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My Hallowed Valentine (Freebie Challenge February 2025)

KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265
edited February 2 in Freebies

Freebie Challenge February 2025 - My Hallowed Valentine

Denizens, it is me, your court-appointed temporary competition master. My cohort of glamorous co-hosts have fled the competition space and left me in temporary charge to keep this monthly tradition alive. As I return to host once more, you can expect lax rules, poor leadership, lacklustre prizes, poor response times and the grim stench of penny-pinching bureaucracy.

Now that your expectations have been suitably lowered, Here's the competition for this month...



My Hallowed Valentine

 

In a bleak twist to this month of romance and whimsy, I would like to add a dash of October gloom. Your task this month will be to cover two themes, Love and horror. I want dark, gothic romances. Scenes of love and despair on the haunted moors. Ghostly apparitions of buxom maidens. Images that would Tim Burton would be happy to keep in his sock draw.

Love and Horror. Put those two ingredients into daz, and show me your findings. Work your fingers to the bone denizens, there is $30 at stake here.

 

Rules:

 

I only have one rule denizens.... Be honest with yourself.

 

...Actually there's more rules. Here:

 

  1. You have to use a minimum of 3 freebies.

  2. The render must be made in the daz ecosystem (including bryce, carrara etc).

  3. Standard Daz TOS rules apply on submissions, nothing heinous.

  4. Post images in the entries thread (I will almost certainly link it somewhere, probably).

  5. AI – It's ok to use AI in your materials, or as bits of filler, but this is a render competition so don't be lazy. If 90% of your submission is AI, i will be both shocked and appalled.

  6. Maximum of 4 entries on the official entries thread. You can post non-official renders on the main thread all you like though.

 

Prizes!
 

The prizes are, as they have always been, poor and not inflation-adjusted:

First Place: $15 store credit from KindredArts
Second Place: $10 store credit from KindredArts
Third Place: $5 store credit from KindredArts

 

This Freebie Challenge will end December February 28th, 2025 @ 23:59 Daz time.

ENTRIES THREAD

MyHallowedValentineFin.jpg
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MyHallowedValentineCrop.jpg
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Post edited by KindredArts on

Comments

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 11,812

    I think you meant February 28th, not December wink

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,291

    Leana said:

    I think you meant February 28th, not December wink

    Just living in-the-vertical-direction-of expectation, I guess "As I return as host once more, you can expect lax rules, poor leadership"

  • Faeryl WomynFaeryl Womyn Posts: 3,658

    Love the introduction of expectations lol

  • KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265

    Leana said:

    I think you meant February 28th, not December wink

     If you guys are accusing me of copy and pasting things from my last competition, i'm very insulted.

  • mdingmding Posts: 1,270

    Anybody who wants to support this contest with a banner please insert in Signature Settings (Source button activated):

     

    <p><a href="https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/719306/my-hallowed-valentine-freebie-challenge-february-2025"><img alt=""; src="https://www.daz3d.com/forums/uploads/FileUpload/fe/a836707068712e9fb30a9cd7b45c82.png"; /></a></p>

     

    Thankyou!

     

    banner5.png
    310 x 102 - 63K
  • Faeryl WomynFaeryl Womyn Posts: 3,658

    I made no such accusation your exulted highness and love the new banner, thank you mding

  • mdingmding Posts: 1,270

    Thank you, @Faeryl Womyn!

    This month gives us a lot of freedom  - obviously we can work with unlimited bought textures, light or pose sets etc., as long as we use at least three freebies! I really hope people don't miss out on this opportunity!

  • KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265
    edited February 2

    mding said:

    Thank you, @Faeryl Womyn!

    This month gives us a lot of freedom  - obviously we can work with unlimited bought textures, light or pose sets etc., as long as we use at least three freebies! I really hope people don't miss out on this opportunity!

     Now that Saph has handed over the reigns - Welly, Hylas and the rest of the freebie team have been talking about simplifying the rules. I know i have the rep of a lazy substitute teacher that let's you all smoke in class, but the elves behind the curtains are working hard to streamline the comp and make it more flashy and welcoming to suspicious outsiders. I don't want to make my poor co-hosts look like fusty curmudgeons. I'm the only curmudgeon around these parts. laugh

    Post edited by KindredArts on
  • pericolopericolo Posts: 238

    @KindredArts Indeed we need to thank you for the chance to win these prizes every month and to make us laugh also, not everyone can do it! laugh Less rules is a great idea and this contest is the kind I like more, I love gothic stuff!

  • KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265
    edited February 3

    Just so everyone knows, it's my birthday this month. So if any of the winners want's to give me back their gift cards so i can trade them for Nvidia stock ... i wouldn't be mad about it.

    MyHallowedValentine2.jpg
    2560 x 1080 - 895K
    Post edited by Richard Haseltine on
  • mdingmding Posts: 1,270

    the rep of a lazy substitute teacher that let's you all smoke in class

    laugh

     @KindredArts: Could you tell us how you achieved that painterly blurred look in the foreground of the render you just postet: especially the open book on the table and the speaker: Was it with postwork or render settings? It looks truly amazing, especially at the side of the vase with the plants!!

  • KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265

    mding said:

    the rep of a lazy substitute teacher that let's you all smoke in class

    laugh

     @KindredArts: Could you tell us how you achieved that painterly blurred look in the foreground of the render you just postet: especially the open book on the table and the speaker: Was it with postwork or render settings? It looks truly amazing, especially at the side of the vase with the plants!!

     I think you mean depth of field. It's a settings on the camera. Here's a good video by jay on DOF -

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB2DSfbif2A

  • KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265

    mding said:

    the rep of a lazy substitute teacher that let's you all smoke in class

    laugh

     @KindredArts: Could you tell us how you achieved that painterly blurred look in the foreground of the render you just postet: especially the open book on the table and the speaker: Was it with postwork or render settings? It looks truly amazing, especially at the side of the vase with the plants!!

    Oh i did use some bloom as well. Basically i take the photo into krita (this will work in anything). I copied the layer, set it to "screen", and then used a gaussian blur on that layer. You will get a blown out, dream-like look. Now just pull down the layer opacity a bit, and you have a nice, hazy bloom. I think you can do bloom in daz too, but it's a bit tricky.

  • mdingmding Posts: 1,270

    KindredArts said:

    mding said:

    the rep of a lazy substitute teacher that let's you all smoke in class

    laugh

     @KindredArts: Could you tell us how you achieved that painterly blurred look in the foreground of the render you just postet: especially the open book on the table and the speaker: Was it with postwork or render settings? It looks truly amazing, especially at the side of the vase with the plants!!

     I think you mean depth of field. It's a settings on the camera. Here's a good video by jay on DOF -

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB2DSfbif2A

    Many thanks @KindredArts!! I know DOF, but I never achieved such an amazing painterly look. Now that I know it is possible, it opens totally news options to me - thanks again!

  • mdingmding Posts: 1,270

    KindredArts said:

    Oh i did use some bloom as well. Basically i take the photo into krita (this will work in anything). I copied the layer, set it to "screen", and then used a gaussian blur on that layer. You will get a blown out, dream-like look. Now just pull down the layer opacity a bit, and you have a nice, hazy bloom. I think you can do bloom in daz too, but it's a bit tricky.

    Again, many thanks @KindredArts! That is very generous of you to tell us!!

    I will try to learn this!

  • HylasHylas Posts: 5,067

    KindredArts said:

    Just so everyone knows, it's my birthday this month. So if any of the winners want's to give me back their gift cards so i can trade them for Nvidia stock ... i wouldn't be mad about it.

    Happy birthday!

    Are you sure you want to invest in NVIDIA stock now? cool

  • KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265

    Hylas said:

    KindredArts said:

    Just so everyone knows, it's my birthday this month. So if any of the winners want's to give me back their gift cards so i can trade them for Nvidia stock ... i wouldn't be mad about it.

    Happy birthday!

    Are you sure you want to invest in NVIDIA stock now? cool

     Possibly bitcoin. It doesn't matter what it is, it always drops 20% when i buy it anyway. 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,737
    Let us know what you buy and when, so we can buy after at the lower price.
  • emanuela1emanuela1 Posts: 675
    edited February 3

    Happy birthday Kindred Arts smiley and thank you for all the real great support you have always given to this fun forum.
    Less rules is good, maybe it will increase the number of participants.
    For the graphics card I'm not sure if it's the right time, but let us know your experience. (I would like to change card, but I don't know if it's better to wait for a possible price drop, also I don't know how compatible the new expensive cards are with  the DAZ environment and iray).

     

    Post edited by emanuela1 on
  • KindredArtsKindredArts Posts: 1,265

    barbult said:

    Let us know what you buy and when, so we can buy after at the lower price.

     I like to keep my money-losing secrets close to my chest.

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