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Honing my skills

MGMOZMGMOZ Posts: 101
in The Commons

I really seem to need to learn more on basic skills with Shaping, Shading & Surfaces.

Can anyone suggest where I can get some basic but extensive help on this? 

The video tutorials seem to presume some basics that I haven't yet mastered, ...I think. Or the videos are using an earlier version of DAZ Studio software and the sequences shown in the tuts don't always relate to what I have available on the version 4.8 screen display layout. Or they are working with a different workspace layout that I have yet to discover.

Yes, I know the User Guide is where I should be refering but I am getting lost trying to find the info I need in there. Do I need to be more patient with the User Guide?

I am more that a little frustrated & would welcome some help.

Cheers.

Comments

  • daveleitzdaveleitz Posts: 459

    Is there something specific that you have a problem with?  Those of us who have gotten past the learning curve probably can't remember how it felt to use DAZ Studio for the first time.  To be honest, I never used the Guide.  Between my own fumbling around and information gleaned from forum posts, I gradually figured things out.  I also don't use the "beginner" interface anymore, so it's not easy to relate to questions regarding how to use that setup. 

    My own workflow usually involves just opening Smart Content and dragging a figure from there onto the 3d viewport.  From there I may then go to the Shaping tab and adjust my character to have features that I want for a particular scene.  Then I may go to the Posing tab and find a pose preset that looks close to what my figure is supposed to be doing in my scene.  At this point, I may decide on Wardrobe and Hair from items in my Smart Content.  Finally, I open the Lighting tab and pick a preset that gives me a starting point for setting up a render.  And that's just one possible workflow.  I may use Surfaces when I think that something in my test renders just doesn't look right.

  • Jan19Jan19 Posts: 1,109
    edited October 2015

    My 2 cents, for what it's worth.  :-)

    Shaping is changing the features of your figure/character.  Not the same as Posing, but some presets (smile) might be classified as either Shaping or Posing.

    Shaders -- a way to add a new texture (cloth pattern maybe) to clothing or whatever. 

    Surface -- the part of the clothing (or any figure/prop/light) that you want to change from base texture to another texture.  "Sleeves," for example, might be a Surface.

    If I'm off track, more expert folks, please correct me!  It is daunting, getting started with all this.  I bounce from program to program, and now I'm back to DS, so I had to re-learn some things, also.

    Post edited by Jan19 on
  • MGMOZMGMOZ Posts: 101

    Thanks for your input, Daveleitz & Jan 19.

    I think I'm just trying to run before I can walk if you know what I mean!

    My immediate frustration is trying to make the beard in the attached picture look more realistic. I'm fairly happy with the rest of the image but don't understand how to adjust the parameters of the beard. There are so many adjustments available and I'm trying to learn them by trial & error but I'm stumped right now and need some guidance.

    At present, my computer is slow in render my images which makes the 'trial & error' way very time consuming.

    Realistic water is another challenge I'm working on as well!

    Cheers.

    In The Alley small.png
    640 x 640 - 706K
  • MGMOZMGMOZ Posts: 101
    edited October 2015

    The 'water' image

    Fun In The Sun SPLASH small.png
    640 x 640 - 1015K
    Post edited by MGMOZ on
  • scorpioscorpio Posts: 8,533

    What are you rendering in 3delight or Iray?

    What lights are you using?

  • daveleitzdaveleitz Posts: 459

    Looks to me like you're using Iray, since those images are quite grainy.  I can't really give you much advice there, but you can look through some of the threads where that is discussed and ask questions.

  • MGMOZMGMOZ Posts: 101

    Rendering is in Iray. The water one is only partly rendered. Didn't let it complete because of the water issue.

    I used a sphere as Emissive shader as my light source (sun) Emission Temporature 6500k, Luminance: 400000 kcdm^2. Works really well.

    Cheers, thanks for your input

  • Jan19Jan19 Posts: 1,109

    A lot of the fun of IRay, for me, is playing with HDRI environments and lights.  :-)  You can get so many looks from one character, and one scene.  The possibilities are endless.

    I haven't done a lot with the Sun light source, just used the environment maps and add on lights.  That's keeping me busy and happy.  :-) 

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