very new to acctually making something to try to sell

[matt]

Hi, i have been playing with stuff for a while. I now really need to try to make some thing of it. i know a lot of basic stuff and i only have daz, photoshop and lightwave, carrara8.1. In all of that i still dont really understand how to actually make a "runtime" complete. I am kinda week on makeing uv maps. i an not the best modeler butcan get the job done most of the time. I did learn some rigging in lifgt wave but am far from expert. All i want to do is start makeing products to sell, however i dont know little things , like will the bones in light wave work for daz studio and if not where do you find a detailed tutorial to cover that? So ,,,...where do i really start? thanks matt

 

[Pendraia]

Hi Matt, I don't have lightwavebut I can tell you that ds has its own rigging system . It has two types of weight mapping and also the legacy rigging that was originally in Poser.
I'm assuming as youve got lightwave that your talking about modelling clothing? As you also mentioned rigging?
I use UVLayout for mapping as I find it gives me the best results but uvmapper is free and is often a starting point for people just starting.

If you can provide more info on what you wish to make imay be able to help. I'm not an expert though...

 

[matt]

HI and thanks for the reply. The goal for me is to just learning to be able make stuff for sale. I really have played with this long enough.

 

[matt]

Light wave, i bought it out of frusstration and not being able to get any thing done. However it was a bit heavy on the learning curve. I did find some excelent instructors for light wave and thay really have thier act together where it comes to answering questions about thier product. I would recomind Light Wave to every body.

 

[matt]

Ok as far as making things " clothing", yes clothing is good to start. How ever i could start any where? Most of what i have read will have you making boxes
that have texture zones or defined areas where the jpg should be place . That can take many forms even on a cube with 6 sides. Which kinda blew me away when i first
"got it" hahalol. However i i never really was able to make an installer product out some thing so simple. I think i understand the " folders idea" but what do you with it after that and how does it get into an installer? Of which there seem to many kinds now compared just a few years ago.

 

[Art_of_Mind]

First look here Guidelines for Submitting Content for Sale at Hivewire 3D

Then this is just advice, understand I am usually wrong though so do what ever you want.
I advise you make a texture set for a product. (Learn to texture - master the surfaces tab) Get a beta team in the beta forums here.

To pack things up, I just use a flashdrives. When I'm done it's already packed up.
Link a a new Runtime folder (using the folder structure you download from the link I gave) - my flashdrive is F:
I'm making an addon texture set for one of my upcoming products. So this is how it looks inside D|S
When you get finished go look in all the folders and delete the folders you did not use. Zip up what you did use.

After you pull that off model something easy - then learn to uv.

 

[Gadget Girl]

Ok as far as making things " clothing", yes clothing is good to start. How ever i could start any where? Most of what i have read will have you making boxes
that have texture zones or defined areas where the jpg should be place .

You can definitely start anywhere, although the biggest recommendation I can give you is to make sure it's something that interests you. You are going to get frustrated at something along the way, but if it's something you want to make, not something you just think will sell, you'll be more willing to stick with it.

Also depending on your skills, clothing may or may not be a good place to start. There's a lot room out there for good prop and scene sets if you prefer that kind of modeling, and they are usually a lot lighter on the rigging than clothing.

I think i understand the " folders idea" but what do you with it after that and how does it get into an installer? Of which there seem to many kinds now compared just a few years ago.

To make a product for sale, you really don't need installers. That is something that DAZ uses on it's store, but I would imagine that they have people who bundle stuff up into the installers. A lot of people prefer to install by hand and stores like Hivewire are set up that way, so you just need to be able to make a zip file with your files in the correct folders. That's the info Art_of_Mind was talking about.

Also once you have something you are ready to have people test out, your beta testers will be invaluable in helping point out things that don't seem to be in the right place.

 

[Dakorillon (IMArts)]

To pack things up, I just use a flashdrives. When I'm done it's already packed up.
Link a a new Runtime folder (using the folder structure you download from the link I gave) - my flashdrive is F:
I'm making an addon texture set for one of my upcoming products. So this is how it looks inside D|S
When you get finished go look in all the folders and delete the folders you did not use. Zip up what you did use.

After you pull that off model something easy - then learn to uv.

Art_of_Mind: This is something that I've been trying to figure out, I know to you it must seem intuitive, and I'm sure once I get it, I'll be doing the FacePalm, But, how do I link/make a new Runtime in a new place like your flashdrive thing? I know that it would make my life easier, but when I tried it didn't work, so I know I'm doing something wrong. Just adding a directory link in the content database doesn't work. Thanks! and you are welcome to laugh at me.

 

[AetherDream]

As others have said, make sure you are creating something you like because you will spend a lot of time working with the same thing, perfecting and fixing and rendering it a lot. I, for one, am always on the lookout for fantasy clothing. Good luck!

 

[Art_of_Mind]

Dakorillon,

Go to the Content Library tab - Right Click on (DAZ Studio formats) then Left Click on (Add Base Directory)

 

[Dakorillon (IMArts)]

Thank you! And just to make sure I'm doing the rest right, Once I have a new base directory (it worked!!!!), then I just save my various material, morphs, etc, in the new base folder path?

 

[Art_of_Mind]

You did download the folder from the link I gave and added it right? Yes save everything in that folder. Understand you are creating a product in that folder and should make backups as your work progresses. And only one product at a time. Do not create multiple products in that folder.

 

[Dakorillon (IMArts)]

Yep! and Yep! Thank you so much!

 

[Pendraia]

Some good advice about where to start...I started with textures, now I do morphs also and I'm beginning to get comfortable with clothing for DS.
In regards to exe files Daz haven't used those since they set up the Daz install manager a couple of years back. All of the stores use zips now. The only thing I've seen exe files for are manual downloads from the product library for plug ins and such.

 

[matt]

wow, ok... all of of you thank you,,i am going to down load now. ..

 

[matt]

wow. thanks i looked at the file structure info and i think i get it.so right now starting with textures sounds good i about half understand uv-ing,,,not done anything complicated like a face or a lot of round objects,,,i should post something...be right back

 

[matt]

ok . i did all this and now i nned to post a model or something simple. where do i start with that?

 

[matt]

does it matter if textures are made in daz or carrara or light wave?

 

[Dakorillon (IMArts)]

does it matter if textures are made in daz or carrara or light wave?

I don't think so, as long as they work in DAZ or Poser. But, usually you make texture sets in a 2D program like, PD Howler, or GIMP or Photoshop. I guess if you are talking texture material zones you do have to do that in a 3D program. As for posting updates, you can upload them to your own gallery and then link them here, or you can upload them here. (the screen shots or rendered pictures, not the models).

 

[Pendraia]

Hi Matt,
Textures would need to be done in either a 2D paint program or a 3D painting program and then they would have to be set up in DS or Poser. You can't actually create textures in either program but you can set up a materials network in both.

You can set up surface groups in DS and I could probably walk you through the basics as I've done it a couple of times myself. Here's an outfit I just did recently...The textures are shaders from the supersuit not any I have done. All I've done is applied them to the surfaces.
First one before creating surface groups

Second one after surface groups have been created...

There are 4 pieces each piece has at least two surface groups and the overskirt has 3. That's not including the star which is still very much a wip.

If you want me to write a 'how to' let me know...