Mirrors and reflections provide a fascinating aspect to artwork, both in the use of character-based scenes and landscapes. There are a number of shaders, scripts, and props that work really well when working with reflections in a scene. In this community-based tutorial, we share tips, recommended resources, and artwork that use reflections as a primary element.
This community session includes ten artists using DAZ Studio, Poser, Carrara, Mojoworld, and VUE.
How to set up a primitive with reflective surfaces in Iray
Challenges and tips for using reflections in Poser
Smooth water reflections in DAZ Studio
Using the Reflection Designer scripts for DAZ Studio
Artwork created with Iray Glassworx
Reflections in a character's eyes
Water reflections in environments
Glass reflections
Helmet visor reflections
Bonus Tutorial: Light Effects, Properties, and Types
Have you ever been confused about the different lighting terms used in computer graphics? Ever wondered a little more about the science of light?
Terms such as volumetric light, diffraction, and subsurface scattering are explained here, and this tutorial will help those who have struggled with these lighting terms and more. We'll also go into some of the science of light to give a fuller background on the subject and talk about the most common light types we see used in 3D graphics applications such as DAZ Studio.
Video 1 : Reflections Community workshop : 1 hour and 16 minutes
00:00 introduction
00:01 Primer on two types of reflection
00:02 Question on night time reflections on glass
00:02 Karen Williams : Lightening, Day and Night scenes with glass.
00:08 Using the idea of a mirror to transform a character.
00:10 Fain – Cyberpunk artwork scene – Setting up a primitive plane as a mirror
00:15 Turning a surface into a glass like material using Iray
00:20 Kathleen Sibo : challenges using reflections in Poser for props.
00:22 Reflections in Carrara.
00:25 Reflections in a spacesuit helmet visor. Firefly tips for reflections.
00:29 Displacement or bump settings allow adjustment for quality of water reflections.
00:30 Leyla Munteanu : smooth water reflections in DAZ Studio
00:35 DAZ character reflected in multiple mirrors.
00:41 Mike Bonafede : Girl on a train – reflection in carriage window.
00:45 Pablo Stendjian : Reflection in a character's eyes.
00:49 Trevor Hancock – using Iray Glassworx
00:50 Wet glass, two sided glass, frosted glass
00:52 Using the Reflection Designer script : picking which elements to reflect.
00:58 Vassago using Poser : reflection in a character's eyes.
01:04 Bob Keck using VUE – Reflections in postwork.
01:06 The crystal cube
01:09 Helmet visor reflections
01:11 Reflection on wet surfaces
01:12 Paul Bussey's Mojoworld artwork including a volumetric world.
Video 2 : Light Effects, Properties and Types Explained: 1 hour 24 minutes
Light Effects
Reflection
Refraction
Caustics
Translucency
Shadow
Light Properties
Mood
Colour
Intensity
Decay
Light Types
Point light
Spot light
Area light
Directional light
Volumetric light
