Texturing With DAZ Studio
Applying and modifying textures on a 3D model in DAZ Studio is relatively simple, with only a few minor quirks, which we'll explain below.
Setting up the interface
The tool you'll need to apply textures is not included in the default interface layout that installs with the program, so your first step is to add the Surfaces Tab to your interface. As shown at right, go to the View menu, select Tabs, and then Surfaces. The Surfaces control will appear as a floating palette. You can either leave it as such (move it away from your main image window), or you can dock this palette with the main tool display on the left side of the screen. Dragging and dropping docks the palette. Note that it is rather hard to un-dock, once in place.
To use the Surfaces control, you first need to select an object that has surfaces for texturing. Do this by selecting the Scene tab, which should be visible somewhere on the left side of your screen, and clicking on the entry for rocket_2, which is our rocket model. When you do this, the display in the Surfaces control should change.
Assigning the initial Diffuse texture.
Applying textures
Notice that there are several tabs in the Surfaces tool. The first two are labeled Basic and Advanced. To set a texture for the Diffuse channel, you need only the Basic tab. The Bump and Displacement channels (not to mention a few others you might want to try) are available only from the Advanced tab, so we'll go there eventually. However, we start with the Basic tab and the first channel displayed there, Color | Diffuse. Remember, we use this channel for ordinary, 2D effects such as paint and skin. To set a map for Diffuse, click in the box labeled None, as shown at right. In the pop-up that appears, choose Browse, and navigate to one of your Diffuse textures.
Advanced tab under Surfaces.
This image can be located anywhere on your system. Since your output for this assignment is a graphic, not a textured model, I do not need access to your texture files. However, if you were building a textured model for a game, you would probably need to put the texture into a particular directory. Most game engines require this.
When all your textures are in place, select Render Settings from the Render menu. Set the Pixel Dimensions to 500 and 500. In the Render To area, click the radio button for New Window. Click the Render button at the bottom of the dialog, and you're in business.
Once your image is rendered, select Save Last Render from the File menu. Remember to save as a JPEG.
Quirks: modifying texture files
The instructions above will serve just fine if you simply want to assign textures and render. However, if you want to pull a test render for a texture on which you are still working, you need to wrestle with a quirk or two in DAZ Studio.
Let's say you rendered your rocket with a big American flag on the fuselage, then decide to replace it with a picture of a cute kitten. You open your texture file in Photoshop, make the change, collapse your layers, save as a JPEG, using the original file name.
When you render your rocket, you'll still see the flag, not the kitten. For some reason, Studio does not update texture graphics when you edit them in Photoshop. (There's a command in the interface called Update images, but it has no effect on textures.)
There are two solutions for this problem, neither ideal, but both workable. First, you could save each edited version of your texture graphic with a slightly different name. In Studio, go back to the Surfaces tool and re-assign your new image to the appropriate channel. Or, you could re-open your current Scene file in studio (e.g., rocket_0_working.daz). After you do this, you may have to re-assign the texture in question with the Surfaces tool, though it's possible you'll see your change the second time around.
Studio is a bit unpredictable here. If you can't get a modified texture to appear, try quitting and re-launching Studio. That works every time for me.
More quirks: moving scene files
While we're discussing quirks and limitations, here's another problem you may encounter.
DAZ Studio does not seem to map file dependencies very well. This probably means that if you move your textured model from your home computer to a thumb drive, Studio won't be able to find your textures when you open the relocated file. You can avoid the problem by doing all your work on your thumb drive. Scenes and textures that grow together, stay together.
When DAZ Studio can't find textures, it refuses to open your model. This really sucks. If it happens, however, you can always re-open rocket_0.daz and re-apply your textures. Studio will re-map dependencies in this case. You may have to reconstruct any settings you used in texture channels from memory. You get what you pay for, friends.
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