NG Portrait Studio aims to be a resource for beginners to improve their lighting techniques, for intermediate and advanced users to have extra tools in their toolbox, and generally provide a visual and interactive experience in creating an indoor/portrait studio lighting set-up for DAZ Studio renders.
This comprehensive set comes equipped with everything you would need to complete your portrait renders. You provide the character, clothing, hair, and accessories, etc. Then it's time for NG Portrait Studio to help you set up the rest in creating a beautiful portrait render.
Choose your backdrop from various options depending on your spacing from the character. For the backdrops, you can customize the color, add LIE color variation and gradients, bump map textures, and roughness modifications to create a unique background. Or select the wall/baseboard and floor option with accompanying materials to create a realistic home/building setting. All backdrops are also set up so you can change tiling and apply your own seamless texture shaders easily.
Several common portrait studio props have been included. With multiple texture options, some for a new clean look, others for a worn well well-used look. A detailed stool which is height adjustable with an animated pose control, a height adjustable table, several apple box sizes, and several posing block sizes. You should be set for your character to interact with props. Note: Be on the lookout in the future for more poses to use these props with.
HDRI environment lights are grouped by number of light sources, and provide either a good starting point for low-light background lighting, or a strong specular highlight to reflect off the eyes or as a rim/kicker light behind your character. These are designed to be used with the included light emitters.
The light emitters are key to a well-lit scene. They are designed as rigged props which are easy to move freely, pivot/rotate from a pivot point for easy manipulation, and properties can be controlled on the "Emitter" surface settings. Presets have also been included to change intensity, temperature, and light color (gels). These lights cover a range from hard light emitters to soft light, ambient light producing, or utility lights for neat effects. What makes them extra unique is that a light "Target Crosshairs" conformer is provided, which works with every light (except the dome light) to show you in the viewport where your light is pointed/targeted. This is useful for interactive feedback when setting up lights that you don't want to parent/constrain to a target, but still want to see where it is pointing towards. No need to worry about hiding it before render, as it will not render, and you can even change the color in the surface settings.
Light Modifiers are also included to guide the light in your scene. Some work well to block light or reflect it, providing some fill light without an extra light emitter. Others will conform to some of the light emitters to block or change the shape of the light, directing it to where you'd like it to go.
All light emitters and modifiers can also be quickly changed into "ghost" lights or modifiers, making them invisible on render time (but will still create shadows, so be careful). Presets are provided to quickly activate or deactivate this option.
Several Camera presets and common dimension modifications have also been included. Many tone mapping option presets are also included to refine your image before rendering.
If that wasn't enough, also included are 50 scene subsets for you to use, edit for your own use or study to learn more about lighting set-ups. An 11-page PDF document will also help guide you in getting started if you are feeling apprehensive about lighting, and the tips will hopefully be useful in helping you set up your lighting in the future.
Note: all promotional images included here are direct renders with no post-work except to collage some together. No color corrections have been made besides tone mapping done in DAZ Studio pre-render.