My pics

[Ian]

I suppose I ought to post some of my art here...

Here's a couple done purely in Bryce, one of which you should recognise ;)

The full-size version of my avatar. (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Sunset.jpg)
A mountain scene. (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/MountVenus.jpg)
A lakeside scene, the cover pic for "A Chronicle of Lindross". (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Lindross1.jpg)

[Scott]

Nice Pic's Ian :D

[ladyholdermara]

ooooooooooooo Vely Nice :D

I don't recognise the program?

[Ian]

Bryce (currently at version 5, with 5.5 due out shortly) is essentially a landscape modelling program, which can take models made in other programs (such as Poser, 3DStudio Max, Lightwave, etc) so you can have people, animals buildings, etc, in your landscape. What it generates are full 3D scenes, so in the third one, for example, I could put the camera at the opposite side of the lake & look across to where it is in that pic (but there'd be no point as I hadn't put any scenery behind the camera!).

Here's one using some Poser figures (the dragon & rider) in a Bryce landscape, the inspiration should be obvious ;)

A dragon flaming silvery stuff ;) (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Dragon1.jpg)

[AnnMarie]

OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

I really like that one, Ian!!!

[Ian]

OK, here's (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Sorceress.jpg) one done entirely in Poser 4, it's based loosely on my D&D character, Delysia of Arabel, though that robe is too modest for her!

I'm working on a "proper" pic of Delysia & her companions.

Edited to actually add the link :blush:

[ladyholdermara]

ooo ok :) I know Poser. A friend of mine just got that


I like the Sorceress :) and that thread looks JUST like I thought it would :)

[Purpura]

Beautiful Dragon Ian! :applause: :applause:

[Bamy]

love the dragon, though not how i see thread, still really good though love the landscapes too.

[Apocalypse]

:fiend: Son those are lovely! :ok:

[granath]

Wow. That dragon's really stunning. :applause:

[Ian]

This is another Bryce/Poser hybrid, a little something for :fiend: Mummy ;)

Welcome to my tent, Effendi (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Desert.jpg)

Man & camel posed, dressed, & textured in Poser 4, then dropped into a Bryce landscape, as was the tent (a standalone model originally made for use with Poser). Rendered in Bryce 5 & making use of the new tree lab.

[jjmouse]

Nice. You do great work. :good:

[Ian]

Regulars here and/or on KTL will know Lady Legira, aka LL (my other half), who uses a drow (dark elf) avatar in here. Well, the "real" Lady Legira is a drow fighter/mage from one of LL's stories, so I thought I'd do a pic of her. This was done entirely in Poser 5, and uses the new Cloth Room, where you can pose a figure & have the clothes drape over it naturally, which makes for a much more realistic look. The spectacular setting is by HotH, and yes, those are Manolos Lady Legira's wearing ;)

Lady Legira enthroned, with a Moon Elf slave girl (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/LegiraThrone.jpg)

[granath]

It's fabulous! How long do pictures like that take to render?

[Apocalypse]

:applause: Thankyou son! :wekiss:

Your 'throne room' is great too. :D

[Ian]

How long a pic takes to render can vary a lot, depending on the complexity of the models being used, the lighting, whether there are any reflections, etc.

A simple one like the sunset, which doesn't contain any complex structures, might only take 15-20 minutes, whereas the one with all the trees & the lake took around 2 hours, largely because for each pixel the software has to calculate where the light goes, if it casts any shadows, & how it is affected by reflections. Most of those pics only have one light, representing the sun, but the throne room one has several, including the two fires. The pic I was working on of the KTL Front Hall took a very long time, even incomplete, because it contained several multi-light chandeliers & lots of reflective gold.

In general, if you want to do this type of stuff, you need the fastest processor you can afford, and as much RAM & hard drive space as you can afford too ;)

[bisb]

Nice pics. Now I know why I need a a faster system.

[Ian]

Since I mentioned the Front Hall pic, here (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Hall.jpg) it is. It's not complete, & since we don't have a Front Hall in the new KTL it's likely to be converted into something else, but you can see all the shadows from the (if I remember rightly) 32 candles, and the reflections of the floor tiles on the gold. A way to speed up rendering on a pic like this (as well as make it look less cluttered) would be turn turn off shadows on most of the lights, which I'll do before I try rendering it again ;)

[granath]

Lovely look to the front hall. :ok:

[Maedhbh]

Ian? I was wondering if you were done with the mountain scene? It doesn't have the definition that the rest of your work seems to have.

[Ian]

There's nothing like snow for reducing definition, but you've made me realise something about that pic. The main peaks in the background are almost the height of Everest, and so would be above the clouds, as, I presume, would the land in the foreground. I guess I need to think about re-rendering it without clouds (which would make for a clearer pic anyway) :)

[Maedhbh]

Let us know when you're done with it so we can see? :) You know, in all your copious free time? ;)

[Wolfegar]

Fantastic pics, Ian!

Something about the one with the dragon and rider though. I would have thought the flame would be brighter. But the more disturbing part of the image is the bit at the end of the dragon's tail. It reminds me of something I saw on a bug that scared the living daylights out of me when I was younger.

*Shudders.*

So...got any more pics?

[Ian]

I've got lots more pics ;)

These two are connected:

The defender (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Warrior.jpg)
and
The attackers (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Undead.jpg)

For the attackers one I put the camera in front of the warrior's eyes (both pics are made on the same landscape), so the pic shows exactly what he would be seeing. All the figures were posed & textured in Poser, then dropped into the Bryce landscape; the trees & towers (just visible through the fog behind the warrior) are Bryce objects.

[Maedhbh]

Seeing the attackers sure explains the look on his face! I think I would've been running as fast as my slow legs would take me! Eek! Is it hard to make humans, or anything for that matter, look lifelike? And where are you getting all these pretty celtic knots? I want them.

[Ian]

Getting anything to look lifelike (or undeath-like ;) ) is hard, but having good quality models & textures helps. Obviously it's harder to make a person look realistic than doing the same for a skeleton! Full-body pics like those two also need good poses (and frankly the warrior's could be better), but it's easier to be realistic with a portait (though since that's a closer view you really need a good skin texture on your model).

Here's a couple of portraits of characters from one of my stories (there are 35 in the Sisterhood & I have pics of them all!)

Sister Chastity (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Chas.jpg)
Sister Theresa (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Theresa.jpg)

PS (edit) The forked tail on the dragon is something Anne has always insisted that Pernese dragons have, & no cover artist has ever managed to get right.

[Maedhbh]

Those are much more realisitic looking. It appears that you used the same base person/body? to make both faces and make surface changes. Am I correct? Or just seeing things? You must have incredible patience to do those.

[Ian]

You're right, they're both made with the same model, as are the other 33. Just to show what variation is available, here's another two

Sister Clemency (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Clemency.jpg)
Sister Margaret (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Margaret.jpg)

I've now got an even better model, so I might try re-doing them with her.

[Kirron]

These are great Ian. They remind me of Myst. Very good game and the sequels were excellent. :applause:

[Kat]

I've a question I've obviously never asked before.:roll:

Where do you buy the software like Bryce and Poser from?Would a retailer that sells just computers have it?
And besides more than this critter can afford what's the price range?

[Ian]

They don't tend to be found in computer shops, but Bryce is available from Daz3D, here, (http://bryce.daz3d.com/) currently $79.95, and Poser from Curious Labs, here. (http://www.curiouslabs.com/article/articleview/1156/1/281?sbss=281) Poser comes in several versions, Poser Artist (formerly Poser 4), is the simplest, but you can get add-ons such as ProPack (well worth getting), that give it more features. Poser 5 is the current version & has a lot of features like the cloth room (as used in the Lady Legira pic) which earlier versions didn't have; the rendering in 5 is much better too. Given the choice I'd say go for Poser 5, it's more complex but you don't have to use all the extra features at first, & the included figures (man, woman, boy & girl) are a lot better than the Poser 4 ones (though they're included too). It's more expensive than Bryce, but then it's more complicated. Unfortunately the Curious website only gives me prices in Pounds & Euros, nor can I find a price for Poser Artist, but Poser 5 is £115, which is around $220 at current exchange rates.

[Ian]

Here's one I put together in Poser 5 tonight. I suspect Kool might like it ;)

Biker chick (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/BikerChick.jpg)

[Mausey]

Ian, in the pic of the tent, is the shadow of the camel a bit off or is it just me? The tree and the man seem to have shadows being cast at a slightly different angle.

You do good work Ian, and I think my favorite is still your avatar. :)

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

All very noce pictures Hans :bow: My very favorite is the Biker Chick, no doubt. Closely followed by The Attackers, dragon, and Lady Legira. I had no idea that poser was that inexpensive, I thought that these kinds of software were in excess of at least $500. Thanx for the info ;)

[Ian]

:erm: I'm not Hans!

The shadows do seem a bit odd on some Bryce renders when you're just using the sun as light, it's almost as if it's too close.

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Gak! Sorry, I was doing another post that involved Hans at the same time, got it mixed up. I suppose I put Ian on the other one :disguise:

[Wolfegar]

I've got lots more pics ;)

These two are connected:

The defender (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Warrior.jpg)
and
The attackers (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Undead.jpg)

For the attackers one I put the camera in front of the warrior's eyes (both pics are made on the same landscape), so the pic shows exactly what he would be seeing. All the figures were posed & textured in Poser, then dropped into the Bryce landscape; the trees & towers (just visible through the fog behind the warrior) are Bryce objects.
Cool! But shouldn't the defender have some back up? I mean, four against one.

[Ian]

Bearing in mind what I mentioned earlier in response to Maedhbh's comments about the mountain pic, I've redone it so that the high peaks are above the clouds, & put in a cloud layer lower down. The link in the first post takes you to the new pic, but if you don't want to scroll all the way up, it's here (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/MountVenus.jpg) too :)

[Ian]

Forgot to say what all the various bits were in the pic. scenery is the Multiplane Cyclorama with the desert road texture, lighting is the outdoor global light set, the bike is (obviously) a Harley, & the chick is Victoria 3, wearing her fashion boots & the jacket & skirt from the V3/SP3 clothing pack. All components from DAZ3D, where Vicky 3 & her male counerpart Michael 3 are currently available FREE!! That doesn't include any skin textures, clothing, or the head & body morph packs though (Vicky in the pic is as she comes without any morphs applied but with the standard V3 hi-res skin texture). Hair is a freebie by Kozaburo, who makes some of the best Poser hair around & it's all free!

[Jax]

Ian I love the biker chick picture! :D It's awesome! I have to admit the chick looks a lot more real than the bike (though the background looks awfully real! :D ) but the bike is very accurate nontheless :D (though, I'm not an expert :roll: )

[Beisla]

Wonderful pics! :D

I really like the dragon flaming, Delysia, the enlargement of your avatar and the portrait of Sister Chastity. :cool:

[Feena_bronze_rider]

I suppose I ought to post some of my art here...

Here's a couple done purely in Bryce, one of which you should recognise ;)

The full-size version of my avatar. (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Sunset.jpg)
A mountain scene. (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/MountVenus.jpg)
A lakeside scene, the cover pic for "A Chronicle of Lindross". (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Lindross1.jpg)
Goodness! There are so many good artist on this forum!

[Ian]

Here's a few more :)

A castle on the coast (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Castle.jpg)
Fjord? (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Fjord.jpg)
Mountain pass (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/MountainPass.jpg)

These were all done in Bryce 5, but the castle & ship were 3D models imported into the scenes. I put the castle (the same model) into the mountain pass pic to give a sense of scale, & also used a cloud layer, whereas the skies in the other pics are Bryce presets.

[Jax]

Ian they're pretty amazing, but I love the fjord one the best! :heartbeat

[Wolfegar]

Cool! Excellent, Ian!

[C_ris]

Thery're really good! I like the castle one best myself :D

[Bamy]

i really love the one of the fjord it is very lifelike!

[Ian]

About time I got something new up! I'm working my way through the Sisterhood pics (some of which I posted earlier), & redoing them with Victoria 3 (they were originally done with Victoria 2), which allows for much greater detail, as I think you'll agree!

This (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Josephine.jpg) is the original Vicky 2 version of Abbess Josephine.
This (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/JoV3.jpg) is the new Vicky 3 version.

You'll notice a different background too - this is Josephine's study, other sisters might be shown here or in other settings appropriate to their character.

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Yes, that new one is MUCH nicer, better skin texture and much more fine and realistic hair.

[Jax]

nice pics Ian :D I know you use a programme for it, but it's still very impressive, and preeeettty :D :heartbeat

[Yonuh Adisi Fiend Jedi]

Hey Ian, I just got Poser 5, any way you can let me know how to use it? :blush: :blush:

I can't look at the documentation because it's bootlegged.

[Ian]

You can download the manual from the Curious Labs website here, (http://www.curiouslabs.com/filemanager/list/updates/44/46/52/?sbss=300) though it should be part of the program files anyway, have you tried the Help menu? That should call up the .pdf manual.

There are also lots of Poser resouces online, including tutorials, try here, (http://www.renderosity.com) or here (http://www.runtimedna.com/index.ez) for a start. Both places have free downloads of models, textures, etc too, as has Daz3D (http://www.daz3d.com) which is where I get most of my stuff from (they also have some useful tutorials).

P5 isn't the easiest program to learn, though if you stay out of places like the Material & Cloth rooms it's not too bad. I've had it for a while now & there are still parts I haven't worked out (& I've got Poser 6 coming next week!)

[Ian]

OK, here's another one of the Sisterhood; this time it's Sister Joan, & since she's the abbey's gardener I've put her against a suitable background (Spring Trees for the DAZ Multiplane Cyclorama). As with Abbess Josephine, I'll link to both the old & new pics so you can compare.

Old (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Joan.jpg)
New (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/JoanV3.jpg)

Her hair is HMann's Goddess hair, & the texture is ideal as Joan is supposed to be a redhead who's going grey. Speaking of hair, I forgot to say what hair I used on Josephine, but it's Kozaburo's Evolution V3 (free, like all his hair models). HMann's hair isn't as realistic as Kozaburo's (I've yet to find any that is!), but it has a lot of morphs so you can create a lot more styles, including wavy, which is rare on Poser hair.

[Jax]

Ian they're pretty cool - changed her eye colour!! :D I also like the way the second pic doesn't have bags under her eyes :D she still looks a little tired though - I agree, the hair looks much better!! Nice work!

[Ian]

She does still have bags under her eyes, they're just a lot more subtle now, & her eyes are still officially hazel, though they look more brown now.

[Monkeysrule]

We should call you Iantine (DE/RSR) from now on!

[Ian]

Well, Debera called Iantine Ian, didn't she? ;)

I know have Poser 6 :D So once I've figured out its new tricks you can expect pics (looks good from what I've seen so far, the lighting looks a lot better than in 5.

Watch this space ;)

[Jax]

Ooooohh look forward to it Ian :D

[Ian]

Here we are then, my first Poser 6 render (which took longer to render than it did to set up!). It uses the reduced resolution version of Vicky 3 (which is fine for shots like this but not so good for close-ups), with DAZ's new Heaven armour, which includes the sword & also includes a helmet that I left off because it covers too much of the face. The scenery is the Forest which comes with the DAZ Multiplane Cyclorama, & the lighting is the Forest light set from the same package.

Fighter (http://www.imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Fighter.jpg)

[Jax]

Ian she's looking pretty amazing!! Tell me, do you make her clothes or do you have set things you can choose from to clothe her in?

Also I swear I'm not trying to nitpick but the light on her looks different to the light in the background :erm:

I do love the pic though, background included!! :D :applause:

[Ian]

I don't make the outfits myself, I need to learn 3D modelling better before I can do that ;) There are hundreds available online though, many of them free (I got that armour free but that was a special offer). The lighting on the background can't be changed since the background is actually a photograph, but I used the lighting set as it came, just to get the pic done, given a bit more time I could change the position of the lights to match the background more closely (I just couldn't be bothered ;) )

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Wow, I really like that new one Ian! She looks scary with that big sword but gorgeous at the same time. :good:

[Ian]

Another one of the Sisterhood, this time Sister Ann, pictured outside the abbey. This was done in Poser 6, using one of HotH's Courtyard buildings as a background, Ann's hair again by Kozaburo.

Old (http://imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/Ann.jpg)
New (http://imsmultimedia.co.uk/Images/AnnV3.jpg)

[Jax]

Ian I quite like the new one! Especially the hair, it looks very real!! The background though, almost looks like it's reaching out to grab her ;) is very cool - do you ever make pictures of the same models with different facial expressions?

[Ian]

I could do easily enough, but with the Sisters I'm only doing one of each (at least for the moment) to replace the old ones that are up on my site. Basically what I'm doing is noting down all the face & body morphs from the old model & applying them to the new one, so the expressions are going to be similar to the old ones. They're not going to be identical because Vicky 3 is made differently to Vicky 2 (which I used for the old ones), & so the morphs tend to be more subtle (especially for things like wrinkles & bags under the eyes). The end result looks more realistic (