Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 7
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Nope, glad to have you drop by. Thanks for the info on directions. I figured there would be things I could turn off to make it fit. I do that with Hemlock Folly once I get the camera set.
Thanks! I thought the pose name was funny too - most in the set are.
Just showing another side to Konstantin.
Okay, so playing around with Ivan's stature, first started by bringing in some other fella's builds. What I don't like about Ivan is the severely sloping shoulders and neck area, and the arms are shorter than I'd like. I'm not saying this isn't some men's build, it's just not one that I like. I'm done tweaking for now, have other things to do.
The second shot is a closeup of the mine/original Ivan, then the last three shows you very muscular men and where their hands fall. For the ones without the fingers extended, I drew the line down slightly. You can see the variety.
This isn't a mistake. Eye makeup 38 comes in black, and then 38w just means its a white inverted version. I just checked the files and the textures are calling from the correct place, so I'm not sure as to why you have an error. File a bug report with DAZ so it goes through the proper chanels and I'll see if I can replicate the error.
If it's supposed to be there, I'll uninstall and re-install and we'll try it again- if you're not getting the exclamation mark and it's supposed to be there, I'll try it again. The studio was closed when I installed with DIM, so that shouldn't have been a problem. Thanks for the input!
Shut down Studio, uninstalled in DIM, reinstalled. Same thing. Do you want me to file a report or do you want to piddle with it? As long as you know about the situation, that's what's important IMO. When I browse to file location, it's with the others shown, nothing seems amiss.I think you put a space before the "w"? That may throw it off. EDIT: Nope, you did put a space, I deleted it so it moved the "w" over then refreshed the studio, and it didn't make any difference.
I like it.
Well, I can honestly tell you that I have the same proportions as the stock Ivan, particularly in regards to the arms and legs. While "ideal" proportions do put the tips of the fingers mid thigh, There are indeed those of us with longer torsos and shorter arms and legs, so it's actually nice and refreshing to see a figure which does tweek the proportions to reflect these variations in human proportion.
Yeah, that's why I showed the variety so people would understand I wasn't tweaking Ivan to make him "normal" as there isn't a normal.
I am delighted they provided a different musculature! (Hey, you should model!) Edited to add: I didn't do anything to the legs, that was the other characters' bodytypes which changed things all over.
Have you seen this? The dog had a toy in the yard, and a fox decides to play with it. REALLY play with it!
That is hilarious, poor Doggy.
My wife's dog heard the dog in this video barking at the fox, and he went nuts!
And did anyone else notice...? That's a BIG fox!
Iray Light Manager Pro
The forum thread in Commercial section, where the vendor answers the questions, is here. The instruction PDF is here. The Readme is here. This product is Iray only.
This is going to babystep. There are newbies with zero light experience. It may also give other users a new approach to setting things up. This is actually going to CREATE A LIGHT SETUP AND GIVE YOU THE COORDINATES, THEN SHOW YOU WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN IRAY LIGHT MANAGER PRO.
This tutorial uses Kathy, One Piece Bathing Suit, and Geneva Hair. Pose: Capsces Fun and Flirty Victoria 7 and I chose one with a lot of surface area angles.
FIRST SET UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT. My Studio Setup: In Environment: Dome and Scene, Infinite Sphere, Draw Dome Off. Change Dome Orientation Y to 230.
Image 1: You will find this product (Content Library) under Scripts>V3Digitimes.
Image 2: The first thing to do is right click and Create Custom Action so you will have it in your menu at the top of your studio. Here's why: the product does NOT load lights. You hae to exit the script to add those, then enter back into the script. So if you have the script saved at the top of your menu, it's a one second click. We're going to put some lights in the scene (regardless of whether we use them) so we can save this and have a wonderful variety of lights at our disposal.
Image 3: Kathy is at World Center. (Translation XYZ 0/0/0). Using the Default Camera, I set up Camera Direct Front. (Go up to Create>Camera) Coordinates: 7.15 / 63.17 / 447.18. A tip: if you click the middle of that cube that says Front, it will center your Front view.
Image 4: Then I set up a Spotlight with that same name, same coordinates. (Go up to Create>Spotlight. (Spot DirectFront)
Image 5: I know you're as curious as I am- let's see what the script looks like vs what the Parameters>Light looks like, and the Tone Mapping settings look like. This image shows you the latter two.
Image 6: And this is what the Script looks like when it's opened, showing ONLY THE TOP PART. There's more, but let's do one thing at a time. You can see it has my camera view (Camera Direct Front) the Draw Style (Texture View) and Environment Mode (Dome and Scene) across the top. That part's easy, it matches whatever you have selected before you open the script.
Collective Actions is also the default tab. When you think Collective, it means changing a group. This is where you can make changes to ALL the lights you select. You can read that. If you're wondering why the values aren't representative of what you have in the scene- normally you have more than one light. The pdf explains: "When the script opens, the values in this top section do NOT represent values in your scene, since it is unlikely that your scene starts with identical values for all lighting elements. The values displayed in this section have no effect until you change the displayed value. "
So here we go with the Collective Actions tab, first glance. The top part is the actions (my image.) I didn't show you the bottom part yet, which has the list of lights you're using. One thing at a time!
1. Environment Intensity IS what you have set in the scene. I changed it in studio, it changed in the script when I reloaded. (Note that it is not in the list of things "Not representative")
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Mini Lighting tutorial: (Simplified) If you haven't ever piddled with Environment Intensity, I usually do small increments (1.05, then 1.07, 1.12, etc. and then increase ISO in Tone Mapping, and lower Exposure Value (lower is lighter.) Higher ISO is lighter. But when you go higher with ISO, it increases Exposure Value, which darkens your scene to reduce glare. So first increase Environment Intensity. Then increase ISO (lighter) then go up a few sliders to Exposure Value and lower that (lighter.) You don't HAVE to do it this way, you can do it in any order, but if you get your Environment Intensity where you want it and THEN go to ISO, the ISO slider will undo what you just did.
Note also: in Tone Mapping, increase Crushed Blacks if you have a lot of white/light surfaces (around 30-35) and turn down Burn Highlights (15-20) In Surfaces, make white material a light gray in Diffuse so it retains shadows/details.)
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Image 7: So this is scrolling down, still on the Collective Actions, and remember that these numbers are not "representative." (Except for the Environment Intensity, as mentioned.) Note our FrontCenter Spotlight is the only light, and that's the only one I've created so far.
The Change Scene Lights Only Power- those are the lights you've put in the Scene, and you click lights from your list (where I only have the FrontCenter Spotlight right now) and you increase or decrease their brightness. Here's what is neat- all the lights keep the same balance with each other- if A is twice as bright at B, it stays twice as bright. Whatever lights you have selected, gets changed.
The Set Scene Lights Power- this is the flux in lumens and Emissive surfaces (specify the unit in Surfaces)
The rest of the settings say exactly what they are (Temperature, the Spotlight Spread Angle, etc)
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Image 8 So first, I am going to do a render with just the DirectFront Spotlight, and I want it a bit dim so when I experiment with other lights, I can see what this is doing. I put the Lumens to 100, left the Environment Intensity at 1.0, Exposure Value 14.45, Shutter Speed 279.28, Film ISO 125. I changed the white light to 246 / 239 / 221, which is a very pretty creamishwhite. (Note, I changed this after I did the screenshot, the color below was the original color.) Good for summer tans, soft lights. This DirectFront light is a soft filler light.
Image 9 Now let's go to the second tab. It says DS Lights. Unlike Collective, which is a group action, this is where you piddle with each light. This shows me my settings for that spotlight.
So, I will add lights, give you the settings if they work out, and show you step by step what I am discovering. I'll reseve the next two posts, but it will be awhile. I'll screenshot as I go, but not going to post them as it might not work out and then I've wasted my time.
Before I forget to mention it, I changed all my spotlights in Parameters from Point to Rectangle, that way they throw more light and evenly. I am showing you images of the first lights with the coordinates, so you'll see what I am referring to when I say "quarter" from the front, where my "Top" is (versus say, "OH" which is Overhead, meaning shining directly down.) For this tutorial, when I change things, I want you to know where the lights are.
Images 10-12, three new spotlights, working around to OUR LEFT AS WE LOOK AT IT. All the same cream/white, all lumens 100. Let's see what it looks like now, having four lights in the script. (Image 13) You can see how easy it is to change them!
TIP: you can get the color pyramid to open up ONLY IF YOU CLICK ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE BOX WITH THE COLOR NUMBERS. Anywhere else you click will not open it!!!!!
Fifth spotlight: Working my way around, from the direct left side (as we look at it) I went a quarter toward the back. So that one is named LeftTopBackQtr. (Image 14) The coordinates are (XYZ then Rotation, same as the images below) -286.79 / 510.98 / -289.51 then 135.54 / -45.24 / -180
The SpotTopBack, (image 15) which is centered in the back, is 14.97 / 494.20 / -426.97 and rotation 137.83 / 1.28 / -180
Then moving on around from the back, we'll do the quarter (closest to the back) on the right side, So RIghtTopBackQtr (image 16) is 308.64 /497.61 /-296.40 with rotation 137.37 /45.63 / -180
The side one (Image 17) is RightTopFrtSide (you can leave the Frt out, but I put it in the Left one, so to make these match, doing the same. RightTopSide would work just fine.) This is directly to the side. XYZ 454.40 / 468.78 / 4.55 and rotation -38.85 / 89.45 / 0
And the last one is the quarter turn from the front (but we traveled around from the back, making a complete circle.) So now we have a full circle of spotlight rectangles from the "top" which is NOT the same as directly overhead. So this is the quarter turn from the front. SpotRightTopFrtQtr (Image 18) 305.69 / 458.81 / 344.66 and rotation -37.59 / 41.09 / 0
So now that you've gone all the way around doing these Top ones (3/4 of the way up from the ground) then you can quickly do the set which is only halfway up, using the same coordinates and changing the Y translate!
Okay, the first thing that is super neat about this program, is the ability to test your lights from ONE PLACE once you have them set up. I turned down the light settings (low ISO, low Exposure Value, low Environment Intensity) then cranked up each light. You'll see how easy that was to do- just type in a lumen for only the one I wanted to test. (800,000 lumens, with the other settings being deliberately dark.) You're going to LOVE LOVE LOVE this product for testing lights! If I hadn't been screenshotting, I could have tested all 9 lights in a minute or two!
See how all the spotlights are all together? Just put in the lumens and watch the scene change. Be sure and have the Iray rendering selected for your viewport BEFORE you load the script. (Or you have to exit and do it.)
I've included a closeup of what the settings look like. All have 5 lumens so they didn't influence the scene while I was testing each one. So all you do is plug in different lumens to test each light and see where they're shining. That's the first use of this product, testing where lights shine. Easy smeezy!
Change: The LeftTopBackQtr didn't throw enough light on the top of the head, so the new coordinates are: -288.64 / 525.21 / -267.68 and the rotation is 135.08 / -45.24 / -180
Okay, one thing I found out is on the Collective Actions page, the Set Scenes Lights Power will UNDO whatever you have put in the text boxes (in the DS Lights section that I showed you above) for the lights you have selected in Collective Actions page. If you want to increase the power of the lights, use the Change Scene Lights Only Power (a percentage.) I didn't see it do anything when I increased it though. I upped it 300%. I'll play with it some more.
And here's Kathy in a subdued lighting render, using all of those lights, in varying degrees. Very large render, click to enlarge.
I added about 12 other spotlights, at a lower height, and played for a bit. I have to admit to cheating, I close the script and go mess with ISO. I'll have to tinker more with some of the script settings. To me, just having the lights in one place and the ability to change their strengths without popping back and forth to Parameters makes this a must have product!
CLICK TO ENLARGE, large image.
I like this a lot. I will have to wait until it goes on sale, but looks like a useful tool. Thanks for showing us that, Novica. =-)
@Noivca I got this, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet and figure out how to use it. I love the little mini tutorial which will be a big help during my next render. Thanks!
You ………ye you ……there behind the computer
Used:
- Ivan 7 http://www.daz3d.com/ivan-7
- Dragoh Outfit for Genesis 3 Male(s) http://www.daz3d.com/dragoh-outfit-for-genesis-3-male-s
-And a Lovely bag ground From Fisty http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/94696/free-portrait-backgrounds-collection-post-them-here Thank you Fisty
Iray Render
He looks intimidating Sasje- great render! (And yes, love the background too!!!!)
Awesome =)
What she said. Good job Sasje!
Thanks for the Iray Light Manager tutorial Novica! Helpful to see someone step through it. Hopefully most aren't like me - first time I gave it a try (before you posted this), nothing seemed to affect the lights. It helps if you have the viewport in Iray render mode. Oops!
There is a good user guide for the product, too. It is installed in the readme's folder. It is 32531_iray-light-manager-pro-readme.pdf
Anyone think having a 3DLight version of Light Manager Pro is a good idea? I have been lobbying for just such a product!
When I first tried Iray Light Manager Pro, I used it on an Iray scene that had 18 mesh lights. They were all candles in candelabra. I could adjust all 18 at the same time, or pick any combination of lights to change while leaving the remaining lights alone. No doubt about it; this is a powerful tool for Iray users.
I definitely think 3DLight users would appreciate the same convenience. Imagine being able to control ALL your lights from one screen rather than hopping back and forth from one light's controls to another. All your Studio lights, AOA's ambient lights, hopefully UE2 lights, everything!
I actually think a product like this brings all of us one step closer to the Pros. Complex lighting just became much easier in Iray.
@V3Digitimes says he's hesitant to develop a 3DLight version because he's unsure how many people still use 3DLight.
What do you think?
I applaud the vendor for providing good documentation. So many DAZ products lack that and you are left guessing how to use the product.
That is for sure!!!!
Yep, I was impressed with the pdf. I already had it listed at the very beginning of the post because that is fast and to the point. My tutorial was more about showing the interface at the beginning, then for newbies, giving them some coordinates where to put the lights. The one thing I have to double check, is increasing all the lights in Collective (I already discussed this in the post) because that slider which does it didn't do anything, even when I upped them to 300%, and their lumens were 600,000 each and showing up nicely. I'll have to try it again when I get time.
Did you have then checked in the lower section of the script interface. The collective controls work on lights that have the checkmark next to them.