about your set when you come up with a lighting plan, or better, you need to start with the set as the lighting follows from it, and then figure out how to get that to look good on the model.

The other flaws you describe, there's good technical explanations for some, for instance a rookie artist not realizing or caring that the DAZ camera comes with a built-in headlight that needs to be disabled. For the light box effect, I assume it's overly relying on ghost lights and/or out-of-the-box products that don't adapt well to different sets.

Yeah, three-point light is the alphabet of rendering, but it doesn't always work well. For example, in a studio scene, in a portrait, this is a good technique. Also in the sprites you use.
But for scenes with surroundings, it is better to use natural lights (sun, lamps), at least with 15-20 diffuse samples and a properly tuned global light. Then the picture will be as natural as possible.
Besides, sometimes you have to combine these techniques. But that's a different story.

 

[Belfaborac]

Sorry about that. I have no idea how tweaking various aspects of the face did that. I made too many changes at once without checking to see what the rendered result was.

Her new visage is definitely less disturbing.
View attachment 1398982

Much, much better.

Also, I may have slightly exaggerated the harm inflicted by the original, as working my way down into a nice bottle is rarely such an unpleasant chore.

 

[PBS666]

Yeah, it pays to take a look at actual photography techniques when you want to get going with DAZ, because it tries to simulate how actual light works, so the principles apply to it practically one-on-one.

Absolutely. Nowadays there even exists a 3d software package called Setalight. It allows you to build a virtual studio with daz-like models, different lights and modifiers and a virtual camera, so you can experiment with different lighting setups and the effect they have on your picture. Daz3d for photographers if you like.

 

[hoborg]

a mix of Mr. Potato and clay figures you used to make when you are a little kid.

Well, maybe thats someones kink.
Knowing this forum...

 

[Miðgarðsormr]

Well, maybe thats someones kink.
Knowing this forum...

So what you are saying is that i could be a millionaire?