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Features that you could slap yourself for not figuring out sooner.

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  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,493
    kaotkbliss said:

    I just figured out that "yes! you can loop-select multiple poly's in geometry editor!"

    Selecting each poly 1 by 1 was a real PITA

    You can also grow or shrink the selection, and select all connected - cmd/ctrl +, -, and * respectively

  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    edited July 2017
    FSMCDesigns said:

    Discovering custom actions (right click on the item and it goes to the scripts drop down for quick access) was a huge time saver for me with items I use often. Can't imagine not using it now.

    +1 to this!

    I've got a couple of my favorite handy scripts from mCasual plus all the base genesis characters, the DAZ Iray Ubershader and a glass shader I use constantly on there which saves me a ton of time since I don't have to go digging for them all the time.

    Post edited by MarkIsSleepy on
  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    Richard Haseltine said:
    kaotkbliss said:

    I just figured out that "yes! you can loop-select multiple poly's in geometry editor!"

    Selecting each poly 1 by 1 was a real PITA

    You can also grow or shrink the selection, and select all connected - cmd/ctrl +, -, and * respectively

    Yeah but it's not something that would work well with the things I've done so far as I'm making odd cuts in geometry

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,493
    StratDragon said:
    Now does anyone know a script that will let me export just one segment of a scene as an OBJ without having to "invisible" hundreds of other scene assets, including but far limited to just figures? 

    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/file_io/export_obj_silent/start

  • Digital Lite DesignDigital Lite Design Posts: 728
    xyer0 said:
    Digital Lite Design said:

    Depth Canvases.  :)

    @Digital_Lite_Design could you elaborate please?

    In the Render Settings pane, Advanced, you can check "Canvases" and + add a Depth pass.  This image saves out in the same place you save the image file and it can be used in Photoshop for Depth of Field (Lens Blur).

     

    There is a tutorial here:  http://snowsultan.deviantart.com/art/Iray-Canvas-Tutorial-565641976  on canvases as well as needed info here:  http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/58779/iray-canvases-light-path-expressions-and-z-buffer. 

    There are several PS tutorials out there on using depth (z-depth) maps in photoshop.  :)  This is one of the easiest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkcE3tt3xgQ&feature=youtu.be

  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,167
    Richard Haseltine said:
    StratDragon said:
    Now does anyone know a script that will let me export just one segment of a scene as an OBJ without having to "invisible" hundreds of other scene assets, including but far limited to just figures? 

    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/file_io/export_obj_silent/start

    Thanks Richard, I think I tried this and it never did anything when I ran the script. I will try again.

  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    Richard Haseltine said:
    kaotkbliss said:

    I just figured out that "yes! you can loop-select multiple poly's in geometry editor!"

    Selecting each poly 1 by 1 was a real PITA

    You can also grow or shrink the selection, and select all connected - cmd/ctrl +, -, and * respectively

    Ugh, I just tried this on an item I was re-assigning geomtry with and OMG it works a lot better than I imagined. I assumed it was like Hexagon where it just selected every poly that was touching a poly in your current selection. But this works so much better in that I'm assuming it stops the selection at 90 degree angles or something.

  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723

    Hold down Alt key while dragging an item into your scene will display a target icon, so you can put the object in any location.

  • Worlds_EdgeWorlds_Edge Posts: 2,152

    Great thread!  I'm learning a lot of tips and tricks.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,169

    I figured something out a few years ago not many may know, holding ctrl clicking in the colour channels in surfaces brings up alternative colour wheels on Windows

  • CypherFOXCypherFOX Posts: 3,401

    Greetings,

    Oh, I remember one...  Ctrl-L or Cmd-L (Mac) to view the scene without relying on the standard lights to light it.  So if you've tweaked your lights, or are only using emissive lights + HDRI, the scene can seem near (or completely!) black, and Ctrl-L/Cmd-L will let you see your scene.  That made SUCH a difference for me, as I'd wasted time creating lights that just existed so I could see the scene...

    Also, the Align tool, to put objects on other objects...  Align Centers for X and Z, and then set Y to 'Stack Above'.  Click the surface first, and the item to place second, and click Align.  Magic!  Given how long it took before I learned to do that to place plates, bowls, cups, and even people on various levels...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    --  Morgan

     

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,942
    dawnblade said:

    Hold down Alt key while dragging an item into your scene will display a target icon, so you can put the object in any location.

    Gosh I wish I knew that one earlier..this will be my new most favored feature!

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    wait, what is this voodoo you speak of? Where is this elusive Align tool???? 

    CypherFOX said:

     

    Also, the Align tool, to put objects on other objects...  Align Centers for X and Z, and then set Y to 'Stack Above'.  Click the surface first, and the item to place second, and click Align.  Magic!  Given how long it took before I learned to do that to place plates, bowls, cups, and even people on various levels...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    --  Morgan

     

     

  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    jakiblue said:

    wait, what is this voodoo you speak of? Where is this elusive Align tool???? 

    Windows->panes->align

    I love this tool when setting up roads and such. The only problem is it's "behind, front, left and right" are relative to the "world" layout and when zooming and spining around the scene putting items in and placing them, I lose track of what direction is what so I often have to use the align multiple times, adjusting the align settings until I find the right one.

  • GreeboGreebo Posts: 161
    kaotkbliss said:
    jakiblue said:

    wait, what is this voodoo you speak of? Where is this elusive Align tool???? 

    Windows->panes->align

    I love this tool when setting up roads and such. The only problem is it's "behind, front, left and right" are relative to the "world" layout and when zooming and spining around the scene putting items in and placing them, I lose track of what direction is what so I often have to use the align multiple times, adjusting the align settings until I find the right one.

    Have you tried using the "Top" camera?

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,493
    kaotkbliss said:
    jakiblue said:

    wait, what is this voodoo you speak of? Where is this elusive Align tool???? 

    Windows->panes->align

    I love this tool when setting up roads and such. The only problem is it's "behind, front, left and right" are relative to the "world" layout and when zooming and spining around the scene putting items in and placing them, I lose track of what direction is what so I often have to use the align multiple times, adjusting the align settings until I find the right one.

    If you don't have your viewport tols docked the camera cube will tell you which way you are facing.

  • wolf359wolf359 Posts: 3,826

    "I've got a couple of my favorite handy scripts from
     mCasual plus all the base genesis characters, the DAZ Iray Ubershader and a glass shader I use constantly on there which saves me a ton of time since
     I don't have to go digging for them all the time."

    Indeed I have many custom actions to activate mcasul scripts
    but a word of warning,
    They are saved with the specific layout that was active when you stored them
    is you ever switch layouts they will not transfer to the new layout.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    Linwelly said:
    dawnblade said:

    Hold down Alt key while dragging an item into your scene will display a target icon, so you can put the object in any location.

    Gosh I wish I knew that one earlier..this will be my new most favored feature!

    You and me both!

     

    CypherFOX said:

    Greetings,

    Oh, I remember one...  Ctrl-L or Cmd-L (Mac) to view the scene without relying on the standard lights to light it.  So if you've tweaked your lights, or are only using emissive lights + HDRI, the scene can seem near (or completely!) black, and Ctrl-L/Cmd-L will let you see your scene.  That made SUCH a difference for me, as I'd wasted time creating lights that just existed so I could see the scene...

    Also, the Align tool, to put objects on other objects...  Align Centers for X and Z, and then set Y to 'Stack Above'.  Click the surface first, and the item to place second, and click Align.  Magic!  Given how long it took before I learned to do that to place plates, bowls, cups, and even people on various levels...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    --  Morgan

     

    Also, this one!

  • GreeboGreebo Posts: 161

    I thought everyone used the cube.

    The Ortho-Cameras give you a good Plan-View.

    Whatever...

  • VisuimagVisuimag Posts: 568
    edited July 2017

    Not necessarily a "d-oh" moment, but something cool I discovered with Right-Click. If you're changing sliders in the Parameters tab and don't let go of the Left Mouse button, Right-Clicking will reset to the previously memorized position. For instance, if you were at 1.06 (106%) and go down to 0.76 (76%), but haven't let go of the Left Mouse Button, and then you Right-Click, it resets back to the 1.06 position without you having to manually change it later. Works in Translate, Rotate, and Scale! Anything that uses a slider, in fact!

    Small, but a time saver in my world!

    Post edited by Visuimag on
  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723
    dawnblade said:

    Hold down Alt key while dragging an item into your scene will display a target icon, so you can put the object in any location.

    Learned it from frank0314 here! smiley

  • vwranglervwrangler Posts: 4,880

    Just saw this thread. Very interesting stuff here. 

    AlienRenders said:

    If you want to set your own Sun location when using Sun-Sky setting, just move your camera to where you want the Sun to be. This way, you'll get a good view of what angle you're illuminating your scene. Then create a new Null object and select the option to copy the viewport's transforms. Now set that null object as the Sun node in the Environment settings. Move the camera back to its proper location. You can now move the null Sun node later if need be. You can use this technique to position all sorts of things. New cameras, lights, etc. If the option to copy the viewport's transforms isn't there, create a camera or null and parent the new item to it.

    Actually, you can just parent the sun node to the camera in the render settings. no null required. That points the light in the direction the camera is facing (more or less; sun is omnidirectional, technically) and you don't need to worry about copying transforms. At least, that was in the instructions I saw somewhere, some time, and that's how I've used sun node cameras. 

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,050

    Seeing a lot of my favorites already, but one that hasn't been mentioned yet is Iray Section Planes - they're so insanely useful for hiding geometry, opening holes in wall or hiding groups of figures... as long as you make sure that the plane isn't accidentally hiding a light source along with everything else.  Fortunately, that's pretty easy to do if you parent the plane to a null, then use the null to raise the plane up above the camera and aim it downwards like a negative spotlight.  

     

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,050
    wolf359 said:

    "I've got a couple of my favorite handy scripts from
     mCasual plus all the base genesis characters, the DAZ Iray Ubershader and a glass shader I use constantly on there which saves me a ton of time since
     I don't have to go digging for them all the time."

    Indeed I have many custom actions to activate mcasul scripts
    but a word of warning,
    They are saved with the specific layout that was active when you stored them
    is you ever switch layouts they will not transfer to the new layout.

    Yep.  Been there, done that.  :(

  • macleanmaclean Posts: 2,438

    On the subject of the Alt key, I was recently semi-shocked to discover someone who didn't know that Alt-clicking a parameter resets it to zero. Then I realised that I knew about it because it's always worked that way in Poser, and DAZ sensibly kept the same shortcut in DS. The person had never used Poser, so wasn't aware of it.

    Oh, and by the way, I can take a little bit of credit for having requested the Align pane in the early days of DS. It's a tool I use in 3d max all the time, and I missed it in DS. It was introduced a couple of months later. So thanks to the team for listening to us users!

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,050
    maclean said:

    On the subject of the Alt key, I was recently semi-shocked to discover someone who didn't know that Alt-clicking a parameter resets it to zero. Then I realised that I knew about it because it's always worked that way in Poser, and DAZ sensibly kept the same shortcut in DS. The person had never used Poser, so wasn't aware of it.

    It's always boggled my mind that DAZ puts so many useful features into DS and yet seems to be completely unable to make that information easily available.  When I first started one of the magazines... I think it was 3DWorld... had made a set of cheat cards with all the keyboard shortcuts for Poser, DS 3 and Bryce, and they proved to be a lot more useful than any of DAZ's own info.  When you consider that the newest parts of the current version of the User Guide are well over 4 years old and that parts are much, much, older, and that it doesn't even mention Iray, Genesis 3 or the Transfer Uitility, it's amazing that newbies manage to to figure anything out.

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    holy cow, this is brilliant!!! i had NO idea about this - all those times painstackingly trying to put a cup on top of a table at JUST the right height so it's not sinking into the table!!! WOW 

    kaotkbliss said:
    jakiblue said:

    wait, what is this voodoo you speak of? Where is this elusive Align tool???? 

    Windows->panes->align

    I love this tool when setting up roads and such. The only problem is it's "behind, front, left and right" are relative to the "world" layout and when zooming and spining around the scene putting items in and placing them, I lose track of what direction is what so I often have to use the align multiple times, adjusting the align settings until I find the right one.

     

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    jakiblue said:

    holy cow, this is brilliant!!! i had NO idea about this - all those times painstackingly trying to put a cup on top of a table at JUST the right height so it's not sinking into the table!!! WOW 

    kaotkbliss said:
    jakiblue said:

    wait, what is this voodoo you speak of? Where is this elusive Align tool???? 

    Windows->panes->align

    I love this tool when setting up roads and such. The only problem is it's "behind, front, left and right" are relative to the "world" layout and when zooming and spining around the scene putting items in and placing them, I lose track of what direction is what so I often have to use the align multiple times, adjusting the align settings until I find the right one.

     

    Agreed!  This will be crazy useful!

  • PetercatPetercat Posts: 2,321
    CypherFOX said:

    Greetings,

    Oh, I remember one...  Ctrl-L or Cmd-L (Mac) to view the scene without relying on the standard lights to light it.  So if you've tweaked your lights, or are only using emissive lights + HDRI, the scene can seem near (or completely!) black, and Ctrl-L/Cmd-L will let you see your scene.  That made SUCH a difference for me, as I'd wasted time creating lights that just existed so I could see the scene...

    Also, the Align tool, to put objects on other objects...  Align Centers for X and Z, and then set Y to 'Stack Above'.  Click the surface first, and the item to place second, and click Align.  Magic!  Given how long it took before I learned to do that to place plates, bowls, cups, and even people on various levels...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    --  Morgan

     

    Aaarrrgh! I'm only just now hearing about this??

    Richard Haseltine, if I can pay $25 for a single character, I would pay $50 for a decent Studio manual! Will you begin a freakin' Kickstarter, already?

     

  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,341
    edited July 2017
    maclean said:

    On the subject of the Alt key, I was recently semi-shocked to discover someone who didn't know that Alt-clicking a parameter resets it to zero. Then I realised that I knew about it because it's always worked that way in Poser, and DAZ sensibly kept the same shortcut in DS. The person had never used Poser, so wasn't aware of it.

    Oh, and by the way, I can take a little bit of credit for having requested the Align pane in the early days of DS. It's a tool I use in 3d max all the time, and I missed it in DS. It was introduced a couple of months later. So thanks to the team for listening to us users!

    I LOVE this one!!!!  You don't know how much time I have wasted clicking into a dial and manually typing zero, especially when the morph has a negative value.  What a time saver!

    Guess Daz3D doesn't have much of a technical writing crew.

    Just tested it - if you continue to hold the ALT key down, you can reset muliple sliders... click, click, click!

    Post edited by dracorn on
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