DS CREATIVE
ISSUE 16 OCTOBER 2015
The magazine for DAZ Studio users
CENTAUR CREATION V6 & Horse 2 equals our very own centaur
Recoloring Eyes We create irises from scratch
DS CREATIVE • October 2015 •
DRAGON SLAYER BronzeDragon • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
CONTENTS
Issue 16
FEATURES 18 • Vendor Spotlight Our first featured vendor this month is the extremely talented Arien 36 • Artist Spotlight This months cover artist and artist spotlight is long time regular contributor Esapesa 46 • Vendor Spotlight DS Creative speaks to the creator of many, many beautiful ladies for DAZ Studio, it’s Sabby
EDITOR Camilla Drakenborg camilla.dscreative.mag@gmail.com PRODUCTION DESIGNER Phil Thompson phil.dscreative.mag@gmail.com TECHNICAL EDITOR Totte Alm totte.dscreative.mag@gmail.com PROOF READER Jamie Somers
REGULARS 06 • DAZ Gallery We once again demonstrate that if you want great artwork then look no further than our DAZ gallery.
THE TEAM Matt Allgood Sanyel Jackson Samir Rouabhi Deleuze
26 • Competition Winners Just who created the perfect Fantasy Image, find out here. 42 • Fave Five Rian Bergwerff tells us his five go to items that he just can’t live without 45 • Competition Time A brand new competition awaits and this time we need to get moving
TUTORIALS 22 • Centaur Ginger Lee McKee creates a Centaur from V6 and Horse 2 34 • Custom Eyes Sade Shizuku shows us how to create custom irises 40 • Dynamic Import Phil Thompson Imports a dynamic simulation so it can be rendered in Iray 50 • Quick & Dirty DOF Alex ledante gives us a quick and dirty guide to depth of field
All images are copyright of their respective owner, no images may be reproduced without express permission of either the original artist or DS Creative magazine DS CREATIVE • October 2015 •
WELCOME TO
ISSUE SIXTEEN OF
DS Creative
Issue 16 sees us heading into autumn, or fall as our American friends call it, and it’s a time of change. Firstly the temperatures drop, the leaves change colour and the nights draw in. Unless, you happen to live in the southern hemisphere that is, in which case ignore everything I have just typed. But what about in the world of DAZ studio, have we entered a digital autumn? Looking around on the DAZ Studio portion of the internet, I think we have. September brought us news of the impending release of reality 4.1 and this was something that has been commented about a lot as Paolo has kept us well informed of its development on his blog. Talk of substantial speed increases, at first we were expecting up to 10 xs faster, and closer to the launch out came the news up to 20 xs faster. Rrenders in record time; this is something that got everyone talking, so the days ticked slowly by towards the launch date, as the days passed more and more comments of anticipation appeared. Suddenly it was the launch day and Preta’s servers were swamped, the demand seemed to be huge, it was only after 24 hours that I could get my upgrade. It seemed like the whole world was trying to get hold of it. Now for what’s strange, in the days since release I have only seen a small number of images produced with it. If the pre-launch buzz was anything to go by, I was expecting to see masses but strangely not yet, I watch with interest. If there is another thing that I have seen changing recently it is people trying to make the step from artist to vendor. And why not, who doesn’t fancy an extra bit of income, whether it’s making clothes, props, characters or morphs? I like that many people enjoy modelling, its texturing I hate, but while I have made props as freebies the challenge of coming up with something that I consider worthy enough for someone to part with, some of their hard earned cash, is quite a task. So to those artists who are moving towards creating a saleable content, good luck. Also new this month, is that Monster maker Josh Crockett (Monsterfaces). He is working with Sixus 1 to bring us some very unique creatures. First up is Droeb, who will hit the Renderosity store sometime in October and will be available for both DAZ Studio and Poser.
Phil Thompson • Production Designer
DROEB
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FREECON Bellatryx
DS CREATIVE • October 2015 •
GALLERY
STORM QUEEN Mary VanAssche USA
POOLSIDE Mithoron USA
GO TO HELL! Jürgen Püschel Germany
STORM QUEEN • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
POOLSIDE
GO TO HELL! DS CREATIVE • October 2015 •
GALLERY
CHARISMA
Daniel Wright UK
SPEED OF HERMES Bill WYC
CAMPFIRE SONG Jose Rojas Venezuelu
CHARISMA
• October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
SPEED OF HERMES
CAMPFIRE SONG DS CREATIVE • October 2015 •
GALLERY
Doll in Red LaMuserie France
MASSIVE BODYBUILDER Markus Ba Germany
RISE THE STARS Astuce Man France
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MASSIVE BODYBUILDER
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GALLERY
Meditation Leo Lee Brazil
SUMMER SWIM Jodie Griffiths UK
Well That’s Just Beachy Charlie McDonald USA
Meditation
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SUMMER SWIM
Well That’s Just Beachy DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 13
GALLERY
VAL
SzarkBWC UK
Dorothy’s Dilemma Bowski
UK
ulfnaars village Totte Alm Sweden
VAL
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Dorothy’s Dilemma
ulfnaars village DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 15
GALLERY
Extraction Eden Clark
Charlie
Jean Morneau Canada
Impatience Liz Schroeder
Extraction
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Charlie
Impatience DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 17
VENDOR SPOTLIGHT
Arien
What made you get into 3D modeling and how long have you been active in the craft? I started modelling probably around 2008. I’d done quite a bit of texturing way earlier than that, and while doing it, I started adjusting rigging, then making morphs with magnets. I realized that I wanted to do more, so buying a modelling program and using it was the next logical step. I had very good support from my friends and partners at the time, which helped a lot.
Where would say you draw your inspiration from? I draw inspiration from a lot of different things; movies, games, some shows. I am a fan of historical fashion too, and have, of late, been looking quite a bit into ethnic clothing. I also follow some couture designers whose aesthetics speak to me. And some days I find inspiration just by walking down the street. I live very close to a town known for its alternative vibe, and there’s a lot of inspiration to be drawn from the people too!
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Which program(s) do you utilize to create your models in?
Typically how long does it take from initial idea to finished model?
I model in Cinema4D. I’ve tried a few others, but I always end coming back to C4D as I own a couple of plug-ins for it that were developed specifically for working in our industry, so they make life easier. I picked it up first on version 9; they’re now on version 17! I also use Zbrush with nearly every product of mine, although just for detailing and some map creation and refining. I have a love-hate relationship with Zbrush; I wish we could get along better.
It depends a lot on the size of the product, possible deadlines and push behind it. Some products I’ve done in flurries of activity and finished them in a matter of two weeks, average is about a month. But I like to take things slow, and some models I’ve had on the back burner for ages, refining the whole concept slowly. I prefer to have a –mostlyfully developed idea before getting to the keyboard, and whether that is in my head or on paper, some ideas need maturing time. There are some I haven’t yet started that I’ve had brewing for a couple of years now; it just hasn’t been the right time to develop them yet.
“Usually by the time it gets to the final promo art, I am at the stage that I just can’t wait to be done! ”
What is your favorite subject to model? Interesting female clothing. I like to model stuff that I would be happy to wear myself, sometimes I joke that I live vicariously through the models and they wear what I would if I had unlimited resources.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone, who is just starting out creating models for Daz Studio? Do what tickles your fancy, what you like, what you want to see. Don’t do something just because you think it will make you money (in fact, don’t get into this for the money!). Also, observe everything around you, always be on the lookout for detail: how fabric behaves, how hair falls, how stones are shaped, how clothing is made, then try to translate it to your work. All that observation, all those details, will later reflect in your work, making it better.
If you could add one new feature to daz studio, what would it be? It would be dynamic clothing creation. I sew quite a bit on my spare time, and I would love to be able to translate some of the items I’ve produced for myself into Studio.
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What is the biggest challenge for you when creating a new product? Creating something that I am happy to put my name to, that has the quality and level of detail that makes me want to use it over and over.
Which 3 vendors would you say are your personal favorites? Luthbel, Stonemason, Blackhearted. All three of them have a nearly obsessive attention to detail in their products that appeal to me, even if their styles are so different.
How does it make you feel when you see the final artwork created with your products? Usually by the time it gets to the final promo art, I am at the stage that I just can’t wait to be done! It can be quite absorbing, staring at the same items over and over and over, so all you want to do is upload and forget about it for a while. But I *love* seeing what others make with what I’ve produced, always makes me happy to see that they like it, and if there are particularly creative uses for the products, even better!
Can you give us a hint of what is to come? I am currently finishing a refit of Belle Arum to Genesis 3, with some modifications. I spent quite a while without rigging for various reasons (both computer and health related), and I only did a timid niche hair release last year, so now that I can finally get back to work on my own models. I want to start dealing with the backlog. And part of that is having Belle Arum again, because everybody kept asking me for it, everybody loved that hair, and I find myself reaching for it over and over when producing renders for my commissions, so why not? After that, there just might be one of those products I mentioned above that was just waiting for the right time to come out, and was hinted at with one of my last products for V4 but was never started. And if that goes well, there’s yet another that I’ve been gathering physical materials for several years now and that I’ve created for myself already… but that might be a while yet.
Where can we find your content to buy? DAZ3D http://www.daz3d.com/arien Renderosity https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/vendor/Arien
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Presenting
riens ACorset
For Genesis 3
http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/PorsimoSnSFight.zip http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/AriensCorset-DSC_Freebie.zip
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CENTAUR COMBO
Ok let us start with Vicky 6. Go to the scene tab and select vicky6.
Ginger Lee McKee combines 2 characters to make a centaur
Then go to the parameters tab, click on actor and expand go to full body and expand then go to real world and set:
In this tutorial I will show you how to combine both Victoria 6 and Horse 2 to make a centaur. Required products: Victoria 6 and Horse 2.
Androgynous to -.1, Thin to .86, Weight to -.80.
Step 1 Load Vicky 6 into your scene, and then load Horse 2 into your scene. You will need to scale Vicky 6 up to 140% and move her to: Z translate 36.72 Y translate to 14.25.
Then go to lower body and expand go to hip and set: Glutes size to -.50, Hipbone size to -.50, Hip size to -.75. Then go to legs and set: Thigh size to -.50. Then got to upper body and expand go to waist and expand then go to real world and set: Lats size to -.50, Love handles to -.50, Rectus width to -.50, Stomach depth to .23, Stomach soften to -.50, Waist width to -.79.
Step 2 You will need to bend horse 2’s neck to -35.00. Then hide neck 3 and the head of horse. Make sure to also hide the ears, eyes and tongue as well. Then on Vicky 6 you will need to hide from the thighs down on both legs. To hide things click on the little eyes next to the items you want to hide in the scene tab. Be sure to expand and hid all the tongue on the horse and all the leg and feet and toes on Vicky 6. Step4 I know this is time consuming and slow going but these setting will make it faster for you guys then it was for me to find them all in the first place. And remember that these setting are a good starting place for other figures like Michel 6 or gia or any other gen2 figure you want to try. Just remember to take your time and don’t get frustrated with it. Now let’s move on to horse 2 setting these are easier to do. Go to the scene tab and select horse 2 and expand till you see the neck select neck one and go to parameters tab and select general. Step3 Now comes the fun part. We will be morphing Vicky 6’s waist hips and thighs as well as horse 2’s neck to get the two to fit together and look like one centaur. In this section we will be changing a lot of settings and this will take some time. But the end result will be worth it. 22 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
X-scale to 140.7%, Y-scale to 61.7%, Z-scale to 113.0%. Then go to scene tab and select neck2 and then back to parameters tab and general.
Bend to -24.31, Side-side to -.40, X-scale to 104.7%, Y-scale to 42.9%, Z-scale 86.6 %.
Then go to scene tab and select neck3 even though its hidden we still need to adjust it now in the parameters tab and general. Scale to 86.1%, X-scale to 256.1%, Y-scale to 13.6%, Z-scale to -177.1%.
Step5 Now that we have all the morphing done we need to parent Vicky 6 to horse 2’s chest. Go to scene tab and select horse 2 and expand till you see the chest then select Vicky 6 and drag and drop her onto the horse2 chest. Now we can apply horse 2 textures to the horse 2 it don’t matter which color you choose. Now in scene tab select horse 2 then go to surfaces tab and expand so that you can see coat, select coat and go down to opacity strength and click on the space where you apply a texture map go to browse then go to the file location where you have installed the free trans map (See below). Now it should look like figure 5. Now I understand if your Vicky 6 still has her textures that she loads with. I removed them for the purpose of this tutorial.
Some tips for posing your centaur. When posing your new centaur you should pose the horse part first. When posing the horse be sure to hold down the control key, then in the pose preset load options uncheck morph forms and uncheck all the scale setting. It should look like figure 6. After you get your main pose on the horse the pose Vicky 6 upper body the way you want then you will have to move the horse neck to make it all look right again. Remember that some clothing will not work well around Vicky 6’s hips and waist so be sure to turn off the auto follow and the clothing for her lower body that will help some. I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial and have fun with your centaurs.
Free Transmap
http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/ Centaur_Transmap.zip
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BEAUTy and the cat Marcius Hess
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COMPetitio
1
st Mavrosh Stratiotis
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on WINNERS
Title: This Cursed Place
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2
nd Rob Veith
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Title: Dragon
3
rd Mary VanAssche Title: Dragon Queen
For another great DS Creative monthly competition see page 43 Every Month DS Creative gives you a chance to win great content from some of the DAZ worlds top content vendors So get your render engine started for your chance to win DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 29
HONORABLES Klaus Sauer
Legend of the Panda Monks
Henrico Visser Spreading the dust.
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LaMuserie Heroic Age 4
BronzeDragon Fairy
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CLASSIC CULT CONTENT We asked you to vote between 6 pieces of content to see which one you reckoned should be called a cult classic, these are your final four. This month Classic Couture
STYLISH
CLASSY
ELEGANT
CHIC
V6 Timeless DarkStarBurning MindVision G.D.S.
Something Borrowed Dress Bobbie25 Sarsa
GCD Jewelry Set 2 GrayCloudDesign RPublishing
Ordinarily One Aave Nainen
This gorgeous dress is a piece of art. It flows so flawlessly, perfectly paired with your favorite Genesis 2 Female(s). This contemporary dress will catch everyone’s eye.
Get the retro style of the 1960s with this Classic glamour fashion jewelry that is antique inspired for Victoria 4. Includes the Hat and Sunglasses for Free.
This 3D design software includes the look of dynamic draping in a two-piece conforming garment set. There are morphs included to drape the jacket off the shoulders and dangle it from the hands for even more realism and variety in your scenes.
VIEW
VIEW
VIEW
Timeless is a sensual and elegant outfit for the following premiere 3D models: Genesis 2 Female, Victoria 6, The Girl 6 and Gia. This set contains a shoulder-less cutout dress, black leather knee-high boots and classic sunglasses.
VIEW
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Custom Eyes Sade Shizuku shows us how to create custm Irises for our characters OK, we are going create some new Irises for our DAZ Characters and all we need is Photoshop and DAZ Studio. Let’s start! In Photoshop we need to create a new document any size as long as its square I am going to do 1000 X 1000 with a white background. To make things easy on us turn on the rulers [Ctrl R] and Snap [Shift Ctrl], with the move tool selected [V] we need to drag a guide from the top ruler down to the halfway line at 500 pixels, then do the same from the left hand ruler. Now we should know exactly where the centre of our canvas is. Next we need to draw a circle; so we select the Ellipse tool, set the fill to black and the stroke to none. Place your cursor just inside the top left corner and while holding [Shift] we drag out a large circle, don’t worry if it’s not central, we will fix that next.
*Note* Through experimentation; I have found that if I am creating a 4K Iris Texture, the noise is way too small. So I copy the Circle and Noise from a 1K circle and then transform the scale to fit the 4K size. That way I get bigger noise. Now to blur, go to “Filter/Blur/Radial Blur”. For the amount any figure I choose 40, Blur method “Zoom” & Quality “Best” and then click OK.
So let’s get central, select your move tool [V] again, and in the layer palette select both the ellipse layer and the background. You need to hold [Shift] as you select them. With them both selected on the options bar we can now click both “Align Vertical Centers” and “Align Horizontal Centers”. Now our circle is dead center.
We need to Rasterize our circle; so select just the Ellipse layer, then right click the ellipse layer and choose “Rasterize Layer”. Ctrl click the ellipse icon in the layers palette to select the circle, go to “Filter/Noise/Add Noise”. I will set the amount to 35, Distribution Gaussian, check Monochromatic and then click OK.
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To create the pupil area, select the Burn Tool, with the range set to “Midtones and the Exposure at 52% brush around the center area to darken off the Midtones, then swap the range to “Shadows” and continue darkening out the pupil area. With that done; drop the exposure to “35%” and work round the edge of our circle to darken it off.
To add this new Iris onto a figure in this case I will use Genesis 2 female. G2F has a separate texture file for the eyes so I am going to borrow an eye texture from one of my G2f characters. I will copy an eye texture to a new folder so that I don’t overwrite an original texture. Before I open the copied eye texture I will rename it “New Irises”. In Photoshop, I am going to drag my new iris onto the texture image and by using free transform we can scale and position it over one of the original Irises. Reducing the opacity will help you to scale and align it properly. With that done copy the layer and place over the other Iris, free transform will allow you to rotate it so it is slightly different. Use the eraser tool to make sure that your new irises are not obstructing any other parts of the texture file, then finally flatten and save. For colour, create a new layer, on this layer we are going to create a color gradient that will give our iris its colour. Select the gradient tool; on the options bar select radial gradient, we can either pick from a gradient preset or create our own. I have one already made so I will just drag out my gradient from the center point, to the edge of the circle. It looks horrible; all I need to do is to change the layers blending mode to Color and there is our Iris.
Once in DAZ Studio, with our chosen Genesis 2 Female character loaded, we need to go to the surfaces tab and select the Iris. For the diffuse channel map, we need to browse to our new eye texture and once loaded we are ready to render.
Next we can do extra dodging and burning to get the perfect look then when we are happy lets flatten the layers and save it as a Jpg.
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ARTiST SPOTLIGHT
EsaPesa
As is the case for many of you who read DS Creative, I love telling stories.
It does not matter what medium I use, be it pen and paper or digital. The question remains the same for me.
For as long as I can remember my head has been filled with stories. Most of which have never been told, they just remained in my head, or they got acted out in play (by myself; more often than not) in my youth.
To paraphrase the great Horton: “A person’s a person, no matter
I believe that stories want to be told, that it is in their nature. And because I do not have the tenacious mindset needed to write (I really like to procrastinate), I learned how to draw and made illustrations based on those stories. Whenever I create a character in a scene I always try to figure out who that person is. Where did it come from? What personality has it got? What happened before and what will happen after the image?
“Working with DAZ does not get boring and that may be a big part of what keeps me creating in it. There is still so much stuff I can learn ” how fictional”. For me it is a matter of respect for the character. Some years ago I stumbled across software I previously only heard about. I had tried 3D Studio Max, Lightwave and Maya before at friends’ houses, none of which “spoke” to me. They were much too technical for my erratic mind. So it was fascinating to find software that allowed me to set a stage without having to model anything. And at first I saw it as a perfect way to “build” a reference scene for my more traditional art. The software was Poser (4, I think). It was fun and very interesting, but the user interface just laughed in my face, making me more and more frustrated. I quit the whole 3D thingie at that point, DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 37
noting to myself to never try that again. Then, DAZ Studio 3D made an entrance. With it came a very user friendly interface and almost intuitive controls. Thus I started again with 3D software and proceeded into the digital age. But this time, instead of just the reference possibility, I saw the potential to create illustrations from within the software. I got a new medium to let my imagination run wild, to let the all my characters and their tales be heard (well, seen anyway). The first several images I made were… well, crap. (I still got them, and I sometimes look at them as one would look at “The Office”.) As my understanding of the tools grew I got more and more excited, and better. The better I got, the more excited I got and the more I learned. And the more I learned the more my imagination expanded. I absolutely love creating images in 3D, and even though the controls in DAZ are easy, and getting a render on the way can be done quite quickly, there are still tons of stuff I can tweak, adjust and fiddle with without blowing a mental fuse. I spend a lot of time tinkering with the surface tab, playing with the lights and camera; all so that I can get that split second of a scene to be more dramatic, passionate or intense. Working with DAZ does not get boring and that may be a big part of what keeps me creating in it. There is still so
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much stuff I can learn and the software allows me to learn in my own pace. Without compromising my desire to tell stories and create exciting images, I can cherry pick what I want to learn right now and experiment with that until I am ready to move on to the next thing I want to learn more about. With the advent of the Genesis character things “exploded” for me. Now, suddenly, I had a figure that was not confined to one shape, but to all of them. I had a figure whose only boundaries, basically, were my own imagination. I could create, mix and morph characters as I saw fit. I fell in love in an instant. Thanks to awe inspiring artists providing me with outfits, environments, lights, shaders and the Genesis figure I have such a marvelous palette. My possibilities are almost endless. For me it is just awesome that whenever I get an idea in my head I can sit down and visualize it through DAZ. Most of the times I get really close to the image behind my eyes, even though I have to compromise a lot. I sometimes wish I had the patience to learn modeling software... Every endeavor has a learning curve. Some of us need more time on that curve than others. I belong to the group that needs time. It is still a matter of trial and error, just as it was in the beginning. It is still a matter of tinkering and fiddling. So I keep rendering images, I keep fiddling; because the story has to be told.
DS Creative Inspiring DAZ Studio artists the world over https://www.facebook.com/DSCreativeMagazine DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 39
DYNAMIC DICE ROLL Phil Thompson Exports dynamics from C4D to render in DAZ Iray
Time to export; I will export my scene as an .fbx file this will give me both basic materials and most importantly my keyframes, so File/Export/Fbx in the fbx dialog box I use fbx Version 6.1 and ensure both “Animation” and “Texture and Materials” are checked then click OK.
As a big fan of both rigid and soft body dynamics in Cinema 4D I wondered if I could export them from cinema 4D and import them into Daz Studio so that I could render using the power of Iray, so after quite a bit of trial and error here is how it’s done. So first up in Cinema, I set up my dynamics scene with a floor and two dice models. The floor is set to be a collider and the two dice are set to be rigid bodies. Each dice has a different initial velocity and different angular rotations. Set friction and bounce levels so that when the simulation runs, the dice have a nice pattern of movement and end up just where I want them.
For me to be able to export this scene, the dynamics need to be baked out to keyframes, so firstly I change my layout to the animation layout, now I select both dice and at frame 0 I manually add a keyframe. Now, I can select both dice objects in the timeline and go to the functions menu and select bake objects; in the pop up box ensure that Position and Rotation are both checked and then click OK. Cinema will now create keyframes based on the dynamics simulation, once done I swap back to the standard layout.
Now it’s time to head over to DAZ Studio First thing I need to do is to import my animation, so File/ Import and load up the .fbx file I exported from Cinema. Now if you don’t have the timeline visible then go to Window/Panes (Tabs) and select Timeline. Now, if you press play, you can watch your dice roll across the DAZ ground
plane.I need to add a table top so a primitive cube will suffice I just need to make sure its big enough and that the top of the cube sits level with the ground plane. In the surfaces I will add a polished walnut wood texture; I will also add some slightly better materials to the dice. Lighting will come from my favourite Photo studio Hdri, the draw dome is switched on, but as I want it only for the reflections I position a large black primitive plane in the back of the shot to block out the visible Hdri.
Baking to keyframes has created two new copies of the dice objects, so I delete the originals and I also delete the floor object as I will create my own floor in DAZ. 40 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
Rendering for animation Iray needs to be told when to stop rendering a frame and when to move on; this is down to what you will be happy with, after some experimentation I found that in this case setting the max samples to 200 would be acceptable, obviously this will depend on your system.
you have, importing can be easy or downright frustrating. I use Photoshop CS6 and in this version importing an Image sequence is missing so here is a workaround.
In the General section of the render settings I will change Render Type to Image Series and make sure the render range covers the entire animation. The Series Base is the name given to my images, DAZ will automatically append the frame number onto the filename and the series path is the folder that you want your Images saved into. Once they are all set it’s time to hit render and wait.
It might take a bit, but once all of your frames are loaded into Photoshop, as layers in your layers palette, we need to display the timeline. So on the “Window” menu select “Timeline”.
Go To “File/Scripts/Load Files into Stack”, in the Load Layers dialog box ensure “Use” is set to files and then click browse and select all your image sequence files. Once they show up in the dialog box, we can click “OK”.
In the timeline options select “Make frames from Layers”, for me; Photoshop puts the frames in reverse order so to correct it I go back to the timeline options and choose “Reverse Frames”. Now they are correct and I can click play and watch the animation.
Output We can output either as an animated gif or as a movie clip. I would go with the movie clip option, so “File/Export/ Render Video”. Apart from setting the animation name, go with all the default settings and just hit render, a short while later I have a nice movie clip of my dice rolling around, rendered in DAZ Studio with Iray ready to upload to YouTube. Once Daz has rendered all the frames; if we go and look in the Series path folder we will see one jpg image for every frame of our animation. If we have video editing software such as adobe premiere or after effects, then we can compile our sequence with ease. If not; we can still do it if we have Photoshop, depending on the version of Photoshop
See the completed animation here: https://youtu.be/6HcRBWZhlh4
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FAVOURITE FIVE Five runtime must haves 01 Sav Alpha Moikana
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/sav-alpha-moikana/97250/ Sav always makes great content, and I love to use the hairs she makes. This suits both male and female characters and really looks great, of all of Sav’s hairs this one is the one I use the most.
02 Jepe’s WonderSheetZ for Genesis 2 Female(s)
http://www.daz3d.com/jepe-s-wondersheetz-for-genesis-2-female-s
A collection of great poses, in combination with beautifully draped cloth props and beautiful textures for both 3delight and Iray!
Rian Bergwerff Hi, I am Rian Bergwerff, and have been using Daz for about 3 years now. I am really addicted to it! I always try different tutorials, and read different forums to make my renders better and better. Also I sometimes use Reality. Every day I check the sites to see if there is some new content that I can use, and yes, there always is. To make a top 5 isn’t easy, not at all, there is so many good, gorgeous and awesome content, but I have tried to make one, and this is my list:
Collection Bootleggers G2 03 NY http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/ny-collection-bootleggers-g2/106382/ Taking the bootleggers to new heights. The boots now look so good, and have many textures, so you can use them many times.
04 Tropical Pond
http://www.daz3d.com/tropical-pond A gorgeous pond, with everything you need to make great renders.
Character and Outfit 05 Assassin http://www.daz3d.com/assassin-character-and-outfit-bundle This bundle has everything! A very interesting character, an awesome kickass outfit, and as if that was not enough it comes with a bonus, settings for Reality!!
YOUR
FAVORITE
TELL FIVE US
If you would like to submit your favourite five just follow the format above, 5 items with links plus your reasons they are must haves, also include a short bio and a piece of your artwork and send it to:
articles.dscreative.mag@gmail.com 42 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
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My
HOTWheels
This month we are talking personal transport, so whether your tastes run to two wheels or four, pedal power, petrol or even electric, we want to see just how your DAZ characters get about town. Does Victoria go for a big and loud muscle car or is it a nice sports utillity vehicle and does Micheal like a fast and racy Italian sports car or a fired up Japanese superbike. Its up to you.
All competition submissions are to be sent to:
contest.dscreative.mag@gmail.com All submissions must be new artwork and must not have been displayed online before Images can be either portrait or landscape Deadline is 23:59 UTC on the 22nd of October-15 For full prize Information and for full term’s and conditions visit our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/ DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 45
VENDOR SPOTLIGHT
Sabby
How did you get into 3D texturing and how long have you been executing it? I started making characters in 2008, the reason I started doing it was really my friends in the 3D community urging me to try and make my own girls. I didn’t have much faith in my ability then and occasionally I still do not, but that first character was a huge success and I sold more copies of her than many others.
Where do you get your inspiration from? Almost all of my inspiration is from my day to day life; my kids, my friends, my family. Small things you see in people inspire you to create. Walking down the road ideas pop into your head; fashion magazines, shopping and so many different places.
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Which program(s) do you create your models in?
Typically how long does it take from initial idea to finished model?
I use zBrush, Photoshop, Daz Studio and also occasionally Poser. Not sure I should still include Poser in that chain any more, though; I haven’t even opened the program in a few months. I love Daz Studio Iray!
It can take anywhere from a week to several weeks. Right I am part of a collaboration that has been going on for months. I’ve also managed to create products in as little as 1 to 2 days if I push myself and don’t sleep much. (I don’t recommend that one!)
“Don’t just avoid using something because you don’t know what it does, try it! You may love how that works. ”
What is your favorite subject to model? Ladies! I think I do best working with female models. I especially love Genesis 3. She’s my favourite to date; she’s really the best figure Daz3D has made.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting out creating for Daz Studio? Don’t give up & press buttons. You may feel its overwhelming and want to give up, don’t. Keep trying, you’ll get there. Also, the buttons exist to be used. Don’t just avoid using something because you don’t know what it does, try it! You may love how that works. Almost everything I’ve learned has been through trial and error. Pressing buttons and messing up things, that’s how you learn.
Which 3 are your personal favorites of your own products? FWSA Gillian: SASE Kaida V4 and Genesis: and Sabby-Sisters: Kimmi & Kyrsi
Which are your 3 personal favorite Vendors? That’s a tough one because I have quite a few vendor friends. However, if I have to narrow it down to 3, then I narrow it down to my favourite to buy from and my partner in crime, um work... Outoftouch, Fabiana, and Fred Winkler Art If I could list more... it would be Silver, Seven, Fisty, Sveva, Ironman13, Mattymanx, Swam, Goldtassel, Mada, Sarsa, WildDesigns, 3DSublime, Godin... I could keep going.
If you could add one new feature to daz studio, what would it be? I have no idea; it’s already the best program out there for what we do. I think my only addition would be to add mini games to play while we wait on our Iray renders! Ooh maybe a fast forward button, so you can fast forward to when your render ends.
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What is the biggest challenge for you when creating a new product? It varies; sometimes the hardest part is coming up with a name. Other times, it’s trying to come up with original ideas. Everything has already been done in our medium in some way or another, there are so many talented and creative vendors out there, just coming up with an original idea and implementing it, is probably the hardest part.
How does it make you feel when you see peoples artwork made with your products? Almost like a celebrity. I know it’s silly, but I see a really amazing piece of art made with one of my girls, I get so excited, I want to show everyone. I don’t see all of them sadly, because I can’t spend hours browsing galleries, but when I do come across them... I do a little happy dance in my soul.
Can you give us a hint of what is to come? Hmm... Bubbles. Is that a good enough hint?
Where can we find you content to buy? I vendor at both Daz3D.com and Renderosity.com
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QUICK & DIRTY DOF Alex Ledante get us experimenting with Depth of Field First create a scene; if you’ve never played with Depth of Field before, I suggest you simply line up some primitives in perspective since you’ll be doing a lot of renders until you get the hang of things. You might want to include a checkered ground plane and\or some high contrast, low detail texture for the primitives to illustrate the Depth of Field effects.
Playing with the Focal Distance will move the bounding box which describes the in-focus area of the image while the F/Stop value will dictate how extreme the effect will be. Note that with a high value the bounding box will be thick and the effect will be minimal to non-existent. Lower values will produce extreme results so exercise caution Notice how the foreground and background slip out of focus while the mid ground remains sharp. This is the standard effect, but there are two others.
You might want to focus on the foreground, and to do that you’d drop the focal distance inside the mid ground.
N o D epth of Field Create your render camera and set up the focus around the middle object. The blue sight line should point directly at this object and terminate in the center. If you don’t do this step correctly then Depth of Field will just break your heart.
In the Lighting/Cameras pane, select your render view camera then enable Depth of Field under Editor/Camera. Now switch over to Display and ensure that all possible settings are toggled to ON. For now, ignore the frame width and focal length settings as they will alter your composition. This tutorial will assume you have been following the steps and already have the desired layout. 50 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
Finally, when we greatly increase the focal distance, with a narrow F\Stop, only the background is in sharp focus while the mid ground is in soft focus as the foreground is completely out of focus.
These are the three basic types of focus, but with different settings there are infinite variations. Try to get a feel for all of them and understand the merits and flaws of each. Results may vary depending on user settings, void where prohibited.
CLASSIC CULT CONTENT We asked you to vote for a classic cult item, this month was Classic Couture
The Winner V6 Timeless By DarkStarBurning and MindVision G.D.S. http://www.daz3d.com/v6-timeless
Next months category is Cosplay, if you want to cast a vote check out our facebook group from the 5th of October onwards https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/ DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 51
SMALL-TALK
“your magazine is for me always an inspiration. I was always surprised, what’s possible in DAZ Studio if one knows the right techniques. I’m sure that a lot of the images from DS Creative have influenced my art within the last year.” “Klaus Sauer”
Add your Voice to the smalltalk wall “Just discovered the magazine a few weeks ago and really digging it.” “Rob Veith”
“Thank you guys for giving such opportunity to share our artworks, for all of us, who love to play with daz3d” “Ktoya”
“Thank you for the time and effort you put into the magazine every month. The tutorials and other articles, freebie items from Vendors, contests and featured artwork is all very inspirational.” “Kismet2012”
“Thanks for these chances to show off our work.” “BronzeDragon”
Do you have something to say about DS Creative or the world of DAZ Studio in general it can be good or bad, well Small-Talk will give you a maximum of 50 words to
say what you think. No personal or offensive comments will be accepted. Send your small-talk to: articles.dscreative.mag@gmail.com with the title smalltalk
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GALLERY
PRAYER
Garrett Miller USA
ICE ELF Karisma USA
PRAYER
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Ice Elf
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GALLERY
MORE RUINS
Sister of Darkness UK
All That Remains Seliah
Claus Vacation Nancy Schultz USA
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All That Remains
Claus Vacation
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GALLERY
Midsummer’s Dream Mauro Bisiani Italy Beach Daze Todd Kogutt USA
YOKO
Gran22
Midsummer’s Dream
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Beach Daze
YOKO DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 59
GALLERY
tattoos and feathers Rian Bergwerff The Netherlands
Sahara Beachhead Fantail451 New Zealand
samarai and dark tower R.P. Callahan USA
tattoos and feathers 60 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
Sahara Beachhead
samarai and dark tower DS CREATIVE • October 2015 • 61
GALLERY
Girl and duckling Ktoya Ukraine Ozone
Sandra Bauser USA
Girl and duckling 62 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
Ozone
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GALLERY
LACE
Kat Lampman
Banish
Atticus Bones UK
UNTITLED Mario Busch Brazil
Hades and Persephone. Jennifer Drake
LACE
Banish 64 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
UNTITLED
Hades and Persephone.
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DS Creative Competition Terms & Conditions Just recently I recieved a competition email from someone who doesn’t use facebook and they asked if we have the T&C’s posted anywhere else, well sadly at the moment no, so I have included them here All IMAGE submissions are to be sent to contest.dscreative.mag@gmail.com Submitted images should have the dimensions of 150dpi with a maximum of 2480 x 1754 + include one or two lines describing your image! Make sure you include name (aka) & link to webpage if wanted. Images must be created with Daz Studio & new original artworks are accepted. They should not have appeared online before! We are looking forward to see what you ALL have to share, so please create away & have fun! 1. BACKGROUND: At specified times as determined by DS Creative Magazine, DS Creative Magazine will select images for inclusion in the DS Creative Magazine. The following rules, regulations, terms and conditions (collectively the �Terms and Conditions�) shall apply. 2. ELIGIBILITY: Entrants are ineligible where the legal requirements or restrictions of any jurisdiction prohibit eligibility of an individual. DS Creative Magazine, in its sole discretion, shall determine the eligibility of Entrants. Entrants that do not comply with the Terms and Conditions are not eligible. Staff of DS Creative magazine are ineligible to enter. 3. HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR IMAGE: In addition to other conditions which may be specified by DS Creative Magazine, to submit your image entry (�Image Entry�), please email contest.dscreative.mag@gmail.com with your image attached and with the title of the contest the image is being submitted for. The Image Entry MUST NOT: (i) contain any copyrighted works (other than as owned by you, the Entrant); (ii) contain vulgar, pornographic, obscene or indecent behavior or images; (iii) defame or libel any third party; (iv) been licensed or (v) contain any watermarks or other notices, whether digital or otherwise, obstructing the image Entry. image Entries that do not comply with these Terms & Conditions or that otherwise contain prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by DS Creative Magazine, in its sole discretion, will not be shared. Automated entries (including but not limited to entries submitted using any robot, script, macro, or other automated service) are not permitted and will be disqualified. DS Creative Magazine is not responsible for technical failures of any kind, including without limitation, any failure of Instagram or any other website, any internet connection problems, technical malfunction of any computer on-line systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the internet or at any website, or any combination thereof including any injury or damage to an Entrant�s computer or electronic device or any other person’s computer or electronic device (collectively, �Technical Failures�), all of which may affect the Entrant�s ability to participate. DS Creative Magazine reserves the right to disqualify any Entrant and to seek any remedy at law or equity in the event you, in DS Creative Magazine� reasonable opinion: tamper with any website, the entry process; violate the Terms and Conditions herein; or act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Once a image is submitted it cannot be changed, altered or modified. DS Creative Magazine has no obligation to post any images submitted; all sharing or posting of images is done in DS Creative Magazine�s sole discretion. Image submissions close for all issues on the 22nd on the month before the 1st. 4. IMAGE SELECTION. The images to be featured in the DS Creative Magazine will be selected by DS Creative Magazine based on perceived quality, creativity, artistic merit, and other criteria, which may be identified by DS Creative Magazine. All decisions of DS Creative Magazine regarding submissions are final and binding. If your image Entry is selected, you may be asked to sign a confirmation of eligibility and compliance with these Terms and Conditions, a publicity/liability release (unless prohibited by law), and/or any other documents which you must return within the time period stipulated in such documents. If your image Entry is selected, you may also be asked to provide confirmation of identification either by passport, driver�s license or other documentation that may be required to provide DS Creative Magazine with proof that you are the authorized account holder of the Instagram account associated with the selected image Entry. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in disqualification. DS Creative Magazine reserves the right, in its absolute discretion to remove any image Entry, at any time, from the DS Creative 66 • October 2015 • DS CREATIVE
Magazine Instagram Page, or any other website, for any reason whatsoever. 5. RIGHT TO USE: By submitting your image Entry, you grant DS Creative Magazine the right and permission (except where prohibited by law) to copy, reproduce, encode, store, transmit, publish, post, broadcast, display, adapt, exhibit and/or otherwise use or reuse (without limitation as to when, duration, or the number of times), the image Entry and your: name; image; voice; persona; sobriquet; likeness; statements; and biographical material in the DS Creative Magazine, the DS Creative Magazine Facebook group located at https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/, the DS Creative Magazine Facebook page located at https:// www.facebook.com/DSCreativeMagazine, the DS Creative Magazine Tumblr page located at http://dscreativemagazine.tumblr. com/ and the DSCreative Magazine twitter account located at https://twitter.com/DSCreative_Mag for purposes of administering and advertising, DS Creative Magazine; all of the foregoing without additional review, compensation, notice to, or approval from you or any other party, unless prohibited by law. By entering the Spotlight, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of the information described herein. 6. REPRESENTATIONS & WARRANTIES: By submitting an image, you represent and warrant that: (i) you have all rights and necessary consents or permission to submit the image for use set forth herein, including consent and permission for DS Creative Magazine�s use from any individual featured in the image; (ii) your image does not infringe any third party intellectual property, privacy or publicity rights or any other legal or moral rights to any party, (iii) each image Entry was created by you; (iv) you will use the image Entry for personal use purposes only and will not be used for any commercial purpose or conduct that is of commercial character, whether or not it is used in the expectation of profit; and (v) you are complying with these Terms & Conditions. 7. RELEASE: BY SUBMITTING AN IMAGE ENTRY, YOU AND EACH OF YOUR HEIRS, SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS RELEASES AND AGREES TO HOLD HARMLESS DS Creative Magazine AND ITS PARENT, SUBSIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, INSPECTORS AND AGENTS FROM ANY LIABILITY WHATSOEVER (WHETHER ARISING IN CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY) FOR ANY CLAIMS, COSTS, LOSSES, OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE RELATED TO PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH, DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, RIGHTS OF PUBLICITY OR PRIVACY OR DEFAMATION) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH: (I) SUBMITTING; OR (II) OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO SUBMITTING. 8. INDEMNIFICATION: You agree to indemnify and hold harmless DS Creative Magazine and its parent, subsidiaries and affiliates and their respective officers, directors and employees (�Indemnified Parties�) from any and all claims, damages, expenses, costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) and liabilities (including settlements), brought or asserted by any third party against the Indemnified Parties due to or arising out of his or her entry or conduct during and in connection with submitting, including but not limited to any claims for trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property right infringements, right of publicity, right of privacy or defamation whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence) or any other legal theory. 9. DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: DS Creative Magazine MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING ENTRANT’S PARTICIPATION. DS Creative Magazine SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, COST, OR INJURY THAT ARISES FROM OR RELATES TO PARTICIPATION, OR BEING SELECTED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: (I) LATE, LOST, DELAYED, DAMAGED, MISDIRECTED, INCOMPLETE, OR UNINTELLIGIBLE image ENTRIES; (II) TECHNICAL FAILURES (AS DEFINED ABOVE); (III) FAILED, INCOMPLETE, GARBLED, OR DELAYED COMPUTER TRANSMISSIONS; (IV) THE DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL IN CONNECTION WITH THE SPOTLIGHT; AND (V) ANY OTHER CONDITION THAT MAY CAUSE THE SPOTLIGHT TO BE DISRUPTED OR CORRUPTED. DS Creative Magazine RESERVES THE RIGHT, SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE LAW, IN ITS SOLE DISCRETION AND WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE, TO SUSPEND OR CANCEL OR ALTER THE RULES FOR ANY REASON, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IF AT ANY TIME A COMPUTER VIRUS, TECHNICAL PROBLEM, OR OTHER UNFORESEEABLE EVENT ALTERS OR CORRUPTS THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SPOTLIGHT.
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CONTRIBUTORS Every to to
DS Creative needs a small army of people help make it happen, so to those people who helped make issue 16, A very big Thank You. month
The DS Creative Team
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TutorialS
Ginger Lee McKee Phil Thompson Sade Shizuku Alex Ledante
Free GiftS Arien Sabby
THE TEAM Camilla Drakenborg Phil Thompson Totte Alm Matt Allgood Sanyel Jackson Jamie Somers Bobbie Brundon Jeffrey Samir Rouabhi Deleuze
CONTRIBUTORS Astuce Man Atticus Bones Bellatryx Bill WYC Bowski BronzeDragon Charlie McDonald Daniel Wright Eden Clark
CONTRIBUTORS Fantail451 Garrett Miller Gran22 Henrico Visser Jean Morneau Jennifer Drake Jodie Griffiths Jose Rojas Jürgen Püschel Karisma Kat Lampman Klaus Sauer Ktoya LaMuserie Leo Lee Liz Schroeder Marcius Hess Mario Busch Markus Ba Mary VanAssche Mauro Bisiani Mavrosh Stratiotis Mithoron Nancy Schultz Phil Thompson R.P. Callahan Rian Bergwerff Rob Veith Sandra Bauser Seliah Sister of darkness Szark BWC Todd Kogutt Totte Alm
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Not pretty enough for the cover
of DS Creative, Really.... Maybe next month
DS Creative Issue 17 • 1st November 2015
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Artwork by Phil Thompson