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

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Comments

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    For male clothing, here's one which has interesting parts to it. Not a big fan of the sheepskin on the shoulder, but with shaders, you can change the plaids, etc and have a decent male set that isn't Celtic. $7.18 at 60% off (3 products in cart)

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    Novica said:

    Note this new Dial A Girl for Genesis 3 includes the other two (Budapest and Tokyo) which are done for Genesis 3! It's in the new promo for today. Hey, happy December!

    Thanks for the tip! I went ahead and got this (along with a couple wishlist items). I like that it has all 3 sets in one.

  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,641

    Thanks, RGcincy, for the tips on managing Hemlock Folly . I bought it too during the sale and have the same problem with it hanging up, but using Iray. It is not possible to use the Iray preview window. I found I just have to move very slowly and wait for my computer to respond.I only used the default cameras. Are you saying that just turning off the ground cover, not deleting it, makes it easier to manage?

    It is a beautiful set, lush with small plants that makes it look real. 

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    edited December 2015
    luci45 said:

     Are you saying that just turning off the ground cover, not deleting it, makes it easier to manage?

    Yes, just hide all the vegetation and you can move about the preview window even if using iRay in the viewport. You can leave the ground and Tree Models turned on; any other vegetation starts slowing it down. Once you have the camera angle (and maybe lights) adjusted, you can start turning vegetation back on. To change the camera again, turn it all off. 

    luci45 said:

    It is a beautiful set, lush with small plants that makes it look real. 

    Yes, I like that it has layers of plants especially under the trees. I really like it now that I can use it. 

    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    Sale details  are ultra small, ultra hidden- vwrangler already posted them so I won't repeat it, but here's the details. (Seriously. Tiny print, going to another page and not on the page that says Details Here- you go there then have to find the link to get more information.) Hopefully they'll rethink that.  

    And get this...."Any punches earned for purchases made on Saturdays or Sundays during the promotion will roll over to your Punch Meter the following week."

    Oh boy. Talk about confusing buyers. (I can see it now- "My punches didn't register...") 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943

    Can I Return My Purchase(s)?

    Products purchased to earn punches or for which discounts were applied due to earned punches are non-returnable unless verified as faulty by Daz Customer Service.

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    Novica said:

    Sale details  are ultra small, ultra hidden-

    Now that's the finest "fine print" I've seen!!

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804

    luci45 and isidorn, thanks for letting me know you had similar issues with Hemlock Folly. Hope what I did can help you use it as well.

    I did want to slightly clarify what I said about hiding the vegetation. You can just hide the vegetation and tree groups, but better to expand them and hide the subgroups (many of which are labeled N, S, E, W). That way you can turn on/off what you want and need. If you only hide the toplevel groups, everything comes back on at once and makes the system unresponsive again. I usually leave the Tree - Models group on so I can see how the light affects the leaves and trunks, and even with them on, you can still easily adjust the viewport.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Daz Steve explained some changes- and another admin said they tweaked what happens at the end of the week (I haven't gone back to read that change.)

    They are trying to listen to what people are saying (If you don't like the format of punch sales, you're still stuck. But they're tweaking and explaining the discount system.)  So here's the big changes as posted by Steve:

    Okay, so here's the sale in a nutshell... Bear in mind, that the insidious point behind this (spoiler) is that we want you to buy stuff :)

    If you just buy one thing per week you get:

    - A minor discount on a giftcard (2%)

    - 30% off of some of this year's top sellers

    - 40%, 45%, and 50% off of that day's featured PA's (the % is based on the item being 1,2, or 3+ years old) (the % is based on the item being 1,2, or 3+ years old) (note there is a minor change happening as I type this to make these the actual percentages, instead of stacking percentages (e.g. 30 and 40 will be 70, rathern than 58) to make this even better than it was)

    If you just buy five new things per week you get:

    - New items at 50% off

    - A big discount on a giftcard (10%)

    - 70% off of some of this year's top sellers

    - 60%, 65%, and 70% off of that day's featured PA's (the % is based on the item being 1,2, or 3+ years old) (note there is a minor change happening as I type this to make these the actual percentages, instead of stacking percentages (e.g. 30 and 40 will be 70, rathern than 58) to make this even better than it was)

    Anything inbetween is inbetween those percentages. 

    The goal here was to:

    - Give you better discounts on stuff than you have been able to get at nearly any other time

    - Make older stuff even cheaper

    - Hi light the most popular items, and help you get them

    - Benefit those who buy more even more

     

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    Something fun- want to see a render of a character sold here, done by a different PA? Sabby did a beautiful render of Danique for Victoria 7 in a different gallery. Always love Sabby's renders! Nice character by Godin. Anyone have Danique and a render? 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    Oh, someone spotted how the discount is working with the gift certificates. Before you buy, read  this!

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    I'll post these before I go offline, will discuss later. These are Photoshop plug-ins from Rendo and no changes were made, this is what you get with one click. At first glance, I'm not seeing layers to tweak like the other plug-ins I showed you in this thread. 

    Posting the originals, same ones as used previously, Adriana and my Genie. Then showing you the effects on a photo, my horse. 

    These are all Toon Actions. (Adam Wright, $7)  It has 5 different effects. This is Toon It.

     

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActionsToonIt.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 575K
    Genie7bToonActionsToonIt.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 2M
    stetsonToonActionsToonIt.jpg
    1646 x 1095 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    These are still all Toon Actions. First is Comic Tone with Adriana. (Did horrible with the Genie, didn't handle the smoke wisps very well. Stetson was so-so.) 

    Next is BW Heavy Edges. Notice the back of her hand disappeared. Stetson was too dark for this to be used.

    Next is Brown Tones on Adriana. Genie did the same thing, turned a green color.

     

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActionsComicTones.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 831K
    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActionsBWHeavyEdges.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 314K
    Genie7bToonActionsBWHeavyEdges.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 832K
    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActionsBrownTones.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 553K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    These are still all Toon Actions. The last one is Grey Tones. I will show you two more plug ins, one with 4 options, and one with 6 options, tonight. Have a great day!

    I am noticing the compression lines on the first one (or some kind of lines) around the head, hand, etc- would have to clean that up.

    Be sure and drop down to compare it to this one, BW Toon from Toon Actions 2.

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActionsGreyTones.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 331K
    stetsonToonActionsGreyTone.jpg
    1646 x 1095 - 1M
    Genie7bToonActions2GreyTones.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    These are now the product called Art Actions. Same vendor.

    BW Pen Sketch. You can see how it doesn't work well with smoke/wisps.

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ArtActionsBWPenSketch.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 331K
    Genie7bArtActionsBWPenSketch.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 2M
    stetsonArtActionsBWPenSketch.jpg
    1646 x 1095 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804

    My favorite so far is Grey Tones.It did a really good job with your horse. Do you know if any of these work with GIMP?

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

     

    RGcincy said:

    My favorite so far is Grey Tones.It did a really good job with your horse. Do you know if any of these work with GIMP?

    I sure don't. It only mentioned Photoshop. I'm grabbing the product numbers for you-

    48887  Toon Actions  (which has the one you like)

    49382   Art Actions (wait till you see Color Pen Sketch and Pen and Paint)

    59922    Toon Actions 2  (which has BW Toon, which I like. Coming up!) 

    You can ask Adam if they work with Gimp. One of these is $7 and if I recall, the other two are $5. These are all over at Renderosity. 

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

    Go take a peek again- I added the Genie for you in the Grey Tones post. wink  I'll pick another image and do another one. BTW, that took less than 8 seconds to do.

    RGcincy said:

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Second thought, why don't you post one of your renders that you would like to see done in it, and I'll do it for you?

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    More Art Actions, this is Color Pen Sketch. One of my favorites! (All three things look good, smoke would need a bit of work.) 

    I like this because Stetson stands out, it doesn't overwhelm with detail. A few of the others give too many speckles, darken too much, etc. But I did like the Toon It, had more color.

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ArtActionsColorPenSketch.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 449K
    Genie7bArtActionsColorPenSketch.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 2M
    stetsonArtActionsColorPenSketch.jpg
    1646 x 1095 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    More Art Actions, this is Watercolor. Not as distinctive as I would like, the Envato watercolor actions are better IMO.

    This is Pen And Paint, another one of my favorites. 

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ArtActionsWatercolor.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 417K
    Genie7bArtActionsWatercolor.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 1M
    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ArtActionsPenandPaint.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 498K
    Genie7bArtActionsPenAndPaint.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 2M
    stetsonArtActionsPenAndPaint.jpg
    1646 x 1095 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804
    edited December 2015
    Novica said:

    Go take a peek again- I added the Genie for you in the Grey Tones post. wink  I'll pick another image and do another one. BTW, that took less than 8 seconds to do.

    That one looks good too with the Grey Tones. 

    Novica said:

    Second thought, why don't you post one of your renders that you would like to see done in it, and I'll do it for you?

    Gee, thanks!! The one attached should be a good test.

    MedievalVillage_2.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 697K
    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    I'd say an excellent test! This is the Toon Actions>Grey Tones. 

    Same product Toon Actions) with Toon It.

    Different product (the other choices in that one, the BW Heavy Edges and Comic Tone, were WAY too dark or too much detail so far as dots. Overwhelming) So this is Art Actions>Color Pen Sketch.

    Next Pen and Paint from Art Actions. 

    And stunning- from Toon Actions 2>Toon2 Toon It. I'll post this one for the genie, horse, Adriana next. Any other ones I do, I'll add yours so the effect will have all the renders in one spot.

    RichToonActionsGrayTones.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 647K
    RichToonActionsToonIt.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 780K
    RichArtActionsColorPenSketch.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 525K
    RichArtActionsPenAndPaint.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 599K
    RichToonActions2Toon2ToonIt.jpg
    1199 x 959 - 736K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    Okay, here's the Toon Actions 2 product, you saw Rich's Toon2 Toon It (one of my favorite, top 3 I think) and here's the rest of those. 

     

    I like the amount of detail it kept, without adding too many scratches/dots.

     

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActions2Toon2ToonIt.jpg
    999 x 1118 - 561K
    Genie7bToonActions2Toon2ToonIt.jpg
    1572 x 1998 - 2M
    stetsonToonActions2Toon2ToonIt.jpg
    1644 x 1094 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    Toon Actions 2 product>Toon2 Paint. Things go quite dark. Stetson's entire head and neck were almost black, not bothering to post it. Note the linen look.

    All detail lost in the background.

     

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActions2Toon2Paint.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 760K
    Genie7bToonActions2Toon2Paint.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 2M
    RichToonActions2Toon2Paint.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 746K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    Toon Actions 2> Subtle Tooning

    Love how it kept the detail down by the water.

    Wanted to show how any of these can be changed quite a bit from their default, simply by using Sharpen, or midtones, highlight, contrast, brighten/darken. I sharpened first, increased the contrast, lightened, then fixed the midtones/highlights. This is the same one from above, Subtle Tooning.

     

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActions2SubtleTooning.jpg
    999 x 1118 - 552K
    Genie7bToonActions2SubtleTooning.jpg
    1572 x 1998 - 1M
    stetsonToonActions2SubtleTooing.jpg
    1644 x 1094 - 1M
    RichToonActions2SubtleTooning.jpg
    1199 x 959 - 725K
    RichToonActions2SubtleTooningTWEAK.jpg
    1199 x 959 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Toon Actions 2> Anime.

     

     

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActions2Anime.jpg
    980 x 1097 - 445K
    Genie7bToonActions2Anime.jpg
    1543 x 1960 - 1M
    stetsonToonActions2Anime.jpg
    1613 x 1073 - 1M
    RichToonActions2Anime.jpg
    1176 x 941 - 540K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858
    edited December 2015

    Toon Actions 2> BW Toon, the last one. There's a few others, such as Black Outlines, but you get the idea. You'll really like BW Toon if you like the Toon Actions>GreyTones.

     

     

    adriannaCrazyLocksBattlesuit2ToonActions2BWToon.jpg
    1000 x 1119 - 369K
    Genie7bToonActions2BWToon.jpg
    1574 x 2000 - 1M
    stetsonToonActions2BWToon.jpg
    1646 x 1095 - 1M
    RichToonActions2BWToon.jpg
    1200 x 960 - 632K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,804

    Toon It and Toon2 Toon It are really superb. And you're right, I like that BW Toon a lot too. Thanks for posting all these! I'll have to check with Adam to see if they work with GIMP.

    BTW, the sky in my image is the Iray Worlds Skydome - these plugins handled it really well.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,858

    Let us know what he says, I'm sure others might like to try it in GIMP. 

This discussion has been closed.