NEW! Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 6

18687899192100

Comments

  • XaatXuunXaatXuun Posts: 871
    Kharma said:

    OOHHH I love that shader!  I have played a bit with it and love the combinations you can get, and Fisty always has beautiful colors to pick from in her shaders.  Really nice to see you showcase it here as I find I use more shaders for retexturing instead of buying new textures sets for clothing. I also have the PD kit which is awesome.

    As far as the computer goes operating system and driver updates are installed, altho it gives me an error saying my waterpump has no driver but the cpu is staying around 35C so I think that's ok.  I haven't put it online yet to do Windows 10 updates but once that is outta the way I am aiming for Saturday to get DS and my product library installed and organized.  Still unsure about connect, it's hard to get an honest opinion about it with so much negativity flying around,  so I will stick with DIM as I know how it works :) I also need to figure out how to get studio and my product library onto my E drive ( 2T) as C drive is only 500 Gb SSD

    I had  a problem with DS ending up in my C: drive, and not E: . .  it would start out in E, but ended up with another copy in C: and everything going there, this is what I did,  and worked for me, Uninstalled DIM and DS, play games for a week +,  then place the DS ZIP in E:  and manually installed, working in E the whole time,  tested DAZ connect . . it did what I wanted (for the most part) installs my content in E: . . I have no proff or willing to test, but I think DIM was installing into C, even though it was directed to install in E.  with that, I never installed DIM and just been using DAZ Connect.

    I prefered the way of "My Library" . . DAZ connect places everything in catagories, which has me doing a lot of scrolling and searching, something I don't like doing. It's pretty much set up if your into just using that Smart thing, which I Have never liked. If I just use Smart content,  works  pretty nice, but I don't like it.

    Would love to be able to just use My library again

    DAZ connect I like better then DIM, just don't like the idea I cannot have full control of where the content is installed , again I will say, if your into using Smart content, DAZ connect is sweet, made just for that

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    Yeah. I see what you mean. To be honest, I have a few ironman products, but I find I don't use the poses much. They always look over-sexualized to me. I know there is obviously a market for that and I'm not judging AT ALL cos I have used very very sexy poses when I've had to...but there is an element of overly sexy...sometimes to my eyes, bordlerline p0rn0graphic, so the promos/poses for that don't particularly surprise me.  

    Novica said:

    I'm going to be frank here- what the heck are the promo people thinking? First we have the dragon leering at some woman's hiney, and now the Ironman13 product promo (who btw is a woman) has a dean leering at woman with her legs spread apart? Look at her feet placement if you want to REALLY get an idea of what that man's view is. Come on get some CLASS with these images. They shouldn't have ever been allowed through quality control / marketing / whatever.

     

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,551

    I don't like "sexy school" or schoolgirl imagery personally. I get a creepy vibe .  Rendo is far worse. In this case the male character is far too young to be a dean. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    True. Not even a Department Chair. 

    Headed to the barn, in the upper 60's today. Weekend is almost here! 

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    Was 20 degrees yesterday going to be 50 today lol.  I honestly was shocked when I saw the full range of poses for the dean's office. I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination but I was actually offended. I think its a bit more than borderline pornographic. And its such a sexual cliche it makes my teeth hurt. I like a lot of his poses for weapons, like the archery (no idea if they are real world correct but they are closer than what I can pull off myslef) but I use poses as a starting point then muck about until I think its right. There aren't many poses in that particular offering that can be used for much of anything besides sex.  And Serene Night I tend to agree, definitely sliding into the creepy zone.  If a dean had looked like that at my daughter I would have slapped the crap out of him. (and so would she lol)

  • V3DigitimesV3Digitimes Posts: 3,049
    Novica said:

    Tested the Iray Converter for Generation 4 to see how dummy-proof it is (referring to me, not you!) First, I assumed I needed to have Cynthia selected in Surfaces because this is a materials product. Then I started clicking each section. I clicked the increase glossy twice, the increase layered weight once, (what does layered weight do?) and the decrease roughness once. (remember the pebbles analogy? Less pebbles (roughness) then more shine.)  Then I went to the Scattering slider and went for 0.5. Then to the base skin color did the White Max Brightess two times. Could have lightened even more.

     Not saying this is the best result, it's my first one and just testing the ease of use. It's a winner. I did not lighten/darken/postwork anything, and put the default converter image as the first one so you can compare with the converted/slidered one. (Slidered LOL?) I used the one without CTRL so the eyes were more highlighted.

    Remember this product is also available for Genesis and there's a product for Genesis 2. I have them all and will have to play someday. (I am not getting sidetracked from installing my Rendo stuff.) Here's the store link.

    First, the converted without any slider tweaking. Second is the tweaked with the converter. 

     

     

    Thanks a lot for testing and for your feedback Novica! You will have even more work soon ;) the G3 version is coming!!

    I really regret I was not gifted enough at scripting when I made the Generation 4 version to create all the interfaces I made for G2 and G3 versions.

    I like the renders you made with this thanks!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited February 2016

    Looking forward to it! When I get back around to it, I'll do better renders too. I didn't want to mess with the surfaces in postwork (lighten, sharpen, midtones, etc) because at the time, the focus was "How easy is it to use?"  You really did a wonderful job with it and looking forward to your next releases. Thanks so much for popping in! (Anytime you want to share more renders of your products, feel free too. Thread is open for anyone to discuss products that we like (and vendors would like their own products I would hope, lol!) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    I do have a quick question- if I am saving V4 skins as Material Presets (making DUF files) to use those materials on Genesis 2 Female,  would your settings transfer in those V4 Material Preset DUFS? I am so not technical, I don't know how these scripts work and what can transfer in Material Presets. 

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 10,991
    edited February 2016

    Nevermind. smiley

    Post edited by TJohn on
  • FistyFisty Posts: 3,416

    Tjohn said:

    Nevermind. smiley

    Cryptic post is cryptic.

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 10,991
    edited February 2016

    Dang stupid forum software! angry

    Post edited by TJohn on
  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,563
    Novica said:

    I do have a quick question- if I am saving V4 skins as Material Presets (making DUF files) to use those materials on Genesis 2 Female,  would your settings transfer in those V4 Material Preset DUFS? I am so not technical, I don't know how these scripts work and what can transfer in Material Presets. 

    Yes, if you convert to Iray settings before saving as .duf then the Iray settings are saved.

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 10,991
    edited February 2016
    Fisty said:

    Tjohn said:

    Nevermind. smiley

    Cryptic post is cryptic.

    I posted something, then read up, seeing it was already addressed. No delete button so... laugh

    Why is it moving Fisty's quote to where my quote is?! angry

    Post edited by TJohn on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited February 2016

    Oh how adorable. MistyMist said it was her birthday, and asked if the Birthday Girl could request a sale on Animate- and Steve did the Flash Sale FOR HER. How sweet and funny! Go read the Birthday Girl thread in Commons (and wish MistyMist Happy Birthday if you get a chance.) 

    Wonder what they'll do for my 60th this June?

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited February 2016

    Here's a tip- I just had a brainstorm because I tried quoting tjohn without getting the Fisty (not that we don't love you Fisty, but...) 

    If you can't get rid of those STUPID gray bars that layers the quotes, go up to SOURCE and then erase the CODE. Works better than pecking around trying to figure out how to move that stupid red dotted line, which refused to do anything for me when I deleted, backspaced, etc. It was a Fisty Fan and wouldn't leave. So Source, I love you!  (I can't tell you how much time I wasted before now trying to do the stupid quotes right, and delete the previous people quoting the other people quoting the other people.) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    Novica said:

    I do have a quick question- if I am saving V4 skins as Material Presets (making DUF files) to use those materials on Genesis 2 Female,  would your settings transfer in those V4 Material Preset DUFS? I am so not technical, I don't know how these scripts work and what can transfer in Material Presets. 

    Yes, if you convert to Iray settings before saving as .duf then the Iray settings are saved.

    Well dang it, wish I'd thought of it before V3Digitimes posted! I've already done quite a few of my Rendos. I guess for consistency I'll do them all the same, but good to know! 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,017
    Did you see the new Dogz dress today? I bought it for G3, but I haven't rendered it yet. I did put the uniform name tag onto the vest of the guy in the image I've been working on today, though.
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,017
    edited February 2016
    duplicate post
    Post edited by barbult on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,551
    edited February 2016

    The quote feature is really difficult for me, especially on a handheld device. It takes too long to remove the unwanted quotes.

    Did anyone get the new male figure?  I wanted too, but his price is too high for me.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    The quote feature is really difficult for me, especially on a handheld device. It takes too long to remove the unwanted quotes.

    Did anyone get the new male figure?  I wanted too, but his price is too high for me.

    Too pricey for me.  I am very interested in the Demon Wings though.  He has a video on what all the morphs do and those babies rock.  will dig out a link tomorrow as its past 1 am here and I can barely see the screen at this point.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    The Dogz dress will come in handy, would love to see renders.  I haven't bought anything due to the whopping vet bill from a couple weeks ago with my horse (nothing like a Saturday evening emergency vet call where it's $100 just for them making the trip out to the barn, before they do anything, then two hours more...)  So sitting out quite a bit. Here's the Demon Wings video. (On the product page.)  

    In the video, he uses the Pose pane.  I didn't notice there was a Pose and Animate tab, lol. I use Parameters- I would guess the animators use the other tab.  One thing I'll mention- when I reinstalled 4.8 (thank goodness my new computer arrived while 4.8 was still in Product Library, although I do have a backup) I re-arranged my Studio so that on the right side, my tabs are Scene, Parameters, Content Library, Surfaces, Environment. I love it! Having the Surfaces and Environment on that side makes it a breeze to do the shaders in Surfaces and selecting each part if they're tiny, and to change out my backgrounds/backdrops quickly.  

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Heads up- if you want a quickie skin sheen, this light set has it included! I was looking at the promos thinking "I'm tired of tiring to get the specular and surfaces tweaked and I like that one," then noticed it is INCLUDED as a surface setup. Woot! 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Rich, can you render a few of the Dial-a-Girls? If I recall, you got the Genesis 3 product after I showcased all these separately for G2? I'm picking this up now I think. With 3 things i the cart, 60% may be worth peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the rest of the month, lol.  

    Other goodies in the 2015:

    Since we do have more Gen3 Males now, this will let you use all the previous generation clothes on them- and I like that there are SIX morph adjustments.

    Think of what you can do with the Mega Wardrobe and shaders!

    I also like Specs Appeal, Space Station Living Quarters (missed that in Fast Grab a couple weeks ago, it changed while in my cart. I had forgot to check out, darn it.)  Also may try Quiet Medium Hair  (I think that would be AWESOME for kids)  and same with Anny Hair

    What would you folks recommend? 

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    One more- the Smile Delight are unique morphs and not just made with the existing sliders, and I do use those quite a bit to add movement. Believe it or not, the ninja gal had some Smile Delight in her scowl! I have all the other Smile Delights and Cake One always does a bang-up job with creating new morphable expressions.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited February 2016

    Tutorial: Victoria 4 For Genesis 2 Female- Putting Victoria 4 Materials On Genesis 2 Female. Creating A Custom Category For Them.

    Ready for another tutorial? If you want to do conversions yourself, but want a bit of guidance (including how to set files up to zip along during the process) I am going to take you step by step.  The only product I am using is the Victoria 4 for Genesis 2 Female.  No batch or auto converter products. You only need to have the Victoria 4 UV to apply it to G2F. Because applying the materials requires a DUF format, we'll convert files and toodle right along. If you don't like going into the file structures/setting things up because you're not sure what happens and where to find things afterwards,  this tutorial is for YOU. I've decided to name this Filephobia: 1) fear of messing up files  2)  fear of not knowing how to work with files 3.) knowing you won't be able to find where things went once you piddle in the directories 4.) all of the previous.

    Pick a Victoria 4 character. In Content Library (which we will use for this entire tutorial) try looking under Poser Formats>Daz>Pose to find them. They might be listed by character name or vendor name.

    RE: your directory structure- you may be in C:/Documents and Settings/(name)/My Documents/DAZ 3D/Studio/My Library, or you may have it customized, but whatever you have, my main entry folder says Content> then I go to all the other files. If you do not have Content then don't worry about it, as discussed earlier in the thread last week that is an older setup.  It's probably the equivalent of your My Library. Just know it's the main folder and all these others are going to be under it. 

    1. Be sure Victoria 4 for Genesis 2 Female is ALREADY INSTALLED. (If you load a G2F, you should have Victoria 4 under the UV Map choices.)  TIP: Use Default Camera and set your focal length between 90 and 120. This will keep your objects from distorting when you do these extreme closeups. After you set the focal length, you can still scroll back out. That affects focal DISTANCE, not length. 

    Set up a folder for that character's DUFS. Go through your directory path mentioned above- to My Library>Materials and DO THIS:  !!!CharacterName so it will stay at the top of the list.  So if I am doing Ellie, the folder name will be !!!Ellie. 

    2. Load Victoria 4 in the viewport. I use 500 x 700 (they all shrink to the same size) as the heads fit nicely.  The key thing to remember- when you make these dufs, it will capture the image in the viewport. You'll need to zoom in for the eyes for the eyes and makeups, and zoom in to the lips for the lips. Right now, put the entire head in the viewport. You don't have to have the top of the head or much of the neck. This is going to be for your "Base" image. One reason to make these look good is you might want to use these images / dufs when you do Genesis or Genesis 3 work in the future. Get in the habit of being picky about what's in the viewport.

    3. Load your character (with morphs, even though they don't transfer, you want your character to look like her) with her skin (no makeup)  Most of them are called "Base." Make sure you like the way she looks in the viewport. IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE HER WELL LIT. You may want to create a spotlight on her face from the front.  

    4. Go up to File>Save As>Material Preset and go to the folder we just made (Mine is Content>Materials>!!!Ellie)  Save. When the list pops up, for your Base materials, leave everything checked. This means when you apply the Base materials, everything is a "clean slate" so to speak.  BTW, what's nice- you won't have to find that folder for the rest of these, you will go there automatically.

    5. Next, let's say Eyes (different eye colors) are next. Move your face in the viewport so you are zoomed in (and I mean ZOOM) on one eye. You only need one and it's important to get a closeup.  Click and apply the materials. If I don't see things change, I'm in the habit of going up to Edit to see what the last step is that is showing. You will know right away if your clicking took, or if you need to double click again. Then Save As>Material Preset and name it (I use the same names as the original, except if it says 06 I usually do 6, etc.)  Now pay attention because this is common sense but...

    If you are doing Base, you want all the materials to change. You do NOT want that with eye color. Think about it- if you've already loaded up the lip color you want, and click an eye color, you don't want your lip colors to go Poof! back to the default lip color or whatever color you had on them when you did your eyes. You're going to have to deal with three sections: the skin of the face (makeups), the eyes (colors-Iris) and the lips. So here's what you do:

    For Base makeup- that is supposed to reset EVERYTHING so leave everything checked.

    For Eyes (color, that's Iris) you don't want your makeups to change so uncheck the skin of the face (it will say Skin Face or Face, it's slightly different when you do V4 and G2F) and uncheck Lips. 

    For Lips you don't want your makeups to change so uncheck Skin Face or Face, and uncheck Iris (eye color). 

    6. When you do your Makeups, again, be sure you have zoomed in to one eye. But look at the makeups FIRST because if there are exotic ones, you want to be sure you are zoomed out enough to get the pattern/design in the view.  When doing the lips, zoom in on those too. If a character has thicker eyelashes in some makeups than others, you would have to include eyelashes (uncheck) when you do the lips and eye color, because you wouldn't want the eyelashes to change. I haven't had any of those yet.

    7. So you've saved as a material preset all of the materials (including the makeupREM)  I close up Content Library and click Refresh on Daz Studio Formats. Now, the reason we created the folder in  Content>Materials is because it's SO easy to find.  Go to Daz Studio Formats>Daz>Materials and bingo! There at the top of the next menu set is your !!!Ellie or whatever you named it. 

    8. Load up Genesis 2 Female. Load up Base. Immediate distortion! No problem, select G2F in Scene and in Surfaces go to UV Map and select Victoria 4. Bingo, there's your character.

    9. Browse in your directory to (mine is Content, remember yours is probably My Library) > People>Genesis 2 Female>Character> and make a folder !V4 to Gen2  This is where your final V4 conversions will be, ready to load onto any Genesis 2 Females. You can name your folder anything that makes sense to you, and after you do all these, THEN you can more them to your custom Category. If you are going to do G2 materials to G3 later, it makes sense to leave them in G2F Characters too. 

    10. So get the head centered in the viewport for G2F. You know the drill, apply the Base material.  However, this time you don't have the morphs unless you have GenX2'd the morphs for your gal, so just leave the G2F character as the figure unless you know who you are going to be using.

    11. File>Save As> Material Preset, leave everything checked. 

    12. Remember to zoom in for the eyes and the lips. Again, when you do the eyes (Iris) uncheck the face skin (makeups) and Lips.  And when you do the Lips, uncheck the face skin and Iris. 

    13. Now your Genesis 2 Females can wear these Victoria 4 materials, and are easily found in Daz Studio Formats>Daz>People>Genesis 2 Female>Characters>!V4 to Gen2 or whatever you named yours. Let's go one step further and create a custom Category. Still in Content Library, go to Categories. Do not go under Default, as you are creating YOUR own. Right click Category and Create New Sub-Category. Name it whatever you want, such as Gen2 Females (then click that and create another Sub-Category called V4-G2F.)

    14. Go back up to Daz Studio Formats>Daz>People>Genesis 2 Female>Characters>!V4 to Gen2 (or whatever you named your new materials) and right click the folder. (Let's use Ellie) Select "Create A Category From..." and either choose This Folder Only or This Folder and Subfolders (which we didn't create any, we did all these in one) 

    15. When the popup opens, scroll into your categories and select your new category (Gen2 Females>V4-G2F)  What's nice- if you convert several V4's, it remembers this file path and you zip right to the Gen2 Females>V4-G2F (or your file name) without you having to scroll to it.

    Done! You have converted V4 materials and made files in both Daz Studio Formats AND created a custom Category, which is SO fast to get to.

    CHECKLIST BEFORE YOU START:

    Make sure Victoria 4 for Genesis 2 Female is installed. Use Default Camera, with the Focal Length between 90 and 100.  Add a spotlight and get the face well lit.

    Then, when shooting, don't forget to zoom in for the complete face, just the eye, just the lips. If you aren't sure the materials took, use Edit and check. The glossy options are hard to tell as the colors are the same. Remember to uncheck the sections you don't want to change (you are dealing with Makeup (Face/ Skin Face)  Eyes (Iris) and Lips. 

    Edit: and, as mentioned a few posts up,  if you do Iray skin settings, those DO save and transfer in the Material Presets. If you're not sure you will be rendering only in Iray, don't add them.

    Have fun!  

    Post edited by Novica on
  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    oh i have those lights!! LOVE them. Did a render with them ages ago....will try and find it and link the pic. I haven't used the skin sheen iwth it tho, must try that.  

    Novica said:

    Heads up- if you want a quickie skin sheen, this light set has it included! I was looking at the promos thinking "I'm tired of tiring to get the specular and surfaces tweaked and I like that one," then noticed it is INCLUDED as a surface setup. Woot! 

     

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    I have the Wear Them All - Autofitting Clones and Clothing Smoothers for Genesis 3 Male, and did some promos with it a while back. I can HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. Works fabulous. Even with shoes - it's got a good pdf tutorial included with it and shows how to use smoothing etc for the nubbly bits of shoes :) 

    I've also got oot's Mega Wardrobe for Gen3Male but haven't really used it as yet! I'll give it a go and let you know if I recommend it (although I'm pretty sure I will) 

    Novica said:

    Rich, can you render a few of the Dial-a-Girls? If I recall, you got the Genesis 3 product after I showcased all these separately for G2? I'm picking this up now I think. With 3 things i the cart, 60% may be worth peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the rest of the month, lol.  

    Other goodies in the 2015:

    Since we do have more Gen3 Males now, this will let you use all the previous generation clothes on them- and I like that there are SIX morph adjustments.

    Think of what you can do with the Mega Wardrobe and shaders!

    I also like Specs Appeal, Space Station Living Quarters (missed that in Fast Grab a couple weeks ago, it changed while in my cart. I had forgot to check out, darn it.)  Also may try Quiet Medium Hair  (I think that would be AWESOME for kids)  and same with Anny Hair

    What would you folks recommend? 

     

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Looking forward to seeing the renders! 

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    This isn't a full review, but just to give you a QUICK idea of the pants from the Daily Casuals Mega Wardrobe for G3Males

    I was playign with the Growing Up for Genesis 3 Females (with a bit of Olympia 7 in her head) and desperately searching for clothing that would be suitable for a child (amazing lack of that, believe me) so I autofitted the pants from the Mega Wardrobe onto her. They work excellently - had to fiddle wiht the crotch morphs to bring it up a bit...there are quite a number of morphs in the pants which is great. Also you can have long jeans, shorts, knee shorts - more versatility is a good thing :) I'll play with the full outfit on G3M in a bit, but wanted to show how versatile they are and that they don't just have to put on the males :)

    Rendered in Iray

     

     

    GrowingUpTest.jpg
    600 x 1200 - 291K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Those do look good! I like her pose too, fits her age. I haven't even played with the randomizer or the growing up yet...I don't want to stop converting my V4 skins to G2F as I have to start thinking about character choices for my book, even though I am a long way off from finishing the writing portion. Seeing what everyone else is doing with those two products is wonderful!  It's only 6am here but I am headed to Walmart to beat the Saturday crowds, back in awhile. Also downloading files to my external, haven't got that up to date from last week. Going to be in the 70's here today! More bad weather predicted for Monday. BTW that tornado that hit north of Pensacola in Century this past Monday was an EF3. Stayed on the ground without lifting up for half an hour, SIXTEEN miles. 

    Back in a couple hours. You folks have fun shopping! 

     

This discussion has been closed.