(Feedback?) Blender users, what are your secrets?

Hi developers
I’m srauf1, and I’ve been doing GFX since 2017 - but my work definitely does not reflect that much experience. I’m thinking of switching to Blender 2.8 as many people have declared it’s more efficient, plus I’m used to 3D Modelling on there. I currently use Cinema 4D.

Here’s a render I created using Blender.


As you can see, it could definitely use some touching up. Please leave some feedback on how I can improve the render as well as some tips and tricks for easier navigation and better results within and from the software. You may refer me to YouTube tutorials, articles, or other sources you deem helpful.

Thanks in advance,
srauf1

8 Likes

There’s a lot of noise imo. You could either try to add more samples (which takes longer to render) or use an AI denoiser like OptiX that removes noise from renders. Lighting is good but it is still rather pixelated around edges. Don’t know if that’s just noise again.

2 Likes

Lighting up the dark side would make the photo more enjoyable to look at. You can go on YouTube and search up basic lighting and there will be like a ton of film-making lighting showcases that show you how to properly light up a scene, those same technique can be applied within blender.

I’d say soften the shadow a bit or use less harsh lighting when emitting it onto a subject.

The render overall looks pretty good though!

1 Like

Hello!

Suggestions:

  • Hdri If Your Not Already Using Them
  • More Samples Or You Can Use A Denoiser. Blender comes with its own denoiser (Which I Use) or you can use Intel’s Ai-Denoiser Which I Don’t Really Know A lot About Sorry
  • Better Poses. Try And Move As Many Parts Of The Body As You Can! Even If The Movement Is Subtle.
  • Backgrounds. Try Start Using Grass (Hair) Or Even Just An Image! There Are Many Tutorials On Grass!
  • Never Give Up! After A While Of Doing Gfx’s Your Going To Think Its Useless And That No Body Will Like What You’ve Made, If You Are Very Determined Of Doing Something It Doesn’t Matter What People Think As long As You Enjoy It.
  • Take Peoples Critic With A Grain Of Salt, Not Everyone Will Like Everything But Thats Just How It Works Sadly.

Hope This Helps!

5 Likes

I want to make it clear that there are never any “secrets” or something that you won’t be able to eventually learn yourself. There are no “hacks” that will instantly make you better at anything.

It takes hard work, and experience. Just like the things you are already good at doing.

You know that it needs touching up, and chances are you already know what needs to be touched up (such as lighting, pose, detail, etc). You are simply unsure how to manage it, and for that I suggest youtubers such as this guy https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC4elImIi8ZdJy1_LBn4sGA who make extremely simple, short videos on how to make functional, yet good looking GFX for beginners.

4 Likes

use an HDRI (and probably DOF to blur out the HDRI background), perhaps some SSS on the skin, make a floor or at least a shadow-catcher depending on what you want to achieve, look up different lighting setups for different purposes, like portrait photography, for example, and replicate this (important). read about composition, rule of 2/3rds. increase the roughness of your fabrics, they look like plastic.

maybe check out this vid from Blender Guru: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o0PauhFQyo

look at good references from ArtStation, here’s a link to the feed of character model renders: https://www.artstation.com/channels/character_modeling?sort_by=trending

the truth is, this isn’t something that necessarily requires hours of learning to achieve. find one reference that has good lighting and composition, and try to replicate it as exactly as possible. for your next render, do that again with a different reference. it’s not really rocket science how these scenes are lit and composed, but you probably won’t get far (or at least quickly) if you just experiment on your own - it’s not cheating to learn from what others have done instead of reinventing the wheel.

you’ll also probably want to do some post-processing of your renders, but with Blender’s color curves available in the render settings and additional compositing nodes, you might not have to do much to have your finished result.

1 Like