3D ART APPLICATION DETAILS!

[Nirassi]

I have been asked by a couple of you about how me and eoh make our 3d art and as a few of you are interested in dabbling yourselves am gonna post the advice I gave the swg art forums.
Hope its helpful!
We BOTH use daz as its ALOT easier to get to grips with than poser if you are a beginner, plus you can make some really interesting things relitively trouble free.

1ST go to www.daz3d.com

get yaself a copy of the free programme daz studio together with the models vic3(which is now for sale but you can still download from limewire if you are careful and scan the folder before ya open it!) aiko 3 and micheal 3 as these babies were $40 a pop and are now free.
also joining the forum aint a bad idea as there are loads of free models for scenery and link that the people there have made as free things.

2ND get a renderosity account! at www.renderosity.com
the free nuts there is phenomenal and encompasses every form of computer art programmes available.But ya have to be a free memeber top get em!

{make sure you get the poser conversion add on for DAZ3D which is also free so if you DO have poser or download poser content it is usable in daz}

www.philc.net/freestuff_archive.htm great sw stuff including the twi models and leia slave outfit.

www.render-spice.com/freestuff-list.php more sw stuff and cool skins.

www.3dcommune.com/3d/free.mv wide selection of free things

art-collabhost.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=40 one of the niceset free skins/ make up /lighting models there is

innertraveler.com/messagecenter/showthread.php?p=20124 a nutsload of links for you to explore:P

home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/polycount3d/Freestuff.htm wicked backgrounds

www.noeska.nl/ awesome skins some with clothes on the skin so no worries bout evil clothes that take ages to fit!

www.poser-corner.de/freebies/ nice range of free stuff

digitalbabes2.com/ best bloody free hair there are!bow to the gods who made kos hair!

www.eq-shadowknight.de/poser/Lekku.zip
www.eq-shadowknight.de/poser/V3TwilekTextureSet.zip
links to more twilek lekku zips and textures!

www.vanishingpoint.biz/freestuff.asp?StartNo=25
lightsabres and sci fi stuff from most genres including the fab TARDIS!

I gather imagery for layering in photoshop to make interesting backgrounds.
this link is to a site that is INCREDIBLE as all the images are royalty free and you can find almost anything in the search!
you have to join up but its free plus you can add ya own stuff up there if ya wanna.
www.sxc.hu/home

requires free join up but has alot of cool nuts her including a great range of free lighting packages all which work in daz! nice sets and provide you with every option for you figure work..
www.runtimedna.com/



and my personal favourite site coz hes one of the best 3d artists there is...
www.aerysoul.com/free_skr.html
best bloody stuff out there!
if ya join the gallery there and post a picture you can also get a lovely free outfit which will come in real handy!

[Nirassi]

IF ya need assistance, im posting all the answers to alot of questions in one post so its easier to find!

FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
SETTINGS!
ok first and best info i can give ya is get ya rendering settings right!
default ones are nutse
go into render tab at the top
then change the top dial to all the way to the right , i think its 3d software, this makes ya figures more real and the backgrounds fade.
2nd go into advance
the default settings are i think 6 with 4 4 on pixels
change the 6 to 10 keeping the 4 4 pixels settings as they are
(this info was given to me on the aery soul gallery by one of the admin there and i use these settings and passed em onto kixx as they REALLY make a difference to ya render)

ADDING CONTENTS TO DAZ
ok... unpack ya zips wherever you unpack em and store em.

(i store mine in a big arse folder called DAZED with everything subcatagorized into such as fm-female skins M3-micheal 3 pr-props pz-poses and so forth!)

then go into daz.....top tab EDIT, PREFERENCES or F2 it seems!
2nd tab along is directories
click on the daz/content directories long tab and it will give you a poser content option
select that
select the search and Daz will add everything you have on your pc and add it to its inventry that it can use, including poser content.
I am assuming you have the poser conversion part of DAZ which you should get as its free and allows you to use many things( but not all for some reason) from poser in daz
apply then accept then check your new usable stuff!

CLOTHING THAT DONT FIT?
if you got items of clothing like trousers and shoes that dont quite fit the model properly just make the models feet invisible!
(click on the foot and just click the eye in content to do so!or you can make em invisible in the parametres bit by jsut turning the visible to no)
this works with trousers and tops and gloves too which all can be a sod and leave the model with holes...unless thats the look you are going for!
if ya dont need the body parts under the clothing make em disapear then the clothing fits miraculously:P
if you cant turn the body part off then you gotta mess about in parametres and i find that basically if you do it by selecting section of the clothing rather than the piece as a whole it works better.

LIGHTING!
If new to daz( or even if you KNOW what you are doing!) i hightly recommend these free sets of lights just so you get a feel of what you cna do and where things go!
this site requires free join up but has alot of cool nuts here and the great range of free lighting packages all work in daz( jsut ignore the gels as they dont)! these are real nice sets and provide you with every option for you figure work..

www.runtimedna.com/

was given a tip when i started from as shanim himself that too many lights when you start off can swamp the image.so i try to use just 3 maximum of 5
) in any piece i do.
with these lightsets i recommend you can always play with the brightness and change the colour of them to suit your needs before you get into making your own set ups!
(although i dont do this lol i jsut modify the lights in these free packages to suit my own purpose)

COLOURING / RETEXTURING THINGS!
need a hair to be blue?
need an outfit a different colour or texture?
then you need to make use of the surfaces tab!
look for the item you want to change the colour/texture of in the first tab
click on it to select it and it will tell you what texture its using and what colour it is.
colour change is real simple by clicking on the bar you create a palet of colour and jsut pick one you want( or make a shade you need remembering to drag it into custom colours so you dont forget it!) and apply.
this is very good for colouring skins for twileks and hair and stuff!
plus you can do the same for changing the colour of the hilights and the shadows to get interesting effects on the hair/clothing/skin.

ok retexturing, same principle as before but instead of changing the colour
we change the base texture.
say you have a top you want to match some trousers but they dont.
click the trousers and then click its texture you should have a list of textures used in the picture so far.
pick the one relating to the material of the top you used....instant matching outfit!
can also import other texture you have stored in your pc in this way and luckily you only have to find the texture once(if like me you retexture hair that has 10 sections!)as daz remembers all the textures used in said render.

ADDING CONTENT

ok... unpack ya zips wherever you unpack em and store em.

then go into daz.....top tab EDIT, PREFERENCES or F2 it seems!
2nd tab along is directories
click on the daz/content directories long tab and it will give you a poser option
select that
select the search and Daz will add everything you have on your pc that it can use and add it to its inventry.
apply then accept then check your new usable stuff!

HAPPY RENDERING!


OH and heres one i made earlier... even if it aint middle earth themed ... was ALL made with free things, not a bought piece in site....skin,model,heart,maze and lights are all free things....so see you dont have to pay out loads of money to make interesting stuff!

And this wasnt touched in photoshop!

[xukii]

Another Guardians thread bookmarked! Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I played around with DAZ3d after speaking to Eohdrithen a while back but decided to concentrate on drawing from scratch using GIMP / Corel.

I'll definitely be revisiting the concept once i get my drawing skills up to a semi decent standard (though on recent efforts it will take some time /cough)

Cheers

[Nirassi]

thanks xukii
good luck with your artistic endevours but you so dont need to be good at painting/drawing to do daz:P
you just have to have an interest, an idea and in my case an idea that HAS to get out ya head:P
this is the reason i havent been in game much.....

its called if mice were hair.....based on a picture form a kids book i read my daughter when she was small!(yes there are 17 mice in the picture but i still think its needs another 5 or so!but after 5 hours work on it i kinda thought enough was enough for the day:P)
the less scarey 1st in the series of if....

if butterflies were clothing!
both pictures done in DAZ3D NO photoshop tweeking in either picture!

[Nirassi]

this is what i been up to all night!

if music could be held.....
all done in daz, NO photoshop work...

[Nirassi]

ok found another 3d programme thats up for grabs for nothihg!

www.download.com/Bryce/3000-6677_4-10696717.html?tag=lst-0-1

just in case ya feel the need to get bryce for making scenery and such!