Afterburner and Some Alternates and Extras

"Afterburner" is the name of this bondage prop I recently got 'cause, y'know, Christmas and all. (Sometimes when you're an adult you just go out and get your own gifts.) I think Duster looks great in it. It's very distinctive-looking but I don't want to get just one use out of it. So in future I plan on returning to this scene to render other images from it: different angles (like the one the Dungeon Master's assistants are enjoying) and other ways her captors can torment her while she's locked into this rig. No you can't see any penetration from this angle but it's very much implied and that's why it's here rather than at DA.

Technical notes: I usually have Duster's Genesis 2 Female figure locked to a 95% scale which roughly corresponds to the 5' 7" height I have established for her in fiction and in her profile. But to position her properly in the afterburner I had to increase her to the default 100% scale which roughly corresponds to about 5' 10.5". Since she's not standing up next to anyone it isn't noticeable, and I'm finding it to be a necessary step with many of these bondage rig props which are sized to the default G2F proportions.

Now for some other stuff.

First up, an alternative version of this image featuring Antileaf-Artworks' Violet Spike and my OC Jack Flash:

I changed Vi's position in the version I posted on DA because if you look closely at Vi's breasts here (like you need any encouragement) you'll notice my one complaint about her costume: not enough polygons. Maybe it's because it's a Poser prop I'm using in Daz Studio. It's why I have tried, without success thus far, to transfer the pattern onto a clothing set that makes her look less like an early-90s console game heroine. It's also why I've tired creating alternative costumes for her (also so I can work with her as my preferred G2F figure rather than Victoria 4.2). I still prefer her distinctive original look, though.

Second, a while ago I acquired yet another harem outfit (sheesh, obsess much?) and posted this image. Below is a relatively high quality test render I did of Duster in the same outfit. I love how her breasts look in this costume. Yes, I like breasts. I'm a breast man. And you're what, shocked and surprised? Shut up and look at the titties.

Now for those of you who like your women more muscular—and I know you're out there—you're probably going to enjoy this next image. This fashionably fit female is called Xiomara and she's the original character of DA member Doghungry who has commissioned me to create a five-image sequence featuring the character. So you have that to look forward to. (Yes, she's supposed to look like a MMA fighter.)

In the spirit of the season someone gifted me with another bunny girl outfit, so here's a test image of Duster dressed in it. Love the nylons. I'm sure I'll use it in some other images soon...

And finally here are some rough renders of Duster in a few more sexy fantasy outfits. I'll be looking for opportunities to make use of these in my Raiders of the Lost Eye comic sometime. Yes, the girls of the Night Watch may finally get some costume changes, but probably not into the less revealing togs they've been hoping for...

Technophilia

"Technophilia" is the name of a series of very cool content packages originally designed for Poser and the Victoria 4 figure. I recently obtained a couple of them for free from the Daz store. (An early Christmas present from Daz! Thanks, guys...) Technophilia Volume 1 has the tentacle parts while Technophilia Volume 2 has a bunch of poses for both the tentacles and for Vicky 4. Let me tell you, posing tentacles in Daz Studio can be incredibly pain-staking and time-consuming, so finding a package of poses for them is a real blessing. As for the actor, fortunately Vicky 4 poses can be used on Genesis 2 figures (such as my girl Duster) with just a bit of tweaking to make them look right.

Above is the final image. I applied some Iray metal and rubber shaders to the tentacle to make it all shiny and cool looking. The rest of the set is from the wonderfully versatile Dreadworks 4 Core Pack. And of course the goons of Brute Force, looking on, are inspired by characters originally created by my friend and frequent collaborator EXitZero.

I thought I'd add a couple of other preliminary renders to share some of my process for those who are interested.

 

This is a rough render of just Duster and the tentacles. I had to adjust her torso and legs a bit from the V4 pose but other than that she fit the tentacles' pose perfectly. Then I did some work on her arms; the V4 pose had her flailing her arms uselessly but I thought it looked better if Dusty was wrestling with the vile tentacle. And of course I added her horrified expression. 

For the tentacle I added that "Head Implanter", as it's called, and then adjusted the tentacle position a little so it went where it was always meant to go. The Vol. 1 pack, by the way, has five other fun attachments: a claw, a needle, a saw, an eye, and a sucker. Next time I'll use multiple tentacles so I can throw in more of those toys.

I moved my camera around until I found what I thought was the perfect angle: one that captured her facial expression, breasts, and nether regions. I did the test render to make sure it looked good, which it did. With that done it was time to build a set around her. 

So here's the next step, adding the container tank from the Dreadworks set. I had to enlarge it a bit and bring down Duster's right foot in order to make her fit inside the glass. I tried applying Daz' default Iray glass shader to the glass but that horrifically distorted the way Duster looked. It's a funny shader, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

The Dreadworks set has some Iray lights built into it and originally I was just going to use those, but I did a test render (not included here) and decided against it. One of the problems I find with using Iray emissive lights as opposed to regular lights (spot lights and such) is that Iray lights seem to make the final image a lot grainier, and the render takes longer. Maybe when I get a better PC with more powerful graphics cards (as I plan to do next year) it won't be such a problem. 

Now here, just for the sake of comparison, is the final render in .PNG format.

Right away you'll notice that it's much darker than the final version. I almost always add a "screen" copy of the base image in postwork (using GIMP) which lightens everything up; it's faster and easier than mucking around with the brightness and contrast settings. Though I do use those for a "glow" overlay as well. The other thing I did, which I often have to do with darker images, is painstakingly use the "Despeckle" tool to eliminate all the bright pixels or "fireflies". If you zoom in you'll see them, especially on Duster's butt and the Brutes' chests.

Last of all I added my little logo in the lower right corner, a gift from another friend (and new dad), the incomporable RenderPretender.

Oh... if you check the file name you might wonder why I called it "Technophilia 02". Well, first of all because while I do have a "Technophilia 1" image created with Duster and the tentacles in a different pose, I didn't like it as much. But I may come back to it sometime. And second, of course I'm going to create more of these! There are 20 tentacle/Vicky poses in that Vol. 2 package! FUN!