May 2024 - Daz 3D New User Challenge - Using Props and Push Modifiers/Deformers
Leana
Posts: 11,705
New User's Challenge - May 2024
Sponsored by DAZ 3D
Are you new to the 3D World? Are you at the beginning stages of learning 3D rendering? Have you been around for a little bit but feel you could benefit from some feedback or instruction? Have you been around awhile and would like to help other members start their creative journey? Well then come and join the fun as we host our newest render challenge!
As with the previous months, we are breaking down each month into 2 different challenges. A Beginner Challenge and then also an Intermediate Challenge.
So which "Challenge" should you choose?
Follow the Beginner Challenge if you are:
- New to the New User Challenges
- New to Daz Studio
- Newer to 3D Rendering in General
- Or if you have not participated in the May Action / Using Props challenge
Follow the Intermediate Challenge if you have:
- Participated in the New User Challenge for awhile
- Know the basics of Daz Studio and would like to learn more in depth topics
- Been using 3D Rendering Applications for awhile and feel comfortable with learning Intermediate Topics
- Or if you have already participated in the May Action / Using Props Challenge
*Please be sure to list in your post which Challenge you are participating in*
Closing date for both is May 31st 2024
For a list of the current challenge rules, please see this thread: Challenge Rules
They apply for both versions of the challenge
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Beginner Challenge:
"Action / Using Props"
This month's focus will be action with an emphasis on interaction with props. Your characters' actions, or the props they are using or interacting with, should be a major aspect of your image. As always, posing techniques, composition, and lighting will be important considerations as well.
Some Inspiration:
Digital Art Action Scenes
Human Action Poses
Action Photography
The Fundamentals of Action Photography
The Best Sports Photos of 2016
While we encourage you to create your own poses from scratch for this contest, many of the pose sets available in the store can offer some great inspiration on how to use props in active situations!
To fit the theme of "Action & Props," your render could depict anything from a melee to a barbecue, or from a pop concert to a masquerade ball, or even a bar room brawl. The key points are that it must include some sort of dynamic movement or activity, and that it must involve interaction between figures and props (tools, weapons, or any sort of objects being manipulated).
Tutorials
How to Make Your Own Props in Daz Studio
How To Create A Smart Prop in Daz Studio
Daz 101: Posing
Pinning, Posing and the Active Pose Tool
Daz Studio Animation Tutorial: Step by Step
Prior Action / Using Props Challenges:
May, 2023
May, 2022
May, 2021
May, 2020
May, 2019
May, 2018
May, 2017
May, 2016
I will be checking in as will the rest of the Community Volunteers to try and help with anything you all may need.
Intermediate Challenge:
"Using Modifiers and Deformers"
This is a general render challenge with the focus on using Modifiers and/or Deformers within your action scene. We are providing you with some links on the topics from a variety of sources. Utilizinging modifiers and deformers well can add that extra touch of realism to help create a dynamic looking and fluid scene. It is a fundamental skill for those wishing to show movement, customize items to better suit the use within a scene, or to fix issues such as pokethrough.
*If participating in the Intermediate Challenge, please be sure to list what item(s) within your scene you have modified/deformed*
General Information:
Push Modifier / Push Modifier Weight Node
Smoothing Modifier (Also covers deformers)
Deformers
Generally, push modifiers, smoothing modifiers, and deformers can all be used to manipulate existing geometry to change it's shaping. You could use a Push Modifier to make Genesis 8 pregnant or to make a dent in an object. You could use the smoothing modifier to show a face smooshing up from a punch (like a freeze frame of the hit) or to show pressure on a matress or couch. You can use a deformer to change the shape of a character, to change the shape or damage a prop, or to fix pokethrough or issues between items. There is an unlimited amount of things that can be done with the 3 and a lot of advanced topics to using the 3 as well but hopefully this will give you a better basic understanding of how to add them and how they can be used.
Handy Products to Use to help with using the Modifiers or Deformers :
Mesh Grabber Bundle by ManFriday - Individual Bundle Items also Sold Separately.
InstaEdit by Callidus Simia
Ghost Dynamics by KindredArts
Prior Modifiers and Deformers Challenges:
May, 2023
May, 2022
May 2021
May, 2020
May, 2019
May, 2018
May, 2017
May, 2016
I will be checking in as will the rest of the Community Volunteers to try and help with anything you all may need.
Tried to get a start for this month here. Going to have to see if I can find some props to litter the floor of the sewer system we are in.
Nice start!
Version B here.
Noticed that the hellhound that is on point was clipping into the floor so I did some tweeking of the beast's pose and ajusted the camera to keep it in frame.
I also added some burning papers drifting in the air coming from the alcove behind the character.
Edit - Accedently attached the wrong file this morning. The right one is attached now.
Version C here.
Did some more tweeking of the beast's pose to reduce the clip though of the feet, along with doing the same for the troll behind the beast.
Added more light sources in the form of the overhead lights in the alcove the papers I added last verion are coming from, and the sewer water that I converted into toxic sludge via texture work.
Did some more texture work in the form of the troll's clothes, and some things in the background.
I rather liked the mood in version B.
More light is good as it helps seeing what actually happens, but maybe the green sludge is a bit too "flashy". That kind of green is very visible so it attacts the viewer's eyes, which distracts it from the main elements of the scene (beast and troll), and all the light reflections make the beast look a bit "plastic".
Of course my opinion might change with the next iteration of the pic, especially if you intend to add a focus point on the left side of the pic.
Went back in last night to have a look at the sludge, and had lifted it from its starting position way to much so I lowered it from about 98 which looked to me like it was just under the edge of the walkway the beast/ troll are on (the edge is just out of frame) down to 65 so that there isn't as much of the sludge being reflected by the sewer wall while still having about as much of the glow from it cast on the beast/troll.
Still haven't decided on anything to slip into the lower left part. Maybe see if I can get a shadow of something/someone being cast without overwelming the lighting I have.
Any how here's version D.
Hi,
This is my entry for the beginner challenge. Rendered in DS 4.22.0.16 to a beauty canvas. Exposure adjusted in Photoshop and then exported to this .JPG. Please, let me know anything that I should fix or do better.
Title: Final touches in the locker room.
Sorry, I totally missed the latest posts in the thread...
Much better IMO. The green sludge is less distracting.
I thought about a shadow too, but to do that you'll have to add stronger light from the left side. With the current lighting the shadow of whatever is on the left wouldn't be in the frame.
Pretty nice one. The cloth on the bench in the back is a nice realistic touch.
Thank you! Now, about that cloth you mention, in all fairness, the environment I picked for this scene (Condominium locker room), comes with that prop there when you load it, as you can see on the product's page. You can even see that I opted to use one of the Camera presets included with the product for my scene. My memory of my work on this scene is not very fresh now, so I might be forgetting some important detail. But basically, it consisted of:
Loading this set, reducing one point the exposure value to bring in some needed light to it, and picking this one camera preset.
Loading the figure: Genesis 9 masculine with the basic G9 hair, which I can't remember its name right now. I converted the hair to the Omnihair shader, because it is compatible with it and I really like this new shader for SBHs.
Moving the figure next to that bench he is using to place his foot on. That central piece had some rolled towels on it that I moved a bit back to make room for my figure to be able to pose his foot on the bench. It also had a pair os slippers right where I moved my figure to, so I moved these under the bench in the back.
Posing the figure was almost a breeze this time. This was my first time working with a G9 figure. I don't know if that was the reason why the posing process was so smooth this time around. Basically, I just clicked and dragged in the viewport his hands and the foot to reach his final pose. Of course, it took some time and repetitions and adjustments. But it was all in all quite the pleasant activity, not something tedious to do.
Once his final pose was set, I ran a simulation. After that, I set some DOF on the render camera, reviewed the render settings, enabled the bloom filter and adjusted it to my liking and started the render process afterwards.
This challenge is now closed, thanks to those who participated.