Jay Versluis

Kinetic Light Paintings - NFT Launch

Many of you may not know this: between 2005 and 2008 Julia and I created a substantial body of artwork made with Kinetic Photography, long exposure pictures we took of light sources that became abstract super colorful images. It started as a fun experiment, but really took off when Julia put one up for sale on eBay: not only did it sell, it sold well and fast. 

We were flabbergasted: we had something special that was fun to do, so we pursued it in our spare time. We shot more, expe...

Converting Genesis clothing from 3 to 8 without auto-fit

Well hello there! I have another video for y'all in which I'll show you how to tweak your Genesis clothing so that it won't trigger the auto-fit mechanism in DAZ Studio. This is super useful for Genesis 3 clothing that needs to go onto a Genesis 8 figure and vice versa. None of the weight maps need to be tweaked, which is what auto-fit would do (often not giving a desired effect). 

This tip is courtesy of Hektixx who made a 2021-11-06 01:42:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Creating an Iray Server instance with Infinite Compute and connecting it to DAZ Studio

New month, new video: I've made this one in response to my previous Iray Server videos, several viewers have had problems finding what details to put where, so I thought I'd explain it in detail. I'm spinning up an Iray Server instance on Infinite Compute's cloud servers and talk about the interface, and show how to connect it to DAZ Studio. I'll also touch on queue as well as animation rendering.

Currently the largest instance you can build is a dual K5000 with a whopping 60GB of VRAM....

How to upgrade to Marvelous Designer 11 (Perpetual License)

In this episode I'll show you the slightly unintuitive process of  upgrading to a perpetual license of Marvelous Designer 11. In previous  years we were given a discount code and use it upon checkout, but since  perpetual and annual licenses are no longer available to buy, the  process has changed a bit. If you currently have a perpetual license,  you can upgrade from from MD 8, MD9 and MD10.  

Thanks to Biscuits for this tip!

Using the Scene Optmizer in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to use the Scene Optimizer by V3Digitimes and demonstrate how it can speed up render times. The tool also lets you render scenes that would normally not fit into your GPUs VRAM by reducing the texture sizes of objects in your scenes.

You can buy the product here.

Direct link t...

My presentation at the Oncology Symposium 2021

Last weekend Julia and I went on a trip to Hollywood, where I gave a presentation about my cancer case. It's the second time I've done this. Julia made me a small presentation in Canva so I could show off some pictures that I didn't have last time in 2019. I thought I'd share it with you here, in case you've missed the stream or my bit on YouTube last Saturday.

The event was organised by Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach by Karen Stephenson, who was my oncologist's nurse practitioner ...

Rendering DAZ Studio Animations with Iray Server

In this episode I'll explain how DAZ Studio can be used with Iray Server  to render animations. Yes, it's possible after all! I've received this  tip from Rob at Infinite Compute, after we both had a long chat. I  wanted to test it out immediately and thought I'd share the good news  with y'all :-)

Take a look at Rob's service 3D cloud rendering service here: https://infinite-compute.com

Direc...

My first Iray Server Animation!!!

The above bouncing ball might not look like much, but I'm seriously excited about it: I've managed to render it with DAZ Studio and Iray Server!

This is a tip from Rob at Infinite Compute, whom I had a chat with recently. The trick is to not think logically and submit the scene to Iray Server as animation, but instead to use the streaming Iray viewport (VAC Mode) and simply hit the render button (while you're on the Advanced and Bridge tabs). 

Less intuitive ...

Cloud Rendering my DAZ Animation with iRendering.net

In this episode I spin up a cloud server with 4x RTX 3080 cards and use it to render the Subway Tunnel animation I've built for the DAZ Streams Holding Loop. It's an edited version of a Twitch session, in which I'm using the service for the first time. I was able to render 1200 frames at 1000 iterations each in less than 18 hours!

I cover everything from installing DAZ Studio on a fresh system, downloading my data, mapping my own library and doing test renders as well as render time cal...

Creating Figure Launch Icons in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to create your own toolbar icons that can launch your favourite characters with a single click. This works with any figure or prop that can be loaded from your Library, including Sub Scenes. It's a nice time saver for your favourite items. I have a written article about this here.

For Gray.

2021-09-29 12:54:29 +0000 UTC View Post

DAZ Subway Animation - Final Version

Here's the final version of the DAZ Subway Tunnel Animation. This one was rendered on a node with 4x RTX 3080 cards in only 18 hours with 1000 samples per frame, courtesy of some promotional credits I received from GPU Hub for trying their service. I was very impressed with their setup and will make a dedicated video about it soon. If you'd like to check them out, here's my affiliate link: https://app...

DAZ Diner Animation

I've put this little animation together in a couple of hours this week and thought this would make an excellent addition to the holding loop for the DAZ streams. I've used the Double Triangle Diner scene by Dekogon Studios for this. I thought I'd let you have a sneak peek at it before everyone else gets to see it ne...

Palm Tree Animation in Blender with Soft Body Dynamics and Mesh Deform (no rig, no wind)

In this episode I'll show you how I've managed to use an existing palm  tree and add a subtle movement effect to it, as if the wind is blowing.  This is done without using a rig on the tree or any real wind effect and  can be used on any existing geometry. 

I did this as an experiment for my supporter Victor and made this video  as a note to myself so I won't forget all the steps involved. I need to sit down and write some instructions this week and will update ...

Using Genesis 8 Geosuits on Genesis 8.1 Characters in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to use outfits that come as Geoshells made for Genesis 8 characters successfully with the Genesis 8.1 figures. When you apply such an item (like the Psion Suit by Pixeluna and shadownet) on your 8.1 character, parts of the figure appear white. This is caused by a...

Animating Objects with the Noise Modifier in Blender

In this episode I'll show you how to use the Noise Modifier in Blender. It's an excellent way to animate objects randomly without much work. The modifier is applied via the Graph Editor, it's a little un-intuitive, so I'll show you how it all comes together.

Subway Tunnel - Animatic v3

Yesterday I've done some more work on the Subway Tunnel animation for the new DAZ holding loop. I've been able to fix the train on the tracks, added passenger animations, and a bit of hero character movement. I've used the Decimator on the tunnel and train to preview my viewport a little, hence the extra chunky look. It's slowly coming together. 

The next step is to refine the hero character, add the DAZ logo at the end, then some lighting adjustments. Ideally I'd like to make a se...

Iray Server and DAZ Studio - an Overview

In this episode I'll demonstrate how Iray Server works in DAZ Studio. I'll explain how to connect it, how to send jobs over to the server, how to start the server in both stand-alone and cluster mode, and how to restart jobs that are have already been submitted. I'll even show you several inevitable crashes.

If you want to give Iray Server a go yourself, download a free trial here: https://irayplugins.com

I have some ...

Positioning Rigged Props in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to adjust the position of Rigged  Props. You may have seen things like glasses, hats or necklaces that  don't respond to the translation/rotation controls. That's because they  contain (most of the) Genesis figure rig and can auto-follow as you move  your character. It's useful sometimes, but can also be a hindrance. 

Thankfully there's a magic setting with which we can make them respond  such props to our commands.  I...

Fixing Auto-Fit Shoes in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to use the Weight Node Brush to fix geometry that appears distorted when using auto-fitting for shoes. The process works well for regular clothing, but since shows are made of more solid material, DAZ Studio frequently gets it wrong. In this example I'm using the First Date Boots from Genesis 3 and auto-fit them on a Genesis 8 figure. While not perfect, it's a relatively quick way to fix what auto-fit gets wrong. Enjoy!

An alternative way to make this w...

Creating an Iray Matte in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to create an Iray Matte. This allows you to use an object to hide other objects in your scene to create potentially interesting visual effects in DAZ Studio.

A forum post suggested this could be used for spot rendering an image sequence, so I'm elaborating how to mount the matte in front of the camera as well.

Here's the video by MEC4D I've mentioned: https://www.youtu...

Camera Animation Stream on the DAZ Channel

I've just finished editing a little trailer for the next public stream on the DAZ Channel. I thought it might be nice to create a holding loop for the streams, much like I have on my own channel. A while back I bought the Subway Tunnel environment by Dekogon Studios, which is perfect for the job.

It's a tricky job to animate the train in the tunnel, with passengers on board, and make the camera fly through the train as...

Creating Joint Corrective Morphs (JCMs) in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to setup those mysterious JCMs in DAZ Studio. Joint Corrective Morphs are controllers that drive how far a morph is dialled up as a rotation on a joint happens. Think of a bicep muscle (morph) that needs to flex as the arm's rotation reaches the up position (joint).

Enjoy!

Create your own Controllers in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to create a Controller Property in DAZ Studio. This is an extremely helpful custom slider that combines various adjustments you've made into a single dial. Controllers drive multiple values at once, be that joint rotations, morphs or a combination of the two. For my example I'm creating a rather complex pose and add it to my slider for the figure to bend over.

Enjoy this early ad-free access treat :-)

Slinky Animation - DAZ Studio Scene Files

Here are the scene files for my recent Slinky Animation! It's a simple library folder, so there's no need to install this anywhere, just unZIP it and add it as a Content Library Folder to play around. I've included the following:

• Slinky static (rigged model)
• Slinky animation (60 frames)
• Material Preset and textures (made with Substance)
• various poses (not all of them are useful)
• OBJ file
• Blender file

If you'd like to follow ...

How to disable Windows 10 Updates Forever

Hello again! In this episode I'll show you how to disable the constant and often destructive Windows 10 updates as long as you like. I'll explain how to stop the update service in the current session, and how to disable it on subsequent restarts.

I've researched this after running into multiple issues with my streaming PC over the last few weeks. Windows is persistently trying to apply an update, fails, tries to revert and fails at that too. My only option is to bring it back from a res...

Iray Server Cluster Shenanigans

This evening I dedicated a little more time to playing with Iray Server, and I have a little bit of a "success update" for you. It's about clustering up various machines, something I didn't have much luck with over the weekend.

Iray Server can work in two types of configurations: stand-alone and clustered. 

Stand-alone means that the app runs on any machine just by itself. This could be the same machine you're working with, or a different one...

Checking out Iray Server

Today I've had the pleasure of trying something I've had on my radar for years: Iray Server. It's a mythical stand-alone application that can process Iray jobs we throw at it - from compatible applications. DAZ Studio is one of them, it has some interesting settings hidden in the Advanced Render Settings section (under Bridge).

All I had to do was hack in my server's details, then instead of hitting the blue render button, I submit my job to the server - without the nee...

Rigging a Cylinder with the Figure Setup Tab in DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you what I've learnt last week, namely how to  rig a simple cylinder in DAZ Studio. I'll create face groups for three  parts, use the mysterious Figure Setup Tab to create the bone hierarchy  and add weight maps so that my little guy can be deformed.

I'm going to make this a YouTube Premiere next week and will include the demo files from my earlier post as a free download. ...

Getting Started with the Decimator in DAZ Studio

The Decimator is a plugin that allows you to reduce the vertex count for  selected objects in your DAZ scenes. In this overview I'll show you how  it works in DAZ Studio, how you can add your own levels of detail to  your objects, and how useful it can be when you're posing or animating.

I've  known about the Decimator for a while, but never tried it out due to  its high cost, until Jeremy showed me a screenshot of it in action. The  missing link for me w...

Removing the Filament Draw Style from DAZ Studio

In this episode I'll show you how to disable the Filament Viewport Option from DAZ Studio. Some people don't like having it and reduce clutter in the interface. Like with many options in DAZ Studio, Filament is implemented as a plugin and is easily disable-able (is that a word?)