|
|
|
|
End User License Agreement
(EULA)
This tutorial, herein referred to as the product , is provided as-is with no warranties either expressed or implied. The publisher retains all copyright ownership and reserves all rights to this product. This product is only available directly from the publisher or an authorized reseller. If you obtained a copy from any other source, please visit the publisher's website to purchase a legal copy for yourself.
* You MAY NOT copy, share or distribute copies of this product in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. You MAY NOT modify, change or create derivative works based upon this product in any form or fashion or by any method. You MAY NOT sell this product or include this product in any package or collection that is for sell. You MAY NOT claim authorship in any form to this product.
* You MAY create, copyright and sell models using the techniques contained within this product.
Copyright (c) 2014, Winterbrose Arts & Graphics. All Rights Reserved.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
You want to create a scene/animation with a multitude of distinct objects in the background. If you are creating a scene that will be packed with an enormous number of figures, it is possible that DAZ Studio will require more resources than are available on your system. Or perhaps the render time required for the scene may be much longer than anticipated (which is even worse if you find that you need to make adjustments and render the scene again).
To achieve this, we will create low resolution 3D objects that will display 2D representations of the desired props or characters using user customizable images pre-rendered in DAZ Studio to populate the background. Props/characters that will be located in the foreground (close up) will be designed normally.
NOTE:
This solution is not intended for up close (zoomed) renders.
For this tutorial, we will demonstrate the techniques that will allow you to create a large collective of people like the hundreds of fans you may see at a sports event. These techniques can be applied to many other large collections of things for backdrops in your scene or animation. Some commonly seen examples are:
- crowds of people walking on city sidewalks
- schools of fish swimming in a body of water
- flocks of birds flying across the sky
- fleets of ships sailing the open seas
- squadrons of aircraft flying in battle formation
- heavily wooded forests full of trees
and the list goes on
Throughout this tutorial we will be using the abbreviations DS4 and DS interchangeably for the term DAZ Studio. Our demonstrations will be using the Layout Hollywood Blvd and the Style Mainstreet . If you are comfortable enough with DS to follow along with your own settings, you can skip this chapter. For those who wish to change settings to match, we have provided instructions.
DAZ Studio v4.6.3.50 Pro was used to develop the procedures in this tutorial.
On the main menu, select Window / Workspace / Select Layout.
In the popup, if the Layout shown is not Hollywood Blvd then click the bar to open the drop-down menu so that you can change it. If you need to change the Layout, simply click on the Hollywood Blvd selection then click the Accept button at the bottom.
On the main menu, select Window / Style / Select Style.
In the popup, if the Style shown is not Main Street then click the bar to open the drop-down menu so that you can change it. If you need to change the Style, simply click on the Main Street selection then click the Accept button at the bottom.
Viewport Settings
For new and/or inexperienced users, we recommend that you have the following Viewport Options enabled: Show Floor and Show Aspect Frame. Click the icon in the upper-rightmost corner of the Viewport region to display the Viewport Options menu. Be sure that both items are checked in the popup dialog.
DS4 with Aspect Frame and Show Floor
Render Settings
When rendering your 2D overlays, use the lowest resolution suitable for the objects you will be using in your scene(s). For the purposes of this tutorial we will be using the Square 1:1 preset with a resolution of 1024 x 1024 in PNG format.
General Render Settings
If you need to change the render engine or restore default settings, click Advanced.
To change the Render Engine, click the Render Engine button and make your selection from the drop-down menu. For this tutorial, please use 3Delight .
Unless you know what each parameter does, we highly recommend that you avoid changing any of them for now. The complete Advanced settings is shown below.
Advanced Render Settings
If absolutely necessary, you can reset all the settings to the default values by clicking the Restore Default Settings button located at the bottom of settings.
We will be rendering images with transparent backgrounds, so the image format we will be demonstrating is Portable Network Graphics (PNG). You can change the Viewport background color to whatever suits your taste, because when using the .png format, any renders will be saved with a transparent background.
NOTE:
If your renders do not have a transparent background color, check your Render Settings to ensure that you are not using the Preview or Hardware Assisted render engines.
If necessary, you can use the Restore Default Settings button under the Advanced section of Render Settings.
DAZ Studio 4 PRO includes the necessary functions to duplicate models within your scene without having to load them individually. We are going to demonstrate how to do this with the Genesis figure fully dressed and posed.
Genesis Fully Clothed and Posed
When duplicating objects in DS4, you have the option of duplicating just the node (only the object itself) or the node with all of its hierarchies (anything parented or applied to the object like clothing, poses, etc). To perform any duplication, you must select the parent object in the Scene tab.
Duplicating just an object by itself is a very simple process. On the main menu, select Edit / Duplicate / Duplicate Node(s). If you forget to select the object in the Scene tab first, the Duplicate options will be "grayed" out.
Duplicate Single Object No Object Selected in Scene
Don't worry! If you did it correctly, you won't be able to see the new copy. This is because that when you duplicate any object, it will occupy the same location in the 3D space as the original. You can see that appears as Genesis (2) in the Scene tab.
In order to see the new object, you will have to select it in the Scene tab and change one or more of its transforms. We have moved our new copy of Genesis to the left side of the viewport.
Successful Node Duplication
Notice that only the Genesis object (node) was duplicated and none of the children objects (clothing) were copied. The pose settings were duplicated because they are applied directly to the Genesis figure and are not selectable within the Scene tab.
If you have added items to the object that you would like to be duplicated as well, you must ensure that they are within the hierarchy of the object. You can do this by expanding (for review) and collapsing (to validate) the hierarchy under the primary node. If the small carrot arrow to the left of Genesis is pointing down, the hierarchy has been expanded. If the arrow is pointing to the right, it has been collapsed. Here is the Genesis figure as we have it loaded showing both states.
Genesis Hierarchy Expanded
Genesis Hierarchy Collapsed
The reason you may want to expand and then collapse the hierarchy is because it is sometimes hard to distinguish with certainty which items have been parented and which have not.
With our original Genesis still selected, we are going to duplicate everything by selecting on the main menu Edit / Duplicate / Duplicate Node Hierarchies.
Again, don't be alarmed if you don't see the new copy. You can see that the newest copy Genesis (3) now appears in the Scene tab.
We have moved our new copy of Genesis to the right side of the viewport.
Duplicated "Node Only" and "Node Hierarchies"
As you can see, use of the "Duplicate" function provides you with flexibility and speed when you need to replicate models within a scene. Once you get comfortable, it will become one of your "go to" tools.
The following non-character product was used for the demonstration of the "duplication" function within DAZ Studio.
Adventurer for Genesis Male by Ravenhair
http://www.daz3d.com/adventurer-for-genesis-male
Unbelievably, duplicating is the easiest part of creating a scene with a multitude of repeated objects. The hard part is to decide how the final scene should look taking into account these issues:
1. Number of nodes (repeated Objects) required for the scene
2. Consider placement using various poses randomly spread throughout the scene.
3. Use of various clothing and textures if required for unique nodes.
4. Application of various characters, morphs and hairstyles for unique nodes.
Here are some plans for different types of scenes and considerations:
FLOCK OF GEESE FLYING IN FORMATION
Since the scene is going to be composed of "like" objects, they can all be the same node (object). The number of objects along with placement and poses (wings up, wings down, etc) will be the main issues.
ARMY MARCHING TO WAR
Since the scene will be mostly composed of "like" objects, you will still need a large variety of characters and morphs to provide unique looks to each soldier. The uniforms and weapons can be identical for the most part with a scattering of leaders and officers with varying uniforms. The number of objects along with placement and a small number of needed poses (since most armies march in unison) will be the main issues.
NASCAR-STYLE RACING AROUND TRACK
Since the scene will consist of "like" objects, they can all be the same node (object). The number of objects along with placement and various textures applied to the cars will be the main issues. Unless the driver is visible or used in close-up, these can all be the same.
PRISONERS LINED UP IN PRISON YARD
Since scene will be a distant shot and consist of "like" objects, they can all be the same node (object). The number of objects along with placement and poses will be the main issues. If there are to be different categories of prisoners, then various textures applied to the prisoner outfit may need to be a consideration.
Until you are fully experienced (and maybe not even then), remain flexible enough with your planning to allow for unforeseen problems (missing props, looks too symmetrical).
For this demonstration we will plan out a prison yard with prisoners and guards. After loading the environment, we created a completed prisoner character and a complete guard character. We used the duplicate command on the prisoner character 7 times for a total of 8 prisoners. Duplicate was used on the guard character only once for two guards.
DS4 Viewport
You can see how we had to use various poses for each character in the scene and position them to create a natural looking (realistic) portrayal of a prison yard.
"The Prison Yard"
In the final render above, the prison yard portion of the scene is composed of the following non-character products:
Prison Yard by Flipmode
http://www.daz3d.com/prison-yard
Prisoner by Karth
http://www.daz3d.com/prisoner
Chain Gang Colors by Winterbrose
http://www.winterbrose.com/products/textures/ChainGangColors_PrisonserOutfit/index.html
Once you have successfully created the complete scene, you can save it as a Scene and share it with others. In order for them to use it, they will have to own and install all of the items you used to create the scene in the default locations.
NOTE:
For new and inexperienced users, we recommend use of the DUPLICATE feature built into DS4 first because of its ease of use and powerful replication feature.
We recommend that only experienced users use the script known as "Send In The Clones" in the next section because it requires a working knowledge of the configuration of the My DAZ 3D Library and Legacy Runtime folder/directory structures as well as use of PP2, CR2 and Scene files.
Recommended for advanced and experienced users only!
Another way to create a multitude of objects within your scene would be to use an available script for DS4 like "Send In The Clones" shown below. At the time of this writing, these two products were available from DAZ3D and each of these products includes a short tutorial on how to use them in DS4..
Send In The Clones DS4 Send In The Clones DS4 Pro
http://www.daz3d.com/send-in-the-clones-ds4 http://www.daz3d.com/send-in-the-clones-ds4-pro
If you plan on using character specific items in your scenes or are unsure, then you should consider buying the PRO version as it can apply Morphs, Mats, Poses, Conformed Figures, or Parented Prop files to any cloned item.
Finding SITC in Content Library
DAZ Studio Formats / My DAZ 3D Library / Content / Scripts / Utilities / SendInTheClones DS4 PRO
Even though we will be demonstrating how to create 2D images of people using some of the popular DAZ figures, these techniques can be applied to many other objects such as animals, plants, vehicles and more.
Load Figure/Prop
Our crowd will consist of people using characters for Genesis, Genesis 2 Female and Genesis 2 Male. Many of our demonstrations will use the Genesis figure but can be equally applied to the Gen2 figures as well. We will bring in our content using the Content Library pane, but you can use the Smart Content pane if desired.
CONTENT LIBRARY
|............. DAZ Studio Formats
|............. My DAZ 3D Library
|............. People
|............. Genesis
Adding A Plane
After loading in our figure, we need to determine what dimensions need to be used for the plane primitive which will hold you 2D image later on. The plane must be larger than the figure/prop whose image it will display. The square tiles you will see on the floor in the viewport are 1 meter (M) squared in virtual size.
Using the View Selection of "Default Camera", on the View Vantage Cube click on Front and then click on Top.
In order to use the Floor as our measure, we will need to rotate our figure. Select your figure/prop in the Scene tab. Click the Parameters tab and change the X Rotate to -90 degrees.
Don t worry if it looks a little strange, we are about to correct that.
Unaligned Top View of Rotated Figure
Change the View Selection to Top View and then left-click the Frame button.
You can see that our figure will be less than 2 meters in both directions, so the plane we create will need to be sized at 2 meters. Be sure to make note of the size your plane will need to be for the figure or prop you are converted to 2D.
Correct Top View of Rotated Figure
WARNING:
The size of the Plane must be the larger value of the width and height measurements of our figure/prop. For instance, if our figure were to measure 3m x 2m, then the Plane would need to be 3 meters square in size.
Now we need to restore our figure back to its original standing position. Simply select the Genesis figure in the Scene tab, and go to the Parameters tab to change the X Rotate back to 0 (zero).
Change the View Selection to Default Camera and then change the View Vantage Cube back to the Front viewing position.
Front View of Figure
To minimize the resources required by DS4 to display a large collection of items, we will be using the Plane primitive which is a flat surface with a very low polygon count. Our plane can display the finished 2D image we will add later on.
On the Main Menu, create your plane using Create / New Primitive.
In the Create New Primitive popup menu, chose Plane for the Type. The origin should be "World Center". Click in the Size field and place your required size there (ours is 2) and be sure to choose m for meters on the measurement button. Once everything looks correct, click the Accept button to create your new plane.
When the Plane is created, it is located parallel with the floor of your scene. If you look closely, you can see that the plane fills an area of 2 squares (2 meters).
The plane will need to be oriented in the same direction as our figure. Therefore, we will have to first rotate it and then translate it upward to rest on the floor.
Select the new plane in the Scene tab.
On the Parameters tab, change the X Rotate to a value of 90 .
The plane may be hard to see if you are using the default background color of white . In the screenshots below we have changed the background to blue to show that the plane still needs to be raised up to align with our figure.
With the plane still selected, we will move it to the floor. On the Main Menu, select Edit / Object / Move To Floor. DS4 will move the plane for you to set right on top of the floor which will be exactly where we need it to be so it is aligned with our figure.
NOTE:
This would be a good time to save your scene.
We used "Replicate01.duf" for our scene name.
This is the point where you would normally want to add any additional props to your scene and apply any required poses to prepare this member of the crowd for use and save each one separately. For instance, we are using the Genesis figure to create persons who will be in a crowd of people. We would need to add a character, clothing, hair, accessories and pose the Genesis figure as desired. You would prepare your members to fit your intended usage. For a large crowd, use everyday wear items (jeans and shirts) for most of the members and more specific items like outfits for a random number throughout the collective. The same would apply for vehicles, animals and any other items in your grouping.
Example Prepared Models for Crowd
However, we will continue to use the "unmodified" Genesis figure for demonstration purposes so that you can focus on the techniques used for creating the 2D representation of your model.
We will be creating 2 images and we need to be sure that our renders line up perfectly with each other to ensure a quality product. Make sure the plane is hidden from view (click eye icon to close). Now select the figure/prop (Genesis for us) in the Scene tab. Change the View Selection to Front View and then left-click the Frame button.
Now zoom in slowly on the figure/prop until it fills the complete aspect window. You can use the mouse scroll wheel or the zoom button (magnifying glass icon).
When zooming, get your figure/prop as close to the edge of the aspect frame as you can without crossing it. In our example the feet reach the edge before other portions of the figure. You must be sure to watch all the sides when zooming in. If your model is to appear to be standing on the floor, be sure that the feet/shoes contact the bottom edge without leaving the aspect frame.
NOTE:
This would be a good time to save your scene.
We will now render the image that will be used for our group member. On the Main Menu select Render / Render.
Be sure to Save the rendered image in a location and with a filename you can remember. Be sure that you do not change the image format (leave it as ".png").
Here is our final working image. For demonstration purposes, we have simply used the plain Genesis figure without any character, hair or clothing. Yours will of course already be prepped for use as previously described with character, hair, clothing and more.
WORKING IMAGE
Using Layered Images
You will need to use an image editor that fully supports PNG file types with transparency. If you choose to use MS Paint, it does not fully support transparency and you may find that the resulting images are not what you desire. We strongly recommend that you use Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or The GIMP because these apps support transparency and can edit/save layered image files.
The GIMP is a free application that is Photoshop compatible and provides all the common functions you will need. That said, we will be using GIMP version 2.6.11 for this section of the tutorial. If your prefer Photoshop, the techniques will be similar enough for experienced PS users to follow along.
The GIMP
We have already created the image we will use later on for the Diffuse texture, but we are going to load it into our layered image to create our Opacity texture. This will also be a good place to store both images for future use if needed.
On the main menu select File / New to start a new layered image project.
When the Create a New Image menu pops up, set the width and height of your render for your collective member.
Notice that GIMP starts us with a layer filled with white named "Background" in the Layers panel located on the left side of the screen.
Now we need to load our rendered image of the member into the layered image. On the main menu, select File / Open as Layers...
Browse to the location where you saved the render of your collective member. Select your file and use the Open button to bring it into GIMP.
In the Layers panel, the member image is now a layer above the white background.
At this point we should save our layered image file. For GIMP we will save it as an ".XCF" but if you plan on using it later with Photoshop or sharing with PS users, then save it as file type ".PSD". On the main menu select File / Save As.
We will save our file as an ".xcf" with the same filename as our member image.
Create Opacity Image
Image files used for Opacity in DS4 will require Black for fully transparent and White for fully opaque (solid). We are going to use our member image to create the template for changing our blank (white) layer into our Opacity image.
Ensure that the layer for your member image is selected in the Layers panel.
In the Toolbox, use the Select by Color tool and turn off anti-aliasing.
Now click on the layered image anywhere that does not contain portions of the member image. You will see a wavering line called marching ants around all the selected areas. We use the color select method to ensure success even if our member areas to make transparent are not contiguous.
NOTE:
For optimal member images, reduce/eliminate any Halo Effect by decreasing the overall area of image by one pixel.
In the Layers panel, select the Background layer. Changing layers will not change the selected regions which works great for this project. We will be using the Bucket Fill tool to create the Black (transparent) portions for our Opacity image on the Background layer. Select the Bucket Fill tool and change the Fill Type to FG color fill and the Affected Area to Fill whole selection .
Select Background Bucket Fill
If Black is not shown as the Foreground color, click on it to select Black from the Color Selection dialogue. The RGB values for Black are 0,0,0 or an HTML Notation of 000000 ..
Now click anywhere in the selected region to fill it with Black.
You will now see that selected region filled with Black. The thumbnail in the Layers panel will also reflect this change.
We now have a layered image file that contains both images (Diffuse and Opacity) to use again if we need to for future projects.
NOTE:
This would be a good time to save your updated XCF.
In the Layers panel, click the eye icon next to the member image to hide it. If you accidentally unselected the Background layer, be sure to select it again.
You will now see how the Opacity image will look. When applied to the plane object, the areas that are black will be see-through and the areas that are white will show the Diffuse image (in our case the image of the Genesis figure).
To save the Opacity Image, on the main menu select File / Save As and be sure to type the new name with extension in the Name field (try to use something practical). We simply appended the word opacity for ours (MemberRender_Opacity.png ).
You can use JPG or PNG to save your file but we recommend that you use PNG. Browse to the desired location and click Save.
We recommend that you use the default settings by clicking the Export and Save buttons without making any changes to the settings.
Final Images
Close The GIMP without saving any changes to your XCF or PSD layered image file. Here are our final member and opacity images.
Member Image Opacity Image
Now it's time to put it all together to create the main member we will use to create a large collection of member images. Many of the techniques used will be explained, but you should already have a basic understanding of how to create and save a scene in DAZ Studio.
Start New Scene
Let's start with a new scene. On the main menu, select File / New.
If prompted to Save any work you had in progress, click YES or NO as needed.
Now the fun begins, create a plane primitive your collection member that is sized as previously determined during your development process. For our Genesis demo, we will continue to use the 2 meters (m) as our size.
Go ahead and select the plane in the Scene tab and rotate it then place it on the floor using the techniques you learned earlier in this guide.
Go to the "Actors, Wardrobe & Props" Activity tab.
In the left pane group, we will use the Surfaces (Color) tab to apply any desired textures, surfaces and/or colors to our replica.
If you do not see anything in the left pane, ensure that the plane is selected in the Scene tab.
You may have to expand the selections for the plane and Default by clicking the small right-facing arrows to the left of these entries. Once the entries are expanded, you will be able to access the Diffuse and Opacity sections required.
Apply Diffuse Image
Click on the Diffuse entry in the listing so we can apply our model image. Two new controls will appear in the right-side of the panel, Diffuse Color and Diffuse Strength. It is not easily apparent, but we will be using the Diffuse Color control.
To load an image (textured template) for the Diffuse Color, simply click the button to the left of the RGB settings, select Browse and find your image in the location where you previously saved it.
After loading our Diffuse image, you can see the Genesis figure which we rendered earlier in this guide. The problem is that the plane is still visible, so for the most part the 2D replica is still quite useless. We will correct that with the Opacity image we also created earlier.
Viewport
Render
Apply Opacity Image
Click on the Opacity entry in the Surfaces (Color) listing. Only one controls will appear in the right-side of the panel, Opacity Strength.
To load the image containing the template for our Opacity Color (transparency), simply click the button to the left of the Strength slider, select Browse and find your image in the location where you previously saved it.
How awesome is that? Just think of all the groupings you can create without the need for expensive system resources like 3 Mhz CPU with 16 gigs of memory and a 3 gig video card.
Viewport
Render
We can save all of our work as a Scene Subset to be used over and over again. On the main menu select File / Save As / Scene Subset.
In the nodes section of the popup dialog, be sure to uncheck all items listed except your new replica's model. Click the Accept button and browse to your desired save location and use a filename you can remember.
The quickest way to use your saved scene subsets is by using the merge function.
Browse to the location where you have saved your 2D replica and open it.
SUCCESS!
All that is left to do is build the stage for your scene and load in as many of your replicas as needed. DS will automatically number subsequent instances of the original replica model. We did not rename our example from earlier and left it titled "plane". You can see how the two added replicas have been numbered.
One at a time, select each replica and change its translation, rotation and scaling for the scene using the Parameters tab.
Don't be alarmed if things look strange!
Continue on to the next section.
Unfortunately DAZ Studio uses OpenGL to process the preview that you see in the viewport in real time when panning, rotating and zooming your view of the scene.
To demonstrate this problem, look at the Preview below for our test scene. We created and used a 2D Replica of the Genesis figure 3 times. The lowest Genesis should appear in front, the right-side Genesis behind that, and the left-side Genesis should appear furthest back. Compare this to the actual Render on the next page.
Viewport
Correctly Rendered
WARNING:
The DS viewport uses OpenGL to display your scene. OpenGL does not handle opacity maps well so it may appear that your scene has problems. When rendering your scene with 3delight, everything will be correct.
To reiterate, this problem is only in the viewport itself. If you get confused when looking at your scene, try rotating the view around to the top and sides to keep focused on where your replica objects have been placed.
NOTE:
To ensure correct placement and scaling of 2D Replicas
within a scene, rotate your view around in the viewport
previewing placement of objects particularly from the
top and side views for the scene using the default camera.
Before creating 2D Replicas for use within your scenes/animations, you may also want to consider the following issues which may affect the quality of your work.
If you are using the default camera or even one that has been added to the scene, make the replica(s) always face the appropriate camera for renders using "point at". You will have to experiment with this to ensure that the replica works as expected. Since the replica is based upon the "plane" primitive, you may find that all adjustments needs to be made manually using the Parameters tab.
For the most part, Lighting and Shadows will not work as expected with a finished replica. You may have to experiment with these items when creating your replicas to attain the desired look for your artwork.
Take a close look at the layered image below paying particular attention to the edges of the member image. As you can see, there are small white pixels along the fringes of the edge resulting in a lower quality image.
Halo Effect
These solutions to correct this problem are quite simple for Photoshop and GIMP:
1. Decrease the area of the member image by at least one pixel all around
or
2. Increase the surrounding filled area by at least one pixel.
We hope you enjoyed and learned from this tutorial. Here are some other DAZ Studio related tutorials which you may find of interest:
| Best
viewed at 1024 x 768 or higher. |
 |
Thanks for Visiting WINTERBROSE Arts & Graphics |