DS Creative 21

DS CREATIVE

ISSUE 21 March 2016

The magazine for DAZ Studio users

PINUP THEORY We get to grips with pinups.

Economy Scenes

Example of minimum spending

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 •

Caught in the act BronzeDragon • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

CONTENTS

Issue 21

FEATURES 16 • Vendor Spotlight Our first featured vendor this month is the creator of many a suburban home, it’s Collective3D. 41 • Artist Spotlight Our artist spotlight this month features our good friend Fredel.

56 • Vendor Spotlight Magical spells are in the air for our second vendor spotlight it has to be Ignis Serpentus.

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

28 • Competition Winners The love and death of romance competition was the closest we have ever had 55 • Fave Five Mithoron tells us his fave five or so items of content that he must have.

60 • Competition Time Crazy, Psychotic, Disturbed or Strange, these words really apply here.

TUTORIALS

22 • Understanding Pin-ups Mithoron brings part one of three on our journey into the world of pin-ups

34 • $0 Environments Phil Thompson takes us through creating a exterior environment and spends nothing at all 44 • DAZ Bokeh Fredel Creates a Bokeh type effect directly within DAZ Studio 52 • Cartoon Rendering Mauro takes us through some cel shading techniques using GIMP

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 • March 2016 •

w

Welcome to Issue 21 What a month February has been, the first half seemed to be full of angry people complaining about DAZ Studio 4.9, Connect and encrypted content, so regardless of wherever you choose to read your DAZ news from, you would have seen many posts on the subject, the scope of the issues seemed to cover everything from organizing your content to “is DRM the right option”, well as with all these things, Time will tell.

Later on in the month we all got the news of the merger between DAZ and Rdna now this was a true shock, I can honestly say we didn’t see that one coming, So once again people were posting this time the comments ranging from “what is going to happen to my account at Rdna” to “Less competition in the marketplace is a bad thing” and once again we will just have to wait and see what happens, although personally I can’t wait to see what Mortem Vetus brings to DAZ. For the team here at DS Creative, February was an interesting month, for once we had the spotlight turned on us, we are so used to sending interview questions to vendors, that it feels really weird when we are the ones answering the questions, well our good friend Jordi Cardona of EmmaandJordi sent us a set of questions that would appear on his blog over at Hiperia3D http://news. hiperia3d.com/2016/02/interview-daz-studiocreative-magazine.html So head on over there and have a read and I can tell you answering those questions was hard.

OK, it’s time to head back to page layout duties, so let’s see what march brings us.

Happy Rendering.

Phil Thompson Production Designer

Image by Astuceman • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

Lara And The GuardiaN

Brent Bowers

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 •

GALLERY

Eagle Ktoya

UN-TITLED Michael Klink The secret of the sea Bellatryx

Hunter

• March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

UN-Titled

The secret of the sea

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GALLERY

WAR ON ZOMBIES Victor Strickland

Well, I’ve Come This Far… Robert Veith

The StaNd-In Stands By, 1982 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

Valkirie 4 Well, I’ve Come This Far… DS CREATIVE • March 2016 •

GALLERY

The Fountain Of Youth & Its Guardian Nymph Daniel Wright The Last Troll Left Garrett Miller INNOCENCE Marcius Hess

The Fountain Of Youth & Its Guardian Nymph 10 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

The Last Troll Left

INNOCENCE

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 11

GALLERY

giselle Sister of Darkness Blue Bird Charlie McDonald

drone gunner 2 R.P. Callahan

giselle

12 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

Blue Bird

drone gunner 2

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 13

GALLERY

THE ORB

Adrian Schmit

ALIEN BLUE

Rian Bergwerff

Five Devils On The Run Mario Heyer

THE ORB 14 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

ALIEN BLUE Five Devils On The Run

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 15

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Collective3D

What made you get into 3D modeling and how long have you been active in the craft?

Probably the same thing that’s gotten me into any of the artistic endeavours I’ve pursued my entire life… there was something cool I wanted, and no one was making it, so I had to do it myself.

That’s the short answer, and of course there’s a lot more to it than that. When I was 5, I would make my own superhero costumes out of crayons and whatever I could find around the house – usually bits of various shopping bags. In those days there was no “paper or plastic.” All the shopping bags were paper. So you could draw and cut and colour and piece together all these costumes that, at least to a 5 year old, were pretty damned cool.

Later, around the age of 10 or so, it was books and stories, and I became a writer. From the age of 10 until about 21 or 22, I wrote hundreds of short stories and at least 2 full novels, primarily to amuse myself, but in those years, a writer is what I wanted to be more than anything else.

For a while in high school I was also really into architecture, and studied drafting and CAD for 4 years in the 80s and 90s, followed by a few college courses. I loved studying and drawing the various movements in architecture, specifically in residential architecture, the evolution in the design of homes from the mid to late 1800s until the present. You can really tell just at a glance what era a house was built in, both by its form and its function. That fascinates me.

But costumes are where I started, and I had always been huge on horror movies. Halloween was a huge deal for me as a teenager and as a young adult. So by the late 90s, into the early 2000s, I was making Halloween masks for a living, which entailed traditional sculpture, mould making, casting, painting with sponges, brushes, and airbrushes, application of hair, and even the design and construction of clothing. I did that until about 2003, and have only made a few masks since then, but it’s still something that’s pretty fun to do.

16 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

When I went back to school for real in 2006, I sort of fell into a path that evolved from what I had been doing all my life, and started studying video game production. Along with filmmaking, it’s one of the most collaborative of the creative arts, and I found that 3d modelling and texturing flowed very naturally from the skills I’d developed making masks. Sometimes the

“I feel like there aren’t a lot of contemporary, every day environments available, for users who want to do more realistic scenes from everyday life” translation from sculpting and airbrush painting to modelling and texturing was almost 1:1, and many of the same techniques applied digitally the same way they did physically. I found that really cool.

I’ve been modelling, then, since 2006, which makes about 10 years, but I’ve only really been doing it seriously since about 2013.

Where would say you draw your inspiration from?

Inspiration can come from anywhere, quite literally.

Of course, there’s my longstanding interest in architecture to draw from, and that’s a well I can always go back to. But I’ll be watching a show on television and see an interesting set piece, or out walking and see a curious little corner somewhere, and think, “I can do something with that.” When that happens, it usually progresses pretty quickly.

Which program(s) do you utilize to create your models in?

It seems like there’s a specialized program for everything, for every step of the process, and so there are a lot of programs I use on a fairly regular basis.

Everything starts in 3ds Max, of course. In Max I have several different plugins I might use, depending on the scene, such as GrowFX. I’ve used Carrara in the past for modelling plants, but GrowFX has kind of replaced that. I’ll use Mudbox for sculpting details, Substance Painter for texturing, Photoshop and Illustrator for texturing. It really depends on the particular project, but those are the ones I use the most.

Typically how long does it take from initial idea to finished model?

Again, it really depends on the particular project. If I see a really cool set piece that I think I can make use of, it might come to fruition very quickly. The set Collective3d Movie Sets Haunted House, over at Daz, was done in a single day. Other, more elaborate sets, such as a 2 story house with a basement and a full interior and exterior, with an interior-exterior garage, fences, lawns, sidewalks and streets, can take as long as a month. I don’t get to do too many of those, unfortunately. They sell better than the other sets, but not enough to justify the time investment. I can do 3 or even 4 movie sets/portrait vignettes in the same time and make double as much money. Unfortunately, I do need to eat, so I have to make some concessions to things like that.

What would you say is your favorite subject to model?

I love doing houses. Just regular, run of the mill, residential homes like you might see in any city or suburb or rural area anywhere in the eastern half of the US.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone, who is just starting out creating models for Daz Studio?

The same advice I always gave to my students when I was teaching 3d modelling and design for 5 or 6 years: if you want to do it, you have to do it. Sitting around thinking about doing it, isn’t getting anything done. If you’re afraid it’s going to suck, but you never do it, it never even has a chance to suck. That’s worse.

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 17

These days I would add, if you think you need an expensive and lengthy education to do it, forget the entire idea. An education is great, but it’s not going to make you a good modeller. Pick up a modelling program (if you’re in school already, students can get 3ds Max and Maya for free), whether it’s one of the pro suites or one of the free ones, or one of the cheaper ones, and start making something. Put a primitive in the scene; play around with cutting and extruding, and moving vertices. See what things do. Watch some tutorial videos on YouTube or Vimeo. When you decide to make something for real, know exactly what it is you’re trying to make, and have a design. Reference photos, drawings, even cheap little sketches that wouldn’t mean anything to someone else besides you.

Then do your best to make it.

The important thing is that your second piece won’t be as bad as your first, and your third won’t be as bad as your second. The way to get better is to just do it.

No excuses. Sit down and make something. Make it to make yourself happy. If it doesn’t make you happy, make it better next time. It’s a process. Learn Photoshop. If you can’t afford Photoshop, get Paint Shop Pro. If you can’t afford that, get Gimp. There aren’t a lot of barriers remaining, technology-wise. There’s always something cheap or free that will allow you to approach what the pros at ILM are doing. Go on YouTube and look for a short movie called “The 405.”

It’s a CGI movie made in the 90s using only equipment and software that could be purchased at Best Buy.

Which 3 vendors would you say are your personal favorites?

There are so many that I admire, but I’ll put Stonemason out there as the absolute best. From the design, to the modelling, texturing, and rendering, everything is always top notch. There’s not a better environment artist in the Daz Studio/Poser circles.

If you could add one new feature to DAZ Studio, what would it be?

I would love it if Daz Studio had a built in tool for scattering instances on a surface, and perhaps a way to create proxies from a mesh and scatter those. Creating large, natural environments (such as lawns) would be so much easier and so much less headache.

What is the biggest challenge for you when creating a new product?

Balance among so many different variables. What do I want to do? What sells well? What can be done efficiently? What will users want, or even need?

All of those can be very difficult to answer for an environment artist. In the specific case of making things for Daz Studio users, the characters, in my mind, are always going to be the selling point. I think people come to Daz for the characters. And so, you 18 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

have few people doing environment-centric work. The environment, in a lot of cases, is just the thing in the background. It needs to look cool, and interesting, but in a lot of cases, I feel it also needs to be unobtrusive.

A lot of the time, the artwork that’s created in Daz isn’t about the environment, but about the character in front of it. So I try to paint in broad strokes, large details that will show up and be interesting in a shot where the background is blurred by depth of field. Unfortunately, when I need to sell these environments, the environment needs to be front and centre and the focus of the renders. So on the one hand, I need to make an environment that looks great in the promo renders, where it’s the centre of attention, but also works very well as a background for more interesting things. That can be difficult, because it’s two completely different approaches to design and modelling. Do I spend a lot of polys on something and use a high resolution texture so it looks great in the promos? Will that even matter when it’s blurred by depth of field?

Choice of subject matter is another huge thing. I feel like there aren’t a lot of contemporary, every day environments available, for users who want to do more realistic scenes from everyday life. On the other hand, a spaceship corridor is way cooler than a post-war tract house. But things like spaceship corridors or castles are also very specific to the individual scene they’re being used for. There is very easy continuity between all of the houses and contemporary sets I’ve done. You can move a character from one to another and they’re still in the same universe. You can move that character to a contemporary environment from another Daz Studio artist, and they’re still in the same universe. But sci-fi stuff varies so much in design, form, and func-

tion, that the scope for a sci-fi set is very narrow. I can make a really cool corridor, and you can shoot a character in it, but if you want to move that same character to a different set, it’s difficult to match up the environments so they look like part of the same universe.

mercial art, almost nothing is “done” when you think it is). And then you look forward to the next set and try to find your way into that world.

All of these things are a huge challenge when figuring out what to do next, and how to do it.

I’m going to go on a limb and guess there are a lot of environmental sets in the foreseeable future.

How does it make you feel when you see the final artwork created with your products?

Lately I have been focusing a lot on the movie sets and portrait vignettes – small, self-contained scenes based around a single theme. The portrait vignettes are really designed just to be something in the background of a character portrait. I browse through Google for snapshots of real people, and look at what’s behind them, then design sets around that. The movie sets are similar, but a little larger in scope, and designed more for action scenes than portraits. I have a few of those production right now, and they usually only take a couple-three days of hardcore modelling to finish.

Those tend to get done not so much according to a plan, but based on seeing something cool and wanting to make it.

Tired. I have worked as a die setter in a stamping plant for 8 years, as a retail manager for 4 or 5 years, as a college professor for 5 or 6 years, among all kinds of other jobs. What I’m doing now is the most totally exhausting thing I’ve ever done professionally. You put so much into it, that at least in my case, when it’s finally over, I’m blown out. Brains fried, eyes strained, back crooked from hunching over the keyboard. 3ds Max is time travel technology. When you open it up and start on a scene that really grips you, you can pass 16 hours in the blink of an eye, and come to realize you haven’t gotten out of your chair, eaten, had anything to drink, or even used the bathroom, all day.

Solutions to design problems wake you up in the middle of the night, or come to you in the shower. Just the right way to get that geometry to behave the way you wanted it to.

So when a set is finished, and I look over the final renders, there is a feeling of satisfaction, but also relief that another one is done (more or less – in com-

Can you give us a hint of what is to come?

But I also have a number of other sets in development, some of them nearly finished, that will be released in 2016. First and foremost is the Blue Collar Neighbourhood series. It is gigantic, and I’m still working out exactly how to distribute it. There will be dozens of unique houses (about a half dozen or so of them are actually done and waiting for me to figure out how to package them), along with streets and sidewalks and driveways and fences, and props like street lights, street signs, garbage cans, mailboxes, garden hoses, all the things you would find when you’re out walking the dog.

As part of the Blue Collar series, I have a baseball field that is mostly done. It’s gigantic, covering several acres, with lots of trees. I also have an interior ice hockey rink that’s 90% done. A revisit of my Summer Camp set, imagining what it looked like in the 1950s before it was run down and home to a psycho mass murderer. An Old West Saloon. In fact, I have early designs for an entire Tombstone-style Old West town based on one I built for my senior project in college.

All of that is coming, plus whatever happens to strike me on any given day. I could email this interview out, then suddenly have a great idea and have a new set finished by tomorrow that is not even on my radar right now. It’s crazy, sometimes.

Where can we find your content to buy?

All over the Internet!

Most of my stuff is available at www.daz3d.com/collective3d, but I also have things for sale at Renderosity, www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/vendor/NFXstudios and at Turbosquid, www.turbosquid.com/Search/Artists/Collective3d DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 19

Phaser

http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/Collective3d_Phaser_Pistol.zip CREATIVE3D DOUBLE FREEBIE GIVEAWAY

http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/S1M_Summer_Cocktails.zip

http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/Collective3d_Lightsaber.zip 20 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

DA Z CONNECT The BIG Questions

After the launch of DAZ Studio 4.9, which for the first time featured DAZ Connect and encrypted content, a lot of DAZ Studio users became very concerned over the new changes to their favorite 3D package.

So in an attempt to allay some of those fears we at DS Creative asked for your questions regarding the changes brought in with this newest release, these questions were passed onto DAZ3D so that you can get answers to your questions straight from the source.

Well we have heard back from DAZ3D and as far as we are aware DAZ is planning some changes with regards to DAZ Studio and Connect, which should happen sometime within the next few weeks, so with this in mind the questions are on hold until then.

So keep watching this space We will have your answers as soon as they are available.

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 21

Part One Pin-up Definition:

• •

a large photograph, as of a sexually attractive person, suitable for pinning on a wall (Dictionary.com) a photograph of an attractive person (such as an actress or model) that is hung or pinned on a wall (merriam-

webster.com)

When one thinks of a pin-up image, thoughts turn immediately towards the infamous ‘Vargas Girls’ pin-ups from Playboy, or photographs of Betty Paige and Marilyn Monroe, or—for those who are older—the World War II paintings drawn on planes, tanks, and the like.

Pin-ups are not necessarily ‘old fashion,’ with styles based in the 40’s, 50’s, or 60’s. In fact, there are a wide variety of elements which make up a pin-up. They can be modern day girls in bikinis or lingerie, a girl posing on bike or stripper pole, a fantasy or science fiction image—or even images of men.

[IMAGE 01 Housewife Pinup - Mopping – Mithoron]

[IMAGE 02 Kitten – Mithoron] [IMAGE 03 Doorway – Mithoron]

There are two main components to pin-up art—an attractive person (male or female) and the general concept the image can be hung up (or pinned) on the wall.

Think about that for a second—‘hung up on a wall’ means the content is appropriate for everybody, ranging from somebody’s ten-year-old niece to their elderly grandmother. Although the image can be risqué, most pin-ups—even those of fully nude models—hide all the ‘naughty bits’ from view. In modern terms, think of the majority of pin-up images as being ‘Facebook friendly.’

In addition, pin-ups are considered ‘sexy’ in that the model—again, whether clothed or not—is portrayed in a provocative manner. If clothed, the model is revealing or accentuating a section of their body in such a way as to draw attention to it, even—particularly taboo areas such as the breasts or the derriere of women. Such images do not even need to be a body part, but instead reveal a risqué piece of clothing. The iconic images of Marilyn Monroe having her skirt blown up by a passing subway car beneath her from ‘The Seven Year Itch’ is a perfect example—her hands are attempting to hold the skirt down at her waist, but her attempts are in vain as the skirt rises higher and higher showing her upper legs as well as her modest pair of underwear. Although the underwear obscures her pelvis more than a bathing suit, it is the ‘taboo’ nature of seeing beneath her skirt which gives it the pin-up feel. One’s mind is always trying to telepathically force the skirt higher, to see more.

Many pin-ups use similar themes—dresses and skirts blown upwards to reveal a single garter strap or nylons, or a top unbuttoned to reveal a large expanse of cleavage. Once again the goal is to have the viewer envisioning the skirt rising higher, or another button to be undone, or even for the model to bend down further. The image is a tease, but never going beyond a certain level of decency.

22 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

What Makes a Render a Pin-up?

I will not go into the history of pin-ups, as that is easily found on the internet. The main purpose of this write-up is to give some insight, tips, hints, and general guidance for those attempting to create a ‘pin-up’ image. I am by no means an expert, I am merely writing the thought processes which typically go through my head when creating a pin-up image, as that has been the main genre most of my images are created in, with the hopes some of you can find help and assistance in your own renders.

GENRE When conceptualizing a pin-up image, the first thought I have is what genre the image will be set within. Although many people’s first thoughts lean towards the more common ‘Retro’ or ‘Cheesecake’ pin-up girls dressed in 1940-1960 clothing and hair styles, a pinup can be a modern figure, a science fiction image, a Steampunk image, or anything you want. Much of the initial planning I do begins with deciding the genre I want my pin-up to be in, as that often dictates the pose, the scenery, and particularly the clothing of my pin-up model.

Some common themes/genres include: • Fetish – This is a common theme I have come across lately on the internet—a girl wearing clothing

in a retro-style composed of leather/latex, often with props such as whips, chains, or bindings used to give the image a naughty or ‘S&M-like’ feel.

• Gothabilly/Hellbilly/Rockabilly – These all have similar elements, although each stand unto themselves as a separate genre with distinct differences between them. As with the Fetish category, Gothabilly refers to a mix of the standard Retro Pinup combined with gothic elements. Often these types of pin-ups involve paleskinned models with dark make-up, as well as brightly colored hair—often in bright fluorescent colors providing a stark contrast within the image. Models are often clothed in dark leather and latex clothing, torn stockings, etc. Rockabilly pin-ups, like Gothabilly, relay the feelings of non-conformance to society, albeit in a more old-fashion sense. This genre often utilizes denim shorts or cropped pants, tied off shirts, and various elements which give a ‘rocking rebellious’ vibe commonly ascribed to teens in the 1950’s and 1960’s listening to that ‘wild rock and roll’ music sung by such rebels as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, or Johnny Cash. In contrast, while Hellbilly pin-ups have similar elements, such images are more ‘hardcore’ Rockabilly pin-ups, models often with tattoos, wearing old-fashioned clothing or lingerie, and having large ‘bouffant type hair styles.

[IMAGE 05 Alley – Mithoron]

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 23

• Boudoir and Glamour – Both of these genres are sometimes considered their own categories separate from pin-ups; however, each contain enough elements to make them a pin-up image. Boudoir images typically are situated in a sexy setting such as the bedroom, the model often wearing lingerie and placed in provocative sensual poses. Garters, stockings, and high heeled shoes are common elements. These images portray a ‘private’ viewing of the model, often directed towards a more intimate audience. Glamour images on the other hand, are more contemporary images, often pushing the ‘decency’ limits by revealing more of a model’s body than standard retro pinups. Bare mid-drifts, side or ventral aspects of the breasts (underboob) are common, although the model is still often partially clothed; however, the more contemporary settings and attire separating these types of images from Boudoir or the typical vintage ‘Cheesecake’ images.

• Steampunk – Did anybody think I would pass this one up, LOL? As with Boudoir images, Steampunk is not only its own genre, but can also be a style of pin-up itself, where models are in more intimate poses revealing more ‘private’ parts of their anatomy, often wearing nothing more than a bustier, stockings, and the like, but all with a ‘gear and gadget’ theme.

• Tiki – Tiki pin-ups are commonly depicted images of girls in bikinis and on the beach, many times hav-

24 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

ing various Polynesian elements such as grass skirts, coconut bras, or tropical mixed drinks as props.

The above are simply a few examples, I am not going to list every type of pin-up genre, but merely hope to give examples. The bottom line is pin-ups can entail any aspect you want, the main point being to always think about what the general ‘flavor’ your image will be portraying.

Next Month

COMMON PIN-UP ELEMENTS

Would you like to win some content money, every month we have two prizes up for grabs 1st place $30 of content money 2nd place $20 of content money All you have to do is to submit a tutorial or a tip and get it published and we always need tutorials and tips, then in the days after publication we will let the readers vote in our facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/ for the 2 most popular tutorials/tips winners announced in the following issue.

As this is judged by the readership it is open to all tutorial/tip writers.

Send your tutorials and tips to: articles.dscreative.mag@gmail.com

Last Months Winners 1st Seliah Keller $30 2nd Ourak Nysot $20

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 25

images from the war room

“A Day that will live in Infamy...”

74 years ago today, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in hopes of destroying the US Pacific Fleet at its anchors.

At the end of the day, the USS Arizona would be a burning hulk, the West Virginia, Oklahoma and California sunk at their anchors, and the Tennessee trapped in its moorings by the sunken West Virginia. The Maryland would be badly damaged, and the Nevada (the only Battleship to make steam in the attacks) burning and beached to avoid blocking the harbor entrance. The Pennsylvania (along with the Destroyers Cassin and Downes) would be damaged in Dry-dock and the only remaining Battleship of the Pacific Fleet to escape the attacks (the USS Colorado) only did so 26 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

because she was in Puget Sound for an over-haul.

At the same time as the Pearl Harbor attacks, the Japanese also attacked South-east Asia, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, and most of the Islands in the South Pacific in coordinated strikes all across the region. It would be months before ships could be transferred from other areas of operation, or raised and repaired, to bring the Pacific Fleet any where near its prewar strength, leaving only 4 Carriers to defend the area of operations...

USS Arizona, Vestal, Oklahoma, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Nevada, California, and Pennsylvania with lowpoly Deck Crews and Add-on Sets by me,

IMAGE by theschell

Flak and Smoke Effects, and Explosion props by me, Japanese Val Dive-bombers by BeyondVR with custom textures by me, Additional scene props from a variety of sources with custom textures by me for this scene.

I’d previously done an image called “Death of the Arizona” which I reworked so that I could attempt to more accurately depict the attacks of December 7th at Pearl Harbor... I’m hoping I have done the subject and history of the day some meager justice...

Rendered in DS 4.7 DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 27

Competition Winners

1

st Jean Morneau

28 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

2

nd Jennifer Drake DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 29

Lucinda Atman

3

rd

Vicki Leversedge

Rob Vieth 30 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

Honorable

Adrian Schmit LaMuserie DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 31

Honorable

Maggie Symon

Honorable

Michael Eidson 32 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

Honorable

Jörg Kießling

Honorable

Mithoron

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 33

ZERO Dollar Environment

Phil Thompson creates an environment entirely without cost.

One of the biggest problems for people just starting out in 3D is the cost, especially when it comes to buying environments, they don’t come cheap, so in this tutorial we are going to create a custom environment using a few internet freebies combined with some simple techniques.

OK I’m going to start by choosing two freebies from Laticis’s amazing pages over at Deviant Art. http://laticis. deviantart.com/gallery/40614161/Laticis-Freebies

So for this I’m going to use the “Stone Arch” and the “Pavers and Grass” freebies. A few clicks later and they are on my hard drive, ready to go I extract them both.

Let’s deal with the stone arch first, the model is an Object .obj file so very easy to import and it comes with 3 map files, which will make our life nice and easy. Time for DAZ, in Studio I go to the file menu and choose import, then I browse and load the LI_Stone_Arch.obj.

In the import options; I leave everything as the default and click accept and there’s our Stone arch. It already has the diffuse texture loaded. Now to make this arch, which is already pretty cool, I’m going to add some vegetation to it and for that I will need to export it. Why I hear you say? Well I want to export it at the size I need it, so before I export it I will load up a base figure so I can judge the size and then scale the arch to the size I require then delete the figure and then exported my newly scaled arch.

For this example I have scaled my arch to 150% Now I delete the figure, and then select the arch. I go to File/Export and will call it Arch_scaled and save it as a Wavefront Object file .obj again accepts the default options.

To add some vegetation I am going to use Ivy Generator.

Originally this was created many years ago by Thomas Luft but has now been rebuilt and improved upon by Mattias Cibien and you can find it here: https://github. com/mattiascibien/ivygen Ivy generator is a standalone program, so with it up and running I go file/import and select the Arch_Scaled.obj.

Once the arch is loaded it’s time to create some vegetation, now the controls on the sidebar the top section controls how the plant grows and the bottom section controls the physical branches and leaves.

First I double click a point on the arch where I want the Ivy to grow from; this is your seed point. The settings for growing the plant will take quite some experimentation with, but once you have some set, click the grow button and you will see some blue lines grow these are the representation of the branches. If you don’t like how it’s grown tweak the settings and select a new seed point and try again.

Once you are happy it’s time for branches and leaves, so we set the bottom set of sliders and then click birth.

Again we can keep changing and re-birthing until we are happy, once we are we go File/export and in the box name our plant I will call this one Ivy1.obj and click Save.

Now if we need more than one plant, just repeat to grow more ivy as required.

Time to head back to DAZ, I still have the arch loaded and it’s still scaled to 150%. So now for our plant, back to the file menu and select import, this time we go and browse for our Ivy1.obj and import it. What you will see is your untextured ivy on the arch, if you created more than one ivy, go ahead and import them all.

At the same page as the ivy generator you should be able to find the textures for the leaves and the branches, these you will need to apply by hand but once you have done it once I suggest you save it as a material preset “File/Save AS/Material(s) Preset”.

If you don’t fancy ivy but would like something a little more alien then I recommend you get this pack of al-

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ien leaf textures by spacebones over at Sharecg http:// www.sharecg.com/v/5740/favorite/6/Texture/AlienLeaf-for-Ivy-Generator-or-common-use If we look closely at the branches on our ivy you will notice that they are not very rounded so to improve the plant, select it and select “Edit/Object/Geometry/Convert to SubD”.

For the textures on the Stone arch this will depend on which rendering option you are using to work in Iray, firstly I will just apply the Uber base shader then add the LI_Stone_Arch_nmap.jpg to the Normal map channel.

Now we can group our arch model along with our Ivy by selecting them all in the scene view and then going to “Create/New Group” in the dialog box that comes up I will name it “Arch_Complete” ensure Parent selected Item(s) to new group is selected and Click “Accept”.

We can save it to our content library by choosing “File/ Save As/Scene Subset” so we have it for future use.

As I have saved the arch to our content Library I will choose a new scene while we work on the next model, so “File/New”.

I am going to Import the pavers and Grass, this is actually two object files, so we import them individually, the order doesn’t matter. This model comes with 3 texture files, one color map for the grass and a color plus a normal map for the stone paver. Let’s texture the grass first, in the scene view, select the grass then go to your surfaces tab and select the grass; now I will add the Uber base shader as I’m doing Iray. In the base color channel I will select the drop down arrow and choose browse and then load in the “LI_Grass_Color.jpg”, now I suggest turning down the glossy channels as grass isn’t very glossy.

In the scene view I select the pavers, then go to the surfaces tab and select the pavers. Now I add the Uber base shader, in the base color channel I add the LI_paver_color_01.jpg and in the normal map channel I will add the LI_pavers_nmap_01.jpg and again I need to turn down the glossiness.

If you look at the model you will notice that there is no earth below the grass, but we will deal with that later, for now I am going to group our grass and pavers into a single group and then save it to our content library.

Now that paver doesn’t cover much ground; I can hear you thinking you saved it to your library. Just load up some more, now we could do that but each time we load one it uses up some more of our valuable system resources, so instead lets use some instances, these are much more system friendly.

In the scene view select our pavers plus grass group, on the create menu we have two choices “create/new node instance” or “create/new node instances”, the difference between the two is simple one or many. I think I will need 3-4 so I select “create/new node instances” and in the dialog box that comes up for the number of instances I choose 4 and click OK. If you look in the scene view you will see we now have an instances group, if we expand it you will see our four instances. We can select each one and move it into position, we can position rotate and scale each of our instances as required.

Finally, missing earth, this really is an easy fix, “Create/ New Primitive”.

Type: plane Origin: World Center Primary axis: Y Positive Size: 5m Divisions: 1 Click accept

I just need to scale and position it so that it gives me all the earth I need; as for the textures, you can just grab your camera and head outside to photograph a bit of bare earth or you can scour the internet looking for a free earth texture. I will add this earth texture

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to the planes in the same way as I did with the other textures.

Note you can create a normal map for this earth texture if you have Adobe Photoshop with this normal map filter from Nvidia https://developer.nvidia.com/ nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop Finally we can add an hdri from http://www.hdrlabs. com/sibl/archive.html so that we get some real world lighting.

Total cost for our custom environment $0.00.

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UN-TITLED

Bowski

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ARTiST SPOTLIGHT

Fredel

Hello. My name is Frederik, I’ve just turned 28 and I’m the person behind ‘Fredels’. I live in Dusseldorf, Germany, where we have a wonderful and rich art scene, that goes from traditional painting to modern art with everything in between. Unlike a lot of Daz’ers, I’m not too much into fantasy or sci-fi, although I’m using those subjects in my images from time to time.

My cultural orientation would more likely be situated in Photography, Art and also Fashion. Fashion has always had a big impact on me. I have a real passion for the

incredible craftmanship of the french Haute Couture as well as for the many other visionary minds, that create wearble art, although it’s often not wearable at all.

But that is not the point. The point is, that they repeatedly blow my mind and create dresses and shapes and most of all moments, that are so unreal, that they are not from this world. That moment, when you sit there and watch a model, wearing a 3D-printed dress from Iris van Herpen’s Voltage Collection, that looks like a mixture of a Rorschach test and an alienated skeleton and you are just stunned by it. That’s what I’m talk-

“My cultural orientation would more likely be situated in Photography, Art and also Fashion.”

ing about. That moment, when you forget everything around you and the universe shrinks to the size of the moment you’re in.

I guess everyone has such moments, triggered by one thing or the other.

Those moments are my biggest inspiration and also my biggest motivation to create art. I want to share this intense feeling and the things it does with my mind. I actually need to create and share art, otherwise my head would probably explode. It’s like DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 41

someone started a domino effect and I believe there will always be falling dominos in the corners of my mind, until the day I die, as well as i’m constantly on the hunt for those moments.

Before I discovered the Daz- and Poser-Universe, which was round about 5 years ago, I was focussed on Photography. I still adore Photographers like Rankin, Albert Watson and even Karl Lagerfeld (who also makes interesting photos). I loved their style how to portrait someone. So, I had a few little shoots, with friends as models, everything was very improvised.

We had loads of fun and very cool images at the end but it was tedious. You need to make sure, that your model shows up, that you have an assistant, building sets and props, getting equipment, transportation and so on. So every shoot took quite a bit of time to organize, while my imagination kept on running like a rabbit on the hunt. A bit frustrating.

That’s where I remembered a program called ‘Poser’.

My dad gave me Poser 3 when I was young teenager. I had a lovely time with it, posing figures and rendering but the images weren’t that impressive that I would change it for drawing and making photos and I moved on.

So, I looked up Poser and I was stunned by the images it was producíng so I got myself Poser 7.

That was the start of it all. I could now make photoshoots inside the computer in 3D and have great results in a short amount of time! Exactly what my mind was demanding.

I kept on rendering, expanding my knowledge, bought content, learned how to make my own with Blender and was a happy renderholic.

The turning point was when I discovered Blender’s PBR render engine Cycles and that it could be used to render poser scenes with some tricks. So I learned how to do that but it was easier to export those scenes from Daz. As a native Poser user I felt totally lost in Daz but that was ok, since I only had to import a finished poser scene and click on a script to export.

I got more comfortable with Daz with the time and more and more I skipped the poser part completely and made the scenes directly in Daz. Then, after some time, Iray suddenly popped up and I began to like it, so now i’m sitting here, with a pipeline of Daz, Blender, Zbrush and Substance painter with only my imagination as the limit.

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DAZ BOKEH EFFECT

Fredel demonstrates how to get a Bokeh style effect directly within DAZ Studio

Now you will need to adjust the focus with the focal distance and the f stop values so that you only have your models face in focus and your bokeh prop is way out of it, which is exactly what we’re aiming for.

In this short and quick Tutorial, I’m going to show you, how you can create a nice Bokeh-ish effect, to spice up your portraits.

At first you’ll need to download and install the Bokeh prop, I’ve included. It is something like a frame, made out of gemstones, that will be placed between your model and the camera.

Load up the Bokeh prop and place, scale and morph it to your needs, somewhere between the model and the camera, so that it builds a nice frame in your image.

For the materials of the prop, I’ve applied the Car Paint Shader- Midnight Blue and just adjusted a few settings with the metallic flakes. You can apply any shader that you like, but keep in mind, that you have to switch the smooth shading off, to get some pretty reflections.

For this one here, I’ve duplicated the prop, scaled it and changed the color and put it behind the model to increase the effect.

To get desired Bokeh effect it is mandatory, that you turn on the Depth of Field in your Camera settings.

And that’s about it.

Happy Rendering!

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Fredel’s Bokehish Prop

http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/Fredels_DSC_Bokeh_Prop.zip

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Evilyn Chance and The Ure’s Ore Mine Todd Kogutt

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ine DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 47

WAN T

o ensure the continued survival of DS Creative every month we constantly require content: images, tutorials, tips and fave fives, these items are our lifeblood, without them, we will cease to be, so once again I have to ask for your support.

IMAGES

TUTORIA L S

mages, we always need your images, every issue features between 30-40 images, so to say we have a constant need of your artwork is an understatement. we are happy to feature artists from all skill levels from beginners to advanced, getting your artwork featured in DS Creative is showcasing your skills to the world and I do mean the world, DS Creative is a global magazine with readers from Mexico to Japan and almost everywhere in between.

So create your art and email it to us, we can’t guarantee when it will be featured, but we will try to give you your moment to shine as soon as it’s possible.

ords, we need words, so our need for tutorials and tips is endless, If you have some knowledge of DAZ Studio that may be of interest to the other readers of DS Creative, jot it down and send it in, If you have your own website and have tutorials on it, consider sharing them with us and in return we will link to your website, generating possible new traffic for your website, it’s a win - win situation.

I

For the full image terms and conditions you can find them here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/files/ All IMAGE submissions are to be sent to images.dscreative.mag@gmail.com

W

We are happy to feature articles that range from a small tip right up to multi part tutorials that run over several months.

Are you worried that you are not a technical writer, no worries neither are we, but we have people who help to turn our written rambling into nice easy to read articles.

For the full article terms and conditions you can find them here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/files/ Please send your article submissions to articles.dscreative.mag@gmail.com

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NTED FAVE FIVES F

ave Five, we need one of these each month and the good thing about a fave five is that it is easy, here is all you need to do: 1. Look through your content library 2. Pick the five items you can’t live without 3. Write them down (include the store link if you can find it) 4. For each one tell us why you can’t live with out it 5. Take a break, you deserve it 6. Write a short piece about yourself telling us about your love of DAZ Studio 7. Email it to us 8. Relax your done

EXTRAS I

f you have something else you think may be of interest to us and our readers, then get in touch you can email us, our email addresses are on the index page near the front of the mag, if an email is a bit of old hat for you then come and join us at our Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/ dazcreative/, you can even send us a personal message.

What’s most important is we want to hear your ideas, we love knowing that you have had a hand in shaping the DS Creative community.

For the full Fave Five terms and conditions you can find them here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/files/ Please send your Fave Five submissions to articles.dscreative.mag@gmail.com

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The Traveller EsaPesa

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CARTOON RENDERING IN POSTPRODUCTION USING GIMP Cel shading tutorial by Mauro Bisiani.

NOTICE: The following instructions are meant for Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), but they can be easily adapted to other software as well (ex. Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro) This tutorial is meant to help you create images like the one following:

tweaking default values in the DAZ Studio [Render Settings] pane, or by mean of specific plugins or shaders (ex.

Visual Style Shaders from DAZ3D store, by DraagonStorm & TheNathanParable). Using “toon” figures, like the ones that you can buy from DAZ3D, is useful but not a necessary requisite, as rendering engines (3Delight, Iray, Octane, etc.) look at figures as just a collection of geometric primitives. While perfectly good NPR renderings are possible this way, it usually involves a lot of tedious, time-consuming tweaks and adjustments, and making mistakes in the process is easy and frustrating.

A different method relies on post-production methods, namely 2D image filtering techniques. This is often a more viable (and cheap) option. The basic principle is that of producing a “standard” render, and then applying one or more filters to the final image from within a 2D photo editing software, like the Gimp.

Filtering techniques When it comes to digital image processing, there are typically a bunch of different ways through which a desired effect can be achieved. In short, as image filtering is math operations at the core, different (chain of) filters produce the same (or very similar) effect.

The following pictures illustrates that

A bit of history This graphic style (cel shading) is typical of animated movies and comics, both western and Japanese one.

The term “cel shading” comes from the early days of animation, when every frame was hand-drawn onto cels that are celluloid sheets. The most distinctive feature of cel shading is that of color simplification. In 3D context, cel shading is also termed “NPR”, Non-photorealistic Rendering. The following picture set clearly shows the difference between these two rendering styles:

While in photorealistic renderings colors are smoothly shaded over the 3D surfaces, in NPR renderings color transitions are greatly reduced. A typical NPR style employs just two shades of every different color in the image. That is the style we are focusing on in this tutorial.

Rendering VS Filtering You can achieve all sorts of graphic style at render time, 52 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

The picture on the left is obtained through the use of “Threshold” filtering. The picture on the right is obtained through the use of “Contrast” filtering. As you can see, the results have a similar graphic appeal.

Threshold Filtering As cel shading style is based on a reduced number of color shades, threshold filtering is a fast (albeit not so accurate) way of obtaining it in post-production. Since colors in digital medium are represented by integer numbers (typically in the 0-255 range for Red, Green and Blue components), it’s easy to reduce that number using a threshold. That means that every color (color number) in the image that is above or below a specific value will be rendered to white or black, or a specific color (Posterization). Starting with the following image

We choose [Colors] -> [Threshold...]. The default values yield the following result:

shades of colors in photographic renders are not perceived by the eyes). The lower the value: the more radical the changes. This filter is best used as a first step, rather than a final solution, since the final image often looks “degraded” at lower values.

Contrast Filtering One easy, overlooked method of achieving NPR renderings is by mean of the simple “Contrast” filter, common to most graphic software. The way it works is by shifting dark colors in the image towards black, while at the same time shifting light colors in the image towards white. This produces a final image in which intermediate shades of colors are greatly reduced. An example follows:

The sliders in the pop-up menu for the filter relates to the upper and lower threshold value. Changing these

values will produce radically different images, with the same distinctive cartoonish, comic-like features.

To obtain a colored image, we instead apply [Colors] -> Posterize to the original image. The default values yield the following result:

The higher the contrast value selected, the more shades are dropped. Since Contrast is at the core a simple multiplication operation, often it is required to tweak a bit the Brightness setting also, in order to produce a more natural look.

Advanced Techniques More elaborate, precise techniques involve manipulating color curves and channels. These will be the subject of the next tutorial in the series, as they are too complex to discuss them here. Also, for most NPR renderings, a controlled modification of figure edges in the image if often necessary, and that will be the subject of a later, advanced tutorial.

The threshold value in the pop-up menu for the filter relates to the number of overall unique colors to which the image will be reduced (this filter is also useful in reducing image file size, when used carefully, as most

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Forever Young Karisma

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FAVOURITE FIVE Five runtime must haves 01 Wear Them All

http://www.daz3d.com/wear-them-all-autofitting-clones-and-clothingsmoothers-for-genesis-3-female-s

I pretty much cannot live without this first item. Are you like me and have hundreds of V4, Genesis, G2F outfits? No problem, you can use them all with G3F! This package is a dream come true for anybody with a plethora of older content and wanting to use it on the newer figure—just add it and let the auto fit and smoothing scripts take care of the rest. It even lets you use G2M and M4 items for G3F! What’s not to love? I would recommend this to anybody using G3F figures, and kudos goes out to Verica for a fantastic product!

02 SY Front Fixer G3F / Fit Control https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/sy-front-fixer-g3f/110832/

Everybody is familiar with the ‘shrink wrap’ effect some clothing items give your characters.

It is no different with G3F, particularly with older content, and these two items help to prevent such from happening. Although both do similar things, I have found I use them both together regularly and could not live without either of them. For those on a tight budget, SickleYield’s product will help fix the majority of shrink wrap effect around the breasts and crotch area, so I would start with it; however, once you have the money, Zev0 and Discobob’s package will help with all those ‘fine tuning’ changes—particularly with older figure materials which do not conform 100% with your newer G3F model.

03 OOT IrayPair Hair Shaders for DAZ Studio Iray

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/oot-iraypair-hair-shaders-for-dazstudio-iray/110302/

You have a V4 hair items which you can now use with your G3F character, but when you render it via Iray, it looks like straw, right? Or maybe you want blue hair and do not have additional textures of your base hair style? Fret no more! Outoftouch’s hair shaders have worked with every hair product I have tried it upon—whether it has been V3, V4, Genesis, G2F, or even G3F hairs you may want alternate colors for. I know there are several hair shaders out there, but I have yet to have a need for them, as this texture pack (and the expansion) has done all I have wanted and more. For me it is the universal hair dye pack (even though is found under your People | Genesis 2 Female(s) | Hair ‘folder’). I would recommend this to ANYBODY doing Iray renders, as it adds incredible versatility to your model’s hair, regardless of its original design.

Mithoron

My name is Mithoron (although Facebook seems to want to make me William Farrar...and please, if you are going by my real name, use Bill).

I am a security computer consultant and have been using Daz Studio for four years. Originally I became interested in 3D art because I felt bad asking other artist friends to make me gaming avatars, character portraits, and such and them do them for free (Adiene, Rainfeather, you know who you are, LOL). I knew time was money, and so not waste their precious time on my requests; I figured I would try my hand at it. I owe my very beginnings to them and to my mentor Dean Reagan, who taught me not only the basics of Daz Studio, but every bit of knowledge I apply to my renders and who help me out even to this day. Slowly one thing has led to another and here I am.

Most of you know me for my pin-up art—whether it is contemporary, retro, sci-fi, fantasy, or whatever, all my images have a ‘pin-up-esque’ feel to them.

04 Pose Builder Genesis 3 Bundle / V4 Pose Converter for Genesis and Genesis 2 Female(s)

http://www.daz3d.com/pose-builder-genesis-3-bundle and http://www.daz3d.com/v4-pose-converterfor-genesis-and-genesis-2-female-s

I am skirting next to the sun of Phil et al.’s wrath by combining two products (actually, one’s a bundle, so technically it is three, so yay for me the renegade!). Seriously though, these packages go hand-in-hand with each other, so have included them as one. Have old V4 or Genesis or G2F poses you want to use, and yet when you try to apply them to your G3F girl she turns into something even a contortionist would cringe at attempting? These are your answer. There is no V4 to G3F converter, but these items together create that—you have to combine steps: first converting your V4 or Genesis poses to G2F, then using the next script to convert those ‘nowG2F’ poses (or your base G2F poses) to G3F. Voila! All your poses now work with your G3F character! And with the G3F Pose Builder, you can mix and match your poses, or tweak all your newly converted G3F poses into something completely new. What was once a limited field of base poses for your new girl now has expanded to unlimited horizons! I still buy V4 poses now, knowing I can use them with my G3F content.

05 OOT Sexy Studio Lights for DAZ Studio Iray

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/oot-sexy-studio-lights-for-daz-studio-iray/109696/

Another Outoftouch’s product, although there are quite a few light packages for Iray rendering, I find myself going back to this package more than any other. That is not to say any of the other light packages do not work—I have most of the Iray lights and would recommend all of them; however, this is the one which began my adventures with Iray rendering, and I could not live without them.

Combining them, mixing and matching the light sources with each other and other light products, you can pretty much get any type of lighting effect you want, so this is definitely worth the investment, even if you already own several other Iray lights, it is a perfect complement to your content library.

If you would like to submit your favourite five send it to:

articles.dscreative.mag@gmail.com

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Ignis Serpentus

What made you get into 3D modeling and how long have you been active in the craft?

I don’t know, really. I was kind of led to this path in a fateful sort of way. I always say that it chose me... not the other way around. I started doing web development, as it was the path I had chosen. But while building websites requires a certain amount of graphical content, I came across Bryce (and a little later) Poser. 3D totally stole me from web dev (even though I still do web dev, but really only for my own site). Next thing I knew, I was trying to make content. Next thing I knew, 5 years went by, and then another, and bam... here we are. I’ve actually been an artist most of my life (sketching, painting and calligraphy, and I was a tattooist as well, for a time) but only in the digital and 3D realm for the last 11-12 years. And now, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I guess it was destiny.

Where would say you draw your inspiration from?

There’s not any one place. Inspiration sort of hits me randomly, as if there’s an invisible force whispering in my ear.

But I do have a penchant for darkness, the supernatural and the macabre, so I would name those as my most prominent inspirations. As anyone can see, I’m very war-centric as well. So to sum it up, basically: erotic, exotic and a little psychotic, lol. But I’m also kind of a mad scientist... so you can never really tell where I’ll go next. Though, I think it’s pretty safe to say you’ll never see an everyday set or anything too fluff and stuff coming from me.

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Which program(s) do you create your textures in?

I use a combination of programs (whichever can get the job done). My toolset is typically Silo, ZBrush, Photoshop, Cinema4D/Bodypaint, UVLayout and of course, DAZ Studio.

Typically how long does it take from initial idea to finished model?

It really depends on the size of the set. As I normally do large ones, those take typically 1-2 months upward to even 5 months (though, that long is really rare-and something I definitely don’t like to make habitual).

A smaller scaled set (i.e.: just an outfit) usually only takes a month. I have done smaller sets, which took even less time... but they are a rarity for me.

“Ideas are sort of manifested on a moments notice and comes down to whatever tickles me at the time ”

What is your favorite subject to model?

As previously mentioned, I’m a bit dark. I’m kind of an odd gal, as I’m not your typical “awww puppies are cuuuute!!” girly girl. I am most intrigued by dangerous creatures, such as (but not limited to) snakes, spiders and scorpions or even giant worms (not to mention skulls and bones). So those are probably my favourite things to model and incorporate into sets. I have a natural affinity with organics in general, as well as armour and weaponry, so those are also regulars in my wheelhouse.

I also like to make stuff glow in the dark, as anyone can plainly see. If it’s arcane, and magical with glowing special effects, it’s probably in my store, too. However, I think its most fun to do something you haven’t yet broached, just to see if you can do it (whether it’s something small, or something a lot bigger and notorious).

So, in that sense, there’s always something like that in every set I do. I try to set my own bar, and then crush it.... it’s a fun game.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone, who is just starting out creating models for Daz Studio?

Take it one step at a time, keep practicing and getting better gradually. Push your boundaries every day, and never get complacent. But most of all, you have to believe in yourself... your art... your vision. Because in the end, you have to satisfy your own creative drives and sense of accomplishment. There will be those who “get it” and those who don’t... but don’t let the latter dissuade you.

If you could add one new feature to daz studio, what would it be?

A morphing brush tool, similar to how ZBrush works. I guess with GoZ, it’s kind of redundant, though. Beyond that, I can’t honestly think of much that it needs at this point. DAZ has done such an awesome job with making things simplistically utilized and all-inclusive. It’s just a really intelligent app.

What is the biggest challenge for you when creating a new product?

Staying on task is probably the hardest for me. I have the attention span of a gnat. It starts out great, and I’m full of motivation... but halfway through, I often start getting the itch to do something else (which I’ve affectionately dubbed “oooh, sparkly syndrome”). But that very thing also, oddly enough, helps me stay on task, because I won’t allow myself to do it until the current is done. The other challenge, would be keeping packs small, lol. Another type of oooh sparkly syndrome. They always turn into beasts, because I can’t help myself... this or that would make it “that” much cooler.

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Which 3 vendors would you say are your personal favorites?

There are so many great vendors in the 3D community, so much that it’s hard to choose favourites. I am quite random about buying stuff, I pretty much do it on impulse - whatever gives me that oooooh! Feeling or whatever fits my vision at the time. So, I’m a bit all over the place there. But I love to support my friends, and try to do so not just by buying their stuff, but also in my promo images as much as I can. It’s kind of a thing with me.

How does it make you feel when you see the final artwork created with your products?

I love looking at other people’s images. I love seeing different ideas, styles and perspectives. I’m often impressed when someone uses it in a way I never thought of... and it gives me a great amount of happiness knowing people enjoy the stuff I make. You can do this job for money, and don’t get me wrong... money is great and all. But I think it’s more fulfilling when something you made inspires other people and they love it.

Can you give us a hint of what is to come?

If I told you, I’d have to kill you lol just kidding. Really, I’m a fairly impulsive person... so ideas (while I have a very long list) are sort of manifested on a moment’s notice and comes down to whatever tickles me at the time (I am very changeable, so saying I’m going to do this next rarely happens to be that thing when the time finally comes). I can say that there will be more Dark Apocalypse, Divinity sets from different pantheons of mythology and Comic Book type characters on the roster. And maybe even some different stuff I’ve never done before... you know... just to see if I can do it ;)

Where can we find your content to buy? http://www.daz3d.com/ignisserpentus

58 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/SerpentFangDagger.zip free bonus Iray addon

http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/Serpent_Fang_Iray_Addon.zip DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 59

60 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

Behind Mask the

“Nothing is more real than the masks we make to show each other who we are.”

Christopher Barzak

Masks allow us to hide our true identity from others, they can be playful, joyful, sorrowful or downright crazy and psychotic.

So for this March competition, we want to see your characters hiding their identity and presenting a different persona.

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 March-16 For full prize Information and for full term’s and conditions visit our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dazcreative/ DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 61

The library that didn’t remove the books.

By Totte Alm

Once upon a time, someone decided to build a library to help a special group of peoples speaking a special language, Poserish.

The books were not just placed on shelves, but put into drawers to protect them against list and sun. Lots of communities built libraries, and they all followed the same basic design.

Shelves named Figures, Props, Pose, Material etc, and although it wasn’t very easy to find the books you were looking for, the Poserish speaking people quickly learned.

Some libraries built different sections, one for fantasy, one for Sci-Fi etc, and they were all then internally sorted the same way as the original Poserish library. The people were pleased with this. Later on, a new group of people came to the libraries. They did not only speak Poserish, but a new language, called Dazish. To make it easy for these multi lingual citizens, the libraries built a library inside the library, just with books in Dazish, much like a “store in a store concept”. The Poserish speak-

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ing at first didn’t like finding shelves with books in Dazish in the library, as they could not read the language, but they didn’t make too much fuzz about it.

The Dazish library grew and they did now have their same stringent sorting by a few predefined shelves, so every author could come up with a new shelf name. This grows and after a while it became difficult to find the books on Dazish, even though there were in a separate section in the library. Some authors also wrote books in both languages, and placed their books in Dazish in the same drawers and the books in Poserish in the Poserish section, but the managed to make the books invisible the Poserish speaking people, otherwise the Poserish speakers would have gone berserk, finding unreadable books in the library.

Now Poserish authors began writing in a new and modern Poserish language that was only taught to the young people, a dialect of Poserish that the Dazish speaking people could not understand.

Time passed, and from time to the libraries rebuilt the lobby to be able to serve the client better and better. The Libraries had two different lobbies, one for the Dazish people and one for the Poserish people, as those different tribes grew more and more different from each other with each generation.

One day the libraries decided to help the Dazish speaking people to better find the books they were looking for, but building a big index card search system. This system was good, but it took a long time before all books were in the index. Now the Dazish speaking could go to the front desk and say “Hey - I’m interested on books about fantasy axes”, and the librarian looked in the index and could after a short time say “Yes, that’s Isle 42, Shelf 19, drawer 11B, have a nice day”.

After a while, they introduced self service and the Dazish people could now search for the selves. Some people liked the index, others knew the self system better, and both systems worked side by side, and everyone was happy, and the tea and biscuits severed was tasty too.

Now, the library hired a construction company to redesign the lobby, give it a major overhaul.

After some work, the new and improved lobby was opened, but people started to complain.

“Hey, the construction company threw away all the books” and “All the books are gone”. Other Dazish speaking people was worried about this.

How could they throw away all the books just like that?

The library manager started to look at the visitors as they were worried, and about on in hundred did as they always did when they came to the lobby, took the second door from the right which before went to the library, but now, after the redesign, went into the rest rooms. They looked around in horror at the while naked walls screaming “They have removed all the books!”

The staff was told to help people read the signs and they put red tape on the floor leading to the third door, where the library was, but every day, at least one person walked the old well known route to the second door and yelled “The have removed all books!”

Other people who used the index card system, and written down which card box they should look in, but as the library also updated the index card system, then they tried to find the box they were looking for, it wasn’t there, so they started to yell “They have removed all the books!”. Once again the managers had to try to figure out where all these “They have removed all the books” posters being posted on the bus station in the town came from, as they knew they hadn’t removed a single book, but still people were writing bitter sour personals in the local Gazette about “the rude library management that removed all the books”.

The circus continued, and every time the Library did changes, people started getting lost, didn’t find what they were looking for, and every time a group of people started to yell “They have removed all the books!” But the books was there, they were there all the time, but people are people and if the door you went to yesterday doesn’t lead to the library but to the lavatory, the majority of the visitors said “opps, wrong door”, but a small portion of the visitors screamed they have removed all the books!

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GALLERY

I present you my world Astuce Man

A Sci-Fi Room ii Gran22 The Wreck Fantail451

I present you my world 64 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

A Sci-Fi Room II

The Wreck

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 65

GALLERY

Mr Winter 2015 Vittorio Gagliano Temptation Ginger Lee McKee HiddenShack Seliah

Mr Winter 2015 66 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

Temptation

Hidden Shack

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GALLERY

Koris Adventure Kenda Flurry

Eden Clarke

defeated hero Markus Ba

Koris Adventure 68 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

FLURRY

defeated hero

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GALLERY

Winter Blues Eric A. “Blacjac” Carr Japan Girl 4 LaMuserie Welcome Mithoron

Winter Blues

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Japan Girl 4

Welcome

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GALLERY

Farmer Wants a Wife Andreas Schwietzke CONTEMPLATING John Kosiorek

Farmer Wants a Wife

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CONTEMPLATING

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GALLERY

Last Stop to Nowhere Sonja McClung DINO HUNTER Maniacmayo May Sacred Linwelly

Last Stop to Nowhere

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Dino Hunter

Sacred DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 75

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 76 • March 2016 • 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.

DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 77

CONTRIBUTORS Every to to

DS Creative needs a small army of people help make it happen, so to those people who helped make issue 21, A very big Thank You. month

The DS Creative Team

78 • March 2016 • DS CREATIVE

TutorialS

Mithoron Philip Thompson Fredel Mauro Bisiani

Free GiftS Collective3D Fredels Ignis Serpentis

Comic Strip Brent Bowers

THE TEAM Camilla Drakenborg Phil Thompson Totte Alm Jamie Somers Matt Allgood Sanyel Jackson Bobbie Brundon Jeffrey Samir Rouabhi Deleuze

CONTRIBUTORS

Adrian Schmit Andreas Schwietzke AstuceMan Bellatryx Noir Bowski Brent Bowers Bronze Dragon Charlie McDonald Daniel Wright Eden Clarke Eric A Carr EsaPesa Fantail 451 Garrett Miller Ginger Lee McKee Gran22 John Kosiorek Karisma Kenda Ktoya LaMuserie Linwelly Maniacmayo May Marcius Hess Mario Heyer Markus Ba Michael Klink Mithoron Phil Thompson R.p. Callahan Rian Bergwerff Robert Veith Seliah Keller Sister of Darkness Sonja McClung Todd Kogutt Totte Alm Victor Strickland Vittorio Gagliano DS CREATIVE • March 2016 • 79

All this server power and I still can’t connect to Issuu.com for this months DS Creative

DS Creative Issue 22 • 1st April 2016

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Artwork by Phil Thompson