Caught in the Tuna Net

…is getting an automatic note in the email that I was 9th on the favorite artist chart for last week. Woo! No, no money prizes are associated with that. Buy hey, this is what the automated congratulations says:

Dear nfredman,

This is a notification that you made it onto this week’s Art Charts at Renderosity.com, ranking 9^th on the list of favorite artists! Furthermore, because you were a favorite artist, we featured “Coruanu Cullassen: Woodgod”, which seems to be your most popular image to-date.

You can view the Art Charts by clicking here

What I’m not sure about was why they picked that image, which definitely has not gotten the most views–although I like it just fine!

Thank you, folks! That’s pretty cool.  :^)

More Poser-related brain droppings!

At some point, someone asked me to talk about workflow when using Poser to create and render digital art. I answered–don’t know if they ever saw it, as that thread on the DAZ3d Commons got buried pretty fast. But I can post it here for posterity. Let’s assume you own Poser 7 (I have Poser 7 Pro) on a PC or Mac and something to render…and understand this basic terminology.

Fire up Poser with a basic scene and lights just for posing
Bring in your character/figure.
Change figure’s skin texture if you need to
Pose figure
Add props that are held or jewelry worn
Adjust pose
Bring in sets
Pose the sets
Change materials as necessary
Adjust figure pose as necessary
Bring in clothing figures
Conform clothing
Change clothing textures if necessary
Adjust figure part visibility if required
Set up camera angle and fStop with main camera
Delete posing lights
Add lights just for this scene or set
Adjust lights
Test render
Adjust poses and materials as necessary
Add Ambient Occlusion to materials
Test render
Back to fiddling with lights, materials, poses
Set up final render
Render “normally”
Render alpha mat for figure if required for post-work (See this later post for more explanation)
Render z-depth for scene if required for post-work (See this later post for more explanation)
Save renders
Do postwork (another whole subject!)
Present image to forum!

Someone I had not previously met asked me in a Renderosity site mail:

Hi there – i was browsing your gallery and am totally amazed by your fellas. How did you get the latest one to look so damn good?

I’m rather new to using M4, so I am still stumbling around with him looking drab and generic.

Are there any tips you can offer?

(My gallery on Rendo is here, if you want to know what s/he was talking about…)

Here’s what I said:

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I kind of Frankenstein my characters together from a lot of different parts! Here’s a short tut on the subject:

Skins:
First off, I don’t think I ever use the M4 hi-res skin, though it’s useful in setting up Poser shaders as an example.    Short answer–try different skin textures. The two kitsune pictures use the Prince Albane skin from RawArt at DAZ3d–it’s really excellent, albeit albino–and *that* sure is different! I also use the Jepe’s 6 Pack skins (from PoserAddicts) which I run through Texture Converter 2 and then set up the shaders for them in Poser 7 Pro. I use others, too.

Also: I use the M4 Displacement Maps (DAZ3d) to get the lovely vascularity. If you use Poser, Cliff Bowman created some great script to let you use them in Poser 6 or 7. You get some great musculature with these maps.

Characters:
First, you need at least the Morphs++ package, and I would advise getting M4 Enhanced/Mina for M4 as well. This morph package smoothed out a lot of the issues with M4–like his big balloony thighs! Once you have these, you should set up a base character with all the morph injections already done–big time saver.

Then use this basic figure to start your own characters, and as you develop them, save them as their own figures (CR2 files)

Faces:
I have a really visual imagination, so I have a pretty good idea of what these people look like. But if you don’t, try collecting photos of a particular actor you really like–don’t worry about making a celeb clone, that’s insanely hard–but you will end up with an interesting finished product that you’re happy with.

You NEED Morphs++ installed to do decent characters, as well as to use M4 Ehanced. No way around that.

Given that, start at the top of the morph lists on the head and work your way south. Dial up a full face, at about 0.3 or 0.4 strength, and then use the other dials to back it off and change it. If you want a more mature character, start with the “Old” morph at about 0.32 and then add in Young 0.1 or one of the named morphs. I did that with Kaminski, and he came out really well! Also be sure to use the face shape morphs! Heart, square, round–and try them at negative values. In fact, negative values are your friend in this task! Always check the negative value of a trate you don’t want to see if it gets you one you do. Such as: Need a thinner face? Try negative values for Round or Square.

Next, you may use the dials that adjust both sides at once, but be sure to use the right or left versions as well, to keep the face from being too symmetrical. People are just NOT symmetrical! So, for example, maybe have eye height at 0.02 on left eye and 0.1 on the right.

Be subtle in your use of dials! You won’t need 1.0 on most of them, except for some stuff with the philitrum or nose.

Expressions:
Same thing for expressions as character faces, with one caveat: Don’t even bother with the Happy, Sad, Angry expressions. They look like clown-faces. You’re better off making faces in a mirror you keep on your desktop and copying what you see! That’s what I do, anyhow. Of course, I have a fairly expressive face. :^p

I hope that gets you started. Please feel free to ask specific questions if you want, too. :^D

*  *  *

And that goes for any of you blog readers, too.

Yesterday, one of my friends on the DAZ3d Commons posted a picture in our Virile Noir thread, and wanted comments. She didn’t get many, sadly–but the people who are really good at critical assessments have been MIA for personal reasons (real life interferes now and then!). She got no comments except from me, and I felt like I needed to help her out, as that’s one of my self-appointed missions on that board.  Here’s a link to the picture: http://forum.daz3d.com/gallery/image_22542.jpg I do not include it as it’s her work and not mine to display, but you can see it in a new window if you like.

This is what I wrote to her. I feel OK about posting a private message because it doesn’t really include any personal details, other than what you could find online generally in that forum, if you were inclined.

This is hardly the whole shootin’ match, just a toe in the water on the subject.

* * *

Funny, I was thinking about how I could help you realize what you had in mind. I recognize that frustration! I think everyone experiences it–the trick is to be persistent in practicing and not worry about the quality so much as trying to execute it as best one can.

Once I got home I got a decent look at the picture (my work monitor sucks dead bears), and I doubt that your character’s androgyny is an issue. The folks who post in the VN thread–well, you’ve met them. They’re pretty broad-minded. However, there was a combination of issues that probably stumped them as how to reply, and our most helpful people are all missing in action for personal reasons right now. You’re stuck with me!

So I was thinking, instead of trying to “fix” that picture, let’s step back for a moment and see where you were trying to go with it–I was basically thinking the same thing you were.  Leaving aside the wonderful idea of a chair of men    perhaps you could tell me what you wanted to do or where you want to go for the next effort?

There’s always homework. I’m thinking that it might be good to put some images *into* your head to mix around and inform your thoughts. What films do you favor? What would be really useful is to watch some good films in the genre on DVD where you can stop them and really *look* at the scenes that attract you to absorb what’s going on there. And look at some really well-done comics and graphic novels, too.

Films that are good for studying are the orginal Blade Runner (of course!) just for its mood and camera work, and probably the original Underworld. I’m trying to think of others that go with your goth/magick/adventure sensibility. The two Hellboy films have been excellent visually (as well as just plain awesome). Batman Begins is not a bad one, either.

Of course, looking at this picture, I immediately suggest that you read ANY of Mike Mignola’s graphic novels–the Hellboy series–because he does mood and action and composition just so damned well. The Dark Knight graphic novel is awesome, and the original Watchmen is not to be scorned, either.

Notice that I did not include any video games, though there are some undeniably wonderful ones. However, if you are doing still art, video games (and, well, sometimes movies) get you nowhere–because the excitement is all in your own head and in the thing you’re doing, and not sitting in front of you, really, if you think about it. Example: if you were playing the chap with the enspelled SAWs facing the demon, that would be exciting. However, standing to the side to watch that showdown…not so much, necessarily. His situation doesn’t look dire: there’s plenty of room for him to run away, and the reason he’s fighting the beastie is just not apparent or sufficient motivation. Me, I kept thinking, “Run, you idiot, and call in the air strike!” He’s not backed into a corner, in other words. If he *were*–then people would be holding their breath. But you have him at a safe (relatively) distance from the demon–at balanced, opposite sides of the picture, which is a very static arrangement–and just fixing to gun it down. Where’s the fun in that?  OK, those were just my opinions, but do you get my drift, there? You would need to create some drama *in that moment.* The demon would need to be about to grab him–up close & personal–with the guns in its face, and the guy can’t get away because his back is up against the fire. Granted, that might happen in the next frame–but you needed to show that teeth-gritting edge to us. Really, it comes with practice and observation.

But, you might say, movies and comics are about a progressing plot, too–yes, as are stills, but they are required by the non-participatory nature of the medium to present more compelling single images or scenarios, especially in scenes of conflict. Also, good directors will make sure that *every* scene is well-composed and meeting their goals, not just setting up a plot and letting you figure it out on your own. Still art is more like movies in that respect. And comics are even more to the point: *every* frame has to contribute in some way, so you’re more likely to see good examples there.

Wow. Here is were I’d say, “Time to fire up the microwave. We’re going to watch some movies and find good examples.” How dare you be in Canada! LOL! Oh well.

So, tell me something about what you want to depict. If you can say it in words, that may help to bring it to the front of your mind so you can figure out what to show.

There is an aspect to doing the art that is like a marksmanship sport–or bowling, even! You an analyze what you want to do, figure out how to acheive that–but when it comes time to step out and fling that ball or raise the bow or gun, you don’t have time to analyze, you just go with the moment. You have to trust your subconscious to deliver the goods as desired–and that just takes repetition and training. Eventually, the *ideas* come easier, so you can have headspace while you’re working to think about technical details.

* * *

Anyhow, I think I’ll keep posting tips like this, at least to record them for future reference.

About four years ago I stopped doing a lot of 3-d art—or any art for that matter—because I got a job that pretty much ate my brain. I had been laid off and trying to get work for eight or nine months and took a job at Real Magnet doing both email template design and help desk. This was the sort of job where I came home after a day of beyond-intense work and I just couldn’t talk, much less do anything else.

OK, two years of that. No creative stuff going on, much, but the people at Real Magnet are and were the best, which made up for a lot of the pressure. Then I moved on to a position at Amtrak as a production designer for the Great American Stations project. Then my mother died…then my grandmother…talk about transitions.

This winter past, the dam that had been keeping me from writing for oh, a couple of decades, finally broke. At this point, I have 3+ books in a series drafted, and nobody is more surprised than I am. The fourth is meandering and having plot issues, so I write on it a little bit at a time, and started back with Poser to depict the characters in the books, whom I call my figments.

The figments share a brain with me, as my figments always have over the years. They wanted to be portrayed, since I can do that pretty handily with Poser and Photoshop. Isn’t that neat? I can “photograph” people who have never existed. So, the 3d gallery at this point is populated with the current crop of figments from the Master of Sorrows trilogy (plus).

I also went back to the DAZ3D forums, and post regularly there again, and have fun being very silly with the excellent people there. They’re a real cut above your usual grotesqueries on the ‘Net. If you’re there, I’m the Nanobot. Of course.

It could be said that I flit from enthusiasm to enthusiasm, but that’s not exactly true. I spiral through them, coming back time after time. I figure that I’m supposed to do a bunch of different things, and well, I like variety, so I switch off. I’m trying, since life is short, to focus better now. Follow-through. Persistence. Words like those.