MilDrag2 vs SubDrag?
WillowRaven
Posts: 3,724
Which is the better, more diverse dragon?
And do ya'll know of any free dragons? Does the SubDragLE have pose capability?
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Better? Depends on what you want to do. The SubDragonLE came with your DS4 install so you already have it. It poses just fine, it just doesn't have the full range of morphs available to the non-LE version.
Kendall
There was a morph set specifically targeted at the SubDragonLE released not long ago over at Renderosity, FWIW. The creator also released a couple texture sets, which also work with the full SubDragon (I presume LE and full share the same UV map and the LE is just missing the extra morphs of the full version and comes with only the low-rez "sample" skin). There are also some extra texture sets and whatnot for the SubDragon sold here in the DAZ store.
It also seems to me that you see more eastern looking dragons based on the Millennium Dragon 2, while the SubDragon is more of your western style hulking dragon. Not sure if you can get the full SubDragon to morph into an eastern style dragon on its own. This is just based on my cursory look of the store a while back, though, so may be completely wrong.
As DAZ products, they will hit 50% off (or more... e.g., FastGrab) again at some point. I got the full SubDragon when it was on deep discount, but I didn't have an immediate need for it and was able to make due with the LE version until then. I had no trouble with posing the SubDragonLE and I believe it has all the same bones as the full version. It's a fully articulated/jointed figure, just like the humanoid figures like V4 and Genesis and uses PowerLoader to select load options at instantiation (like the Gen4 figures).
The morph set over at Rendo for the SubDragonLE is currently unavailable. It has been pulled from the store while the product is under evaluation.
I have all of the Dragons that are in the DAZ store, and find that each has its own use. The SubDragon is an excellent figure, but is a killer at render time (and can be a bit heavy on the viewport as well), so keep that in mind. The Eastern Dragon (long dragon) comes with the bundles for the MilDragon2. The Zygote Dragon is an "older style" dragon. Then there is the Storybook Dragons, which are more child friendly. There are also the hatchlings and dragonlings for creating "not so grown up" dragons. There are addons and morphs for most of them available both here at DAZ and at ShareCG.
EDIT: I forgot to add Alexa's favorite: the Fantasy Dragonfly. Also, I forgot the Sea Dragon, which doesn't really ascribe to most folks' ideas of a "dragon" but more of a sea monster.
Kendall
I personally like Subdragon myself -- it is more D&Dey; than Millennium Dragon, but MilDrag has some parts Subdragon doesn't (such as facial horns you can swap in and out and no, I haven't tried yet if I can plug them into Subdragon). Plus, it bends reaaaaally lovely.
Thanks, guys.
I already have MilDrag2 and PR Drag and StoryDrag. I have the SubDragLE, but not the full version, so I was wondering if it was worth the $100 to buy the full set. I'm a set junkie ... lol.
My favourite for shape is the Adult Hatchling, though it's an older figure and I don't know how well it would stand up to modern rendering http://www.daz3d.com/shop/adult-hatchling-dragon/ (I haven't used any dragon for ages)
If you can wait, then I'd wait for a sale, but I really dig Subdragon. It has absolutely gorgeous bends, and fine texturing, plus other details.
Some dragon pictures at my DA account.
Looking at some of the textures Hellfish Studios has at rendo are encouraging for the subdrag, too.
Wouldn't be able to choose between the dragons. lol Luv 'em all.
I really like the SubDragon hair . . . and head morphs.
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/subdragon-hair/
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/subdragon-expansion/
And the add'l textures are pretty nice.
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/subdragon-textures-2/
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/subdragon-textures/
Lots of stuff for Mil2 Dragon,too.
And, apparently, you can dress them both. :lol:
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/millennium-subdragon-armor/
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/flying-fortress-for-millennium-dragon-2/
You can never have enough dragons!
I definitely like both. SubDragon renders better (IMO) but the venerable MD2 is still quite the workhorse and you can do some interesting things with him.
Here's my favorite MilSubDragon render (of mine): http://adamtls.deviantart.com/art/The-Dragon-Battle-205847981
My favorite MD2 render (of mine): http://adamtls.deviantart.com/art/Flame-in-the-Night-213073955
Those fire wings are awesome!
And the green one is amazing, too ... lol. Ya'll are not making my choices easy ... lol. Looks like I'll need to buy SubDragon to go with MD2.
Yep ... I see me spending some money ... lol.
Cool! Do they normally provide light or did u do something to turn them into lights?
UberAreaLight effect, IIRC? But it is really neato... and depending on your settings, may be CPU-intensive.
Hmmm ... not familiar with that. Don't suppose u have/know of a tutorial.
No, but you treat it like shader. Pick a surface, then go to Light Presets -> omnifreaker -> UberAreaLight (or something to that effect) and clicky-click on the icon. Then just yank the knobs up and down and experiment... :) There's a quick'n'dirty cheatsheet link in the icons.
Thanks, Skiriki. But you should seriously put together a quick tutorial with screenshots and share in the freepository.
Heeeee :lol: Truthfully, I'm just monkeying around and going "I want to do X. How do I do X." and then try to google or ask around in here. And I very, very, very literally just tweak knobs and try to see if it had any effect that I might like and occasionally peek at the manuals.
For example: the wyvern in my latest image upload has faintly glowing eyes. I did not know how to make a surface emit light (I did know that you can do jiggling with ambience), so I googled "how do I make surface emit light in DAZ Studio" and then just tried tossing different words into the medley until something reasonable fell out of the search engine.
Heeeee :lol: Truthfully, I'm just monkeying around and going "I want to do X. How do I do X." and then try to google or ask around in here. And I very, very, very literally just tweak knobs and try to see if it had any effect that I might like and occasionally peek at the manuals.
For example: the wyvern in my latest image upload has faintly glowing eyes. I did not know how to make a surface emit light (I did know that you can do jiggling with ambience), so I googled "how do I make surface emit light in DAZ Studio" and then just tried tossing different words into the medley until something reasonable fell out of the search engine.
Exactly my point ... lol. Help those of us who are not near as patient not have to go through all of that ... like me ... lol. I am fairly impatient. If I don't see what I want in the first page, I usually do something else ... lol.
There's a bit more to it than just that in this particular case, but the basics are right.... Select the object on the scene tab, select the surface you want to be a light, double click the \Light Presets\omnifreaker\UberAreaLight\!uberAreaLight Base.dsa. Adjust parameters on the surface tab to meet needs. :)
I used the transmap as an ambient strength map, to help make the wings themselves "bright" instead of just a light source... then I also used the texture for the wings in the light color channel so that they would cast the appropriately orange/yellow/fireish light. Stuff like that.
HTH.