After the
installation is complete, enter the serial number provided in the Registration
field. You will probably get a popup showing that you have 30 days to use
a few plugins. Check the box to 'not show again', because it can be found
under the 'Help' menu.
After the
application has loaded in the default state, One 'advertisment' panel will
show an error. This is where Daz3D would display their latest ad, which is
no longer used. Drag the panel to the middle of the viewing port and close
it. Most all the panels can be 'undocked' in this fashion.
The first
thing you want to do is select a layout theme from 'Interface Layout' in
the View menu. This sets where common scene manipulation tools are
positioned. 2nd Level or Basic are good choices. Next is the 'Interface Style',
were you chose the icon types. Carrara is my preference.
As mentioned
above, the panels are undockable and tabs can be added and combined with
simular tabs in any panel. The top most set of tabs are for different stages
of scene setup and rendering. Each stage has different tools available designed
specifc to that section and the layout changes drastically. I suggest
using just the 'Pose/Animate' tab exclusively so you don't have to
keep jumping around between layouts. All the tools needed to create and render
scenes are in this tab.
In the left
panel, you want [Content], [Scene] and [Scene Info]
tabs. To add these tabs, select View > Tabs and click on the one
you want to add. The new panel will appear in the viewport. Drag the new
tab and drop it in the panel you want it to appear in. Each panel also has
a small button with two down arrows that have different options depending
on which tab is open. This is the dropdown 'Functions' interface.
In the right
panel, you want [Parameters], [Surfaces] and [Power Pose].
Adjust the panel size to fit the largest tab interface. |
|
Tab
descriptions;
[Content]
is where you find all the components to build and add to your scene. In
'Functions' select the 'View Folders as Tree'. This will make it much easier
to find items in you content library.
[Scene]
shows each item loaded onto the viewport. A new empty scene will just
show the Default Camera.
[Scene
Info] displays details about what the scene contains such as how many
objects, number of vertices, cameras and lights. It's a good practice to
keep an eye on how large your scene has become as to not overload you memory
or graphics card capabilities.
[Parameters]
is where you can manipulate an object you have selected in the [Scene] tab.
X is left and right, Y is up and down and Z is forward
or back. Further down the list is where you can find morphing features if
the object has them, such as figures. Two important Functions are 'Move to
Floor' and 'Lock...' a part from being moved.
[Surfaces]
shows the color and textures used on objects in the scene. The 'Advanced'
tab is the one you want to use and has five attributes you will use the most.
Diffuse is the objects color and image used for texture (from the
Textures directory). Specular is how shiny the texture is, normally
a dark grey color. Ambient indicates how much a texture glows and
is normally black unless it gives off light. Opacity is how solid
or clear a texture is, 100% is solid. And Bump which is a grey scale
image that will appear raised (white) on indented (black) when rendered using
lights.
[Power
Pose] allows you to move selected object parts using your mouse. The
diagram for human figures shows all the jointed areas. Selecting a dot by
holding down either mouse button, and moving the mouse forwar, back, left
and right will move the corresponding joint on the figure. The process takes
a bit of practice. |
