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.
Celebrate with me - 12 episodes into The Creative Cart
The Creative Cart is a special Video Magazine series that highlights Dartanbeck's workflows within Daz Studio and some other related software, like Project Dogwaffle and DaVinci Resolve, to provide inspiration into fun and creative ways to utilize our collections of Daz 3D assets.
This Special Feature video gives a small glimpse of each episode and shares a few words from our presenter: Dartanbeck.
It's a fun compilation of some of the actual video sessions combined with some of the animated video promos and music specifically made for each episode - so it's a pretty fun ride for a half-hour segment.
Along with Special Kits from KindredArts and Enterables!
RawArt has been making Fantastical Morphs and Materials for Daz 3D Figures from the very beginning!
iReal is a series of animated scene effect products by ThePhilosopher
VDB Essentials - Prep and Animate is a special animated VDB Shader by Jos Darling with example VDB assets by DimensionTheory
KindredArts produces a plethora of special scene kits and visual enhancements for our Daz Studio experiences
Enterables is a vendor at Daz 3D specializing in architectural kits - light on their feet, yet detailed inside and out
(or not... your choice!)
Feeling generous? Perhaps a little Kind Hearted?
Did one of my many tutorials or presentations inspire you or help you along in some way?
Drop by Daz 3d and buy me a Gift Card!
It's the Best Gift EVER!!!
More Daz 3D content allows me to add new assets and tools for Daz Studio, and helps with everything I do here at Dartanbeck.com, Digital Art Live, and my YouTube channel - which, in turn helps you all out too!
Thanks in Advance! Dartanbeck
In the Gift Card page, select "For Someone Else"
Recipients Name: Dartanbeck
Recipient's Email: dartanbeck@yahoo.com
I really appreciate it. It's one of the only ways I can get this stuff and report back about it- it Truly helps this site flourish!
With your donation, Marcel, I was able to get my hands on this Amazing pack by Josh Darling and DimensionTheory!
VDB Essentials - Prep and Animate Bundle is an Incredible setup!
For starters, it's a special (and very convenient) new shader set up especially for the realization of animated VDBs within Daz Studio.
A special Wizard is included to guide us through loading VDB sets from our own collections in a step-by-step process, taking the guess work and learning curve out completely.
Next, that main pack comes with a great set of VDB files to get our feet wet with as easy-to-load presets! Just double click and they're ready to place, scale, and render!
The next two packs are from the author of the example VDBs that come with the main pack - the master of it all: DimensionTheory!!!
Both Wind and Fire packs come in this awesome bundle - I'm So Excited!!!
If you want to see them demonstrated, I'll be going through the operation and many results of this amazing pack in The Creative Cart - Episode 012 - A RawArt Celebration!!! Stay Tuned!!!
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!
This thing is So Awesome!!! It's So DigiVault!!!
Kibarreto has been designing and delivering a sleek and unique aesthetic for what a possible distant future could hold for us since just before I got into all of this, and these amazing products have been included in many of my very first orders from Daz 3D!
The visual language from the brilliant consoles right down to just the silhouettes of these assets are immediately recognizable as Kibarreto, so it's always been easy to watch out for the new additions to take us away on yet another imagined future of high adventure with the very coolest of looks!
I'm very proud and honored to be showcasing a vast majority of these creations in this episode of The Creative Cart as we delve ever more into fun-filled Daz Studio workflows and experiences.
With such a wealth of beautiful futuristic assets being born before our modern Iray-driven escapades in Daz Studio, I'd like to share how I utilize the original installations of these gems and deliver them in Iray form into the newer My Daz 3D Content Library in a fun and organized fashion, right along with Kibarreto's modern offerings, making it easier and faster to get at all of our Kibarreto with ease and speed.
AI - Assited Keyframe Animation Enters Daz Studio!
Enter a world where we can sculpt our own animations for Daz Studio as easily as deciding on the next outfit our characters should wear, or which new hair they should have.
The amazing developers at Cascadeur are constantly improving software that was really, Really great for this for quite some time already - but it just keeps getting better!
I'm starting off 2025 with a subscription to the Pro tier plan of Cascadeur to really dig into this amazing endeavor.
It's truly incredible to look back on January 2025 and see how hard I've worked and how much sleep I've lost creating the content that it took to put this massive Creative Cart episode together - all of them, actually!
I'd like to go back and resource all of the materials I've created for each of the episodes and put together additional videos for each episode, as well as to create videos containing the content from all of them - perhaps also an Anniversary Edition video - stuff like that.
This month's promo videos and episode materials were really tough.
Daz Studio updates have made it impossible to render the full animation sequences all the way through. They'd render quickly, but after 200 frames or somewhere thereabouts (different every time) Iray would drop Cuda, which means that it would no longer use the Graphics card!
So I would either stay awake (not always intentionally) to babysit the renders, or I'd wake up after just a few short hours to restart Daz Studio and start the render again.
As if that wasn't enough of a burden, I didn't find out until two or three days before the show that my screen capture software appeared to capture everything that I did on screen, but then the file would show that it is way too short to have actually done so. Sure enough, vital parts of the performance were not recorded! So I ended up using Windows 11's Snippet tool, which actually works very well!
If any of the above sounds like a complaint - I must have said it wrongly.
These were roadblocks that made the creation of the episode very tough - but it didn't take away from the Rush I get from making these things - not in the Slightest!!!
I was overjoyed that I thought to include PD Howler into the show - for that is my Go-To software for editing and creating texture maps. I hope to show more of that process in future episodes as well!
It's -7F where Slater and I live today, with a windchill dropping lower than -30F, so it was the perfect opportunity to begin this adventure with this most recent of the Creative Cart episodes - whose materials are still hot-off-the-press!
Please enjoy this fun video including several snippets from the show, the stitching together of two of the storylines hinted at in the two promo videos (Rosie's endless loop of genre teleportation - this time via The DigiVault's Project Eden), and some animation renders and music that were made specifically for Episode 010, but didn't make it into either the show or the promo videos.
This truly is a Labor of Love, and I have Paul Bussey at Digital Art Live to Thank for All of This!!!
Thank You Paul!!!
Join us on an adventure of melding the imaginations of Aeon Soul, and their over-the-top, highly artistic and detailed costumes and outfits with The DigiVault, and his fantastic array of adventure zone environments!
In Animation Corner we'll build our own cinematography rig for animating anything from a prop to and entire scene for In Place animation cycles!
Coming Soon to Daz 3D
Welcome to our Ninth Episode of The Creative Cart, where we're going to dive into Linday's dForce hair and discover what makes it So Good and look at creative ways to work with it in our own, custom style that works best for our characters.
As a backdrop for all of this, we'll explore Stonemason's Urban Future series - taking us from the earlier days of Daz 3D up to the current issues that are being offered today.
In Animation Corner we'll demonstrate the magic of some animation sets from Havanalibere which will be exceptionally useful in our adventures with honing our abilities to work with Linday's Amazing dForce hair products!
Since the making of Episode 004, Predatron released a whole new custom figure in full Predatron "Include Everything in One Pack" tradition: Barnabus Ragwort - a Really Cool Hobbit Character!
I'm Really looking forward to diving into this wonderful figure and see what I come up with.
So I've made a whole new page as a special Creative Cart Bonus Page:
Our good friend, TugPSX, has put together a very nice demonstration on how we can make All of our assets that coincide with The Creative Cart easily findable via the Smart Content system within Daz Studio.
Check it out!
...and Thanks TugPSX!
What better place for your new Hobbit to roam than all of the wonderful ways we can work with Predatron's cool Simple Grasslands Expanse environment kit.
I love how he includes so much that we can just point the camera and shoot the render!
So we have another Special Creative Cart Bonus Page for you: Simple Grasslands Expanse
What a Fantastic place to learn, share and absorb anything and everything Art!
Led by Paul Bussey, this fantastic place has a beautiful forum with an endless supply of topics - and we can join courses and training, or just hang out with the group and discuss and enjoy art!
The Creative Cart is a curated exploration on a selection of recommended assets from the DAZ 3D store, designed to inspire, educate, and empower artists and creators of all levels.
Join us as hosts Paul Bussey and Dartanbeck showcase chosen assets that can serve as your building blocks for breathtaking digital art.
The Creative Cart is a curated exploration of recommended assets from the DAZ 3D store, designed to inspire, educate, and empower you in your DAZ Studio creativity.
Join hosts Paul Bussey and Dartanbeck on “Creative Cart,” where we explore essential assets that can transform your digital art projects. Each episode is themed to highlight a DAZ vendor as well as a range of assets and tools—including characters, shaders, environments, scripts, clothing, and props—tailored to enrich your artistic endeavors!
“Creative Cart” is more than just a showcase; it’s an interactive platform, through which we feature a community section where you can share your own artwork, recommend your top asset picks and engage in discussions about how these tools have influenced your creations. Get ready to share and show; jot down artwork you’d like to screen share, helping other artists learn from your creative projects.
Genesis 9 Toon and the Amazing FilaToon shader for Filament!
The developers at Daz 3D have really knocked this one out of the park!
FilaToon is a special new way to render using the Filament Draw Options in Daz Studio. Along with this breakthrough come a complete overhaul of the Filament Draw Options settings that give us a Lot More control over the rendered look.
It's crazy to be able to actually work - like... in "working mode" while also 'seeing' the actual rendered look - and in real-time!
Much more than that, it's impressive how "Anime/Manga" this system provides with the new Genesis 9 Toon figures - the Base Anime Feminine and Base Anime Masculine, along with the new Vicky 9!
I've been working day and night to put together a cool primer for you all that takes a closer look at how I'm working with this system to:
Get started using the new Anime People - things to know
Use these new Base Anime figures to create new Custom Anime Characters
Demonstrate how well the new system works on the previous purchases - like Clothing and Hair
Convert previous characters into FilaToon, so that we can render them Comic Style
Convert entire environments to give us that awesome Cartoon Look!
Rosie 8.24's going to Cosplay as Vampirella this year (2024) for Halloween! :)
What is - Who is - Vampirella? Here's a cool video about her
Now this is cool. Awaiting a bunch of animations to render, I decided to browse around on YouTube. You know, the usual stuff: Filmmaking, Visual Effects, Fantasy Art....
I enjoy delving into Documentaries and just presentations that artists feel compelled to make videos about.
Well I happened upon this gem.
This fellow wraps it up in a nice nutshell, describing my process in Eight Steps - the steps of Visual Effects for Movies.
Like I try to illustrate in the website and in many conversations I get involved in, in forums and such, I am only One Person. I have things I want to do. It just so happens that I want to put art into motion on screen with music.
Doing that in Hollywood (or any other sort of production) requires a team of artists or enough time to do each of the eight steps by yourself - either by cutting around the edges or risking Never getting Anything Done.
During which time keep the following comments in mind - even revisit them after watching if you want.
In my situation, my VFX Artist Team is made up with myself, a few close friends and their feedback, and Daz 3D - which holds an enormous wealth of artists that make my endeavors work directly in the environment I'm doing my thing in - Daz Studio.
Step 1 is done by myself within Daz Studio simply by saving all of my scenes with the cameras used to render them intact. This is all possible because all of my environments are also CG effects.
Steps 2, 3, 5, some of Step 6, are all taken care of by Daz 3D - my in-house development team - always a click away.
Step 4 is what I'm really here for - Animating. Because my Development Team is always hard at work answering my call (before I say anything! ) I am free to do what I want to do most - come up with fun ways to have my characters and objects liven up the screen.
I also enjoy doing Step 7 - Lighting and Rendering. Some of that is provided by my Development Team, and I just adjust it to work with what I'm doing at the time. My render settings are my own. It took a lot of time testing to get the speed rendering techniques that I use to get my shots done quickly - and while I do come up with a Standard Model and stick with it for everything, this Standard Model gets updated from time to time. Either my computer gets stronger, my techniques improve, or Daz 3D impresses with yet another breakthrough.
Being by myself here (in my office, I mean), I'm also taking on the task of performing Step 8 - and I'm still pretty green at it. But it's a Lot of Fun to do. That's when you see me jumping into DaVinci Resolve. Notice that I'll show simple steps on how to get going, and that's where I drop out. There are currently Much better places to learn VFX compositing - Blackmagic Design (distributers of DaVinci Resolve), themselves, have free courses online!
At the end, the author gives encouraging advice. This is exactly what I have done as I started getting into Carrara Pro - advice that got me learning how to do a great many things within this entire realm of amazing possibilities. Eventually I landed on Animation as the main thing that I want to focus on. But learning the other things is what helps me when I need to optimize the other steps that I'm doing beyond animation. It helps me to create things that I need on-the-fly that I need right here, right now. It helps me to recognize why I will be choosing This asset over That one when a decision is crucial. So I'm very happy that I took his advice - some twelve or more years ago (has it been that long already?!!!)
Enjoy this fellow's work. He made a great little show here!
to Slater Lewis, Tugpsx, and Therixx for your kind Gift Card donations!
I really appreciate the help and it makes a big difference in the furthering of this site and all that it's about so -
THANK YOU!!!
Wow!
Thanks to the generosity of these fine folks, and the crazy deals going on now at Daz 3D, I was able to get my hands onto a digital TON of assets for the development of Rosie 9 along with other needful things from my Wish List!
Thank you So Much!!! Truly Appreciated!!! :)
Also FYI: your names have been added to the Appreciation List - if you'd like anything changed - or to remain anonymous, please let me know (you know how! )
Image on left > early phase of "Take 3" of new Rosie 9 (not counting those that I tried quite a while ago)
Scroll down below the Cascadeur bulletin to see the "Take 1" version
Yes, I've been working Hard on developing Rosie 9.
This endeavor has actually lead to several variations of Rosie 9 characters that will be used for different purposes - which is really exciting and I can't wait to share it.
But she's still very far from being a working animation figure. A few snags in her shaping that have to be addressed, and I'm still working out the surface materials - but all in all she's coming along nicely and will look great in animations!
The biggest challenge is trying to make her better than her predecessor - Rosie 8.24. The immediate goal has been changed from that to at least trying to make her AS GOOD as Rosie 8.24 - and that's the clincher that's stopping her from hitting the scene - Rosie 8.24 looks better and more adorable, and she performs better in nearly every situations. The fact is - Rosie 8.24 just plain ROCKS!!!
I'm glad that I'm taking that time to make sure that she's done right. There's absolutely no need to replace Rosie 8.24 other than to break into the more modern technology - so until Genesis 9 can produce the perfect Rosie, Rosie 8.24 shall remain in service!
I'll still show some of the test animation renders I've done with the various Rosie 9s at some point. I have a lot of them!
Rosie 8.24 is constantly getting a workout, so I decided to put some of the tests together into a sequence.
Having her go from dry to soaking wet in the same shot is a new experiment I've been working on, as with the part where Dartanbeck, whose WIP is making a debut appearance, massages her and removes her shirt. Of course I used camera work to hide most of that.
The new car chase was built from scratch other than using the city base that I started creating for Kara Pitat's special Creative Cart presentation.
Speaking of... the beginning soundtrack: Metal Gate, was created by me for Kara Pitat's Creative Cart Promo videos
"Oppressed - But Not Afraid" and
"My Little Question"
are soundtrack titles in progress - meant for the first episode of Dartanbeck and Rosie - whenever that might happen. Like the soundtrack for Kara Pitat, they are modular for sculpting into movies, and what we hear here are some of the shortest variations.
Animating in Daz Studio is getting easier and easier with practice - still using the same principals I've been recommending all along in my courses and Creative Cart sessions - it just Rocks!
I'm going to start making fresh, new animation packs using Cascadeur, but that's only to fill gaps in motion availability. I still stand firm that the motions available at Daz 3D that I've been recommending are a wonderful way to get characters doing what we want - and, very much like building new animations in Cascadeur, we can sculpt the motions we have into whole new actions that fit with what we want!
aniMate 2 within daz Studio... it's a Win WIN!!!
I've been dreaming about this software since I first heard about it and started looking into it.
(Special Thanks to Crosswind, for making me aware of it!!! Thanks, my friend!!!)
Well now I (finally) have the Pro version, which allows me to export directly to Daz Studio!
Even with limited-to-no time available these days, I absolutely had to start testing the waters and get a feel for the workflow - and it's Awesome!!!
Cascadeur is an AI-Assisted Key Frame Animation software with auto-physics, ballistics, and all the wonderful animation creation tools an animator could possibly need! Check out my Animating with Cascadeur page for more information about it and my experiences with it as I grow!
Still a lot of details and fixtures to work out, but so far she's coming along very nicely, I think!
Little Bad Ass! :)
I've been playing drums and singing for Rock bands since I was 14 years old - I got into the venues with a single note written by my father, giving his permission for me being there - my how times have changed!
Here is a fun little clip - my (then) band: Kixx Wikked playing at City Centre Theatre in 1992 - just five years before meeting and marrying my Rosie! The old 8mm camera didn't get the greatest quality, but it's a fun little look back into the days of old!
Rock On, My Friends!!! :)
Martha Delancey
PRINTED IN FULL COLOR!
Open your eyes to the wonders of color numerology and see the world around you in an entirely new light!
Includes:
How to Attune Yourself to the Color of the Day
Color Profile Pages for Each Color-Number:
days of the month
month of the year
precious stones
pigments & dyes
symbolic flower
musical note
goes-with-anything hue
key food
Common Foods for Every Number and Color
Harmonious Meal Ideas for Each Color-Number
Common Edible Flowers
Color Swatches
Harmonious Color Combinations
Color Chords: Musical Chords Illustrated in Color
The Fibonacci Sequence and Lucas Numbers Illustrated in Color
The pages within are enchanted portals that offer boundless possibilities for the curious mind. Kindle the fires of imagination, conjure a kaleidoscope of possibilities, and discover the universal flow of creative energy embodied in the wonders of color numerology.
Laura Paisley Beck
Agent life is dangerous. Disasters at every turn! You, as Agent Jones, must navigate many ethical dilemmas.
Spy suspicions. Tasty temptations. Fraud feelers. Smarmy marketing strategies. Alluring acronyms like ENM. Itchy investigations. Heavy happy hours. Perilous puns. And so much more!
In a world where business consultants must master ethical decision-making, you, Agent Quinn Jones, are a local insurance agent acting like a secret agent. You seek a fantasy life, but you must overcome a conniving client, mysterious adversaries, and your own mental health problems to succeed. So which is it, Agent Jones?
Are you going to land on your feet, supremely successful and on top of your lover? Or will your life self-destruct? The journey is yours. Licensed to Sell is an Interchangeable Action Novel© – a page-jumping collection of bedtime stories for adults with multiple endings.
Many stories are inspired by Beck’s decades of award-winning sales experience in various Midwest industries. Others, her imagination runs wild. Immerse yourself in your own empathy and inclusive perspectives within the tangled tales of this gender neutral novel. Add Licensed to Sell to your stack of must-read books today!
PRAISE FOR License To Sell
“A truly original romp through an absurd, hilarious, imaginative, sexpositive, sales-positive world set in the surreal American business landscape. Beautifully and humorously written in bite-sized chapters that split into a million paths - it’s a million novels in one. In my opinion, an original work of genius.” - Barry Wayne Callen, author and recovering ad executive
“Laura Paisley Beck has created a modern-day masterpiece in which she coined the concept of an Interchangeable Action Novel©. Licensed to Sell is filled with playful humor, unexpected action, steamy romance and a good dose of suspense that will keep you reading. Creativity at its finest!” - Erika Nelson, Author of Brave Love 365
“Never have I ever encountered a detective, queer-inclusive book that also accurately depicts the real-life nuances, stressors and hilarity of being a salesperson until I discovered Licensed to Sell! Lighthearted and fun, painfully realistic at times. I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions. Licensed to Sell brilliantly captures the lived experience of the hard knocks of sales, encapsulated in mysterious excitement with the choose your own adventure format.” - Amber Swenor, Wall Street Journal Best Seller, Author of Unleashed
Slow Normals is always on the brink of new discoveries through music, circuit bending, and making music through circuit bending!
His music is quite unique and highly inspirational - and it's an absolute Blast when he releases something new to escape into!
Check it Out!
Here are some of his albums:
...and there's a LOT More to Discover! Check Out Slow Normals!!! :)
I had quite a year in 2023 - enough to deserve a commemorative page in celebration!
Join me on a tour through My 2023!
After a year like that, I'm hoping for an AMAZING 2024!!!
(or not... your choice!)
Feeling generous? Perhaps a little Kind Hearted?
Did one of my many tutorials or presentations inspire you or help you along in some way?
Drop by Daz 3d and buy me a Gift Card!
It's the Best Gift EVER!!!
More Daz 3D content allows me to add new assets and tools for Daz Studio, and helps with everything I do here at Dartanbeck.com, Digital Art Live, and my YouTube channel - which, in turn helps you all out too!
Thanks in Advance! Dartanbeck
In the Gift Card page, select "For Someone Else"
Recipients Name: Dartanbeck
Recipient's Email: dartanbeck@yahoo.com
I really appreciate it. It's one of the only ways I can get this stuff and report back about it- it Truly helps this site flourish!
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!
More Fun in the pages of Dartanbeck's Journey - CG Filmmaking
There's a Lot of exciting things going on in the world of Dartanbeck Animations right now so I try to break into my news thread when ever I can to report about all of this absolute Glee I'm feeling each day as I animate, simulate, and render my story elements.
Being a Daz + Member has its benefits - a Lot of them.
In a very short time with some Amazing back-to-back sales events, Daz + members can really score big without having to empty that pocketbook.
With just a few well-placed purchases it's amazing how much falls into place for next to nothing. I feel very fortunate because I don't have much of a budget at all.
Try thinking outside the box - Get Simple
An article I've started as a thread in the Daz 3d forum so that you can ask questions and I can answer them. Or you can share your experiences as well.
We can all learn and work together - which is a lot of fun and very rewarding!
I've been adding more dForce fix-it adventures to the thread. I think I might just keep that up - turn the thread into a nice 'dForce - Advice in Action' interactive Q&A/info spot. Like I said above, we can work together on this stuff if we need to.
A fun discussion at Daz 3d regarding lip sync and performance capture started by Walk Sterdan, creator of the Hrimfaxi Adventures and Starship Hrimfaxi - Brilliant!!!
What I mean by "Resurrecting" is that the "Marcoor Hunter" was the ship Rosie operated in Carrara for many years. It was a kit bash of Ravnheart's "SS Marcoor" and Cybertenko's "Hunter-Killer" to make a very unique star ship that - at a quick glance - might remind me a little of the amazing Firefly-Class Transport, Serenity, from the movie "Serenity" and the TV Show (that I miss, but still watch) "Firefly".
The kit bash Carrara files were among all of the data lost during my recent major mechanical drive failure. (Reminder of the importance of regular backups!)
Images shown below are renders from Carrara of the original setup.
Carrara was Born for this kind of work and will give my poor GPU some time to relax
It's not only one of my favorite Aerosmith songs - it's also a great honor in my life!
Daz 3D has now reinstated my PA (Published Artist) status at the Daz 3D store: Dartanbeck
This is such a Huge Honor in many ways.
Being a professional artist is such a Joy, and to be a part of such a team as Daz 3D is something that mere words cannot describe.
From the artists to the staff, from the web design team to marketing, from the forum team to the managers in the office and to all of those in charge of dealing with the likes of us who produce professional content for the daily use of others... it's all such a great place to be - especially when we Love doing this so much!
I stepped down for a while to help with some dire family matters.
Starry Sky Iray Star System
Viewed from the outside of the celestial Sphere
Getting back into the saddle, I went back to my first product as a Daz 3D artist - but then I was almost entirely Carrara-specific.
So this time, Starry Sky will be for Daz Studio and for Iray!
Development of this product has been a long, ongoing journey and a Lot of Fun!
You've seen it in my videos along various stages of its development - and now it's become really something very special!
Starry Sky Iray is still being developed. Meanwhile, this video is meant to be a primer to help illustrate the many features of the system and how to work with it under many different types of scene.
I will likely update this when it's finished and submitted to Daz 3D
All of that led me to more and more ways to present this amazing star system to the general user - and that, in and of itself, is worth every bit of time and effort put into making it so!
Creative Cart Webisode 2, Pestryakov and the Dragon
was a real Blast!!! Thanks, everyone, for coming and interacting, asking questions, sharing your experiences and wonderful artwork... all of it! It's a special honor for me to have this great opportunity to connect with you all - and I Love it!!!
Thank You!!!
is discovering new ways to look and feel more natural in her animations.
The frame we see on the left here is just a still - of course. Within the actual animation, all of her facial muscles are moving (firing) throughout each frame - but as the animation plays back it looks so natural that we don't notice it. We just see the subtle facial changes of her mouth and lips as she breathes, maybe pick up on her blinking, but the fact that her eyes are constantly moving... it doesn't look like they are - it all just works - which is what I'm going for.
We may not 'notice' that her eyes are moving, but the fact that they are makes it less obvious that she's a hand-animated 3D figure.
Using Dynamic Character Animation techniques, she's constantly getting new posing and expression dials and, adding Anilip 2 (text/audio Lip Sync plugin) adds a plethora of fun lip and jaw dials
for Genesis 8 that are fun for adding realism to any animation - and will now become incorporated into further Dynamic Character dials for expressive micro-movements.
In the actual animation she's standing more upright, which didn't seem to look right with this big sword. I've mad a custom dial that widens her stance, bringing the hip down keeping the feet on the floor and also rolling and bending her feet to match the pose changes. So we can dial it all the way up bringing her much closer to the ground, and we can also use any position in between, which is what we're seeing above. Then I simply hunched her forward a little using my original set of custom dials and posed her arms and hands to hold the sword, and to move along with her motions. It turned out really nice!
This is all a Lot of fun!!!
Just recently I decided to save myself a lot of time from jumping around using so many dials to animate her eye movements, so I made a few simple custom Dynamic Character Animation dials that move the upper and lower eyelids as I move the eyes. What a great help! Wow!
And the few dials that I just made before that, for adding "Rosie" shapes and movements to her lips, eyes, and brows have really proven to be a massive boon to getting better, more realistic results on her facial actions.
Creating new custom action dials (as we make in the Dynamic Character Animation course) that quickly facilitate total changes to animations. In this case a single dial that widens the stance, lowering her hip at the same time - making this stance easily added to most idle-style actions. This pose was inspired by a promo picture for one of Aeon Soul's excellent pose packs. I'll probably make another that puts her hands in her pockets as seen here.
To finish off the total pose change from the original animation, 3D Universe's LimbStick script is utterly powerful!
Action VFX is a company built from young pioneers wanting to offer the world of VFX artists of all levels, from just trying to learn to full studio professionals a Top-Quality library of assets for use in any visual effects software.
I first leaned of them from the HitFilm YouTube channel when they were first starting out - and it was really exciting then.
As time unfolds, this amazing group of ambitious and amazing artists keeps pushing the envelop making more and more magic for our cinematic endeavors.
But now there's This? How Clever - How COOL!!!
Let's Get Animated with Daz Studio!!!
Did I say Fun?
Yeah... but only because I really meant it!
Using this workflow for animation has changed Everything! I loved animating before, but this...
Going from hearing (and believing) that we simply CANNOT animate in Daz Studio to having more fun animating in Studio than any other... I mean... What a Blast!!!
Special Thanks to Paul Bussey and the Digital Art Live Community for helping me turn this Dream into a Reality! :)
Join me on a tour through some of the many things that inspire me to do what I do. In my Gallery > Inspirations pages, we'll see videos of cool things as I write why and how much I like this stuff and I hope to expand these narratives to also illustrate how it helps to drive my work.
I've just added a new page - Inspirations - Blade Runner: Black Lotus
Here's a short scene from an Incredible sequence of events that really helps to drive the rest of the season home. Amazing work by the whole team, including the voice of the amazing Alessa Cara
Check out Inspirations - Blade Runner: Black Lotus for more about this incredible show and how they made it!
Along with the newly revised Daz+ Experience and Daz+ Cloth Frenzy pages comes an updated and ready-to-grow Thanks to Daz 3d page, which again will become a lot more pages.
After the generosity, patience and kindness they've given me over the Many Years I've been a Member, there simply isn't enough time, nor enough words to properly convey my appreciation to this Amazing Art Zone. So the least I can do is to sponsor:
Getting Great mileage from our Daz+ Memberships!
Check this out. We can always shop for clothing that we really want at the time, but with our Daz+ Membership, we get deals throughout the year and often even opportunities to grab some fun stuff for free if we check the store often.
Grabbing up deals on clothing made for any generation of Daz Figure can really be a boost to our creative process when we're trying to build 'that special outfit' that's completely unique or just some garb to toss onto one of our background characters.
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!
I've put more work into this early WIP of Dartanbeck 8 than I've put into any other completed Datan character previously.
Check out the new Dartanbeck 8 page to learn about what I've been doing to build and test this cool new character!
Finally getting my hands on Kibaretto's Beautiful Astromaster starship, I really wanted something different for its interior. The new supplemental Cockpit kit is Gorgeous. It really is. But it doesn't really fit with the look of any of the interiors I'd like to use for other parts of the ship. I already knew what I wanted, so it went together like a dream!
One of my very first purchases at Daz 3d, when I bought Carrara, was Kibaretto's Commander - Starship Interior Solution.
This has been my favorite starship bridge to date, although I do like many others as well.
I could tell before getting Astromaster that it was going to be considerably smaller than the Massive Commander, so I was thinking I'd use the Geometry Editor to carve parts away and move stuff around a bit. You know... having fun with a good ol' kit bash!
I think my life has changed permanently now. MeshGrabber is such a blessing for Daz Studio. I can't thank ManFriday enough for creating this amazing tool!
I'm usually using MeshGrabber on cloth and making corrections to hair simulations - which it's amazing for, by the way - but this time I had to be careful... symmetrical.
I took my time making my selections. Having two starships overlapping each other doesn't make selection processes easier. The really nice falloff adjustments for how the rest of the mesh behaves is fantastic. Several smoothing options for the falloff range too. Sweet.
Commander has these really cool corridors that lead out of the bridge deeper into our imagination - one on each side and another in the center. Above that center doorway is a balcony leading to the lift - again... imagination time.
The main fuselage fit pretty darned nice right away, but the rear corners by those corridors stuck out just too far, so I trimmed them back a touch with Geometry Editor, but the cool Sci-Fi décor was able to stay - all of it!
Those three rear corridors are pretty long (Commander is an amazing setup!!!) so that was my first attack zone for MeshGrabber. Going back and forth with the falloff, I was able to shrink those corridors right down, which gives a really nice dimension to the Astro. Still a work-in-progress, the lift will take us up and out the airlock (which I'll have to make) and down to the lower deck.
It's my plan to use Petipet's Sci-Fi interiors (various collections) to stage events in other parts of the ship. Being three times larger now, AstroMaster (now Astro Commander) has some room for breathing. We can stage some long distance adventures with this thing - and so we shall!
Another early purchase of mine was Kibaretto's Star Carrier, which is equally as amazing. It's a massive launch bay, but there are all kinds of nooks and crannies throughout that are fully detailed and beautiful - perfect for staging nearly anything.
Rounding out the image is The DigiVault's Stardomes, which I've performed some Iray magic to. Check this out:
In the Surfaces pane, click the main texture map to see where it is in the list, then select None for Diffuse, and set the color to black.
Now load that map into the following: Translucency Color (first set Translucency Weight to 1.0), Gloss Color (probably don't need that one) and in Emission Color.
Load a nice HDRI into Iray's Dome (I use JoeLeGecko's HDRI Photoshoot) and then blast the Emission Luminosity with a few extra zeros to bring up those levels until you get a good match for your Dome. I didn't make the dome visible in render, but I'm sure you could. It would certainly add to the background.
The Digivault's Stardomes have some really nice options. I'm really glad I grabbed it.
Then I did my color grading, motion blur and signature using Project Dogwaffle Howler. My goto for artistic 2D!
HDRI Photoshoot, by Joelegecko, is the lighting solution you see on most of my work over the past couple of years. He's a master, that's for sure. He's the one who does some of the best promo art we see at Daz 3d.
This set has over twenty HDRI and their mirror, so some 46 or 48 HDRI altogether. There are a lot of HDRI packs out there, and I have quite a few. When it comes to rendering my characters (using an alpha (invisible) background for compositing over backplates layering in other elements along the way) I always use this.
That dark blue and red from my Rosie 2023 Demo was almost always number 21 and its mirrored version. Rotate the dark to the front and let the light seep in over each shoulder - red contrasting to blue. Fun! I love number 21!!!
The medieval video that followed almost exclusively used 22. Right now Rosie 8 is enjoying quite a few, but her Base scene is set up with number 10, rotated to have a subtle bit of sunshine coming in from behind her on one side with a cool blue center, and a sunrise pink over the other shoulder.
It's really fun because rotating the dome around gives a limitless supply of excellent character lighting - like my new starship! :)
It's really cool to have people around who do nothing but create new miraculous wonders for the rest of the world to enjoy.
Alvin Bémar is one of those people.
With FLUIDOS II for Daz Studio, we have liquid, fire and smoke simulations within studio. Highly configurable to get incredible results.
Then, among his other fun creations he comes up with PARSIS: A Particles System, Gescon: Constructive Solid Geometry for Daz Studio, AB Greebles Generator(!!!), and his Thickener Plugin.
Latest up is his amazing Fisio: Physics Simulator and he's just released the above video for a Soft Body Addon! Really looking forward to this stuff!!! Bravo Alvin! Thanks for all you do!!!
Take a fun walk through the idea of letting a content collection hobby fulfill the needs of a story!
Story Driven Through Content - Odysseon Station Collection
Nearly complete, between deep Daz + Sales and the help of my readers, I now have a tremendous Odysseon Station collection.
It's really fun to see how each additional piece to the collection can make the storytelling That Much Easier - and More Fun!!!
Howler is still my main go-to when it comes to most of my image creation and processing. Nearly every image you've seen me post here or in the forums, my Daz 3D Gallery, and pretty much anywhere else, has been optimized, edited, and saved as final image, using Howler.
That's really saying something because I have, and Love to use Affinity Photo - and also because I am Always posting images in some way or another - from a Gallery image to the image we see on my YouTube videos to screen-capture tutorial illustrations... Howler is what I use.
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.
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
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!
*** 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 whole adventure is going to be a Fun one... so Buckle Up!!! ;)
(or not... your choice!)
Feeling generous? Perhaps a little Kind Hearted?
Did one of my many tutorials or presentations inspire you or help you along in some way?
Drop by Daz 3d and buy me a Gift Card!
It's the Best Gift EVER!!!
More Daz 3D content allows me to add new assets and tools for Daz Studio, and helps with everything I do here at Dartanbeck.com, Digital Art Live, and my YouTube channel - which, in turn helps you all out too!
Thanks in Advance! Dartanbeck
In the Gift Card page, select "For Someone Else"
Recipients Name: Dartanbeck
Recipient's Email: dartanbeck@yahoo.com
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!!! :)
