Now you have the basics of adding shaders. I suggest you play around with it for a while and try them out on various items. Once you have started to get a feel for the effects three are several things you may want to start to use with the shaders.

The first and easiest way to change how a surface looks is by altering the lighting model all the way at the bottom of the surfaces tab. The best way to see what sort (if any) changes will be made to a surface is to try the different options.
 

With a bump map the computer projects what shadows and highlights would look like if the mesh went up or down there. A displacement map actually will change the shape of the mesh and then generate those shadows and highlights.

At this point you may want to adjust the strength of the bump map in one of two ways. You can change the percentage on the slider bar for strength or you can adjust the negative and the positive. 

Now you can do a test render to see how well you like the bump. Try a few different settings so you get a feel for how it works.

Using a displacement map (in most cases you just move the bump to displacement via the drop down arrow) is nearly identical to using a bump map. However be aware that because displacement moves the actual mesh you can warp the model to dramatically if you have the displacement set to high. Also keep in mind that negative displacement will push into the model and if it is set to high on say a clothing object then you may get unexpected poke through.

You can also add reflection to your surfaces via a map or ray traced reflections. Keep in mind that anything you add as a map will show on your surface exactly as it fits on the texture map of the object. It will not further warp or bend the reflection like nature would. Ray traced reflections are more realistic IF you have something in the scene to be reflected. A simple way to do this is to add a primitive plane behind your camera and located so that the object will reflect it. Just add the image you want on the plane as a diffuse setting in surfaces.


Using shaders can give you more flexibility with products you already own. Not every model you have will work well with them. Much depends on how they were initially modeled. Some will be very dependent on the bump or displacement map that was initially created for the object. However many items of clothing and props can be changed to give your renders a wholly unique look.

Next is bump maps or displacement maps. The reason we didn't do any of the shaders with pre-attached maps is the lack of tiling in Daz./Studio unless you're using a plug in. That means that the effects you get are going to be more variable and somewhat more limited. We have however included several simple maps that you can add if you want to try them. Also consider using the original bump or displacement map that came with the product.

Step 1: Go back to the surfaces tab and reselect some or all of the materials you applied the shader too depending on the effect your looking for.
Step 2: Add a bump map via the drop down arrow.