Best way to learn?

queenkiratakenouchi

Can anyone advise me as to the best way to learn DAZ3d? There are a billion tutorials and I'm overwhelmed. All I know how to do is put the character or the objects on the scene. Rendering yields either a dark image or a white image. I really need something that can take me step by step through this process so everything I bought doesn't go to waste. Is that a specific tutorial I can buy that's for new users?

PerttiA

The easiest thing to do to get your interior scene visible is to set "cm^2 Factor" in tone mapping to 10, or around there, otherwise you need to turn up the lights by factor of 100

margrave

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/7048791/#Comment_7048791

SickleYield

Hello! I've done these for this purpose:

I do sell commercial tutorials for advanced subjects in the store here, but these are free. 

Here's another concept in higher-contrast lighting, because I know some people don't like the blander three-point look, and this teaches how to use the Canvas system for better-looking renders.

ShelLuser

queenkiratakenouchi said:

Can anyone advise me as to the best way to learn DAZ3d? There are a billion tutorials and I'm overwhelmed.

So ignore them. Set a goal for yourself, and try to pursue it, then check tutorials if you need 'm to get your project done.

In the end learning stuff is a "me" process, so... it's up to you.

 

frank0314

The best way to learn the fundaments and even once you get comfortable with them more advanced stuff is to visit SickleYield's YouTube page. Has get tutorials on just about everything dealing with Daz Studio. About the best ones out there and I use them regularly if I'm looking for something in particular.       

nicstt

load a complete scene, preferably do a few from different PAs and from Daz too.

experiment with them.

See what happens when you move a light by small amounts.

or when you turn it on and increase or decreate the amount of light.

 

First, learn the basics of Studio; it's tough to get results from using a tool, before you have an idea how to use it.

One reason I say use scenes,

Willy2

I saw the photo you attached
In DazStudio, lights don't work well in fully enclosed rooms.
In C4D or Blender or Maya, you can easily light a room because the lights that you put in the scene behave like real sources of light.
I therefore advise you to place your characters in rooms where there is no ceiling.
If you want to show the ceiling, try removing some walls.
If you have built a scene with a nice rendering, by placing the right lights, you can save it because it will be useful to you later.

You also can use backgrounds, which save time and prevent you from building a complex decor.
Samples backgrounds (realistic and magical)

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/beautiful-gothic-xii---memories/98085/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/solitude-backgrounds/103991/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/12-enchanted-fantasy-backgrounds/140314/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/have-a-seat---valentine---backgrounds/91322/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/winter-basics-background-mini-pack/83008/

 

The Vertex Doctor

Willy2 said:

I saw the photo you attached
In DazStudio, lights don't work well in fully enclosed rooms.
In C4D or Blender or Maya, you can easily light a room because the lights that you put in the scene behave like real sources of light.
I therefore advise you to place your characters in rooms where there is no ceiling.

I will have to, respectfully, disagree. If you have a room with lights on the ceiling, or lights from props for, say, a premade set, use those as your emitters. I rarely cheat indoors unless there is no ceiling light included in a set so I will either find one from another room or make a primitive out of view of the camera and place it in the same area as where a ceiling light would be. Add other lamp or light props making the bulbs as emitters, or candles depending on the scene, etc. Add to that HDRI light coming in through glass, or an open doorway, also out of camera view unless it fits the render.

Now as to OP, start with the basics. Years ago, back in the 3Delight days, I started simple, load character, morphs him/her to look how I want, do simple renders with the default HDRI iRay light. Once you get shaping and posing right, start using simple props and poses and moving your characters around the props. Sit on props, see how close you can get a seated pose to sit on a prop without sticking into it, etc. THEN move on to lighting. Try some basic lights, learn how shadows react to lights and how to light up surfaces without washing out. Lighting is a complex artform that takes practice. Trust me when I say it takes YEARS. I have been working with DAZ studio since October 26th, 2011. With my first purchase being Michael 4 and paid for DAZ. EVen today I am still learning new things.

Willy2

 

I will have to, respectfully, disagree. If you have a room with lights on the ceiling, or lights from props for, say, a premade set, use those as your emitters. I rarely cheat indoors unless there is no ceiling light included in a set so I will either find one from another room or make a primitive out of view of the camera and place it in the same area as where a ceiling light would be. Add other lamp or light props making the bulbs as emitters, or candles depending on the scene, etc. Add to that HDRI light coming in through glass, or an open doorway, also out of camera view unless it fits the render.

Two or three well-tuned light sources should be more than enough.
Light sources, in 3D, cannot be placed like lights on a Christmas tree.

marble

I have to admit that I cheat a lot with interiors because, before I had a powerful GPU, rendering a scene with a mixture of emitters and photometric lights (e.g. spotlights) took forever. So I tend to remove the ceiling and any walls behind the camera and use HDRi as my main light. I know that doesn't do much for the realism of the scene but it renders a lot faster. I choose HDRi images that give a fairly constant illumination in all directions so as not to have hard shadows.

When I want more realism these days, with a better GPU, I do use the "proper" lights but I could benefit from a good tutorial on tonemapping, etc.

The Vertex Doctor

Willy2 said:

Two or three well-tuned light sources should be more than enough.
Light sources, in 3D, cannot be placed like lights on a Christmas tree.

Never said anything about placing them "willy nilly" but currently, in the room I am sitting in now, I have 3 bulb ceiling lamp above and behind me, plus on the other end of my long fromt room a floor lamp with two bulbs on and lighting coming in from the hall ceiling light. If I wanted to duplciate the look of the room I am in now, I would have 6 emitters for light. 

Richard Haseltine

Willy2 said:

I saw the photo you attached
In DazStudio, lights don't work well in fully enclosed rooms.
In C4D or Blender or Maya, you can easily light a room because the lights that you put in the scene behave like real sources of light.
I therefore advise you to place your characters in rooms where there is no ceiling.
If you want to show the ceiling, try removing some walls.
If you have built a scene with a nice rendering, by placing the right lights, you can save it because it will be useful to you later.

You also can use backgrounds, which save time and prevent you from building a complex decor.
Samples backgrounds (realistic and magical)

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/beautiful-gothic-xii---memories/98085/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/solitude-backgrounds/103991/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/12-enchanted-fantasy-backgrounds/140314/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/have-a-seat---valentine---backgrounds/91322/

https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/bcs/winter-basics-background-mini-pack/83008/

If you need to let the external light, from an HDR or Sun/Sky, in then check that you have Scene lights enabled and adjust the Tone Mapping as required for the interior space.

queenkiratakenouchi

Thank you for all this awesome information. I didn't think anyone would answer. It took awhile to find the tone mapping thing, but at least now I can make a render where you see a character. And what a turnon to find people smarter than me! And so helpful! Oh wait,, I think my nose just got stuck in someone's ass. Seriously, this is all important to me. I'm a published author of over 20 books and ultimately I'm looking to make an animation of at least one of them. I'll be checking all the references provided here to help me, thank you so much.