D Formers Tutorial For Old Studio Version- Need Some Help Applying It to 4.5 Pro

NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
edited November 2012 in New Users

Referencing this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7SEBV2GHJHA

I am using Jaderails help thread and followed a link to the D Former video. Is there anything different in the SCENE tab from the old version to 4.5? So I'll be aware? Hers is on the right side, which is throwing me for a loop, but I'm just starting and already have differences.

First question- hers doesnt have anything under creating the plane, I can either have world center or object center. Difference? And which one should I use when following her tutorial?

Post edited by Novica on

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2012

    Second question, after I apply Wire Shaded, I have the blue viewport and nothing in it. She just selected the dot with the arrow sweeping around it counterclockwise, (camera orbit) and voila, her wire shaded shows up. (1:19 in video)

    My eyeball, arrow, and Plane were grayed out under Scene, I clicked to get the line highlighted in orange/gold, and when I clicked the camera orbit, nothing happens. I have the Universal Tool selected, dont know if that makes a difference- I am not operating under Genesis mode. (Remember, I havent a clue what I was doing. This is supposedly very simple according to her video, but I cant even get the plane to show up!


    EDIT: Changed to Perspective view, then the Camera Orbit worked.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2012

    Under SCENE:

    What is V S Node?

    V has the eyeball so I am assuming that is VIEW
    What is the S? It has the arrow with the check or the arrow with the x
    Node is the object?

    Post edited by Novica on
  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311
    edited December 1969

    Hi Novica :)

    All the panels in Daz Can be moved around,. and there are also a couple of pre-set "Styles" for the layouts which give you different panel layouts and options, and you can change those layouts as you advance with the program.


    As for the plane,. world space or local space,..
    It's just a plane to stand the figure on, it's more of a reference, than anything,. Either option will work, since the Magnet's are used on the Model, not the plane.


    There's no need to switch to Wire-frame view mode,. and if you're learning, you should really work in a way that you can see the obejcts you're working with.

    V is "Visible in the scene"
    S is "Selectable in the scene"


    Instead of diving right in to learning magnets,..(not the easiest thing to do)
    why not try doing some simpler tasks to learn more about the program options, tools, menu's and controls.
    the tutorial Video's aren't going anywhere,.. they'll still be there what you're ready to move on.

    Hope it helps :)

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited November 2012

    Part 1: Create your Plane set to World Center. Watch your Size and Divisions. To learn, start with a smaller Plane but leave the Divisions high.

    In the Scene tab Select the Plane and set your View to Wire Frame if you choose. It's really not needed.

    Part 2: In the Create Menu do the Deformer. Yes they look just a bit Different in DS4.5. In the Scene Tab OPEN the Deformer to have all three parts listed. Now Play with Moving the Different parts using the Translate tool.

    Part 3: To make the Deformers into Morphs Use the Window Menu then Tabs then Deform. Do as said in the Tutorial but you Will have one extra step when It says deformer is affecting so and so just tell it yes.

    You will now have your Morphs. This is Different also. In your Parameters Tab they will be Set to 100% and not at zero. Just play with your new Morphs.

    I hope this helps.

    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Notes to other newbies so far- the way 4.5 Pro is set up, when you get to 1:49 in the video where you create a new D Former, under Scene on your LEFT (hers is on the right) you will see a little arrow appear next to the word PLANE. By clicking that, you will see the words she is referring to. (Hill Base and Hill Field) (if you renamed it to Hill like the video instructs you to do.)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Thanks! :)
    I'm actually starting with this one because she is very easy to follow and I am following the Jaderail thread and don't really want to jump around. Everything is too disjointed- there's no thread that starts and "A" and goes to "Z" so I'm doing what is in the thread as long as there is a good tutorial. I'm actually making a PDF series for my sons to learn DAZ so while I'm learning from the very beginning, since everyone is so kind to answer the "Huh?" questions, I'm going to try and assemble them logically. I honestly have tried going through the youtube series, the references, etc- but it is scattered out and SO illogical to follow. Some things are outdated with the older versions, so I'm trying to do it for 4.5Pro since that's where I have jumped in. Appreciate everyone's patience :)

    I'm making notes as I go through this particular tutorial to see what I am having to tweak as I do it, appreciate you jumping in.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Jaderail- if I'm not mistaken- for future reference- when rendering, the number of divisions (polygons) makes the file size a lot higher, correct? So is there an optimum for a plane that is going to be used as she is in the video? (aka, a yard with grass) She did her Create/New Primitive with Size 20 Divisions 100 in her example- is that relatively low so far as polygon count?

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,905
    edited December 1969

    The number of divisions may make the renderer use more memory while rendering, but it won't affect the size of the images or animations at the end. You need enough divisions to support the deformations you are applying (and to be smooth enough to pose, though you can convert to SubD to smooth out jaggedness beyond that).

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    It will really depend on what your doing, for Deforming a higher number is better because it will give smoother curves in the morphs. Yes the Higher the division count the Harder it will be on the system. For simple items that will just have a Image put on then or a color you can go with very few. For smooth surfaces that curve the higher the better but you do not have to over do it. A Sphere set to 20 or 25 will look just as good as one at 50 if not in a very close up render.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    At 3:30 in the video, she has a text box in Scale and says "set it to 100 thousand." One hundred thousand what? And when I finally get the little text box to open mine is in percent. So what percent would be about the same as her 100 thousand whatevers? Thanks in advance. I've had no problem doing everything in the video up to this point. It's fun! But now, alas, studios not matching up. I KNOW she doesnt mean 100 thousand percent and it wont let me do anything but a percent. It adds the percent sign after I click out of it (even with it locked / unlocked)

  • carolinebegbiecarolinebegbie Posts: 162
    edited December 1969

    Hi, Novica - I don't have DS4 installed at the moment, but did you try putting in 100,000? It is a percentage. In the video, when I add the deformer, it appears that the initial scale is 141,421%, which is stretched to cover all over the plane, so 100,000% doesn't seem unreasonable if the deformer is only to cover part of the plane.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2012

    Hi Carnite!
    SO pleased to "meet" you. One problem I had was I was watching the video from this page for a bit-
    http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=161430&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

    and it was so small- and I had to laugh because I KNOW better than that. (I'm not hesitant at all about telling people when I do something absurd- I laugh at myself and truck on!) So yes, I did do it as you mentioned and used it as a percent. I am currently "back at it" but it is taking me awhile because as I said, I am typing up a PDF with all my extra notes for newbies like me. Things that experienced people really don't think about (like clicking the END of the arrow to move and not accidentally clicking the solid box right next to it, telling what will appear when you mouse over the tip of the arrow, etc.)

    I was a Regional Training Manager for a Florida agency, and a Division Training Officer so training is "my thing." Since I am going to be learning DAZ then sharing my trials and tribulations with my sons, I thought I'd keep it organized then if others want to use it they can, always will full reference and a link to the videos. The purpose is to direct people to the videos, with my notes as backup (for when they can't get to an online connection, etc.) I'm very meticulous about doing it- done your video step by step nine times so far up to four minute mark, fine tuning.

    I want to reiterate I am SO impressed with your video and can't wait to learn more from your others. I do agree with the comments that slowing down where your mouse is zipping off to would be helpful, and perhaps saying "Go to the left top of your page and click on...." would give a heads up where your mouse is zipping off to. (for newbies.) I've done a lot of rewinding, lol. BTW, what a GORGEOUS accent you have! I'm jealous! You are so easy and pleasing to listen to, you'd be a movie star over here!

    I'll get back at it now and when I'm done, I'll PM with a link to the PDF's if you'd like to review / critique. Anyone assisting / additional info coming up in the threads that relate to the topic (thanks RIchard, Jaderail, etc) will also be shared/credited/linked to forum topic. I'm thinking about (time permitting) getting an organized system going on a website (yet to be named) that focuses on Daz. This is ridiculous to have user manuals that are piecemeal, broken links, works in progress forever- as a training person, it's driving me NUTS.

    I am actually finding this is a very easy place to start dabbling (I have clicked on and moved figures around, put clothing on figures but not done auto fit, etc- so NOTHING really per se) and am finding this is really a fun place to start to get confidence- as someone else frequently says, I could just "squee!" with excitement when I see my D Former actually making a hill. (Don't laugh- I actually DID something with a plane!)

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Mari-AnneMari-Anne Posts: 363
    edited December 1969

    Hi Novica - when you get your PDF ready, please post a link in this thread rather than just a PM. I'd love to be able to read it. You sound so much like a person after my own heart as far as detailed instructions go. I was an escrow officer in my "former" life and our motto was "we do it per instructions."

  • carolinebegbiecarolinebegbie Posts: 162
    edited December 1969

    Novica said:
    Hi Carnite!
    SO pleased to "meet" you.

    :)

    One problem I had was I was watching the video from this page for a bit-
    http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=161430&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
    and it was so small-

    Lol - I meant to ask if you were watching it in HD quality.

    You are so easy and pleasing to listen to, you'd be a movie star over here!

    Thank you - I think it would have to be radio though :P.

    This is ridiculous to have user manuals that are piecemeal, broken links, works in progress forever- as a training person, it's driving me NUTS.

    It's a huge undertaking - I wish you well! It would be very beneficial to the new people. Personally I prefer to learn from pdfs rather than videos, but at the time when I made mine, there weren't many video tutorials around, and they were in vogue. It's actually better to have both, one backing the other up. The Hexagon manual was a good example of a pdf linking to movies demonstrating the features.

    as someone else frequently says, I could just "squee!" with excitement when I see my D Former actually making a hill. (Don't laugh- I actually DID something with a plane!)

    I know - it feels amazing to be able to create and play around with your whole environment. I tend to play around (when I had time) for hours, and never come up with a finished render, but have the most fun doing it. Just wait until you get to animation - I spent an entire week once, working on two seconds of animation. And I think that two seconds a week is what Pixar expects of people.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Mari-Anne said:
    Hi Novica - when you get your PDF ready, please post a link in this thread rather than just a PM. I'd love to be able to read it. You sound so much like a person after my own heart as far as detailed instructions go. I was an escrow officer in my "former" life and our motto was "we do it per instructions."

    Hi Mari-Anne! I'll definitely share the PDF's- just thinking it might be better to have a pro (like Carnite, etc) review it and fine tune it prior to releasing it for people to use. Heaven forbid I should mess someone up! (Step 1- do not view in a teeny tiny viewer- lol) That was so DUH!
    I'm headed back out to the country (barn) to blanket my horse then will spend the rest of tonight on the PDF's. Will definitely post here in the next day or so. Hmm, that begs the question- can a PDF be attached here?

  • Mari-AnneMari-Anne Posts: 363
    edited November 2012

    Hmmm..maybe not. You might have to upload it to a site of your own (?) and then link it. But I'm no expert on the Daz forum and attachments.

    Post edited by Mari-Anne on
  • carolinebegbiecarolinebegbie Posts: 162
    edited December 1969

    Novica said:

    Hi Mari-Anne! I'll definitely share the PDF's- just thinking it might be better to have a pro (like Carnite, etc) review it and fine tune it prior to releasing it for people to use. Heaven forbid I should mess someone up! (Step 1- do not view in a teeny tiny viewer- lol) That was so DUH!
    I'm headed back out to the country (barn) to blanket my horse then will spend the rest of tonight on the PDF's. Will definitely post here in the next day or so. Hmm, that begs the question- can a PDF be attached here?

    I can't promise much time, as I'm pretty busy at the moment, but there are plenty of people around that are more expert than me :).

    If you don't have a site, there are file sharing sites around, if you can't attach a pdf - like www.sharecg.com or I think www.mediafire.com (which isn't coming up for me at the moment, so can't check how easy it is to use).

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2012

    I'll just do a website of my own, a pet project (been a webmaster a long time) as I don't want to get lost in a big website, plus if I'm doing the work and spending the time, I want all my PDFs organized the way I want them, page layout, etc. :)

    Carnite- No problem about the lack of time- I just wanted to make sure since it was your content that you had any input you wanted to :) I also will be budgeting time so it's not going to be mass production, lol. Holidays are also a bad time to be trying to find time!

    Post edited by Novica on
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