Genesis Custom-Dialed Character Contest (WIP/Discussion thread - now with results posted!)

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Comments

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    DaremoK3 said:
    Hey Scott,

    I wanted to enter the image below with a character I created for the October (It is Halloween themed) Freebie Challenge (not entered), but I ran into a couple of issues regarding the rules when I was checking all the data:

    1. I can't find the texture info for a link. It is an old V4 Zombie Texture that I believe was a freebie I picked up somewhere. Possibly ShareCG, but I can no longer locate, and fear it might not be available any longer.

    2. I used (free) included version of Michael 4 Clone converted to M4 Shape via D3D's DSF Toolbox, as opposed to the purchased M4 Shape. Can I link to DSF Toolbox for this resource link instead with notation?

    3. I created a couple of custom morphs (just two), and I read that if I upload them as attainable freebies I can list them, so I will do this if you will accept my entry if the first two issues can be resolved.


    The image was already rendered (DS Pro) a while back, and minor post work used to composite layers rendered, and new cropping.

    *Title:

    "Mmmm... Brownies"


    *Character Name:

    "Brownie Monster" (Sesame Street has the Cookie Monster, so I present the Brownie Monster. I know, not as cute...)


    Cool creature! To help you resolve your issues...

    1. You should link to the texture used if at all possible. But if you can't find the link, and include what information you know (as you have done in your post), and otherwise follow the contest rules, I would allow the entry.

    2. Yes, that sounds fine.

    3. Correct, if you upload them as freebies you can use them.

    As far as it being an old render is concerned, if you did not previously post this image, you can use it, but if you did post it elsewhere, you should re-render the scene with minor changes at least. (If you did previously post the render, but you feel that your recent postwork changes should qualify this is a new image, can you send me a link to the older posted image?)

  • DisparateDreamerDisparateDreamer Posts: 2,491
    edited December 1969

    i have a problem... all my morphs aren't really split under headings... such as, all the aiko + morphs i loaded into genesis... and such...they are all just clumped in morphs. I really am not sure how to separate each set of morphs. :(

  • SasjeSasje Posts: 835
    edited June 2013

    0.58 Lip Full 0.87 Upper Lip Shape
    1.00 Baby Fat 0.79 Cheek Bones
    0.54 Nose Shape Round -0.067 Nose Wide African
    0.036 Lager Lips 0.22 Face Round
    0.70 Face Smooth 1 0.46 Pouty Lips
    0.27 Shape Mouth 2 0.21 Thinner Nose
    0.58 Lower Lip Devine 1.00 Baby Fat 2
    0.20 British -0.15 Reduce Nose Ridge
    -0.32 Scale Mouth -0.67 Shot Nose
    0.54 Young Face -0.27 Adj Under Nose
    -0.39 African 0.58 Lip Puff
    -0.20 Nose Center Broad -0.46 Nose Tip Define 1
    0.21 Eyes Down 0.46 African Female A
    0.26 African Female A Up 0.29 African Female B
    0.63 Mouth Width 1.00 Eyes Depth
    -0.21 Eyes Width -0.35 Nose Height
    1.00 Nose Width -0.036 Eyes Size
    1.00 EyesLid Bottom in Height 0.31 Eyelid Bottom Out Height

    I hope I’ve got everything

    Used Genesis Basic Child
    Photoshop only for the Contrast.

    Skin Texture is Jade for The Kids 4 (here in Daz shop)

    morph_contest_african_child.jpg
    800 x 1035 - 374K
    Post edited by Sasje on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited June 2013

    i have a problem... all my morphs aren't really split under headings... such as, all the aiko + morphs i loaded into genesis... and such...they are all just clumped in morphs. I really am not sure how to separate each set of morphs. :(

    Yeah, I know...I wish there was some sort of "Product View" for the Shaping tab, or some other easy method of figuring out the source of a specific morph. For your contest entry, it's helpful but not necessary to separate the morphs. If you just list them as they appear (like in Laticis's example) that's fine.

    I do ask that you list the products you used in the creation of your character, but if you can't remember if a morph came from Product A or Product B that's certainly understandable. Actually if you ask in the WIP someone else might recognize the morph(s) and be able to identify the source of them. In that case a screenshot may be helpful, as morphs from some morph sets have a distinctive color or icon.

    @Sasje: Nice one! :)

    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • cecilia.robinsoncecilia.robinson Posts: 2,208
    edited December 1969

    Excuse me, can we make some postwork after rendering the character? For instance, in order to speed up the rendering process, one would like to make a background scene, have it rendered and then render the character, which will be afterwards put into its place on the background. Is it okay?

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Excuse me, can we make some postwork after rendering the character? For instance, in order to speed up the rendering process, one would like to make a background scene, have it rendered and then render the character, which will be afterwards put into its place on the background. Is it okay?

    Yes, that's fine. From the rules:

    8. You may use any render engine and software of your choice, but you must mention in your entry post what software was used in creating the image. Postwork is welcome, but contestants who submit postworked images are encouraged to include a non-postworked version (raw render) as well for comparison purposes.

    Including the raw render as well is less important if the postwork doesn't affect the appearance of the character, but it's optional in any case and the judges won't hold it against you if you only submit a postworked image.

    When you list the software you used, also list any software used for postwork.

  • cecilia.robinsoncecilia.robinson Posts: 2,208
    edited December 1969

    Thank you, Scott. Another question, if it's possible. What about premade backgrounds? DAZ Studio is a great tool for photomanipulators and I wonder if using such a background made of stock images with listing the stock providers is acceptable. I thought about a photomanipulated background as a backdrop for the characters.

  • scorpioscorpio Posts: 8,313
    edited December 1969

    Can I give screen shots of the parameters tab for the morph settings or do I have to type them up?
    Thanks

  • mrposermrposer Posts: 1,127
    edited December 1969

    Can we just keep track and list the shaping sliders we actually move ourselves... or do we need to list all the parameter sliders effected? For example if I dial in 5% Andrei... there are around 50 parameters that are effected like Freak5, thin, etc.

  • ZilvergrafixZilvergrafix Posts: 1,385
    edited December 1969

    Can I post "mega blessed" characters? ;-P
    Daz is very picky about this kind of figures, and I don't want to create a "reduced" version of some of mine's

    erochara.jpg
    824 x 1028 - 123K
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    @cecilia.robinson: It is fine to use a premade background (as long as you have permission to do so, of course--in other words, either you made the image or it is licensed for commercial use (my understanding is that a contest entry counts as a commercial use). You don't even need to tell us where you got it, although if you do I'm sure people would appreciate it. Basically, you have to list everything you used on the character (except for pose and expression), but other stuff is up to you.

    @scorpio64dragon: either is fine.

    @MrPoser: you can do it either way, but be consistent. The goal is to present the formula in such a way that would enable another user to re-create the character (if they own all the products you used, that is). If there are other dials effected that you're not listing because you didn't personally slide them, you could put something like: Andrei 5% (other morphs automatically affected by Andrei are not listed). Does this make sense?

    @zilvergrafix: as long as it doesn't violate the Terms of Service, it's fine with me. I'm not a moderator, so I can't offer an authoritative opinion on what does or doesn't break the TOS, but I believe that the render you posted is fine. Being able to push morphs to an extreme is certainly part of the fun of Genesis.

  • scorpioscorpio Posts: 8,313
    edited December 1969

    Thank you Scott-Livingston.
    I've posted an entry, let me know if I missed anything.

  • Lissa_xyzLissa_xyz Posts: 6,116
    edited June 2013

    i have a problem... all my morphs aren't really split under headings... such as, all the aiko + morphs i loaded into genesis... and such...they are all just clumped in morphs. I really am not sure how to separate each set of morphs. :(

    Yeah, I know...I wish there was some sort of "Product View" for the Shaping tab, or some other easy method of figuring out the source of a specific morph. For your contest entry, it's helpful but not necessary to separate the morphs. If you just list them as they appear (like in Laticis's example) that's fine.

    You can check morph packs by hitting the gear icon on the morph and checking the parameter settings. 9/10 times the path will be an indicator as to what pack it's from. Granted, that's a lot of work if you have loads of morphs.

    After time you also get familiar with what the dial looks like (if you're lucky enough to have packs that are customized), for instance, the sliders from Xena's morph packs are purple with a silvery star icon.
    The ethnicity morph pack you can usually tell by the names, African Male A, B, Asian Female A, B, etc.
    Hanspan's body morph kit 1 are all prepended with BF_, BreastsShape1-6,and gen-*.
    DieTrying's are easy as they're all in their own category.

    It goes on from there.

    Post edited by Lissa_xyz on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,571
    edited December 1969

    ...this really piques my interest as I tend to create many of my characters this way.

    I rarely purchase pre made characters unless they either come with a figure starter/pro bundle or have assets which the base figures do not have such as custom morphs for reduced breast size, more youthful facial lines, and petite physique (Thorne/Sarsa''s characters are great for this) or specific types of creatures (such as fey or humanoid alien). Several years ago I participated in a friendly challenge to create 7 - 10 year old child using pretty much only V4/A4 or M4/H4 (K4 hadn't been released yet) so putting hours and hours into adjusting and tweaking morphs is pretty much the norm for me.

    Genesis makes some of this a lot easier particularly if you have certain tools like GenX, the various legacy body shapes, the DSF Toolbox, an/or various merchant resource morph kits. By the same token, because one can more freely mix and match assets from almost any figure (even toon characters) it opens up so many more possibilities for designing original characters that one could spend days, weeks, even months on it.

    So, seeing this last night, i was fairly excited

    ...until I read this:

    The goal is to present the formula in such a way that would enable another user to re-create the character (if they own all the products you used, that is).

    Unfortunately, my best character examples are specific to a story I am working on and thus giving out the details of their creation is a, well, somewhat delicate situation. I have even received inquiries in the past for the morph settings and politely declined mentioning the above as well as they were concepts I developed before I became involved in 3D CG. I guess I could come up with just a one shot character, however much of my spare time has has already been taken up with learning new CG tools (like Reality/Lux, Blender, and SSS) as well as continuing to work on the story.

    ...we'll have to see.

  • DaremoK3DaremoK3 Posts: 798
    edited December 1969

    Thank you, Scott.

    No issue with previously posting this image. This WIP thread was first place ever posted, but I hope that posting here does not constitute a breach since this is my final I was trying to enter last night (would have been first entry into contest, giving me at least one first place title).

    If so, I can modify it slightly before official entry. Although, I would rather not.


    One other issue was brought up by you, though, that I need to investigate, and make sure everything is copacetic. You stated that contests are considered commercial ventures, and everything used must be for commercial use.

    All items used in my render were freebies, as it was for a freebie contest. I believe they all qualify, but I need to double check all the usage rights.

    Maybe the freebie challenge contests were governed by a different set of rules, because I don't remember the necessity of usage rights being an issue for entry. I could be mistaken. Regardless, I will double check my work.


    On another note, I will have to upload as freebies the custom morphs I created, because I tried modifying the creature without them which ruins it completely. It appears I created this creature out of my previous freebie challenge character I created (see image below).

    Can I at least get "brownie points" for turning this (image below) into the Brownie Monster? :

    JPM_Complete.jpg
    509 x 615 - 36K
  • DaremoK3DaremoK3 Posts: 798
    edited December 1969

    Now, can anyone please help with this product recognition?

    I only have the textures installed, and I don't know who created this product, or where it is from.

    I suspect it is a freebie I acquired either at ShareCG, or Rendo, but am at a loss, for it was a long time ago.

    The textures state " V4 Zombie Textures", but I believe it also included a custom morph (or mophs++ dialed formula) for turning V4 into a zombie.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Here is an image of the product that was included in the textures folder titled "ZOMBIE V4":

    ZOMBIE_V4.jpg
    558 x 592 - 29K
  • DaremoK3DaremoK3 Posts: 798
    edited December 1969

    scorpio64dragon:

    Love your entry. Those "natives" are quite outstanding. Great work all around.

  • zawarkalzawarkal Posts: 1,018
    edited December 1969

    question... I always understood that we could use personal use items in contests as we were not selling our image. Now you are saying that only commercial use items can be used. Is that just this contest or is their issues with all other contests also?

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited June 2013

    @Kyoto Kid: I can definitely relate...I've got some characters I'm personally attached to (I'm an aspiring writer also) whose formulas I'd hesitate to share, and I know how much work you've put into Leela, for example. Hope you can join the contest, even if it means making a new character rather than using an existing one. Otherwise, you're more than welcome to share your characters in the WIP thread, without revealing the formula.

    @DaremoK3 & Zawarkal: I'll try to get some clarification on the question of whether a contest entry constitutes commercial use...

    Update: Entering this contest is considered a commercial use.

    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • KatteyKattey Posts: 2,899
    edited December 1969

    Just some attempt of morph mixing.

    Mia.jpg
    867 x 928 - 214K
  • GreycatGreycat Posts: 332
    edited December 1969

    A long time dream of mine is to create a comic book. D/S genesis helped me to create what I think are some really good comic book characters. So far I’ve created somewhere close to 100 characters so here are three.
    Kat, Sam, and Tasha.

    Tasha_Test.jpg
    364 x 600 - 36K
    Sam_Test.jpg
    364 x 600 - 32K
    abby_test.jpg
    364 x 600 - 31K
  • GreycatGreycat Posts: 332
    edited December 1969

    Here are close up headshots.

    Natalia.jpg
    600 x 600 - 49K
    Sydney.jpg
    600 x 600 - 58K
    Abby.jpg
    600 x 600 - 41K
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,571
    edited December 1969

    @Kyoto Kid: I can definitely relate...I've got some characters I'm personally attached to (I'm an aspiring writer also) whose formulas I'd hesitate to share, and I know how much work you've put into Leela, for example. Hope you can join the contest, even if it means making a new character rather than using an existing one. Otherwise, you're more than welcome to share your characters in the WIP thread, without revealing the formula.

    ...Thank you.
  • ZilvergrafixZilvergrafix Posts: 1,385
    edited June 2013

    @Kyoto Kid: I can definitely relate...I've got some characters I'm personally attached to (I'm an aspiring writer also) whose formulas I'd hesitate to share, and I know how much work you've put into Leela, for example. Hope you can join the contest, even if it means making a new character rather than using an existing one. Otherwise, you're more than welcome to share your characters in the WIP thread, without revealing the formula.

    I know how it feels, Kyoto Kid, I've only shared Goccin settings with a few fellas, but she is A3, btw, I'm preparing my first entry to the Contest right now.

    Edit: Entry Submitted

    Post edited by Zilvergrafix on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,331
    edited December 1969

    Kyoto Kid said:

    So, seeing this last night, i was fairly excited

    ...until I read this:

    The goal is to present the formula in such a way that would enable another user to re-create the character (if they own all the products you used, that is).


    I feel the need to make another comment on this (and this comment just reflects my personal feelings--it's not intended either as a legal opinion or as a contest rule)...the fact that sharing the formula "would enable another user to re-create the character" doesn't mean you're giving the character away, and it doesn't make it ethical for another person to take the character and pass it off as their own. I see it more like writing a song, and publishing the sheet music so that other musicians can play it too.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,404
    edited December 1969

    Jaderail said:
    I have a quick question regarding the "Full Formula" requirement that needs clarification. Does that "full formula" include listing morphs that deal with "unmentionable" parts of the anatomy which can't be shown? I ask because all of my characters are, to put it mildly, "anatomically correct"under their clothes.
    ROTHFLMAO!! I vote this the BEST question in months!! That said... Tip time...

    Just so you know, HIDING any part of a 3D mesh not seen (under clothing) greatly increases your Free Ram and Render time. If the mesh is turned off the Render engine does not spend extra Ram and time calculating Light, Shadows, Texture, Bump, Displacement or Shaders on the scene.

    EDIT to ADD: The mesh WILL still effect the clothing as expected. Just not needed at render time.

    I'm glad I could get a laugh out of this at least. Yes, morphs do affect the clothes being worn, some more than others. That's partly why I asked. The other reason is because, when I first entered the Freebie contest I was told not to include them (and the accompanying "anatomical props" in the list because they couldn't be seen anyway (for obvious reasons).

    LOL! Well I guess these are my feelings on this:

    1. Above all, don't break the TOS. So if you got your morphs from somewhere like Renderotica, no need to include a link (you can still mention the source though). And if the name of the morph itself doesn't seem appropriate to include, then don't include it (I don't know of any vulgarly-worded morphs, but thought I'd say that just in case).

    2. If your morph is applied not to the main Genesis mesh, but to a geografted part or 3rd-party genital prop, then you don't need to list that morph. Just mention that you're using the geografted genitalia (or 3rd-party genital prop) with morphs applied.

    3. Aside from the above, you should list the morph, particularly if it has a visible effect on the rendered image.Thank you. That's what I wanted to know.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,571
    edited December 1969

    ...I understand. However, publishing sheet music automatically carries with it US and/or international copyright protections. Posting morph settings and tools/plugin details used in creating a 3D character doesn't. Again, if it is a "one shot" character created just for the sake of the challenge, that is one thing. If it is a character which is intended to be part in a larger creative work such as a 3D generated graphic novel or animation that is yet to be published, it could create issues down the road.

    I would love to share the characters I have spent the last several years developing, however, after seeing the nature of a few requests I have received (as well as an unrelated a situation which occurred a while back) on one gallery site I am a member of, it has caused me to be just a little overprotective. It would be nice if everyone respected one's "intellectual" property, but there are always those of less than ethical nature out there and these forums (save for the PC "Members Only" one) are open for anyone to view, regardless if they have a Daz account or not.

    This challenge is still a wonderful idea and exercise, and I don't wish to take anything away from it. Hopefully I can find the time to work up a character specifically for it.

  • SloshSlosh Posts: 2,391
    edited December 1969

    I am hoping this entry will do well in the Best Likeness category, although I can see so many problems that I just can't seem to fix with my current list of morphs. So, I am posting this WIP here for some feedback.

    Gollum.png
    817 x 928 - 1M
  • SaiyanessSaiyaness Posts: 715
    edited December 1969

    Kattey said:
    Just some attempt of morph mixing.

    That's a really cool morph! Good job!

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,823
    edited December 1969

    Slosh said:
    I am hoping this entry will do well in the Best Likeness category, although I can see so many problems that I just can't seem to fix with my current list of morphs. So, I am posting this WIP here for some feedback.

    Gollum!

    That was my first reaction *smiles*

    I don't think I can really give much advice when it comes to morphs and so on, well when it comes to anything really :) But he sort of seems.. too clean. I remember Gollum to almost always be somewhat dirty, but that might be just me not remembering every scene in the movie and so on :)

    /C

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