This is great for me because I do not have much drawing or painting skills. I love art, but I certainly would not be able to create my DA images without Daz Studio. Best of all, you can get it for free HERE.

Arabian Dreams Fantasy Woman Art created using Daz Studio, Iray, and Photoshop.

What Is Daz Studio?

Ok, so now we know that Daz Studio is cool, but what exactly is Daz Studio?

Daz Studio is a 3D rendering program. You create a 3D scene, light it, adjust camera settings, and then just click render. In this way, it is like photography, except you are taking a picture of a virtual scene. Because it is a virtual scene, we get a lot more control over the scene itself, as well as how it is lighted.

You may think that creating a 3D scene is very complicated and time consuming, but actually it is not. This is because we can get many 3D-objects, poses, and lights to populate our scene from the Daz3d marketplace. In fact, that is how they make money, which is why they give away the Daz Studio software for free.

The software itself also comes with some free initial content, and you can get more free daily items from their freebie page. In this way, you can try things out first, without having to buy content right off. Daz also organizes many sales throughout the year, so I buy most items in my library at a 50% or more discount.

WARNING – Daz Studio can be very very addictive.

WARNING – Daz Studio can be very very addictive.

How to Create a Scene?

One of the first things that I did when I first started using Daz Studio is to set up the layout. This allows me to pick an interface that I am comfortable with. I go to Window -> Workspace -> Select Layout (see below).

One of the first things that I did when I first started using Daz Studio is to set up the layout.

When the pop-up window comes up, we can pick the layout we like most from a drop-down menu (see below). I use the Hollywood Blvd layout, so that is the one you will see in all of my tutorials. I like this layout because it is most similar to the Poser interface that I used before moving to Daz Studio. More on why I moved to Daz Studio.

When the pop-up window comes up, we can pick the layout we like most from a drop-down menu.

Now we are ready to create our scene. The first thing that I do is go to the Smart Content tab (interface left). If the tab is not there, we can easily right-click on empty space in the tabs area and pick Add Pane (Tab). This allows us to add additional tabs to the interface.

In the Smart Content panel, I drill down to Default > Figures > People > Female > Real World. This presents me with a thumbnail grid of realistic female figures. From this list, I double click on Charlotte 8 HD. This adds a human figure into my scene.

In the Smart Content panel, I drill down to Default > Figures > People > Female > Real World. From this list I pick Charlotte 8 HD.

Next, I enrich my figure by adding hair and clothing. An easy way to do this is to click on the Scene tab (interface right), and select my Charlotte 8 object. Then, I go back to the Smart Content panel, go to Hair > Long, and double click on the wonderful Alice Hair by OOT. Similarly, I go to Wardrobe > Outfits, and double click on Lilikh !Outfit.

I go back to the Smart Content panel, go to Hair > Long, and double click on the wonderful Alice Hair.

After crafting my character, I want to give her an artistic pose. To do this, I go to the Pose & Animate tab (interface top). Then, I go to the Smart Content panel and pick a pose that shows off the character and outfit.

I go to the Pose & Animate tab (interface top). Then, I go to the Smart Content panel and pick a pose that shows off the character and outfit.

Camera controls icons in top-right of viewport.

Once that is done, I may adjust the camera a bit (top right of viewport). Finally, I go to the Render tab (top), and click on the camera icon (top left of viewport). And just like that, I start rendering my scene.

What Is Iray, 3Delight, and Reality?

In addition to Daz Studio, you may also hear people talk about Iray, 3Delight, and Reality/Lux. These are all different renderers that we may use to render our 3D-scene. I highly recommend Iray because it is a physically based renderer that is built into Daz Studio. As such, it is easier to access, and there are a lot of shaders and materials for it in the Daz3d marketplace. The only downside to using Iray is that we will need a good nVidia graphics card for it to render in a timely manner.

Reality/Lux is also a physically based renderer, but we get to it through a plugin. As such it is not as integrated, and there are very few supporting shaders and materials that we can purchase. It is therefore, more of a do-it-yourself option.

3Delight is the original Daz Studio renderer and it is not physically based. Scenes generally render faster and are less noisy, but they are also less realistic.

Set renderer to Iray by going to Render Settings > Editor > Engine

We can pick to use the Iray renderer by going to the Render Settings tab (interface right). Select Editor up top, and then pick the renderer you want from the drop-down menu next to Engine.

What Is Iray, 3Delight, and Reality?

How to Improve Your Daz Studio Images

Once we get comfortable with the Daz Studio interface, we can start to drill down into certain key areas to improve our images. I got the most bang for the buck by improving my scene lighting, so that is the area that I would recommend tackling first.

This tutorial describes in greater detail how I light my Iray scenes. You can also see how improvements in lighting leads to changes in my images here.

How to Improve Your Daz Studio Images

With dForce, I can not only use Poser dynamic dresses on Genesis figures, but also older V4 dresses that did not autofit well on Genesis.

In this tutorial, I will outline how I simulate two V4/Poser dynamic cloth items (the over-sleeves and over-skirt from Angeloi – the Outfit) on a Genesis 8 Female figure. The final result is shown in the image below. You may also view a larger version in my Daz Gallery.

Daz Studio Dynamic Cloth (dForce) Tutorial for Beginners with two V4/Poser dynamic cloth items on a Genesis 8 female figure.

1. Add Cloth Items and Pose Figure

1. We start by adding a Genesis 8 Female figure.
2. Add in a floor or background environment so that there is a ground collision item for our cloth simulation. In my example scene, I add in the Oremus set.
3. Go to our Poser directory and add in the over-sleeves and over-skirt props from Angeloi – the Outfit.

Parent both cloth items to Chest Upper in our Genesis 8 figure.
4. Next, parent both cloth items to Chest Upper in our Genesis 8 figure (see right). At this point, I only add in items that are necessary for the cloth simulation. More objects (or geometry) in the scene, especially on the figure, will slow down the simulation.
5. Go to the Pose tab and frame 0 in our timeline.
6. In the first frame, set our G8F figure to the old T-pose (see below). We can do that by using a pose converter product such as the one by Zev0 or RiverSoft Art. Some pose packs may also contain the T-pose.

In the first frame, set our G8F figure to the old T-pose.
7. To give our cloth items time to properly drape, we also want to increase the number of frames in our timeline. I set my total number of frames to 51, but you can adjust this to suit your scene and taste.

I set my total number of frames to 51, but you can adjust this to suit your scene and taste.
8. Go to frame 15 and set the end pose of our figure. In this way, we have 15 frames to simulate the cloth into our figure end-position, and 35 frames for the cloth to drape.

Go to frame 15 and set the end pose of our figure. Note that I only included the underwear set here so that you can clearly see the figure end-pose.

This finishes our figure set-up. Next, we work on the cloth simulation parameters.

2. Daz Studio Dynamic Cloth Setup

1. First, we want to set up our global simulation parameters. To do that, open up the Simulation Settings pane.

Go to Simulation > Initialization and set Start Bones From Memorized Pose to Off.
2. Go to Simulation > Initialization and set Start Bones From Memorized Pose to Off (see right).

   [List and descriptions of all global cloth simulation settings.]


Go to Simulation > Duration and set Frames to Simulate to Animated (Use Timeline Play Range).
3. Go to Simulation > Duration and set Frames to Simulate to Animated (Use Timeline Play Range) (see right).
4. Now we are ready to add dynamic cloth settings to our cloth objects. Go to the Scene tab and select both the Angeloi oversleeves and overskirt objects.
5. On the Simulation Settings pane, click on the Options Menu button (the little button with a triangle and lines) next to the blue Simulate button. Select dForce > Add dForce Modifier: Dynamic Surface (see below). This will make both selected objects dynamic and add new cloth simulation parameters in the Surfaces tab.

Click on the Options Menu button (the little button with a triangle and lines) next to the blue Simulate button, then select dForce > Add dForce Modifier: Dynamic Surface.
6. Go to the Sufaces tab and click on Editor. Select all surfaces and change the Bend Stiffness parameter from 0.5 to 0.25 (see below). This will help prevent exploding meshes. Mephoria has more useful tips on exploding meshes in the Daz Forum.

Select all surfaces and change the Bend Stiffness parameter from 0.5 to 0.25.
7. Select ANG Overskirt > constrained and set the Dynamics Strength parameter to 0 (see below). This will hold the top of the over-skirt together.

   [List and descriptions of each dynamic surface parameter.]


Select ANG Overskirt > constrained and set the Dynamics Strength parameter to 0.

This finishes our cloth simulation settings. Now go to the Pose tab, click on the blue Simulate button, and enjoy the cloth simulation! At frame 15, we get the simulation image below.

At frame 15, we get this Daz Studio Viewport simulation image.

At frame 51 we get the final simulation image.

At frame 51 we get the final simulation image. Here, the over-sleeves have had the chance to settle down and drape over our fantasy girl.

3. Adjust and Finish

We may adjust draping by changing the initial rotation of our figure. Alternatively, we can tweak any of the interim poses or add in new key-frames. Once we are happy with the simulation, we finish up our scene by –

• Smoothing out the geometry of our cloth items,
• Applying appropriate Iray shaders, and
• Adding in new objects and details to our fantasy scene.

1. Go to the Scene pane and select both the Angeloi over-sleeves and over-skirt objects. Do Option Menu (triangle + lines button) > Edit > Geometry > Convert SubD and Option Menu > Edit > Geometry > Add Smoothing Modifier. Both of these operations will help to smooth out our cloth items.
2. Go to Parameters > General > Mesh Smoothing and set Collision Item to our Genesis 8 figure. This helps to remove pesky poke through between our cloth objects and fantasy female figure.
3. There may also be some collisions with the floor. Therefore, I slightly move the floor down until the collisions are no longer visible. For this reason, I like to start with the floor a bit raised during the cloth simulation.
4. Next, we add in details, accessories, and more, to enrich and finish up our scene. In my Sultry Night scene, I added in the Bean Sidhe outfit on my figure, as well as some fireflies as a light accent.
5. Finally, apply appropriate Iray shaders on surfaces that need them, and we are done!

Daz Studio viewport of my scene after adding in the Bean Sidhe outfit and applying Iray shaders to the cloth items.

After render and postwork, I get the finished fantasy woman image below.

After render and postwork, I get this finished fantasy woman image.

Daz Studio dForce Q&A

1. When should I fit the dynamic clothing and when not?

   I fit clothing when there are pieces/surfaces within it that are not dynamic but should fit to the body. In this case, I fit the clothing, select the surfaces that should not be dynamic, go to the Surfaces pane, and set Visible in Simulation to Off.

2. Will all clothing work with dForce?

   The dForce simulator should work on any object, however, it may not work well on clothing objects that were not designed for it. For example there may be unattached pieces that fly off, exploding meshes, etc. Here is a good list of reasons from Richard Haseltine.

Following, I will list a set of common issues I encountered, and then discuss useful tips and tricks that I found within Daz Studio, to solve them.

Tips and Tricks for Daz Studio Beginners. Image rendered in Daz Studio 4.6 Pro with postwork in Photoshop.

1. Dealing with Poke Through in Clothing

One common problem in 3D-posing software is that depending on pose, the body of our figure may sometimes poke through her clothing. In addition, when a figure is wearing multiple layers of clothing, an inner shirt may poke through an outer vest or belt. Similar poke through issues can also occur with hair and head-wear.

In the past, we deal with this issue by manually adjusting or enlarging various parts of our wardrobe. Another technique is to make a body part that is fully covered, invisible. For example, if our figure’s toe is poking through her boots, we may turn off the visibility of her entire foot.

In Daz Studio, we can address this thorny issue by using their collision detection function.

To get to this function, we access our clothing parameters.

For example, in the screen-shot below, we have added some hair and clothing to our Olympia 6 figure. Next, we select our clothing top (JG_Top), and then click on the Parameters tab, which is right below the Scene tab.

Added hair and clothing to my Olympia 6 figure.

Accessing the collision detection feature for a piece of clothing.

On the Parameters screen, we want to select Mesh Smoothing, which is where the collision detection feature resides.

Note that Enable Smoothing must be on for collision detection to work. We can then set the collision item and the number of collision iterations.

In the case of clothing, our collision item is usually our figure. However, if we are wearing multiple layers of clothing, we can also set the collision item to be another piece of clothing. For example, we may set the collision item of a belt to the pants, instead of to our base figure.

The default collision iterations of 3 usually works for most things, but if there is still poke through, we can try raising this figure to resolve it.

How to add the Mesh Smoothing functionality.

Most new clothing items already come with the Mesh Smoothing feature included. However, for older pieces of clothing, it may not be present. In this case, we can add the Mesh Smoothing function from within Daz Studio.

To do this,

1. Go back to the Scene tab.
2. Select the object that we want to add mesh smoothing to.
3. Click the the button with a triangle and some lines on the top left of the Scene panel (highlighted to the right).

This will open up a drop-down menu. We want to mouse over the Edit option, which will open up even more object feature options. To apply mesh smoothing and collision detection to an object, we simply select Apply Smoothing Modifier from the top of the drop down menu.

Note however, that adding this mesh function will require additional calculations, which may slow down navigation and increase render time. Therefore, we only want to only include it as necessary.

In the case of mesh smoothing, additional calculations need to be made when our figure pose is changed, which can significantly slow down direct manipulation posing controls. If I have clothing items with high smoothing or collision iterations, I usually turn mesh smoothing off while testing and tweaking poses. There are also vendor products that can help with poke-through such as Zev0’s Fit Control

Make sure there is no poke through between the figure and her clothing by using the collision detection feature.

2. Getting Rid of Blocky or Jagged Figures and Objects

Sometimes, an object in our scene may appear blocky or jagged when viewed up close. This is because there are not enough polygons on the surface of the object (i.e. not enough resolution). Therefore, when we zoom in, we start to see the jagged corners of the now larger polygons that make up the surface.

This is similar to when we zoom into an image, and start seeing jagged edges, because each pixel is now much larger and we start seeing the jagged corners of the pixels.

How to add sub-division surfaces to a figure or object.

Another very useful Daz Studio mesh function is the Convert to SubD option. SubD stands for subdivision surfaces. Using this option, we can automatically add more polygons onto our object surfaces. By increasing the resolution of our objects, we get rid of jagged edges and increase the quality of our renders.

We can increase the object resolution by using the same process as outlined above for mesh smoothing.

1. Go back to the Scene tab.
2. Select the object that we want to add mesh smoothing to.
3. Click the the button with a triangle and some lines on the top left of the Scene panel (highlighted to the right).
4. Then, we select Edit > Geometry > Convert to SubD.

For example, in the dark angel picture below, I used the sub-division surface feature to increase the resolution of the wonderful End of Summer Hair on my figure. In addition, I also used the Mesh Smoothing operation we discussed in the previous section, to further smoothen out my hair edges.

I applied mesh smoothing as well as sub-division surfaces to the hair object on this dark angel. It helped to significantly smoothen out the jaggies in his long hair.

We can access our sub division surface parameters by selecting the object, clicking on the Parameters tab, and then choosing Mesh Resolution.

Mesh Resolution or sub-division surface parameters.

Wheel icon to the right of the sub-division level panel.

Note – if we want to increase our sub-division level by more than 2, we only need to click on the wheel icon at the right of the sub-division level panel (shown to the right).

This opens up a drop-down menu, and we want to select the Parameter Settings option. Doing so will open up a pop-up window that allows us to increase the maximum sub-division level in our interface (shown below).

How to increase the maximum sub-division level in our interface.

a) Remove Grid Lines on Sky-Domes

Sub-division surfaces are also really useful for removing lines in sky-domes. When certain environments are rendered, grid lines may sometimes appear on the sky-dome. When this happens, I simply select the sky-dome in my scene and convert it to a sub-division surface. Increasing its polygon resolution seems to get rid of all the grid lines.

b) Background Figures

Just as we can increase the resolution of foreground objects and figures in our scene, we can also use the sub-d controls to lower the resolution of background objects to increase rendering speed.

This is especially useful when we have multiple human figures far off in our background. These human figures have a lot of detail and are usually set to high resolution by default, which will unnecessarily slow down our rendering speed. I also make sure to reduce the mesh resolution of far away clothing and hair.

I lowered the mesh resolution of the human figures, hair, and clothing that appear on the background of the scene.

To get the blurring effect in the background,
1. Select your camera and go to the Parameters tab.
2. Select Camera from our list of parameters.
3. Turn on Depth of Field.

How to get blurring effect in the background.

Here are some simple instructions from Flipmode on how to easily set our focal distance.

Here is a more detailed tutorial from Daz on Depth of Field.

3. Change Background Color

Finally, it took me the longest time to find the controls for changing the background color of my Daz Studio scene. Changing background color is very useful for a variety of purposes including –

• We may want our scene background color to match our floor color or texture. For example, in pin-up scenes, we may set a white floor so that shadows will create a nice effect. In such a situation, setting our scene background to white also, will cause the floor to naturally merge into it.
• We may need greater contrast between the figures or other elements in our scene with respect to the scene background.
• For placing lights, it is absolutely invaluable to change our scene view to Wireframe so that there is no occlusion of our light objects. To better view a wireframe scene, we will need to change our scene background color to black or some other darker color.

Top view of wireframe scene, with a black background, which is very convenient for light placement.

How the change the background color of our Daz Studio scene.

To change our scene background color, we want to-
1. Click on the triangle with lines menu button to the right of the camera drop-down menu on the top-right of our scene. We circled this button in red in the image above.

2. This opens up a drop-down menu, and one of the options is Change Background Color.

3. Clicking on this option will open up a pop-up window with a color selector for us to pick our new background color. Once we are done, select Ok and voila, our scene background color is changed.

That’s All Folks

If you have useful Daz Studio tips and tricks, please share them with us in the comments section below. Have fun rendering with Daz Studio!

Scene created and rendered in Daz Studio 4.6 Pro. Post-work in Photoshop.

I just started with Daz Studio about 3-4 months ago, and I must say that I am really loving it. Why?

• Daz Studio is free!
• I like the Daz Studio interface. It is fast, smooth, and intuitive. It did not take me very long at all to get comfortable with it.
• I like the Daz Studio lights. I am very much a newbie when it comes to lighting, but with some simple distant lights and the Uber Environment2 light, I was able to get nice looking scenes with very little effort. I just need to point my distant lights at the right place, and I am done. No positioning needed! I will talk more about this later.
• I like the Daz Studio renderer. It is quite fast and allows for rapid prototyping. I usually push down render quality and image size for my initial test shots, and then push them back up for the final shot.
• I like where Daz Studio is headed. There have been a lot of cool features added into Daz Studio in recent times that allow for some great renders (sub-surface scattering, object instancing, subdivision surfaces, collision detection, and more). I mostly do figure based images, and that is where the Daz Studio system really shines. From what I have read, it is weaker when it comes to environment based scenes. However, I think the future looks very bright.

Fantasy art rendered in Daz Studio 4.6 Pro. Post-work in Photoshop.

In this tutorial I will talk about my early process in using Daz Studio to quickly start creating cool looking fantasy art. I also discuss my favorite figures, environments, and the simple lighting system that I used.

1. Figure, Clothes, and Environment

How to easily navigate through our Daz Studio content by using the smart content pane.

The first step is to determine what we want to put in our image. For a start, putting in one figure is the simplest, so that is what we will do. One simple way to do this is to –

1. Click on the Actors, Wardrobe & Props tab on the top left corner of the interface.

2. Make sure we have the Smart Content tab selected on the right of our content pane.

3. This gives us a list of content objects that we currently have available. Note, to get a full list of content objects, we want to make sure that we do not have any objects selected in our scene.

We can see all the objects in our scene by looking at the right-most panel in our Daz Studio interface, and clicking on the Scene tab. For example, in the screen shot below, we have one object in our scene – the Genesis figure.

Selected objects are highlighted in yellow. If we select the Genesis figure, note that the categories on the Smart Content pane to the left will shrink to only show those elements that are related to our selected object.

Clicking on empty space on the Scene pane to the right will deselect all objects.

Screen-shot of full default Daz Studio interface.

Content will automatically appear on the Smart Content pane if we install them using the Daz Install Manager (DIM), which we can get and install for free. Then, when we buy products at Daz, they will automatically appear on our DIM interface for download and installation.

The Daz Install Manager is easy to use and very convenient. I highly recommend it.

If there are problems with our Smart Content pane, here is an article from Daz on Why isn’t the Smart Content Pane Working?

a) Adding a Figure

Adding a figure using the Smart Content pane.

At this point, we can simply go with our pre-loaded Genesis figure, or alternatively, we can delete it and add our own figure. To delete an object, simply select it in our Scene pane, and hit the Delete key.

Daz Studio comes with the basic Genesis figures, and we can get additional figure morphs from the Daz Store. We can get to our available figures by clicking on the Figures category in our Smart Content pane. There are further sub-categories after that. For example, in the screen-shot to the right, I have selected Figures >> People >> Female >> Real World and then I double click on the Olympia 6 actor to add it to my scene.

For figures, I really like the Olympia 6 figure, and also characters by Fred Winkler Art. The first image on this article as well as the image below are examples of the Olympia 6 figure.

The Olympia 6 figure wearing two different styles of fantasy clothing.

In the beginning, I only use one figure or at most two. We can still create very nice looking images with single figures if we pose it right, and set it off with the right clothing and environment.

Interesting scene with a close-up of just one figure. I used Olympia 6 here as well.

b) Adding Clothes

Selecting clothing for our Olympia 6 figure from our Smart Content pane.

To add clothing, I simply select my Olympia figure in the Scene pane to the right, and then select Wardrobe on my Smart Content pane.

This will show me all the clothing items that are available for this character.

Note that a big part of the power of the Genesis figure comes from its Auto-Fit tool. This tool is included in the Daz Studio installation and it allows us to fit clothing from older generation figures (e.g. Victoria 4) onto our new Olympia or Genesis 2 figure. This gives us access to a wide range of clothing items.

We do not need to do anything with this now, but just keep it in mind for later when we start looking for a greater range of content.

One of my very early renders with Daz Studio. Single figure with a one click background environment by Stonemason (Streets of Asia 2).

c) Adding an Environment

For environments, you definitely want to check out Stonemason. His environments are not only great looking, but they are also very well created, so that navigation is smooth and rendering is fast in Daz Studio.

Environments also usually categorized under the Environments option as well as under Props (look at Props >> Architecture or Props >> Landscape).

Sometimes, clicking on an environment will cause it to want to over-write our existing scene. One interesting trick I discovered is to right click on the environment tile instead. This will open up a drop-down menu, and we can pick the Merge Into Scene option to merge our selected environment into our existing scene.

Some people prefer to render the figure separately, and then combine it with various backgrounds later on, by using image manipulation software such as Photoshop or GIMP.

Indeed, this was the process I used in the past because it allows for very rapid prototyping. However, it restricts the use of interesting camera angels, shadows, and lighting.

Merging an environment into our existing scene.

2. Posing

To pose a figure, simply
1. Select the figure in the Scene panel on the right of our interface.
2. Click on the Pose and Animate tab at the top
3. Select the Poses >> By Function category in our Smart Content pane.
4. Double click on a pose tile to apply it to our selected figure.

To zero out the pose of a figure,
1. Select the figure in the Scene panel.
2. Select Edit menu from the top of the Daz Studio interface.
3. Then select Figure >> Zero >> Zero Figure Pose.

There are also options for zeroing out the figure shape, or zeroing out only particular parts/items of the figure. Zeroing-out a figure pose removes all pose applications on *all* the elements/children within the figure.

How to zero-out a figure pose.

For more unique renders, we can also compose multiple poses together.

Composed pose for Olympia figure – riding pose and archery pose. Fantasy art rendered in Daz Studio 4.6 Pro with simple distant and UE2 lights. Post-work in Photoshop.

3. Very Simple Lights

One of the things I absolutely love about Daz Studio is that I was able to light my scene really easily, even as a newbie.

The two lights that I used in the beginning are-
a) Distant Light

Creating a new distant light.

Distant lights have direction but no position, so they are very easy to use. The easiest way to understand a distant light is to consider sunlight. It has direction, but the sun is so far away, that for all intents and purposes, its light rays are parallel to each other from a given direction. That is what a distant light approximates – sunlight.

To create a distant light, we go to the Create menu up top, and select New Distant Light. Then, we simply change the direction of the distant light to illuminate different parts of our scene.

Fantasy art rendered in Daz Studio 4.6 Pro with Distant Lights and the UE2 light. Post-work in Photoshop.

b) Uber Environment2 Light

The main purpose of the Uber Environment light is to provide indirect lighting to our scene. There are many ways to provide indirect lighting or global illumination. The UE2 light uses image based lighting.

To add a UE2 light,
1. I click on the Lights & Cameras tab up top.
2. I select Lights >> Other in my Smart Content panel.
3. I right-click on the UberEnvironment2 Base tile, and select Merge Into Scene.

How to add an Uber Environment2 light.

4. I select the UE2 light in my Scene panel.
5. I go to Materials >> Lights on my Smart Content pane, and then double click on one of the tiles to apply it to my UE2 light. This applies an image to our UE2 sphere.

Apply environment map to our UE2 light sphere.

For more on UE2 lights, refer to-

• Beginning Help with Uber Environment 2.
• UberEnvironment2 User Guide.

Like distant lights, UE2 does not need a position. We can rotate the UE2 sphere to change the lighting from its environment map. However, for my early simple scenes, that is not really necessary.

Many of my early Daz Studio renders uses just one or two distant lights, and a UE2 light. I then do some post-work in Photoshop to adjust contrast, brightness, saturation, and more.

This image won the Daz PC monthly contest in December 2013. I started learning Daz Studio the month before, in November.