Setting up quick backdrops for 'photo-shoot' purposes.

Hello All,

I am new to Daz Studio having signed up in December of last year (2018) and at only two months in, I have already aquired much in terms of product from the Daz Store.  I have many environments already, but I sadly, I do not have a GPU on my machine and I am rendering with the processor only.   This does yeild to some very slow render times.   Often times, I find it is the background that is causing the slow down as if I just render the character alone, the render times are much faster.   I have a beach setting which is just a backdrop that came with Daz and I found that background renders very fast.   So I am wonder if there was a way to create a studio like backdrop just to frame my characters out.   I know that the Daz store has such items and they often come with light settings and other things, but I am just after some nice backdrops.  Is there anyway I could do so with a photo?  I am looking to have a backdrop with a ground like what they have in a photo studio.

Is there anyway I can do this on my own, or do I have to purchase one of those 'photo-studio' sets?

Thank You

Comments

  • You want HDR images - there are many in the store, there are also freebies around (though they often stipulate no commercial use).

    Another option would be to use the Sun and Sky settings to set the tiem of day/location that you want, render that with no actual backdrop, and save as Tiff/PNG for compositing with a photo - for ground shadows, if needed, you'd have to add a shadow catcher.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    edited February 2019

    Daz Studio has an Environment pane. You can add a photo there and it will appear in your rendered scene as a backdrop. I use it frequently. 

    1. First go to menu Window/Panes (Tabs)/Environment to add the Environment pane to your workspace.
    2. Then in the Environment pane, at the very top, click the down arrow to drop down a menu where you can select the type of Environment you want. The choices are None or Backdrop. Choose Backdrop. (Later you can choose None when you want to get rid of the backdrop so it doesn't appear in every render!) Once you have selected Backdrop for the type of environment, you will additional choices.
    3. Click on the little square image map in the Background control and select Browse. Browse your computer folders to find the photo you want to use.
    4. One gotcha: If the photo is a different aspect ratio than what your render is set up for, the background image will be squished to fit the render aspect ratio. You can either edit your image in a photo editor like Photoshop to crop it to the render aspect ratio, or change your render to match the image, or just let it be squished. To change the render size or aspect ratio to match the loaded background image, use the context (hamburger) menu to select either Adjust Aspect Ratio to Backdrop or Adjust Dimensions to Backdrop.
    5. In Render Settings pane,  on the Editor tab, in the Environment section (not to be confused with the Environment pane discussed above!!!) set Draw Ground to On to create ground shadows. 

    It can be difficult sometimes to get a backdrop image and a rendered character to look like they go together. The scaling may be off, the camera focal length might be different (wide angle vs. zoom). So some experimentation might be necessary, but as you work with it, you will get better at it. 

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  • jukingeojukingeo Posts: 693
    barbult said:
     

    It can be difficult sometimes to get a backdrop image and a rendered character to look like they go together. The scaling may be off, the camera focal length might be different (wide angle vs. zoom). So some experimentation might be necessary, but as you work with it, you will get better at it. 

    Hmmmmm, not exactly what I had in mind and I hated to see your wonderful explanation / presentationmight be in vain.  But this should give you a better idea of what I am after.  Prior to Daz Studio, I was messing around with those 'cartoon' avatar/character creation programs such as Azaleas Dolls and Rinmaru Games.  This is a character I created from Rinmaru:

    https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/162feff1-e525-4e66-9252-090d0c3fbd79/dcsi814-9f246704-ad9b-472d-9ee3-f03db290fb12.jpg/v1/fill/w_797,h_1002,q_70,strp/melissa_by_ravendiablo_dcsi814-pre.jpg

    Get a good look at the backdrop.  THAT is what I am going for.  But in the context of Daz, the backdrop would be similar to how the beach backdrop is that comes with the program.  Like I said, I KNOW they have packages like this and they often include lighting settings too, but with what I been spending on Daz so far, I need to cut the $ someplace.  This is one of the packages I was referring to:

    https://www.daz3d.com/idg-portrait-studio-2

    Specifically:

    https://www.daz3d.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/0/5/05-idg-portrait-studio-2-daz3d.jpg

    You see that roll thing that goes from the back wall on to the floor?  The right side shows the backdrop patterns / textures. THAT is what I am referring to.

    All the did with this is have the backdrops and then put the lights in actual fancy cases and such.  Make it look like an actual photography studio.  I don't need all that and frankly I don't want to spend money on that.  If it costs like $2-$6 for those backdrops, fine, but I wouldn't spend much more than that.

    Sorry my description wasn't clearer from the get go.

    Thanks

  • punkypunky Posts: 25

    There‘s a curved backdrop freebie linked in this thread:

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/66373/free-daz-studio-curved-backdrop-prop

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050

    I believe the technique I described eliminates the need to put any background prop in your scene, to achieve the look of the image you posted. You can simply put a nice image in the Environment backdrop and not have to worry about getting good lighting on the backdrop prop, or having your character cast unwanted shadows on it. If you really want to have an actual backdrop prop in your scene, you can just add a primitive plane and put any texture you want on it in the Surfaces pane. If you really need a "curvy" backdrop prop with  walls and floor, you can probably find something free on ShareCG or Renderosity. 

    My gallery has a lot of images that use the Environment backdrop technique. For example. this one and this one. Do I still misunderstand what you are trying to achieve?

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050

    Here is a forum thread full of free background images you can use with either the Environment pane or on a prop. To put them on a prop, you will have to add the image to the Base Color or Diffuse in the Surfaces pane.

  • Roman_K2Roman_K2 Posts: 1,198

    Nice to see people are interested in the "photographer's roll" and similar kinds of props. There is a roll included in at least one of the "IG iray light studio" sets. And there used to be a similar product -- "Backdrop Deluxe" -- by Nerd3D. The "terrain" prop in Maclean's Everyday Morphing Primitives set can used as a b.g. roll and you can adjust the surface a bit... I have yet to try that one as a sort of fun house mirror (like in a carnival) by adding a reflective shader.

    I bought the FSL Morphing Backdrop and Shaders for Iray as it really sounded like my cup of tea, but I have yet to try it.  Another, sort of interesting, set of b.g. images is the Dreamlight Real Lens DOF Backgrounds.

    I have yet to figure out why, when you put a value into the backdrop part of the main Environment pane, you can no longer use that scene to generate a transparent background (eg. your figures or objects if any float on a null, checkerboard, zero layer sort of thing); up until now if I had a scene that I had not saved in an unaltered (no fiddling with the Environment pane) form, my access to having a transparent b.g. with that scene at some future point is toast.

  • Roman_K2Roman_K2 Posts: 1,198

    Also, I am not sure but I think that not including any background information and rendering as a TIFF file is faster if you don't have a GPU.  An added plus when going this route has to be that your rendered object or figure can be combined with any background image later on, using any image editor (just about) that supports multiple layers. So you're not forever committed, with that (or any) render to just one background.

  • macleanmaclean Posts: 2,438

    I didn't mention it before because I doubt it's worth the expense, but since we seem to have drifted onto photo studio backdrops in general.... Fashion Studio has everything a studio might need.

  • ElgyfuElgyfu Posts: 279
    Would the Infinity Cove - https://www.daz3d.com/render-studio-infinity-cove-set Or the old, but rather nice, cyclorama, https://www.daz3d.com/multiplane-cyclorama Be any use?
  • jukingeojukingeo Posts: 693
    punky said:

    There‘s a curved backdrop freebie linked in this thread:

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/66373/free-daz-studio-curved-backdrop-prop

    I got that one...followed the instructions and put it in the directory it says to.  I open up Daz and I can't find it!  Looked all over in Environments, Props, Accessories, even in Content Library and it doesn't show up.

    (I will add more to this to answer the other messages, but I have to run for now...)

     

     

  • jukingeojukingeo Posts: 693
    edited February 2019

    barbult said:

    I believe the technique I described eliminates the need to put any background prop in your scene, to achieve the look of the image you posted. You can simply put a nice image in the Environment backdrop and not have to worry about getting good lighting on the backdrop prop, or having your character cast unwanted shadows on it. If you really want to have an actual backdrop prop in your scene, you can just add a primitive plane and put any texture you want on it in the Surfaces pane. If you really need a "curvy" backdrop prop with  walls and floor, you can probably find something free on ShareCG or Renderosity. 

    My gallery has a lot of images that use the Environment backdrop technique. For example. this one and this one. Do I still misunderstand what you are trying to achieve?

    I used it once when I first got Daz and the image was all distorted.  Perhaps that aspect ratio thing you were talking about.  I know what you mean about the Shadows though.  I ran into that problem when I did this shot (See attached).   That is actually a sky backdrop that is set up on a vertical plane.  I turned it upside down so you don't see the hillside in the shot. 

     

    I mistakenly used a Camera with a headlamp and yeah, I got a shadow.  I wanted to use the skydome anyway, and I just rotated it around until my character was lit.   This really wasn't an exercise in using backdrops but I am going through a phase now where I am trying to make older ladies look pretty.  She is an Alexandra 8 base with an Edith body and I aged her a bit more by using Sydney's skin and some extra morphing.

    Nice to see people are interested in the "photographer's roll" and similar kinds of props. There is a roll included in at least one of the "IG iray light studio" sets. And there used to be a similar product -- "Backdrop Deluxe" -- by Nerd3D. The "terrain" prop in Maclean's Everyday Morphing Primitives set can used as a b.g. roll and you can adjust the surface a bit... I have yet to try that one as a sort of fun house mirror (like in a carnival) by adding a reflective shader.

    I bought the FSL Morphing Backdrop and Shaders for Iray as it really sounded like my cup of tea, but I have yet to try it.  Another, sort of interesting, set of b.g. images is the Dreamlight Real Lens DOF Backgrounds.

    That last one is kind of what I was referring to in terms of something more detailed.  But yeah for just a textured pattern I could try the Environment way.  As it is, I have used the 'Draw Dome' On setting as well.  But natually I got tired of it after a while.

    Also, I am not sure but I think that not including any background information and rendering as a TIFF file is faster if you don't have a GPU.  An added plus when going this route has to be that your rendered object or figure can be combined with any background image later on, using any image editor (just about) that supports multiple layers. So you're not forever committed, with that (or any) render to just one background.

    So TIFF files render faster?  I didn't get the last part though.  You are saying you can store the image as 'parts'?

    I didn't mention it before because I doubt it's worth the expense, but since we seem to have drifted onto photo studio backdrops in general.... Fashion Studio has everything a studio might need.

    I have seen these and was on the fence about them myself, but I got to thinking is that packs like that really just put a 'package' around your existing lighting tools.  I guess it does make it easier to understand and work with, but yeah, justifying that price is difficult.

     

    Would the Infinity Cove - https://www.daz3d.com/render-studio-infinity-cove-set Or the old, but rather nice, cyclorama, https://www.daz3d.com/multiplane-cyclorama Be any use?

     

    I like that domed half sphere thing  That looks cool.

     

     

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  • DMaxDMax Posts: 637
    barbult said:

    Daz Studio has an Environment pane. You can add a photo there and it will appear in your rendered scene as a backdrop. I use it frequently. 

    1. First go to menu Window/Panes (Tabs)/Environment to add the Environment pane to your workspace.
    2. Then in the Environment pane, at the very top, click the down arrow to drop down a menu where you can select the type of Environment you want. The choices are None or Backdrop. Choose Backdrop. (Later you can choose None when you want to get rid of the backdrop so it doesn't appear in every render!) Once you have selected Backdrop for the type of environment, you will additional choices.
    3. Click on the little square image map in the Background control and select Browse. Browse your computer folders to find the photo you want to use.
    4. One gotcha: If the photo is a different aspect ratio than what your render is set up for, the background image will be squished to fit the render aspect ratio. You can either edit your image in a photo editor like Photoshop to crop it to the render aspect ratio, or change your render to match the image, or just let it be squished. To change the render size or aspect ratio to match the loaded background image, use the context (hamburger) menu to select either Adjust Aspect Ratio to Backdrop or Adjust Dimensions to Backdrop.
    5. In Render Settings pane,  on the Editor tab, in the Environment section (not to be confused with the Environment pane discussed above!!!) set Draw Ground to On to create ground shadows. 

    It can be difficult sometimes to get a backdrop image and a rendered character to look like they go together. The scaling may be off, the camera focal length might be different (wide angle vs. zoom). So some experimentation might be necessary, but as you work with it, you will get better at it. 

    Again learned something new and cool tonight thanks to @Barbult ! Before this, I used to create a primitive plane and adding my photo to it... geesh that feels so backwards now... I am going straight into DS now to test this out! <3 <3 <3

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,712

    yes this is where a manual  would be handy laugh

  • jukingeojukingeo Posts: 693

     

    DMax said:

    Again learned something new and cool tonight thanks to @Barbult ! Before this, I used to create a primitive plane and adding my photo to it... geesh that feels so backwards now... I am going straight into DS now to test this out! <3 <3 <3

    Each way does have it's advantages and for the most part, I am still usiing the billboard method, but in the render I attached below, I coudn't have a shadow on that, so I used Barbult's method.

    yes this is where a manual  would be handy laugh

    I kept saying that myself when I first started with Daz.  However, what you can do with Daz is so vast that any major update or addition of a major feature would require quite a bit of changes to any kind of manual.  So I guess the Daz Devs dont want to put their time into that when they can work more at making their product better.   So I do see that point, but I know they can just have a dedicated team to work on a keeping a decent manual up to date, but then the question is if they are willing to pay someone to do that?    What I ended up doing is whenever I ran into an issue, or wanted to learn something new, either I looked on Youtube for instructional videos, or I just asked here in the Daz forums.  I think I came quite a long way by doing that and I suggest doing the same if there is something you would like to know. Sure it is more work to look for the information that way, but I have found that there are many here that are willing to help you out.

    Regards and have fun creating!

    Geo

     

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  • DMaxDMax Posts: 637

    @jukingeo a fabulous render that one!

  • jukingeojukingeo Posts: 693
    DMax said:

    @jukingeo a fabulous render that one!

    Thank you very much!  I am glad you like it.  It is obvious that I created that render in lieu of of the fire that happened at Notre Dame cathedral in France.    While I was used to putting a picture on a primative, that particular picture of the interior of Notre Dame didn't work well as Audrey's (the angel) shadow would cast itself right over the backdrop and naturally I was trying to make like she was standing in the doorway of the cathedral.

    I am a fan of Gothic Architecture and naturally cathedrals top that list and the most famous one of all is the Notre Dame cathedral.  So it is any wonder it is my favorite example of Gothic Architecture.   So it was upsetting news.   So I created that render along with a little background story for Audrey on my Deviant Art account.   But this represents one of the few times in which I used the method as described by Barbult.  It is more involved than the primative plane method, but the big advantage it has is that the shadows of your figures and props will not be cast on it.   So it does look like Audrey is actually there.   BTW,  I had a quite the time creating Audrey's halo.   I think I should do another render of her as this is the only one I did.  

  • onixonix Posts: 282

    Considering the rendering speed putting a picture behind the scene is going to slow down things quite a bit because light has to interact with that surface. 

    So if you want to do everything really fast you better render the backdrop and characters separately as PNG files then combine them.

    alternatively to get faster rendering speed on iray backdrop can be made emissive what makes rendering much faster.  and you avoid shadows that will naturally be produced if you are illuminating the backdrop with the scene lighting.

    so you just put a picture on the surface behind your character and adjust the brightness to get everything well balanced

     

  • jukingeojukingeo Posts: 693

    onix said:

    Considering the rendering speed putting a picture behind the scene is going to slow down things quite a bit because light has to interact with that surface. 

    So if you want to do everything really fast you better render the backdrop and characters separately as PNG files then combine them.

    alternatively to get faster rendering speed on iray backdrop can be made emissive what makes rendering much faster.  and you avoid shadows that will naturally be produced if you are illuminating the backdrop with the scene lighting.

    so you just put a picture on the surface behind your character and adjust the brightness to get everything well balanced

     

    I know this is an older post as I am rarely in the forums here, but that photo in the render is a flat plane and it seemed to render pretty quickly.   It seems 3D objects are what take a long time.  Granted what you are saying might speed things up from a rendering point of view, but it also means I have to two step it, instead of just rendering it and having the finished render.   Again, for a flat 2D object, like the photo above?  It is just less time consuming for me to have it fully render in Daz.   But if that was a 3D model in the background, then I could see the point of separate renders.

     

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