Learning Dark Arts

Come learn the art of 3D computer generated art and animation. This blog deals with the lessons learned and the art created by Robert G. Male using DazStudio from Daz3D. Also covered are the ancillary software, tools, techniques, and processes needed both before and after rendering in the 3D software.

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Spell casting woman.


R.M.T.P. Co.


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March 15, 2010

Don't Put a Mark on the Wall

Last week talking about the cover for Killing Time - Horror E-Rag™ Issue 1-1 I mentioned about the lamp in the picture. This lamp and much of the positioning of furniture was borrowed from a previous image that I was working on. The lamp has three lights in it in DazStudio. There is a point light to light up the interior of the lamp and acts like the light at the centre of the light bulb. There is a spot light pointing down which casts the shadow of the lower part of the lamp and lights up part of the floor beneath the lamp and cabinet it sits upon. What is not apparent in the Killing Time cover is that there is a third lamp pointing up from the lamp to cast light upon the wall. That third upward pointing light is the most difficult light to fix in the scene and I had yet to place it correctly.

When a lamp sits next to a wall the light falls on the wall above the lamp much brighter than beside the lamp. Due of the closeness of the opening in the top of the lamp to the wall the light on the wall is even brighter than that cast upon the cabinet. The light coming up out of the lamp hits the wall slightly above the lamp, centred on and as wide as the opening. To create the light emanating from this lamp with three Daz lights centred on the same spot, the spot where the light bulb would be in the lamp, should be the way to go. This is not the case however. From different angles the light changes in an unnatural way. As previously discussed in this blog verisimilitude is your friend here, not real world accuracy. This means changing the lights depending on where you point the camera.

Music: Detroit Rock City by Kiss.


March 8, 2010

Devil Women and Boogeymen

The choice of image for the cover of Killing Time - Horror E-Rag™ Issue 1-1 was an easy one for me to make. I knew there was a story that mentions a woman in a devil costume for Halloween. I knew I had parts to create this woman and her outfit. I will admit this might not have been the first choice for the cover--there is also a story about a woman casting a spell that I already have created most of the image for, but it contains both disturbing imagery and nudity so it ended up falling by the wayside. Still, as can be noted from a quick look at the cover image I did create, there is still a risqué element to the picture. That is a line that I intentionally walk to tantalise without giving too much, both to whet the appetite and to avoid controversy to which I might have to concede.

There is something funny about the creation of this cover and what it displays that might rankle some viewers of the cover. The skirt that the figure is wearing does not properly conform to the figure. After much manipulating and fiddling it was apparent the skirt would not cover the thighs without showing a lot more of the panties and looking like the skirt was flipped up like a piece of cardboard. On a different note, one of the measures I took in composing this image was zooming in the camera to a certain closeness to best display the figure and then moving other items around to fit what would be the final size of the image used within the cover. One of the benefits of this was removing the need to affect how the light from lamp falls upon the wall above the lamp. I'll get into more about that next time.

Music: One Tin Soldier by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

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Robert G. Male

Name: Robert G. Male
Location: Ontario, Canada

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Suggested Reading:

This scary book

available at Battered Spleen Productions™.


Suggested Listening:

This free scary audio book

available at Battered Spleen Productions™.



Learning Dark Arts is a presentation of

Battered Spleen Productions™