Attached Link: http://bobvan.deviantart.com/art/423-358172096

Attached Link: http://bobvan.deviantart.com/art/424-358172092

Quote - Been a while since I posted, forgive me.....finally was able to upgrade the RAM in my laptop, so here is a tester image....just playing with props and camera angels.....

A very interesting experiment, have to look long and hard to figure it out :)

A quick 42 hour render. You can think of your own title for this. Click for larger.

Quote - Kim very kindly gave me a link to a site which sells fancy table lamps, the "S one above is the lamp she liked. While this is the light Doc took a fancy to. I'll do a half dozen more and package (drop me a line if you want one in particular) them up as freebies.

That looks lovely John!  You do such good work!

Quote - A quick 42 hour render. You can think of your own title for this. Click for larger.

Oh Doc this is amazing!   42 hours.. wow! 

Title:  I have all I need right here!

Quote - A quick 42 hour render. You can think of your own title for this. Click for larger.

Background is fantastic doc.. what did you use?

Thanks Amethst25 and Sharkbytes-BamaScans. The background is Snowy Mountains, and the Forest. I created Spec and Normal maps with ShaderMap for the mountains.

Very nice lamp John

Nice work Doc 

That water looks like it's gonna be cold

Quote - Very nice lamp John

Nice work Doc 

That water looks like it's gonna be cold

That was my thought too...  I'll bet she's gonna be "perky" when she gets out of the water.  ;-)

  ~ Russ  

Haven't posted anything in a while, so here is one I did recently to try out the new Demonics morphs for genesis by DarioFish here on Rendo.

Bigger version in my Gallery here on Rendo.

Quote - A quick 42 hour render. You can think of your own title for this. Click for larger.

Why so long... ?

Just a simple headshot to show myself what Charley's curved lights can do.  Still fantastic render speed.  This one I added a soft blue filter to the light as a transmission map.  No postwork other than some color and contrast correction and to smooth out some hot pixels that just wouldn't clear up.  The character is P3Design's Aelita and once I got the bump maps tweaked just the way I like them, her skin rendered out really nice.  Still haven't gotten the hang of using top coat to improve skin color; so, the skin is just stock daz studio settings.

Quote - > Quote - A quick 42 hour render. You can think of your own title for this. Click for larger.

Why so long... ?

Big water plane, normal map, high poly forest and grizzly bear.

Quote - Just a simple headshot to show myself what Charley's curved lights can do.  Still fantastic render speed.  This one I added a soft blue filter to the light as a transmission map.  No postwork other than some color and contrast correction and to smooth out some hot pixels that just wouldn't clear up.  The character is P3Design's Aelita and once I got the bump maps tweaked just the way I like them, her skin rendered out really nice.  Still haven't gotten the hang of using top coat to improve skin color; so, the skin is just stock daz studio settings.

What red lips you have, said Red Riding Hood :) Nice.

As a few will know, the Reality 2 press launch didn't go exactly as planned due to some unforseen influences.

Steps have been taken to remove any similar problems that may affect the Reality 3 launch.

Hi Guys, first: Wonderful renders you all have made! Since I've been ~very~ busy with version 2 of my light-sets I haven't had time to comment on each render individually, let alone to render something myself other than endless try-outs of my lights.

To give you and update on how far things are atm and what will be different in my sets, here an overview.

CHANGES / NEW FEATURES in version 2.0

MESHLIGHT SET

• Re-made Softboxes with gobos and extendable snoots - Added 30 gobo presets to softboxes - Added adjustment to scale soft-box into stripe-box - Changed procedure for IES (first-time-use set-up MeshSpots)

PROJECTOR SET

• Added adjustment for 'Sharp - Fuzzy' shadows to Projectors - Added adjustment for X-scale to Projectors - Changed several Opacity MAT presets - Added several Opacity MAT presets

GEL CAM SET

• Removed ADJUST nulls (GELMASK, SHAPEMASK) from Gel-Cams - Added adjusment parameters directly to GELMASK and SHAPEMASK - Changed text on Selection planes

GENERAL

• Solved 'Merge' problem. All lights can now be loaded with left double-click - Re-made objects used - Deminished number of objects in Geometry folder - Made meshlights 50% transparent for better scene viewing - Support for Universal Tool - Moved origin to object centre for relevant items - Set all relevant parameters to hidden / locked / use limits - Re-styled thumbnails - Protected .duf files from unwanted over-write - Packed the 3 sets into 1 set named "Reality Light System"

TODO - Create Meta-data (need help with that) - Write Guide

I'd like to add Meta-Data for the 'Smart-Content' of DazStudio, but I have NO clue how to go about that.

I know cridgit has written a tut on that, but the links on the daz forum do not work anymore.

Maybe someone (gives lovely smile at Mario B) can help me with that?

Also I want to know if some of you would like to be 'tester'? I know Amethst25 will gladly test, but I think it's too much to ask from one single person, hence my question.

Quote - As a few will know, the Reality 2 press launch didn't go exactly as planned due to some unforseen influences.

Steps have been taken to remove any similar problems that may affect the Reality 3 launch.

hank you for preparing the ground for a smooth launch :)

I have also added a couple more lamps to the small freebie set. But to be honest, I'd like to add a couple more (10 to 20 would be nice). They don't take long and I like to keep myself busy, if you spot a lamp you would like in your Runtime drop me a line and I'll see what I can do (cannot promise anything).

As you can see, I'm also working on my never ending WIP room, added a nice coffee table to it.

Quote - Progress report - Doc has explained to me how the packaging works with DS4.5 (fingers crossed I can get my head around it).

I have also added a couple more lamps to the small freebie set. But to be honest, I'd like to add a couple more (10 to 20 would be nice). They don't take long and I like to keep myself busy, if you spot a lamp you would like in your Runtime drop me a line and I'll see what I can do (cannot promise anything).

As you can see, I'm also working on my never ending WIP room, added a nice coffee table to it.

Lamps and table are VERY nice John!

Attached Link: Full size 'London'

Quote - Progress report - Doc has explained to me how the packaging works with DS4.5 (fingers crossed I can get my head around it).

I have also added a couple more lamps to the small freebie set. But to be honest, I'd like to add a couple more (10 to 20 would be nice). They don't take long and I like to keep myself busy, if you spot a lamp you would like in your Runtime drop me a line and I'll see what I can do (cannot promise anything).

As you can see, I'm also working on my never ending WIP room, added a nice coffee table to it.

I have an idea, a seperate base and light area where you add your own Character and they become the main structure of the lamp. You would have to create a scaling and positioning pose, but that could be easily done.

Quote - Just quicky with Danae her new character 'London'. I think shes a sweetie. :)

Beautiful, Charley.  I'm very tempted by London, though I've spent way too much lately.

Quote - Just quicky with Danae her new character 'London'. I think shes a sweetie. :)

Delightful render, Charley! The hair looks fantastic and London is a cutie for sure.

Which hair did you use here? How much postwork to get the hair looking this good?

Great render as always

Lovely render Charley.

Reggie88, took on board your idea, will add it to my to-do list :)

Quote - > Quote - Just quicky with Danae her new character 'London'. I think shes a sweetie. :)

 

Nice work, I knew you'd be picking London up when released. To fair skinned for my tastes. I love Milan from Danae for V3 and always hoped she would do a V4 version.

Quote - I love Milan from Danae for V3 and always hoped she would do a V4 version.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/the-metropolitan-collection---milan-v4/54193/

Quote - > Quote - Just quicky with Danae her new character 'London'. I think shes a sweetie. :)

Delightful render, Charley! The hair looks fantastic and London is a cutie for sure.

Which hair did you use here? How much postwork to get the hair looking this good?

Thank you :)

I have used Marja Hair http://www.daz3d.com/marja-hair Just straight out of the box, mesh-smoothed it to make it fit 100%

My post work-flow in Photoshop for the image in total (so nothing special for the hair): Sharpen, Virtual Photographer (free plugin) filter: Color: "Classic09" faded back to 30%.

Most excellent Charley.

This was a lot of firsts for me. I designed the hair and turned it into a morphing Genesis Prop. (Body shape is Aven.)

This is the first time I've done post work. And there was a lot. There was a lot of inconvenient light splashing around which had to be cleaned up. The laser picked up mesh ends for the gun flashes, so that had to be removed. I wanted some glow in the background, but not off the reflections on the character. I wanted enough light in the background, without overwhelming the fore ground, etc.

Reality is handy for rendering because you can export an image for each separate light source for post processing.

U-Mad?

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2420524

Quote - > Quote - I love Milan from Danae for V3 and always hoped she would do a V4 version.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/the-metropolitan-collection---milan-v4/54193/

Opps, sorry, I meant Milla, LOL

Well, isn't this interesting: http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/luxus

Quote - Well, isn't this interesting: http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/luxus

Look at those images on the product page--nowhere near the quality you can get with Reality.  When I first got the email from Daz promoting this I was a little annoyed, but after checking it out some more it doesn't compare.  

Well, the point of using luxrender is to get more realistic lighting and thereby render materials in a more realistic fashion.  I didn't see anything on there that talked about the controls for controling the lighting other than the one screengrab that showed controls for sunlight.  Nothing seems to be shown about using mesh lights.  And the materials in the sample images didn't look as good.  Which seems to imply that it requires more tinkering to get stuff to look right than reality requires. 

And the controls look much clunkier than reality's controls. 

The only advantage would seem to be a lower price point, but you're losing out on the features in reality.

Quote - Well, isn't this interesting: [http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/luxus/quote]  

Seen it,

Dismissed it..horrible U.I. as in NONE.!!!! wouldn't use it even if it were free.

Reality all the way...LONG LIVE REALITY.!!!!!!.

Can anyone tell I am a fan.???.!!!!. Lol..

 Infact if I were DAZ I would be embarressed to sell it after passing up on Reality the way they did. 

Also seems timed to coincide with the Very imminent Release of Reality 3 for Poser, which frankly will smash this 'LuXus' effort into oblivion..sometimes the arrogance and shortsightedness of DAZ is utterly staggering.

S.K.

 

Wow that UI on Luxus looks so horrible.  Like they just threw it together.

Quote - Most excellent Charley.

 

This was a lot of firsts for me. I designed the hair and turned it into a morphing Genesis Prop. (Body shape is Aven.)

This is the first time I've done post work. And there was a lot. There was a lot of inconvenient light splashing around which had to be cleaned up. The laser picked up mesh ends for the gun flashes, so that had to be removed. I wanted some glow in the background, but not off the reflections on the character. I wanted enough light in the background, without overwhelming the fore ground, etc.

Reality is handy for rendering because you can export an image for each separate light source for post processing.

U-Mad?

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2420524

This is really good!  Love what you did with the lighting!

I was thinking the screenshots were so weak because Spheric Labs was scrambling to hit a release deadline. That's the only reason I can think of for such grainy renders.

I have to say, being able to make adjustments to materials within DAZ Studio could be nice since at least that can be scripted. I would really like the ability to subtract X -- say 2000 - from selected materials and the ability to download ACSEL shaders outside of the plugin, so some competition could be nice. Though I'm not sure how much Paolo needs to be worried right now based on those screenshots.

Ive been playing with it for a few hours.

the biggest bonus is that it "automatically" converts all the existing surfaces... but as far as ive been able to figure out, its not as complete a transfer as you might hope.

I still had to go in and tweak the surface settings to get anything close to what I wanted.

the biggest thing missing is the ability to change renderand light settings on the fly and get instant feedback in LUX

another thing missing is stop and start rendering.

Its got a long way to go.

I have looked at the Luxus advertisement and though I think it is OK for anyone to create whatever software he/she makes but I also think that Luxus has a main disadvantage.

They are not the 'first' with something 'new'. They have severe competition from someone we all know well.. :) His first name starts with a 'P'.

When you bring a product to the market you will have to distinguish your product from other products. It must do something the other 'alike' products can't.

Either it must be easier to use, or has more possebilities, be cheaper while giving same (or higher) quality, or you will have to have a hell of a promotion scenario that "out screams" all other products available.

The promo's must 'wow' the targeted audience which will create a 'must-have' feeling. You can also distinguish yourself by giving a better customer care than the 'others'

What I can see this far is that the main advantages of Luxus are: price-setting and integration in the Daz GUI. Do the promos wOw me? No, not the ones I have seen so far.

When it comes to 'customer-care' they will have a hell of a job topping the customer care we Reality users are used to.

Maybe they can, if they (when a customer asks a question) fly over for free, ring at your doorbell, give you flowers and chocolate and sit with you side by side untill your render is the best anyone has ever seen.. Maybe they also should offer to do the dishes and clean your house while waiting for the render to finish..

I am sure there will be a market for Luxus as there is for Reality, I don't think Paolo will suffer from it though. See it like the automobile market, there is room for many brands, BMW sells cars and so does Fiat.

Just my two pennies.. :)

Quote - See it like the automobile market, there is room for many brands, BMW sells cars and so does Fiat.

And you drive a BMW of course

Quote - > Quote - See it like the automobile market, there is room for many brands, BMW sells cars and so does Fiat.

And you drive a BMW of course

Uhm, no.. I can't afford one :) I drive a Suzuki Alto.. grins

Dublin with a boob job and a few extra lbs on her.  This one was a test of the first rendition of Callad's Curved Light for Reality.  Render speed is awesome; though this one took a bit of extra time for the graininess to get worked out of the shadows.  Background is Backgrounds Made Easy with the Doors and Windows addon.  Window texture is a photograph of Lake Michigan done by my sister in law last summer.

Quote - Well, isn't this interesting: http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/luxus

IMO, I think Paolo will need to be finding different work.  Eventually the lure of a free rendering engine will draw competition.  In this case, at the bottom of the barrel.

**Please understand... I love Reality, and I don't think I'll be changing any time soon. **

**I already do a lot of material editing in Daz before I ever shift over to Reality. ** Mostly I'm tweaking glossiness, utterly altering the material to a Reality shader (not visible in Daz), and dealing with lighting.  Reality does some example mini renders of test materials and I rely on those when I make adjustments.   Otherwise I have no idea how the material will render.

I'm not convinced that I'll get any noticeable improvement in my work flow.  The bulk of my time is back and forth between Lux and Reality over lighting.  Those test renders suck up a lot of my time, and that is a property of Lux, not Reality.

**Lastly, those test renders.... suck. ** I'm not that good, but I'd compete against those renders any day.  They look rushed, and they don't look like the person understood lighting like Paolo does.  I've learned a lot about photography and lighting from Paolo.

Paolo is my hero, and I heartily recommend Reality to anyone that's interested.

Amethst25:  Thanks for the compliment... 

To further along the automobile metaphors.... for years I drove this muscle car called a Poser.... the last one I had was the 2012 model year.  It was a great car.. picked up lots of chicks with it.  But, it had a gps I never used(all the extra tabs like the material room) had no radio(Genesis) and I really had to fiddle with the a/c to get it to work(fitting clothes).  Then I saw an ad for this new and improved economy car called DazStudio.  I had driven it back when it sucked and was hesitant.  But, the ppl who drove it said that the radio was terrific and the a/c was icy cold.  So, I tried it.  Loved it... vowed to always drive it.  But, I couldn't pick up any more chicks in it because it wasn't my tried and true poser(translated 3delight sucks compared to firefly).  Then came along this Italian auto genius named Paolo(why is it always the italians who make cars extra-sexy?).... he told me he could put a chip in my car that would make it faster than the Poser I had and that the chicks would come flocking to see what was under the hood of my DazStudio.  It was all true..  my little D|S runs like a dream, I've learned to use it's own version of gps.  The a/c is still arctic cold and the radio is crisp and loud.  So.. along comes another auto engineer who wants to put some other engine in my DazStudio???  No way.. I'll stick to Italian engineering thank you very much.  As long as Paolo doesn't turn my DazStudio into a Fiat I'll be just fine.

Quote - > Quote - Well, isn't this interesting: http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/luxus

IMO, I think Paolo will need to be finding different work.  Eventually the lure of a free rendering engine will draw competition.  In this case, at the bottom of the barrel.

**Please understand... I love Reality, and I don't think I'll be changing any time soon. **

**I already do a lot of material editing in Daz before I ever shift over to Reality. ** Mostly I'm tweaking glossiness, utterly altering the material to a Reality shader (not visible in Daz), and dealing with lighting.  Reality does some example mini renders of test materials and I rely on those when I make adjustments.   Otherwise I have no idea how the material will render.

I'm not convinced that I'll get any noticeable improvement in my work flow.  The bulk of my time is back and forth between Lux and Reality over lighting.  Those test renders suck up a lot of my time, and that is a property of Lux, not Reality.

**Lastly, those test renders.... suck. ** I'm not that good, but I'd compete against those renders any day.  They look rushed, and they don't look like the person understood lighting like Paolo does.  I've learned a lot about photography and lighting from Paolo.

Paolo is my hero, and I heartily recommend Reality to anyone that's interested.

 

 

Amethst25:  Thanks for the compliment... 

Honesty don't think Paolo will have much to worry about.  All things said and done, if that new one on Daz was offered as a freebie, I'd still pay the 40 bucks for Reality.  When it comes to render engines that easily work with Studio; I've not seen a single thing that outshines even a mediocre Reality/Lux render.  Same reason why I'll pay a few bucks for a character done by Godin, Danae, or P3Designs.  Sometimes the boost in quality is worth a few bucks.

Paolo has inspired a loyal fan base.  That speaks volumes in and of itself.

Quote - To further along the automobile metaphors.... for years I drove this muscle car called a Poser.... the last one I had was the 2012 model year.  It was a great car.. picked up lots of chicks with it.  But, it had a gps I never used(all the extra tabs like the material room) had no radio(Genesis) and I really had to fiddle with the a/c to get it to work(fitting clothes).  Then I saw an ad for this new and improved economy car called DazStudio.  I had driven it back when it sucked and was hesitant.  But, the ppl who drove it said that the radio was terrific and the a/c was icy cold.  So, I tried it.  Loved it... vowed to always drive it.  But, I couldn't pick up any more chicks in it because it wasn't my tried and true poser(translated 3delight sucks compared to firefly).  Then came along this Italian auto genius named Paolo(why is it always the italians who make cars extra-sexy?).... he told me he could put a chip in my car that would make it faster than the Poser I had and that the chicks would come flocking to see what was under the hood of my DazStudio.  It was all true..  my little D|S runs like a dream, I've learned to use it's own version of gps.  The a/c is still arctic cold and the radio is crisp and loud.  So.. along comes another auto engineer who wants to put some other engine in my DazStudio???  No way.. I'll stick to Italian engineering thank you very much.  As long as Paolo doesn't turn my DazStudio into a Fiat I'll be just fine.

LOL Sharky!!

Quote - Paolo has inspired a loyal fan base.  That speaks volumes in and of itself.

Yes it does! :)