A Primer for DAZ Studio the book for 3D Rendering and Animation

Chapter 1: Introduction

What is DAZ Studio?
Why DAZ Studio?
A Brief Word on 3D
Basic Concepts of 3D Space
How to Use this Book
System Requirements
Installation
Installing Plugins

Chapter 2: Finding your way around DAZ Studio

First Look Around
Interface at a Glance
Menus
Panes (Tabs)
- Viewport
- Aux Viewport
- Scene Pane
- Smart Content
- Install Pane
- Content Library
- Parameters
- Surfaces
- Environment Pane
- Render Settings
Icons
Keyboard Shortcuts
Customizing the Layout

Chapter 3: The Tool Box

General Tools
Creation Tools
- Primitives
- Grouping
- D-Formers
- Duplicates
- Instances
- Geometry Shells
- Nulls
- Iray Decal Node
- Iray Section Plane Node
- Push Modifier Weight Node
Content Creator Tools
- Transfer Utility Tool
Tool Settings
Scripts
Documentation

Chapter 4: Installing Content

What is Content?
Types of Content
Installing Content
Shop til you Drop
- DAZ 3D
- The Box Stores
- Smaller Stores
- Freebies

Chapter 5: On the Surface

What are Surfaces?
- Materials
- What’s the Difference?
3Delight
- Surfaces Pane
- - Surfaces Editor
- - Presets
- Shaders
Iray
- Iray Uber Base
- Surfaces Pane
- - Surfaces Editor
- Emissive Surfaces
- Cutout Opacity
- Iray Shaders
Layered Image Editor (L.I.E.)
Subsurface Scattering (SSS)
- 3Delight
- Iray
Shader Mixer
Geometry Editor Tool

Chapter 6: Rendering

To Render
General Render Settings
Ready to Render?
Spot and Test Renders
3Delight
- 3Delight Settings
Iray
- Setting up for Iray
- Progressive Rendering
- Tone Mapping
- Environment Tab
- - Dome Mode
- - Sun and Sky Mode
- - Ground
- Speeding up Render times
Draw Styles
- Draw Settings
Alternative Render Engines
Rendering Methodology

ACBR

Chapter 7: Building Character

Figures
- People
- - Genesis
- - Genesis 2
- - Genesis 3
- - A Word on High Definition (HD)
- - Character Shapes and Materials
- Animals and Creatures
Shaping (Morphs)
Posing
- Preset Poses
- Posing Using the Parameters Pane
- Direct Manipulation (IK)
- Symmetry
- Posing Tools
- - Power Pose
- - Puppeteer
Dressed to the Nines
- Clothing, shoes, accessories and hair
- Auto-Fit
- - Saving - Wearable or Figure Prop Asset?
- Dealing with Pokethrough
- Parent in Place
- Generation 4 Figures
- Dynamic Clothing
- The Hair Salon

Chapter 8: Lighting

The Art of Lighting
- Light Types and what they are used for
- Adding Lights to a Scene
- Light Presets
For 3Delight
- Distant Light
- Spotlight
- Point Light
- Linear Point Light
- Uber Environment2
- Area Lights
3 Point Light Setup
For Iray
- Photometric Lights
- - Spotlight
- - Point Light
- - Distant Light
- - Environment Map and HDRI
- - Area Lights
- - Light Portal
- - IES Light Profiles

Chapter 9: Cameras

Working with Cameras
Headlamp
Cameras Settings
- - Depth of Field

Chapter 10: Setting up Scenes

Types of Scenes
Portraits
Scenes
- Interiors
- Exteriors

Chapter 11: Special FX

Not One Clicks
Cheats
Gobos
3Delight Special FX
- Motion Blur
- Atmospheric Special FX
- Caustics
- Glow FX
Iray Special FX
- Caustics
- Glow FX
- Atmospheric FX

Chapter 12: Animation

Animation Basics
AniBlocks
Keyframes on the Timeline

What's in the Chapters?