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Hello!So... ONE of the things that kept my uploads slower is actually a project!I've decided to invest on my first graphics cards for GPU rendering.

I've used part of the money I made here with money I had previously saved. The objective here is to buy more graphics cards in order to speed up the rendering process...That means that I'll eventually start making animations. (I'll still make comics, but I'll also make animations from time to time!) which means more variety! ;)If you're not familiar with the concept of "rendering animations": It's pretty much the process of "exporting" the final video with the best graphics possible. Each frame takes several minutes to "render", which means, each second of animation takes hours to export from the software to a video file!)My previous animation took days to finish because of that and it's a very short animation with a low resolution! (An HD version would take weeks to export!) XDSo that's the main reason why I'm investing on powerful graphics cards. And the more cards I buy, the faster I can render new stuff! ;)  (It's similar to SLI but it's better, because the performance scales perfectly... 4 graphics cards will be exactly 4 times faster than a single graphics card)

ANYWAYI'm currently doing CPU rendering. But with the graphics cards, I can now do GPU rendering as well. Which means I have to use a different software for the rendering process. And that means the image will look VERY different.With the new software, (Octane Render) once I load Opal into the scene, the render looks like this: 

https://pre00.deviantart.net/0fa0/th/pre/f/2017/299/a/7/default_render_by_ashkiiwolf-dbrsg7n.png

It looks kinda cool but there are a few problems:

Some materials/textures look completely wrong, this is because the software works very differently from the old one I've been using so far, so most materials will look very different, and they need to be reworked. 

Opal's skin looks like plastic. By default, the software will render textures using the most basic materials possible. But skin should be more detailed than that (pores, glossy reflections, subsurface scattering...)

So I spent a few more days rebuilding Opal's skin, in order to make it look as similar as possible to the previous renders. (my current comics)Keep in mind that the softwares are VERY different, so things will look different.

Below, you'll find completely random tests that I uploaded.

Here's an example of an early test, where I try to make her skin more "alive" https://sta.sh/03jyxu8s40v

Here's another one (her eyes are fixed now!) and the skin looks more detailed, but it still looks weird: https://orig00.deviantart.net/97d7/f/2017/299/0/e/8_by_ashkiiwolf-dbrsg0t.png

And here's an improved version of that (after several tests) https://orig00.deviantart.net/1408/f/2017/299/c/5/21_by_ashkiiwolf-dbrsg21.pngA Random image of the work in progress...https://orig00.deviantart.net/8974/f/2017/299/1/7/58708570_by_ashkiiwolf-dbrtszp.png

Here's a small preview of all the test renders I exported XDhttps://orig00.deviantart.net/c598/f/2017/299/6/b/all_tests_by_ashkiiwolf-dbrsha9.png

AND HERE YOU CAN VIEW SOME OF THESE TEST RENDERS IN FULL SCREEN. FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE:https://sta.sh/229rbsq9hxhd

I DIDN'T UPLOAD THE WHOLE THING BECAUSE THERE ARE SEVERAL TEST RENDERS, WITH SMALL DIFFERENCES, there's no point in uploading every single one just because of some tiny differences ^^;

*** WITH THAT SAID, THIS IS CURRENTLY THE FINAL RESULT ***https://orig00.deviantart.net/80ff/f/2017/299/f/f/opal__raw_render__by_ashkiiwolf-dbrsg7c.pngHERE'S ANOTHER ONE:https://orig00.deviantart.net/194c/f/2017/299/3/9/opal__raw_render__2_by_ashkiiwolf-dbrsk68.png

Well, right now I only have one graphics card. So the renders are still a bit slow for animation. I'm planning to invest on more graphics cards when I get the chance! ;)  (After saving enough money)So I'm not starting the GPU animations just yet. But I'm working on it.I'll also need to make a few more changes to Opal's textures and materials (this might not be her final look yet, but I'm getting close)Anyway, just wanted to share this stuff with you, so you can know a little bit more of what's going on ;)