Model sets vs Construction Sets

Scavenger

I'm wondering what people prefer.  A  singular model to use as is, with maybe some hiding/showing options...or a construction set that lets you build the model as ou want?

Say a hallway...rooms and doors and walls and turns....woul you want a set where you have to load and align what you get, but you can do anything...or a singular hall with some cosmetic options?

Richard Haseltine

I prefer both. A construction kit is very nice for building varied sets, but it tends to be constrained by the need to have things join up - a single model is less flexible, but that does allow for more departure from a grid layout.

tj_1ca9500b

I like models with individual wall, etc. parts, so I can use them like a construction set.  Or a construction set with a preset(s) that places everything in a baseline layout that I can then use as is or start moving parts around to get the configuration I want, or just start loading pieces individually if I already know what I have in mind.

I feel the need to tweak layouts all the time, so any .objs or whatever that lock in the full room wall layout are less useful to me.  I still use them, but oftentimes I start hiding surfaces (unwanted walls between rooms, etc.) to get me closer to what I'm looking for, then cobble together the rest with primitive shapes, sections from other products, etc.

I recently grafted an attic product onto a building that I was customizing, as another floor.  I 'hid' a wall between two rooms to make one larger room, but I needed to add a couple of primitives to hide the floor and ceiling seams where the wall used to be.  I may still take a wall section out to put in a door between this section and another attic section I'm adding, possibly using the geometry editor to punch a hole in a wall somewhere (or take out one subsection of the wall and rebuild it using primitives), but yeah it's a bit of a pain to get what I need out of this particular product.

There was a new studio apartment product I was looking at recently as part of a Daz promotion that I almost grabbed, until I noticed that it had not provided for a second door or other access for a bathroom.  I suppose I could have built a hallway outside the one door, and built in a restroom door there, but since it didn't provide for an interior access for a restroom, I ultimately passed on the product.

Toonces

A construction set with presets. Best of both worlds. Can't wait for this one:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/uploads/FileUpload/6f/a3959a0b67569a0f6818bf9e80f9f4.jpg

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/158696/you-can-help-design-the-next-create-a-room-xpack-commercial/p1

Griffin Avid

I need both in every product and don't understand why someone would ONLY make one direction available in their release.

A set ** should** have the individual parts as props so they can be loaded outside the set and found easily in your library.

And a construction set **should** include several WHOLE scenes as loadable presets.

Two key words are flexibility and variety.

Several color variations to suggest it's DIFFERENT places...same apartment, different houses. Same hallway, different parts of the same ship or additional ships in the fleet.

No decals or numbering. Or EXTRA decals, numbering, graphitti and/or labels..

Lighting options...dark, light, night day.....moody....etc....

Walls can come off for camera placement...

I don't think it's different and I should really have to choose.

ONCE you make a complete set, you can go either way.....

Here's an additional juncture to my previous set.....

Here's more parts for even more construction options etc......

DaWaterRat

To borrow a simple quote from one of my favorite movies:

"Both?"  "Both"

Sets are limited in variety of uses, but usually come with more props, therefore making them a better value (based on how much you get for your money)  Construction Kits usually are fairly sparse (You get a lot of walls and doors and windows, but not much in terms of the bits that actually make the room not sterile and dull - Collective3D did think ahead on that with one of his add on sets, but even there it's an add on) but have greater flexibility and can set up more or less whatever you want.  (Though there are existing gaps, like modern offices with the glass walls, or storefronts.  But both of those also need enough specialized props that they're probably better sellers as Sets than kits)

RGcincy

Either is fine with me, but I can say what I don't like: construction sets that have no preset scenes. I have a few where you see great promo scenes but the product doesn't include any of them. It's nice to have scenes you can add to or modify rather than having to start everything from scratch. 

Cybersox

You need both as well as a couple of good sets of architectural shaders.  It's very rare that I can use a pre-bought set completely as is, and I almost always end up moving walls and using construction part sets and shaders to bridge elements between them... not just for artistic reasons, but most often because the original sets are missing something really basic.  For example, take a look at all the bedroom, den, living room and hotel sets here at DAZ.  Now count the number of closets that you see in them...   Um, yeah.  80% of the time there isn't even a door for one, let alone one with a working door and interior, despite that being one of the first things that people actually look at when buying a new home.  Other things that are frequently missing are built-in lighting, light switches and electrical outlets, and when the latter are there, they're often of the wrong plug type... and that's before we get into the random inanities like the predilection for completely open to the rest of the house bathrooms and lofts. Seriously?  You want to sit on the toilet or get dressed while talking to your guests in the next room?  (Oops, can't do the latter anyway, on account of you've got no closets.)  

However, what really drives me crazy are all the staircases without any kind of guardrails.  There are a lot of sets at both DAZ and Rendo that are literal deathtraps that would never pass any builders code in North America or Europe, and even though people don't notice it at first, it's the architectural version of the uncanny valley.  No matter how real parts of it may look, the mind subconsciously realizes that something is wrong or missing.              

Griffin Avid

it at first, it's the architectural version of the uncanny valley

What's that?

Xenomorphine

If I had to choose, construction kit. That allows for greater diversity.

Cybersox

avxp said:

it at first, it's the architectural version of the uncanny valley

What's that?

The Uncanny Valley is a phenomenon that occurs as a CG render or other likeness of a person becomes more realistic.  Ironically, the more realistic the image is, the more the human eye automatically twigs to the elements that AREN'T exactly right.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

MJ007

Sets.  I usually find kits only good for complimenting ready-made sets.  To me, they never seem to have enough props or details to make a good set all on its own,

-MJ

Cybersox

MJ007 said:

Sets.  I usually find kits only good for complimenting ready-made sets.  To me, they never seem to have enough props or details to make a good set all on its own,

-MJ

It really depends on the set and the kit.  You can easily pick up several rooms full of furniture and set dressing for almost or literally nothing, and with a couple of good shader packs you can get just about any look you want.  At this point I must have over a hundred different beds and an even larger assortment of chairs and couches, a lot of which were total freebies.  On the other hand, I've yet to find a decent cel-phone/tablet charger or a set of extension cords and multi-outlet boxes, things that every real home has in profusion.                       

tj_1ca9500b

Cybersox13 said:

MJ007 said:

Sets.  I usually find kits only good for complimenting ready-made sets.  To me, they never seem to have enough props or details to make a good set all on its own,

-MJ

It really depends on the set and the kit.  You can easily pick up several rooms full of furniture and set dressing for almost or literally nothing, and with a couple of good shader packs you can get just about any look you want.  At this point I must have over a hundred different beds and an even larger assortment of chairs and couches, a lot of which were total freebies.  On the other hand, I've yet to find a decent cel-phone/tablet charger or a set of extension cords and multi-outlet boxes, things that every real home has in profusion.                       

Just a quick note.  The Hacker's Haven product has some cords plugging into walls, and one of the wall plug locations has 4 plugs (this may be an overlap of 2 dual plug sockets).  Opening now... opening... opening... (lower end laptop here),  OK open.  Positioning... positioned. Yep it's two sockets overlapping.  Rendering.... yeah that render is going to take hours.  Here's an 'in Daz' screenshot showcasing the outlets.

This may not solve your extension cord issue, but the overlapping outlets trick seems to work pretty well (seam aside).

Note that this is a shot of the attic I mentioned earlier, which I added the Hacker's Haven product to (minus the walls included in the H.H. product).

Edit: 1 hour and 21 minutes later, render is still at 0%/very grainy (darker corner).  From what I can make out, the outlets are blending together just fine, but I"m cancelling this render.  My screenshot shows the side by side outlets  pretty well though, so you get the idea.