2014 Edit: sorry, dudes ... all I have left from the original render series is a couple of thumbails. You're welcome to them, but the pictures have vamoosed, like so many of these old, old projects. I'll fill in, later, with some other "in the spirit of" images," but I do want to include the original text, because it talks about something that has gone now: the DAZ Environments. They're no longer used, now that PCs are fast enough to load enough foliage props to be significant...
3D meets George of the Jungle ... want more George?! You're in the right place! However, today's post shakes hands with George of the Jungle again ... want more George?! You're in the right place!
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| 2023 digital painting: Huion pen tablet |
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There ... nice! Very nice. But what about the cycloramas?! A cyclorama is a big projection screen, ofter curved. The DAZ 3D environmental ones are close to a semicircle, so you can get in there and pan and tilt the camera, and get a different view, different backdrop, every time.
There's the main cyclorama and a couple of smaller ones featuring outtakes from the main one; and these can be set up several at once, in the same scene. If you're really clever, you can get a terrific illusion of tremendous depth.
However, you can also just click on the main environment and have the program load everything up to the palm trees and a lot of plants. Then amuse yourself adding more plants as "props" anywhere you need them ... before you add in your figure.
Here's the full panoramic shot -- cinemascope -- right across one of the smaller outtakes. The main one has the waterfall and pool (see yesterday's renders, which were shot in the full set). The detail is amazing, and the trick is not to get too close to the backdrop, with too much resolution in the shot. You're asking yourself, where's the back wall of this set?! Well...
If you shine a light right on it, and do a high-rez render, you can see the background -- click on the above image to see it at full size. There's your back wall!
So ... duh ... don't drive the camera in so close, and don't shine a light directly on the background! You also have to be careful when lighting these scenes, not to have your character(s) cast shadows on background elements that are supposed to be faaaar way. In fact, it's all an optical illusion -- the waterfall isn't far away at all. It's actually standing right behind George, and if you're not careful with the lights, his shadow will be on the water! If you can handle them just right, the effect is stunning. Have you every read Edgar Rice Burroughs's original Tarzan stories? They're nothing like the movies ... they're nothing like the real Africa. They're a fantasy-scape with a rich darkness which is absolutely separate from reality. And that's what these backdrops look like.
All art is about illusion. This goes double for 3D art!
And purely for interest, here are the surviving thumbnails from the antediluvian renders... yes, I agree. The digital paintings look waaaay better. But you have to start somewhere, right? Baby steps.
Jade, 28 February
