News about the DAZ Studio and Poser software

Monthly Archives: December 2022

iRay, hoo-ray…

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Time for another look at the latest DAZ. My last look was back in late July 2022. At that point 4.20.1.17 (April 2022) had iRay at “2021.1.2”. If you went on into the public betas then you got to 4.20.1.58, with iRay at “2021.1.6” and a thorough overhaul of FBX export.

So, at that point the major iRay “2022.0.0” beta had not yet landed in DAZ.

Softpedia now as 4.21.1.13 Beta (5th November) as the mass-market public download. Tracking back through the abbreviated changes on Softpedia doesn’t reveal much. Ah, but if you look at the the official DAZ Change Log you find…

Public Beta (4.21.1.13):

Updated to NVIDIA Iray 2022.0.1 (359000.3383)

Nice.

Although further scrutiny also reveals that because of the new NVIDIA driver requirement, iRay GPU rendering is no longer supported for Windows 7. From DS 4.21.0.5 to DS 4.21.1.13 the NVIDIA driver requirements leapt… from 471.41 to 516.93. But the last supported drivers for Windows 7 were 473.81 (for the retail gaming cards, though at a guess there may still be drivers for workstation cards?).

If you need GPU (rather than CPU rendering) on Windows 7, it now seems that 4.21.05 is as far as graphics cards users can go. This is the current offline installer found in your content library…

It gets you to iRay 2021.1.6 rather than 2022. But remember that iRay can run quite happily on CPUs, whatever the NVIDIA marketing hype would have you believe. So if you have enough CPUs and your DAZ settings look like this, you may be ok to try the latest 4.21.1.13 beta…

Ok, with that out the way, let’s look at what you get if you can get to the latest 4.21.1.26 public beta (currently ‘Installer Manager only’). You get the latest…

Updated to NVIDIA Iray 2022.1.1 (363600.1657)

Ok, so… what do iRay 2022.x and 2022.1.1 bring? Hot from the iRay dev blog, in my digested and amalgamated form…

– Deterministic guided sampling, and “fixed a performance issue when guided sampling was used on fast GPUs and/or small image resolutions.”

– Guided sampling caching on camera movement, which means “When navigating [the scene] with guidance enabled (i.e. 1spp), one now gets a much higher quality, especially in complex lighting situations”.

– Guided sampling for the caustic sampler, and “not only does the guided sampling for caustics decrease noise, but in general we fixed some issues/bugs with some of the difficult caustic paths.”

– “Much faster material and environment updates”, “overall more precise rendering and improved interactivity speed”, “reduced VDB memory usage by a lot”.

– Improved hair BSDF sampling, improved hair/fiber rendering performance on RTX capable cards.

– MotionBlur support for fiber/curve vertex motion.

– “Fixed some performance regressions (especially one that affected the DAZ benchmark scene)”.

– Ghostlight support (customisable).

– New selection/outlines [this seems to mean the annoying orange flashing that happens when you mouseover a scene object, but most people will have this turned off].

– Improved emissive volumes, “LPE support for emissive volumes”.

– New native particle / spheres system [snow, etc].

– Spectral sky model, “Qfully dynamic evaluation of environments (e.g. Sun&Sky, IBL)”.

– Multi matte output buffer. [Appears to be a form of Clown Pass, that renders the scene in pure red, blue, green, thus making selections easier in postwork?]

– Full OpenImageIO support.

– Unspecified “AI upscaling”.

Some of these will be graphics card specific, I would imagine, and the hair certainly is.

A standalone Intel OIDN de-noiser with GUI… Merry Christmas!

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I dug up a free Windows GUI version of Intel’s CPU Denoiser, aka the open-source OIDN. This is standalone AI-powered desktop software made by a guy in Japan, and which no-one but some Lightwave guys seem to have ever heard about.

You feed it your partially-completed .PNG render, which has noisy ‘fireflies’ you want to clear. It works back to Windows 7, on SSE4.1 CPUs or better, and with most 64-bit OS’s.

So… no need to worry if Santa didn’t bring you an expensive $800 NVIDIA graphics card, or worry about wrangling with many dependencies on other bits of software such as ImageMagick.

It just works, and beautifully. Merry Christmas!

USE:

1. Download and unzip OIDN-gui from GitHub.

2. Run OIDN.exe and the simple graphical user-interface will appear.

Here you load the same target .PNG render into all three slots, “Beauty”, “Albedo” and “Normal”. Then “Run Denoiser”.

DAZ iRay can do the regular render (here called “Beauty”). But if you did also have additional auxiliary/buffer/canvas renders, then your “Normal” would help preserve subtle bump-mapping, while the “Albedo” would do the same for fine textures. And apparently these two work in tandem, so both would be needed.

But you may have already stripped most bumps with the DAZ Scene Optimiser, and have no complex fine-patterned clothes in the scene. If so, then you’re smiling.

There is however another way to add detail back into a denoised render. In Photoshop you drop the output over the original, as a new layer. Then you ‘paint the detail back in’, by running a soft-edged small Eraser brush over the bits where you need most details (eyes, eyelashes etc). This reveals the detail beneath… and hopefully doesn’t reveal any pesky fireflies.

In tests an old 32-thread Intel workstation took about 2 seconds on a single 1920px render, and gave great results even without having the proper “Albedo” and “Normal” auxiliary/buffer/canvas renders available. The denoised image is saved with the same file extension and type, in the same folder, but the filename will have ‘-denoised’ added.

It seems you can batch process a series of animation frames with this (untested by me). But here you should know that OIDN is not “temporally stable”. Which in plain English means that when the animation is run ‘you may see some slight waver or detail-popping’ across strongly denoised areas.

That’s it. There is a later version by the same maker, re-written for QT. But that has no regular Windows .EXE file, so far as I can see.

There’s another Windows GUI option here, but it’s drag-and-drop with no batch. The above software does batch.

Note: Not needed in Poser 12 and also the latest E-on Vue, as in both cases Intel’s OIDN is built-in. The above advice is mostly for DAZ and Poser 11 users.

Release: Hampelmann 1.7 for Poser 12

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The script Hampelmann 1.7 for Poser 12 has been released, free. It allows you to easily control figure-parts, with the mouse and/or keyboard. Here’s the basics of how to install and then use it for the first time in Poser 12.

1. Download the new Hampelmann 1.7 for Poser 12, extract the folder and and install by copy-paste of the folder to…

C:\Program Files\Poser Software\Poser 12\Runtime\Python\poserScripts\ScriptsMenu

Rename the new sub-folder there to something a bit more descriptive, such as P12-Hampelmann-v17-figure-controller or similar.

2. Download the old Hampelmann 1.6, extract. With this you want everything except the scripts. Copy only the config and img folders and the help files (not the scripts) to your new…

C:\Program Files\Poser Software\Poser 12\Runtime\Python\poserScripts\ScriptsMenu\P12-Hampelmann-v17-figure-controller

This .ZIP also gets you the help / instruction pages, not included with with the 1.7 .ZIP file. You might want to make a shortcut link to these pages, on your desktop.

3. Run Poser 12, place a test figure such as the standard Andy on the stage (Library: Character | Additional Figures | Mannequins | Andy).

4. Run Hampelmann 1.7 (Top Menu | Scripts | P12-Hampelmann-v17-figure-controller | Scripts | Hampelmann_17).

You should see this…

Click on “Import layout/figure/geometry files”. Then locate the folder you extracted from 1.6, the one with the layouts and config files in it called config_files. There are a confusing range of files in there. I had success with Andy by importing all three at once, and was then instantly taken to the figure posing screen. It worked, so… success.

Now click on a body part on the Hampelmann panel (not on the figure on the stage), and a click-hold of the mouse will gently move that part of the figure. Right button for back/forwards, left button for up-down. You get the idea. Sensitivity of movement can be easily adjusted with a single slider.

That’s the basics. There are detailed and rather daunting instructions in the 1.6 help files, if you need more guidance. And yes, it can work with more than one figure on the stage, and can switch between them.

It looks like can also create your own setup files for any Poser figure, via working with the companion Hampelmann_Setup.pyc script.

Release: Marmoset Toolbag 4.05 public beta

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Marmoset Toolbag 4.05 is now available in a public beta. Despite being a .05 release for this games-focused desktop software, it’s being touted as a big update which greatly improves texture painting and the available range of materials and lights. There’s also a new stabiliser for your hand-painted brush strokes. Apparently also a “10x” speed boost, on big complex multi-layered object-painting projects.

Interestingly there is also a mention of the NVIDIA “DLSS viewport upscaling”, the first I’ve heard of such a thing in 3D production software. Intended for (retro/older?) videogames, it can up-scale “by 4x”. In Marmoset Toolbag it’s said to enable real-time up-scaling of your viewport. (Adobe also has something called “neural rendering”, which seems to evolve an AI render from a 3D point-cloud, but that’s still at the research-paper stage).

Sadly Marmoset Toolbag is now “Windows 10 only”, but it’s good to see there is still a one-time purchase at $320 for hobbyists. I admit I’m not very familiar with this side of the 3D software world, but I know that Substance Painter (or the free Material Maker) and 3DCoat are some of the ‘adjacent’ software packages for desktop. I’m uncertain how Marmoset and 3DCoat line up these days, feature-wise, and if they can perhaps be classed as broadly having feature-parity. Maybe a reader of this blog could advise on that?

Release: Terragen Sky – Early Access

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Terragen’s easy sky generator is now available in Early Access, for Windows desktop PCs. Make “photorealistic CG skies” with “a simplified UI and workflow” using sliders. Also 360-degree HDRIs.

In Early Access it’s apparently not yet a standalone software, but will be. Currently it exports the sky into the main Terragen desktop software, and thus is only available to those who have a Terragen licence or subscription. If Terragen Sky will be free or low-cost and/or public, when it reaches its final release, is as yet unknown.

Video demo at YouTube.

New for Poser and DAZ, November/December 2022

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Slightly early due to Christmas, here’s my regular monthly survey of what’s new and interesting for artists using Poser and DAZ Studio. As usual, freebies are only linked if they’re ‘commercial use’ for renders, or are so obviously fan-art that no-one would try to use them commercially. Also I’m not trying to cover the new G9 stuff for DAZ, though there is a bit of that here.

Science-fiction:

A lovely retro GT Skimmer flying car for Poser. “Scaled to Poser figures”.

Flitting alongside your flying car, probably some Animal Jah alien birds. Note sure how Avatar-alike they are? Could class as fan-art?

Your space-opera lead hero has arrived. The stylish and subtly stylised PN August for Genesis 9.

Cryopod 3D Asset for Blender. I had success in exporting this to .OBJ from Blender 2.83.

A free Hex Floor scene prop. Could also make a wall. See also the new Architectural Wall Panels.

A new Sci-Fi Holographic Chess Set.

Steampunk:

Fallen Angel metal wings for M4, V4, G8.

Steampunk Sound Blaster by Cybertenko. Looks fun. “Drop that maguffin, HPL, or I’ll serenade you with a blast of ‘Yes, We Have No Bananas’!”

The free Herr Doktor for Michael 3, a 1920s style doctor-surgeon. With clothing, gear and hair. Also suitable for steampunk.

A free Magnifying Glass.

Alpen Express. Could also double as an undersea viewing carriage, with a bit of a dieselpunk texture makeover.

Halloween:

Yes, there were a few latecomers to the Halloween party. Such as the free LaVampire for LaFemme for Poser.

MortemVetus’s The Witching Hour Poser props. Looking fairly old now, it has to be said… but also looking suitable for Poser 11’s Comic Book line-art.

EArkham’s ZWorld Orb Beast of Many Arms. The beast is likely to come through one of the new SY Magic Portals.

Zombie Run Poses for G3, currently free on the DAZ Store.

Halloween Outdoor Decor, with a nice scarecrow prop.

Toon:

Meshbox’s Professor Santa for Poser. The description is confusing and seems to have been partly copy-based from a ‘Bedtime Santa’ figure. Suggests Chunk may be needed as the base figure, but this is not specified in the dependencies listing.

A free Dody Morph Preset For Aiko 3. This was released a few years back, I recall, but is now on Renderosity.

The same maker also has similar free V4 and M4 presets.

Vest 021 for G3. The hat has possibilities, re: runtime-bashing a Moebius style comics character.

The free Christmas for Nursoda’s Fen character.

Storybook:

A free traditional elf outfit for K4.

Judith Christmas – Cap and Judith AddOns for La Femme for Poser. Requires Judith and La Femme (who ships free with Poser 11 and 12).

V4/A4 Ankle Boots. Generic stylish boots, suitable for a more modern type of storybook tale.

Free Lipstick stick.

A free Alphabet Locker in .OBJ format.

Characters, clothing and accessories:

The free Indiana Jones for Michael 3 for Poser. Plus accesories. And for accomanying ‘extras’ scene fillers, Agent Civil 1940 low-poly for M3.

El Mariachi Guitar Case and gangster add-on.

Free iRay Sequins Shaders and Satin Dot shaders.

Some new freebies for the new makeover for the old Antonia base figure for Poser, Toni-Sweater for Antonia and Dynamic Frost Dress.

Genesis 9 Clones for All. Autofits to send G9 clothes and hair back in time, to work on all previous Genesis figures.

Animals:

Songbird ReMix Ostrich Sulky, for your ostrich-racing fun. This is just the carriage (the ‘sulky’) and harness, not the ostrich. Though you can buy one of those as well.

Beyond the Pale, a white horse makeover for the Hivewire Winged Horse.

Nature:

Photo Props: Swirling Tornado Effect by ShaaraMuse3D.

A free wooden bench with snow, perhaps suitable for human / animal interaction scenes.

Flinks Rolling Hills – Ground Snow props.

Easy Environments: ExoPlanet VIII, which I suspect is an Avatar-alike scene.

Grass Mazes for DAZ Studio.

Currently free on DAZ, Hanging Vines – Ivy Plants. In my experience, anything “ivy” sends render times into orbit, but maybe these will be different.

Historical:

Effigy Builder Bundle for Genesis 9. Figures to statues, using geoshells and ‘stone hair’. Might be combined with the Underwater Relics Shaders for iRay.

Ancient Roman Roman Artifacts III including a household shrine. Also a new Triclinium (ancient bed).

A free Mesoamerican Headress for G8, plus wearable presets. I’m unsure how authentic it is.

Bamboo Houses, also seen in the Florida everglades.

A free olde-time travelling wagon. He may be heading to The Sawmill.

Arah3D Holiday Hats Volume 01, in a European 1900s style, for G3, G8, G9.

The Paragon – Encore, a complete late 1920s / early 30s Deco nightclub. The same artist has earlier matching Deco items for sale. Looks superb.

Vintage 1930s/40s XI Microphones.

A detailed pre-war Fishing Boat, free in .OBJ format.

Universal Sailor U.S. Navy for G8M. A classic sailor suit.

A free 1960s type Carpet Sweeper Prop.

Free 1950s-70s type Cable Cars.

Sprinter, a sporty late 1970s car for DAZ Studio.

Scripts:

The free Genesis 1/2/3/9 pose converter for Genesis 8 script. Load anything that’s pose-tastic, to G8. Try it out with the free G9 Microphone Stand Poses 1-4.

You can also go the other way, with the free Genesis 1/2/3/8 pose converter for Genesis 9.

Spinaround for Poser 11. Automated setup of turntable renders.

Render Knight Script for Poser 12, to help out with the confusion many seem to feel when faced with the new Poser 12’s SuperFly (Cycles) settings. There are way more variables to consider in Poser 12. The basic thing to know is that “Branched Path” is for CPUs and does not play nicely with your super $1,000 graphics card — which may need something completely different.

Ok, that’s in. More in 2023.

Dream Textures

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Dream Textures is the Stable Diffusion AI, sending AI-gen textures direct to the Blender shader editor. Can be used with DreamStudio as the paid Cloud generator.

Since Poser does Python, I don’t see why something similar couldn’t be done for Poser. Doubtless there will soon be AI’s that can take a text-prompt and pop out a finished .PBR material. For example: “Make me a lava material that looks like glowing snake-skin”.

Uniform deals

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On Renderosity -renapd- is retiring some items, with heavy discounts for those who want them while still available. The most unusual are the RTproductions Napoleonic-era military uniforms for M4, including British and French packs. I also see a Russian Cossack and a Cossack Peasants pack for M3. Very niche, but no doubt they have a certain appeal in Europe.

Release: Blender 3.4 – storyboarding and PBR

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Blender 3.4 has some interesting new features, including storyboarding and PBR.

* A new storyboarding tool called Storypencil, said to be tested and production-ready. It works in tandem with the Video Sequence Editor, and is intended for making rough animatic sequences or saving out storyboard images. Multiple SVG files can also be imported.

Update: It was in the beta but appears to have been pulled from the final. To get it: i) Get the 3.4 beta and 3.4 final; ii) install both; iii) copy Storypencil folder from Scripts | Addons_contrib to the same folder in Blender 3.4 final.

* Yet more Grease Pencil improvements. It now has some improved maths ‘under the hood’, working to auto-close gaps in line-art when using the Fill tool to colour.

* PBR support. Apparently this wholly new, which if true is kind of amazing? Anyway, the .MTL material files that accompany .OBJs can now call the full range of PBR material sets, including Principled BSDF materials. Poser 11 and 12 now support Cycles BSDF, so there may be potential here for making PBR’d .OBJs in Blender for use in Poser.

RealityScan

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Epic has made public its RealityScan beta, which launched in closed form back in April 2022. It’s…

“a free photogrammetry app that turns smartphone photos of real-world objects into textured 3D models”

Only for iPhone and iPad, where it doesn’t appear to have too much free competition. I’m certainly no expert on Mac apps, and I didn’t look very hard, but this is surprising. You might have thought that Apple’s depth-sensing stuff would have cause developers to flock to such things. Or maybe “free” is just a dirty word in iPhone-land? Not being an iPhone or Mac person, I have no clue about such things.

Export is locked to uploading to Epic’s Sketchfab site. Models can’t be directly saved to local files. Also, since the models are said to be geared toward VR, they may well be low-res and perhaps not watertight for 3D printing (just my guess). A free Android version is pencilled in for release sometime in 2023.

Adobe is also gearing up to release its own photogrammetry software.

There’s also something called Polycam 3.0 coming down the pipe in 2023.