From Poser to DazStudio: Displacement Maps
Displacement Maps and Bump Maps add additional detail to a 3d digital object that is too difficult or time-consuming to sculpt. I have constructed a brief tutorial explaining how to get Poser style displacement maps to work with DazStudio 3. The product used in this example is my popular Wondrous Winter collection available for sale at Renderosity. This tutorial assumes that you know how to load Poser content into DazStudio. If you don’t know how to do that, read this tutorial first.
Step 1: Load the Poser content containing the displacement maps or bump maps then switch to DazStudio’s render pane:
Step 2: On the “Surfaces” tab to the right, select one of the materials from the drop down menu:
Step 3: If you see a name under “Strength” instead of “None”, change the “Negative” value from 0.010 to -1.0:
Step 4: Change the “Positive” value from 0.010 to 1.0:
Step 5: Repeat steps 1 to 4 many times until ALL the materials have been converted.
Filed under 3-D Modeling | Comment (0)Plains of Africa
An image I made recently using Vue 7 Infinite. This image is a bit of stereotype complete with elephants and acacia tree but I was trying to create a calming wildlife poster. Click on the image to see a larger version. The final image is actually 72 in x 14.4 in.
My Dream 3D App
No one 3D application has all the features I need for my projects. I have often found myself using multiple programs to complete a single project. Problems sometimes arise when I have to convert files to different formats for use in different programs. In an ideal world I would only need one tool: My Dream 3D App! Here is a wish list of 10 features for the perfect 3D app.
- UV mapping like Silo3D & UVMapper.
UVMapper has an easy to use interface for creating basic UV maps. Silo can create UV maps and straighten them using its vertex, edge and face manipulator tools. My dream app would have the best features of both of these pr0grams. - Texture painting like Blacksmith3D & BodyPaint3D.
Once an object has been UV mapped, Blacksmith3D allows the user to paint directly on the object in the round. No more fiddling with seams. You can paint a 3D model as if you were painting a sculpture. Bodypaint3D is a more advanced version of this lower priced tool with painting features similar to Photoshop. - Figure animation like DazStudio’s Animate.
The Animate plug-in for DazStudio is better at blending together separate animations than Poser. I have also found that for popular Daz figures such as Victoria 4 and Michael 4, DazStudio is much more accurate for posing. My ideal app would have these superior animation qualities. - Face creation like FaceGen.
The face room feature of Poser gives digital artists the freedom to create new faces for Poser figures. Unfortunately, it does not work with Daz figures. FaceGen is a very expensive tool which can transform the face of any 3D figure into a face from a well-lit photo. - Line-fitting like Shade3D.
Shade3D can wrap 3D surfaces around any figure using its line-fit feature. This makes it useful for creating clothing. - Cloth room like Poser.
Although DazStudio now has a cloth simulation feature, it is still not as flexible as Poser’s Cloth Room. Poser allows any object to be converted to cloth, provided it does not intersect itself; Daz Studio has special requirements for clotg creation using proprietary developer tools. At the time of this writing, these developer tools have not been released. - Lighting and Rendering like Vue Infinite.
As evidenced by movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean II, Vue can generate images with highly polished levels of realism, provided you have the right hardware. - Vertex, face and edge manipulation like Silo3D.
This feature of Silo3D makes it extremely useful for creating morphs for figures and modifying other objects. The user can precisely control where each vertex, edge or face moves allowing for the creation of zipper morphs for example. Another advantage of Silo3D is that it preserves vertex order so that you don’t end up with a morphing mess! - Environment creation like Vue.
Vue can randomly generate trees, mountains and skies. My 3D app would have this feature to create realistic environments for 3D figures. - Sculpting like Z-Brush.
Even if my dream 3D app could create any face from any well-lit photo, it would still be nice to be able to sculpt new features into that face (e.g. scars, moles etc.). Having done physical sculpture with clay, I can honestly say that Zbrush is as close to that experience on computer.