Question Model/Look creation - Where to begin?

[GordonShock]

Hello all,

I've been playing around with Vam for a while, and I got the Creator membership back in June. At the time I was in a zone, and felt like I grasped the many components that make up this amazing tool. Unfortunately, I got sick, but I've been on the mend for a few weeks.

I've re-installed Vam from scratch this weekend, and to my surprise, I forgot pretty much everything I learned during the Spring. I'm slowly getting back in the beat, but I'm quite overwhelmed by all the options, plugins, settings, etc. So instead of trying to learn all of it at once I decided to focus on one thing, model creation.

So the question now is, should I even create a model/look using a base UV that comes with Vam? Or, should I not bother, switch to Daz, create the model there, and export the texture once it's ready?

 

[SlimerJSpud]

If you go to Daz, remember that the model has to be on the G2 base. There are different UV maps for some different characters, even though the mesh is basically the same. There's base G2F, Victoria, Monique, and Olympia, IIRC. As long as you pick one and stick to it, it should be fine. Also note that any skin texture you have in Daz, you can use privately in Vam, but not to post because of the licensing. I use Daz to do modeling for Vam, but only for the face and body. I use skins already available in Vam.

 

[GordonShock]

Thanks SlimerJSPud.

That's the thing though, I don't know if I want to go to Daz, or stick to Vam and create models with the provided UV.

I'm ready to learn, but I'd like to do so in an effective manner. Perhaps I'm seeing too far ahead and doing so makes me skip the basics?

Thinking back to when you knew nothing about modeling, what was the process, or steps, that you went through that led you to having the skills you now have, aside from lots of experimentation that is?

 

[SlimerJSpud]

I started in Daz quite some time ago (Studio 3). I was always willing to spin dials to get a look I wanted. I'm not a Blender/Zbrush modeler. I've been using Headshop in Daz, which is kind of like Facegen, perhaps more primitive. What I have to do with that flow is create a model for G3/G8 and port it back to G2 using the flow described here.

Provided you stick to the base G2 UV, there's no difference there. I like working in Daz because it doesn't run the cpu hard all the time. If you're all new to it, stick with the tool you know the most about. That may be Vam in your case. A lot of creators on here do their modeling, or fine tuning in VR in Vam.

 

[GordonShock]

Thanks.

I just watched a short video on Youtube about how fragmenting a skill leads to faster mastery, faster being somewhat relative here. Still, the idea, backed by research, is sound. So it got me thinking about model creation for Vam, and the learning process I am now undertaking.

Looking back on the evolution of the skills you now have, if you had to do it all over again, how would you fragment and prioritize that process of learning such a complex skill set?

GS.

 

[SlimerJSpud]

Learning Daz is no simple task either. I still struggle with lighting. What you do, whether in Daz, or Vam is to start by loading up some pre-made assets and play around. Push buttons, see what happens. In Daz, I used some existing scenery, an existing model, and some canned poses. Then I started trying to make some lookalikes only by spinning dials using morphs I already had. Then I got into posing. With Daz, it's mostly about posing and lighting characters and props for static renders. Doing animations in Daz is so horrendously slow compared to Vam, it's absurd. If you want to stick with Vam, maybe posing and lighting are still the places to start. Lighting still isn't simple, but there are canned light rigs available free. When I started in Daz, I had no clue how big a deal lighting can be. Doing it all over again, perhaps I would have taken some time to learn that in more detail.