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The Lounge => Media and Inspiration => Topic started by: bromides on May 24, 2022, 11:17:35 PM

Title: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: bromides on May 24, 2022, 11:17:35 PM
One of my hobbies is creating images with Daz3d, which is a free piece of software... but they make it up by selling you models, props, and things. (The software and the basic models are free, though, and it's worth the cost of admission if you are vaguely interested in making your own images.)

Anyway, I like making character art for myself (which is not uncommon amongst Daz users). In this case, working on inspiration for the Dune RPG.
I also use GIMP (a FOSS copy of PhotoShop because I hate subscription software) to make things look less like raw 3d render output. Change up the light, the tone, punch up the colors, a little vingette-ing to frame the figures, etc.

The backgrounds are simple, made from a single prop that has been instanced/replicated and rotated. (It's not a hallway prop, but pieces made to look like a hallway.) I use a single HDRI on the outside of the "hallway", plus 2 spotlights on the figures.

And the figures? It is like playing with Barbie dolls, I guess. You get a figure, you put the clothes on, you pose them.
And then it's like photography, plus post-work/PhotoShop.

It's a fun hobby. It can get expensive quickly if you're not disciplined with your spending, as all hobbies can be. It's a good creative outlet, though, and it's one where you can get decent results even if your freehand sketching skills aren't the best.

(images are scaled down jpg in the interest of reducing attachment file size... I usually render larger than this)
Title: Re: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: zircher on May 24, 2022, 11:33:31 PM
Those are pretty damn good.  Most DAZ stuff that I see is firmly in the Uncanny Valley.  You've done a good job avoiding that.
Title: Re: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: bromides on May 27, 2022, 11:33:04 AM
Those are pretty damn good.  Most DAZ stuff that I see is firmly in the Uncanny Valley.  You've done a good job avoiding that.
Thanks!

Yeah, they are 3d dolls, so they can get the doll-like look pretty quickly, and not in a good way.

Dialing in the "right" level of facial expression is something I enjoy. People like to play with things like facial asymmetry, but I don't bother. I think it's all in the expressions you use to humanize the face. I try to think of  a person, and the expression dials are the last thing that I touch before I press the button to render a final image.

The other thing is that I like to use PhotoShop (GIMP) filters to shift the images towards a hand-painted look rather than the perfection of 3d. Pure render output has a hard edge to it in hard focus, so I try to soften it. Playing with focal points can help as well. I try to avoid perfection, which I think is an enemy of "art".

Anyway, a couple more as I envision this Dune universe for myself.
Title: Re: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: zircher on May 28, 2022, 05:19:26 AM
Well, the extra effort makes a huge difference in my humble opinion so a big thumbs up for your technique and attention to detail.
Title: Re: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: PSIandCO on May 28, 2022, 09:40:20 PM
There is the Pathfinder 2e fan channel on youtube called "Deadly D 8" (deadly d eight)
they have barely animated videos that are largely just 8 or so "portraits" of a character with an expression, gesture, and maybe posture.
if you can make a "gaming room" and sit your "Players" down at the table and have the "Camera" take pictures of each character
making a wide variety of different expressions.

You can simply make a Deadly D8 video, by placing the appropriate picture (Character +Expression) in your video maker.
The cool bit? unlike drawing/animation you only have to do this "ONCE".
the really cool bit? Daz can do "Interpolation" between one model and two different poses...
You can maybe make animated videos. 

*************
This is what I despise about "let's play", "Actual play" and "play podcasts"; humans.
We are ugly. we are stupid. we have bad habits. I don't want to elaborate much, but if
You get sick by talking to someone who has a mouthful of chew, or the "Medical MJ" vaper,
or the Sex pervert, or the idiot who won't stop swearing, or
the other idiot who has no idea what to do with their turn for a few minutes,
*EVERYTIME* it is their turn,
or the really fat dwarf chick who is a total attention whore...
add infinitum.
You can get rid of all of that.
******************
Your characters can be youthful, Sexy as fuck, and ALWAYS "Get-to-the-fucking-point" instantly.
can you imagine a video of an "At the table" game session done as a video with minimal animation/effort
and relevant voice clips?

because, I can't stand human beings. I mean seriously, "Ahh, uhm, er, lick, smack, pop, hmmm, gulp"
"Verbal filler" is enough to make me want to pull all of the hairs off of that speaker's body.
   ...and just let the blood flow from the pores...

You'd even be better than "Critical role" because you wouldn't be leftie commie bastards whining
about how capitalism made them rich, or trying to get attention with LGBTP character scandals.
Title: Re: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: PSIandCO on May 28, 2022, 09:48:49 PM
I have been trying to learn blender for this purpose:
1. my computer is almost 15 years old.
2. Blender really is free.
3. If I make My own art, I don't have to post credits.
4. You need people to read the lines, voice actors though.
(*"A.I. "text-to-speech" is a rip off currently, please prove me wrong")
5. I have to do everything myself from scratch and it ain't workin on my old as Fuck machine.
Title: Re: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: bromides on May 28, 2022, 10:01:22 PM
Blender is really good and useful. You can actually transfer Daz models over to Blender... and some of the older ones will probably work fine on an older machine. Starting from scratch, making humans? That's a lot of work, although people who can do that are very talented for sure.

Credits/licensing... for the most part, you don't need to credit Daz once you make a 2-d render. Your art is your art. Now, if you're taking certain assets, then that becomes more complicated. Some people create free models of licensed products (like ships or lightsabers from Star Wars), and those should not be used for commercial products even after the render.

You do need a license from Daz if you use the models as 3d assets, like for a 3d game where you're using the geometry and texture maps from the models. A render doesn't preserve the work of the model in that fashion... by going to a 2d render, you've killed what makes it marketable as a 3d asset.

...

Anyway, I do like using Daz to do character art for myself. You make one figure, you can dress them up in whatever, and change their expressions how you like. Animation also works in Daz, although it's not the best platform for 3d animation. (It takes a huge server farm for Pixar to do industrial-scale animation, and one hobbyist's computer does not compare to what Pixar has... so either you lower your expectations or you have to increase the budget for hardware to do full 3d animation.)

I do know there's lip sync programs for Daz. I just don't have the hardware to do that kind of stuff, myself.

(Source Film Maker is probably the bigger deal in animation these days. It's not something I learned. I'm just too fond of Daz, I guess.)
Title: Re: Character portraits using Daz3D
Post by: bromides on June 04, 2022, 02:03:58 PM
Some more random things as I'm looking through my RPG books...
Twilight:2000 4e and ALIEN, of course.