Jay Versluis

Jinx Facepaint Workflow Timelapse - Substance Painter and Daz Studio

I've discovered how to put body paint on a Genesis character and thought I'll share it with you. In this workflow time-lapse I'll show how I've exported the base and normal maps of Jinx Jones from Daz Studio, applied some face paint in Substance Painter, and how I've made two renders with the exported maps. The whole process took about 6 hours, but I did a lot of waiting and experimenting while I was at it - this was my first stab at body painting after all.

I'll make a more in-depth tu...

Daz Studio Masterclass: It's a Wrap!!

Great news everyone: I've  put the finishing touches on the Daz Studio Masterclass, added  thumbnails where necessary and the whole thing is ready for release,  unless I find anything missing. Woohoo!

All episodes are now available to watch on the Early Access link (password is "Filament"), which also includes the PDF of the accompanying document with  descriptions, as well as links to produ...

Mixamo Claire - 2D Facial Animation in Blender

Here's a little Early Access treat to start your week, it's the Claire animation I've made on Sunday's stream. UPDATE: I've re-rendered the sequence after baking the particles, they jumped around in the previous version. 

Some of the Mixamo characters come with a variety of eye and mouth  shapes as part of the 2D texture. I've discovered this by accident  recently and wondered if and how this could be animated. I made it work  in Daz Studio and wanted to try it out i...

Sci-Fi Chair Session

I wanted to try out the Substance Material integration with Blender in a stream and thought it might be fun to grab an old asset and re-texture it. I don't know all that much about Blender, nor about the Substance integration, but I've managed to cobble this little chair together. Originally made by ClacyArch3D for the Rocky Mountain Backyard, I separated the three zones, tried out various community materials and gave the chair subtle modifications with the sculpt tools to make it look a litt...

Blender Texture Painting Tools Demystified

In this episode I'll show you how to get started with the mysterious texture painting tools in Blender. I'll explain the difference between Vertex Painting and Texture painting options, and I'll show you how to rub imported textures onto 3D objects. I'll also briefly touch on the painting options that have been added to Sculpt Mode in Blender 3.2. 

For Joseph.

Boost for Daz - 20% Discount for Supporters!

Hello everyone! Here's the Masterclass animation scene we've started  on Sunday, and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I've smuggled in  some eye blinks on AJ to bring the character to life. This will make a  nice little intro animation for a Masterclass trailer. All episodes are  in the can, the thumbnails are done, all that remains now is the PDF  document. I'll have more on that before the weekend.

The animation  was rendered on an Iray Server ins...

How to use Genesis 8.1 Shaders on Genesis 8 Figures

Howdy folks! In this episode I'll show you how to use the newer  better Genesis 8.1 shaders on the older Genesis 8 figures. It's not a  one-click process, and a little bit of additional work is involved, but  if you prefer the functionality and litheness of Genesis 8, you can reap  the benefits of the new shaders with this process.

Inspired by a little chat I had with Dominic on Discord, I first 2022-06-15 16:58:21 +0000 UTC View Post

Jay Plays Titles - with (too many) Particles - v31.1

The big rebuild is done: I've changed my project to include all four  different signage options, each in one collection. Those are  organisational changes that won't show visually, but make my life easier  going forward. Thank you to everyone who joined me on Twitch while I  did this.  

While I was at it, I also added some particle effects to the sequence.  There are two emitters here: one in the front area, and one in the back,  sharing the same parti...

Coffee Cup Stream - Blender Scene Files and ad-free version

I edited yesterday's Coffee Cup stream into a more cohesive version for posterity, it'll go out as a Premiere this Wednesday.  Here's an ad-free early access version for you all. In it I'll show you  the concept of getting fluid simulations going in Blender, then build a  coffee cup from scratch, fill it up, apply materials and build a small  camera animation from it.

I did some more tests in today'...

Daz Studio Masterclass: Post Production

This week I've recorded four new videos about Post Production in Photoshop. This will kick off Part 3 of the Daz Studio Masterclass,  and it became a longer segment than I had originally planned. I had  finished off Part 2 with a single (lengthy) video about Photoshop, but  ended up re-recording the whole section and expanded on the subject  matter. It felt better to put this at the beginning of Part 3.

The  total duration of th...

Pouring Coffee in Blender

I've written an article today in which I'll show you how to create simple fluid animations in Blender. I had done this a while back but apparently forgot to take notes. Now neither of us will forget how it works for next time :-) 

• https://www.versluis.com/2022/06/creating-fluid-simulations-in-blender/ 

I've attached two GIFs here, on the second of w...

dForce from Scratch Promo

I've made this promo for our upcoming Daz+ Pro Artist stream, in which Chris Cox shows us how to setup dForce properties on a garment he's created in Marvelous Designer (or rather, in CLO3D if we want to be pedantic). I wanted to show drape and thought a skirt with legs might work. I've spend some time getting the pose right, then simulated in Daz Studio. This looked OK for the most part, but the dress needed to be a little l...

Closing a Torus with Daz Studio and Hexagon

I have a quick early access video  for you today, kind of a follow-up of the donut stream I did recently. A  viewer was asking how to close the hole in the middle, and this was  easier to explain as a video than it was in words. I'll release this  next week when I've had time to make a decent looking thumbnail.

Sadly the "embedding videos from Vimeo" thing has stopped working completely now with Patreon, so I'll have to give you an unceremonious link in a text post -...

Manual Rigging Example in Daz Studio (without Figure Setup Tool)

In this episode I'll show you how add bones to a figure manually,  without using the Figure Setup Tool. Both approaches are valid,  depending on your situation. I'll explain the relationship between  bones, face groups and weight maps, so you'll learn why we do what we  do. It's a complex process, but it'll eventually grow on you. I've  you've been away from rigging in Daz Studio for a while, this is an  excellent refresher.  

While I was at it, I also...

Jay Plays - Updated Title Sequence (Preview 25.2)

I've spent some quality time in Blender this week and last, working  on my title sequence. I always wanted to add people to it but then life  happened and I never got round to it. Animations always take several  (hundred) iterations, and the above it the latest render in 60fps. Here  are all the changes:

• added Toon Skeleton to the front booth
• added Toon Skeleton with hood as the popcorn vendor
• added AJ as a popcorn customer
• added The ...
  2022-05-19 14:52:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Tone Mapping Overview in Daz Studio

I've just finished editing a new video for the Daz Masterclass this  morning. It gives you an overview about Tone Mapping in Daz Studio. It's  part of the Early Access perk you all get for the full Daz Masterclass  series, I've smuggled it onto the end of part 2:  https://versluis.com/dm-early-access (password is "Filament").

Here's a stand-alone upload for you too: 2022-05-05 19:15:16 +0000 UTC View Post

Changing Multiple Keyframes with the Graph Editor in Daz Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to offset multiple keyframe values  with the Graph Editor in Daz Studio. I'll also explain the approach to  the right track and show you a bit of workflow you may encounter when  tweaking existing animations. Specifically, I'll take a look at moving a  shoulder joint further up than is defined in multiple keyframes. With  practice, this technique will grow on you eventually.

Have fun!

Using the Push Modifier in Daz Studio

I've made a quick video yesterday for the ever growing Daz Studio Masterclass, this one is about the Push Modifier. It's an often neglected weapon against our nemesis called Poke Through. I've had an issue with a figure recently during a stream, and Chris kindly suggested I should use it. I keep forgetting it exists, so here's a quick reminder on how and when to use it.

I won't release this video on YouTube, bu...

HUMANS - Watch Party anyone?

Yesterday I made the above animation during a Twitch stream. I've been meaning to try one of their features called Watch Parties, in which we can all watch a movie or TV show together and hang out in chat at the same time. I'd like to try this out tomorrow from 4pm EST, drop by if you're game. 

I need to send a video feed that will appear above the chat window, which usually is the streamer's web cam in...

Animating Shader Properies in Daz Studio with ABAS

In this episode I'll show you how to work with the ABAS shader system. We'll take a look at the basic workflow, how to animate shader properties on the roughness and colour channels of a sphere, and we'll take a look at displaying an image sequence as an animation on a plane object.   

You'll need the ABAS product by Alvin Bemar for this to work, it's available from the Daz store.

Using Mixamo Animations with Genesis 8 and 8.1 (2022)

Greetings, folks! Today I have an early access treat for you: I've  just discovered an alternate way to bring Mixamo animations into Daz  Studio and use them with the Genesis 8 and 8.1 figures. 😃

This  workflow involves the Genesis 2 figures, as they're the last generation  that's accepted for upload in Mixamo. The trick is to tweak the default  G2 T-Pose and turn it as closely as possible into the A-Pose of the G8  figure, bake all joint rotations, then...

Quick Update

I have a bike video for you today. I haven't made one in a while and was in the mood for it yesterday. Something about us ordering a new fridge, how the Daz Masterclass is coming along, and that I've finished that super difficult Ambulance Mission in GTA III. 🚑

I've been editing my bike videos from the same GoPro camera using the same Mac Mini for many years, but yesterday it just wasn't having it anymore. First noticed that iMovie had uninstalled itself, which was bizarre in itself,...

Creating Atmospheric Ground Fog with Daz Studio 4.20

In this quick tip, I'll shows you how to set up Atmospheric Ground  Fog in your scenes. It's a simple option in the Render Settings Tab that  lets us add realistic fog effects to our environments in a single  click. I've made this for the Daz channel last week and totally forgot  to post it here.

Enjoy!

Creating Volumetric Fires and Explosions in Daz Studio 4.20

I've made this video for Daz, in which I'm explaining demonstrates  how to use the new Volumetric Shader in Daz Studio 4.20. Learn how to  create camp fires and hefty explosions using free VDB files and point  lights with Iray's new OpenVDB Simple Volumetrics Shader.

Enjoy!

Using Git Version Control in Unreal Engine

In this early access episode I'll explain the concept of Git Version Control, and how we can make use of it in Unreal Engine. Version Control is super useful for all kinds of applications, including arbitrary working folders for Daz scenes, Photoshop files and so forth. 

I'll talk about the principles, show a working concept with a text file, then move on to showing the steps that are necessary to place an existing Unreal Engine project under Version Control. 

The two th...

Jay's Farm 2022 - Dev Log #01

I felt like playing with Unreal Engine this week and managed to cobble together a little project I thought I'd share with you. 

Nearly two years ago I tried my hand at building a farming game in  Unreal Engine. I forgot all about it, until I was inspired to start  again from scratch. I thought I'd show you the progress, and my future  self some code in case I forget. Here's the first entry in the dev log:  I'll show you how I've setup the project with the first ...

A Brief History of Victoria, Daz Studio and Poser

I've started work on Part 2 of the Daz Studio Masterclass this week, with a segment about why things are as they are and where our 3D hobby applications and figure assets came from. You could say it's the "origin story" of Daz Studio, which is of course intricately woven into Poser. In this 25 minute overview I'll tell you everything I know and show why the Genesis figure is so powerful when compared to the original Victoria generations. 

I'll add this with all the other videos fro...

Changes to working with Mesh Lights in Daz Studio 4.20

There have been some changes to the way Mesh Lights work in Daz Studio  4.20. When turning an emitter (nearly) invisible on the Surfaces Tab,  the light loss through transparency is now linear. This means when we  have 7 digits behind the comma in transparency, we need to add 7 zeros  to our Luminance value to compensate. Let me show you how it's done.  

I'll release this video sometime this week, as soon as I have time to  put a handsome thumbnail together...

Getting Started with Volumetrics in Daz Studio (German Version)

I did a German version of the volumetrics video I've shared this weekend. I'm trying to get into the habit of recording a second version while I have a demo scene loaded, it's a bit more work but certainly more efficient than doing it at a later time.

I'm not sure if the thumbnail screams "volumetrics", but I do like the way ground fog can be used to add atmosphere to an outdoor scene. The toon mouse was happy to be my stand in.

Enjoy!

Daz Studio Masterclass - Part 1 (Early Access)

I've been busy! Over the last two weeks I've recorded and edited 22 full episodes of the new Daz Studio Masterclass, a whopping 6 hours of material.  And that's just for Part 1! It is with great pleasure and excitement  that I'm able to share this super secret link with you today:

https://www.versluis.com/dm-early-access/

It's  a hidden landing page on my website, whic...