Last special render for this year. Guess her costume, hint in the form of a second render attached to this post. 4k versions of both attached to this post.
Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Artemis :)
2024-10-31 03:45:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
Busier week than usual. I dabbled in different areas. Spent a couple days optimizing the code, rebuilding it from the ground up. In the past, I've had issues with the build spitting out odd errors that were unrelated to the code I wrote. And some Macs seemed to be plagued with issues. So, I'm working on optimizing the code for this release.
I also worked on more custom assets/props. One of the characters is using strand based hair and its been a challenge getting that hair to fit under this headpiece. But I did most of the work where it matters and lefts parts of the hair that's not in view untouched.
Every year, around October. Windows sends me these little "hey remember this?" and its usually renders from Chapter 1. Kind of fun to see how things were then and how things have progressed. Every release, I try to better the quality. Be it renders, code, writing, animations, etc. For those who missed it, I do intend to rework previous chapters. Especially chapter 1, but only when I've got the time to do it. Still lots of work to be done, but I'm real excited to get this release out when its ready.
Stay safe out there!
digi.B
2024-10-28 22:07:18 +0000 UTC View Post
'Evening, all!
Checking to report development continues. I'm continuing taking your feedback regarding Artemis' discernment protocol system.
Additionally, I wanted to remind everyone that Artemis' "cooing" sounds were recorded earlier this year and will be implemented in this update. This sound will have its own channel, so you can mute it if you don't want to hear it. To describe it, it's a soft muttering sound and I'll save it for the release to reveal the sound as I've seen many of you try to decipher what it sounds like lol.
Last year, I did Christmas renders of the ladies of Artemis. This year I won't do any as December will be crunch month for me trying to get the release out. Same goes for Thanksgiving. I may do one for Halloween, but it will be unlikely. I love doing the holiday renders, but usually only when time permits, and this year has been a roller-coaster for me. But am doing my best to close out this year with CH6's release and start a clean slate for 2025 with my update schedule.
That'll wrap things up for this devlog.
Stay safe everyone!
digi.B
2024-10-22 01:57:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
The other week, I talked about Artemis' discernment protocol. Thanks for your guys input on that. I'm still deciding on the tweaks. At the moment, I'm considering the following changes:
Removing the icon that denotes which choice will alter her protocol. In its place, a notification will display that simply informs "Protocol updated". For those who wish to see the status of her protocol, can still view those numbers in the Artemis app on your phone.
I feel this gives more agency to the choice instead of knowing what the choice changes right off the bat. It favors both sides for those who wish to play blind and those who want to see the numbers.
I also plan to expand on the To Be Continued end card to outline the numbers for Artemis as well as the LIs. I realize sometimes a chapter ends while the phone is hidden and you can't see what your final numbers are at that point.
I also plan on optimizing the code. Things like the phone, minigames (especially Naomi's gunrange segment), the SDCards, etc. Optimizing the code won't be until I begin work on Chapter 7, as I'm trying to make the deadline for Christmas and don't want to pile on for this dev cycle. But just to inform these things are on my radar to make a better experience.
That wraps up news regarding development.
Have yourselves a great week! Hope everyone is safe, especially those enduring the hurricane.
digi.B
2024-10-15 06:50:03 +0000 UTC View Post
'Afternoon, everyone!
Chiming this week to chat about some of the annoying things that happen during development. So, I bought this asset off the DAZ store. Put it on the model and was like "Nice. This'll work.". Started working on the scene, IRAY previews showing no issues, all is good. When it came to throwing into the batch render, whole thing just halted with no rhyme or reason. Which made it extremely difficult to troubleshoot. It was annoying because as I mentioned, IRAY preview showed up fine but the actual render would just crash. Which made no sense. I narrowed it down to the asset I bought, inspected it, found no issues. Since the asset was designed for Gen9, I thought maybe, just MAYBE DAZ really is janky-ass software. So, I updated to the latest version of DAZ (which is a cardinal sin of AVN development, but I said "fuck it. i'm out of solutions."). Well, the scene finally rendered normally. Threw them back into the oven and went back to development.
Welp. I forgot one of the issues that plagued the latest version of DAZ was for characters using Out of Touch hair assets. So, once that character was introduced into the scene...renders crashed again. Easy fix fortunately, as I all I had to do was update the hair and all remaining files finally rendered.
Just a bit of insight of issues we as developers sometimes run into and try to troubleshoot while trying to continue development. Fortunately, despite all this, I was able to meet my quota for last week.
That said, fuck DAZ. Praise Blender. Enjoy this preview render :)
Have yourselves a great week! Spooky season is upon us!
digi.B
It's a new week!
I was inserting more renders into the code and saw two shots that I could have done a little better with. I was using camera tricks to try to hide the name of the asset. Because well, when I started working on Artemis, I only had played like 2 or 3 AVNs by that time I think. So, thought it was harmless to add Cafe Luca, heh. Anywho, fast forward to now. I try my best to either tweak assets or just work my magic on bringing whole new ones to work with. In this case, I just wanted to keep it simple and quick, so just a little removal of the previous sign and created this in its place. Made for a nice photo-op for June too for this scene.
I also wanted to touch on Artemis' Discernment Protocol mechanic again. I took your guys feedback from CH5 regarding the two choices. And this chapter's choices focus more on your actions and suggestions rather than scolding. For example:
"Artemis, there are a few ways to open a door. One example being is simply turning the handle and opening it. Or you could just kool-aid man your way in".
So you can expect more situations like that when it comes to influencing her Discernment Protocol. I also want to mention it's not a morality system, you're essentially guiding her on how to approach certain situations. As her mind develops more, this mechanic will come into play on how she handles situations on her own. You can certainly play the game pouring points one-sided, but key situations will require conditions to be met for her to get a "positive" response from others. It's a bit of a balancing act between firm/empathy. There's no visual cue of the points going up or down, aside from having to go into the Artemis app on your phone to see where she stands. But what do you guys think? Should I keep the firm/empathy points hidden? Maybe show the results at the end of each chapter or book?
Have yourselves a great week and be safe! Spooky season is upon us! (Though it is still hot where I'm at...)
digi.B
2024-10-01 00:49:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Good afternoon!
Weekley check-in to keep you guys' informed development continues. Something that gave me some pause, while going through the script last week. And I've mentioned this before, but want to keep it seeded in your minds for when that time comes. There's a recurring theme throughout Artemis. The story, some scenes, even the UI elements. It's leading up to something that I'm hoping isn't too out there in terms of sci-fi. One might ask, what's more sci-fi than Artemis herself? That bit will be revealed in Book 3, but as mentioned before I want to keep it seeded for when that time comes.
Hope you guys have a safe week!
digi.B
2024-09-23 22:28:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Good morning!
Apologies for the late devlog. Wrapped up a day of development and its 1AM right now and realized I didn't check in with you guys Monday. Nothing crazy to report this week. I updated the code, inserting another batch of renders. I also worked on more of Artemis' POV sequences, where we'll see more of how her code is processing things as her "mind" continues to develop. This part has been real fun, because I get to visually establish how she interprets things and how closely her code lets her process information like how a person would. These shots are key as she becomes more developed.
I'll keep this week short and sweet.
Be safe out there!
digi.B
2024-09-17 08:22:40 +0000 UTC View Post
'Afternoon, all!
Just checking in and reporting development is still ongoing. Chapter 5 released in NOV last year, at this moment, I'm at just over 4k story renders. Chapter 5 released with just over 5.5k renders, so I'm a bit behind schedule render wise. This is the first chapter where every character gets screentime on top of progressing the main plot. So, I'm estimating a Christmas release this year. I don't like projecting dates. As I've said before, it frustrates people (including myself) when a deadline is missed. So I try not to mention unless I'm sure of the date and I'll be doing my very best to try and make this a Christmas release.
Again, thank you all for your support. It truly means a lot. Stay safe everyone!
digi
2024-09-09 22:47:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
This week I was back in DAZ. It doesn't happen often, but every now and then you purchase an asset off the DAZ store and realize how bad it is. The plaza I used as a base during Zelda's date had horrible performance issues. And this was on an i9 with a 4090. I also remember one time I downloaded a character model and when I loaded it, my characters suddenly had long-ass fingers due to this bad character morph. Last week's DAZ STD of the Week was this city asset I used. When I added it in, it blew up the file size to nearly 300MB. The file size wasn't the issue since I store projects files in a 40tb NAS. It's loading the scene which this scene took nearly 9 minutes, versus the 20-30 seconds it normally takes with several characters and a setting. It congests things when it comes time to throwing things into the render queue. Normally I'm able to resolve these kinds of issues, but the solution required me to properly export every piece of asset used and re-save it in the DAZ format. Altogether there's probably 500 pieces used and I wasn't about to slow development for something I'll probably only use once. So I just took the L on this one, as the kids say.
That's all for last week. Here's another non-spoiler preview (I make sure not to reveal anything in previews).
What's MC doing at the police station? Did he turn himself in for causing a city-wide blackout? Is Koko really back? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z.
digi.B
2024-09-02 20:29:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
Wanted to check in and report that progress continues and to provide a little preview for everyone. Showing off a little more of Central Pointe University.
Also, great to see you guys enjoy the cameo from the latest episode of Chasing Sunsets by StoneFox Studios.
For those curious, yes. Chasing Sunsets characters will make their appearance at the appropriate time. I like to involve the characters into the story or arc to give them purpose in the story. For example, it was originally going to be DJ Kink at the Halloween party. And thought having Lexi perform with her was a great opportunity to involve the character. But not just that, I wanted to build the character up and weave her into the universe. There are three more crossovers I have planned and will get the same treatment. I look forward to weaving them into the story and letting you guys discover them when they appear.
Thank you all and have yourselves a wonderful week!
digi.B
2024-08-26 22:34:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
So sorry for the delayed post! I was playing around with textures in Blender for a few hours this morning and got tunnel visioned. DAZ is far more simpler adjusting dials to narrow down the look. With Blender, it's a lot more freedom to tweak/add/remove things. But things can get messy, making sense/organizing the layout lol
You may not notice it here, but I was trying to work on the pores for close up shots. Textures can be hit or miss (mostly miss) when importing into Blender, and I wanted to correct this little detail for those tight shots.
Short and simple check in this week. It's 1am right now and going to work on a few more shots for bedtime. Have a great week everyone and stay safe out there.
- digi.B
2024-08-20 08:18:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
Did more animation work as planned with just one minor hitch. One set of the animations kept CTD (close to desktop) every time I hit render. The annoying part there was no rhyme or reason to the crash. Like an old junker, I'd just keep restarting the software until the render fully initiated. Not much of a big deal, since I'd just monitor it on the second monitor. Still just one of those pain in the ass situations with development where something breaks for no reason.
This week I'm going to focus on story renders. I do have a sleep study to go to tomorrow night, where I hope I don't fall victim to an AVN trope while someone monitors me while I sleep. It's only for an evening, so I'll be back in the dev seat the next morning.
That wraps it up for this week. Be safe out there and be sure to schedule your routine checkup with your doctor!
digi.B
2024-08-13 01:02:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
This week will be a brief devlog. I shifted gears and spent most of the time in Blender, working on animations. Part of it was experimenting new techniques and a smaller part of troubleshooting. One render kept crashing after a certain point. But it wasn't too big of an issue narrowing down the cause. And with how Blender burns through renders quick, even at 8k samples. Each render took roughly 3 minutes per frame. Compared to DAZ's nearly 30 minute render per frame.
That wraps it up for last week. I'm going to get more animations done this week while I'm in the groove of it. Switch back to static renders after.
Have yourselves a great week!
digi.B
Hey everyone!
Thanks for all your feedback regarding the devlogs. It was very much split down the middle. A number of you guys want the boring stuff and a number of you preferred bi-weekly. I decided to stick with the original schedule of every week with some adjustments. I sometimes go on these tangents because all week its just development with, sometimes, little discussions about my work. So when the devlogs come around, I tend to just talk about things that happened. I'll keep things brief, unless I'm sharing some behind the scenes stuff or important things that relate to development.
Speaking of behind the scenes, I was busy with a montage the other week. I'll save the details for the actual release, but putting more work into these makes for a more memorable scene. A lot of trial and error animating the cars, correcting textures (this bridge below is another custom asset). Also experimenting new techniques and it came out great.
Chapter 5 primarily focused on Artemis (She is the title character after all). Her development of her AI and main story continues this chapter. But you will also continue to develop your relationships with more of the other characters this chapter. Because it's been so long, I'll just say it here; this includes Katy. Depending on who you're with, you'll be exploring different parts of Central Pointe City as previewed above and below (and more).
Lastly, I just want to thank everyone for your support these last several weeks. Specifically speaking about my mother's recent passing. Her funeral was this last Friday and the whole thing went smoothly. I was reviewing the script this chapter and there's a scene I gave a second thought to. People process things differently and I didn't want to dig up old feelings. But after some thought, I decided I'm keeping the scene as I originally intended to and actually going to expand on it a bit more. A number of you have reached out to me, regarding how I've been handling the relationship between MC and his mother. I think this scene will be very touching and I hope you do as well.
That wraps it up for this week. See you all next week!
Hopefully its a lot cooler wherever you all are at. It's certainly gotten a lot cooler this week.
digi.B
Hey everyone,
Back in the groove my schedule.
I'm going to be switching to bi-weekly devlogs. I treat these devlogs usually as more of a diary of what I do during development because not every week is a measurement of progress. Some weeks I'll be working out an issue and its resolution and I like to share that kind of stuff. Or I'll talk about other areas of development, but for most I think find it boring and just want actual progress information. I'll try this out and for a few devlogs and see how it goes. Depending on the feedback, I'll go back to weekly updates. But for now, I'm just going to continue focusing on getting this update ready. So the next devlog will be not next week, but the following week.
Again, I'll read feedback and if you guys want to hear the boring side of development, I'll gladly ramble on about how I accidentally applied physics on the wrong body part. Then share how it reminded me of the face melting scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
This doesn't apply to previews. I'll continue to share those at any time.
Stay safe and hydrated everyone.
digi.B
Hey everyone,
sorry for the late post. we've got everything we needed to get done last week and my sister has taken over the work that remains (mostly coordinating family and catering). I'm back on track with my schedule now and spent the majority of the weekend and today getting as much done to start this week off great.
You guys and Artemis have been extremely helpful keeping my mind busy. Again, you all are amazing and I'm so grateful to be part of a such a supportive community.
Thank you all so much for your support and patience.
- digi.B
2024-07-09 03:52:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone,
Thank you all again for the warm messages, it really means a lot to me. Unfortunately, my mother passed Saturday morning. The weekend has been very difficult for my sister and me, but we've got an amazing support system which includes you guys. I apologize I haven't been able to reply to your messages, but I've read them, and I greatly appreciate your kind words. Bit of trivia, the Hope hat and marathon that Kindra and June participated in was something personal I added into Artemis for my mom.
I'm pushing out this post a little earlier than usual. My sister and I just got done searching my mom's documents finding what we need to get my mom's affairs in order. And I wanted to report in since tomorrow is going to be a very busy day and I wanted to make sure I maintain communication with you guys. I know, I know... digi, take care the important matters. But as my sister and I sifted through our mom's paperwork, we noticed how meticulous she was. And how great her work ethic was, as we saw in the various documents and emails (this woman printed out her email chains that she felt were going to be important.). Having seen all this, I can see where I get it from now. My mom was the type to get work done and apparently the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
That said, I'll be working with my sister these next few days getting things in order for my mom. Take a bit of time to take care of myself as well. Then later this week be back on my regular schedule with Artemis.
Again, I really appreciate all the support you guys have given me and my family. Because of you guys, I was able to spend a lot of time with my mom this year. Up to the very end. And I thank you all so very much for that.
Be safe out there.
- digi.B
2024-07-01 08:47:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone,
just a quick check in. This week was mostly code work, trying to simplify things for future workflow. Also render dumps into the code. That wraps it up for things Artemis related from last week.
Below will just be a personal update.
Firstly. Thank you everyone for the support. I took a break from my social medias to just focus on mom and family. She's still in the hospital and was transferred to ICU. She had the necessary procedures done and is conscious, however she's having a difficult time getting the breathing tube removed. The hospital has strict visitation for patients in the ICU, so my new office is in the hospital's cafeteria where I'll be working on Artemis while I wait on updates about my mom.
On that note, there's something I've been wanting to say to you guys for a while. This year, you guys have been a major blessing to my mom. She's been battling stage IV breast cancer since 2019 and this year has been very difficult for her. But because of you guys, you've allowed me the ability to be present to take her to her appointments (she became wheelchair bound in March), be here for her to administer her medications, fight doctors who would take advantage of someone not strong enough to fight for themselves. Because of you guys I don't have a boss to say I have to take X day off or have PTO to worry about. I just pack my laptop and take my mom to her appointments. I even relocated back to mom's home earlier this year and worked there while being able to monitor and care for my mom.
So I can't thank you guys enough for blessing me with this opportunity to be a developer and having the freedom to work this project wherever. Thank you guys for allowing me the freedom to schedule mom's appointments as early as possible without thinking twice about my own schedule. And thank you guys for allowing me the freedom to just be available for my mom this year.
That's about all I have to share from last week. This week, I'll be working on more code for CH6 and custom artwork for Artemis tiers.
Again, thank you all so very much for your support.
- digi.B
2024-06-24 22:58:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone. Wanted to chime in real quick. Some of you who are on Discord may recall me working on Artemis while in the ER earlier this year. Not for me, but admitting my mom. I never brought it up beyond there because it’s never gotten in between my work with Artemis. Much thanks to you guys, I’ve purchased a lot of tools so in the event I need to pack my bags and be somewhere. I can work and or communicate with you guys, should the worst ever happen. The NAS and my server allow me to work remotely, so long as I have internet. If I know I won’t have internet, I got a 4TB portable m.2 to carry the Artemis project on. So, while taking care of my mom, I’ve got my basis covered to work wherever I’m at.
That continues to be the case and Artemis has been a great thing for me to keep my mind busy during this difficult time. The reason I’m bringing this up now is today was the first time I had to dial 911 to get my mom to the hospital. And so for the sake of transparency, I need to inform you what’s going on.
Most of you will likely encourage me to hold off working this week and I greatly appreciate it. But as I said, working helps keep my mind busy. Rest assured, I am by her side when I’m allowed to be. Working when she’s resting.
Be safe, guys and keep hydrated.
- digi
2024-06-18 06:21:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
On top of the usual pose/render routine. I also created a new location. This is a location that'll be recurring in later chapters, but you can get a glimpse of it this chapter if you're on a specific path. A lot of nature scenes this chapter, but the sci-fi eye candy will still be present.
Also, this week I'll be performing maintenance on my server. I built it last year after CH5 released with Steam's funds and has been the backbone of CH5 and 6's development. It's watercooled and this is its first summer it'll be enduring (and summer in my neck of the woods easily goes into the 100s fahrenheit). Temps are good so far though compared to the 3090s which were stupid hot; I'm just replacing the res & pump with a unit that monitors waterflow and will alert me should anything happen. Server is in the garage and I'm not in there a lot to check on it and this was an expensive investment. So, this is small maintenance is to protect that investment.
That wraps it up for last week. I woke up pretty early this morning. Gonna go grab some coffee and get back to work.
Stay safe and hydrated everyone!
- digi.B
2024-06-17 14:37:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy new week!
This week went well, despite my main monitor kicking the bucket. Samsung was quick to setup a repair date, but they weren't scheduled to come in until today (issue happened on Wednesday). Instead of waiting 5 days, I just went and grabbed a replacement that same day. To salt the wound, the person got the issue wrong and so they have to reschedule with the correct part. Regardless, I still got to get work done.
To follow up on the file hosting. I can confirm that PixelDrain takes from my pool and you won't hit a transfer cap. I uploaded Chapter 5 (13GB) and had a friend download it. They were able to download the whole file without interruption. Again though, PixelDrain is only an option. I've had little complaints with WeTransfer which I'll continue with. PixelDrain is just another alternative next to MEGA and GDRIVE which will also still be offered.
Also, the QR codes are a real thing. But separate from the SDCards and more like easter eggs. I slipped at least one into every chapter, where appropriate. It was meant to be more of a "Hmm, I wonder if this QR code actually works..." kinda thing. The QR renders are a bit more explicit in content than the SD Card renders, but not always. Off the top of my head, you can find them in CH1: Look at Naomi's badge after talking to her. CH2: It's on the RSVP card for the Halloween party. CH3: It's located on the poster that featured Lexi from Leap of Faith alongside DJ Kink. CH4: When Kindra wakes up after staying the night in her room, it's on her phone when she checks it. CH4: If you went on the date with Zelda, she'll show you the digital ticket on her phone that has the QR code. CH5: When Artemis looks at the MultiPass Credit Card display sign.
At the moment though, the QR codes aren't working due to Discord changing things I guess. I originally uploaded them there and they seem to no longer work. So, I'll be transferring them over to PixelDrain and updating the QR codes during BETA.
That wraps it up for last week.
Weather is really ramping up here. So stay cool and hydrate!
- digi.B
2024-06-10 18:03:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
This devlog will be on the less exciting part as I just continued working on scenes last week. Some of the parts for the NAS upgrade trickled in and the rest will be here tomorrow. All files were copied over, so getting it online should be a breeze (knock wood).
Also, while trying to resolve an issue related to Steam, I noticed that the links for the QR codes hidden throughout Book 1 are now broken. I've setup an account with PixelDrain and will be giving it that a run. QR renders will have their links updated to PixleDrain. Come release time, I'll also have the update hosted there. To my knowledge, seems to be the best option. Some people like MEGA, others don't due to the 5gb cap. That's been a long standing complaint and I still offer it for those who like MEGA. Google is nice but hits the cap very quickly on release day. WeTransfer has been going very well and haven't had any complaints. But for anyone having trouble with either the aforementioned file hosts, PixelDrain will now be an option. I believe I have about 8TB transfer limit, so should be more than enough to host things on.
Again, there's still a lot I'm working on right now with development. But for those on Steam, I'll be doing my best to resolve the achievements issue and update the QR code for both Steam and Patreon builds. QR codes not a big issue compared to everything else. So, it's lower on the totem pole, but is on my docket to look into.
Have a great week and stay hydrated!
- digi.B
2024-06-04 01:10:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
I fumbled the Jeep stream on Saturday. I had completely forgotten it was Memorial Day weekend and had a surprise visit by my family. But I got back on track Sunday and did the stream then.
Jeep came out great! Got everything textured and rigged. Doors, wheels, steering, windows, trunk and seats all rigged up. And yes, the backseat does recline down.
It required some work, since I had to decimate the model a bit, mainly the tire's treads. But it came out great and really love the quality of this model. A couple of tweaks needed. I need to create some dirt maps to dirty it up, but compared to the import and rigging, that'll be super simple.
I wrapped up another scene last week and I'll be doing to some prep work for another set piece, while also starting the next scene this week. I also need to do an upgrade to my NAS. My current NAS has spinning disks and I need to move Artemis project and DAZ/Blender libraries to the new NAS which will have all NVME drives. I know I blame a lot on DAZ, but something I noticed is when accessing libraries or even navigating folders. Things hang for a few seconds and I can hear the drives go to work. So I'll be moving things over sometime this week, when I'm able to. Which will resolve the hiccups when accessing data from the NAS.
Today is Memorial Day here in the states. Hence the change in the devlog image above. It's an image shared before. Thank you to our Veterans out there.
Be safe and stay cool.
- digi.B
2024-05-28 02:44:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
Working between DAZ and Blender last week, I'm starting to get into the groove of Blender. Posing can still be difficult in Blender. Animating is one thing, but posing is different. As I've worked with DAZ over the years, I've refined my workflow. Creating shortcuts, keybinds, use tools to speed things up. Much of that doesn't translate to Blender, so I find myself fumbling here and there. But I am improving the more I work in it. I did spend a day creating those template poses to help speed things up. Everyday things like a walk template, standing template, sitting template, etc. And it has helped a lot putting a character in a base pose, then tweak it so the characters don't all have the same pose. Dealing with grain is different in Blender too. I looked into different methods and learned a new technique to denoise within blender while maintaining sharpness.
In DAZ, I've tried many different things. My current setup now is rendering at 1080 @25k samples. Some of you who know DAZ might have done a double take on that number and asking how long that even takes. I reinvest a lot of what I get from Patreon and Steam back into Artemis. Some of you probably remember the server I mentioned last year. Steam was a big part in making the server happen. The parts were sitting on my workbench for months because I was just too busy with development, I didn't get to setting it up until around when CH5 dropped. But I put it together and it's doing amazingly well. Renders taking about 20-40 minutes, depending on scene complexity. I don't use a denoiser in DAZ since it there's practically no grain at that sample size. With Blender, I do. But the method I use in blender works great. The two softwares are vastly different, so I try not to think if it works here surely, it'll work there too.
Anyways, I thought I'd try to share a bit more of my workflow this week. I've gotten a few DM's asking to pick my brain. I thought I'd share some things. Especially my journey transitioning from DAZ to Blender. DAZ is great for what it does and is completely fine at hitting the mark. So don't let my move from DAZ to Blender discourage you if DAZ is working for you. There's just so much more I want to do, that DAZ just isn't working for me anymore.
Also, for those still waiting on that Paige stream. So sorry it's taking so long to do that stream. So if you felt you missed it. You haven't. I'm constantly shifting gears in development, I lose track of time and in this case. Just gets pushed back some. But her scene is just around the corner, so I need to get it done this week. I'm going to say sometime this Saturday and it'll be just me working on the jeep with some music in the background. No voice comms, just chat. So if you're concerned about any spoilers, don't worry. I'm a stickler about spoilers, so just the jeep and maybe even tweak Paige's outfit. I have another idea for her outfit and I'll put it together that day if there's time. And you guys can choose between the two.
That's it for last week.
Have yourselves an amazing week and be well!
- digi.B
2024-05-20 21:30:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
This week I was mostly in Blender. Switching between the apps (DAZ/Blender) was a bit uncoordinated at first, as I fumbled through shortcuts, etc. But it's getting easier. Doing a whole scene in Blender has gotten less intimidating and a lot more refreshing. Most of you know my frustrations with DAZ, but I still appreciate it for it does. Throw characters in a scene and hit render. My time in Blender, though, just reminds me of my high school days. Working in an actual 3D software. Posing is probably the most intimidating part, since DAZ has so many pose assets to choose from. It really spoils you. But working on this particular scene in Blender just reminds me that you don't really need them. I do plan on creating generic starter poses to get the characters into position (walk, sit, run, sleep, etc.) and then adjust from there. I also like having complete control of my scene, from the sky down to the single vertice.
I really wanted to share a render from this scene, but I want to see how much of a difference you can tell when you experience it on release. In my opinion, it certainly looks great. I'm just curious if there will be any jarring differences in the quality as you go through scenes. All that said, I'm pretty confident in transitioning fully into Blender by Book 3, and any feedback on this chapter will help me adjust as I transition to it. I am excited about it because just working on this scene alone, has shown me how much more creative I can get when working on a scene. Not only this, but better my workflow. So instead of bouncing between 3-4 different programs, exporting/importing, etc. I can just do it all in one.
Anyway, sorry. I know I simp for Blender to an annoying degree. But I'm a very creative person, and I love it when I step into this virtual playground and can create without boundaries.
That wraps it up for last week.
I hope you all have a great rest of your week. The weather is starting to warm up (in my state, at least.) So stay hydrated!
- digi.B
2024-05-13 18:05:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
Didn't get a chance to get Paige's jeep worked on, I got swept away working on a few other areas of development. One of those things was another location I'm working on. I wanted to speed things up, so I purchased an asset that had everything set to go. Or at least I thought. When I was getting ready to convert it, turns out the trees were missing.
Above was the original asset. Minus the trees. I ended up requesting a refund, so we'll see how it goes (hopefully well because it was $140). While that's happening, I started to populate the trees myself.
This week, I plan on doing a scene in Blender as most of you know I plan fully migrating over to Blender starting with Book 3. I do a lot of creating/converting in Blender and would save me a lot of time from importing/exporting. It's just a matter of getting a solid workflow going.
In DAZ, I use a lot of tools, specifically with posing that helps things flow. These can be done in Blender as well, I just need to mirror my workflow best I can. Until then, I'll continue learning more until I'm fully confident. Curious to see which scenes (that aren't animated) you guys may point out that were done in Blender. The goal is to make the change as seamless as possible, meaning no jarring difference in quality of renders.
This week I do hope to finally start working on the jeep and I'll throw a heads up in the announcements in discord for those interested. With development, I'm always jumping between poses, assets, coding. Setting an actual time to do it gets difficult since I'm all over the place with development. But do hope to get to it this week.
That wraps it up for last week.
Have a great week and be safe out there!
- digi.B
2024-05-06 23:46:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy new week!
The week was productive, minus some little issues. Creating that danger noodle caused a bit of an issue with the custom terrain I was going to use it in. Which was odd because I had already done the entire scene already, so when I loaded up a previous scene to add the snake in. The terrain was suddenly corrupted. Ok, no big deal. I have the raw files still. I'll just save the asset as a DAZ asset again. Worked fine, then loaded the snake in which ended up looking like this
If this was PS1 era, I could probably get away with this. But, again, pulled the backups I had and re-created the asset, only to see the terrain corrupted again. For whatever reason, these two assets didn't like each other. After a minute or two of figuring things out, I just changed how it was saved and the two assets no longer clashed. Typical DAZ behavior, but can get annoying when you're in the groove of things and suddenly this happens. Still worth the effort because I like what this addition to the scene added.
Speaking of, I didn't get to Paige's jeep last week. For those wondering if they missed the stream or not. I kind of work spontaneously. I'll work on a scene, then shift gears to work on an asset if needed, switch to coding, etc. But for those who wanted to see it or catch a glimpse of my workflow. On discord, in the dev-announcement channel, I believe you can subscribe to announcements there. I try not to annoy people with random pings, I actually only reserve pings for when I drop chapter updates and nothing else. So, you don't have to worry about that if that's a concern. But I'll throw a message on there when I'm about to stream so you can catch it, for those interested.
Today, I'll be catching up on custom renders and then switch gears to development. On that subject, I want to mention that I'm slowly phasing out the custom tier (Artemis). Those currently still in the tier will continue to have their custom requests fulfilled. But no new slots will be opened. I'll re-think this after the update is released. But, for now, I just want to focus on updates, and the current number of custom slots is manageable (Artemis tier started with 10 slots.)
That wraps it up for this week!
Have yourselves a safe week and stay hydrated!
- digi.B
2024-04-29 21:52:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy new week!
A semi-technical week. I needed a danger noodle, a rattlesnake to be exact. Well, I didn't need it. But I wanted it for this scene. One didn't exist in the daz store (surprise), so I worked on one. Then I asked myself..."why do I torture myself?" when I realized how many little bones I needed to create to make this thing poseable. Not only that, but I needed to weight map it too.
It's a lot of work for sure, but now I have a rattlesnake for the scene and a new animal in my library for future scenes.
I'm realizing that this update features a lot of animals. Based on her mini-adventure at the mall in the last update, it's safe to say Artemis is on time out from the public. That said, will Koko get a second round with Martha this update? Place your bets.
Aside from this, I continued posing more scenes and rendering. I need to import and rig Paige's jeep for this update. If I have time this week, I hope to stream it on Discord. If not this week, then the following. No set time, but fret not. It's not an advertisement for my Discord. I'll post the screenshots here for those interested. I hope to do more streams since I've been doing a lot of mad-scientist stuff lately, trying to achieve my vision with scenes. And I think some people might want to see some of the process.
That wraps it up for last week. Thank you all. Stay safe and keep hydrated. And a reminder to take your multivitamins!
digi.B
Happy New Week!
So sorry for the late post! I've been skimming the script, making tweaks here and there. Specifically, scenes that involve Artemis. Scenes with her are fun but can be technical. Unlike the regular cast, Artemis doesn't have "thoughts," at least not yet. To elevate some scenes, I went back and added a few POV's much like what we saw in CH5. I think it helps remind us that, despite her demeanor, she's still a computer. And it's fun to see how she processes information. Eventually, she'll evolve to be more human-like, but still have android quirks.
She's a fun character to write because it could go so many different ways—a bit of Johnny 5, Encino Man, Leeloo, etc. But I caught up with all those little adjustments I mentioned above and continued with posing/rendering.
That wraps up last week. I know everyone wants to know when the update will be done. I wish I could give a timeframe, but it's difficult to estimate given how much goes on with developing Artemis. For the sake of transparency, I'll say there's still a lot to do. As well as a number of animations to be done. I do plan on hiring Puggy again to handle one major animation for me. That's one collab I look forward to seeing brought to life.
Thanks again, everyone, for your continued patience. Stay safe and hydrated as the weather begins to warm up! (At least it is where I'm at)
digi.B