In case you haven't yet noticed, DS can keep adding light sets to a scene, unlike Poser, which basically REPLACES the current light set with the new one.

The DAZ Studio approach, at least in the Alpha, will add the new light set and the effect often is a HIGHER light level in the scene, depending on what type of lights and where they are pointing.

In this Pool In The Forest example, the cyclorama lights are hitting just the backdrop, while the new light just handles a small center light function. I added just one more spot light set on a low fill level just to brighten up the outside of the gazebo a little.

DS POINT LIGHTS are the newest angle added to the Poser scene lighting mix and are more familiar to people who use Vue or Bryce (or other high-end software).

(DS POINT LIGHTS are the newest angle added to the Poser scene lighting mix and are more familiar to people who use Vue or Bryce (or other high-end software). ) Or those that use freeware, such as POV-Ray. Much better setup than Posers lights.

Nice lighting Veritas! Speaking of lights, when you adjusted your light levels did you find a way to limit how far a light illuminates as you can with e.g. Vue? I did not find such a feature with DS spotlights but maybe missed it.

I don't think that's in there yet. I love playing with lighting, but DS has what I would call good lights but so far only basically implimented. You can't yet soften the edge of a spotlight, etc. The shadows in DS can be very nice however and I know the 3delight rendering engine is just barely being tapped into. For people who have Bryce or Vue, they are going to LOVE using Daz Studio! A lot of "wish list" things like- importing Poser lights (which you cannot do in Bryce or Vue) is already implimented in DS. DS delivers a softer look than Bryce, somewhat more like Vue, AND has full Poser file imports (ALL of them!) But Pz3 is still buggy in this Alpha version. I think DAZ Studio is going to deliver some of the BEST features of Vue (without E-On's Plants- so far) but with a rendering engine that is more like Lightwave, 3D Studio MAX or Maya. Remember- DS can do straight Poser like scenes- AND do Ray-Tracing! This opens up things like beautiful Bryce and Vue water and sky-cloud scenes. E-On already has software like this for Lightwave- so it is conceivable that they might create a software plug-in for Daz Studio as well. I've already found that other 3D plant and tree models import well into DS- so you are looking a COMPLETE rendering environment-PLUS Cel-Shade and HDRI Plug-ins that Vue will not be able to match with its rendering engine (same problem Bryce has had). Daz Studio has a GREAT FUTURE, I think. I'm very excited about it and think others will be too once the software goes into Beta and the initial bugs get ironed-out.

Sounds great. Hoping things work out like you say. I like DS a lot already, much more atmosphere than Poser.

"a rendering engine that is more like Lightwave, 3D Studio MAX or Maya" No, 3Delight follows a completely different approach (REYES) than the renderers you mention. While the REYES algorigthm certainly has its advantages like mostly superior subdivisions, displacements and very fast motion blur, it is not very efficient at ray tracing and other global illumination features. You can find a good explanation of the differences here, many of the things this article writes about PRMan are valid for 3Delight too (major exceptions are speed and global illumination - 3Delight lacks here compared to PRMan): http://www.zaon.org/showthread.php?threadid=299

Hi Veritas, You seem to be very enthusiastic about DS. The lighting options seem to be great and the render engine not bad at all. Any ideas about render time and memory consumption. If I do a render with a lot of vegetation, the polycount will go up fast. Not a big problem fot Vue, when using Vue plants. By the way, thanks for making a render of my pavilion in DS (moved to warehouse yesterday). Until yet I played with Poser and Vue. Is DS already available for non-platinum members?

Yes- like that Pavilion! So many Pavilions-Gazebo's out there, but yours is my favorite. I had surprisingly little difficulty with rendering imported 3D plants- either untextured massive polygons arrays, or textured and transmapped items. Obviously VUE's strongest CARD is in it's SolidGrowth technology, and I bet they have maximized or tweaked their render engine to best suit it. Some of the best vegetation work-arounds are using RNDA-Traveler-TransPond plant sets. They are EXCELLENT for using in Daz Studio, and render very fast. My work-around with Vue plants will be to render backgrounds and alpha-plane plants and bring them into Daz Studio. The end result looks like a VUE render, but with hugely shortened render times. DS Render times are slower than Poser, but faster than Vue or Bryce, by far! Poser has a nice Phong render, but DS gives you the best of both Poser and Vue in MOST situations. Obviously there will always be some things BRYCE is extremely good at, and some that VUE is extremely good at, but overall Daz Studio makes an excellent all-around middle ground for most rendering projects.

Great article Stewer, thanks for the link.