I am new to daz 3d and looking for some help and advice if possible, from the attached pic I cannot figure out how to make metal things look like metal instead they just look so flat. the other thing is how do I or can i create shadows

many thanks in advance to any help or advice

To change the apperance of materials you have to edit the shaders for those materials. Metal is a rather complex material so you will need to experiement a bit. Click on the "Surface" tab and select the advanced version, that will give you access to all the parameters for a given material. You want to probably read a bit about shader definition, there are several books available.

Shadows are enabled at the light level. What kind of lights do you have in the scene? If you used the default ambient light of Studio then you need to switch to using real lights.. Given your scene I think that a simple spotlight, possibly at the top right of the camera view would work. Once you add the light and you have it positioned correctly, click on it in the Scene tab and go to the Parameters tab and enable the shadows. Start with the "Shadow buffer" type, which gives you a soft edge.

The first rule of adding a light is that the first light should create shadows. That is what adds depth and interest in the scene. Other lights should be added only for a reason. Keep it simple. What you want to obtain is a separation between the subject and the scene.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for your advice and help, I have been looking at forums etc on making reflections but does not seem to work too well on these objects, or maybe because im so new at this.  the lighting was a pre set one but will look more into that.

again thank you

There's an excellent set of free shaders, including metal shaders, here:

http://www.sharecg.com/v/27568/gallery/Material-and-Shader/Ultimate-Shader-Pack-for-DAZ-Studio

Also look at these for some Gold, Brass and Copper shaders. Easy to use.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/tutorial/index.php?tutorial_id=2313

http://www.sharecg.com/v/36033/Material-and-Shader/Brass-and-Copper-Metals-Finish

Is the background a prop or an image? You can't cast shadows onto a background image, and reflections won't pick a background image up. For reflections you really need to have something in your scene (and lit) - even some primitives roughly blocking out an interior, with a spotlight or two shining on them, placed behind the camera will help. For shadows you need either a shadow catcher (pwCatch, or build your own with Shader Mixer if you hae DS Advanced or are still in the initial 30 day use of DS Free) or at least a real floor.

in daz for metalics... in the surfaces tab advanced options:

try setting the diffuse at light grey,

the glossiness a darker grey at around 60% glossiness...

and ambient at 100% and black... for your metal sufaces

it may produce a more "metalic" shine... then add a relection map at around 15% strength... it may get you somewhere towards what you are looking for... also try using the metalic surface setting in the area for surface qualities at the bottom of the advanced options... it may take some experimenting... but i've gained some decent metalics this way