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Posted on 02/04/21 5:40:34 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5521 Reply  |
How I Failed to Win a Daz 3D contest. For all the 3D whizz kids here - and the rest of you.
This is a silly story about my first and only encounter with DAZ 3D. It is for the 3D experts, and others, and especially for Dennis (Dwindt) who, as we all know, is a highly accomplished 3D expert. This goes back to the days when he was a beginner. Many years ago Dennis and I were both members of a graphics group called graphics.com. It was run by a man called Chris Dickman who wrote the original manuals for CorelDraw and Corel PhotoPaint. Yes! Software came complete with big fat paper manuals in those days! The group was composed mainly of PhotoPaint and Photoshop users. Dennis was the only one who was into 3D which he was just starting to learn. I am not much of a fan of 3D, unless really impeccable and professional, and I endlessly teased him about it. As well as all the usual exchanges of ideas there was a monthly challenge for which Chris obtained sponsors so it actually carried a prize. Usually things like three months free access to a picture library or suchlike. In 2008 Chris set a challenge where we all had to download Daz, which was free and came with two figures Victoria and Michael included, and create a scene with it. It was supposed to be so simple that anyone could use it with minimal skills and no experience. If I remember correctly Chris got Daz to sponsor it with a prize of free goodies. Here is the Victoria of that era that came with the app as she was advertised by Daz. 
Using slider controls I could completely tailor her body. I could make her slim or broad hipped, shape her breasts to perky or droopy, colour her eyes, plump her lips, and other endless adjustments. But all of it was relentlessly tailored to make her glamorous and sexy. Whatever I tried she came out like a vinyl simulacrum. I found it grotesque and frankly rather sexist. It was like tailoring my own sex doll. I decided I wanted to try and counter this and make her look as gritty and real as I could. I started by using the body form controls to make her as anorexic as possible, sagged her shoulders, flattened her breasts and dragged them downwards, reduced hips and bum, and so forth as much as the controls would permit me. I tried to pose her as if shivering. It sort of worked except, when I rendered the result, she was still as slick and vinyl looking as ever. She looked completely bizarre. I had to get over this awful plastic look. I knew absolutely zero about 3D but digging around in her file I found an image that looked like a pink splayed out bear skin rug with a vaguely human squashed looking face. I realised that this must be the texture for her skin so I took it into Photoshop and gave it a drab colour and added lines and splotches and saved it back to replace the original. Wow! It worked ... well naive first timer sort of worked anyway. I set the lighting in Daz to be warm and set the source as low down in front of her. I rendered her then brought her into photoshop where I set her in an abandoned building in front of a fire with some plastic bags and a wine bottle. I don't know if Daz themselves were involved in the judging but needless to say I didn't win! 
VICTORIA HITS THE SKIDS  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 03/04/21 10:57:17 AM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 866 Reply |
Re: How I Failed to Win a Daz 3D contest. For all the 3D whizz kids here - and the rest of you.
Lovely idea to put this up David. Re-visiting my old art makes me realise how far we have come...and how lazy. I spent a lot of time re-texturing or painting over to accommodate the candle look. I also stayed clear of realism (but always strove for it). I wonder if this fact drew more imagination out of me. I must think about this statement because it is the same outlook I have towards new games. The ability to make a model look realistic has game makers substituting realism for game play. I to, was delivering what appealed to the eye, as much as possible whilst using the Daz figure as a necessary fill in prop, in what I believed was an appropriate place. Now I am able to bring that prop to the fore, in all it's glory, but where's the heart of the image? Visit the Daz site and you'll see tons on beautiful pin ups but very few meaningful scene. (There are a few that have re-created amazing scenes...Kabosh is one that comes to mind). I hope I don't begin to fall into this category. I do, however, wish to do a pin-up but until I find the substance that allows it to be more than a pin-up, I will reframe from doing so. By the way, I remember your image and was very impressed in the manner that you approached. _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 03/04/21 11:01:03 AM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 866 Reply |
Re: How I Failed to Win a Daz 3D contest. For all the 3D whizz kids here - and the rest of you.
One of my first renders that I posted. Defeats what I had said above but I was trying to find my feet. Considering the weekend that it is, I thought it an appropriate one to start with.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 03/04/21 11:18:33 AM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 866 Reply |
Re: How I Failed to Win a Daz 3D contest. For all the 3D whizz kids here - and the rest of you.
This could have been the image I submitted with your first image above. I called it "Decay!" As much as I was learning Daz, I was learning Photoshop to. The fern leaves in the foreground were painted with PS brushes. I don't know whether I'd be able to get them like that now. I remember painting in water splashes with the challenge we had on Ron's brushes. I can't remember how I painted them but they can out rather well. Every picture I do is trial and error...lol.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 03/04/21 11:19:13 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5521 Reply |
Re: How I Failed to Win a Daz 3D contest. For all the 3D whizz kids here - and the rest of you.
Now that would actually look good in a Tomb Raider style game! For me the best combination of 3D and gaming is still the Room series. I am sure that many of the RPG's must have just as good or better but I'm not into that kind of gaming so I wouldn't know. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 03/04/21 1:05:14 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 866 Reply |
Re: How I Failed to Win a Daz 3D contest. For all the 3D whizz kids here - and the rest of you.
and here's one for Steve. Steve sponsored 1 of the challenges. He also supplied 12 skeleton png cutouts. I won Steve's book, "How to cheat in Photoshop." Beautifully composed and very helpful. My other Sensai! Thank you Steve. As I said for David re my Daz renders, I consider you the 1 to please in Photoshop! This was all Photoshop.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 03/04/21 1:20:16 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 866 Reply |
Re: How I Failed to Win a Daz 3D contest. For all the 3D whizz kids here - and the rest of you.
This is the bar that I used for the challenge. January 2009. 
_________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |