By Janette (PandaB5)  

When you browse the galleries, you often see compiled images. A compiled image is where the artist used graphics from different sources and didn’t render the image in one go. Some artists also prefer to render their foregrounds and backgrounds separately and compile them.

Advantages of compiled images

 A compiled image lets you add in graphics that don't exist for Poser or Daz Studio. For example, if you want to add a fluffy dog to the scene, you can just paste it on the image (see image A).

Another advantage is you can use brushes and sparkles to add pizzaz to the image. Having the background separate from the character lets you blend in fog effects, sparkles, and other objects because it lets you place some of the objects behind the character. With a single render you can only place objects on top or next to the character.

 Probably the biggest advantage to compiling images is adding backgrounds to renders. If you render a house with a window or open door, you need something on the other side of the window or door. Using backgrounds lets you try out different options without needing to re-render your image each time.

 For example, if you have a couple sitting in a room with a large window, you could put a background of a graveyard outside the window to create a sinister image, or dogs playing in a garden to create a sweet image.

Disadvantages of compiled images

 When artists combine clipart or renders, their images often look like a collection of clipart images instead of looking like a coherent image. For example, in image A, the dog clearly stands out. It looks pasted on – which of course it is. To overcome that, you need to blend the image into the render.

 In image B, I’ve used a graphic blend mode, multiply, and multiplied the dog image onto the background. This makes the dog blend, but also disappear into the background. I’ve then placed another copy of the dog on top of it with 55% transparency. Now the dog blends into the image better. But there’s still a problem: shadows!

One of the biggest mistakes artists make when compiling images is to forget about shadows. Images should have shadows – they’re everywhere – and the shadows should be consistent. When characters don’t have shadows, they appear to be floating above the ground rather than standing on the ground.

 If you add clipart to a render and don’t add shadows, it will still look pasted on.

 To solve this problem, I’ve moved the dog to a part of the beach where it blends in better. I then copied the dog, made the copy fully black and pasted that black image below the dog. I’ve then adjusted the angle, perspective, and transparency of the black image until it blends into the background. Now the dog looks like it’s casting a shadow too – see Image C.

If this process sounds complicated, you could just add a black circle or square on the ground below the dog to indicate the shadow.

 Another way to overcome the problem with shadows is to add effects like fog that masks the ground. That way all the shadows are obscured, and the added image will blend in.

 Playing with clipart, effects and brushes lets you take your art to new levels of creativity. So don’t worry about putting everything into a single render and then waiting hours for it to finish rendering – you can play with the render afterwards.

 The cute dogs added to the images are available on Renderosity marketplace – search for Animalis. While you’re at it, check out the great selection of brushes and effects on Renderosity marketplace.