8 - The odd couple - persuading a wizard by MollyFootman
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Description
"Iron Golem, eh? Best come in and we talk," the wizard entered his home and seated himself comfortably. Jorl and the cat girl followed and the dragon, disappointed to be excluded by it's size, peered in the window and listened intently. The cat girl moved to the window and examined the dragon. The dragon frowned and spoke to her.
"So why have I never come across one such as you?"
The cat girl sighed. "I was taken from my people when I was but a kitten. For some reason, a fellow not unlike your master, was raising me in a cage and taught me the common tongue here. Jorl came along and took pity on me. Sounds like saving me instead of stealing something for your master is how he comes to be in the wizard's debt!" She giggled warmly at the thought. "He's a softy, really, despite that big sword and gruff swagger."
Jorl paused in his effusive presentation to the wizard to say over his shoulder, "I kin hear yeh, yeh know." The cat girl giggled again. The dragon made a sound that might pass for laughter.
Returning to his presentation Jorl told Ludovich: "So, eff we kin overcome th' Golem, we kin abscond with th' shiny!"
Ludovich mused. "It would be worth your debt and then some if I could but acquire the Medallion of Fate. It would be among the treasures you have described. You say you thrust a torch into the Golem's thorax? And that didn't stop it?"
"Actually, 'twas I which did said thrusting!" the cat girl put in.
Jorl scowled. "But th' idea were mine!"
"Whatever!" Ludovich responded. "The life essence of Golems is usually a spell written on a scroll inserted in place of the heart for a living being. The torch SHOULD have destroyed the scroll and immobilized the thing. Interesting. Challenging."
"Right dangerous, yeh might say!" Jorl added. "So ef yeh want yer pick o' th' shinies what d'ya reckon we kin do?"
"Hmmm," Ludovich mused.
Molly's art notes: Set up and rendered in Poser 12.0.757 with Superfly Cycles 2 and tweaked in Photoshop for a bit of glow (spectral bloom) and vignette. I struggle with darkened areas like the interior of the Wizard's house using "natural" lighting.
The catgirl is A3 using some very old material from DAZ I was reminded of recently by Mazzam. The textures haven't aged well and I messed with them to try to give the impression of fur rather than plastic (the hair was the worst >.<). The Dwarf is by Sixus1 and is available at Renderosity. The wizard is based on M4 with textures and morphs by Mortus Vetum. The setting is by BlueTreeStudios.
Comments (13)
Darkglass
Great image, lovely work on all the elements...!!..super piece of storytelling, looking forward to the next installment..!!
MollyFootman
Thank you for the encouragement! =)
Molly
Davidvantol
Well done Molly. Sorry cant help any with lighting in Poser. I think it turned out quite nice though. Best wishes
MollyFootman
I'm glad the lighting didn't seem too dim for you. I'm delighted that you enjoyed the picture and story! =)
Molly
kelchris3 Online Now!
Another great scene :) All the characters here just fit together. At least the dragon didn't try to come in. LOL
MollyFootman
Heh. Yeah, I like the dragon and it's killing him to have to stay outside. Thanks for the comment, my dear! =)
Molly
jdwtrxk
Something tells me Cat-girl and the dragon are to become good friends. Imagine the offspring....:) Keep it coming Miss Molly.
MollyFootman
Offspring?!? =D
They're just friends!! XD
Hey, thanks for leaving a comment that made me giggle, JD. <3
Molly
perpetualrevision
Jori totally looks like he's giving the wizard a "presentation" of his case! Cute side conversation between Cat Girl and the dragon, with a nice bit of reflection in the window! The wizard's abode has some suitably creepy creatures, I see. Love the story and the little glimpses we're getting of how Jori and Cat Girl first met :-)
MollyFootman
Thanks, Amy. These characters seem to want their story told, so for the moment I'm going to obey. Building a fantasy world turns out to be really challenging. =) It really pleases me that someone who I view as having a good handle on this sort of imagery and storytelling is offering me encouragement! <3
Molly
CoolDimension
Wonderful posing and storytelling!
MollyFootman
Thank you so much for the encouragement, my dear! =)
Molly
JoeJarrah Online Now!
Great scene, full of engaging details.
I wonder if a little fill light might help it though, or brighter light in from the windows, as even on high res its a little hard to make out (not being familiar with poser I'm not sure how possible that is? ...in iray I've worked round dim interior scenes by upping the emission from candles, fireplaces etc)
MollyFootman
Thanks, Joe. Those are all excellent suggestions and your comment confirms for me that I have to work with dim lighting. XD I didn't have enough interior sources of light like the candles to have upping their emission solve the problem but a fill light or two is probably the answer. Portal lighting has also been mentioned and I did some of that, but maybe a bit more would help.
So much to learn and try! =)
You thoughtful comment is VERY much appreciated!
Molly
Darkglass
A thought on lighting...
A portal light...could be the answer, essentially gives a boost to the GI around small openings.
If you have a room which is being illuminated by a window, it's fairly hard for the GI to find the light source. the reason for this is that rays are fired in random directions at each pixel on a surface, and only a small proportion of those rays are going to find the small window and the environment behind it. So this means that renders are likely to be noisy or blotchy unless a vast amount of rays are fired.
A portal light fires extra rays in one particular space. So if it is placed near or over a small source like both windows in your scene of indirect light it will greatly increase the cleanliness of the render and reach the corners of the room
Obviously only if you have something like this or similar, like joe i don't use poser...
MollyFootman
Hmm. I did place light sources outside the windows (now I know to call that a "portal light") but maybe I could have boosted their illumination? I also got the suggestion to do some fill lighting (a cheat used in Hollywood lighting a lot, I guess).
I like understanding nuts and bolts and our explanation for why effective deployment of portal lights might have helped is so good! I love such thoughtful and supportive explanations. Thank you, my dear!!
No matter what rendering engine I use, these basic principles and techniques of lighting will be valid. =)
Molly
eekdog
you never fail to amaze us with your amazing imagery. setting and lighting is spot on Molly.
MollyFootman
Thank you for such a lovely, encouraging comment, Steve! <3
Molly
UteBigSmile
Steve is right, all your images and storys behind are all first class (don't blush now)!!!
MollyFootman
Oh thank you, Ute! =)
Molly
paul_gormley
nice continuation of the story, Molly, and another fine scene. I've tried to emulate light coming in through the windows as if it is a sunny day and found a powerful spotlight is better than choosing infinite for the light. Start at 300% and increase it, making sure you don't washout the figures. Alternatively, you could try a large sphere out of sight and give it an emissive cycles value, as that would provide some general background light internally, he is a wizard after all, so could have a bunch of glow worms or something :).
MollyFootman
Heh. I haven't tried the spotlight... I'm not quite following about the sphere but I'll try messing with that. Regular Poser lights will reflect in the windows even though the primary source is not visible, so using fill lights or points without an actual light present in the scene was out. I think I like the glow worms the best! XD
Thanks for making me smile AND giving me ideas about how to manage dimly sit scenes better, Pau! <3
Molly
Annerose
The natural and candle light generate a very mystic mood. Well done!
MollyFootman
Thank you so much for the comment, Anne. I worry a lot about whether or not people can see what's going on in dimly lit scenes like this. Your feedback really helps me! <3
Molly
lwperkins
What wonderfully storytelling! And I see a meowl !
MollyFootman
You do! You DO see a Meowl!! <-- imitating Tweetie Bird from WB cartoons
Thank you, my dear! =)
Molly