3D Character Art |
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by Nancy Schultz |
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All pictures in this article were
created in DAZ Studio with no post-work by the author. Thumbnails link to larger
images (opening in a new window) with notes on the image and what was used in
the render. So, you want some character art for your favorite RPG character. But the group artist is too busy (or tired of requests) and you can’t find anything that the other players won’t recognize and tease you about, or if you do, it’s the wrong genre. Your own artistic ventures are out of the question, regularly bested by the GM’s five-year-old kid. What’s a player to do? Generally, the answer is usually either “Deal with what’s wrong” or “Do without.” Having struggled with these issues myself (okay, my art is better than my daughter’s), I started looking into Poser, a 3D rendering program that started as an artist’s tool for assisting with character posing and developed far beyond that into an artistic medium in it’s own right. While researching Poser, I came across DAZ Studio, another 3D posing and rendering program. I’m not going to do an in depth comparison the two. Suffice to say, Poser has more support, has more bugs worked out, and has greater functionality. It’s also $250USD. DAZ Studio (D|S) can do about 3/4ths of the things Poser can do, including limited animation, can read most Poser items (except dynamic items), has a slightly faster learning curve, and is “Tell Ware”, or more specifically, free. The free part is even more attractive when you take into account that even allowing for the starting items that come with either program (Poser has more than DAZ, naturally), you’re still going to be buying some things such as models, morph packages (without which you cannot significantly adjust the face and body of models that need them), and clothes for your humanoid models. |
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My main problem with my own artistic skills was always that I could see the image fairly
clearly in my mind, but actually getting that image from my mind onto paper was rarely a
satisfactory process. Using D|S, I’ve gotten around that difficulty, and using
pre-set character poses, face and body morphs, I can set up a scene in only a
few minutes (depending on how quickly I can find the stuff). With a little
(sometimes a lot) more time, I can adjust skin tones, lighting, and tweak the
pose and faces to customize them further. Of course, the more things in the
scene, the longer it takes to setup and render. But I’m also able to adjust
the angle of the picture without re-drawing, and it takes far less time to
make adjustments than it does when using paper and pencil. |
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Naturally, a digital medium such as 3D rendering has an extensive on-line support system,
including many free items such as clothing, props, morph-presets and texture maps for the
various models and items. Granted, the majority is of either the cheesecake
or cheesy Fantasy/Sci-fi genre (which in some cases is redundant), but
careful searching can reveal a few nice add-ons designed for normal,
contemporary settings as well. Most freebies, however, are not intended for
commercial use, and while that’s not generally a problem for someone who
starts 3D rendering as a supplement to another hobby, it sometimes can be
something to keep in mind if you plan on posting the items somewhere public. |
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If you can’t find what you want in Freebies (and feel free to ask on any of the many forums.
There are a lot of freebie sites out there), then it’s a matter of patience watching for
sales on the various 3D sites* and/or
investing in subscriptions or clubs for (usually greatly) reduced prices, or
even access to large archives of items that cost nothing more than the
original subscription. Several sites have many items (usually single textures
or simple objects, but sometimes really wonderfully detailed items) available
at $5USD or less. |
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The largest difficulty for any hobbyist in the 3D rendering world is going to be clothing.
Not simply finding clothing to fit the genre, but also finding clothing to fit the
characters. Some characters simply have more clothing designed for them than
others, and they can’t switch clothes without a lot of adjustment (or one of
a handful of programs available to translate clothing.) Not all clothing
available has the same morphs as the figures, and if you use a morph on the
model that’s not in the clothing, it can sometimes be difficult to get the
clothing to fit. Again, there are ways to adjust the clothing, of course, but
they take both time and money. Fortunately the money part for both wardrobe
problems is usually a one-time thing, though finding that one thing can take
a while. Some conforming (as opposed to Dynamic clothes, which won’t work in
D|S) clothes also can’t handle more extreme body positions, requiring
compromises on the clothing choices. Between these difficulties and clothing
typically being high-polygon models (thereby raising render time), there are
actually reasons beyond cheesecake why a lot of images include women in
bikinis and lingerie. |
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3D modeling’s uses aren’t limited to creating art to depict the characters, though.
Using any one of several home design studios available, the GM can also take her maps 3D
(though again, the more items, the longer it takes), providing a direct view
of what the party sees. These two programs aren’t usually compatible,
unfortunately, but there are an increasing number of modular rooms available
for Poser and D|S, and further expansion into systems such as Bryce (designed
for larger scale modeling and rendering, with the price-tag to match unless
you’re lucky enough to time it right) do allow for using the characters and
the scenes together, bringing the GM’s world to brilliant, vivid life. |
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Of course, as players, you want to bring your characters to life, and there
are plenty of pre-packaged morphs and textures available (both free and pay)
available to make your character look just right. When the description of the
character begins with “She looks like (insert celebrity here) except…”, it just might
be possible to find that celebrity. Many artists put together character packages clearly
inspired by celebrities. While the overwhelming majority of celebrity packages
are for sale, as opposed to free, there are a few celebrity freebies that I
have found, though usually they are pose positions for the face only, and
don't include skin textures. For those that are not for free, they really are
worth the price most of the time. |
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I’ll admit, the last thing a
gamer needs is a new hobby that costs money, but the world of 3D graphic art
is becoming increasingly easy for people with even the simplest artistic
vision and no talent for more conventional art to create the image of the character
that actually is what they had pictured, or at least a lot closer than many
of the other options. |
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*: Recommended large
sites not linked within the article include Renderosity, Runtime DNA, PoserPros (a sister site of
DAZ), PoserWorld, Content Paradise (a
division of e-frontiers) and 3D
Commune. There are also many other sites, some large, some small, out
there. |
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