Aggressive work you are doing, Darkprincess!!!
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Darkprincess69's Kink Dungeon Project Blog
- Thread starter Darkprincess69
- Start date
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
Thank you
It's getting there slowly. I keep telling myself that it won't be too long before it's complete, but then I find some other detail that's not quite right and needs more work
My biggest (and as yet unresolved) problem is how to compress the files down enough to be able to distribute them online - The entire dungeon so far is already over a gigabyte. Zipfile compression could probably halve that but I may still have to upload the project in smaller pieces to be practical. I'm sure there's a solution though...
I use Corel and I download the file there and resize it (height vs with) and lower the resolution, usually to 100-to-125 dots per inch, then save it to jpeg. The file becomes less than 500 kb and on most of our screens no one will see the difference. Save your original for your use. You can do far more fine detail for future use!Thank you
It's getting there slowly. I keep telling myself that it won't be too long before it's complete, but then I find some other detail that's not quite right and needs more work
My biggest (and as yet unresolved) problem is how to compress the files down enough to be able to distribute them online - The entire dungeon so far is already over a gigabyte. Zipfile compression could probably halve that but I may still have to upload the project in smaller pieces to be practical. I'm sure there's a solution though...
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
Yeah making the rendered images smaller is easy enough but trying to compress a true 3D environment that can be used and manipulated by other artists is a different beast entirely. Reducing the complexity of the geometry helps but you can only take this so far before the model gets screwed up. In Cinema4D the default reduction is 90%, but that normally makes the geometry unusable. I'm finding that for most sections of this project, 70-80% is about the best I can do before it all goes to hell. Zip compression will reduce the resulting files by 50% or more, but the complete dungeon will still consist of over 100 files with a combined size of a couple of hundred megabytes or more.
Geometry reduction does work though - for the gymnasium corner, the model started out at around 40Mb but after reduction, that came down to 8Mb, but then you have the texture maps on top of that, and they're about 3Mb at present, though to be fair that's the complete set for the entire dungeon, and these could probably be trimmed a bit too.
And then I'll need to learn how to export the model for distribution - Sadly Daz3D doesn't have a one-click "Export for Distribution" button, so you have to create a zipfile and manually add all the relevant files into it, then hope that it has everything that it needs so that it will work on another users' computer. The texture maps are easy enough in that respect - Daz3D can store them anywhere but in order to work with Poser as well, they need to be in the /Library/Runtime/Textures folder otherwise Poser can't find them. all things considered, Daz3D is easier to organise your files with but Poser does have higher quality rendering software.
I guess I need to install Daz3D on another computer to test if the distribution file will install properly - but that's a bit down the road yet - I still have to finish building everything first
I was referring only to posting pictures here. Changing them to jpep allows you to make them much smaller and easier to download but that is why I said to save your originals to do further updates. The bigger the file file the better you can put in detail.Yeah making the rendered images smaller is easy enough but trying to compress a true 3D environment that can be used and manipulated by other artists is a different beast entirely. Reducing the complexity of the geometry helps but you can only take this so far before the model gets screwed up. In Cinema4D the default reduction is 90%, but that normally makes the geometry unusable. I'm finding that for most sections of this project, 70-80% is about the best I can do before it all goes to hell. Zip compression will reduce the resulting files by 50% or more, but the complete dungeon will still consist of over 100 files with a combined size of a couple of hundred megabytes or more.
Geometry reduction does work though - for the gymnasium corner, the model started out at around 40Mb but after reduction, that came down to 8Mb, but then you have the texture maps on top of that, and they're about 3Mb at present, though to be fair that's the complete set for the entire dungeon, and these could probably be trimmed a bit too.
And then I'll need to learn how to export the model for distribution - Sadly Daz3D doesn't have a one-click "Export for Distribution" button, so you have to create a zipfile and manually add all the relevant files into it, then hope that it has everything that it needs so that it will work on another users' computer. The texture maps are easy enough in that respect - Daz3D can store them anywhere but in order to work with Poser as well, they need to be in the /Library/Runtime/Textures folder otherwise Poser can't find them. all things considered, Daz3D is easier to organise your files with but Poser does have higher quality rendering software.
I guess I need to install Daz3D on another computer to test if the distribution file will install properly - but that's a bit down the road yet - I still have to finish building everything first
By the way, I am 63 and have arthritis in both my hands (mom's only gift I wish didn't receive when she passed away). I'm not too computer-literate either. I tried Poser and could not figure it out... I'll blame me. But I do like to manip and write.
What you are doing is far more than what I can wish to learn and you have made great strides! Keep it up as you wish to!
Tree
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
Don't be too hard on yourself - I tried Poser years ago and really struggled with it, mainly because of its wacky user interface. Daz3D looks and feels much more like a regular piece of software and as such is much easier to use (well until you start getting into the more advanced functions anyway
)
You have amazed me with what you have done. Don't burn out but keep learning... I've got 13 cats to feed (11 total babies, the rest tossed out here by people that have less brains than...)Don't be too hard on yourself - I tried Poser years ago and really struggled with it, mainly because of its wacky user interface. Daz3D looks and feels much more like a regular piece of software and as such is much easier to use (well until you start getting into the more advanced functions anyway
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
Well it's been over a week since my last update, so I thought I'd just post a work in progress image of what I've been working on;
This is the (slow) progress on the pipework in the wet room;
It's getting there but OMG this part is progressing at a snails pace
There is some really complex geometry to build here, and most of the reference material is very sub-optimal for getting the details accurate, so I've had to go back several times and make multiple alterations to this as I study more of the photos and videos. There are literally no shots of the overhead layout so I can realistically only model the parts we can see, meaning that many of the pipes are not going to be joined properly at the top.
Here we can see that the basic arrangement is more or less complete, but many of the small attachments are still not present. There are a large number of what appear to be adjustable spray nozzles attatched at weird angles to the main pipework (Seriously who the hell put this thing together - it's a plumber's nighmare with way too many valves and joins to be sensible).
You can also see three overhead outlets each of which split into two pipes with spray heads at each end. I haven't modelled those yet and because there is no overhead reference.
If I had to guess (which I don't like doing, but in the absence of any reference I have little option), I would say that the inverted Y-shaped overhead outlets are connected to the thicker pipes on the back wall more or less directly. In a couple of images it looks like there might be a pipe extending from the angled pipe at back left to the outlet just above and to the left of the girl. It's not very clear but you can kind of see a pipe at top left of this image, behind the straps;
Seriously this wet room is taking much more time and effort to recreate than the rest of the entire dungeon combined. I knew this bit would be a challenge but it's proving MUCH tougher than I had ever anticipated. (Even more so when you realise that not all of those pipes are actually flat against the back wall - some parts of the layout bend forward, then cross over other parts before going back again. Really complicated stuff. I will get there in the end but this section has definitely been the hardest to do without any doubt.
This is the (slow) progress on the pipework in the wet room;
It's getting there but OMG this part is progressing at a snails pace
There is some really complex geometry to build here, and most of the reference material is very sub-optimal for getting the details accurate, so I've had to go back several times and make multiple alterations to this as I study more of the photos and videos. There are literally no shots of the overhead layout so I can realistically only model the parts we can see, meaning that many of the pipes are not going to be joined properly at the top.
Here we can see that the basic arrangement is more or less complete, but many of the small attachments are still not present. There are a large number of what appear to be adjustable spray nozzles attatched at weird angles to the main pipework (Seriously who the hell put this thing together - it's a plumber's nighmare with way too many valves and joins to be sensible).
You can also see three overhead outlets each of which split into two pipes with spray heads at each end. I haven't modelled those yet and because there is no overhead reference.
If I had to guess (which I don't like doing, but in the absence of any reference I have little option), I would say that the inverted Y-shaped overhead outlets are connected to the thicker pipes on the back wall more or less directly. In a couple of images it looks like there might be a pipe extending from the angled pipe at back left to the outlet just above and to the left of the girl. It's not very clear but you can kind of see a pipe at top left of this image, behind the straps;
Seriously this wet room is taking much more time and effort to recreate than the rest of the entire dungeon combined. I knew this bit would be a challenge but it's proving MUCH tougher than I had ever anticipated. (Even more so when you realise that not all of those pipes are actually flat against the back wall - some parts of the layout bend forward, then cross over other parts before going back again. Really complicated stuff. I will get there in the end but this section has definitely been the hardest to do without any doubt.
And most impressive!!!
cruxlover
Tribune
"There are a large number of what appear to be adjustable spray nozzles attatched at weird angles to the main pipework (Seriously who the hell put this thing together - it's a plumber's nighmare with way too many valves and joins to be sensible)."
My guess is the people who put the original rig together saved money with a load of scrap second-hand pipework and just put it together as best they could.
My guess is the people who put the original rig together saved money with a load of scrap second-hand pipework and just put it together as best they could.
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
Thank you so much - I'm very proud of my work on this
My version of Cinema 4D is an old version (r12) running in a windows VM under Linux and is a 14-day trial version from a magazine cover CD years ago - I just keep snapshotting the VM to keep it working - no way am I paying for this stuff. I really should get a pirate copy like a normal person though - that would be so much easier
Blender has an almost vertical learning curve that I have neither the time not the enthusiasm to learn it, whereas C4D is really easy to use for basic modeling operations.
I'm happy to share my files but I need to find a way to compress them efficiently before I can upload them somewhere
Fantasmo
Senator
Blender has changed a lot recently, with its version 2.8 and later.Blender has an almost vertical learning curve that I have neither the time not the enthusiasm to learn it, whereas C4D is really easy to use for basic modeling operations.
I'm happy to share my files but I need to find a way to compress them efficiently before I can upload them somewhere
If taught properly, it can be learned easily.
I am teaching it in Secondlife. After 5 weeks students upload their first pillow to secondlife, 3 weeks later a sofa (made from these pillows and pallets), then a guitar and after about 3 months they start building a whole bedroom scene!
Mastering the program is only one thing. The principles of proper mesh topology etc are equally important.
