Jay Versluis

Testing Photo Mode plug-ins for Unreal Engine

I've just posted a stream archive from last month on my 3D Shenanigans channel. I'm testing out a few products I've bought, like Ultra Dynamic Sky and some Photo Mode options, and try to add them to existing scenes.  Links are in the video description.  

I do these low-key fiddly 3D things on Twitch every once in a while. It  feels like ages since...

Annual Memberships and Local Currencies now available

Patreon have made some (more) changes that might be of interest to you: Annual Memberships with a discount, and Local Currencies. I've enabled both just now and thought I'd tell you a bit about these features.

Annual Memberships

With Annual Memberships, you'll be able to get 2 months free on your pledge, if you pay for a full year in advance. Apparently 30% of supporters are interested in this feature. I can see the appeal, especially if it's abou...

Among Trees

I've been taking some in-game snapshots while playing the beautiful AMONG TREES last week on YouTube. I thought I'd share some hi-res images of the most gorgeous moments with you. The game is currently in Early Access, and some of the game mechanics are a little rough, but it's a real pleasure to look at. Enjoy! 

You can buy the game here or watch my stream archives 2020-08-18 13:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Sevarog and the Narbash Twins - Unreal Engine Test

 I've been following Michael Rick's  course on Cloth and Physics animation in Unreal Engine today. I've  learnt that both aspects are really easy to do, if you know how. We have  three characters from the free EPIC Paragon collection, one of which  has cloth physics applied to his cape, and the other two have physics  applied to their drums. 

Not bad for less than 2 hours of work!  It's far from perfect of course (the drum twists, and the loop on ...

What Mixer used to look like - a Streaming Retrospective

Last month I took some time to record a tour of the Mixer interface, as a sort of time-capsule moment so we can remember what the platform used to look like in the future. I was going to post this on my personal channel, but then I thought it might be interesting for my main audience too, hence I held off uploading it publicly yet. It'll go live sometime next week I think, complete with chapter points (see description ...

My YouTube Stats and Income - July 2020

In this early-access episode I'll take a look at my YouTube statistics and compare  them to last year's analytics. I've just passed 10.000 subscribers on my  main channel, and thought this would be a nice annual thing to look  into. I've tried to keep it brief, but it's still about half an hour  long.  

Contributing growth factors for this year are the beginning of COVID-19  and daily live streams on my main channel. Socialblade's calculations  are ver...

Where to find Advanced Animation Features in DAZ Studio

Not so much an early access video, but at least one without adverts: 

In this episode I'll show you where to find the advanced animation  features in the regular keyframe timeline in DAZ Studio. These features  have been introduced with version 4.12, when the KeyMate and GraphMate  plugins were merged into the main app. The layout has changed a bit  since then, and both regular keyframes as well as curves for the Dope  Sheet view are very difficult to find....

Animating Dust Particles in Blender

Here's another early access perk for you, a rather beefy video about how to make these animated dust particles with Blender. I considered splitting this one up into several episodes, but then I thought I'll make use of chapter points instead. In the YouTube description, you'll be able to click on a timecode and jump straight to a desired section. 

There's a lot going on in the process, and practice makes perfect. I've included two scene files for you too, one that I've built during...

Posing DAZ Charaters in Blender using Shape Keys

An early access perk for y'all, this was a question I got today and I thought this would make a handsome video. I'll craft a nice thumbnail this week and may put it live sometime next week.

In this episode I'll show you how to create shape keys from posed DAZ characters in Blender. This will allow us to create the equivalent of morph dials in Blender, and they're so useful for anything from shaping your character outside of DAZ Studio, to applying poses in Blender without having to tran...

Quad Bokeh - Made in Blender (scene file and animation)

This is a generic holding loop I've just made with Blender 2.83.  Particle systems are such a wonderful thing, they can be used for small  dust particles floating in the air, or be the star of the show for  things like this. I'm going to cover how to make this either as a live  stream, or a pre-recorded video. It's a lengthy process, so I might  supplement it with written instructions too (it'll certainly help me remember how to do this 3 months from now). 

Goodbye, Mixer (aka Sad Robot Animation)

Here's my tribute to Mixer, the wonderful streaming platform we had to  say our goodbyes to in July 2020. I've enjoyed using it since 2018 and  have fond memories with the platform. I've made project in Blender 2.83,  using KlanK from 3D Universe, two Mixamo animations and some assets  from Synty Studios. Rendered in Eevee, with the beautiful music by Matt  Christensen (from Superliminal).

This is a 900 frame loop that I'll play  on my Mixer channel until t...

Combine Genesis Morphs into a single slider with DAZ Studio and Morph Loader Pro

Here's another early access per for a DAZ Studio video I had forgotten to edit and upload last week. It explains how to combine Genesis morphs without having to use Hexagon, and goes into a bit more detail on the export options and why we have to do what we do. You've seen it here first! The general description might read something like this:

In this episode I'll show you how to combine various morphs on a Genesis figure into a single slider. This is ideal to create custom characters th...

Removing your morphs from Genesis Figures in DAZ Studio

Early access perk for y'all: 

In this episode I'll show you how to remove morphs you have previously  created and saved in your Genesis figures. This can come in handy if  you've changed your mind, or when you're done with something that you  needed at one point in your production. It's good to clear house  sometimes! 

While this technique can be used to remove any morphs from any vendor,   I recommend NOT to tinker with existing products an...

How to use the YouTube Video Editor

In this episode I'll show you how to use the web-based Video Editor in YouTube. This tool comes in handy to create highlights from longer videos or amend existing videos that you'd like to change. 

The editor allows you to top and tail (cutting the beginning and end off),  make several edits and take bits in the middle out, or create new videos from existing ones. You can even overwrite existing videos while retaining your view counts, URL and comments. I'm showing you the bas...

Creating YouTube Subscription Prompt Link

Another early access video for you this week: In this episode I'll show you how to create a subscription prompt for your YouTube channel. This will allow visitors to subscribe to your channel immediately before watching your content. I advise not to use this trick all the time, but it might come in handy for less tech savvy folks, as well as links to your own sister channels and collaborators' channels. 

I'm still trying to come up with a good title for the general release. Somethi...

How to reduce Loading Times for Genesis Figures in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll explain why the Genesis figures (regardless of their generation) take such a long time to load. I'm also going to show you a solution to cut down on loading times without having to un-install any content. 

This episode was inspired by two users who asked me how to combat the issue, one of which had to wait nearly an hour for the figure to load. I hope this helps explain it.

I'm planning to put this live next week, all that's missing is a decent thumbnail....

Combining Genesis Morphs in DAZ Studio with Hexagon

In this episode I"ll show you how to combine several morphs on a Genesis 8 figure into a single slider. We'll do this with the help of Hexagon, and I promise you don't need to know anything about that app. Once done, you can remove the products that helped you shape your figure and free up some space and speed up loading times. It'll make your custom character life a little easier.

I'm working on three related videos and I'm planning to release them at the same time:

• Combini...
  2020-06-10 21:09:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Getting Started with Streaming – An Overview

This is an early access version of an article I've been meaning to write for a week. It turned out a little longer and very different from what I had envisioned, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Let me know what you think!

I'm adding some images for the web version next week. I'm not sure if the anchor links work on Patreon. Either way, enjoy!

Table of Contents

• 2020-06-10 00:25:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Patreon will start charging Sales Tax from July 1st

I wanted to give you all a quick heads up about a recent development at Patreon, which involves the company having to charge sales tax on top of your contributions. They've explained the details and implications in this article. 

As I understand it, Patreon charge tax in some countries already, so if you make a $10 contribution, they ...

What is DAZ Central and why should we use it?

This is an early-access ad-free version of an article I've just put together for my website versluis.com. Let me know if you need clarification on any part (I do ramble on sometimes).

You may have seen the announcement about DAZ Central recently, DAZ's new content management app. I've had a look at it as soon as I heard it and I thought I'd give you my impressions and opinions about the new software. I'll also try ...

Stardew Valley - Holding Loop

I've made this loop from the opening sequence of Stardew Valley. It does away with the buttons at the bottom of the home screen and cleverly loops the overture (hence the abrupt start of the video - if you play it on loop it'll be seamless). There's a download option on the Vimeo Page.

If you need a holding loop for The Valley, this one's for you. It's also for Ruberta (Brian's cat), who loves watching the st...

Social Distancing My Ass!

With all this talk of "social distancing", global lock downs and stay-at-home orders, it's easy to fall into the trap of isolation. Let's make sure this doesn't happen! Isolation leads to loneliness, depression, bad thoughts and negative feelings about yourself and the world. It's all courtesy of something I call The Bullshit Brain.

The best way to beat this is to gather and talk with your fellow man, connect with one another, and be merry about it. I say let's meet up in Starde...