Episode 006 - Adventuring The AntFarm!!!
As long as I've been using Daz 3D, if been a Big Fan of the artist that goes by the name of: The AntFarm!
Imaginative, realistic-yet-somewhat-unreal 3D assets that are just as fun to work with as they look - and they look Awesome!!!
Having such a massive, long-running store at Daz 3D, in any single episode we can only explore a glimpse of what this incredible artist has to offer. Since I've loved these assets right from the very beginning, this episode will be adventuring through the years - looking at this and that throughout the history of the Daz 3D store - a little legacy, a bit of the newer, and everything else will be somewhere in between.
Rather than having such a historic adventure evenly spaced throughout the timeline, we're going to jump around a bit - not to be confusing, but to show how cool this stuff is - regardless of its date of release. For that is how I see these creations - Excellent Assets that are to Be Used As Needed - rather than even considering when they were made.
I think you'll agree once you see it that this is the better approach to take here.
- From CR2 to Triax Weight Mapped
- From 3Delight to Iray
BioBotic is one incredible autonomous being - so I converted him from a Poser CR2 figure into a Daz Studio Triax (Genesis 1) rigged character, and have only just begun to try various options using Iray instead of Poser MATs that have been auto-converted to 3Delight upon loading into Studio.
Being saved as a Daz Studio asset, I'm able to use the practice of creating custom control dials as we do in Dynamic Character Animation for Daz Studio - making it nice and easy to adapt this Mixamo animation with very little fuss! *
It's amazing how different he looks with just a few surface value changes.
This one has the great eye lens being translucent and refractive, with roughly 30% of the color map being used for Luminosity to make it glow slightly.
* Just so you know, this figure works Great left in Poser format as well. I only converted it to see how fun it would be to make custom dials for - and I was right... It's a Blast!!! :)
In either rigging style, try aniBlocks and animated pose files made for Genesis or Genesis 2 - they work really well!!!
Here are some of the goodies we'll be exploring:
Star Hauler | M.O.A.B. Missile Silo
With the missile removed, we'll land the Star Hauler into the M.O.A.B. Missile Silo - just for a bit of fun! :)
I Love the "AntFarm-Unique" look of the Star Hauler, and I bought the M.O.A.B. Missile Silo not as a 'Missile Silo', but to be used for many cool environment situations - as I do with a Lot of The AntFarm's products.
Since working with it several times now, however, I do know that I'll also be using it to launch that Missile as well! :)
Is it a good idea to try and land a Star Hauler Freight Transport into a Missile Silo?
Of course it is!!! :)
Speaking of Environments, which we'll talk more about later as well, here are a few examples of kits that can be used Completely Apart from what they actually are - which is how I select, buy, and use them in my work. Check them out - the architecture can be used for all manner of different settings - Just input our Imagination!!!
Here are just some of the parts that come with this awesome Submarine Corridor Construction Kit
Frost Mining Disaster?
Well, I'd say so!
The AntFarm's "Walker HD" for Genesis 1
Load Genesis 1 - just the main figure or select a character to add to
People > Genesis > Characters > Walker - Load the Materials and the Hair & Beard
Select Genesis, go to Parameters Pane, Select Actor, Type "Walk" into the search
Crank G1 Walker dial up to your liking - this one is 100%
Apply Pose or aniBlock made for Genesis 1 or 2
Set HDRI and camera angle
Render!
This chilling animation of a Walker will go in front of a render of Frost Zone Mining with some added snowfall and possibly some frost on the camera lens - purchased at Action VFX.
This amazing sculpt of Genesis 1 looks great with more 'human' skin surfaces as well!
I love this guy - dialed all the way up or even just in measured amounts - I enjoy using him in different situations - and some of those situations will be fairly prominent Guest Appearances in some of my future work.
That powerful chin starts to show itself fairly early when dialing this morph up - which just looks Fantastic!
Next is a set of six products that I collected as each product was released with the purpose of using them all with one another. It was really cool, because they weren't released near each other at all - but as I'd see one, I imagined how well it would work with the ones I've purchased previously. I Love it when That Happens!!! :)
Vertical Living, Vertical Living U, and Sky Traffic - two partial frames of an animation rising through the unforgivable dystopian future
Controlling the surfaces of Vertical Living for Iray is a Lot of Fun - so many possibilities! Many of the lights have their own individual surfaces making it easy to alter them for color, brightness, etc., It's incredible how nicely this stuff is all laid out!
Some notes regarding the above:
Sci-Fi Hub goes far beyond any sort of 'building' set in that it's a modular setup that comes with presets - but it's a full construction kit for making different types of hub - even combination hubs. All of the various systems of the hub can be arranged in different orders, and each hub can house various sectors which define the purpose of that particular region of the hub - which is Really Cool for building stories, ongoing movies/TV Series and the like... very cool and very easy to work with!
Much of what I just said about the Sci-Fi Hub can also be said about the Sci-Fi Wall, but slightly less so, and without the ultra-convenient presets - but it's very easy to work with for building walls of Sci-Fi city expanse - perfect for extending scenes!
The Vertical Living series is Awesome! I remember when the first came out - I was amazed at how cool this thing works! I mean... vertical means vertical - we can stack these on top of one another to make really tall setups of sci-fi urban living exteriors - and then expanded upon by the Vertical Living U, which adds an inward corner to connect more instances of either the main Vertical Living or the Vertical Living U together - complete with a tunnel system for traveling into Vertical Living setups... it's all very cool how it works - and fits Beautifully with the Sci-Fi Hub and Sci-Fi Wall, which both came later.
The Vertical Living Repair Shop fits into Vertical Living so that we can actually travel to Vertical Living and meet up with this awesome interior in the same shot! This is a gorgeous stage for our Sci-Fi/Future character shots all on it's own, whether we use it with Vertical Living or not.
Sky Traffic Totally ROCKS!!! It's a collection of vehicles that don't require (or have) wheels - yeah... they can fly or hover or whatever we decide for them to do. Each comes in 1K and 4K versions, so we can really pack these things into a scene to make Huge traffic situations - which I've just done with them in a car chase through the cyberpunk streets again. These things are Awesome!!!
The AntFarm Vehicles really are something Fun to Collect.
I've been collecting them from the start. I don't have all of them... yet... but I will - one day. Beyond what I've already mentioned, here are some of the ones I do have - and I Love These Things!!!
Here is some of the promo art for the incredible Floating Junk!
Heading Indoors
To help realize the interiors of the aforementioned Sci-Fi/Futuristic environments The AntFarm has us well-covered.
A construction kit - but easier to use than most, Space Blocks assembles quickly, and can be done so in many different ways.
I've always love how wide these corridors are for filming (rendering) animations.
It's awesome! Slap a few of these together however we need our interior to tunnel through, and we even get side passages that come along for the ride - and Look Great!!!
Load in the Rabbit Hole and explore the options. A wonderful, fully realized space/Sci-Fi/Futuristic environment to explore with several options and animation/pose controls.
These kits are great for what they are, but can also be used for more generic purposes
...and then These work well to doll them up, or even to build complete scenes with
Need to Go Up or Down?
The Lift and Gravity Drop are just what you need!
Both work in different ways depending on your needs.
The Lift is an Awesome elevator system that works and includes Smart Prop rail extension presets!
Gravity Drop is much more industrial in nature and should really only be used if you've been trained to do so.
Well... or we could just use the dials! :)
Street Level Action!
