Meet Paul G – DAZ Studio Wizard Of Details
You’ve seen his amazing art month after month, with several 1st prizes in our Dreamlight 3D Club Monthly Gallery Contest. His amazing attention to detail has shocked us several times, and it’s time to ask this incredible DAZ Studio artist… HOW?
Dreamlight: What got you started with 3D?
Paul G.: Actually, it was a bit weird. About two years ago I thought of 3D printing for my second hobby: miniature slot cars, scale 1/32. When I started to create Characters in DAZ Studio 3D, I was so fascinated about all the possibilities and creativity there, that I never managed to print a 3D character since. However, I certainly have to reactivate that project and use the new 3D printing capabilities of DAZ and Photoshop.
Dreamlight: What is your educational background / your job in real life?
Paul G.: I started as an audio engineer more than 20 years ago. After some jobs with live concerts and in sound studios I had some jobs in TV stations. First for sound recordings, but after a while I started editing videos too. At that time with tape machines, but after few years I started with nonlinear editing on my first AVID Media Composer. For these jobs I had to use Photoshop and After Effects as well. And of course, I also learned a lot about cameras and lighting. For me this seems to be a perfect background for 3D animation as well.
Dreamlight: Is there anything that inspires you the most?
Paul G.: There is inspiration everywhere. In real world when I study people, objects and light. Certainly, other peoples work and pictures or photography inspires me a lot. And sometimes even new DAZ products make me think of new projects.
Dreamlight: Do you prefer certain software over others?
Paul G.: I started with 3D in DAZ, because it was free software. Actually, I invested a lot in characters, clothing and props since then, but I still like the way DAZ works. Especially the way of bending/shaping characters and give them expressions to body and face is fantastic. I made some steps in Hexagon, but I would need more time for creating my own props. For postwork I use Photoshop CC. I tried GIMP once, but the possibilities and usability in Photoshop is so much better.
Dreamlight: What PC do you use?
Paul G.: I first started with DAZ on a Windows Tablet. That worked quite well for the first time, but I decided to do renders at least in 4k resolution. Obviously, this was not much fun on a dual core Tablet. So I collected all my Christmas money and bought a used HP Z800, Dual-Hexcore / 48 GB RAM from the UK. Even with this machine rendering with these high resolutions takes it’s time, but it is much more fun. And working with this machine was really worth it.
Dreamlight: Could you share some of your favorite ways of working with our readers?
Paul G.: I take very much care of shaping and posing of my characters in DAZ. Give them their expressions there and do the lighting. I render several light sets for one image and layer them all in Photoshop. There I can really balance all the lights and correct things. I would say the real mood of the image develops in Photoshop.
Dreamlight: Any advice you want to pass on?
Paul G.: Never stop learning.Keep the fun and build a little bit of your own reality in 3D.
If you want to see more of Paul G’s amazing DAZ Studio 3D art, head over to his DAZ 3D gallery HERE.
– Val Cameron
P.S. For the first time ever, Paul G is revaling exactly how he makes his images, including the mysterious “clothing trick”–in this new video tutorial for our Jolt Series. Check it out HERE and save big on all Jolt Series tutorials. (Offer Valid Through March 20)
Happily sharing how to create great 3D & 2D art in DAZ Studio, Lightwave and Photoshop, Val Cameron, CEO and founder of Dreamlight, has been coaching and mentoring hundreds of thousands of artists since 2005. Bestselling DAZ 3D vendor with over 230+ video tutorials, plug ins and light sets.
I loved the interview.