This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Author Topic: Fooling around with DAZ studio.  (Read 1017 times)

ancientgamer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • a
  • Posts: 373
    • http://agesgaming.bravehost.com
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« on: March 10, 2008, 01:26:33 PM »
No big deal but I have been fooling around with DAZ studio 2.  These pictures aren't the best but I thought I would post what I have learned/done so far.  The fairy on the bottom was just one of those "how well did I follow the tutorial".  The middle picture of the two fighting was kinda the same thing but putting my own spin on it.  I was trying to focus on the girl doing the kicking.  Mainly trying to capture her cockiness just after performing a successful side kick.  The other thing was to see if I could make the other girl look like she was falling.  Finally, the main point of the unicorn was to see if I could create a horn and make it okay on the stock horse/scene.





It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Aristotle

http://agesgaming.bravehost.com

Divinity - an RPG where players become Gods and have to actually worry about pleasing their followers.

If you want to look at another journal, go here.

Rob Lang

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 369
    • http://www.icar.co.uk
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2008, 07:47:03 AM »
AG, you wildly understate your work, sir! You may be using other people's models but you compose them beautifully. That's half the battle won.

In the horse image, is the background a static image behind the horse or is the horse standing in the scene? How are you going to colour the horse? Image maps are good but complex, you might be able to use a procedural, which is less of a fine brush and more of a roller. For the second picture, I like the poses of the figures. It sometimes looks better to have the character not quite looking right at the camera but to be slightly offset. The last one is simply lovely. If only I could get hold of good Icar-esque character.

Keep up the good work and keep sharing.

ancientgamer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • a
  • Posts: 373
    • http://agesgaming.bravehost.com
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2008, 06:47:57 PM »
Quote from: Rob Lang
AG, you wildly understate your work, sir! You may be using other people's models but you compose them beautifully. That's half the battle won.

In the horse image, is the background a static image behind the horse or is the horse standing in the scene? How are you going to colour the horse? Image maps are good but complex, you might be able to use a procedural, which is less of a fine brush and more of a roller. For the second picture, I like the poses of the figures. It sometimes looks better to have the character not quite looking right at the camera but to be slightly offset. The last one is simply lovely. If only I could get hold of good Icar-esque character.

Keep up the good work and keep sharing.


The background is a static image behind the horse.  I wanted to color it white like a unicorn but I haven't tried to improve since.  I know I can probably reduce the glossiness and I can probably had hair in the right spots.  It was more about adding the horn in that picture.  

The two girls, I had base models but I still had to position them, do the lighting, and tweak their appearance from the base form.  

The last one...that was the tutorial I followed.  Again, there was a base model but all of the different pieces had to be placed and positioned.  The hardest part in that was actually doing the lighting.

So, I did some work, probably not as much as you think but more than I had done prior to this.  Anyway, I will keep playing with basic DAZ studio and then think out buying some plugins, extensions and other programs.
It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Aristotle

http://agesgaming.bravehost.com

Divinity - an RPG where players become Gods and have to actually worry about pleasing their followers.

If you want to look at another journal, go here.

Spike

  • Stroppy Pika of DOOM!!!!!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8105
  • Tricoteuse
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2008, 07:21:48 PM »
I've been trying to get DAZ to work for me, but I made the mistake of installing it on my MAC which is now approaching its third birthday.

Two mistakes in one: Obviously the mac is old and not up to the needs of the software, in other words it runs like taffy...

The other is that I am not a competent mac user, and half the stuff I bought for DAZ (more than half) is lost... whatever I am doing, its dead wrong and new models/props just don't seem to get loaded properly.


So: Eventually I'm going to convince the daz people to reset my downloads so I can put them on the dell...
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

[URL=https:

ancientgamer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • a
  • Posts: 373
    • http://agesgaming.bravehost.com
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2008, 08:32:11 PM »
I am having trouble putting on free stuff from other people...I am not sure in which directories certain files have to go.  I have been able to install everything from first party w/o any problems, granted everything has been free up to this point.  The victoria, michael, and aiko models are free, and there is extra content such as poses, animals, clothes.  Right now, they also have some sci-fi scenes and props for free as well.   You might already have all that stuff though.  Also,  I am using the PC version of DAZ.

Additionally, I would recommend buying a platinum pass for a month if there is a bunch of stuff you want.  I don't know if anything of that helps since I don't know what you bought or didn't.  I wish I could help more.  Keep us posted; it would be cool to talk to other people who are using the same product.
It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Aristotle

http://agesgaming.bravehost.com

Divinity - an RPG where players become Gods and have to actually worry about pleasing their followers.

If you want to look at another journal, go here.

ancientgamer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • a
  • Posts: 373
    • http://agesgaming.bravehost.com
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2008, 04:27:25 PM »
couldn't resist, one more picture.  Still using same limited tools, playing around with creating shapes and do some basic alterations (the laser).  If I could, I would have resized it to get rid of excess background.

It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Aristotle

http://agesgaming.bravehost.com

Divinity - an RPG where players become Gods and have to actually worry about pleasing their followers.

If you want to look at another journal, go here.

Pierce Inverarity

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • P
  • Posts: 3230
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2008, 04:46:48 PM »
A friend of mine is bumbling along the exact same learning curve right now. He did manage to "clothe" and pose several figures, e.g. a Ranger dude readying a bow. The best part though is that he's going to integrate them into almost professional-grade 3-D floorplans (done in Bryce, I think) for our online game.
Ich habe mir schon sehr lange keine Gedanken mehr über Bleistifte gemacht.--Settembrini

ancientgamer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • a
  • Posts: 373
    • http://agesgaming.bravehost.com
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2008, 06:36:54 PM »
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one bumbling around with this and taking thrills over the slightest of accomplishments:)  Several people have been praising Bryce to me.  So, that program is definitely going on my wish list.
It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Aristotle

http://agesgaming.bravehost.com

Divinity - an RPG where players become Gods and have to actually worry about pleasing their followers.

If you want to look at another journal, go here.

John Morrow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6254
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2008, 06:44:05 PM »
Quote from: ancientgamer
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one bumbling around with this and taking thrills over the slightest of accomplishments:)  Several people have been praising Bryce to me.  So, that program is definitely going on my wish list.

DAZ was giving away Bryce 5.5 for free at one point.  I also have Carrara, DAZ Studio, Amapi, Terragen, and a copy of Poser 5 that I got very cheap.  What I don't have is the time to learn how to use them and play with them.

OK.  I just fired up Bryce and I've gotta play with that some more.
Robin Laws' Game Styles Quiz Results:
Method Actor 100%, Butt-Kicker 75%, Tactician 42%, Storyteller 33%, Power Gamer 33%, Casual Gamer 33%, Specialist 17%

ancientgamer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • a
  • Posts: 373
    • http://agesgaming.bravehost.com
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2008, 06:53:06 PM »
Quote from: John Morrow
DAZ was giving away Bryce 5.5 for free at one point.  I also have Carrara, DAZ Studio, Amapi, Terragen, and a copy of Poser 5 that I got very cheap.  What I don't have is the time to learn how to use them and play with them.

OK.  I just fired up Bryce and I've gotta play with that some more.


Cool.  There is an upgrade for Bryce to 6.1.  Hate to sound like a DAZ whore but I am having too much fun with it.
It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Aristotle

http://agesgaming.bravehost.com

Divinity - an RPG where players become Gods and have to actually worry about pleasing their followers.

If you want to look at another journal, go here.

Pierce Inverarity

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • P
  • Posts: 3230
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2008, 08:31:34 PM »
Dear Mr. Gleemax: You know what would be neat? A 3-D monster and objects library. I can think of someone who'd subscribe to you in a heartbeat if you offered one.
Ich habe mir schon sehr lange keine Gedanken mehr über Bleistifte gemacht.--Settembrini

Spike

  • Stroppy Pika of DOOM!!!!!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8105
  • Tricoteuse
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2008, 09:09:14 PM »
I am extemely envious. WIth the tiny library I can actually access I can set up a model, cloth it, even stick a prop in hand (or wherever) and pose to my heart's content...

But I'll be damned if I can figure out how to even START making my own objects like lazerbeams and unihorns (or, hey! Hair styles or whatnot!...)


But again, I'm stymied by working on an out of date computer with an unfamiliar interface...

Gotta get a new comp and reset me downloads... GRrrr
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

[URL=https:

Rob Lang

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 369
    • http://www.icar.co.uk
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2008, 07:31:40 AM »
A good tip to help give some more realism to lasers is to create a spot light that faces down the beam of light and lights up the gun and the character. Make the colour of the light slightly lighter than the colour of the beam (this would be a deep pink here) and it'll look fab. :)

ancientgamer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • a
  • Posts: 373
    • http://agesgaming.bravehost.com
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2008, 03:40:21 PM »
Are you talking something like this?

It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Aristotle

http://agesgaming.bravehost.com

Divinity - an RPG where players become Gods and have to actually worry about pleasing their followers.

If you want to look at another journal, go here.

Rob Lang

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 369
    • http://www.icar.co.uk
Fooling around with DAZ studio.
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2008, 08:21:43 AM »
That's the sort of thing but it's a touch bright! :)