Realistic vs Semi-realistic - Poll and References

[LadyLilith-3D]

So I've been messing with Daz for a little bit now and want to create a Renpy game/VN. If i had my way I would go with traditional 2d drawn art but I personally cannot do that nor can I spend the money to hire an artist. My next thought was to take some of the more "Realistic" renders I've done in Daz and see if I can morph them into something a little more Semi-realistic / fantasy style without making them look "doll like".

Below are a few images I did a while back in a more realistic style then their counterpart in a more fantasy style (Reduce skin texture to be more smooth, enhanced color, added things like brighter eyes/glow, magical effects, etc to try and sell the fantasy feeling). The poll is to see if you prefer the more realistic versions or the fantasy. Any additional thoughts or input is more then welcome.

 

[earthfire]

For Alexa and Alice i like the realistic style more and semi-realistic for Queen Lilith.

 

[Adabelitoo]

To be honest I don't even see the difference between "Realistic" and "Semi-realistic" renders. I mean sure the lights are different and some renders seem to have a magic powers/fantasy elements but that's still the same style without any major difference. If your game has fantasy settings then yes you need the fantasy things but it isn't a matter of "styles".

 

[PsychicStress]

I like the brighter, warmer looks for each of the figures you've presented here, and I agree with Adabelitoo in that it seems to be more about lighting and less about a style as such. These renders look very nice, though.

 

[LadyLilith-3D]

To be honest I don't even see the difference between "Realistic" and "Semi-realistic" renders. I mean sure the lights are different and some renders seem to have a magic powers/fantasy elements but that's still the same style without any major difference. If your game has fantasy settings then yes you need the fantasy things but it isn't a matter of "styles".

I get what you're saying but I feel like there's not a whole lot you can do to push a render (In Daz specifically) to semi-realistic without losing its quality. Overwise you'll just end up getting something that looks doll-like or just not appealing. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears for sure.

 

[stevejackhammer]

I get what you're saying but I feel like there's not a whole lot you can do to push a render (In Daz specifically) to semi-realistic without losing its quality. Overwise you'll just end up getting something that looks doll-like or just not appealing. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears for sure.

Lighting is always key in "realistic" rendering. Experiment with HDRIs as a way of getting better results, if you're not doing that already. For what it's worth, when I saw your topic regarding "realistic", I was expecting a question about whether the characters should have boobs the size of beachballs. Thankfully, that's not what you meant. Looking them over, I'd say the choice is not easy to make -- they're all pretty good.

Here's something else to try. Don't go for realism in the Daz output. Take your output and feed it into PhotoShop or GIMP, and do your adjustments there. Add some graininess to give that "photo" look-and-feel. Make the lighting pop with a judicious amount of lens flare (don't JJ Abrams the heck out of it, though!). Use layering and masking to adjust different elements separately. For instance, separate the the demon queen check from the girl servicing her, and both from the background, and adjust the three elements separately.

To do this effectively, you might want to experiment with *more* lighting in the Daz render. That way there is a lot of color information to work with. Then in Photoshop/GIMP, drop down the saturation and brightness to get that murky shadowy look you're going for. Trying to do that with lighting in the original render is tough. All that mucking around with spotlights and point lights -- ugh. Even in the real world, that's not how it works. The raw shot is well lit. The adjustments are easier to do in post-production.

 

[stevejackhammer]

I get what you're saying but I feel like there's not a whole lot you can do to push a render (In Daz specifically) to semi-realistic without losing its quality. Overwise you'll just end up getting something that looks doll-like or just not appealing. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears for sure.

If you want to post-process like a professional, do some reading on Daz "canvases". It's a feature in the Daz render pipeline that allows the various layers to be rendered separately. So all the lights are rendered on a separate image from the characters, and from the props, the shadows, and so on. They are layered onto each other with "overlay" blending for the finished product. But by having the separate images, you can bring them into Photoshop/GIMP as separate elements too. Masking becomes less of a thing, and you can isolate the effects of your adjustments much more easily.

I don't know that canvases are cost effective for a VN in which you are trying to pump out dozens and dozens of images, though. More something you would do for that one-off super amazing render you are submitting to a competition. But you might want to look into it. Maybe something you can use for certain key shots, or ones that are proving difficult to get right.

 

[LadyLilith-3D]

Lighting is always key in "realistic" rendering. Experiment with HDRIs as a way of getting better results, if you're not doing that already. For what it's worth, when I saw your topic regarding "realistic", I was expecting a question about whether the characters should have boobs the size of beachballs. Thankfully, that's not what you meant. Looking them over, I'd say the choice is not easy to make -- they're all pretty good.

Here's something else to try. Don't go for realism in the Daz output. Take your output and feed it into PhotoShop or GIMP, and do your adjustments there. Add some graininess to give that "photo" look-and-feel. Make the lighting pop with a judicious amount of lens flare (don't JJ Abrams the heck out of it, though!). Use layering and masking to adjust different elements separately. For instance, separate the the demon queen check from the girl servicing her, and both from the background, and adjust the three elements separately.

To do this effectively, you might want to experiment with *more* lighting in the Daz render. That way there is a lot of color information to work with. Then in Photoshop/GIMP, drop down the saturation and brightness to get that murky shadowy look you're going for. Trying to do that with lighting in the original render is tough. All that mucking around with spotlights and point lights -- ugh. Even in the real world, that's not how it works. The raw shot is well lit. The adjustments are easier to do in post-production.

If you want to post-process like a professional, do some reading on Daz "canvases". It's a feature in the Daz render pipeline that allows the various layers to be rendered separately. So all the lights are rendered on a separate image from the characters, and from the props, the shadows, and so on. They are layered onto each other with "overlay" blending for the finished product. But by having the separate images, you can bring them into Photoshop/GIMP as separate elements too. Masking becomes less of a thing, and you can isolate the effects of your adjustments much more easily.

I don't know that canvases are cost effective for a VN in which you are trying to pump out dozens and dozens of images, though. More something you would do for that one-off super amazing render you are submitting to a competition. But you might want to look into it. Maybe something you can use for certain key shots, or ones that are proving difficult to get right.

Yes to everything you said lol. Exporting to Photoshop/Procreate is how I do my post-work for the images. The difference between the images was all done in Procreate, never went back into Daz for it. Separating out some of the elements from each other I've done in the past and works great for post-work. I think the answer here is, I just need to get better at the type of post-work that I want to achieve. Thanks for the advice/tips, it's much appreciated.

 

[stevejackhammer]

Yes to everything you said lol. Exporting to Photoshop/Procreate is how I do my post-work for the images. The difference between the images was all done in Procreate, never went back into Daz for it. Separating out some of the elements from each other I've done in the past and works great for post-work. I think the answer here is, I just need to get better at the type of post-work that I want to achieve. Thanks for the advice/tips, it's much appreciated.

My pleasure. It just occurred to me that post-processing a Daz render is no different from post-processing any photograph. You could look to any resource about post-processing and composting to up those skills. I was flipping through "Advanced Compositing in Photoshop: Bringing the Impossible to Reality" by Bret Malley at the bookstore the other day (no, really I was). I'd say any technique to make a photo taken under professional studio lights merge seamlessly into a foggy landscape shot, for example, would apply to adjusting a Daz render so that it looks more "real".

 

[brasileirinho]

Semi realistic is better.

The problem with realistic is the uncanny valley effect. Some screenshots may favor the realistic models, but any animations and some angles and poses will make them look bad.

Another good reason to go for semi-realistic is that it requires less time spent on polishing the details, so you can pump out more content. And also, if you reduce the textures it may improve performance.

 

[somebodynobody]

I kind of like what you did with Alexa in the fantasy version. My opinion would be do something in that vein. Where most of the look is realistic but some features really stand out, extreme eye color or how a background looks. Give it its own style to pull away from most other realistic looking ones. I guess I would say look at what is now called "Sylphine" https://f95zone.to/threads/sylphine-v-024-glacerose.57733/ This game went through a few remakes but the fans vehemently wanted the dev to keep the hair colors of the original "Sylphia island". Point is that these differences is what made the characters stand out and players got attached.

I would also say do something that is easier for your rig or your time.