Quote - > Quote - > Quote - I have a question on backgrounds....

In the Freebie section of Renderosity, a background is often referred to as a "planar" so is this different from a background for Poser?

And can Poser backgrounds also be used in D4?

Thanks.

R

I think planars are actually just images that can be used as the background of whatever scene you are creating, as opposed to the skydomes that come with certain product packages for DS and Poser. The planars will be in one of several formats, such as .bmp, or .jpeg.

I have use some of my own photos, backgrounds I created in Bryce, and photos or background images I downloaded from the internet. It would seem to me that any image you can import into the scene could be called a Planar. Of course if you use an image in this way, you need to make sure you know the aspect ratio of the image in order to set that as your rendering aspect ratio. This will prevent distortion of the background image. I like to use a 16:9 aspect ratio. This will fit most wide screen monitors.

If you want to try this, let me know and I will gather all of my information on how to do it and post it for you. One thing I will tell you now: you can use any image you can find in this way, as long as it is in a format that DS or Poser can recognize. If the image is in a format not recognized by DS or Poser, there are several good programs available that can be used to convert the image to the correct formats. Some of these are probably already on your computer. Others are free to download, or you can purchase one of them if you prefer.

Agent, thank you so much. 

That is a good help to me in understanding this better.

Yes, I would appreciate you sending the information you mentioned to help me in this.   I seem to do images with no background and I would like to try to improve this.

I have a related question I think... In Daz 4 the background is default white. Can this be changed to black or gray, and if so, how is it done?

Again, thank you so much.

Randy 

Okay, here is how this works:

Make sure that the Actors, Wardrobe & Props tab at the top of your work window is the active one. Active tabs are darker in color.

Beneath the tab title you will see a series of icons. Hovering over them with your mouse will cause a small label to appear that tells you what can be done if you click on that icon.

Click on the icon that looks like a sun and mountain.

In the small window that appears, click on the bar next to the word Image. A drop down box appears.

Click on the word Browse in this drop down box. A window will appear that lets you navigate to anywhere on your computer.

 If you know where the image you wish to use is located, go to it and click on it. The image will appear in your scene.

The original small window will still be open. Click on the Accept button if you want to keep this image as your background. If you wish to change it, click the Image bar again and browse to find another image to replace the first one. When you are satisfied, click on accept. If you do not want to use any images at this time, click on the cancel button.

If the image you wish to use will not load into the scene, it is probably not in a format that DAZ Studio can use. To get around this, I suggest a separate program that you can import the image into which will allow you to save it as either a .bmp or .jpeg format. There are others that DAZ Studio recognizes, but these are the most common formats I have found useful.

Some good programs that can be used to convert the format of an image are listed below:

1. Microsoft Office PowerPoint – if you have any version of this program, it is excellent for this purpose. I suggest creating a PowerPoint file just for this task. You can set the size, aspect ratio, and several other things in this program; and there is even a way to create images. To save images in a desired format in a separate folder, use the Save As feature.

2. Photo Shop – I do not know much about this program, but from what I gather, it is also an excellent one to use for this purpose. There is post production work that can be done as well, and you can use it to create or alter materials.

3. Gimp – This is much like Photo Shop with similar tools. I have Gimp 2, which is free to download. Like Photo Shop, it can be used for post production work, and material creations and alterations.

Now to address the other question you posted. Yes, you can change the scene viewport default color. Here is how:

At the top of the scene viewport on the right side you will see a small icon with a tiny triangle and four horizontal lines. Hovering over it will cause a textbox to appear that has “Options: Display the Viewport Options” in it. Click on the icon.

In the drop down box that appears click on Change Background Color.

A window will appear with the familiar colors table in it. Choose the color you want and click on the OK button.

Your background color in the viewport is now the color you have chosen.

I hope this helps. Let me know how you do, and don't be afraid to ask questions about anything you do not understand concerning this explanation.

Agent 0013.