Welcome to Dartanbeck.com!

We're going to delve into an exciting adventure of filmmaking purely from CG (computer generated) elements, but maybe with a touch of stock footage shot in-camera? We'll see.

I'm sure that most of this will also be valuable toward making still images as well, but my main goal is to put it all in motion.

Simply log into the Daz 3d forums and send a PM to Dartanbeck with the code

While you're at it, go ahead and ask me a question about my workflow or techniques, products, anything! Always happy to help!

Support for this site goes directly into more creative workflows, animations and articles

Appreciation for Your Support!

In honor of the Wonderful People who enjoy what I do enough to offer support, This Appreciation Page is For You!

For those who have asked to remain anonymous, I have not included you in there. If you'd like to be included, I'd Love to!

Anonymous or otherwise, I really appreciate your Support - and All of it goes Directly into what I'm working on at that time, so it's a Huge benefit. Thank You So Much!!! 

Every opportunity I get to make improvements is a delightful boon and helps push everything forward!

Special Thanks to Claus 

for Supporting me in all of this! He just got Rosie her new dForce Wet Style Curly Hair, by Linday from Daz 3d! So the first try with this incredible product is simulating as I type this.

The product page warns of system intensity and long dForce simulation times, yet this first simulation is cruising along just a tad faster that her usual Classic Long and Curly Hair with dForce, also by Linday.

This is a Huge Win, for I am more than happy to wait for the hair getting the excellent results I have been - especially since it's so wonderful to work with - given all the helpful morphs, shaders, initial shape poses and simulation settings the products come with.

This one doesn't come with all of the extensive tutorials and documentation of the Classic Long and Curly hair, so if you want help with this sort of hair, I'd suggest starting with that product. The explanations and tips are So Good!!!


Update: This dForce Wet Style Curly Hair is Awesome! Just load, apply settings, Simulate. Withoug doing any 'simulation magic' with helpers or anything like that, it just works - and it looks wet and heavy (from being wet) in the simulations. Fantastic!

...continued on the Appreciation Page


Digital Art Live!!!

Digital Art Live (DAL) is a truly wonderful learning experience. Here's how it works:

While there are a lot of excellent courses from DAL sold through Daz 3d, which is how I first discovered them, Digital Art Live is actually a much more full-blown learning experience in its true form - online courses done live, allowing interaction between instructor and attendees that get recorded. Shortly after each lesson is completed we get a copy of the recording that is annotated with everything that was said allowed and in chat in a manner which follows the video presentation allowing for even further magic - a Search! So we can search for key words and the results will show in the window. Selecting an option takes us to that part of the presentation - video and text alike!

We don't have to see the text. In fact, by default it's closed. Click a familiar little Chat icon and it all pops open. Very Cool!!!

But wait, there's More!!!

A short time before a course begins, a whole new discussion forum is created in the DAL Studio. Attendees get access to it upon joining the course and that forum remains open to them from that time forward! It's really cool!!! Converse with anyone and everyone who taught or took the course, even years and years down the road? That's really cool! And that's all searchable too. 

The Digital Art Live Studio (you should join for free and check it out!) is a beautifully created forum that doesn't look like a forum. It looks like a place for artists to hang out. It has its own chat system for personal messaging between members, free topics galore to explore and participate in, and all manner of wonderful articles and posts that are inspiring, fun, colorful and just plain good for the psyche - great for the artistic brain! 

Site Highlights

 

There's a Lot more here. Check out the navigation menus at the top of each page - there's a lot of fun to be had here. Make yourself at Home!

Some friends of mine are conducting a PD Howler course at the time of this writing, and I'm in the class. What a Blast!!!

Tiffanie conducted the first two weeks, which we've just finished. Philip will take over for the remaining two weeks. What a great way to do it. Both of them use Howler in entirely different ways and both are excellent at teaching the software. 

I actually look forward to getting homework, doing it, and then doing a bunch more stuff. 

We didn't even get to the animation part yet, but I couldn't resist. Tiffanie has a way of teaching me new features and tools that get me excited to add to my workflow - which is usually doing visual effects on my animations.

Let it Snow!

Philip took us on a journey through many of the incredible animation and 3D capabilities of PD Howler 2023, and gave us a glimpse of the soon to be released PD Howler 2024.

He showed some really cool techniques for adding falling snow to an animation along with animating filters and filters that are designed specifically for animations. PD Howler is packed with both options, plus a timeline editor with nearly every filter available, my pal - the Brush Keyframer, 3D Designer, PuppyRay render engine, and a whole lot more.

This little short was a lot of fun to create - all compositing and effects are done in Project Dogwaffle Howler 2023. The editing and titling was done, this time, using Corel's wonderful VideoStudio Pro, which also automated the music per my selections to the length of the project. Really cool! VideoStudio Pro also has a really nice separate Screen Capture app that I use for my tutorials and demonstrations.

For one of our weeks of homework, we had to (1) color grade an image and also (2) fix an image. I did both to the same project, but they can be separate too. Here's an older render that I always liked. I wanted to update it with the Rosie character the way she is today. Well there's a removal tool in Project Dogwaffle that really works slick! I remember when it was first introduced, but never took the time to try it. 

Wow! It's really cool!

Original Finished Render

WIP - Removal Tool in Progress

Finished homework image

New Animations & Simulations Demo Videos!

A new video of incomplete scenes and test renders. This is getting to be a lot of fun to do!

Right when I was really getting going in Daz Studio with animations, I visited the forums where I saw that somebody asked if they cool use Daz Studio for making animations and the only answers that came up were saying "No, better to export to Blender", "No, export to Unreal"... that sort of thing. 

I couldn't believe that this was the only sort of message left for the original poster to try and digest - or simply turn away knowing that animation is not possible in Studio!

So I switched gears for a bit and made up a bunch of scenes to go with the character renders I was doing at the time - and having a blast with, and brought it all into DaVinci Resolve and composited everything together using Fusion within. That's a Cyberpunk video below.

In doing so I realized that I really need to get some practice at Fusion and all of the tools! So I think I may do a bunch more of these fun movies. It doesn't bother me that I'm not entirely up-to-par with everything. I enjoy seeing my own blunders and learning from it.

All new Rosie! All New Reel!

dForce - Proof Pudding!

We're about to get underway with the next phase of this project - Seriously adding Daz Studio into our animating and rendering workflow.

It's been an exciting time for me, learning how to animate in such an odd way, yet doing it in the interface that allows us to make our own custom tools to help... I have an entirely different outlook on Daz Studio now. 

I liked using it before, but only as a set of tools to help make things compatible with Carrara.

Now I've opened it up and explored rendering in OctaneRender and Iray, grabbed some useful plugins and scripts, discovered ways to animate without relying solely on aniMate 2 alone, simulating using both VWD and dForce and in the process made a whole new cast of characters that I like more than ever.

The above image is the new Rosie 7 and her new aniMate compatible car in a new Iray Cyberpunk environment.

*** If you're looking for the old Home page, I have it saved HERE. I will be further cleaning up this Home page to keep folks informed of new happenings with the site.

This next adventure is going to be a Fun one... so Buckle Up!!!  DAZ Zone is about to get Serious!!!

I just wanted to pop in and let everyone know that new pages are going to be coming soon about the results of this whole adventure and some new videos that help show off the new techniques.

I have an ever-growing pile of must-haves in my Wishlist at Daz 3D. The gift of new goodies and features is always welcome and highly appreciated! 

 Just Send me a PM with the Gift Card Code

And it's a nice way to control how much you donate, because Gift Cards can be any amount - and sometimes they're even on sale!

I love helping people learn as much as I love being able to get new Daz 3D!!!

A very special and warm Thank You to those who help! I love and appreciate you all!!! Thank You!!!

*** If you're looking for the old Home page, I have it saved HERE. I will be further cleaning up this Home page to keep folks informed of new happenings with the site.

This next adventure is going to be a Fun one... so Buckle Up!!! ;)

Plenty of experiments going on learning micro-movements of the face using a new FACS system.

Genesis 3 & 8 Face Controls provides a facial puppet rig used to manipulate all of the FACS (Facial Action Coding System) intricacies. We'll learn how I took this further by developing my own Animorphs specifically for FACS and expressions. 

MORE TO COME SOON!!!   MORE TO COME SOON!!!   MORE TO COME SOON!!!   

Please Help Support My Cause!

(or not... your choice!)

Feeling generous? Perhaps a little Kind Hearted?

Drop by Daz 3d and buy me a Gift Card

It's the Best Gift EVER!!!


After purchase, simply PM Dartanbeck at Daz 3d with the code

Thanks in Advance!                Dartanbeck

Current Needful things from my Wish List

Ally 9 - Daz Original

Ally 9 will make the perfect Base Character starting point for Rosie 9. Funny thing is, "Ally" was Rosie's nickname when I first met her. Shortly after I started calling her "Treasure", which remains to this day!

Genesis 9 Essential Shapes Bundle

In order to tweak Ally 9 into the Rosie 9 she needs to be. I believe that, besides this and Ally 9, I have everything I need to get Rosie 9 under way. She's going to ROCK!!!

Far right - Some wonderful additions by ThePhilosopher that will help the story and help to improve the overall quality of production.

His iREAL Animated Ocean Water System is already in place, adding motion to all of my water surfaces. Awesome! Check it out in these videos:

To make it work properly, I removed the Ocean Floor from iREAL, scaled it way down, and used instances to get the proper length for the river. I tried using Andrey's water shader from the water that was there, instead of Ocean water, and it worked beautifully!

Ever want to turn your 3D creations into something tangible? Something useful or even a cool action figure for the desk?

We have a new thread in the Carrara forum all about making this happen!

We also have CREALITY, bringing 3D Printing to us at incredibly reasonable prices!

They even offer upgraded kits!

CREALITY excels at selling 3D Printers for less than $300 USD, and we're talkin' about the famous Ender 3, not the bargain basement brands that just become a big ol' household paperweight!

Use the Gizmo on the left (or the following links) to filter between the following:

Blacksmith 3D       *  Daz Studio        *  Poser        *  Reality        *  Reallusion        *  Sixus 1 

...and Have Fun Learning New Skills and Techniques!!!   :)

Philip Staiger of Project Dogwaffle (makers of PD Howler) uses Power Director to create his energetic and fun tutorial and demonstration videos!

and support this site at the same time!!!  :)   Thanks!!!  :)