DAZ and Beach scene

[Deleted member 167032]

Been wondering how some guys are creating these really good looking beach scenes in DAZ. I know they use a HDRI lighting does this include Primitive with an image that they use in their scene or do they create the model and then add the image of the beach in later in Photoshop? Adding it with Photoshop later you will not get the correct shadows etc....

It can be seen on SerialNumberComics Patreon page.

Hope someone here's done it and can assist.

 

[Aeilion]

hdri environment for most creations of this kind. That said it remains the possibility to create a piece of beach and water if necessary, as objects (it exists on daz store) but it will be more specific scenes than just a pose on beach, I thought.

 

[Rich]

There are a few ways you can do this. There _are_ beach assets available through Daz. One example:

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And elsewhere. Another:

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With HDRI's, depending on how you set things up you can, in fact, get reasonable shadows. Figures will cast shadows onto Daz's "ground" if things are set up properly, and some HDRI's are designed with this in mind. The shadows will be relatively "flat", however, as opposed to showing "lumpy sand effects," so using a real beach scene is likely to give you more realistic results

 

[Deleted member 167032]

so shadows something like this?... Blender background which i then had models pose in Daz and slapped them together in Photoshop. I made sure i had the shadows added to the final png image.

 

[Studio Errilhl]

You can do both. Ie, light with HDRI, and use actual DAZ assets for the beach, water etc. That will probably result in the best Iray render-result. You don't have to SHOW the HDRI you use for lighting.

 

[OhWee]

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(it's in the Daz store) is essentially a combo of both an HDRI sphere and a physical beach plane to stand on. This is helpful for props and such...

Here's an example of the Pines Beach set in action, with characters and an extra prop...

There are some other products that do this as well. Some create a raised platform/feature for characters to stand on, with the HDRI surrounding the raised land feature in all directions...

Flipmode's easy environments do this, and are avaiable through various stores (not all in the same place)

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I'm not seeing a lot of good beach options in his collection though... the seaside ones are pretty cool though!

But yeah, just slapping an HDRI in the environment sphere can get you started quickly, although you'll have 'ground shifting issues' you'll need to pay attention to when you change the camera orientation, unless there's a ground plane/feature added (such as what Pines Beach does above).

With the Daz ground shadow function and ground set to 'on' in render settings, Daz will create a shadow at ground level, as if there was flat ground there. If you are just using an HDRI background/sphere, this will make it look like the character is standing on the ground (unless the angle is weird) instead of hovering in a sphere.

Here's some free outdoor HDRI's to get you started (same as the one posted in the assets release thread). No registration required, just pick the one you like, and the size you want and click to download!

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While not necessary, the guy likes donations though if you are so inclined...

As for the other products mentioned by Rich and others above my post, those are actual sets, so if you need a set as opposed to a basic background they are definitely decent options. I'm sure you've probably seen a few of them in a few of the popular games, such as this one...



Sets can take a bit more time to set up, and do consume more system resources while rendering, but if lit well they are excellent choices as well. It all comes down to how much detail and how many features you need in the pic sequences you are setting up...

Edit: just adding this render of a beach scene HDRI, with characters, using one of the HDRIs from Greg's site (HDRIHaven, link above).

Spoiler: NSFW sex

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[Deleted member 167032]

@OhWee by shadows and ground issue's you mean below.. under the foot of the park bench?

 

[OhWee]

@OhWee by shadows and ground issue's you mean below.. under the foot of the park bench?

I'm guessing that the park bench is a separate prop. It's hard to see the shadows here, but yeah...

Note that you can set the ground position to manual (if you haven't already) - I'm guessing that the white shoes are just a tiny bit lower than the feet on the bench- the Daz 'auto ground level' function detects what it thinks is the lowest point of the lowest object and picks that as the ground level.

Of course, setting ground position to manual can result in shoes, etc. embedding inside the ground/getting cut off at ground level. You'll note how I have deliberately embedded Anne's fingers in the sand in my render above (reposted in the spoiler tag below). The tips of her fingers are just barely below ground level, hence it looks like they are embedded into the sand of the HDRI background.

Spoiler: NSFW sex

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[Deleted member 167032]

Yeah i use Ctrl+D a lot in DAZ, the park bench and models are DAZ and the park bg is a google download. THis one worked better.

 

[Studio Errilhl]

Yeah i use Ctrl+D a lot in DAZ, the park bench and models are DAZ and the park bg is a google download. THis one worked better.

But they're still hovering / floating. Not by much, but enough to notice. (I've been battling with this myself for the last few days ) Also, the back foot of the girl in the black shoes doesn't seem right. It looks like she has no weight on it, and only the toes on the ground - which doesn't really make sense in a standing still position, unless she's moving it, or just nervously / awkwardly shuffling it around - but the weight seems to be meant to be equally distributed between both legs in that stance, and her expression / demeanor doesn't indicate any awkwardness. The arm of the girl in red, on the shoulder, is a bit too far back (it wouldn't support any weight on the actual shoulder).

Other than that, it's a pretty nice scene

 

[Deleted member 167032]

I love how you disected that, it's what i do... Is it a natural stance, position etc... so it should look normal.

It's a problem to get the girls to stand flat on that background OR maybe i was lazy.... mmm I know enough about Photoshop to make it look authentic. As seen in the hallway scene at the top of the page... BUT they weren't well placed in DAZ... have they been well placed it would have made the shadow closer to the ground and their feet... I did three of those portraits very quickly to be used as a photo within the game itself so detail will be very limited.

You are correct though they look awkward, let's go with the camera took the shot as they were shuffling :happyblush

But they're still hovering / floating. Not by much, but enough to notice. (I've been battling with this myself for the last few days ) Also, the back foot of the girl in the black shoes doesn't seem right. It looks like she has no weight on it, and only the toes on the ground - which doesn't really make sense in a standing still position, unless she's moving it, or just nervously / awkwardly shuffling it around - but the weight seems to be meant to be equally distributed between both legs in that stance, and her expression / demeanor doesn't indicate any awkwardness. The arm of the girl in red, on the shoulder, is a bit too far back (it wouldn't support any weight on the actual shoulder).

Other than that, it's a pretty nice scene

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Ps. the blonde is Amber and to her right is her mom Ann... They are not impressed with you LOL

 

[OhWee]

A good way to see if something is actually touching the 'ground level' is to switch to hidden line mode in your viewport. Then zoom in on the feet (or on whatever is supposed to be touching the ground), shift your view axis so that the 'ground plane' forms a line across the screen, and then slowly lower the y translate on your figure/object until you see the feet, etc. starting to cross below that line. 'Shaving' say a mm off of the bottom of the heel below ground level is fine (not enough to notice), to ensure that it looks like you have ground contact.

And again, (just stating again to make sure it's clear) ground position mode (under render settings/environment) needs to be set to manual. If it is set to auto, Daz estimates based on where it thinks ground level should be, and sometimes this is off slightly...

Hidden line is also a good way to see if things are colliding/embedding, say if your model is grasping something...

 

[Deleted member 167032]

I do what you suggest already ... but not used the Hidden line mode yet. I keep it in default view. For those portraits i thought i had it spot on but clearly not.

Will have a look at the ground position mode also.. was not aware of that to be honest... thx for your advice...

A good way to see if something is actually touching the 'ground level' is to switch to hidden line mode in your viewport. Then zoom in on the feet (or on whatever is supposed to be touching the ground), shift your view axis so that the 'ground plane' forms a line across the screen, and then slowly lower the y translate on your figure/object until you see the feet, etc. starting to cross below that line. 'Shaving' say a mm off of the bottom of the heel below ground level is fine (not enough to notice), to ensure that it looks like you have ground contact.

And again, (just stating again to make sure it's clear) ground position mode (under render settings/environment) needs to be set to manual. If it is set to auto, Daz estimates based on where it thinks ground level should be, and sometimes this is off slightly...

Hidden line is also a good way to see if things are colliding/embedding, say if your model is grasping something...