Category Archives: 3D

My notes on 3D apps I use: ZBrush, Hexagon, DAZ Studio, Poser, Carrara and many others.

DAZ Studio Test Scene – share your Iray Render Speeds

3D

I’d love to see a decent Iray render speed comparison between the current NVIDIA graphics Cards, specifically for DAZ Studio performance. All we need is some data from a static test scene, render it on a variety of systems and compare the results.

Well here’s such a scene! Please download it and render it on your system, then leave a comment below with your GPU configuration and how long it took for the scene to finish.


DAZ Studio Retro Test Scene (42kb)Download

To take a time reading, head over to Help – Troubleshooting – View Log File. Scroll to the end of that file and you’ll see a line that reads something like this:

Total Rendering Time: 17 minutes 20.70 seconds

Paste that line in the comments below, and let me know which Graphics Card you’re using. If you don’t have a GPU, let me know your computer specs (including processor speed and RAM). If you’re game, you can render twice – once with your GPU and once with your GPU, even using both together. I’ll compile a list of the results in an upcoming post.

Thank you for your participation!

Where does DAZ Studio save Morph Files

3D

I have recently explained how we can create morphs for DAZ Studio assets with external applications, and how to apply them to characters and clothing using Morph Loader, or something like the GoZ Plugin. You can watch those videos here and here.

One of my viewers was asking – quite rightly – what to do with the applied morph, and how to save it. The answer to that question is a little in-depth, and depends on what you’d like to do with said morph. I thought I’d expand on the answer I gave Scott in one of the above videos with this article.

Continue reading Where does DAZ Studio save Morph Files →

How to use Reference Images in DAZ Studio

3D, 3D Podcast

In this episode I’ll show you how we can use Reference Images in DAZ Studio. This is not a built-in option, but with the help of a Plane Primitive and a dedicated camera we can use references to help us build scenes, poses and shaders.

We can create as many planes and cameras as we like, and we can place them anywhere in our scene. Sometimes it’s useful to have a character right in front of a picture showing a pose, while at other times the plane may interfere with the scene and only needs to be visible as a colour or positional reference.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 9:50 — 9.0MB)

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About that Denoiser in DAZ Studio 4.11

3D, ,

There’s an article by Phil Miller that explains NVIDIA’s philosophy about the new interactive Iray Denoiser.

Thanks to deep learning, NVIDIA’s own DGX-1 AI Super Computer and a lot of trial and error, this machine developed an algorithm that can predict how accurate the final result will look like when only a limited amount of ray bounces are available.

In a nutshell, their Artificial Neural Network went ahead and compared a partially finished render with a finished one, and each time it made a prediction that was not looking handsome, it learnt from it. Eventually they came up with what’s currently integrated in the latest release of Iray, which has made it into DAZ Studio 4.11, and that in turn is available for us to beta test right now.

I’ve run some tests with this new toy, and I’m excited to share those with you today.

Continue reading About that Denoiser in DAZ Studio 4.11 →

Building an Indoor Pool Scene with DAZ Studio

3D, 3D Podcast

In this live event I’ll build a scene with the Hotel Indoor Pool product from DAZ and Imaginary 3D (available for free this week for Platinum Club Members). I’ll explain how to walk through the scene to explore the the whole set, pick a good camera angle, convert existing objects into light sources and add new ones underwater. I’ll throw in some workflow tips and tricks and build the above image.

Any questions, please add them in the comments – or join me on FRIDAY at 10am EST / 3pm in the UK / 4pm in Europe

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:37:35 — 89.3MB)

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Creating ZBrush Morphs for DAZ Studio without GoZ

3D, 3D Podcast,

In this episode I’ll show you how to create a morph for an item in DAZ Studio using ZBrush, without using the GoZ bridge. It works by exporting your object in OBJ format from DAZ Studio, importing and changing its shape in ZBrush (or any other 3D modelling app for that amtter), then re-importing the object to DAZ Studio. This workflow does not require any specific bridging tools that can sometimes be difficult to work with.

This is a follow-up video to my previous one about how to create morphs using ZBrush and the GoZ tool. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtYFaIZah6A

For Roger and MH LI.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 8:58 — 8.2MB)

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DAZ Studio 113: Using Cameras

3D, DAZ Studio 101

In this episode I’ll tell you many interesting things about how to use cameras in DAZ Studio. It’s a rather complex topic, which is why this episode is a little longer than usual.

We’ll create a simple scene together from the latest Platinum Club Freebie product, frame up a shot, and create a couple of cameras to play with. Along the way I’ll cover how to handle camera parameters, the concept of foreshortening and perspective, how focal length influences your shots visually and how to set aspect ratios for each shot.

The props I’m using in this episode are from the Sleek Lounge Furniture set.

Any questions, please let me know.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:42 — 36.4MB)

Watch the full course in one convenient playlist:
Catch this episode on my DAZ Studio 101 Podcast:

Creating a Turntable Animation in DAZ Studio

3D, 3D Podcast

In this first Live Event I have planned for y’all I’m going to explain how to create an easy turntable animation in DAZ Studio. We’ll dress up a character, pose him (or her), set some lights and create a 360 degree slow spinning animation of it. This technique is a nice way to show off one of your creations from all sides.

The tools we use are DAZ Studio 4.10 – that’s it.

Note that this is the first live broadcast I’m doing from my desk, so bear with me if things aren’t as smooth and snappy as they usually are 🙂

Any questions, please add them below – or join me on FRIDAY at 10am EST / 3pm in the UK / 4pm in Europe

Podcast: Download (Duration: 48:13 — 44.1MB)

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How to create DAZ Studio Morphs with ZBrush

3D, 3D Podcast,

In this episode I’ll show you how to create morphs for DAZ Studio using ZBrush, thanks to a free plugin called GoZ for DAZ Studio (it’s like a ZBrush Bridge). I’ll also explain the prep-work necessary for GoZ to work properly and how to install it.

For Allan.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 12:48 — 11.7MB)

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DAZ Studio 112: Content and Smart Content explained

3D, DAZ Studio 101

In this episode I’ll explain the differences between the Content Library Tab and the Smart Content Tab. I’ll also show how to bring content into your scenes, and touch on the different types of content (for example, a shirt fits on a figure, but a material preset fits on a specific shirt).

Podcast: Download (Duration: 29:37 — 27.1MB)

Watch the full course in one convenient playlist:
Catch this episode on my DAZ Studio 101 Podcast: