Last time, I got my figures all dressed, then worked out that once I posed them, my chosen dress didn't work for Saara. I had to go back to the drawing board - including installing some new bits and pieces for DAZ 3D Studio.
DAZ organization
I've been fighting the lack of organization in the DAZ file directories for a long time now - like since I started downloading third-party content. I've tried different methods of organizing things, even looking for what others might have done.
Finally, I've decided on two approaches that will work together.
Firstly, tested/working pieces will get unpacked into the appropriate base directory. Clothing specific to Genesis 8 will go into the Gen 8 directory. Props go into the Set Props directory. Poses go into that directory, etc.
But what about the untested pieces?
Those zipped files now go into the z_drop folder.
These files are unzipped, then dropped in the z_test directory.
I go into DAZ, test them, see if they work.
If they work, they go into the appropriate directory, as stated above.
If not, they are either deleted (if it's the lack of a product or a big error that makes it not work) - or they go into another folder (in the case of an error I might be able to fix) for later research.
So, no more sifting through 100s of props in order to find poses, or 100s of clothing items for the wrong models... no more wondering if something is going to work.
So far, so good!
Anyway... here's what I've been working on today.
Altering clothing to suit...
First of all, after downloading a few more of Adam Thwaites' pieces (mostdigitalcreations), I tried a bunch on in the testing scene and settled on this nice little piece. I would have preferred the skirt to be longer as it's meant to be a semi-formal occasion, but I didn't see a way to do that. Minor inconvenience though.
Note: I haven't started fixing the "collisions" including Viper's left hand using quantum physics to go through the skirt of Saara's dress. Yes, Viper is eager, but not that eager! (Saying that, I wouldn't put it past him...)
Gray is really not Saara's color, I don't think... and it doesn't match the lovely amethyst pendant I found for her. So, let's change the dress a bit.
With the dress selected, I go to the "surfaces" tab (bottom right panel of the screen).
I click on the base color and choose the color I want.
I like the color, but this is expensive fabric, and I'm thinking shiny, so I turn the gloss way up. (I can always turn it down later if it messes up the render.)
I like this color much better.
In this still, however, you can see how much of a "miss" their hands are still, so I spend some time adjusting their poses, one digit at a time... so that Viper's fingers aren't tearing a hole through the fabric of space and time... and their moment is much more delicate.
Although not perfect, by any means, it's close enough. My scene is still meant to be a little darker than normal and I don't even know how much of their affection will show on the final cover anyway.
So, next is fixing the angle of their heads. They should be focused on one another to make this work. He's been longing for her for awhile now and just knowing that has Saara's heart on fire.
I tilt Viper's head towards Saara's for the nuzzle that's going to happen the moment after this still.
Then I find an expression that seems to work for Saara as well, as one who is very much contented with where she is right now...
Next time, we'll construct the scene around Saara and Viper.
But you will have to read the book to find out whether Saara is as contented in the morning...
(Coming very soon on Steem!)
All work done by myself on: Photoscape, Gimp, Krita, and/or Daz 3D Studio
Cross-posted on: Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu, Hyperspace
Other parts of this tutorial: Part 1 - getting my models ready for posing...
Past tutorials:
- Map Development for Alacantis (on GIMP), part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
- Cover image for Acting the Part
- Cover image for Brighid's Blood (part of the update).
- Cover image for Birth of the Neví, part 1, part 2
- Map Development for Velantia, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
- Map Development for Kranisis, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
- Cover Image for Name of the Neví, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6
- Beginning with Daz 3D Studio - my cover image for Mind of the Neví: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
- Cover image for Pawn of the Neví, part 1,
Photo salvages:
Droplet, Bellis Daisy, Baby Blue Flowers, version 1, version 2, 2-Spot Ladybug, version 1, version 2, Bridge Over River Kennet
Coloring Tutorials & Mini-tutorials:
Zen colouring #43, Zen colouring #39, Zen colouring #38, Zen colouring #37, Zen colouring #36, Zen colouring #35, Zen colouring #34, Zen colouring #33,
Butterfly Colouring #11, Butterfly Colouring #10
Halloween Artwork:
2018 - Pumpkin Patch Harvest
2019 - Haunted Pumpkin House, Jack-o-Lantern Forest Cemetery, Shadow in a Misty Forest
Miscellaneous Artwork:
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
verified author on Goodreads
find me on Twitter
blogging on: Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu, Hyperspace
Join us in the Official Whaleshares server in the text channel "the-phoenix-project"
Thank you!
My pleasure, Lori!
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I realized that I should probably tag you, @edouard as I know you'll like to see the next part, where I've got the expressions the way I want them, etc. Still more to come!
Outstanding! Check how they have treated textiles in this video, it is very experimental and probably move with machine learning algorithms.
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This post has received a 3.13 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @sbi-booster.
Nice work. Certainly, the organization in Daz is a headache!
Thanks. The native organization isn't too bad, really... but third party content is a PITA when it comes to finding things... So, working out my own solution is (hopefully) a good answer.
I did go ahead and quickly installed everything from Adam Thwaites, because his stuff always works - even if his dForce project didn't work so well (probably why those haven't been in his weekly downloads for a long time now.)
I'll also auto-install everything by Daz, since that works really well too... but 3rd party content will be sorted as outlined above... I'll let you know when I design my next cover whether it's still working.
Thanks for stopping by.
I have created several models to sell in Renderosity and organize the folders so that it looks good in DAZ is the most complicated thing, really! 😅 I am also publishing a novel and creating cards for a video game, but I will try to be aware of your publications. There are not many DAZ users on steemit 😃
Ah! I bet you can solve a riddle for me then... are you on Discord? (nvm, I see you've found me. :-) )
Several products that I have downloaded and tested don't work - not because the files aren't there but because something's gone wrong in the directing the product to the files. I've put those in the "don't work yet" folder because I have a suspicion that I might be able to fix it, but I don't know how yet.
I do recommend Draft2Digital for self-publishing. They are (supposedly) going to be rolling out paper publication soon as well, though for now it's just epublishing.
Sounds like you're having fun with your cards. It's given me an idea for creating a new oracle set of cards as well. (I'm currently working on a set, but have been mostly using GIMP for them.)
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