Ds Creative 12

Fun with gemstones using IrayLETS GET SPARKLY

We mark the end of year one in styleCOMPETITION FUN

The magazine for DAZ Studio usersDS creativeIssue 12 June 2015

BOMBSHELLANDREAS KÜNTZER

TUTORIALS

REGULARS

FEATURES

22 • Sparkly Iraywe explain how to create some cool looking gemstones in Iray.

32 • Customizing DAZWe take a look at the ways to customize the daz interface.

44 •44 • Let’s get HandyPosing hands can be a tricky and time consuming business, Powerpose to the rescue.

56 • Mirrored PosesCharlie McDonald thinks Postworking before he renders a thing.

06 • General Gallery Amazing artwork from the DAZ community.

24 • Competition WinnersThThe winners have been chosen we look to see who won our heaven and hell competition.

36 • Reality GalleryMore amazing artwork this time created with Reality/luxrender.

46 • Competition TimeA A very different competition to mark the end of our first year.

16 • VENDOR SPOTLIGHTIf you want nature in DAZ there is one name that stands above the others Alessandro-AM.

28 • ARTIST SPOTLIGHTOuOur artist spotlight and creator of the cover art this month is Shibashake.

50 • VENDOR SPOTLIGHTIn the second of this month's vendor spotlights we get to know the Digivault.

Issue 12

creativeds

creativeEDITOR

Camilla [email protected]

PRODUCTION DESIGNERPhil Thompson

[email protected]

TECHNICATECHNICAL EDITORTotte Alm

[email protected]

NEWS EDITORMatt Allgood

[email protected]

PROOF READERSanyel JacksonSanyel Jackson

[email protected]

TUTORIALS CO-ORDINATORSamir Rouabhi Deleuze

Contents

DS CREATIVE MAGAZINE • June 2015 • 03

Samir Rouabhi Deleuze • TUTORIALS CO-ORDINATOR

Totte Alm • TECHNICAL EDITOR

DS CreativeIssue TWELVE of

ToWELCOME

THE ENFORCERCAMILLA DRAKENBORG

ARMORED SOLDIER WITH ROCKETS

ARMORED SOLDIER WITH ROCKETSR.p.CallahanUSA

REIGN OF FURYTodd KoguttUSA

WILD AT HEARTWILD AT HEARTSandra BauserUSA

creativeds

creative

Gallery

06 • June 2015 • DS CREATIVE MAGAZINE

WILD AT HEART

REIGN OF FURY


DREAMING

DREAMINGAnnie AltherrUK

AMBUSHJefferson FerreiraBrazil

SCHOOL GIRL VS ZOMBIESSCHOOL GIRL VS ZOMBIESLaMuserieFrance

creativeds

creative

Gallery


SCHOOL GIRL VS ZOMBIES

AMBUSH


ICE WITCH

ICE WITCHAlexaanaUK

BREAK FREEBellatryxItaly

PORTRAITPORTRAITJodie GriffithsUK

creativeds

creative

Gallery


PORTRAITBREAK FREE


FOLIUMAN

FOLIUMANKarisma

DANNAManiacmayo MayCanada

PORTRAITJodie Griffiths creative

dscreative

Gallery


DANNADS CREATIVE MAGAZINE • June 2015 • 13

FAYE

FAYEPhil ThompsonUK

SPARTANSMarcius HessBrazil

WELCOME TO DAZWELCOME TO DAZAstuce ManFrance

creativeds

creative

Gallery


SPARTANS


HOW DID YOU GET INTO 3D MODELING & HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IT?Starting as a teenager, I’ve always been a computer enthusiast with a specific interest in digital art as a way to recreate landscapes and wildlife. I did that mostly as a hobbyist until ten years ago, when I decided to give up my PC specialist job and dedicated my time solely to creating 3D models, tools, and applications.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FROM?Nature and wildlife are my main fields of inspiration, as well as documentaries, movies, Nature and wildlife are my main fields of inspiration, as well as documentaries, movies, pictures, and memories collected during holidays.Anything that reminds me of how precious and beautiful nature can be.

Alessandro Mastronardi

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT


WHICH PROGRAM(S) DO YOU CREATE YOUR MODELS IN?I use Modo and ZBrush to produce the geometry, ZBrush and Photoshop for texturing purposes, and DAZ Studio to rig the models.

TYPICALLY HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FROM INITIAL IDEA TO FINISHED MODEL?That obviously depends on the complexity of the model. Some of the environments I That obviously depends on the complexity of the model. Some of the environments I made took 2/3 months to complete, since assembling all the components (terrain objects, vegetation, etc.) is a very time-consuming task. Animal models usually take 40-50 days to complete: most of that time is spent on creating the base geometry with the correct anatomic proportions, which is the most challenging part of the process.

IF YOU COULD ADD ONE NEW FEATURE TO DAZ STUDIO, WHAT WOULD IT BE?A more sophisticated and functional material editor in order to exploit the potential of A more sophisticated and functional material editor in order to exploit the potential of 3Delight and IRay render engines.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR YOU WHEN CREATING A NEW PRODUCT?The attention to detail. I never rush things until the model doesn’t look or behave exactly the way I intended it to.

WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE STARTING OUT CREATING FOR DAZ STUDIO?Do your homework without rushing things, make sure to learn the basics before taking Do your homework without rushing things, make sure to learn the basics before taking the next step, and most importantly, always becurious to experiment and learn new things.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT TO MODEL?Wildlife and nature environments, all of variousand diverse kinds. Besides that, I also love working on tools that help models to look more realistic, like the Look at my Hair plugin, and to generate custom landscapes like the INFINITO plugin.


Hivewire: http://hivewire3d.com/shop/shop-by-artist/alessandro.html

Renderosity: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/?vendor=377508

DAZ: http://www.daz3d.com/alessandro_am

CAN YOU GIVE US A HINT OF WHAT IS TO COME? A long list of animal models, also dino-saurs, and more environment sets are in the work. Also, new versions of Look at my Hair and INFINITO plugins are currently under development.

HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SEE PEOPLES ARTWORK MADE WITH YOUR PRODUCTS?I feel honored and most of the times amazed by the artwork and images that some folks can come up with: I’ve seen some true masterpieces with incredible lighting and excel-lent composition techniques.

WHICH 3 ARE YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITES OF YOUR OWN PRODUCTS? Look at my Hair, the first hair solution for Look at my Hair, the first hair solution for DAZ Studio, is certainly one of the products that I’m really proud of and is targeted for future updates. I find it diffi-cult to choose from my own animal models, but I do like the Wild Animals bundle, that includes very detailed figures like the rhino, crocodile, alligator and like the rhino, crocodile, alligator and caiman, and the Tropical Pond environment recently released.

WHICH ARE YOUR 3 PERSONAL FAVORITE VENDORS?Oh my, I’ll be publicly flogged if I mention only 3, so I’m going to skip this one!


http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/DSC_Anteater.zip

The stunning Giant Anteater, 13 poses, several morphs, finely rigged and weight mapped for both Poser, DAZ Studio and Carrara, and Look at my Hair fur presets to provide the most realistic renders on DAZ Studio.

ONLY AVAILABLE UNTIL 23:59 UTC ON THE 14 OF JUNE 2015

LIMITED TIME FREEBIE

FULL COMMERCIAL PRODUCT

PAYBACKESAPESA

8,3,5

10,10,6563,10,1014,70,23

1.96

1.761.761.57

255,247,234

30,14,205190,14,3880,100,33

0,0,0

0,0,00,0,00,0,0

ZirconSapphireRubyDk Emerald

Ref ColorRFITrans ColorBase ColorStone

The scene and lighting are very important for all my test renders. I use just a plain white plane, but the lighting is super simple, HDRI added to the environment dome. I use a HDRI called, Tokyo Big Sight, which I downloaded for free from HDRI labs. I chose this HDRI because; it has a nice mix of light and dark with some bright colorful areas, which help with the reflections.

NoNow, a diamond is great but what about some other gem-stones? Well, we can tweak the diamond shader to give us a wide variety of different gems. Realistically there is going to be two things we need to change, color and refractive index; as different gemstones have very different indexes.

Now I don't know very much about shaders in general, never mind Iray shaders. So, if anyone knows a better way please get in touch.

We need to add color, change the refractive index, and I'm going to add a second color just for the reflections.

So let’s create some Olivine:

• Glossy colour RGB 192,208,79•• Refraction Index 1.65• Top Coat weight 0.75• Top coat color RGB 20,23,5• Reflectivity 1.0

If you find the gemstone is suffering from a little noise, then If you find the gemstone is suffering from a little noise, then turn the reflectivity down a little. I have included a small list of colors, refractive indexes and reflective colors, so that you can create a few different coloured gemstones. A quick search on Google will find you all the correct refractive indexes you could ever need.

Time to bling up your Iray! Let’s see how we can render some gemstones using DAZ Studio 4.8 Beta and Iray. To get as close as possible to the look of real gemstones we are going to need three things:

• A good gemstone model• A great shader• Some interesting lighting

TTo help achieve that realistic look we need a model of a gemstone that is modelled correctly. It needs to be geometri-cally complete (fully faceted, Front and Back). If you have a prop, for example; a dagger with a gemstone in the hilt, only the visible part of the gem was modelled, not the hidden rear facets. This will not work well at all, as without rear facets; there is nothing to reflect the light back, so we need a complete gem. complete gem.

DAZ 4.8 comes with a very good diamond shader that has the correct refractive index and colour. If you model a diamond yourself by downloading from the internet then import it into DAZ, the next issue you are going to have is smoothing. DAZ by default will smooth your mesh. This is a faceted gemstone we don't need or want any smoothing. So after you have applied your Diamond shader, to your model gemstone, you need to go into the surfaces tab and turn the angle all the way need to go into the surfaces tab and turn the angle all the way down to 0. Now we have our facets.

Phil Thompson creates some sparkle using Iray

GEMSTONES IN IRAY


SAIDGE421ST1ST1ST1ST

HEAVEN AND HELLWHEN


2ND2ND2ND2NDKARISMA.

COLLIDEHEAVEN AND HELL


LAMUSERIE3RD3RD3RD3RD

HEAVEN AND HELLWHEN


LUCINDA ATMAN

TODD KOGUTT

KERRIE MANNING

ESAPESACOMMENDEDCOMMENDEDCOMMENDEDCOMMENDEDHIGHLY

ESAPESAHIGHLY

ESAPESAHIGHLY

ESAPESAESAPESAHIGHLY

ESAPESA

COLLIDEHEAVEN AND HELL


“If you want to improve your 3D-art skills, I highly recommend participating in 3D-art contests.”

Poser was an awesome way to create original artwork for my online articles. By combining writing and art I got more exposure for my images, while making my articles more unique and fun to read. I did 3D-art primarily in service of my websites and writing until the 2013 Daz Platinum Club Contest came along.

SomeSome great products got released that year, and the images for the contest were very inspiring. That was when I got really hooked!

II began learning how to use Daz Studio and Genesis 2. Later that year, Daz also launched their new galleries in tandem with another contest, which got me even more addicted. I didn’t win anything, but it was incredibly fun and a great learning experience.

It all started with my first dog, a Shiba Inu called Sephy. Sephy is bold, stubborn, smart, and was quite a hellion during puppy-hood. We had some pretty tough times together, but I also had some amusing stories to tell. And so, shibashake.com was born.

Writing about my dog adventures inspired me to branch out into other areas, and soon, I was exploring relationships, dreams, the psychology of attraction, and more. Happily, I could feature high-cuteness photos of my dogs in related articles. However, when it came to the other topics, I had nothing appropriate. That was when I started using Poser.

ShibaShake

Artist SPOTLIGHT


After that, writing and websites took a backseat to 3D-art. I went looking for contests on other sites, and started participating in most of them. I love contests! They provide a participating in most of them. I love contests! They provide a theme for me to focus on, they provide greater visibility for my images, and they challenge me to push my own boundaries. I learn new techniques, and create images that are beyond my usual comfort zone. Participating in contests is great fun, with the occasional bonus of winning some great new products and software.

IfIf you want to improve your 3D-art skills, I highly recommend participating in 3D-art contests. They have certainly helped me improve immensely, and I have met some truly wonderful people in the process.

See More amazing artwork at:www.shibashake.com

ColoursWindow/Style/Customize coloursColours, is quite self explanatory, but DAZ also allows you to change the colour of everything you can see. If you don't like the X, Y & Z Axis colours, you can change them as well. Don’t worry if you change Don’t worry if you change lots of colours and it looks horrible, there is a defaults button, allowing you to return to the standard palette.

Workspace LayoutsWindow/Workspace/select layoutThe layouts option, allows me to choose between five layout The layouts option, allows me to choose between five layout presets. These layouts allow you to set the positions for the panes, tabs and toolbars. This is where you want your panes, tabs and tools placed onscreen, so you can go from a more simplistic, less cluttered layout, to an intense power, user layout.

The visual interface of DAZ Studio is very customizable and allows you to configure your copy of DAZ just the way you would like. So what can we change?

• Styles • Colours• Workspace Layouts• Panes (Tabs) and Pane Groups•• Toolbars• Viewports

StylesWindow/StyleStyles are the changes made to the visual components of your Styles are the changes made to the visual components of your layout. So the colour scheme, the size of the font, highlight colour and even the shape of the tabs are changed. Now the 4.8 BETA that I am currently working on, has 3 built in styles to choose from. These I would say are your basic building blocks on which to create your own custom styles. If you create your own custom style this can be saved by using the, "save style as" optionas" option

DAZ Studio has a host of features that allow you to customize your workspace just to your liking

CUSTOMIZING YOUR DAZ


Un-docked (Floating) Pane Group

ViewportsWindow/ViewportsThe viewport; your window to the DAZ world, is where you view your scene. Whether you want one large view, two side by side, or even; 4 small views DAZ has 12 different options for you.

One last tweakOne last tweakJust when you thought there was nothing else left to custom-ize with your DAZ setup; we find that you can change the splash screen that you see as DAZ loads up. Unfortunately, you can’t load your own image, but; you can change to an alter-native if you wish. To do this, go to: Edit/Preferences, and on the interface tab; change splash screen to: Alternative.

Panes (Tabs) and Pane GroupsA pane or tab is, a work area associated with a particular task, A pane or tab is, a work area associated with a particular task, such as; Surfaces, Lights or Render settings. You can choose which panes you would like, to help you to create your own custom layout. There are currently 38 different panes, so only having those that you will need onscreen will help to keep your DAZ setup streamlined. The panes and pane groups can either be docked or undocked (floating). If they are docked, then the pane is fixed to either; top or bottom, left or right then the pane is fixed to either; top or bottom, left or right of your DAZ Window. Panes can be moved easily, just drag and drop a pane to move it from one location to another. Undocking a pane or pane group, will allow you to move the pane outside of the DAZ Studio window. For example; if you are working across multiple monitors.

Once you have created your custom workspace layout, you can save it by using the, "Save layout as" option.

ToolbarsWindows/Workspace/CustomizeDAZDAZ's toolbars and menu items can be customized fairly easily. If you choose the customize option; you can modify tools on the toolbars, as well as, items on the menus. This allows you to customize, not just the menus that appear at the top of the screen, but also what appears on the context menus, as well.


CARRAIGMAVROSH STRATIOTIS

If you would like to submit your favourite five just follow the format above, 5 items with links plus your reasons they are must haves, also include a short bio and a piece of your artwork and send it to:

[email protected]

My all time favorite male character for M4. When I found Rolf at RDNA I was on a big Vikings kick and he IS the Viking’s Viking. Not being sure and this being my first time purchasing from a vendor other thanDaz, I was worried about getting something that wouldn't work, so I hit the "Ask a question" button. Less than 3 hours later Andrew himself (not an auto-mated response email) they assured me that if it didn't perform in Daz the way I wanted, they would refund my money .Not only did it preform but the texture work is insanely good, like deal with the devil good.ROLF has found a place of honor in my content library, weather as a raging viking or a power mad post-apocalyptic “Baron ROLF has found a place of honor in my content library, weather as a raging viking or a power mad post-apocalyptic “Baron of The Wastes.”

http://www.runtimedna.com/Rolf.htmlROLF 05

I have only used the complete set once, but a piece or two make it into almost all my work. I do a lot of post-apocalyptic and zombie stuff, and these clothes and accessories really work for me.

http://www.daz3d.com/horror-survivors-cris-for-v6HORROR SURVIOR CRIS FOR V6 04

These are a prop and these types of items don't generally get the spotlight that often; this set should be the exception to that rule . I'm ex-military, a proud Vet, and in my past career used a lot of this stuff. Smay's set is bar none the best represen-tation of a low slung tactical rig I've ever seen. From the holster straps and buckles, to the gun tape on the 9mm Beretta's grips; no detail has been left out.The texture work is superb, with amazing wear and tear that can stand even the closest close up. To be honest, I used them so often that the community thought they were my signa-ture prop!ture prop!What can I say? I love ‘em!

http://www.daz3d.com/stalker-girl-guns-for-genesisSTALKER GIRL GUNS03

I know that’s 2 items but I'm sorry they just have to be together! SAV creates some of the greatest hair I've ever seen; not just look and style.Let’s face it, they’re awesome :)But morphs and controls like no other give the user amazing results; weather it's a fantasy Elven warrior or a road warrior in a post apocalyptic waste land. These hair-styles are the crowning touch on most of my characters.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/sav-alpha-scalp/99012/http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/sav-alpha-moikana/97250/

ALPHA SCALP AND MOIKANA 02

The level of control that has been built into these lights is amazing. Like most people, I started out using a simple distant light. With some tutorials under my belt, I started using 3 and 4 light rigs and my work improved but my render times increased dramat-ically as well. At the time I was using a laptop, so what attracted me to AoA's lights were the promise of better results with fewer lights and lower cost in render time. When you’re looking at 3 to 4 hours for a 3Delight render at half decent resolution, anything that promises speed is a no brainer. What I found though was a light package that delivered everything it promised and more and these lights are used in every that delivered everything it promised and more and these lights are used in every image I create

http://www.daz3d.com/advanced-daz-studio-light-bundleAOA'S ADVANCED LIGHTS BUNDLE 01

Daz3D user for only 4 months, and please no startled "What? You've only been doing this for 4 months?” reactions; I have prior experience with posing and textur-ing, just not with anything as good as Daz3D. Recently I've restarted creating textures, and with the creating textures, and with the help of DS Creatives’ Phil Thompson and Dave Liewald from the Daz/Poser Group, founded "The Texture Artist Co-op” on Facebook. Whether you are a beginner or experienced, anyone wanting to learn are welcome.wanting to learn are welcome.

Greg “Maniacmayo” May

Five Runtime must havesFAVOURITE FIVE


MARKUS BA

PAUL J HEYSEG A LLER Y


MARKUS BA

RIAN BERGWERFF


KARISMA

38• June 2015 • DS CREATIVE MAGAZINE

MARY VANASSCHE

BOWSKI


ALEX LEDANTE


IAN TP

MARK KAPPE


This month marks the end of the Reality gallery from next month Reality renders will be included in the main galleries, the reason for the change is simple, Daz Artists now have so many choices of rendering solutions and it seems far more logical to have one gallery rather than separates. But so that the world at large know what was used to render specific artworks the buttons are coming if we have the information the render will feature a button specially designed to signify the choice of rendering solution.of rendering solution.

But please remember we still want to see your reality renders so keep sending them in, email your artwork to us at: [email protected] and mark it Reality

DANIEL WRIGHT

RENDERRENDER

realityrealityLuxLux


HENRICO VISSER

SAMANTHA BURROWS


Jerry Ghionis

“Hands can add so much elegance to an image, after the eyes, the hands are the most expressive…"

Now you will see the hands in detail, each green dot repre-senting a joint. Using the guide illustrations, at the bottom of the Powerpose window, clicking and dragging on the green dot adjusts the bend and rotate for that particular joint.

This method is faster and more intuitive than using the dials on the parameters tab or the rotate tool. It will allow you to try several poses before getting the right one.

Once you have perfected your ideal hand pose, you can save it to reuse it at a later date, by doing the following steps: File/Save As/Pose Preset.

A new window will open so you can select which part of A new window will open so you can select which part of your figures pose you wish to save. Uncheck your character, and then find which hand you want to save, and check its box. Everything under the selected node will be checked. Click on "accept".

YYou can now merge this pose on your next character, by selecting your new character, then file/merge and select your hand pose.

You can find several examples of hand poses on the web, by Googling, "hand pose reference".

You have the perfect pose but getting the hands to look correct can be a very painful and tricky task. Thankfully, DAZ Studio contains a very nice and extremely useful tool that can help called Powerpose!

From the Scene tab, select your characteFrom the Scene tab, select your character, and then open the Powerpose window. If you don’t have the Powerpose pane as standard you can add it by going to; Window/panes (tabs), and selecting Powerpose

The Powerpose window shows a model; with green dots, each green dot represents one of the figures joints.

In the upper left corner of the Powerpose pane, you will see In the upper left corner of the Powerpose pane, you will see a pair of hands; clicking on the green dot, just under them, will move into hand editing mode.

We use Powerpose to make posinghands quick and easy

LETS GET HANDY


IRONINGMITHORON

All competition submissions are to be sent to:[email protected]

All submissions must be new artwork and must not have been dis-played online beforeImages can be either portrait or landscape Deadline is 23:59 UTC on the 22nd of June-15For full prize Information see overleaf and for full term’s and conditions visit our Facebook group:HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/DAZCREATIVE/

So to help us mark the end of our first year this months creative challenge is simple any render but is must contain at least three of our freebie items, the choice is up to you.Please include with your submission the names of the three freebies you have used.The freebies included in this issue may also be used.

Every month since our Inaugural Issue we have brought you a wide range of freebie items from some of the DAZ communities top content vendors, such as:Characters Head and body shapesClothing Hair Hair PropsLights

Competition time


TO CELEBRATE THE END OF OUR FIRST YEAR WE HAVE A MEGA PRIZE BONANZA WITH A HUGE ARRAY OF PRIZES AND OUR SUPER PRIZE POT WILL SHARED LIKE SO, WE WILL STILL HAVE 1ST, 2ND & 3 PLACES JUST MORE OF THEM, THERE WILL BE TWO 1ST PLACE WINNERS, THREE 2ND PLACE WINNERS AND FOUR 3RD PACE WINNERS, SO THATS NINE, YES NINE WINNERS.

*PLEASE NOTE*BUNDLES ARE NOT INCLUDED FOR ALL THE ABOVE PRIZES UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

SUPER 3 FREEBIE CHALLENGE


JEBLUCINDA ATMAN

HOW DID YOU GET INTO 3D MODELING & HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IT?I've had an interest in 3D for over ten years now, ever since it became widely used in the film industry. I think 3D offers the user the ability to realise worlds where the only limit is a person’s imagination.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FROM?The net is a vast place with countless sources of inspiration to draw from, but to be The net is a vast place with countless sources of inspiration to draw from, but to be specific I'd say places like artstation.com, which is a fantastic website of top level 2D and 3D artists, and of course deviantart.com. Another great source of inspiration is the FZDSCHOOL channel on youtube.com which is hosted by Feng Zhu, a very talented concept artist. He talks over time lapsed videos of 2D digital painting, explaining his thinking and methods as the image develops. Very inspiring!

The Digivault

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT


WHICH PROGRAM(S) DO YOU CREATE YOUR MODELS IN?I use Blender, Silo, Photoshop and a few other bits and bobs.

TYPICALLY HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FROM INITIAL IDEA TO FINISHED MODEL?I'm a bit glacial when it comes to product development. Building environments can be a I'm a bit glacial when it comes to product development. Building environments can be a slow process. I will start out with some concept sketches and then start modeling in a very organic way. If something is not working I take a few steps back and redevelop. I get everything modeled first and then begin texturing. So from start to finish I’d say between 4 to 6 weeks. You can watch some making of videos here....https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-W0jWwKpGq8_cdEzoJZLOA/videos

IF YOU COULD ADD ONE NEW FEATURE TO DAZ STUDIO, WHAT WOULD IT BE?I'd add an include/exclude from lighting/shadow casting option to all lights.I'd add an include/exclude from lighting/shadow casting option to all lights.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR YOU WHEN CREATING A NEW PRODUCT?Time management. I'm also a freelance cameraman, which takes up a lot of my time as do my two wonderful children, Hugh (11) and Kate (9).

WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE STARTING OUT CREATING FOR DAZ STUDIO?Take your time and get it perfect. I always try to push the envelope a bit more with Take your time and get it perfect. I always try to push the envelope a bit more with each new project. Do lots of R and D and look for tutorials online that will add to your skill set.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT TO MODEL?I love modeling grungy, beat up, large scale environments.


DAZ: http://www.daz3d.com/the-digivault

For everything Digivault check out

HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SEE PEOPLES ARTWORK MADE WITH YOUR PRODUCTS?It's a good feeling and it's nice to see what others can achieve with my sets.

CAN YOU GIVE US A HINT OF WHAT IS TO COME? At the moment I'm working on another At the moment I'm working on another big set that takes an everyday scene and makes it a lot more dramatic. I'd also like to do some more ships as I enjoyed the process in my last two.

WHICH 3 ARE YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITES OF YOUR OWN PRODUCTS? My three favorite sets are 1. Destroyed City (http://www.-daz3d.com/destroyed-city) which I learnt so much from producing. It's my biggest seller to this day. 2. Has to be Dropship. (http://www.-2. Has to be Dropship. (http://www.-daz3d.com/dropship) This one took a long time to build but was worth it. I love all the detail. 3. Sci Fi Cruiser (http://www.-daz3d.com/sci-fi-cruiser) Again, this took a long time to get right but I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

WHICH ARE YOUR 3 PERSONAL FAVORITE VENDORS?1. Rawart is a very talented character 1. Rawart is a very talented character artist. I love his attention to detail and he's always trying new things. Nice guy too.2. Stonemason is an awesome and inspir-ing environment artist. His attention to detail is staggering.3. The Ant Farm is a fantastic all rounder 3. The Ant Farm is a fantastic all rounder and the creator of Citizen X, my all time favorite character.

http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/DS_Creative_Portal.zip


SNAKIABELLATRYX

I set up my scene specifically to allow me to Postwork the effect in. I first set up my scene in DAZ Studio with my set, model, and props. After posing the model, I added the lights, and then placed two point lights above the torch, set to dif-ferent intensities, and slightly different colours. The higher point light being dimmer and moved a little closer to the camera, as to; illuminate the model's face.

Once the render is complete, it’s time for the Postwork. For this I’m using Gimp, but any photo editor that supports trans-parent layers and Image brushes will do.With my render loaded it’s time to add a transparent layer. I selected an area around the top of my torch, positioned a colour flame brush within the selection and gave my mouse a click.

All that was left to do was, adjust the opacity of the layer to suit. I could also add another layer below the brush, adding a slight glow behind the flames. Now I add my signature and we are done.

You can download my free torch prop below.http://4eyes.code66.se/dsc/Explorers_Torch.zip

Many 3D artists use Postwork as the final stage of the pro-duction pipeline, for 3D artwork. There can be many differ-ent reasons to Postwork your finished render. Some of these reasons may be to fix some unavoidable error, such as; poke through, or you may be wishing to add in some extra detail, either by hand or by using a premade brush. Another reason could also be exposure compensation or correction and colour grading, but all this comes as an afterthought once the render is complete.While we can’t do Postwork before our render, we can at least have some idea of what we are going to do in Postwork and if possible prepare for it.

For my current scene I wanted my model to be holding a lit torch, but despite searching, I couldn't find one with a flame that I liked, but I did have a colour flame brush that was just what I was looking for. At this point I have two options; using the flame brush to make a diffuse mat and an alpha mat transparent image to map onto a plane; or, create it in Postwork. After much deliberation, well two minutes actually, I decided on Postwork.actually, I decided on Postwork.

Charlie McDonald thinks postwork before rendering a pixel

PLANNING POSTWORK

JOANALEX LEDANTE

THE BLACK KING'S BISHOP

THE BLACK KING'S BISHOPEden ClarkUSA

OOPSFantail451New Zealand

BLOOMBLOOMRian BergwerffNetherlands

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OOPS

BLOOMDS CREATIVE MAGAZINE • June 2015 • 59

GOTHING UP

GOTHING UPMithoronUSA

FLASH GORDONMarkus BaGermany

THE FINDERTHE FINDERLucinda AtmanUSA

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THE FINDER

FLASH GORDON


MINI CTHULHU PET ME

MINI CTHULHU PET MEShawn NerenbergCanada

PRANKDan GaddyUSA

ON TO GLORYON TO GLORYCharlie Mc DonaldUSA

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ON TO GLORY

PRANK


THE PIRATE

THE PIRATEKendaGermany

HOLLEYJohn Kosiorek

WIRELESS MUSICMauro BisianiMauro BisianiItaly

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HOLLEY

WIRELESS MUSIC

ME AND BEARS

ME AND BEARSLaMuserieFranceWARRIORS TREASUREHexekati.Germany

RANAKIRANAKISandra BauserUSA

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RANAKI

WARRIORS TREASURE


THE DS CREATIVE TEAM

EVERY MONTH DS CREATIVE NEEDS A SMALL LEGION OF PEOPLE TO HELP MAKE IT HAPPEN, SO TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO HELPED TO MAKE ISSUE 12, A VERY BIG THANK YOU.

CONTRIBUTORS


THE TEAM

Camilla DrakenborgPhil ThompsonTotte AlmMatt AllgoodSanyel JacksonJamie SomersJamie SomersBobbie Brundon JeffreySamir Rouabhi Deleuze

FREE GIFT CONTRIBUTORS

Alessandro MastronardiThe Digivault

TUTORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Charlie McDonaldPhil ThompsonSamir Rouabhi Deleuze

Maniacmayo MayMarcius HessMark KappeMarkus BaMary VanAsscheMauro BisaniMauro BisaniMavrosh StratiotisMithoronPaul J HeysePhil ThompsonR.P. CallahanRian BergwerffSaidge42Saidge42Samantha BurrowsSandra BauserShawn NerenbergTodd Kogutt

IMAGE CONTRIBUTORS

Alex LedanteAlexaanaAndreas KuntzerAnnie AltherrAstuce ManBellatryxBellatryxBowskiCamilla DrakenborgCharlie McDonaldDan GaddyDaniel WrightEden ClarkEsaPesaEsaPesaFantal451Henrico VisserHexekatiIan TPjefferson FerreiraJodie GriffithsJohn KosiorekJohn KosiorekKarismaKendaKerrie ManningLaMuserieLucinda Atman


next issue ofDS Creative

pirits of the night firehelp me to find the S

Artwork by Jean Morneau

DS Creative Issue 13 - 1st July 2015

Ds Creative 12

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