Render and z-Depth layer in DAZ Studio and composite in Photoshop. Click to enlarge.
Dedicated to Christa who also feeds the birds, but not from quite so high up.
There was no Render Dump Sunday yesterday because a borked DAZ Studio meant I hadn’t churned out anywhere near enough images to make it worthwhile this week. All is well now though, and that’s good.
Image setup: 20 minutes
Render time: 1 hour 20 minutes (1.10 for image, .10 for z-Depth)
Postwork: 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 50 minutes. Not bad, considering 1.20 of those the netbook was doing all the heavy lifting.
Addenda: Here’s the z-Depth layer on it’s own. Kinda pretty, ain’t it?
Aww…they’re pretty :) My birds ain’t quite that green and metallic, and I would probably fall down and hit myself hard if I was to feed them from that height :p But it’s nifty :)
That’s a great looking piece, Greywulf. Here, you and Christa should watch “Sita Sings the Blues.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34
I’m really sorry, but I have to reveal my lack of tech-how. Is the z-Depth layer something that you get somewhere and turn it into a finished image, or do you start the whole thing from scratch? Are there templates involved?
Gee I feel a little embarrassed…
A z-Depth layer is just another render made in DAZ Studio which is then overlaid in Photoshop on top of a normal render. What’s special about it is that the Surfaces of all the objects are replaced to make anything close to the camera black, fading to white over distance, just like fog or haze. You use the same scene as your regular render, just change the surfaces.
There’s a few ways to create one. Tell you what – I’ll put together a tutorial and post it up later this week :D
That would be totally cool, and helpful. Thanks!