Please Help with Photorealistic Animation

LeslieSOsborne

I am working on a project that will mix live action (green/blue screen) with Photorealistic 3D modeling. I am having a difficult time trying to figure out how Daz 3D products might be included into my workflow. Can you please give me direction on where to look or how I might do this?

As an owner of Bryce 7 Pro, Daz Studio Pro 4.6, and Hexagon; I have been looking at modeling solutions with these first. On the 'post-production' side I am currently working with Adobe After Effects CC, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, and the entire Adobe CC suite. My initial plan is to create the 3D modeling, render them, and then key in actors (and sometimes additional visual FX) in Adobe. However, continued tests with various lighting scenarios in Daz Studio Pro and Bryce 7 have me wondering what I can be doing different to get the results I need.

Currently I have been doing tests using Utopia Deck C (http://www.daz3d.com/utopia-deck-c) with Luxus/LuxRender, 3Delight, and exporting re-lighting in Bryce 7 Pro. I have not been getting results that I want.

A visit to the 3Delight website made me appreciate, in a different way, the beauty achieved with this render engine. While some of the modeling may have been done in Maya, etc.,3Delight was there for the final processing!

Do I improve my efforts in the software I have to get the results I'm looking for? Do I need to create 3D models in Hexagon and then, via plugins like Video Co-Pilot's "Element 3D" work with the Hexagon models?

I really like the photo realistic look achieved with the short movie "Modern Times" that is featured on the 'Animation' tab for the content. For convenience I am including a link (http://vimeo.com/17631561). WHERE and how can I start to get my Daz 3D models to achieve a photo realistic look like this? Are there tutorials, video and otherwise, to help? I have done intensive Google and forum searches, as well as, forum posts to help me along. I am reaching out to you because it does not seem as if I'm getting any closer. Thank you, in advance, for your help.

WendyLuvsCatz

I have seen that particular video before and know they used Carrara
but how they achieved that quality I don't know!

NoName99

I haven't been able to get the kind of quality "modern times" has, but I've been making similar videos for over a year now and from my own experience a lot of the magic that sells the story happens at the compositing stage in After Effects.

I usually use 3 spotlights inside of daz, and set the render quality as high as I can handle. I render it out as a .png sequence and import it into After Effects. At that point, I use every compositing trick in the book.

I should also mention that a lot of times, what looks like a 3d animation is actually a 2d image image rendered as a still and animated in after effects.

As you said, there really arent any tutorials out there, so Its been a lot of trial end error and I'm still figuring it out.

I hope this helps and if I think of anything else I'll post again later.

- Dino