@Llynara!!!!!! I need help with shaders. Will, you too and everybody who knows!!!!
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Posts: 3,838
Okay, so I'm going in with Shaders today. Gotta get 3.
What 3?
https://www.daz3d.com/n-g-s-anagenessis-2-revolution
This one I figure (no pun) is a must since you guys keep talking about it- non-stop. lol.
But what else?
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https://www.daz3d.com/shades-of-life-nature
Shades Of Life - Nature
Had my eye on this one for a while, but I don't quite know the context besides 'extremely cool to have'
Do I make nature-creatures?
Make the forest come alive?
I dunno. Coulda sworn I bought some shaders before, but nothing shows up in the library-except one cartoon shader. lol and an IFX one that's props and shaders.....
so What's 'the best' clothing shader?
Mind you, mostly sci-fi and futuristic.....
This seems like it
https://www.daz3d.com/pd-iray-shader-kit-1
That should do EVERYTHING.
But then look at this!
https://www.daz3d.com/e1-fantastic-plastic-iray-synthetic-shader-presets-for-daz-studio
Oh my!
And then this does dirty skin or weathered stuff(s)
https://www.daz3d.com/ubersurface2-layered-shader-for-daz-studio
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Comments
The shades of Nature and Ubersurface 2 are 3dl, so you may want to take that into consideration before making a choice.
WHAt!!!!!!! dAMNIT, MAN. You mean the 3Delight rendering engine only? That's a wrap. glad I asked.
I wanted that damn spotlight forever. And it was 3Delight only and I had to return it. Sheesh.
Yeah... shades of nature is awesome if you use 3DL, but otherwise... ;)
PD Iray Shader Kit 1&2 are awesome and I use them on maybe 90% of the clothing I use, particularly when converting older stuff.
Even when there's an existing texture I want to keep, the other settings are useful, so I might do something like:
Cotton (keep texture image) preset
Linen texture (though this usually sets tiling to 5/5, which messes up most fixed textures; but you can set tiling to 1/1, then go into the bump map with Image Editor and set tiling to 5/5 or whatever to get the bump nicely fine-grained)
That... is like most clothing, right there. But you have lots of other wild options, too.
you have not mentioned these 2:
https://www.daz3d.com/mec4d-pbs-shaders-vol-1-for-iray
https://www.daz3d.com/mec4d-pbs-shaders-vol-2-for-iray
So I am guessing you already have them. If not, they are the two shader sets I use the most, and I would recommend them.
Yes, I own volume 2, which is strange because it does not show up in my library with any search.
not under shader or any name used with the product....weird
In Smart Content both sets appear under Shader Sets, In Content library they are under Shader Presets/Mec 4D
Nope, something went wrong. They show up as purchased, but not installed anywhere.
AHHHHHHHHH "FILTER BY CONTEXT" was checked!!!!!
I'm coming up on a year of owning/using Daz and I still get tripped up by the simple stuffs. Thanks.
I love both of these. between these and the default DAZ iray shaders, I can usually get the results I need when in a pinch.
I love the Mec4D shaders, though I find I use the PD ones more often (which is the only reason I didn't mention it sooner. ;)
Also I love my Iray pack, and I only say that because, well, free. Other shaders are better most of the time, but when the normal tiling shaders fail, they fail hard.
LOL I was in my garden and totally missed this. Heck yeah- Anagenessis 2 is a must buy if you use any older characters at all. I don't use it much on Genesis 3 people, but what a job it does on everyone else!
PD Iray Shaders are awesome! I have both sets and use them. Mec4D shaders are great- I've got all 3 sets. The third is a Merchant Resource and you don't really need it unless you're planning on making content. I grabbed it at a good price anyhow. I use 1 and 2 a lot.
DA Iray Fabric Shaders are great and do a good job.
Anything by Destiny's Garden is also very good.
I don't have the fantastic plastic one. I do have a ton of other shaders I haven't used much but can test for you if I have them.
I am on the fence about Anagenessis 2 Llynara, mainly because there has been talk of version 3 for awhile and buying 2 versions of similar products is hard for me to justify. That and I don't use the older textures as often as I should.
I like Anagenessis even for the newer stuff. I just think it makes skins pop more.
(Admittedly, I don't have V8 so maybe that's better, not sure; I suspect that if I did, I'd just try to merge the two effects)
If I already have NGS Anagenennesis2-Revolution is there any advantage to getting NGS Anagennesis for Genesis 3 ?
I would say no, since it looks like it is for genesis 3 only and was the firsdt version before the newer version was released.
I use Anagenessis on G8.
Any of JGreenlees shaders are very good as well just make sure they say Iray as she does shaders for both engines.and Khory also has some lovely shaders, especially the Iray Decoraters Neutral Kit. That's more for rooms, etc but a lot of it can be used on other stuff as well.
Anagenessis has a 'use on any surface' mode that kind of obviates the need to have specific ones per figure, though the figure scripts are a little faster, so there's that. Personally, I LIKE not having Anagenessis on some surfaces, so it actually works a little better not using the figure scripts.
From what I have read about the yet to arrive anagenessis 3 over on Dimension-Z's DA page, then it will be a radically different approach to that taken by anagenessis 2. Since often one approach works better on one skin, than another, I would say it will likely be worth having both, but they are not cheap, so it is not an easy call.
@FSMCDesigns It may be worth it to wait in your case since you don't use a lot of older figures. I've found it breathes new life into the older generations. I've used it extensively on Generation 3 and 4, as well as Genesis 2 figures (I don't render many Genesis 1 figures, but it probably works great on them too.) My next book cover will have a G2M on it with NGS Anagenessis 2 shaders. He's looking pretty good. I'm also working on some premade covers that have older figures on them- M4s, V4 and even some V3s. It's amazing what those shaders will do.
Using it on non-figure items also yields interesting results. @Giselle3000 has done some really cool experiments with Anagenessis 2 on older sets in the Hidden Treasures thread. Definitely worth looking at.
I'm really interested to see what Dimension-Z does with the new dual lobe shaders in Anagenessis 3. I think we're all in for a treat. It's on the top of my "must buy" list.