Ok, it was unavoidable.

I have started three new renders. And I have completed no one of them. Lights are wrong, expressions do not work, strange and bizarre bugs of Poser and Vue conspire together to ruin my POV.

And suddenly I discover that my Great Idea For A Wonderful Image actually was only a mediocre subject already seen in countless gallery pictures. And that my technical skills are just those of a beginner.

Nothing new. I am not weeping. Every one here knows this sensation, right?

So maybe it's time for a little pause. Time for putting away 3D for a while and taking out something else. Words, for example. I have a sequel to write for my book. A couple of stories which are growing in my head from a while.

That is, until I will realize that my Great Idea For A Wonderful Novel actually is only a mediocre subject already seen in countless fanfiction sites. Then maybe I'll put away Word and I'll return to Poser. And the circle will be closed.

Sorry for the rant. Bad mood today.  :mad: Maybe it's the weather.

Giorgio

Hi Giorgio,

Done there, been that ............ more than once, my friend, more than once. :sad:.

Hang in there and the "spark" will return.

BTW - I really like the "Good plane, bad plan" image.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

When in doubt, ....DO a NVIATWAS!!!
DPH

Oh, hon, if you're putting everything aside for 3D, you're going to suffer in huge ways.  YES, take time to do other things :)  Discover music you love again, or that great book that you just skimmed through last time but really liked.  Paint something, or even sculpt something.  Grab a disposable camera and take stupid pictures of random things you enjoy, just to have the memories :)  Focusing on one thing for too long can really make it hard to enjoy.  :) 
Just, if you happen to do great and awesome things out there, lol, let us know ;)

Doughnuts Will Help.

Brilliant description/evocation of a feeling I've certainly had many times; it passes, and becomes just a memory......

Any kind of break is good when the muse takes flight and leaves you sitting in the glum like that. If you just gotta do 3D, and you're not feeling inspired, you might try to do something you've never done before, just to see what happens. Don't do a whole scene... do a sphere with Victoria's texture map plugged into the bump channel, with a bright blue spotlight on it. Get a bowling pin, put it against a starry background and send it twirling through space. Make a dozen reflective one sided squares and set them to spinning and falling so they twinkle in the light.

Sometimes playing and being silly is awfully helpful.

Quote - Sorry for the rant. Bad mood today.  Maybe it's the weather.

Don't be sorry... if this forum isn't good for helping each other, it's not good for anything.

I put Poser away for a year and am just now doing renders again. Don't wait that long, then you need to learn the program again...lol
Take a walk outside and really start looking at things, even a small rock can kick up a render in your head. I also have a book in my head and two others that are fighting to get out, I write on all three as they come up. You will find that no matter what you think of, someone somewhere has done it, just put yourself into yours to give it that uniqueness that you are looking for.

Cap'n Jack is very wise.  Do what I did--PLAY.

I played after being greatly bummed out, trying for THE BEST CGI PIECE OF ART IN THE WORLD.
Duhn dah DUHHHHN!

It didn't happen. In fact it sucked big time.

So I played. I tossed things together, and tried insane things in the material room. Put textures on things and figures and did things with the program that nature NEVER intended. I TRIED to crash it to the desktop. I even came up with a material that had EVERY node on it. On a cube without ANYTHING else in the scene, it took 16 hours in preview mode.

It looked magnificient, and I swore NEVER to use that horror of a material again!:laugh:LOLOLOL

I found my muse in all that playing around, and came up with something that makes me feel  fulfilled working on it.

Play around and let go of all the worldly crap and have fun with it, by playing.  Never underestimate the power of play.

Quote - Cap'n Jack is very wise.

Thank you... I'm gonna put that on a business card and hand it out to people!

:lol: :biggrin: :lol:

Even a blind squirrel can find a nut every once in a while.:laugh: I would say great minds think alike, but I watched a special on the Nazis last night where a BUNCH of people thought alike, and that might not be a good idea. :lol:

There just is so much tension and stress in the world right now, people forget how to play and how important it is for us all. To see some other people saying the same makes me feel like I'm in the groove.

For once.:laugh:

Well, there ya go.

My mom used to try to bring me down to Earth when, as a kid, I'd spout out some super idea I had that was sure to revolutionize the world, and I'd proclaim that I'd discovered that some great historical figure or other had the same idea.

She'd say, "Great minds think in the same vein... others are just vain."

Took me a while to catch on to that one, it did. :lol:

DRY men never invent umbrellas.
Everyone laughs at a farting monkey.
Somethings are just true, no matter how smart or stupid. :laugh:

Stewie from the Family Guy last night:"Women love a vascular man!"  Vein or Vain. :lol:

Hunker down and keep working. Improve your skills through trail and error!

I'm just finishing up a 6 month break from Poser.  I had lost my muse.  I have done the odd beta test, but nothing creative.

Recently I've been feeling an urge to get back into it and have opened Poser, but haven't actually created anything.

You can't force creativity. It's either there or it isn't.  There is nothing wrong with taking a break and doing other things.

So far as getting better, just practice. Not everything you create in Poser will land in your gallery, but that's just fine!

Try looking through magazines for inspiration.  Try and mimic an advertisement. Some things you will be able to do in Poser, other things you will have to resort to post work to accomplish.

As you learn something new, incorporate that effect into a future image and add something new that you are trying to learn into it as well.  This assures that you continue to grow and learn.  For example, if you are trying to learn reflection, create an image with reflection.  After you are comfortable with that effect, do another image and add reflection, and also try and create your own lighting if that is something you are trying to learn.

As someone who struggles against the fear of the blank canvas every single day, let me just add a couple of notes to the already great stuff said thus far:

There will be times when everything you do is crap. It will look routine. It will sound mundane. You will hate yourself for even trying to start, let alone finish any of it.

Know what's going on? It took me a long time to figure this out, and I share it happily. Its just your brain doing a little flush work, getting rid of the bad ideas to make way for the new ones. It has to do that every now and then; otherwise, the system backs up and then... well, you get the idea, right?

So just go ahead and flush it out. Finish those mundane, repetitive images and file them away. Finish the outline for that novel-that-sounds-like-everything-else-out-there-on-SyFy-Channel and put it in a drawer somewhere. But get them done, then put them someplace where you can leave them. Dont delete them. Dont throw them out. File them away.

Then, when some time has passed, take them out and look at them again, and I promise -- and I mean, I really, really promise -- you'll see in an instant what needs to be done to make them better. Your mind will have flushed out all the bad stuff and made room so you can look at them afresh, and you'll see everything -- lights, poses, expressions -- what you need to do.

I swear. Works every time.

yea, what they said. I suffer the same ailments. We all do, I think. one of the things I've seen is the fact we all think we have this unique vision, but then when we do it, we find its been done 10 mmillion times already ... when there are thousands upon thousands of artists, we're bound to overlap a bit. Also, the Poser world has a tendency to become sameness as we all use the same starting points, and many of the same products as addons to the original program. perhaps learning to texture or model would be a good diversion, to create unique items. sometimes I just do something bizarre, like my Soup de Jour image: posted here for your enjoyment..technically crap, but it loosens the mind a bit :)

There are two important differences between mediocre fan fiction and professional work.

1.  Writing to someone else's story
2.  Marketing your writing

Quote - There are two important differences between mediocre fan fiction and professional work.

1.  Writing to someone else's story
2.  Marketing your writing

Stories are mine, and they are published. I have ever created the book cover, with Poser.

They are in Italian language, so I believe it's not spam if I show you the link: http://www.lulu.com/content/1822592

(It's a print-on-demand service)

Giorgio

Feh.. going on 4 months of open app, close app, eat donuts here. Can't even find any tutorials that are remotely interesting anymore, and the thought of doing one_more_stupid_room, makes my stomach hurt.

I might try Sean Martin's method, because pitching them in the trashcan sure hasn't worked.  I guess if it can happen to Acadia, it happens to just about everyone. 

Quote - Feh.. going on 4 months of open app, close app, eat donuts here. Can't even find any tutorials that are remotely interesting anymore, and the thought of doing one_more_stupid_room, makes my stomach hurt.

I might try Sean Martin's method, because pitching them in the trashcan sure hasn't worked.  I guess if it can happen to Acadia, it happens to just about everyone. 

I swear by it. A somewhat extreme example, but anyway:

Five years ago I wrote a screenplay called THE ROAD TO AJ, a reality-show knock off of THE WIZARD OF OZ. I'd written it originally for my own amusement, but as I got further and further into it, the more strained and facile it seemed to be. I finally left them on the ^%&$# Footlit Runway and shelved it.

Three years later, I take it out again and think, "Wait a minute.... This is wrong and this is screwed up and what was I thinking here?" I started rewriting with a vengeance.... but it still wasnt quite there. Close, but no cigar. So back in the virtual drawer it went.

Another year goes by, and, for a laugh, I take it out once more -- and it was like the clouds had parted. I knew exactly what was wrong and how to fit it. And, third time being a charm, it worked. Now it's out being passed around by a few production companies. Because of the economy, it's being looked at carefully, but the feedback from the readers has been great.

So there you have it -- it took four years and three tries and a lot of patience, but it worked.

The adage in photography is never throw out any of your negatives, prints, slides or digitals.  You will never know when the muse will hit and you use your creation in another way or another medium.  Take SeanMartin's advice, finish it, put it away, and come back to it later.  You will be amazed how different your perspective will be after a break.

Quote - That is, until I will realize that my Great Idea For A Wonderful Novel actually is only a mediocre subject already seen in countless fanfiction sites

There's nothing new under the sun.  It's how you cultivate, explore, and write your ideas is what makes them good or bad.  Some things are actually good to borrow and reuse where as some are bad.  If you want to improve your writing more, learn editing and self-editing, learn the mistakes that novices make so you don't make them as well.  That'll make you a lot better than the average hack.