Comment on TrackMania 2 Stadium skin by Swawa3D
Cute skin. I saw this the other day while browsing Maniapark (saw it there first- I haven't logged in here in a couple months). My thought process literally went something like, "hey, wait.. is that.. i think... it is!". Pretty neat to spot something in the gaming world that I can recognize from the 3D world.
Thanks. I actually really wanted to get into game design but I was going off in too many directions, trying to learn all aspects. I originally got into DAZ with the intention of using it for games but got addicted to being able to focus on the creative end and actually finish works in a reasonable amount of time. One day I might get back into games but for now it's nice just to have a little fun messing around.
I've found myself flying in all directions myself. So many different art styles and methods that I enjoy that trying to advance in all of them at once just shot me through an overwhelming spiral of confusion.
Great idea using renders as skins, though. Hope you stick with it. 
Yeah and each direction is infinite! I have trouble making time to sleep. Just looked at your gallery again, you do cover a broad spectrum. Nice work. I've been meaning to experiment with some fractal stuff when I have a chance.
Just looked at your gallery again, you do cover a broad spectrum. Nice work. I've been meaning to experiment with some fractal stuff when I have a chance. I have not posted in a while, I've been busy with some freelance work designing steam trading cards for some indie games (3079 and 3089).
Thanks. I seem to be a jack of all trades, master of none. lol I plan to (hopefully) work on that and actually get better at some things.
I seem to be a jack of all trades, master of none. lol I plan to (hopefully) work on that and actually get better at some things.I'm assuming those are yet to be released indies (considering the normal url for those appids go nowhere lol)?
Well I think you are quite talented now but there is always room for everyone to improve. I prefer the term versatile. 
I find having diverse skill sets essential when working solo or with small teams on projects that encompass several disciplines. I'm still trying to master (or at least specialize) in a few areas.
I find having diverse skill sets essential when working solo or with small teams on projects that encompass several disciplines. I'm still trying to master (or at least specialize) in a few areas. 3079 is on steam now (link below). Cards have been submitted but not live yet. It's kind of like Minecraft meets Borderlands, although not a heavy focus on building. It was mostly developed by 1 man (phr00t) but I did help him out a little with some texture work for the characters. I felt limited since I'm not used to designing at that low of a resolution and the render engine is lacking but I did improve things from what he originally had.
3089 is coming to steam soon & I'm finishing those cards right now. The sequel moved away from the block look but still has a simple style. The render engine & lighting were improved and it added new features but it still runs on ancient computers. I did not work on 3089 other than the cards & offering some advice. After getting really into modeling a character for a steam background today, I really wish I got to work on the game models. Maybe we can do an update.
Ohhh 3079 [i]is[/i] the game name. I assumed it was the AppID for the game. lol
Right now I'm just not as versatile as I'd like to be, and I'm not sure if I want to work more on my raw renders, or post work. If I focus more on post work, the raw renders don't have to be at the highest quality out of the box since everything would get a makeover anyways. I'm totally in love with pretty much all of Cylithera's work ( cylithera.deviantart.com/ ), which makes me think towards the postwork side of things. Postwork's also easier on the hardware. 
It's all about whatever process most effectively achieves the look your after and whatever you enjoy doing most. Generally I try to do as much as I viably can with the initial render then in post I touch up any flaws, do image adjustments like curves, sometimes add fine details/effects with brushes, do some layering, etc. I usually render a grayscale depth mask which has a lot of good uses in post. Also if I'm not using fiber mesh hair / Garibaldi I often feather it in post.
I really could use a new computer, a lot of my renders take forever. However I have had a major increase in speed since I started using the new advanced ambient & spot lights in DS. I also just got Light Dome PRO-R which renders out a bunch of lights as separate passes that are put together as Photoshop layers. I have not had a chance to work with it yet.
Wow, Cylithera has a lot of amazing works. She does encourage me to try to do more in post and to brush up on my photo-manipulation skills. I like how her images break away from the obvious 3D render look.
I've been having issues with steam working on and off this evening. Might be too much traffic from the end of the sale or maybe even a DDoS attack.