On Patrol by DustRider ()

DAZ|Studio • Science Fiction • posted on Jul 01, 2020

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Description

This is an image I "started" on a couple of months ago. I wanted to get at least two figures in it, along with at least one Camezard. I knew from comments in the forums that this environment (The Outpost) was very resource heavy so I waited until I could get Scene Optimizer (or at least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it). I couldn't find just the right outfits for the characters, but when Code Squad from Aeon Soul went on sale .... bam, I finally had the final idea!!

The character on the left is Aureska HD with a handful of additional morphs. The character on the right is Pandoriah with quite a few additional morphs, and the skin from Charlotte 8. Both outfits are from Aeon Soul.

The lighting is the default HDRI and a mesh light made from a plane primitive. I added a steam/fog prop to add a little atmosphere to the background.

It took quite a while to get the Camezard reins to where the figures were "holding" them. They are rigged with a single set of bones going up the center. This works great if the figures are riding them, not so good for leading them because there is no good way to pull the sides together. I spent several hours using Mesh Grabber just to "pose" the reins. But hopefully the results were worth it (could use a little more tweaking, but I got lazy).

Scene Optimizer saved me a lot of time and manual texture resizing (or rendering on CPU). The building has many 4K texture maps (great for close-ups). Needless to say that getting this much to fit onto a 8Gb GPU would have been impossible without reducing texture sizes (reduced the textures on the building, the Camezards, the G7M figure on the balcony, and the backpack on the right Camezard. I wanted to render the image a bit larger, but it just wouldn't fit on the GPu without additional optimization. Scene Optimizer is a definite must have!!

Please zoom to full resolution to see all the details. Thanks for stopping by!!

Image Comments (30)

JoeJarrah () 3:59PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

Excellent work on this, superb textures throughout and a nicely balanced composition. The hard work on the reins has paid off; I have similar problems with my horses and either resort to trompe l'oeil or a separate more easily posable rope prop!

Tracesl () 5:04PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

excellent

adrie () 5:12PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

Awesome image and work my friend.

Graphixa () 5:28PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

Fantastic images and characters, well worth your effort!

Darkglass () 5:52PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

Without doubt.....well worth your time and effort....super characters and environment....and fantastic details in all the textures and materials....really is not notch....!! if i had to hit pick it...or give some some constructive critique.... at a high level...it would be the ground... texture, its just not at the same level as the rest.....i know there's some depth of field involved...but would expect it to be a little more defined and some clarity to it at there feet...given everything else is so....crisp....still does not detract from what is a first class image, and render...!!!

DustRider () replied at 12:29PM Fri, 03 July 2020

Thanks! Agreed, the ground texture is lacking. I did give it serious consideration, but in the end went with the provided texture (hoping no one would notice ... opps). To do it justice, I would have needed to make a new texture. There are actually three models that make up the ground. the base ground model, and two "dunes". Both dunes are visible, and trying to use a high resolution ground texture resulted in visible seams. That's probably why the creator did the low res ground texture. That is a common issue with environment models, the ground is often (usually) not really very good. I've picked up a lot of environments that I haven't used because close up the ground just doesn't quite live up to the rest of the scene.

Thanks again for picking nits, I do appreciate knowing where others see issues so I know where I need to improve.

PhilW () 6:04PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

Wonderful image - very cinematic!

bugsnouveau () 8:05PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

Great stuff, very well done

eekdog () 9:10PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

uber awesome characters! really give a star wars or trek movie feel. dynamite render and props.

mtdana () Online Now! 10:52PM | Wed, 01 July 2020

Full size your characters are stunning, I see you got three into the scene not counting the Camezards. Great composition with characters leading the animals. Super fantasy scene!!!

Saby55 () 12:13AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

Absolutly gorgeous and superb work! Greetings! 🙋‍♂️👍

NobbyC () 1:20AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

WOW!!! Fantastic image!!!

daggerwilldo () Online Now! 1:30AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

A must zoom moment. You did an incredible job. I'd love to talk to you via site mail about the tools you describe. A super job and a super artist.

DustRider () replied at 12:35PM Fri, 03 July 2020

Thanks! Feel free to contact me any time via site mail. If I don't respond right away, even thought it shows I'm "on line", I'm not ignoring you. I often leave the browser open, with a Renderosity tab open (as well as several others), while I'm busy doing other things. So even though it looks like I'm "here", usually I'm really not (yep, I'm lazy about closing down the browser).

jancas () Online Now! 2:17AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

Awesome work

DustRider () replied at 1:46PM Fri, 03 July 2020

Thanks!!

starship64 () Online Now! 2:49AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

You did a fantastic job on this.

paul_gormley () 7:11AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

excellent scene, the hard work has paid off in terms of quality and fun with the character on the left, very accomplished result

STEVIEUKWONDER () 7:42AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

I'd have to sell a body part to afford TWO Aery Soul outfits! Nevertheless, it was well worth the investment! I'd have to "make do" with a pair of $4 outfits from Daz and opening of my leather shader set, to get anything like the effect! lol

DustRider () replied at 1:24PM Fri, 03 July 2020

lol! Thanks!! Yes, Aeon Soul stuff is pretty expensive, but IMHO the quality is just amazing. I always have to wait for a sale, and since it doesn't go on sale as often as other vendors, it can be a looong wait. I've found that I tend to use their outfits more than just about any one else. So for me they are worth the extra in the long run. I was always really interested in their stuff, but hadn't bought any, due to the price. Then they had the close out sale at RDNA and I picked up 4 outfits I really liked (there is one I'm still kicking myself for not getting), and I was hooked. I've used them a lot more than I ever thought I would. I only have about one forth of their catalog at DAZ (going back the G2F), and would have less if they didn't go on a really good sale last month. To afford their stuff, I'll often not buy anything else for 2-3 months (I'm pretty cheap too).

wscottart () 10:57AM | Thu, 02 July 2020

I love the outpost, and your set here rocks!

bucyjoe () 2:16PM | Thu, 02 July 2020

wonderful

kelchris3 () Online Now! 2:44PM | Thu, 02 July 2020

Beautiful!

UteBigSmile () 2:58PM | Thu, 02 July 2020

Wow' this has become breathtakingly beautiful!

miwi () 4:16PM | Thu, 02 July 2020

Fantastic SF-scene, wonderful mystical characters, excellent done,love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vampsin () 8:50PM | Thu, 02 July 2020

Characters look great! Very well done

dragongirl () 11:39PM | Thu, 02 July 2020

Great characters and very fine steeds!

RodS () 4:39PM | Fri, 03 July 2020

This is utterly fantastic! You really knocked this right out of the park, my friend! I love their noble steeds, and the gal on the left looks like she might be part Togruta. Magnificent work here!