Finding backgrounds

oldblock

In one of the tutorials a sky was added that filled in any empty areas. I have a forest scene with the plain default background colour visible in the empty spaces. I am familiar with the change colour option but I don't know what to search for to get the cloudy sky. Or is it something I have to download?

sriesch

In what application?

If you mean DAZ Studio, you can set an image of your choice to be a backdrop instead of a plain color, or you can purchase and use a skydome (basically a sphere with an image on it), or something like the millennium environment that's a backdrop object in your scene. DAZ Studio doesn't create skies, although there is an uber shader for cloud-like material, although I haven't taken the time to sit down and figure out how to get a lot decent clouds out of it yet, but you'll still need something behind that unless it's really thick.

robkelk

One trick I use - and it works in any 3D-art program - is to copy the photographic studio technique of putting a very large poster behind the models. It doesn't work in all cases, but you don't have to buy anything other than a stock photo - and you can take your own photos.

The (three-step) process:

Create a plane primitive large enough to cover the entire back of the area you're going to render. Rotate and position that plane so that it's behind everything else in the image and perpendicular to the camera sight line.

Select your background image - in this case, a photo of clouds in the sky. Apply it to the plane primitive.

Make sure your plane primitive is not glossy. (In Daz Studio, you'd use the Surfaces tab for this.) You don't want any reflection from it at all.

Caveats:

This only works if there's already a surface prop for everyone and everything else to stand on (which you already have), or the scene is supposed to be zero-G..

Letting shadows fall on the backdrop spoils the illusion.

This works best if the corner between the "floor" and the backdrop is not obvious. Put a wall or hedge in the way, or have the hill slope downward into the distance. (Or use an "infinite" surface that curves up from the ground to the backdrop, such as the Chroma-Key Green Screen Studio or Multiplane Cyclorama - either of which you have to pay for.)

cecilia.robinson

...or render the scene with a transparent background and layer it on top of a photograph of your choice. There is also something called WorldBall made by 3DCheapskate (http://www.sharecg.com/v/69279/browse/11/Poser/Simple-Poser-WorldBall), it is very good. He's got many textures for it.

Wilmap

Or just load an image as a backdrop image. Edit/Backdrop and then click where it says none and find a suitable image.

Miss B

cecilia.robinson said:

...or render the scene with a transparent background and layer it on top of a photograph of your choice. There is also something called WorldBall made by 3DCheapskate (http://www.sharecg.com/v/69279/browse/11/Poser/Simple-Poser-WorldBall), it is very good. He's got many textures for it.

That specifically states for use in Poser. I'm assuming, hopefully correctly, that it works as well in DS. Edited to Add: Never mind, I just found the DAZ Studio version of WorldBall.