My_W.i.p_Progress..tips and advice welcome :)

[orion_uk]

Hi ,

Thought I would create a thread for showing off my Daz Plugin for Ocatane Render projects, so that I can get advice on using the plugin as I go .
I am fairly new to all this and think it would be great to have more expierienced people drop in some advice and give thier views with helpful tips of the trade

Thanks for your time



Finally installed my GTX 660 Ti (2GB) today

Its not as much of a step up as I was expecting (things actually seem slower!) with regards to speeding up my system/renders but like t_3 said, I really need to separate my rendering card from my OS/display card but don't have another slot for my old GTX 460 or any on-board graphics. Gonna have to get a new MB at some point, but not possible right now

I feel the benefit of being able to add more meshes/texture maps etc (can finally use Poser plugin with out any errors/limitations) but the system feels more `laggy` after installing the 660 BEFORE starting up either Poser or Daz plugins (before opening the rendering viewports), once they are open, no other tasks are possible, strange seeing as the 460 allowed me to still browse the web (at least) while rendering!


I think by now, you have all worked out that for me, this is a hobby

OK, So I decided that in order to get to know the software I have even better I need to `get in to it` more!

Rather than just setting up and rendering other peoples work (not that there is anything wrong with that) I feel I would gain more knowledge (& pride at the end of a project) if I create something from scratch!

SO (ditching my previous project) I have decided to start a fresh with this..

Instead of dreaming about creating the next blockbusting animation (animation fix pending), I need to focus on the quality of the actual scene rather than whats going to happen in the scene with motion applied! Whats the good in 200 frames of low quality stuff when a well presented single frame could speak volumes

Having to put all the `bits` together from nothing to something should help me understand each setting/parameters and force me to explore features I don't know about!

So far I have discovered that I need to know more about topology (as currently I need to work out how to merge faces in edit mode for even map distribution!) This is mainly in Blender for now as I know how to use that better than any of my other apps for modeling. I also need more understanding on UV mapping and to explore the process of keeping a `clean` & optimized scene by lowering poly counts & texture maps!

There is still a lot to add to this scene such as furniture, pictures, towels & towel rack etc but..

Here is my first scene that's fully created by me!

[larsmidnatt]

Very nice. The scenes are pretty convincing. I'm sure once you flesh them out a bit more they will look even better. Right now they are a bit too "clean", but you are certainly using the tools well.

[orion_uk]

Very nice. The scenes are pretty convincing. I'm sure once you flesh them out a bit more they will look even better. Right now they are a bit too "clean", but you are certainly using the tools well.

Hi larsmidnatt

I completely agree with the need to flesh things out and value your input in this area, will see how I get on!

Thanks for the helpful advice

[t_3]

2nd one looks like there was dust in the air; cool effect (from post proc i guess) & the rough wooden floor also fits the scene well.

since you got problems with the wall tiling: correcting uv can get quite cumbersome. at least for such a scenario an easy (and fast) solution could be to use simple planes as sort of coating for the geometry behind, and use the wall material there instead on the real geometry - just like a wallpaper. if you don't plan to create basement and 2nd floor it's no problem if they stick out, but you have no additional tiles from uv and can use the map scale to easily adjust a matching size for all "wallpapers"...

[orion_uk]

Thanks t_3

I brought a program called ultimate unwrap 3D pro, This seems to be helping a bit but the down side to this is yet another app to learn!
Getting more out of this project, seems more challenging (which I like) and I have so many ideas
Gonna finish the UV mapping tomorrow as I need sleep now, heres a few updated images while I work on this project (after some sleep!)..
Thanks for the great ideas/advice

PS: Is there a way to exclude certain/some blackbody lights from the bloom (and/or) glare effect ?
something like a check box in the defuse node that I can click for that perticuar mat/mesh only ?

Thanks

[t_3]

Thanks t_3

I brought a program called ultimate unwrap 3D pro, This seems to be helping a bit but the down side to this is yet another app to learn!
Getting more out of this project, seems more challenging (which I like) and I have so many ideas
Gonna finish the UV mapping tomorrow as I need sleep now, heres a few updated images while I work on this project (after some sleep!)..
Thanks for the great ideas/advice

PS: Is there a way to exclude certain/some blackbody lights from the bloom (and/or) glare effect ?
something like a check box in the defuse node that I can click for that perticuar mat/mesh only ?

Thanks

the new additions fit quite well imo. mood is building up. bump on the other hand inverted sry, scnr

regarding excluding stuff from bloom/glare - currently not yet, and i doubt it will be easily possible, since these are calculated post rendering...

[orion_uk]

Hi,

@ t_3..

I took your advice regarding reversing the normals on the wall, Thanks..

Also, I decided that larsmidnatt was spot on with the images needing to be fleshed out a bit. I do plan to add stuff like dirt and grime to some surfaces but did not like the white tiles, they looked too much like hospital/mad house walls (too clinical) and am pleased with the replacement enough for now

I must confess that (as my focus is on learning the settings and what I can achieve with various changes) I decided not to spend too much time on creating my own props (for now, this will change) and have downloaded some from here:[url]www.http://thefree3dmodels.com[/url] (the excersise bikes, fire extinguisher and the weight bench), I will add my own props once I am happy with the lighting and texture/map settings of the scene as it stands.

I plan to add wall pictures/posters/signs etc next, after I have finished looking in to UV mapping a little more.. I want to map seperate images to various different walls (all the walls are one solid mesh) and I need to learn about mapping the different areas with various images (IE: different dirt maps for each wall, etc) to give each wall its own identity, rather than them looking generic

Anyways.. Heres the latest renders of my changes, hope you like and thank you all for your input & advice

[larsmidnatt]

Don't feel bad for using stock assets! It's really great that we have community resources out there to save time. Of course there is nothing wrong with creating your own assets either. Good to see your efforts and progress. One thing at a time, day by day.

I've been trying to get back to modelling myself (haven't done much modelling in about 10 years) but it gets put on the backburner everything something else shiny gets in front of me. lol

Looking forward to see more.

EDIT: If I wanted to make one critique, I would say I don't think the wall texture is convincing. While it looks good in most of the shots, I don't think we can build walls that way. But maybe I'm wrong. To me it seems more like a floor tile.

EDIT2: And I hate to critique because I do things that look cool even if they are not physically possible...so err feel free to ignore me.

[orion_uk]

Hi larsmidnatt

Don't feel bad for using stock assets! It's really great that we have community resources out there to save time. Of course there is nothing wrong with creating your own assets either. Good to see your efforts and progress. One thing at a time, day by day.

I guess I have become a little obsessed with trying to prove to myself that I can actually create stuff with my software (as opposed to just putting other peoples assets together) so I can justify spending so much money on software and hardware after my insurance payout! One day @ a time is perfect advice for me right now, Thank you

I've been trying to get back to modelling myself (haven't done much modelling in about 10 years) but it gets put on the backburner everything something else shiny gets in front of me. lol

Lol, know what you mean about distractions I don`t get much time away from my kids (who I love dearly) but when I do, its like my brain is on over drive and my hands/computer cant keep up.. I love this hobby of mine but always want the ideas in my head to be completed yesterday

Looking forward to see more.

Thanks, your too kind

EDIT: If I wanted to make one critique, I would say I don't think the wall texture is convincing. While it looks good in most of the shots, I don't think we can build walls that way. But maybe I'm wrong. To me it seems more like a floor tile

Please, critique away.. That`s what I asked for

I would say I don't think the wall texture is convincing. While it looks good in most of the shots, I don't think we can build walls that way. But maybe I'm wrong. To me it seems more like a floor tile.

Its good that you say this, it was kinda in the back of my mind anyway.. Guess that`s part of the fun for me, learning how to tame the creative beast inside and control it rather than it control me

And I hate to critique because I do things that look cool even if they are not physically possible...so err feel free to ignore me.

The day I ignore those with more experience than me is the day I become a terrible father (and let myself down!) by failing to lead by example

Thank you for you words of wisdom and your time

[linvanchene]

edited and removed by user