create human figure

clearsky2002

I'm brand new to DAZ3D. I want to use the product to make drawings of people. I would appreciate it if someone could explain the basic steps to create a brand new figure, say, a man in a shirt and pants, standing in a field of grass with a blue sky behind him.

This seems to me to be a rudimentary process which there should already be instructions on, but I can't find any. Using the "search the forum" function for "create figure" and "draw figure" yielded no results. Using Google to search the Web lead to a couple Youtube videos, but they just seemed to ramble and were mainly concerned about changing all the settings to start work, but not actually about doing the work of creating a figure.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Jaderail

This is not a Art program in that sense, you need to LOAD a figure, in 3D the figure is a Mesh object, you would then need to load all the other items to set up the scene. Lights skys, grounds, clothing figures and items are all 3D objects, and you should have a free starter pack with DS4.6 in the downloads. Genesis Starter Essentials comes with DS but is a Seperate Download and install.

Scott Livingston

There are many ways to achieve that...what software do you own/plan to use for this project?

Assuming you will be using (only) DAZ Studio, keep in mind that DAZ Studio isn't a modeling program, which means that you'll need some 3D models you can use for your project:

A human figure
A shirt
Pants
A field of grass (though you alternatively could use a 2D image for this)
Possibly a skydome (you could alternatively use a 2D image for the sky)
Maybe some more things, like hair and shoes

If you want to make these models yourself, you'll need to use a separate program like Hexagon, Blender, ZBrush, Carrara, etc. If you don't want to do this, you can do what most of us do and use premade models which you can then customize as needed.

Go ahead and install DAZ Studio 4.6 if you haven't yet done so. Make sure you also install Genesis Starter Essentials (it's a separate download). Feel free to ask if you're not sure how to do that.

For learning how to use DAZ Studio's basic functions, I'd recommend taking a look at this video tutorial sequence: http://www.daz3d.com/help/help-daz-3d-video-tutorials/ Especially the first three free videos (Introduction to 3D, 1.1 Intro to DAZ Studio, and 2.1 Scene Building). The Scene Building one should be particularly helpful for this project.

For your human figure, I'd recommend starting with Genesis, which comes free with DAZ Studio. Other options might be Genesis 2 Female (also free, but this is a female figure and you specified that you want a man), Michael 4 (available for purchase: http://www.daz3d.com/michael-4-base-male-3d-model), or various other models available here or from other sites.

For your shirt and pants, you could use the free clothing that comes with DAZ Studio. You get three outfits: Magus for Genesis, Journeyer Scout for Genesis, and K4 Basicwear for Genesis. There are tons of additional outfits available for purchase if those ones do not suit your needs, including a bunch that you can buy for $1.99 each if you join the Platinum Club. And some free Genesis clothing is available at other sites like sharecg.com.

Once you have your figure set up and dressed, you'll need to provide a setting. The simplest way to do that would be to find an appropriate photograph or other image you can use, and set it to be the backdrop (from the Edit menu, choose Backdrop and browse to your image). The problem with that technique is that your resulting image will probably look like a 3D model superimposed over a 2D background (because that's what it is). It's possible to make it work more seamlessly, but that can take effort.

Another option would be to use a premade 3D environment, like one of these:
http://www.daz3d.com/millennium-environment
http://www.daz3d.com/easy-environments-greenlands
http://www.daz3d.com/the-all-new-worldbase-xt-lushlands
http://www.daz3d.com/hilly-surround/

There are plenty of other possibilites, too...

I realize I've glossed over a lot of the finer details...if you can be more specific about what you want to achieve, how you would like to go about it, and what parts of the process you need the most help with, we'll have a better sense of how we can be of assistance.

BlackFeather1973

When i started with Daz Studio i found the Fiery Genesis tutorial a great way to get started with the basics. It guides you through setting up and rendering a scene using the content that comes with Daz Studio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpxHLXXctrE

kesh

It would also help to know what kind of programs you are familiar with, so the advice you can get here can be aimed better... I just wrote this because you asked how you can use daz studio to "draw pictures" and that is something you can't do with a 3d posing and rendering program... at least not in the way you may draw in a 2d graphic program.

Finally for creating a new figure from scratch you need a 3d modelling program - which daz studio is not.

clearsky2002

Thank you everyone for your advice. This is just the type of information I need to get going.