A very cool set of Poser / Keyshot renders by David Constantine…
The workflow is…
1. Export a posed character as a FBX (DAZ) or Collada (Poser) file.
2. Import to Keyshot and stand your character against your chosen background.
3. Apply the background’s matching HDR light.
4. Render.
Keyshot is blindingly quick at rendering, at least with single objects against a 2D background. Keyshot ships with a range of background images that have matching HDR lights. These lights help the objects look as though they belong in the scene (as you can see above).
Sadly Keyshot is aimed at engineers and commercial product-photography people, rather than hobbyists, and so costs $1,000. Which does at least mean it’s blissfully simply to use, and can be fully learned in an hour. This is because it’s designed for those who are unfamiliar with 3d software, and who run screaming from the crazy complexities of software such as Blender. But the cost of Keyshot will put off many. It’ll cost even more, if you want an add-on HDR Light Studio pipeline (the latest version of this can apparently make a matching HDR from any background that you feed it).
Still… Keyshot is certainly one to consider, if you’re looking for a tax write-off and you want an alternative render engine for still images of Poser figures.
Carrara 8
. DAZ Studio's big sister. DAZ's professional 3D application. Carrara
loads DAZ and Poser characters and scenes!
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Not exactly on the subject, but you people in normal, functional countries have tax write-off for the software you buy!?
Yes, if you run a business. The cost of buying your tools can be set against your profits, so you end up paying less tax.
Update: if you have the latest version of Keyshot Pro, then you now probably don’t need HDR Light Studio. Very similar features are now included with the new iteration of the Pro version of Keyshot.