New artist looking to develop environments and props for Daz, any ideas?

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  • Do you think we all scared Scott off? He hasn't posted anywhere else, yet.

    @scott_lozano come on out and join the madness! We don't bite (much)!

    I just didn't check the thread for 24 hours lol figured id only get one or two responses tops. Also, my posts take 2 to 3 hours to be approved atm since im new I think. 

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634

    Since you use Substance making a clean and a dirty version is simple enough and it would tempt both camps to purchase. I also have to agree with others that you need to standout in a crowd by doing stuff that isn't in the store already. You have got the skills, skills I wish I had. :P 

  • tj_1ca9500btj_1ca9500b Posts: 2,057
    edited March 2019

    Hey guys, I didn't expect to get so many replies! Thanks so much for all of your input!

    A couple people asked for some examples of my work so heres a link to my artstation https://www.artstation.com/scottlozano I don't have any environment sets up there atm but I do have a few game resolution assets that ive made. So you can get an idea of how I texture stuff. They each have a marmoset viewer attached so if you'd like to move them around you can.

    @Laurie/Alienart are you talking about the general texture quality of sets being too clean? Would it be a good selling point for you if each model/prop had two texture sets that you could choose to load in? A clean version and then a worn/damaged? That would be a fairly easy addition to any project since I would just have to add on a little bit more texture time for dirtying them up.

    A few other people were talking about making sure the models are built to be efficient inside of daz. Would having something like LODS (Levels of detail) help you guys with render times? It's fully possible to quickly build out 4-5 levels of detail for a prop in a short amount of time if that would be needed. Also, if one of yall could name a polygon count where things start getting slow for you that would be great, because I could take that into consideration when modelling things.

    @ tj_1ca9500b So in your example with the couch would it have been better to have say each cushion able to be loaded separately so you can adjust them to your liking? Would you want them to load in as separate objects that you would need to move into place or would it be better to have versions of the main asset that would have variations in height for say the back cushions?

    Thanks again for all your thoughts! Ive taken down a bunch of notes and ill check the thread again in the morning.

    - Scott

    You asked about models being efficient inside of Daz, which made me think of one other thing, which my previous thoughts would still apply to.  Sometimes (rarely) models made for both Daz and Poser aren't scaled properly for Daz, so you end up rescaling them (this is similar to my previous point, where things aren't scaled properly to figures, but I'm talking scaling in general here).  When importing obj's, this is expected, but if your target audience is Daz users, yeah do try to figure out the proper import scale, and at least share that in your readme documentation, if you are doing the .obj thing.  If you can make it Daz native though; i.e reference the .obj in a duf or whatever so we don't have to import, just load the .duf, that's better of course.

    As for the level of detail thing, yeah if you don't mind doing the extra work, doing multiple texture sets for say hi res, medium res, and low res is appreciated, as long as they are labeled as such so that it's clear that's what you've done.  Also, Iray texture versions as well as 3Delight texture versions is appreciated, but with furniture and environments at least, there's always the Iray Uber base shader that you can apply after the fact if you provide 3Delight friendly textures as your default. 

    Another thought r.e. textures.  If you set up your material zones to make them 'Daz Shader friendly', that's another nice touch.  I.E. a number of models share the same texture map for multiple surfaces, which makes use of custom shaders a bit more problematic.  Sure, the 'unified' texture map is probably less resource intensive, but if say someone wants to change out the cushion pattern for another pattern they have in their shader set, well you get the idea here.  Sometimes you can just adjust the tiling if a unified texture map is in use, but in other cases, yeah you may end up rebuilding the texture map if you can't get the tiling and offsets dialed in to work with the custom textures, i.e. if irregular shapes in the texture maps are messing with your brain.

    Anyways, to your cushion question.  I was referring more to things like beds being welded to walls (hence not movable or easily removed), but yeah if you don't mind making the cushions separate, that's nice sometimes.  The pillows that you often find with couch models on the other hand, yeah if those are separate models, that is much more helpful.  That way you can adjust them to your liking.  This would also apply to things like bedspreads and such.  If they are 'welded' to the bed, not as many options - hopefully they have their own material zone at least so a person can hide them if they need to.  The idea here is to give the end user more flexibility, within reason of course.

    If a couch is sectional, designing it as separate pieces for each section is also helpful.  An 'L' shaped couch is less useful if it's one piece, but if it is in 2 or 3 parts, yeah the people can mix things up a bit.  If you want to go overboard, making the armrests as separate pieces, so you can position them at the ends of say 4 or 5 sections put together, yeah some people might like that.  Just have a 'pre-posed' .duf option with the ends attached if you decide to go crazy here, so that people that don't want to be bothered can just load the couch with armrests already positioned.  In this instance, the armrests would have the couch section as their parent.

    That should give you a few ideas.  Of course, you need to balance options with the amount of time you are willing to invest in any particular model, but if it won't take that long to add a bit more flexibility, it's definitely worth looking into at least.

     

     

    Post edited by tj_1ca9500b on
  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,686

    Love the flame thrower and axe, Scott! Personally, I welcome content creators coming from a game asset creation background (and an efficient use of resources).

    Your characters look fun, too. One suggestion I would make is to to try to utilize the Genesis base figures as much as possible in order to "add to the gene pool" (as opposed to creating new stand alone characters). I know it's not always possible, but being able to dial in various amounts of different morphs on the same base figure is one of the most powerful features of DS and adds to the value of a character greatly, IMHO.

    Look forward to seeing what you come up with - cheers!

    - Greg

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    edited March 2019

    Hey guys, I didn't expect to get so many replies! Thanks so much for all of your input!

    A couple people asked for some examples of my work so heres a link to my artstation https://www.artstation.com/scottlozano I don't have any environment sets up there atm but I do have a few game resolution assets that ive made. So you can get an idea of how I texture stuff. They each have a marmoset viewer attached so if you'd like to move them around you can.

    @Laurie/Alienart are you talking about the general texture quality of sets being too clean? Would it be a good selling point for you if each model/prop had two texture sets that you could choose to load in? A clean version and then a worn/damaged? That would be a fairly easy addition to any project since I would just have to add on a little bit more texture time for dirtying them up.

    A few other people were talking about making sure the models are built to be efficient inside of daz. Would having something like LODS (Levels of detail) help you guys with render times? It's fully possible to quickly build out 4-5 levels of detail for a prop in a short amount of time if that would be needed. Also, if one of yall could name a polygon count where things start getting slow for you that would be great, because I could take that into consideration when modelling things.

    @ tj_1ca9500b So in your example with the couch would it have been better to have say each cushion able to be loaded separately so you can adjust them to your liking? Would you want them to load in as separate objects that you would need to move into place or would it be better to have versions of the main asset that would have variations in height for say the back cushions?

    Thanks again for all your thoughts! Ive taken down a bunch of notes and ill check the thread again in the morning.

    - Scott

     

     

     

     

    I didn't mean necessarily worn/damaged per se....but a lot of sets have absolutely clean textures. Rooms with pristine walls and ceilings, bricks, sidewalks. The world isn't like that. There's cracks, incidental scuff marks, slightly dirter spots and darker spots. Just the stuff you'd see every day. Even a squeaky clean house has the odd light stain on the ceiling, hairline cracks, scratches on the floor, etc ;). Don't get me wrong - I love derelict stuff too, but that wasn't really what I meant this time. LOL. I just mean textures that look like the buildings have people living in them. Not like the construction crew JUST left. LOL.

    Laurie

     

    Post edited by AllenArt on
  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,112

    Looking at your artstation, I'd LOVE to see mid size mecha in the store.

     

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 42,244
    AllenArt said:

    Hey guys, I didn't expect to get so many replies! Thanks so much for all of your input!

    A couple people asked for some examples of my work so heres a link to my artstation https://www.artstation.com/scottlozano I don't have any environment sets up there atm but I do have a few game resolution assets that ive made. So you can get an idea of how I texture stuff. They each have a marmoset viewer attached so if you'd like to move them around you can.

    @Laurie/Alienart are you talking about the general texture quality of sets being too clean? Would it be a good selling point for you if each model/prop had two texture sets that you could choose to load in? A clean version and then a worn/damaged? That would be a fairly easy addition to any project since I would just have to add on a little bit more texture time for dirtying them up.

    A few other people were talking about making sure the models are built to be efficient inside of daz. Would having something like LODS (Levels of detail) help you guys with render times? It's fully possible to quickly build out 4-5 levels of detail for a prop in a short amount of time if that would be needed. Also, if one of yall could name a polygon count where things start getting slow for you that would be great, because I could take that into consideration when modelling things.

    @ tj_1ca9500b So in your example with the couch would it have been better to have say each cushion able to be loaded separately so you can adjust them to your liking? Would you want them to load in as separate objects that you would need to move into place or would it be better to have versions of the main asset that would have variations in height for say the back cushions?

    Thanks again for all your thoughts! Ive taken down a bunch of notes and ill check the thread again in the morning.

    - Scott

     

     

     

     

    I didn't mean necessarily worn/damaged per se....but a lot of sets have absolutely clean textures. Rooms with pristine walls and ceilings, bricks, sidewalks. The world isn't like that. There's cracks, incidental scuff marks, slightly dirter spots and darker spots. Just the stuff you'd see every day. Even a squeaky clean house has the odd light stain on the ceiling, hairline cracks, scratches on the floor, etc ;). Don't get me wrong - I love derelict stuff too, but that wasn't really what I meant this time. LOL. I just mean textures that look like the buildings have people living in them. Not like the construction crew JUST left. LOL.

    Laurie

     

    ...yeah I have that trouble with urban scenes.  Streets so clean you could eat off them.  That is why my scenes tend to get so "large" at times because I end up having to make the setting look "lived in". Wish there were good overlays like oil stains and tyre skid marks in the street, worn concrete, blacktop, and road markings, worn and/or chipped paint on buildings and other items, cracked bricks/pavement, weathered window frames, scuffed bottoms of doors, etc.  

  • scott_lozanoscott_lozano Posts: 17
    edited March 2019

    @kyoto kid

    That got me to thinking about something I use from time to time in game environments. What about decals? I have built decals before for all kinds of dirt/wear, etc. that can be laid over top of a model to add some texture variation. They are basically just like a grunge pattern on a plane that you would load in and lay over top of whatever model you wanted to add some variation to. This technique doesn't really work for characters so that's a no go. In your example with the urban street scene, think of something like a set with say 12 potholes that you could load in and set just above the surface. The same thing can be done for something like leak marks running down the side of a wall. You can load in a low poly 1x1 plane and just lay it over the part of the wall where you want the effect. They also would have a fair amount of alpha fall off, so you can overlap them and dupilcate them over and over if you need to fill in an area.

    Would a wide ranging set of environment decals be of use to everyone? It's something that I could definitely develop over time.

     

    Post edited by scott_lozano on
  • backgroundbackground Posts: 861

    If you are going for a worn look, please make it subtle. One thing worse than clean items, is every time you see it it has obvious marks/stains/tears in exactly the same places.

  • @kyoto kid

    That got me to thinking about something I use from time to time in game environments. What about decals? I have built decals before for all kinds of dirt/wear, etc. that can be laid over top of a model to add some texture variation. They are basically just like a grunge pattern on a plane that you would load in and lay over top of whatever model you wanted to add some variation to. This technique doesn't really work for characters so that's a no go. In your example with the urban street scene, think of something like a set with say 12 potholes that you could load in and set just above the surface. The same thing can be done for something like leak marks running down the side of a wall. You can load in a low poly 1x1 plane and just lay it over the part of the wall where you want the effect. They also would have a fair amount of alpha fall off, so you can overlap them and dupilcate them over and over if you need to fill in an area.

    Would a wide ranging set of environment decals be of use to everyone? It's something that I could definitely develop over time.

     

    I think this would be a great idea; a set for walls/internal surfaces, a set for roads/external buildings... could you make 'potholes' for ground/grass surfaces, too?  Burn/scorch marks?

  • FSMCDesignsFSMCDesigns Posts: 12,855
    kyoto kid said:
    AllenArt said:

    Hey guys, I didn't expect to get so many replies! Thanks so much for all of your input!

    A couple people asked for some examples of my work so heres a link to my artstation https://www.artstation.com/scottlozano I don't have any environment sets up there atm but I do have a few game resolution assets that ive made. So you can get an idea of how I texture stuff. They each have a marmoset viewer attached so if you'd like to move them around you can.

    @Laurie/Alienart are you talking about the general texture quality of sets being too clean? Would it be a good selling point for you if each model/prop had two texture sets that you could choose to load in? A clean version and then a worn/damaged? That would be a fairly easy addition to any project since I would just have to add on a little bit more texture time for dirtying them up.

    A few other people were talking about making sure the models are built to be efficient inside of daz. Would having something like LODS (Levels of detail) help you guys with render times? It's fully possible to quickly build out 4-5 levels of detail for a prop in a short amount of time if that would be needed. Also, if one of yall could name a polygon count where things start getting slow for you that would be great, because I could take that into consideration when modelling things.

    @ tj_1ca9500b So in your example with the couch would it have been better to have say each cushion able to be loaded separately so you can adjust them to your liking? Would you want them to load in as separate objects that you would need to move into place or would it be better to have versions of the main asset that would have variations in height for say the back cushions?

    Thanks again for all your thoughts! Ive taken down a bunch of notes and ill check the thread again in the morning.

    - Scott

     

     

     

     

    I didn't mean necessarily worn/damaged per se....but a lot of sets have absolutely clean textures. Rooms with pristine walls and ceilings, bricks, sidewalks. The world isn't like that. There's cracks, incidental scuff marks, slightly dirter spots and darker spots. Just the stuff you'd see every day. Even a squeaky clean house has the odd light stain on the ceiling, hairline cracks, scratches on the floor, etc ;). Don't get me wrong - I love derelict stuff too, but that wasn't really what I meant this time. LOL. I just mean textures that look like the buildings have people living in them. Not like the construction crew JUST left. LOL.

    Laurie

     

    ...yeah I have that trouble with urban scenes.  Streets so clean you could eat off them.  That is why my scenes tend to get so "large" at times because I end up having to make the setting look "lived in". Wish there were good overlays like oil stains and tyre skid marks in the street, worn concrete, blacktop, and road markings, worn and/or chipped paint on buildings and other items, cracked bricks/pavement, weathered window frames, scuffed bottoms of doors, etc.  

    here is the product for you https://www.daz3d.com/environment-blend-shader

     

  • kyoto kid said:
     

    here is the product for you https://www.daz3d.com/environment-blend-shader

     

    :-P  It's iray. 

  • SummerhorseSummerhorse Posts: 684

    I'd buy the celtic axe and shield you have on your website in a heartbeat! If you start small to test the waters, how about some detailed weapons?

  • I'd like to suggest more everyday items.

    - variety of cell phones, tablets and laptops. 

    - coffee cups and mugs of all sizes. 

    - bags and backpacks. I'm a teacher and the variety of things kids carry their gear in is amazing. 

    Things like these might be good starting points. Thanks for listening! 

  • FSMCDesignsFSMCDesigns Posts: 12,855
    kyoto kid said:
     

    here is the product for you https://www.daz3d.com/environment-blend-shader

     

    :-P  It's iray. 

    I never use 3DL, so I never notice if products work in 3DL.

  • CbirdCbird Posts: 493

    Thank you for asking us!

    If the 1950s diner idea means you have an interest in that era, more places to go would be great.

    A 1950s street of shop fronts

    An office a little more upscale than the down on his luck detective

    an alley circa 1950 (garbage, etc for that era)

    A 1940s/1950s dockyard (good for ww2 fans, and film noir fans)

    I'd personally love the Roman stuff, particularly not in ruins:

    Roman interiors for different classes of society

     

    For all architecture, scaling to Daz figures is really, really helpful

    I think the "ooo, that would be fun to work on" response would not only make life easier, but comes through in the final product too.

     

  • And I never use iray, so I notice when it isn't 3DL :-D

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 18,863

    I'd buy the celtic axe and shield you have on your website in a heartbeat! If you start small to test the waters, how about some detailed weapons?

    More than that, I'd buy a large themed set of that style Celtic Knotwork decal presets / L.I.E. presets, both in relief and flat and both with assignable surfaces, for use as tatoos and addition to walls and similar uses. 

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 42,244
    kyoto kid said:
    AllenArt said:

    Hey guys, I didn't expect to get so many replies! Thanks so much for all of your input!

    A couple people asked for some examples of my work so heres a link to my artstation https://www.artstation.com/scottlozano I don't have any environment sets up there atm but I do have a few game resolution assets that ive made. So you can get an idea of how I texture stuff. They each have a marmoset viewer attached so if you'd like to move them around you can.

    @Laurie/Alienart are you talking about the general texture quality of sets being too clean? Would it be a good selling point for you if each model/prop had two texture sets that you could choose to load in? A clean version and then a worn/damaged? That would be a fairly easy addition to any project since I would just have to add on a little bit more texture time for dirtying them up.

    A few other people were talking about making sure the models are built to be efficient inside of daz. Would having something like LODS (Levels of detail) help you guys with render times? It's fully possible to quickly build out 4-5 levels of detail for a prop in a short amount of time if that would be needed. Also, if one of yall could name a polygon count where things start getting slow for you that would be great, because I could take that into consideration when modelling things.

    @ tj_1ca9500b So in your example with the couch would it have been better to have say each cushion able to be loaded separately so you can adjust them to your liking? Would you want them to load in as separate objects that you would need to move into place or would it be better to have versions of the main asset that would have variations in height for say the back cushions?

    Thanks again for all your thoughts! Ive taken down a bunch of notes and ill check the thread again in the morning.

    - Scott

     

     

     

     

    I didn't mean necessarily worn/damaged per se....but a lot of sets have absolutely clean textures. Rooms with pristine walls and ceilings, bricks, sidewalks. The world isn't like that. There's cracks, incidental scuff marks, slightly dirter spots and darker spots. Just the stuff you'd see every day. Even a squeaky clean house has the odd light stain on the ceiling, hairline cracks, scratches on the floor, etc ;). Don't get me wrong - I love derelict stuff too, but that wasn't really what I meant this time. LOL. I just mean textures that look like the buildings have people living in them. Not like the construction crew JUST left. LOL.

    Laurie

     

    ...yeah I have that trouble with urban scenes.  Streets so clean you could eat off them.  That is why my scenes tend to get so "large" at times because I end up having to make the setting look "lived in". Wish there were good overlays like oil stains and tyre skid marks in the street, worn concrete, blacktop, and road markings, worn and/or chipped paint on buildings and other items, cracked bricks/pavement, weathered window frames, scuffed bottoms of doors, etc.  

    here is the product for you https://www.daz3d.com/environment-blend-shader

     

    ..those are good as logn as one doesn run into reptitive tiling on large surfaces, however would also like to see oil stains and wear from vehicles on streets.

      

  • Course, for those sorts of oil stains, one CAN cheat by laying down a plane-prim and applying a made oilstain image on alpha onto it.  But yeah, would be handier if someone had already made them for you.

    The thing I'd like to see is more variety of kids toys to use as floor clutter, end-table clutter, and stuff.  And I'm talking here more along the lines of what an Elementary-school-aged kid would have rather than what a toddler or preschooler might have, though more of those would be useful, too.  I've seen bazillions of teddybears and other plushies, and also seen lots of wooden toy trains, but I kind of would like to see more unusual sorts of toys like, say, cartoony-looking toy cars, rockets, hovercraft.... but also stuff like board games, kids card-games (i.e. Old Maid, Go Fish, match-the-symbol card sets, etc etc), etch-a-sketch, various sorts of electronic educational games similar to Speak N Spell, etc.   But also stuff like those house-interior and building-interior playsets kids put action-figures into. True, a lot of times one can take a full size object, a car for instance, shrink that down, replace the shaders with plasticky ones and it becomes a toy, but it would be more convenient to just pluck a ready-made toy-car out of Content Library and carry on with kitting out the rest of the scene.

  • MalawolfMalawolf Posts: 41
    edited March 2019

    If your looking at props, how about a nice looking keytar and the iconic 80s hexagonal drum sets.  Can't find these anywhere; at least in decent quality.  

    roland-ax-synth-featured.jpg
    599 x 396 - 62K
    simmons.jpg
    400 x 309 - 21K
    Post edited by Malawolf on
  • 3anson3anson Posts: 314

    @ Scott_Lozano   a very important thing to remember is to have a figure as reference in any set that you create in your modeller.

    also, make a note on which import/export scale you intend to use ( for bringing your objects into Daz Studio )  pick ONE scale and stick to it *wink*

    personally i use Modo and Zbrush mainly, and Zbrush exports obj at Modo scale, so thats the one i use constantly.

    it doesn't really matter what scaling you work with, but you need to be consistent with it.

    i wish you much luck and success in your endeavours!!

  • IceScribeIceScribe Posts: 694

    construction sites with various depth holes

    craters large and small, with realistic walls

    Abyss or deep cleft that can be tracked through by camera, lights

    volcano dormant with steam, sulfur cliffs, vents with steam and glow

    crop circles different kinds of forms

    Nazca type land images on ground, see from above and eye level

    mounds of dirt, sand, etc not just "cones of dirt"

    foot prints in dirt, mud, sand, etc of the Gensis people and animals together or by themselves 

    dinosaur tracks

     

  • scott_lozanoscott_lozano Posts: 17
    edited March 2019

    Hey guys thanks for sharing your ideas ;) My notepad just keeps getting bigger!

    @ Misselthewaite yeah you could do anything as an alpha overlay as long as the surface is basically flat. I dont know if there are any 3D projection methods in DAZ Studio that would let you projection the alpha onto the topology that way you could do stuff like adding leaks to a pipe that wrap around the surface properly. Ill look into it.@

    @ Malawolf Those are some cool ideas, are there alot of kinds of keytars? what is the coolest one? I dont know anything about them. A drum set like that would be easy to make and the shapes are really different, ill put it on my list!

     

     

    Post edited by scott_lozano on
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