Screaming Paw

Screaming Paw

DAZ 3D STUDIO REVIEW-GREAT REFERENCE TOOL FOR ILLUSTRATORS

One of the most fun and user-friendly programs that I have used in a long, long time. A life saver when tight deadlines come flooding in and I don’t have time to shoot proper references. And it’s FREE!

• What is DAZ 3D STUDIO:  

DAZ was originally developing content for POSER and became an independent company in 2007.  They have created various applications such as:  DAZ STUDIO, BRYCE, CARRARA, and HEXAGON. DAZ is very similar to POSER, but it’s much more accessible by offering a simpler interface with the ability to create very complex poses and dramatic lighting in just a few minutes. 

Here is a 2 min setup of my reference in DAZ for the HULK drawing above.

And here is another quick example I did of Lara Croft using DAZ as reference for the pose.

• WHY DAZ 3D STUDIO FOR ILLUSTRATORS: 

As a commercial illustrator, I deal with very tight deadlines every single day. My process involves taking reference photographs almost every time I do an illustration. Even though my style is cartoony, having the proper reference can add a hint of realism to the piece. Drawing folds (for example) that flow correctly on a figure in motion will look more convincing when using a reference than when making it up. This is especially the case when you are dealing with extreme angles and difficult foreshortening.

Of course there’s those that have a photographic memory and can draw all kinds of things out of their head (ehm… Marko Djurdevic), but I’m definitely not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I love photography and still feel that it’s the primary option for shooting references. Unfortunately, there are times when finding the right model, setting up the lights, getting the right pose after a hundred shots, (or even having the proper outfits for your models) and finally matching it with your original thumbnail composition can take a bit more time than is available to me. 

Start with a simple model:

Start morphing the model:

Go crazy with the morphs:

This is where DAZ3D STUDIO comes in handy. Not only does it take just minutes to set up the right pose (once you familiarize yourself with all the tools and program navigation), you are able to use figures that would be impossible to find in real life. (Check out that beastly muscle man above) :)

• A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF HOW IT WORKS:  

Once you install the program, you have an entire warehouse of free files on the DAZ website that you can download and use as a starting point. They have simple male, female, and children base figures. These figures can be manipulated and morphed like a polygon sculpture.  (Think of Z brush ,but not as detailed) As you can see, the figure above is a morphed version of the Michael-Base character. You can morph his muscles in so many different ways that just a few clicks here and there make a completely new figure. 

• POSING:  

Not only is posing the figure easy, it’s extremely fun.  The image below shows you the tool that pops up once you have a body part selected. You can pull, push twist and squeeze every joint in the figure’s body, creating poses that would take several hours to photograph if using a real life model.

This is where having a MAC is an advantage. For some reason, the pressure sensitivity of the WACOM tablet goes crazy when using a PC and trying to pose the figure. Also, using the camera rotation tools is almost impossible because the slightest click of the pen will send the camera flying.  On a MAC, however, it is super smooth and easy, like drawing in Photoshop.

• VARIETY:  

I remember reading a lot criticism by some users claiming the expressions of the figures are limited and look very stiff. While this is true to some extent, the new version of the software and the many plugins allow you to adjust every facial muscle and create any expression you desire.

Reviewing this as an illustrator, I don’t have a big problem with that because I can exaggerate the expressions when drawing.

The screen shot below shows you some of the base expressions that can be manipulated and stretched. You can create custom ones as well if you have the time.

Each base figure offers various poses to begin with if you already know what kind of scene you’ll be working with.   You can mix and match the poses from the different figures giving you a very large selection of movements to choose from. 

There is also an animation section that enables you to animate and record your figure, but this is more useful if you’re working with animation and/or film.

There is a large section on the right side of the working area (see below), which gives you the actions to morph your characters. Depending on the base model and the amount of plugins you have installed, the manipulations of the figures can go anywhere between making the model taller or shorter, skinnier and fatter, to stretching them out resulting in monstrous proportions.

If the figures alone are not enough, DAZ offers a ton (and I really mean an almost unlimited amount) of downloadable clothes and gadgets to dress up your figures.

From simple street clothes to science fiction outfits, there are add-ons for every imaginable project. (And again, don’t forget, everything can be morphed, manipulated and adjusted to your own desires.)

Here are a few images of the working area and the various tools you use while posing:

• THE FEW HICKUPS: 

Unfortunately, the program is not perfect and has a few small problems that I’m hoping they will fix in the future.  First, if you are new to the program and wish to download new content, you might find yourself lost for a while. There are no clear explanations of where to download the various files (Each package contains multiple downloads) since the automatic location when installing the file does not work and you cannot locate the file in the program itself. It’s sad that it actually take more time to figure out where to download and how to locate things than how to use the entire program. The various tutorials online are completely useless because half of them have descriptions for an older version with a different layout and those supporting the new version don’t always have the right information. (Meaning- following most of the steps won’t work)

Second, some of the functions (like the texturing of the various renders) do not work, or rather they work randomly. I am not sure if this is a bug or if some of the functions are simply broken.

Having said that, the program is still new and it’s being constantly updated, so I am sure that these issues will be resolved in the near future. 

• THE VERDICT:

Since I am reviewing this from an Illustrator’s Point of View and I’m mainly using it as a posing for reference software, I’d say that this is a must have! Most of the reviews I’ve read about DAZ3D STUDIO were from people who have used the program to create fully rendered CG scenes with minimal touch ups in Photoshop. (Such as the wonderful examples from the artist below.)

If you decide that this program is for you, DAZ 3D Studio has a really cool premium membership option that allows you to purchase most of the add-ons for really cheap and has a very active online community of DAZ users.  I hope that more drawers give this program a shot and spread the word so that the developers can make it even more useful for those that only use it for reference. 

Some sample artwork by GENESN.

One of the free city environments available for download. There are tons of sets and scenes that can be downloaded from the DAZ site:

The rating is based on a 5 globe scale.

Thanks for reading guys, 

Tin

ILLUSTRATION FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

New Illustration for The New York Times. Book Review for the new Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan (The Author of The Percy Jackson Series). The popular Percy Jackson book series has been taken to a new, more international level where the heroes are battling Egyptian deities instead of Greek gods. The final illustration (on the left) focuses on one of the main scenes in the beginning of the book (an explosion at the British Museum) that triggers a series of events leading the main two characters (Carter and Sadie) all over the world to stop the waking gods of Egypt.

My first sketches were focusing on the main characters. The article briefly described Rick Riordan's writing to Michael Bay's directing, so I felt a bit of humor was appropriate. A simple pin up that focused on the iconic weapons and clothing of the characters with some Egyptian hieroglyphs thrown into the background.

The last two sketches were focusing on SET, an ancient god of the desert. While his depiction in the novel is a complete redesign of the traditional Egyptian representations, I decided to stick with the more symbolic depiction of Set.

THE SPARK - Concept Illustrations for Gavrilo Princip

Hey guys! It's finally time to start working on some personal projects. I am currently working on a graphic novel titled The Spark. I am collaborating with writer Kirk Kjeldsen and we will have this hopefully published by Dark Horse Comics or Oni press upon completion.
The story will tell the tale of Gavrilo Princip. He was a Yugoslav Nationalist who was responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The assassination that took place in Sarajevo on 28 June, 1914 set off a series of events that led to World War I. History books reveal very little about Princip and his life, some calling him a hero while others portraying him as a terrorist. Years of research by Kirk have led to numerous revelations of Princip's character and the true purpose behind his actions. While the historical facts are thin, this story will try to tie in some of the loose ends combinig fiction and non fiction. ( in the tradition of Alan Moore's From Hell and Watchmen). The image in the tope left is a Cover mock up which was inspired by comics that were popular in Bosnia when I was little such as : Zagor, Alan Ford, Blek, TinTin, and many others. The other drawings are studies of both Gavrilo and Franz Ferdinand, in addition to a environmental image where I tried to set the mood/time period/of the comic.

In other News: I am about to start my sketches for "Motherfucking Time machine", a short story written by fellow artist/writer Jed Alexander. A more humorous story line with a gritty dialogue similar to the works of Quentin Tarantino. More on that soon, so keep an eye out. Feedback, comments and suggestions on the sketches for The Spark are more than welcome. Thanks Everyone!

NEW EDITORIAL UPDATES

Hey Guys. So, just as promised, there will be more regular updates. Here are some more Illustrations that I've worked on recently, some of which I am re posting from the last blog in order to show the final layout withing the magazine.

The Image on the left was done for Boy's Life Magazine. It was done for a story about a group of boy scouts finding a woman suffering from Alzheimer's, disoriented and lost in Puget Sound, Blake Island.

I had to keep the woman's face somewhat ambiguous while still reflecting her age and disoriented expression. The Boy Scout were not wearing uniforms at that time it seems as I was told to keep their clothing nothing but simple shirts and cargo pants.


You can also view the attached video below that describes the event in a bit more detail.

The next illustration was done for Military Officer Magazine. It was done as a spot illustration for an article that talks about the sale of used stocks and how it is comparable to selling used cars.

My original submission depicted Warren Buffet selling a used vehicle, but then needed to redraw it and make the concept a bit clearer for the readers and show used stocks instead.

Here is the brief write up that I worked with provided by the client: Attitude has a huge influence over our decision-making. Whether we are trusting or dubious, optimistic, or pessimistic determines the matters we judge to be important in the process. A good example is buying a car. We have different attitudes when considering a new car than we do when looking at used cars. With new cars we are distracted by the, well, newness — the shiny and fresh intrigue of that new car smell. With used cars we notice the scratches, road dings, and that funny odor from the air conditioner.With used cars, we wonder why the owner wants to sell. Is he hiding something that is wrong with the car? We are, in a word, skeptical.
Buying a stock is very much like buying a used car. In virtually all cases (except for initial public offerings) the stock you buy is being sold by someone else. You are buying a used stock.
So it pays to be just as skeptical when buying a used stock as when buying a used car. In fact, you should ask the same questions: “Why does the owner want to sell? Is something wrong with this stock?”
If you find this advice silly, how would you feel if you knew you were buying the same stock Warren Buffett was selling?

This is another Illustration for MOAA. A full page illustration continuing the Super Hero theme accompanying tax related articles.

I have posted this image earlier, in my old blog, but now that I have the illustration with the final text layout, I thought I'd share the piece in its final form.

From now on, I will be doing the title text myself, giving it more of a comic book feel and giving this section of the magazine are more individual look. Below are some of the older page layouts from the same Super Hero Series.

A new Beginning

This was the last year for me teaching at VCU. I have decided to take some time off and dedicate it to the arts and figuring out my future. After eight years at vcu (as both student as well as faculty member), I'm now realizing that this is the very first time that I am officially 'leaving' the school environment. While I'm going to really miss the students and the great colleagues, I feel like I can contribute more to the art industry by staying active through blogs and online communities. The sketches here are some of the last drawings of my students and friends from VCU. On the left is my friend Eric Pfeiffer. His work ethic has been truly admiring over the past two semesters and his work has grown tremendously. You can view his blog here.



And here are some other doodles of students in and outside of the classroom. Sometimes, I like to take the whole class outside if the weather is nice and we spend a few hours refreshing our minds by removing ourselves from the work environment in the classrooms.
There is also a very embarrassing self portrait. The drawing does not lie about appearances. I feel like I've been a hermit for the past few months, letting by facial hair become a nest for creatures of the night. It seems that each time I decide to clean myself up a bit, it's usually after completing a full body self portrait.
In other news, I have a brand new website. I hope you can take a look and let me know what you think and suggest any necessary changes.

Additionally, I have completely redesigned and re-edited my Blog. Old posts had to go to free up some web space, but the navigation is much clearer and more consistent with my site.

I apologize for the lack of posts. I've been keeping track of all the incredible daily posts on here, but was unable to contribute myself due to tight deadline. Now that the summer is here, you can expect more frequent updates.

have a great weekend guys.

-Tin

{ ILLUSTRATIONS + SKECTHES UPDATE }

For May Issue (out now) of RIDES Magazine.

Start of a new series of car-cartoon personifications of Hip Hop Musicians. Each issue will feature two artists whose look and/or personality will be reflected in various car models. Probably the most exciting assignment I have worked on. Each assignment provides me with the opportunity to both design the graffiti text of each name, as well as play with various abstractions of cars, which are my favorite things to draw!


This is the final layout that was chosen for the Issue:

First round of sketches:



Playing with different car abstractions. The BMW is a personification of 3Six Mafia and the Royce Royce is a personification of Ghost Face Killah.



Here is my first round of background design experiments:



My set of page sample layouts that I submitted to the client:

Tip for illustrators: I personally believe that you can benefit a lot if you take your sketches as far as you possibly can. Originally, this assignment was supposed to have small 2 inch car drawings surrounding the body of the text, yet the editorial team decided to turn it into a full page feature because I provided them with a variety of fleshed out choices to work with. Generally speaking though, if you develop your sketch as far as you can, the client will have a better idea of where you will take the final, providing you with more accurate feedback and a quicker path to finishing the piece.

For Military Officer Magazine:
Part of the bi-Monthly Super Hero Series, this time focusing on Tax returns. The article talks about the many different things one can do with the extra tax returns, such as donating animals to third world countries, taking a trip and so on. The illustration is focusing on the hero donating the animals, as well as hinting a trip to Italy and one of the other sketches showing the possibility of taking flying lessons.
The text was thrown in by me and is not part of the initial illustration (The one bellow shows the approved piece), but I suggested to have the title article written in comic book letters to give the section of the magazine a more unified look. So, from now on I will be doing both the text as well as the image for this section of MOAA.





A few life drawings and some movie stills sketches: