Hello everyone, I’ve been experimenting with some 3D character software that I used over 20 years ago. Combining it with my BeamNG Screenshots and with the help of Photoshop, compositing the 3D figure to create something different. There needs to be far more research and knowledge on my part to be able to export these figures in a suitable format from the 3D software so it can be directly imported and placed into BeamNG as a 3D object for that extra creative visual. If the experts have time to add information on how to effectively add a character to BeamNG, if there is a good Tutorial, feel free to add it below in this thread. I have spent a few weeks looking at You Tube videos trying to get the character in the below screenshot into BeamNG, but this seems far more difficult than I thought...lol Thanks to 'ffzero58' for adding clarification to the complexity of importing Daz3D characters into BeamNG, as it seems problematic at best and not for the beginner (myself...lol)....the response from 'ffzero58' is in post '#58' ...so my direction is clear now...continue my journey as I have already started Below BeamNG Screenshot Composite with the 3D Droid Figure purchased from Daz3D Shop I liked the juxtaposition of the old 'High Tech' car vs the 'Future High Tech' human. Below is BeamNG Screenshot before. Below Daz3D Software program with posed, lighting added and rendered Droid Figure before exporting. Set up for this screenshot is a work a round procedure by previsualising the end result, posing and lighting the 3D character in Daz3D software program, rendering the character image then exporting the rendered image as a .png for that clear background and easy compositing into another image. Once in Photoshop, open the BeamNG screenshot which usually has been in the magical 'World Editor' adding extra lighting for effect, composite the 3D Figure and add the grounding shadows in the usual Photoshop way. The Daz3D Standard Base program is Free to download and has ready-made 3D models and kits for characters, environments & props which you can purchase from vendors in the 'Daz Shop'...possibly much like any Sim / Game that has paid Mods. Just trying something new...so much to do, so much to see, only in BeamNG
Just playing around with some more compositing with BeamNG screenshots and Daz3D 3d Figures. Set up a Police scene this time in BeamNG, added extra lighting within the scene using the awesome 'World Editor'. Figuring out a good workflow by having the final BeamNG screenshot open in Photoshop and the 3D program Daz3D open with the character posed, then adjusting the lighting and colors to suit within Daz3D. Below screenshot showing this in action...having aTriple Screen set up has some extra advantages. Final composite screenshot below....The future of 'Law Enforcement'
"Are you the Droid I'm looking for".....continuing my BeamNG screenshot character inclusion, using the D-Series from a future update from JAVI Below is the original screenshot from BeamNG with some 'World Editor' magic....extra lighting within the Warehouse before the characters were added.
"Taking a Break....Time to Reboot".....continuing my BeamNG screenshot character inclusion. Below is the original screenshot created within BeamNG.
'I am UNIQUE" Original BeamNG screenshot below with some extra magic from 'World Editor" Screenshot below showing the extra 9 Light sources added for this scene in 'World Editor' Continuing my journey through BeamNG and I would have to say BeamNG in combination with World Editor is most inspirational creative screenshot tool in a Sim that I have ever come across (at time of this post) --- Post updated --- "2077 International Car Show" Trying out a futuristic scene in the fantastic BeamNG 'Showroom' Below BeamNG original screenshot.....as it was un-edited in Game
"Say Hello to my little Friend"...thoroughly enjoying this series of screenshots, for me personally it's the next level. I always try to do as little Editing as possible in Photoshop, mainly just the 'Grounding Shadows' on any Characters standing on ground zone and the rest spending considerible time in the magical 'World Editor' adding extra lighting and adjusting brightness / exposure for effect. Below is the original screenshot ...and the 'World Editor' screenshot showing the added lights below
Just thinking out loud Having fired up Daz3D 3D character software again for posing / lighting and rendering the added Characters / Droids in my above artwork screenshots. Would providing a reliable workflow for importing the Daz3D content into BeamNG be feasible as I see it this would be a great direction for the future. BeamNG has motion with the likes of 'Crash Frontier', 'FrisEris' 'Crash Hard' and many others producing amazing Movie like content. Would being able to add in Characters such as those from Daz3D?....possibly adding the Human element to the Movie creations. Not sure about the complexity of this....easy to suggest something not knowing if it is feasible or not I am thoroughly enjoying adding these characters to my screenshots, as above, as I see it as the next level in the creative flow.....although I'm only using Photoshop to composite the characters in it has sparked more creative juices to flow....so to speak. Daz3D Promo Video below for inspiration. The Base 'Daz3D' program is free to download, much like Blender, but does not have the extra workflow as the above Daz3D Premier shows.
I did a little messing around adding statues of Sonic characters into BeamNG back in around 2019~20 although it didn't end up turning into much, perhaps they looked a little too out of place in BeamNG since they're a little more 'cartoony' (although I went as far as to scale them to reasonably correct heights) and I have since deleted them. However, I ended up doing something similar again very recently, what with the PBR materials and a small library of seemingly-random models I'd collected over the past few years, I suddenly felt motivated to throw some character mesh in game to use as a kind of set-dressing - this time being a very stylized rendition of Foxy the Pirate. In both cases, the character meshes were exported from Blender as a .dae and then imported into BeamNG as static world objects, just as any building or road sign, requiring minimal work besides assigning materials. Although, they aren't posable unfortunately since they're static objects, and can look a bit weird if you take multiple photos since they hold the same pose all the time - a work around would be to import multiple static poses and swap them out as you need them (assuming you have the ability to pose the original mesh) but that could become tedious if you have a lot of poses. Personally, I had considered making a character mesh into a prop with selectable poses in the parts menu and the ability to position them without using the world editor (using the node-grabber or something maybe), but that'd definitely require a little more work and I'd need to do at least a little research into making props because that is something I've never properly done. There is also the possibility of importing characters as Unicycle meshes, as Angry_Bird, Vibestation 5, and some other users have but these aren't posable either and are tied to the, currently rather janky, player walking movements. Your images with the characters superimposed are already pretty good as they are, but I guess it would depend on how much work / time it could potentially save (or require) in editing if you switch to using character meshes that are actually in game. Perhaps I will look into this a little more seriously myself when I have the time.
Thank you for your insite 'BrynCoops', much appreciated. This sounds like there would be a considerible amount of work and these characters I'm using have many, many elements to them....so based on that I am quite happy to carry on with my composite characters into my BeamNG screenshots and get them to a logical conclusion. I spend anywhere from 2 - 6 hours on each and this will also depend on how long the 'Render' time of each character takes....thoroughly enjoy that BeamNG has the capibilities in World Editor to add extra lighting for effect, so I do not mind spending what may be excessive amounts of time to get the screenshots...lol 'Sector....Secure Miss' Original BeamNG screenshot below with some 'World Editor' magic
'Citizen, leave sector immediately....10 seconds to comply' Original BeamNG screenshot below with added lighting within World Editor before characters are added within Photoshop I always try to get all lighting finalised in World Editor for the screenshot and matching lighting within Daz3D for the characters so there is only 'Grounding Shadows to add in the final screenshot rendition....the additional Photoshop work was the 'Booster Flames' on the Police Robot World Editor lighting screenshot
. Thank you for your kind words 'Barbent Servo GT' The answer is these Mods are avaialble from the Daz3D Shop, they are Paid products which you have to purchase....Google 'Daz3D'...and these products require the Daz3D program (Free to Download) to pose, light and then render the characters for export so I can then compose them in my final BeamNG screenshot once in Photoshop. I try to get all the lighting for the BeamNG screenshot matching what lighting I use in Daz3D to render the characters...as above post. Have a look above at my 'Post #9' for the Daz3D Premier promo video to get an idea of what it does. The Daz3D Standard Base program is Free to download, (much like 'Blender') and has ready-made 3D models and kits for characters, environments & props which you can purchase from vendors in the 'Daz Shop'...possibly much like any Sim / Game that has paid Mods.
'Warp Drive installed, Little Miss' Below screenshot with added lighting in World Editor...same workflow procedure as above posts.
Thank you for showing some interest 'coolcarguy'...yes I do generally post in the 'Community Screenshots', however images do get lost very quickly with everyone else posting their awesome screenshots there as well....lol 'THE JUDGE, Jury and Executioner' Original BeamNG screenshot below with some magic from World Editor. I am slowly getting into the rhythm with a 'Workflow Procedure' and have started doing a quick 'Print Screen' Test shot and then placing the low res character into the scene within Photoshop. This is to test lighting of the character, perspective and horizon line, BEFORE hitting the 'Render' button, as the render can sometimes take an hour per character...on my potato low spec PC Screenshot below showing the initial character before Gun was added...also decided to mirror the character as the Gun was in the right place. I generally have both Photoshop with the final BeamNG screenshot and Daz3D open at the same time so I can also see the lighting that needs to be created in Daz3D etc. Loving this experience....so much to do, so much to see...only in BeamNG.
IIRC, you also can put animations for inserted 3d model (must be rigged). Mixamo is one of the source.
Yes 'bitelaserkhalif'...I looked into this also awhile back....it's awesome that you can do this in BeamNG. Still a reasonibly complicated procedure for the noob though (myself)...lol A great video showing this.
