My WIP and Reviews

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Comments

  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Niko for V4 is another old V4 character from the 80% off sale. She does not have any DAZ Studio materials. The poser materials loads with the specular setup all wrong. Rather than fix the specular I converted her to use the AoA SSS shader. Diffusion color is 235,250,255 and strength is 75%. SS color is white and strength 60% using the skin B coefficients.

    I'm not thrilled with the eye textures, but I definitely like the skin texture. The eyes can be replaced.

    This image is Niko converted to G2F using GenX2 and using my own AoA SSS setup.

    Also in this image:
    Fancy Hair
    Japanese Style Fashion Space Cadet V4 fitted using the transfer utility.
    Science Fiction Pistols
    Level 19
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    niko_sf_06.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 602K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Here is FWSA Serena HD. She has a different SSS setup than what I have seen on most characters. Uses a diffusion color 186,207,210 and strength 60%. SSS color is 255,179,170 and strength 100%. The skin seems to use the default Absorb/Scatter coefficients. Most characters use Skin B, I have seen a few using Skin A. Not sure what these default coefficients do.

    This image is rendered at gamma 2.2. I had to tweak the specular and Velvet settings on the skin. Specular strength is turned down to 5% and specular 2 strength was turned down to 20%. Velvet strength was turned down to 2%. It is not unusual to have to reduce either of these settings when rendering at gamma 2.2. They were adjusted by the PA to get the desired result at gamma 1.0 in most cases and they render differently at gamma 2.2.

    Also used in this image:
    Serena Hair
    Serena Show Girl for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Las Vegas for Serena Show Girl
    Night Lounge
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    Portrait_03.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 647K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Have been fiddling with the Niko for V4 pic.

    Adjusted the main light a little lower.
    Adjusted bangs out of her eyes.
    Rotate the back ground set a little.
    Increased the specularity on ther skin.
    Add a muzzle flash which I think was a freebie from Most Digital Creations.

    I like this version better.

    niko_sf_11.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 605K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited July 2014

    I have been fiddling around with PS-Lavinia by Pixeluna and Shadownet, available at Runtime DNA. Lavinia comes with DAZ Studio materials that use the default shader. I used GenX2 to transfer the morphs to G2F.

    The material setup is a little different than I have seen before. Diffusion color is 226,248,255. Ambient color is 20,4,2 with strength 100%. The specular is the diffusion texture with the color is 47,47,47. Specular strength is 15%. Don't think I've seen specular set up this way before. Interestingly there is a what appears to be a specular texture in the directory, but it is not used. Although it is an unusual setup, but it seems to render ok.

    I think I will try converting the skin to the AoA SSS shader and see what it looks like.

    Also used in these images:

    Posh Hair
    Fantasy Ornaments for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Ruths Redemption
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    portrait_13.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 652K
    portrait_12.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 644K
    Post edited by mark128 on
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Adventures in AoA SSS shader conversions.

    Switched the skin over to AoA. Went through the usual adjustments. I did remember to set all the displacement min/max/strength to zero. This is the first render. WTF???

    Turns out this was caused by the bump settings. The PS-Lavinia material has the min/max bump set to -1/+1, ie -1 cm and +1 cm. That is a huge bump distance. The bump strength though is set to 1.2%. This obviously works with the default shader, but the AoA shader does not like this. I changed the bump min/max to -0.01/0.01 and the strength to 100% and this problem went away.

    head_aoa_test_bad.jpg
    724 x 896 - 72K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    So here is PS-Lavinia images redone using AoA SSS skin. Diffusion Strength is 60% with color 226,248,255. SSS Strength is 75% with color white and Skin B coefficients. I completely redid the specular. I have white color in specular and 220,236,255 in specular 2. I am using the 'S' mats in the specular strength, but no the specular 2 strength. Specular 1 glossiness is 50%, Noise Density is 25, Noise Strength is 50% and Specular 1 strength is 25% with the 'S' texture. Specular 2 glossiness is 95% and strength is 3%. I experimented around a bit with this but it is pretty arbitrary. It looks to me like the AoS images have more specularity in them.

    portrait_13_aoa.jpg
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    portrait_12_aoa.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 638K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    And here is a side by side comparison. Definitely like the AoA version better.

    compare.jpg
    1800 x 1200 - 314K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    So here i the final version of the PS-Lavinia portraits, final because I'm moving on to something else. I added a little light in the background so you can see something.

    I really like PS-Lavinia. I think she is a great skin texture and morph and she is on sale for a few more days at Runtime DNA.

    Portrait_15.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 664K
    Portrait_14.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 669K
  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited July 2014

    Very nice renders, and thanks for sharing the renders. I think I'm getting that cool feathered raptor thing there first, haven't looked around renderosity much as of yet.

    Post edited by ZarconDeeGrissom on
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited July 2014

    Very nice renders, and thanks for sharing the renders. I think I'm getting that cool feathered raptor thing there first, haven't looked around renderosity much as of yet.

    Glad you like them. Both Renderosity and Runtime DNA are more Poser oriented, but some of the items support DAZ Studio. You have to read the descriptions carefully. A lot of items can be made to work in DAZ Studio with some material adjustment. I've taught myself how to do the material adjustment for skins, so I"m not afraid to buy Poser only V4 characters.

    I think PS-Lavinia by Pixeluna and Shadownet at Runtime DNA is a great skin texture. It comes with Poser SSS materials and some non-SSS DAZ materials. That is typical of many of the characters that that do say they support DAZ Studio at Renderosity or Runtime DNA.

    Syyd is another PA at Runtime DNA that has some very nice skin textures, and some of them come with DAZ material using the USS shader. I have Oxygen and Vanilla Sky and they are both very good.

    Aeon Soul is an artist that has lots of skimp wear and other items at Runtime DNA. The Fantasy Ornaments I used on Lavinia are by Aeon Soul but here in the DAZ store. This is the first item Aeon Soul has had at DAZ in a long time. He/they apparently pulled all their products from the DAZ store some time ago, although they were using a different name then.

    There definitely is some nice stuff at Renderosity and Runtime DNA, but you have to be careful. Those sites do not have a no questions ask return policy.

    Post edited by mark128 on
  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited July 2014

    Thanks for the info, I noticed some of the dinosaurs from (Dinoraul) are for Das studio, and others are not. I will keep an eye out for that, As I most definitely want some of the "Aeon Soul" outfits for the leggings and arm bands. They look so good, I'm glad to see [them/him/her] here.

    If you don't mind me asking, I get the impression some are shy with mentioning names outside of Daz, "Rendo", "that other place", etc. Are they just being cautious (because of the potential audience here at daz), or is there "Bad history"?

    Post edited by ZarconDeeGrissom on
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the info, I noticed some of the dinosaurs from (Dinoraul) are for Das studio, and others are not. I will keep an eye out for that, As I most definitely want some of the "Aeon Soul" outfits for the leggings and arm bands. They look so good, I'm glad to see [them/him/her] here.

    I have noticed that Aeon Soul has been making some products for Genesis 2 available in his store at Runtime DNA for some time, meaning he is supporting Genesis 2 as well as V4. The description of the Fantasy Ornaments says " includes HD morphs to add details around the jewels". DAZ has not released the software to create HD morphs. DAZ has given some PAs access to the tools, but they have to sign an agreement to use it. I suspect part of the agreement is that they sell products with HD morphs through the DAZ store. I think that is probably the reason Fantasy Ornaments was released through DAZ.


    If you don't mind me asking, I get the impression some are shy with mentioning names outside of Daz, "Rendo", "that other place", etc. Are they just being cautious (because of the potential audience here at daz), or is there "Bad history"?

    I believe the forum policy is to not allow links to commercial products available in other stores on this forum. I have usually been providing direct links to products in the DAZ store. I believe direct links to free items is allow also. I only give the names for products from other stores. As far as I know that is allowed. There may be more sensitivity over products from HiveWire.

    The moderators have locked some threads that essentially became flame wars over products at other stores, but I think any store would not want those kinds of threads on its forums.

    I know Renderosity does not allow direct links to products from the DAZ store on their forums either.

  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited December 1969

    more of the this vs that kind of thing, never a good environment for people to learn something. I can understand that. Interesting insight about that HD stuff, understandability Daz wants there market share for what they create. Thanks for answering that, I still look forward to getting the cool Aeon Soul arm bands.

    It's been a long evening Trying to keep up with Blender videos, I feel as if my mind has been threw a blender at this point, lol. Made some progress tho, now I need some rest. chat later, and thanks.

  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    DAZ finally released Xiao Mei this week and I've finally gotten around to doing a render with her. Also used in this render:

    Xiao Mei's Finery HD for Aiko 6 and Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Yin Yang for Xiao Mei Clothes
    Short Ponytail
    The Streets Of Asia 2
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2
    Advanced Ambient Light

    This is rendered at gamma 2.2.

    I did a few material tweaks. Specularity was turned down on the dress and the hair. I also turned down the velvet strength on the skin/lips to 5%.

    Portrait_02_03_aa_20.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 845K
  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited December 1969

    Xiao, very nice mark128.
    FWSA Xiao Mei, FW Lin, Skyline Hall, Urban Sprawl, Infinite Gardens, Egypt City for DS, Divinity Skies Rapture 1&2, etc.
    Friday just will not be here soon enough, I need to purge my wishlist via the shopping cart, lol.

  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Thanks zarcondeegrissom.

    Here is a another Xiao Mei render using the same clothes, hair and set. I think this material is from Xiao Mei's Finery rather than the add on textures by ShanasSoulmate.

    Portrait_03_05.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 941K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Last few days I have been working with PSG Kara by Pixeluna, Shadownet and Ghostman, available at Runtime DNA. This is a V4 character that comes with some clothing, poses and props. The blouse is a regular V4 clothing item, but the skirt is not a regular piece of clothing. There is SSS skin material for Poser, but only basic material for DAZ Studio. The specular setup of the DAZ Studio material makes it look like the specular is turned off.

    I transferred to morphs to G2F using GenX and I changed the skin to use the AoA shader. I spent a lot of time trying to get the skin to render well at both Gamma 1.0 and 2.2. Here is a render of where I have gotten. Also used in this render:

    Portia Hair 2 I used the SubD preset.
    Epiphany Gown
    Textures for Epiphany Gown
    Diamonds 'N Pearls
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    The earrings are from the PSG Kara package.

    Kara is a little more mature than most of the characters for sale on the market, but she still looks very nice.

    Portait_04.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 750K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited August 2014

    Out of curiosity I wanted to see what a difference the AoA SSS materials make compared to the materials using the default shader. I re-render the image with the default material. You can see the comparison below. The AoA shader gives a little more pinkish shade to the skin. I have the SSS strength at 75% and the diffusion strength at 58%. The diffusion color is 226,248,255 which is the same as the Default shader material. There is also a touch more specularity because I found the specular textures and setup a modest amount of specularity.

    I think the AoA SSS material looks more realistic.

    compare.jpg
    1800 x 1200 - 413K
    Post edited by mark128 on
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Here is a full length portrait of Kara in the Epiphany Gown.

    portrait_05.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 1M
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Here is Kara at the office. Blouse is part of clothing that came with Kara, but the skirt is from some other V4 set, both auto fitted to G2F.
    The set is Interiors The Model Agency

    Portait_08.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 622K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Today I tried out PS-Syri by by Pixeluna and Shadownet. She is a V4 character and comes with three different skin tones, Medium, Dark and Light. I transformed the character morphs to G2F. The skin mats, like Kara and Lavinia, use the default shader and almost have the specular turned off. I transformed the Medium skin to use the AoA SSS shader for this pic. The default shader skin material that comes with Syri does not use the specular strength textures, but I found them and used them.

    All three skin tones appear to have mats with tattoos as well, but this render is using the mats without tattoos.

    The cigar is a prop that comes with Syri.

    Also used in this render:

    Mec4D The Aviatrix for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    Portrait_02.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 682K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Changed the background for Syri to Saunders Steampunk Tavern

    Portrait_03.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 737K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    I got Titania by Syyd , Vincebagna, Traveler at RuntimeDNA. Syyd is Syyd Raven, the owner of RuntimeDNA. She is well know for Oxygen and Vanilla Sky, two high quality V4 textures.

    Titania is call the Queen of Faeries. Titania comes with a head morph, but no body morph, and skin material, including DAZ Studio materials using the USS shader. I believe Vincebagna does the DAZ Studio material. The SSS uses the diffusion texture with the color 230,205,187 and SSS strength of 50% with the specular texture used also as a SSS strength map. I transformed the Titania head and V4 body to G2F and used the USS DS material that came with Titania for this render.

    Also used in these renders:
    Desir Hair by Alfaseed, aka Aeon Soul, available at RuntimeDNA.
    Dark Sisterhood for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    OOT Styles for Dark Sisterhood for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Medieval Barn
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    Portrait_08.jpg
    1200 x 900 - 682K
    Portrait_07.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 694K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited August 2014

    Been working with Amore, a V4 character by Tempesta3d at Renderosity. She comes with Poser SSS and Poser Std mats. The description says "This item works in DAZ but there are NO DS files in it (DUF files) only PZ2 and the shades may need adjustments in Daz." What this means is the Poser Std Mats will load in DAZ Studio and produce a render. There is one promo image render in DAZ Studio to show you what it looks like.

    Also note that some of the promo renders were done in Luxrender through the Poser Reality pulgin. The ones not done in Luxrender are probably done in Poser with the SSS material, except for the one done in DAZ Studio.

    I transformed the character morphs to G2F using GenX2. Then I set the skin material up using the AoA SSS shader. I have the diffusion strength at 58% with a diffusion color of 230,248,55. The diffusion texture has a lot of pink in it and the diffusion color was to take some of that out. The SSS strength is 70% with the Skin B preset for coefficients.

    The skin texture has some painted on specular highlights, so you can not make the specuplar strength very high. The Std mats that is comes with essentially have specular turned off. I did find some specular strength mats, but they were not being used in the Std Mats. I set the specular up using the strength textures.

    Also used in this picuture:
    Audrina Hair parented, not auto fit.
    Daiquiri Dress for V4 Auto fit.
    Jewel of the Night texture for the Daiquiri Dress.
    The Joanie's Pearls from FW Joanie HD
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    Amore.jpg
    1200 x 1600 - 236K
    Post edited by mark128 on
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited December 1969

    Tried out another Tempesta3d character, Fanny Flowerchild, available at Renderosity. The description does not mention DAZ Studio support, although she comes with Poser Std material (non-SSS) that works about as well as any other of Tempesta3d characters. I transferred the character morphs to G2F and used the AoA SSS shader for the skin. I used mostly the same AoA setup I used for Amore.

    Also used in this image:
    Luisa Hair by outoftouch at Renderosity.
    Fashion Blizz - Wide Halter Top for Genesis 2 Female(s) by outoftouch at Renderosity.
    Fashionable for Fashion Blizz: Wide Halter Top by ShanasSoulmate at Renderosity.
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    Portrait_04.jpg
    900 x 1200 - 585K
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited August 2014

    This is Sabby-Maggy by Sabby and Seven available at Renderosity. She is a V4 character which I transferred to G2F using GenX2. The DAZ skin material uses the Human Surface shader and includes SSS with about 25% strength. In DAZ she renders fine at gamma 1.0, but the skin looks weird, slightly washed out, at gamma 2.2.

    I decided to convert the skin to use the AoA SSS shader. I found that Maggy does not include any specular maps. It may have been the specular that was giving her skin a washed out look at gamma 2.2. I had the same problem with the AoA SSS shader. I finally used the specular maps from another character V4 character for this portrait. I'm not really satisfied with the way this skin is setup yet. I may come back and fiddle with this somemore. Try to setup the skin without any specular maps.

    Also used in this image:
    Diva Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Actual Diva Hair
    Corvidae Dress for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    Aslaug texture for Corvidae Dress
    Extra Large Earrings by lilflame at Renderosity
    NYC Couture Collection: XL Earrings by 3DSublimeProductions at Renderosity
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    Portrait_03_SSScale_03.jpg
    1200 x 1600 - 1M
    Post edited by mark128 on
  • mark128mark128 Posts: 1,029
    edited August 2014

    This is LY Sloan in her Genie/Harem Girl outfit. She renders very nicely.

    Also used in this image:
    Gregoria Hair
    As You Wish: Genie Outfit for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    BWC Harem - Poses for Genesis 2 Female(s) and Aiko 6
    A Thousand and Three Nights
    Moroccan Pottery scaled up to 300% size.
    Vapor Pens and Hookah
    Plant in the background from Dream Art by Danie, marformo and Rhiannon at Renderosity.
    Photo Studio - Point and Shoot 2

    Portrait_07.jpg
    1200 x 1600 - 2M
    Post edited by mark128 on
  • DestinysGardenDestinysGarden Posts: 2,550
    edited December 1969

    Hey Mark,
    I just now saw this thread. Thank you so much for posting all of your gorgeous portraits and for the support of mine and InaneGlory's products. It is the biggest thrill for me to see my backgrounds used so often and so well. I look forward to what ever you do next.
    cheers!

  • LyonessLyoness Posts: 1,610
    edited December 1969

    yay! looks good!

  • SloshSlosh Posts: 2,391
    edited December 1969

    Nice, Mark! I think this is the first user render I've seen of the outfit. I like how it came out :)

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