My 3D Entries in the “DAZ3DPrinting” Contest

This post is graphics heavy.

As a certifiable Nerd, I’ve always found computer graphics fascinating. I’ve picked up several free versions of 3D software over the years, but until recently, I never had a computer with enough computing power to run the programs properly. I got a new computer last July, and by late September I was hooked on DAZ Studio, a free 3D software platform from DAZ 3D.

DAZ is now branching out into 3D Printing. There are several of their iconic characters available on the website, and soon individuals will be able to have DAZ print their renders. To launch the service and new products, DAZ printed out 1000 copies of their “Victoria In Action” figure. This render graces the splash page whenever you load DAZ Studio Pro 4.7. I was one of the very lucky recipients. And as one of the customers receiving the print, I was invited to participate in a contest, as well.

All entries had to be posted via Social Media by midnight tonight. I’ve run out of time to do anything new, but here I’ve collected all my entries into one place. This includes both photos and hybrid renders with a photo of the figure “photoshopped” in. These are in the order in which I posted them on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Click on any image below to see a larger view. It will open in a new window. All images are copyrighted by Call Of The Wild, and all rights are reserved. Please feel free to pin the images, or link to this page. Please do not hot link to the images. Thank you.

 

Photographed in my front yard garden the same day I received the 3D Print. I took a lot of photos, but only two were really good. This image beat out the photo under the rose bush.

 

My husband gave me this Kuerig coffee maker last Christmas. He isn’t supposed to be drinking coffee, but he keeps snitching mine: one sip here, one sip there… and every sip is bigger than the last! The inspiration for this photo.

 

I thought I recalled a quote about a clean desk being the sign of sick mind, so I went looking. The actual quote, attributed to Einstein, is “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” I also came across several articles online stating a messy desk is a sign of a creative mind. Hmmm…

 

My Suzuki XL7 doesn’t come with a hood ornament. Just something to get lost when one goes four-wheelin’. I must say, Vicki really spruces up the twelve year-old beastie.

 

We love all our cats, but there is just something special about this long-haired rag-doll with an independent streak. Too bad you can’t see the blue of his eyes. They’re almost the same color as Victoria’s hair!

 

This was the first rendered image I created. It’s not very complicated at all, except I used D-formers to create the indentation where she’s sitting and where her hand is on the chaise. I used a pose from one of the many pose packages I’ve bought, then modified it to fit the furniture prop, as well as changing the right hand to hold the 3D Print.

 

This image was inspired by the book Alora: The Wander-Jewel by my friend Tamie Dearen. In it men are turned into ferocious, violent creatures called “wendts” by an evil man with magic. The wyvern is about as close as we could find to what she envisioned when she wrote about wendts.

 

Of course DAZ didn’t know about my birthday when they sent me the 3D Print, but I still consider it a birthday present. First time in years I’ve had a birthday cake. I asked for one just so I could put Vicki on top.

 

One of the many products I’ve purchased from DAZ3D.com is the “Mage Tower.” I created a new texture for the wall using a filter I created for Filter Forge, Alpha Metalique. I ran the filter on the background and the photo of the figure separately, and then combined the layers in Photoshop. I added the same photo and a shadow to the finished render. I like the simplicity of this image.

 

For this image I created “fabric” for the skirt using the 3D Print image as the basis of the pattern. The colors are more subdued, the orange looking more yellow. The predominate blue-green color of the dress coordinating with Vicki’s hair. Vicki looks on from the bottom shelf, partially obscured by the skirt.

 

This image posed the most difficulty with adding in the photo of Vicki. I ended up creating a 3D “stand-in” to get the pose of the girl’s hand to properly wrap around the figure. I added a base to the stand-in, as well, and rendered the image with and without the stand-in to get the shadows right. Then I combined the two renders along with the photo in Photoshop.

 

There are 554 cards in this render. That’s 554 iterations of one object placed in such a way as to look like a real “house” made from playing cards. The Queen of Spades is made from a photo of Vicki and graces the front doors and large windows on the front of the taller section. Vicki and her reflection were added in Photoshop, of course.

 

You’ve probably noticed by now how my renders tend to look like photographs. I think that’s because of my background in photography. I’d like to learn how to make things look more surreal. This image is me stepping out of my comfort zone. The render is pretty straight forward, with The Pit by Dreamlight and special effects fire from Smay. Using a number of layers and filters in Photoshop, I created a look like something out of a graphic novel.

 

If you’ve ever read the Wheel of Time books from Robert Jordan, you’ll know what traveling is. If not, this image may not make any sense to you. Basically, traveling is a way to move from one place to another using magic. I rendered the fiery hell and the serene forest separately, and then created the effects to combine the two in Photoshop. Over it all, I placed Victoria, ready for anything as she runs through the gateway to safety.

 

This is my last entry. The young couple are locked in each others arms as they passionately kiss goodnight, oblivious to the majestic sunset just outside the door. The glow of the lamp in the room below highlights the Victoria In Action figure on the book shelf, the room reflected back in the full length mirror on the wall. There was a lot of “post” work on this one, besides adding in two different images of the 3D Print. But it was worth it.

So there you have it, as much a journey in creativity as it was entries in a contest. I discovered I’ve learned a lot more than I realized over the past six months since downloading DAZ Studio. And this month was also a bit of a crash course as I had to learn a few things to make it all work.

My work as a storyteller came in handy, too. I learned to be flexible with storytelling, letting the characters evolve and changing the story as needed to support those evolutions. It was the same with the 3D images. Not one final image was what I thought I was going to create when I started it. But isn’t that the fun in creating?

Photography used in the 3D renders is copyrighted by
Call Of The Wild, Eugene OR,
except for one photo in “The Pit” from GraphicStock.