Positioning Objects in Scenes
Greetings all,
I am making progress learning DAZ Studio 3D, but it's slow going. Snag after snag. Annoying little things that make EVERY project extremely tedious because I have to develop a smooth workflow from scratch. I have done the tutorials. They're a good start, but the scenes are always small, and don't require much repositioning.
I'm hoping there is an easy fix for this one:
Is there an easier way to position objects in scenes than what I have been doing...which is dragging them around by handles?
Things like...cameras! Positioning cameras is a major hassle! It would be nice if I could figure out how to get a camera to show up at a position near the view I am looking through, rather than the default position, forcing me to drag it half way across the world!
Same thing for when I want to add an object...model or prop... to a scene. I don't appreciate having to find it where ever in the world it has popped in. And I hate having to drag it across the planet to where I was!!
Can someone point me to the coordinate system DAZ uses?
Where is position 0,0,0?
How can an object's current position be determined?
Can an objects position be changed by entering new coordinates?
What is the default position where objects appear when loaded?
Can this position be changed on the fly so objects pop in near where I want them?
Cameras? (Oh, PLEASE! Tell me there is help somewhere for positioning cameras!!!)
Answers to these questions will go a long way toward making 3D modeling less tedious and more enjoyable.
Thanks all!
"D"
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Comments
Hold down the Alt key, click on the object you want to load, drag the mouse into the viewport, and you will see a sort of target shape. When the target is where you want the object to be, release the Left Mouse Button.
The very centre of the scene, in the dead centre of the floor grid.
Use the Parameters pane for entering new co-ordinates, and for viewing the co-ordinates of where an object is placed.
See if that helps in the meantime, I'm sure it will.
thankyou for asking these questions and thanks for the answers, will help me also...adding to my notes of hints and tips
Another trick, but this one will have a little more impact than merely repositioning figures, is to edit the scene and change the parent.
Example; I have a scene with a cat and a yucky green puddle in the back (see picture). I want to add Riley to this scene and positioned near the puddle, but when I double click she "barges in" and fills up the screen.
(I quickly decided against using Riley but sticking to Genesis due to the explicit nature of the model, the idea remains the same)
Now, a quick way to solve all this is to go over to the scene tab, then right click on Genesis and select "Change parent".
If I then select the puddle you'll immediately get the effect as shown below.
Now, there is a side-effect to this so you need to be careful here. Because by changing the parent I'm also "linking" the Genesis figure to the puddle object. So whatever I do to the puddle object will also automatically apply to Genesis. In my last picture I've resized the puddle and dragged it around all using the universal tool. Well, you can see the effect.
Even so, "parenting" can be a very powerful tool to quickly move or "assign" a character to a specific place.
Hope this can help too.
Great! Thanks for these...very helpful for importing new objects
How about adjusting the position of objects already in the scene? Or maybe objects I would like to import?
For example, say I have a figure that is already clothed and posed, and saved as a different scene that I want to import into a current scene that I am working on. When I do so, I usually have no idea where it will be when it finally loads. It's easy enough to select it, and click to view it, but can it be repositioned to where I want it without dragging it around by handles??
Or, can it be forced to come into the scene where I want it, rather than to the default position? (wherever that is...)
Thanks!
"D"
You can use the parameters sliders rather than the universal tool arrows to move things around if you want. I'm not sure if that will be easier or not.
Also check out the copy and paste options in the edit menu. You can copy a selected item that's in the desired spot, then select your lost item and (I think this is right) paste pose to your selected item to move it to the same location as the original item you copied. I think there might be one or two tricks to the various options depending on what you have selected, but I believe you should find what you want there.
If you use multiple-viewport mode, you can frame your item with one camera you aren't using in that other viewport, just to find it quickly if it's not hidden behind or inside something else.
Ahh...thanks all,
Yes, I was playing with the copy and paste functions (select object to move > ctrl c > select an object near the position I want to move to > ctrl v ), and it seems to simplify things a lot. I didn't realize that ctrl c and ctrl v were simply copying the objects' positions, but that's what it seems to be doing.
Works out well for what I need!
I've also been playing around with JimmyC_2009's suggestion about holding that ALT key while loading a library item. That seems to be a bit of hit or miss. I probably need more experience with it. I was trying to load V4 on a bridge so she could be looking at the scenery. But that red target thingy wasn't working right, or I was doing something wrong.
When I had the red target on the bridge walkway, V4 wouldn't pop in to the scene there. When I had the red target on a blank space, she popped in about where I wanted her. Very odd...
But...overall, it's progress!
Thanks again!
"D"
Sometimes when moving something to exactly where I want it (precision required), I simply jot the coordinates of whatever is already there, then use those coordinates for the item I want moved. KISS- keep it simple and just be logical!
AND FYI, if you ever want to jump your VIEW to an item, click on it in Scene, then use that little + bracketed tool right below the magnifying glass and you will jump right to the item. That also keeps you from scrolling and scrolling in big scenes.
Thank you.
This is what I am looking for.
It does a bit more than that, it copies and pastes all the values in the current view of the Parameters or Surfaces tab, whichever you're looking at. For Parameters, this includes active morphs, e.g. copying a complicated morph setting from one figure to another. (Note that this only uses dial spin settings, it can't create a morph in a figure that doesn't have it.)