Daz Studio Basics 101. New Users help for starting with DS.

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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    For lighting tips let me point you to this Thread. It is the Lighting contest we had for New Users. It is full of tips and tuts.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/1201/ I will need time to find the Reflections tut's. That is done with settings in surfaces. Give me some time for it.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited August 2012

    I don't have the time right now to dig out links for you but lighting is a huge subject and it all depends on your questions. Spot lights, Distant lights (acts like the sun as in the terms of the light coming from the same direction. No matter the translation the light will light in the direction of rotation), Point lights (light that comes out from a single point in a spherical direction). Area lights (more commonly know as mesh lights) and GI (Global Illumination), Fake GI and GI with IDL (Indirect Light).

    Raytrace shadows are more accurate and take longer to render as opposed to Shadow Maps where the shadows are pre-calculated before rendering and take less time to render. But when using Reflection and refraction then Raytrace is best.

    Reflections only work when you have "Max Ray Trace Depth" (found in Advanced Rendering setting) set to 1. If you want a reflection of a reflection then set it to 2 and so on. True reflections are reflection then come from props and scereny in the scene itself. Fake reflections can be achived by pluggng in a texture reflection map into the Reflection colour channel and with this you can get away with using 0 for "Max Ray Trace Depth" (found in Advanced Rendering setting) and therefore reduces render times. :)

    Post edited by Szark on
  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hehehehe... Szark, my buddy. New Users, less techno if ya can. More, they have no idea what your talking about. Think like you need this help from day one. Your UBER experience is showing.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    LOL I was making a point on how huge the subject is and that we should take it slowly. But yes I admit I got carried away. :P

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    HI Jailrail, thank for the link and I shall go right now and start my education on beginners level with light settings :P much appreciated.
    Woooow Szark now that is a bit of Info there :P great little start that down the road I shall need to look into when I have the basics of lights and what they can do thanx again guys.

    Let the education begin
    :P

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Have fun wiibb. Tell anyone you run into that class is open and we would be happy to see them.

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Sure will Jaderail
    :P

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hi guys,
    Jaderail I was trying to mess about with the light setting last night with my rendering and was getting all different kinds of renders :P
    However I did follow your settings on a few occasions the one that you done a tutorials for. I was struggling to see were the lights were and could only see them when I was moving them (( like the shadow on the ground - is there a way to make the actual light-source more visible so it is a lot easier to see were it is moving and what direction it is pointing in? ))

    Apart from that had a great time just playing around with the settings so here is my first official uploaded render to Daz3d.
    All criticism welcome good or bad as this is the only way I am going to learn more, mistakes are a great learning curve with life.


    Thanx for you time guys.
    :P

    White_in_the_Night.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 286K
  • niccipbniccipb Posts: 483
    edited December 1969

    Hi wiibb...

    There are a few ways you can see where your lights are pointing...

    One is to select a light in the Scene tab and you should then see a reference cone in the viewport window coming from the light. You can adjust the size (spread) of the cone in the Parameters tab for the light.

    The other is to look through the light itself... In the drop-down list above the viewport camera cube, the one where you choose Perspective or Camera, select your light and your view in the viewport will now be looking through the light itself.

    You should also see circles in the viewport, those represent the spread of the light your looking though.

    Both ways make it very easy to point and position the lights in the scene.

    Hope this helps... :)

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hi niccipb thank you and yes this sure will help myself with the next render I attempt, it is very much appreciated your input with my little problem.
    //Handshake
    :P

    I hope you have a great day.

  • niccipbniccipb Posts: 483
    edited December 1969

    Your very welcome... I help when I can

    Actually need to go to bed... very late and morning and work are looming :grrr:

    Have fun... :)

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hi guys, looking for some advice from you, I have come across this on the net and just wondering if it will help me with Daz and lighting @
    http://preta3d.com/make-your-own-reality/

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited August 2012

    It will only help if you have the Reality plugin for DAZ Studio. It has recently been updated, and it works in version 4.5.

    Reality prepares DS scenes for the Luxrender engine, and as it is an unbiased renderer, the results are very realistic.

    Post edited by JimmyC_2009 on
  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hi JimmyC, thank you for the info I did go to the daz store but I could not find that plug-in. Would you know were I can read up on it a little more and also possibly purchase it?
    Thank you
    :P

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    I see this alot, folks thinking Reality will help with their lighting. IMHO I wouldn't touch Reality until you have more knowledge of lighting and surfaces. The PA sale is on next month. If you can pick up Dreamlight's Light Master package when it goes on sale (if it goes on sale I should say). It will help with learning the fundamentals and that is all you need to start to understand CG lighting.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    wiibb said:
    Hi JimmyC, thank you for the info I did go to the daz store but I could not find that plug-in. Would you know were I can read up on it a little more and also possibly purchase it?
    Thank you
    :P
    It is no longer in the Daz3D Store. You can purchase it direct http://preta3d.com/purchase-reality/ or from Renderosity
  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    wiibb said:
    Hi JimmyC, thank you for the info I did go to the daz store but I could not find that plug-in. Would you know were I can read up on it a little more and also possibly purchase it?
    Thank you
    :P

    Szark is right about learning lighting, Reality is a different kind of lighting, but it would certainly help if you knew the basics before going down that road.

    Reality is no longer sold at the DAZ 3D Store, but you can get it directly from the Pret-a-3D website from this link ;

    http://preta3d.com/purchase-reality/

    There is also a forum over there for Reality users, and there is a thread on this forum too, in the Commons I think.

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hi Szark now this I must thank you for as being new I am just keen to learn and looking @ stuff and thinking maybe I can do and use that to help better my abilities. I am glad I did as now you have shade some light on the matter and will stay back from that plug-in for the time being. I did a search on the net and I am getting a dream light education pack, is that what you are talking about?
    Seems a reasonable price if it is going to teach me the basics and a little bit more about lighting.....
    :P

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,166
    edited December 1969

    Here is the link to the Reality thread in the Commons http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/289/

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    wiibb said:
    Hi Szark now this I must thank you for as being new I am just keen to learn and looking @ stuff and thinking maybe I can do and use that to help better my abilities. I am glad I did as now you have shade some light on the matter and will stay back from that plug-in for the time being. Hiya. Trust me when I say you have everything you need in Daz Studio to make great images. Start with the basic and work up.

    I did a search on the net and I am getting a dream light education pack, is that what you are talking about?
    Seems a reasonable price if it is going to teach me the basics and a little bit more about lighting.....
    :P

    dream light education pack if includes Light Master http://www.daz3d.com/shop/light-master-3d-lighting-made-easy-for-any-software then yes. Oh yeah don't be shocked at the price it will come down a serious amount when he has a sale. I am not familiar with the education pack do you have a link or info on what it contains.


    Here is some basic light info http://digilander.libero.it/maclean/DStutorial.htm yes it was made for DS1 but a lot of it is still current. Once you get a handle on the basic we can move you up to more advanced lighting. :)


  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    And don't get me wrong I am so lusting after Reality myself. I don't have a very powerful compter and it takes me a while to render in Daz Studio and even longer in Vue and even more longer in Bryce. LOL Anyways Reality is a super plug-in but seriously different in lighting and surfaces terms. Look at it as something to work toward. :)

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Wooow you are not kidding about the price Szark and for a beginner that this is just a hobby I think it is a little bit out of my price tag for the time being LoL'ss I am sorry it was not an education pack to that software but an education pack to show you how to master the software.
    Thank you Szark on my way with the second link you posted...
    :P

  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Wooow you are not kidding about the price Szark and for a beginner that this is just a hobby I think it is a little bit out of my price tag for the time being LoL'ss I am sorry it was not an education pack to that software but an education pack to show you how to master the software.
    Thank you Szark on my way with the second link you posted...
    :P

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited August 2012

    I have been a member of Dreamlight since September 2009 and will come to an end next month and to be honest it didn't cost me much as I always bought when a year's membership was on sale. All in all I have spent less than $150.00 over the 3 years and I had 6 months of live training in that too. Mind you I did win 3 months worth of normal and live membership in an image content Dreamlight held sometime ago. Plus I got Light Master for a song (without all the light products that come with the Store Version) and found it helpful.

    Post edited by Szark on
  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hi Szark is there a post I can join to let myself know when the sale is on for this product?

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited August 2012

    No but if Dreamlight takes part in the PA Sale that starts September then keep an eye out for the PA sale Thread that will appear. Each day a small number of PA's will have a sale for their products for one day only. But trust me when I say wait long enough around here and you will pick up some really good bargains. I make no bones about it. If you haven't got the money like I don't then waiting is good for the pocket. It is a case of not getting yourself drawn in by new and shinny things that shout BUY ME NOW. This hobby is very addictive and collecting content can be even more addictive. I have had therapy now so I am curred but it was touch and go for a while. I was like a magpie seeing something shinny. LOL


    I think gone are the days of the old sales where I picked up the Daz Studio Photoshop Bridge for $1.99 given it sold for $199.00. But the discounts will still be good I would wager.

    Post edited by Szark on
  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    LoL'ss I can see why so many people come here and get addicted. If it was not for Daz giving there software away for free I still would not be here but now that they had done and I am here and this is a hobby to myself I can see how it can spiral out of control as I have all ready spent a lot of money on products over the past week but now it is time to learn what I can do with these products. It is time for this to be a great evolving hobby and one day a few years down the lines I hope I can produce great works of art.
    :P

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    wiibb check this out http://www.3dlightmaster.com/get_lightmaster/ for $47 not bad. No light sets included like the one in the Strore here.

  • SzarkSzark Posts: 10,634
    edited December 1969

    wiibb said:
    LoL'ss I can see why so many people come here and get addicted. If it was not for Daz giving there software away for free I still would not be here but now that they had done and I am here and this is a hobby to myself I can see how it can spiral out of control as I have all ready spent a lot of money on products over the past week but now it is time to learn what I can do with these products. It is time for this to be a great evolving hobby and one day a few years down the lines I hope I can produce great works of art.
    :P
    As I said somewhere else you have a great attitude. I will enjoy watching your progress.
  • wiibbwiibb Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Szark, just had a look so this is just for training purposes and no software to help me practice with included?
    :P

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