A Comprehensive Guide to DAZ Studio PDF - maybe? [commercial]
Thomas Windar
Posts: 272
So after finishing The Comprehensive Guide to Rigging Tools in DAZ Studio - I've started writing another guide, however lately I've seen some discussion about the need for more PDF documentation for DAZ Studio functions. Logically the best thing to do is write a Comprehensive Guide to DAZ Studio in full, right?
Well... after putting some work into it, I have noticed that a full book might bloat to around a 1000 pages. The Rigging Tools guide is 145 by itself. In order to ensure that the PDF offers the most value - I'll have to cut it into chunks, describing each topic of DAZ Studio.
As they are finished, each would be released to the shop. Perhaps after writing every single one of them, it would be possible to make a whole discounted Bundle of them as a "Complete" series. It is also an option to just release one gigantic PDF - but seeing how long that might take me, it would just hold ready chapters hostage while the others are being made. After all, having a "Comprehensive Guide to Iray in DAZ Studio" release when its ready might prove more beneficial than keeping it locked away for an extra 11 months while 3Delight, Shader Baker, Animation and Primitives get worked on. That is my assumption though - I would welcome your view on it.
So here would be the topics, each having its own PDF dedicated to them:
- Basics of DAZ Studio menus.
- Shortcut customization, preference editor, docking windows/panes/tabs, style changes, "File", "Edit", "Create" menus. Style changes, Content Library, Smart Content, Saving content, Posing, Shaping, Camera setup, etc.
- Iray in DAZ Studio.
- What is Iray, Render Settings, Lights, Surface tab (what the options do in the shaders), how to render, when to use, etc.
- 3Delight in DAZ Studio.
- What is 3Delight, Render Settings, Lights, Surface tab (what the options do in the shaders), how to render, when to use, etc.
- Shader Mixer and Shader Builder in DAZ Studio.
- Animation in DAZ Studio.
- The timeline, using Animate2, Keymate, GraphMate, basics of animation principles, useful posing tools and tricks, differences between Genesis, Genesis2, Genesis3.
- Parameters, Property Hierarchy and ERC in DAZ Studio.
- Morphing and Morph Creation in DAZ Studio.
I would like to hear your thoughts about this. Which topics are the most needed? Did I miss something? Perhaps something else requires attention?
Is there even a need for a PDF about certain topics?
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Comments
Yes, please! Studio documentation is woefully inadequate and I'm sure a proper, complete, comprehensive manual would be more than welcome. A guide to Iray shader mixer would be a big help. I'm working on a line of shaders for fabrics like organza and various satins but it's not going well. Trial and error is slow.
Content Management System probably needs its own chapter.
You might be right about that....
I'll take that into consideration.
Well I haven't bought the Rigging Guide yet but to you talk about posing & animation basics?
You should include editing Surfaces if you didn't include that in your 1st guide.
Well, the Poser Pro 12 manual was over 800 pages...I don't see why the DS manual should be any less ;). Small chunks would be nice, but it would also be nice to have the entire thing, yes. :) And if you could throw the Rigging pdf in with that bundle, even better :D
Laurie
I assume the full thing would be very lengthy - but I also believe that cutting it into chunks is more beneficial to the end user. Simply because the info is published as its ready before it becomes obsolete. It is also easier to update it in case of some major DAZ Studio updates.
And yes - I assume that the Rigging guide would also be a part of the bundle. That said - I'll focus on the current task at hand.
I'm considering Iray as the next guide, since it has some complex settings in the render tab and Surface tab. Although I'll see how it goes.
The Nerd in me says YES, a very welcomed resource, guide and tutorial! Well worth waiting and looking forward to.
And THANKS.
Well you could probably seperate out Shaders, Surfaces & MDL/iRay in one guide, then Shaders, Surfaces & 3DL in another guide, including L.I.E, Geometry Shells, Decals in both as appropriate, and so on; then Morphs & D-Formers and such in another guide, animation & posing in aother guide. Might be some overlap with your Rigging Guide and between guides somewhat though.
Hm... that does sound like a good idea.
Thank you for the suggestion.
I'll see how it ends up while I write it, but I might start from that set.
I'd very much like this, especially some description of the equivalent functions between 3Delight and Iray. I've been trying to wrap my head around the subject since the first introduction of the Iray renderer. I still sometimes (much too often!) end up with converted materials that are either shiny when they shouldn't be, or vice versa, and I can't work out why. The existing online DAZ docs for Iray materials — when I can struggle through the daisy-chain of links to find them — just don't make a lot of sense to me.
There have been a lot of good suggestions as to what to put in this, and I especially echo the suggestion for more on creating morphs and deformers, but I'd like to suggest that you strongly consider releasing it in chapters rather than as a single item, with a collective bundle version to be released at the end. That way you'd start getting a return on the work quicker and we'd get the initial info a lot faster. Beyond that, though, theres also the the advantage of being able update the things that change as Studio itself evolves, or add additional chapters after the fact... at an addition fee, so if the CMS or default workspace suddenly changes significantly with DS 5.0, the whole book doesn't become outdated before you even finish it, but you're not trapped into constantly doing updates for the existing owners for free.
All of this sounds terrific! Without sounding presumptuous, have you considered establishing an editorial review "panel" of experienced users/PAs to help error/fact check your chapters and provide early feedback on the depth and breadth of content? There are a lot of knowledgeable people out there who could perhaps serve in such a capacity. In a prior life, I worked for two different software companies and our manuals always benefitted from such a review process. it might also be beneficial to collect not only broad topic input, but also detail-level questions along the lines of "How do I accomplish XYZ?" for a given subtopic/chapter. Being able to incorporate mini how-tos along with the definitive reference guide would be a huge boon to the community.
Shaders! Yes, I definitely would want that!
You might consider a quick "Getting started in DS" for complete Newbies, in particular covering the frequent pitfalls they often hit, like "Where is my content?" which is typically because they installed it in a non-standard location and did not add that location to the content directories. Such a guide would only be a few pages, as anything longer might scare a Newbie off. You could consider releasing it for free as a way to promote your remaining chapters that people would buy when they wish to become more advanced.
I don't think I'd release by chapters though because it will possible influence you to rush the guide and not proof read and test enough.
I think there a quite a few options for learning the basics of DAZ Studio but there are lots of the more advanced areas that are shrouded in mystery and have few tutorials or up to date docs.
Not sure.
I was considering a "Quick Start" Guide. However there are many good tutorials out there already covering the topic. I am not sure if repeating what they say is that needed.
I might consider doing it once the whole package is made - simply because collecting portions of ready chapters into one "Quick Start" guide is a lot easier and faster to make. Especially that - at least in my opinion - in-depth guides are more in need than Beginner's guides right now.
That would assume I am trying to rush the guides out to make a quick buck. Which is not my way of producing Tutorials. I write them with one notion in mind - "Grant as much bang for the customer's buck as possible". If I charge 45$ for a guide - it better have 120+ pages of detailed information in it.
Additionally - from personal experience - a Full DAZ Studio Guide like that could possibly take around 11~14 months to create. And do note - that means some information is simply being held "hostage" by the guide. If I finish chapters about Animation, Iray and 3Delight, Content Managment System and Shader Mixer - these things would be ready to deploy but just wait on my PC till I finish writing the "Quick Start Guide", "Morphing", "Property Hierarchy" and so on.
I believe that introducing Guides in parts is more Consumer Friendly. Simply because you can choose the ones you would need and you get them faster.
The Comprehensive Guide to Rigging Tools in DAZ Studio already answers questions about Transfer Utility and Geometry Editor.
It also contains info on Rigidity, Geografting and Subdivision Weight.
Not sure if I would write about DAZ Scripting. Maybe a short "introduction to Scripting in DAZ Studio" but this goes into a giant topic that is programming - doubt I could handle it comprehensively.
...I like the idea of this being broken up in more modular sections by topic rather than being one long document as some functions (like animation or scripting) I have no use for while others like the "basics", morphing, and posing I already have a decent handle on. In particular textures/materials (both Iray and 3DL), rigging, the Transfer Utility, lighting (Iray), and The Shader Mixer/Builder are the sections I would see myself purchasing.
Yes, most things that have been mentioned are worth writing about. Personally, DAZ Scripting and Plugin creation are a book each, since they are extremely complex topics if you don't already have some experience with programming, and even then they can toss curves at you.
Well you misunderstand me. I don't mean wait for the whole comprehensive DAZ Guide for releasing but not to do somethings like Release 1 - Surfaces - Skin - Arms, Release 2 - Surfaces - Skin Ears, and so on.
I look forward to your manuals.
I see the potential to get partway into it and realize that it would make more sense to move something from one place to another in the manual.
Or, the way the manual is organized evolves as you get much farther into it and you realize that some of the first things that you wrote should be modified somewhat so that each part of the manual is organized in a similar way, making it easier to understand as a whole.
These things would of course be impossible to do if part of the manual has already been completed. Just a thought to consider.
If this happens, he can always submit the altered versions of the previously released sections as updates.
True. I should have said harder rather than impossible.
I like the idea about separate guides, so hopefully we can get them faster, than the whole, big docs.
Please, no. There's already a surplus of books that are basically quick start guides out there, one of which - "A Primer for DAZ Studio: Your easy way to learn 3D rendering and animation" by Anne Marie Rasmussen, whose PA name is Rhiannon - is exceelent in terms of the material it covers, although the formatting of the book is set up for a PC or a larger tablet. The kindle version is $14.95 at Amazon. For beginners, there's also Ironman13 and Fugazzi's set of video tutorials http://www.daz3d.com/daz-studio-beginner-to-advanced which is generally quite good, if basic. The only issuesI have with this one is that Ironman is a much better presenter than Fugazzi.
That's pretty much exactly the opposite of what publishing by chapter tends to result in. Trying to proof and correct a massive book at one time is an incredible bear... and expensive as well if you're using a profession proofreader. One of the great things about electronic publishing is that a book can always be kept current and accurate, which is why so many of those infuriating college professors who re-write their books every year to force student to buy the new edition instead of a used older editions tend to hate them. The other major advantage is that the author can write about the subjects in the order that they want and as the jmuse strikes them, then retroactively re-order and collate them into a larger work.
A comprehensive guide to Iray would get my vote as well, as long as it's written in plain English and not riddled with abreviations and Iray jargon. "Increase this value to make the image darker, reduce it to to make the image lighter" is my idea of a proper explanation. I've been a professional practictioner in the black and recondite arts for over a third of a century and I have yet to come across any computer term that cannot be explained in plain Engish.
The other problem I have with PDFs is the use of the Darkside style for the DAZ Studio GUI, in screen captures. My eyesight was never really good to start with and it hasn't improved as I approach retirement. Darkside is very, very dificult to read. Please use the Highway style, it's much, much easier to read.
Cheers,
Alex.
Anything please, and the more visual the better (ie screenshots!)
Very well - Iray it is.
I'll start working on it.
Thank you all for your feedback.