Novica, Serene Night, & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 3

1414244464750

Comments

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,136
    edited December 1969

    Invited Guest Contributor

    "Spirit Of The Puma"
    http://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/20621/

    Products used:
    Wachiwi - Native American Character, Outfit, Hair and Poses Bundle
    http://www.daz3d.com/wachiwi-native-american-character-outfit-hair-and-poses-bundle
    DAZ Big Cat 2 (Puma)
    http://www.daz3d.com/daz-big-cat-2
    Cyclorama: Portrait Paper Backdrops
    http://www.daz3d.com/cyclorama-portrait-paper-backdrops

    Wachiwi Bundle is currently 40% Off for PC. Lots of bang for the buckskin (sorry). The pose set includes the spear seen here.
    The character includes a lot of make-up, nail color choices, etc., but her natural look is quite beautiful, IMO.

    Spirit_Of_The_Puma.jpg
    920 x 1200 - 293K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited February 2014

    Folks, I have to make this quick- I'm on someone else's connection. Unbelievable, but ATT internet went out Wed at 5pm, then after 2 hours with the tech, they said it would be 8:30pm the next night, (Thurs) then at that time it would be 7:30am Friday morning (today) and now it will be NEXT TUESDAY. So almost a week (6 days) of outtage. I called and set up the cable company but that won't be until next Friday. Basically I am driving across town to use my mom's access at the retirement community, and I don't want to stay on a public network very long.

    Sorry to be absent but I'll work on renders in the meantime. I loved what you have done- a really nice variety! :) And of course, tjohn's puns!

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited February 2014

    Will have to do the links later- can't look up right now.
    Cassie For V4 And Genesis (OziChick)
    Lily Nymph For Genesis (DAZ3D / Mada)
    Branwen Hair (Valea)
    Faery Wings (SWAM / Silver)
    I Am On The Phone (FirstBastion)
    Pixie Glen Environment ( Mada / Thorne / Sarsa)
    Old Cemetery (Aako)(Background Hills, Skydome)

    http://www.daz3d.com/cassie-for-v4-and-genesis
    http://www.daz3d.com/lily-nymph-for-genesis
    http://www.daz3d.com/branwen-hair
    http://www.daz3d.com/faery-wings
    http://www.daz3d.com/i-am-on-the-phone
    http://www.daz3d.com/pixie-glen-environment
    http://www.daz3d.com/old-cemetery

    Shading rate .20, all other settings on very good/excellent.

    Genesis Cassie has quite a nice variety of eyeshadow options, many of which are woodsy. Most are glittery, and there is also a natural optional.

    Cassie is very easy to light, I used a combination of the Castel and Old Cemetery lighting and added two distant lights- one behind her, one on our right. I also added a dim spotlight on our right. All shadows are 50% softness or more.

    The Lily Nymph Dress is nice for standing poses, but it takes some tweaking for sitting. However, that slit can be used to an advantage- if you want a crossed leg, it can poke out there. You can have a light blue and green combination for the dress, or these darker versions, including black.

    The Faery Wings are not for Genesis, but a VERY easy way to place them is to hold down ALT and drag them onto Genesis’ back. Ta-dah, they go right on! There’s a lot of nice colors and about three different patterns- one of which has a lot of black.

    Now for the hair- An excellent rating, one of the BEST long hair I’ve used. Yep, this hair poses like magic. Every section has wonderful morphs, the tips of the hair, the middle, the breast, above the breast, the shoulders- wow! No bulging out from the top of the breast and having it hang in mid-air. It will curve nicely over the breast and sleekly glide back down to hang wherever you place it. LOVE THIS HAIR. I left the strands thin (so they seem a bit sharp) but you can also thicken them.

    The pose set, I Am On The Phone, is a great pose set to get the hand to the face, then you can go to Handy Dandy or another hand pose set and change the other hand. I Am On The Phone has many poses that are useful, and you can simply uncurl the fingers a bit and have a hand that isn’t holding the phone. (Like this one, fiddling with the hair or hairband.)

    Old Cemetery ground was used for the background, I am still impressed with how much detail is involved. Pixie Glen contributed the foreground tree, ferns, and foreground.

    VERY LARGE RENDER- coicke to enlarge, click again.

    cassieLilyNymph2SIG.jpg
    1461 x 2000 - 2M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • Tarina KiviTarina Kivi Posts: 488
    edited February 2014

    Invited Guest Contributor

    Stephanie 5 Elite Texture Joanie (DAZ 3D, Morris)

    http://www.daz3d.com/stephanie-5-elite-texture-joanie

    Other items used:
    Gabi for V5 (DAZ 3D, Morris)
    YDress For Genesis (DAZ 3D, Cute3D)
    Advanced DAZ Studio Light Bundle (Age of Armour)
    Project EYEris (DimensionTheory)
    Finger Wave Bob for Genesis (DAZ3D, goldtassel)

    Joanie is a texture set for genesis which uses S5 UV's. She comes with one full default material, presets for bump close and far, one eye colour with and without shadows, one face makeup option, face natural and face natural flawless presets and three torso options. There is lots of detail to her skin. She uses omUberSurface shader so she has options for SSS and no SSS.

    The three portraits image: In the first one I've applied to her the natural face option. As you can see the lips are very shiny and do not look natural at all, also the bump for close preset seemed a little too strong to me. In the second image I lowered the speculars on her lips and bump on her face and lips. I also applied EYEris Incjection shader to her eyes and removed painted cornea reflection. To me she looks best in that image so I've attached a larger version of it (it loaded as the second attachment) so that you can zoom in and really see all the details. In both those images I used two grey coloured area lights. The third image shows her makeup option under two distant and one AAL light.

    Full figure image: This image shows her wearing the makeup option under two area lights with slightly lowered speculars on her lips.

    In every image the shape is Gabi also by Morris. There is no postwork on any of the images.

    JoanieS5_3.jpg
    1414 x 2000 - 707K
    JoanieS5_2.jpg
    1414 x 2000 - 1M
    JoanieS5_1.jpg
    2000 x 943 - 864K
    Post edited by Tarina Kivi on
  • Tarina KiviTarina Kivi Posts: 488
    edited December 1969

    @tjohn: I like the look of Wachiwi, nice skin colour.

    @Novica: Good work on Cassie.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    @Novica: your fairy is beautiful and I agree the hair is lovely. I have trouble with most of the long hair not having the realism I would like, but that looks great! I also like your couple on the cabana in the middle of the outback. The lights look particularly nice.

    @Tjohn: Thanks for showing us Wachiwi. I picked her figure up on sale too. Great minds think alike. I love seeing another midtone skin. Looks quite useful.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    Well, it is my lucky day! Lots of new Scifi stuff, and here I was thinking so far February didn't have much to offer! Look for items already on sale in vendor's stores for an additional discount.

    I also picked up Derek M4 lat night. He has such nice-toned skin, but I must confess his lower lip seriously bugs me. . Something really strange with the texture there, with the lines going horizontal. I could deal with , but the whole lip is like that. I don't know, looks strange to me.

    derek.jpg
    852 x 852 - 216K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited February 2014

    Rieka For Victoria 4 And Genesis
    Boudoir Bundle
    Ricardi Hair
    Victoria 5 Tank Dress

    http://www.daz3d.com/rieka-for-victoria-4-and-genesis
    http://www.daz3d.com/boudoir-bundle
    http://www.daz3d.com/ricardi-hairstyle
    http://www.daz3d.com/victoria-5-tank-dress

    I tested the Boudoir lights on Rieka- there are quite a few and this is just several. Notice the banding on the IBL brown lights. Interesting but I don't think that's supposed to happen. I didn't tweak anything. She has quite a few makeup options, this is the "least" of the makeups other than natural. I chose a slightly more than neutral lipstick, there are quite a few to choose from.

    Ricardi Hair is for David 4, and all I needed to do was to do the translations and then scale a bit, and it fit very well onto Genesis. When it loads, it probably won't be on the figure.

    The Tank Dress is cut very low and I didn't find a way to make it more modest, but I thought it was a good choice to show you the lighting and the pores of the skin. All these renders are 2000 pixels so be sure to click enlarge, click again.


    I am still offline until this Friday, having to go across town to get online. Don't know if I'll post anything in the next few days.

    First is the default light from DAZ.
    Second is Portrait Right
    Third is IBL Brown.

    RiekaIBLBrownLite2.jpg
    2000 x 1769 - 1M
    RiekaBoudoirPortraitRite.jpg
    2000 x 1769 - 1M
    RiekaDefaultLite.jpg
    2000 x 1769 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    I like that hair Novica! It looks quite nice. And even though there is banding, the third light brings out the warm tone which I think looks nice.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    Arielle (Thorne / Mada / Sarsa)
    Cara Hair ( DAZ3D / Bice / Outoftouch)
    Kenzi Outfit For Victoria 4 (Mada)
    Aradior Point (Predatron)
    Victoria 4 Model Pose Construction Set (W.H. Whitney)

    http://www.daz3d.com/arielle
    http://www.daz3d.com/cara-hair
    http://www.daz3d.com/kenzi-outfit-for-victoria-4
    http://www.daz3d.com/aradior-point
    http://www.daz3d.com/victoria-4-model-pose-construction-set

    Arielle is extremely pale. Instead of showing you a finished product, here's some of the tests I ran with lighting. The first one is the Aradior Lights at 100%, note the product comes with lights for both DAZ Studio and Poser. I do not personally care for the ivy with this lighting, it looks fake to me and IMO doesn't render well up close.

    Cara Hair (if done for a contest/render to keep) should have the part touched up- it's too glaring and there's no hair in the seam. (It's too defined, glaring- but depends on the lights/camera views.) One nice thing about it- the hair shown is "out of the box" and it has a very nice flow onto the chest, no tweaking.

    Your figure is going to come in at World Center which will be on the steps. The lights are going to be even brighter when you move the figure up to the top!

    First render: Aradior lights at 100%, no changes

    Second: same only at 60%

    Third And Fourth renders: used the lights from Chablis and Aradior Point merged together with some changes. The third one I turned her away from one of the main light sources (since she was so pale.)

    ArielleAriadorJorja2.jpg
    611 x 868 - 366K
    ArielleAriadorJorja.jpg
    700 x 568 - 331K
    ArielleKenziCaraHairAriadorPtLights60.jpg
    700 x 568 - 316K
    ArielleKenziCaraHairAriadorPtLights.jpg
    700 x 568 - 337K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    Don't forget to move your copy of the current version of the studio to an external hard drive IF you are going to use the new one. I can still remember all the "wish I had saved the last version" posts when things glitched with this current version. Once a version is released, the other one disappears from your Product Library.

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,136
    edited December 1969

    O.T.
    @Novica
    Hope your connection gets fixed soon. I saw this and thought of you. :)

    7765_718059964893470_1774834322_n.jpg
    480 x 547 - 36K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    LOL- that's what Stetson thinks, that's for sure.
    Got internet back up yesterday afternoon. :)

    My favorite shirts- "Thunder Is The Sound Of Hoofbeats In Heaven."
    And this one: "How Do You Make A Small Fortune With Horses? Start With A LARGE Fortune."

    Some other funny ones-
    Don't Mess With The Boss Mare
    Designated Driver (Has a dog walking the horse with the reins, while the man rides, drunk.)
    Group Therapy (A group of riders)
    It's A Horse Thing (You Wouldn't Understand)
    My Therapist Lives In A Barn
    Whoever Said Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend Didn't Own A Horse
    Keep Calm And Canter On
    and the one with a snowman with the horse leaning way over the fence- "No, you can NOT eat my nose!"

    anyone wanting those can check out backinthesaddle.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    Thread 4 Announcements

    Being without the internet for almost a week really caused me to do some thinking about the amount of time that I spend on the internet, and to see how much I've let other priorities lag. I started painting the rooms that were unfinished for several months (trim, etc) and projects that have just sat there. I also need to start focusing on ways to make money with all the products by putting together ebooks or free instructional materials for kids for my sister (teacher) to use. I still fully intend to showcase products but will be limiting my time on the internet.

    SereneNight and I have chatted today and she has other commitments and also wants to do different projects. Being the co-host of a thread is time consuming so she will step down at the end of this thread. You can tell how much work she puts into the renders, and that certainly limits what can be done on other projects. I am so thrilled she donated many months of her time to the threads- thank you SereneNight!

    There won't be a co-host for the next one, the ICG's are certainly welcome to continue posting at their leisure, and you are also very much appreciated! Just keep doing what you're doing whenever you get a free moment, we love seeing what you're experimenting with! During the Morris Render The Vendor we had 1,150 views/activity in a 15 hour time frame, and 500-800 for the following three days, so the interest is definitely there for that type of showcasing. For me personally I might pursue picking a vendor and do about 5 of their products instead of so many from just one vendor. Again, I'll let you know who I am featuring but you do not have to do so. It was fun seeing the ones you (ICG's) had and how you rendered them. It really did help me explore characters that I haven't used yet and give me an idea of what I might want to purchase.

    I also have to spend several hours cataloging what has already been done for the products page, so the ICG's are a big help in that respect too. It might appear I'm not on the thread when in fact I have been on it for several hours every week doing admin work. This will also help with Render The Vendor because it shows me which vendors we haven't really covered. I'll start making some posts by vendor and put the links there like I did with Morris, as soon as I catalog more of the products.

    We still have a couple hundred posts to go before Thread 4, but SereneNight and I wanted you to have a heads up as to the change in her status. The thread will still be very active and I'll be on several times a day/evening, just not for half a day at a time, etc. Speaking of which, gotta go- my paint roller is drying out! :)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    Saskia For Genesis 2 Female(s) (Artemis3d)
    Ranger Hair For Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Neat Pleats (DAZ 3D / Silver / WildDesigns)
    So Neat For Neat Pleats (DAZ 3D / Silver / WildDesigns)


    http://www.daz3d.com/saskia-for-genesis-2-female-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/ranger-hair-for-genesis-2-females-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/neat-pleats
    http://www.daz3d.com/so-neat-for-neat-pleats

    Here's the showcase for today, since Saskia is a recent product I wanted to include her.
    The Neat Pleats which is shown has the texture set from So Neat For Neat Pleats. I am experimenting with use of mauve and not really going for overly realistic lighting on this one, but Saskia did seem to pick up the reddish quite a bit faster than Arielle. (See render below of the two together.)

    It is again at Aradior Point. You might want to try Aradior Point and Chablis lights together and see what you come up with- if you don't use mauve so intensely, you'll get a very "normal" looking light setup.

    The Ranger Hair is very limited and in comparison to other hair costing $19.95, you don't get much frankly. There are no colors other than the one pictured and only 7 main morphs. There are morphs for the feathers of the hair. I did not morph the hair at all or use smoothing. The longer strands that flow down seem more smooth than the promo, but do look at the ends of the hair and see if you want to tweak that.

    SaskiaAndArielle.jpg
    611 x 868 - 403K
    Saskia1AriadorJorjaSquirrlLitesMoreChanges.jpg
    611 x 868 - 354K
  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,136
    edited December 1969

    I was surprised that there was never a "Colors" or "Toxic" product for Ranger Hair.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    I thought it was just me when I didn't pull up any other products related to it. Maybe there is one in the works.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    Well, this DAZ studio update went off without a hitch. Thanks for the reminder to backup before upgrading. =-)

    I agree about the part in Cara hair. That is too dramatic. Without something to darken the scalp it doesn't look real. I also agree about Ranger hair. How disappointing there is not a variety of shades of hair- especially considering the cost. Yowza!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    So what do you think about the new update? I haven't done it yet.

    I'm also downloading all my products to an external hard drive. Being offline sent me a big reminder that I don't want to rely on anyone to store my products and have them available. Before I switch to the cable company, I am using up all my data plan and downloading while I paint, using DIM.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    So far, I haven't done much with it. I've launched it, alphabetized a few products, and tested some shaders. I haven't noticed anything different, but then again, I haven't followed much of what is going on with the updates.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    Todays Review:
    Nano Suit for Genesis 2 Male(s)
    By: Midnight_stories

    http://www.daz3d.com/nano-suit-for-genesis-2-male-s


    Other Content Used:

    Sheppard for M6 (Skin Only) (Bonetech3d)
    Pepper Hair (Valea)
    Jaime Character & Hair (Hair only) (Valea)
    Urban Future 2 (Stonemason)

    http://www.daz3d.com/sheppard-for-m6
    http://www.daz3d.com/pepper-hair
    http://www.daz3d.com/jaime-character-and-hair
    http://www.daz3d.com/urban-future-2


    This is a slick, sci-fi suit for your gen2 males, which includes a number of textures, a glow option, the ability to hide the mask, and some shaders.

    It applies and renders easily, and doesn’t have an overly sexualized appearance. It would look great on your sci-fi character, or on your superhero. The shaders are designed to work on the sci-fi suit, however, you can use them to colorize accessories or anything else you like if your remove the pattern in the diffuse and diffuse map channel. This is handy if you want to make an accessory the same color as the suit.

    Thoughts:

    I had some trouble posing m6's feet in the set. There isn't much of a heel on the suit, so any slight degree off and the figure is either floating above the floor or sinking into it. I think I prefer a bit more real estate on the soles of the boots. I also am not sure about some of the colors.

    Sheppard has a very strong SSS which makes him look almost neon. I found it helpful to use M6's SSS adjustments to tone his skin down

    Jaime hair has some nice front 'whisp' adjustments. Make sure to check those out!


    Overall, I like the set, and think it looks great. =-) I hope it sells well, so we can get an expansion.

    Images

    1. Image of the outfit with glow option, and helmet
    2. Image of the outfit from the back and front in Olive green.
    3. Image with some postwork

    wip-nano-suit.jpg
    852 x 852 - 518K
    turnaround.jpg
    994 x 994 - 465K
    glow-suit.jpg
    710 x 994 - 513K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    I'm with you on the feet- the top of the foot curving down almost makes the feet look like clown shoes, minus the ultra big toe. It definitely needs some heels as it looks more like a slipper. I have the other Nano Suit and totally agree- it's not one of those sexy show your hiney type sci-fi outfits, and it looks realistic regarding the figures being able to bend and move in it, like your third figure. Very nice!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969

    a lot of nice stores on sale at 60%, they added Slosh a little while ago. I picked up the bundle I've wishlisted from Aave. Her stuff is delightful with the morphs that flow with the movement of the figure.

    http://www.daz3d.com/girlfriendz-for-teen-josie-bundle

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    Interesting. I see the new heart outfit supports Stephanie 6... wonder if that will be this month's figure?

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    LOL!! Really? You not figured out the way it works yet? Sort of a dead give away to me.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    I'm not sure I understand. What have I not figured out? I'm afraid I'm mystified. =-)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited February 2014

    Wow, I didn't even notice that- you are very astute! So yep, she's probably coming shortly.
    Have you been buying lately? Other than Aave's, I've sat out to save up a down payment on a car. Going to take awhile!

    I will do some renders probably this weekend, just doing characters though, nothing fancy. But finding some interesting ones. And fast grab has sure had some nice variety lately (but I already own a lot of it.) So guess I'll need to save up for Stephanie 6- IF they have more support for her than previous ones- it's been pathetically slim pickin's.

    EDIT- Lol, a lot of out, up, down in that sentence, not trying to give people vertigo!

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,654
    edited December 1969

    I picked up a couple of Antfarm's things because the price was so great at 60%

    I've been feeling a severe sense of ennui with DAZ probably amplified by the fact that I am still sick. Had to go to the doctor about it today, because 3 weeks is too long, but that's another story.

    I did buy a few items during the SCIFI sale though.

    I'm still hoping for more guy stuff. I am curious if anyone buys the new teeth product if they will make the teeth look less denture-y. Inquiring minds want to know. =-)

    I'm afraid the HD stuff doesn't work well on my machine so all those new fun HD things I am not buying.

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited February 2014

    I'm not sure I understand. What have I not figured out? I'm afraid I'm mystified. =-)
    I'm sorry, I meant this... when clothing starts listing a figure it is a sure sign we will soon see the figure. Maybe not next but soon.
    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,895
    edited December 1969


    I'm still hoping for more guy stuff. I am curious if anyone buys the new teeth product if they will make the teeth look less denture-y. Inquiring minds want to know. =-)

    Did you see the video on the product page? This has some nice morphs to make teeth look different but normal. You can also choose groups of teeth, which I thought was neat. I haven't bought it yet.

This discussion has been closed.