That's the version I decided upon as the final one. But this image really put me through the wringer; I tried a bunch of different versions and ran into either technical or aesthetic issues with each one. Since I know everyone has different preferences, I thought I'd share the other versions here. After all, I went to the trouble of not only creating but rendering and doing postwork on each one!
This one has Alina's head in a slightly different position. In addition I applied a "sweat" mat to her skin. But I rendered this on my older PC which meant that if you enlarge this to full size you can see a lot of graininess.
For this next one I decided to experiment and got all artsy-fartsy. I turned off all the lights except the back lights. There's still some graininess. I like the atmosphere of mystery it has, but those of you who like things more clear and explicit may not enjoy it as much.
And finally here's the same dark one--again with Alina's head at a different angle--all lit up. Once again the sweat mat led to a grainy finish, so I dispensed with it to make the final version which I posted up top.
Hopefully my new more powerful PC will allow me to dispense with less-than-satisfying "experiments" like this. Nevertheless, this is the place where I share other tests and behind-the-scenes stuff, and I knew some of you would prefer one of the "alternates", warts and all, to the final version I chose.
Now some other stuff.
I've been experimenting with different hairstyles for some of my OCs and have settled on some changes. I won't be modifying the girls' hairstyles in Raiders of the Lost Eye (when I get back to it... soon!) for consistency, but some of you may have noticed I've been using these new hair props since around Easter.
Here's Midnight Avenger's new do:
This hair prop is called "Love Me" (who knows why). If you check Tori's character profile, you'll see that I originally tried to give her more of a braided look. I have tried a couple of braided props on her but they're both too long--they block her logo! Can't have that. This is a good compromise. She used to wear a prop called "Christine" (as did Whirlwind), which is very good but also extremely popular with many digital artists. I wanted to get away from using it too much to help distinguish my characters from everyone else's.
Next up is Night Angel:
Angela originally wore "Charm Hair", which is the same hair prop that Indigo Dynamo wears. It's included in Daz Studio by default, for free. To distinguish Angie from Indy, I have given her a different style. A couple of interesting things: I've tried using this hair prop, called "Antonia" for a couple of commissioned OC images but my commissioners turned it down. No one likes bangs! Well I do and so does Angie.
Finally, here's Whirlwind.
As mentioned above, both Tori and Rita originally wore the Christine hair prop, albeit with different colours. This one is called Sunny. I like that it's a bit similar to Midnight Avenger's new do, carrying over that slight resemblance. But I think this prop, which has more waves to it than Christine but less than Tori's new Love Me, suits Rita.
No, I haven't changed Duster's hair. I have been having fun experimenting with other period-appropriate styles for her in my "Retro Duster" series, but she's going to keep her poofy SAV Dynasty 'do for the foreseeable future. Based on polls and feedback, a majority prefer her current style and while an almost equal number want it changed they can't agree on what it should be. Again, I like each character's look to be distinctive and Duster's hair has become part of her look.
Now onto some clothing tests!
Remember as always, if you like any of these test images, be sure to leave feedback here or at DA. The cheerleader outfit is one example of me responding to that.
