Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 13
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To my understanding it shouldn't be a practice for wearable items to have a smoothing automatically activated on load when making clothes and hair :) Morphs included need to be capable to fix all and any distortions with custom characters and with the base shape of genesis there shouldn't be fitting issues at all to begin with, smoothing modifier is easier though even if it's not always needed/wanted ;)
Preview hairs tend to hog down the adjustments (on all dForce hair), having preview hairs off doesn't give the clearest picture of how it's gonna look in the render tho, so yes I see how that can get bothersome. It took me a while but I got to like strand based hair (making and using it), it has it's downsides but results are rewardng in the end :) I should have some time soon so I can do some more renders no problem, what would you like to see, morphs/moves in action and such?
Working from memory, I believe it's the number of "sides" to the strands: The higher the number, the nicer the strands will look, but the more time they will take to render.
It’s absolutely puzzling to me that I don’t already own this hair. I buy every well-made African hair I see, and I definitely remember seeing this get released, but can’t imagine why I would have passed on it.
This is correct, most hairs are kept at 2 or 3 tesselation (I somehow completely didn't see the question), 2 is the minimum to see the hiar properly and going above 3 can affect resource usage making it too heavy in the scene. Although if you're having just couple of experimental strands from SBH editor you can get some really fun results playing with these numbers for various usage.
V.
@valzheimer Just different shots which show the hair part, and the forehead, on a more regular character. When I picked that one from the character avatars (when I clicked on Characters in Content Library) I didn't realize she was a Girl 8 with a larger sized head.
One suggestion for hair I would make to all vendors- and I know this takes time- is have each side independent, in addition to both sides moving. And I always like to see the top with two different features- top height and top width. I may want more upward poof but not have it wider, or vice versa. I normally don't buy products which only say "All this" and "All that" with say, Wind Left or Wind Right type movements, because that moves ALL sides (and possibly top, depending on the vendor.)
One thing I screwed up with on yours- it wasn't intuitive to me the cap had so many options, when I went to move the hair, I was clicking on the top and bottom labeled bones in Scene. User error, but I may not have been the only one I think maybe labeling the first thing as the Hair instead of Cap would eliminate some of that?
BTW, so many lovely colors! And the details on this hair, man, you must've been a busy bee!
I also went back to the renders post and put a note in red about the smoothing, as with the Daz Deals plugin, people can pull up forum comments and I didn't want to just hope they would continue reading the thread. :)
@Novica Thank you so much for being so elaborate, seriously! (this is exactly why I love your reviews here) This is my first SBH/dForce Hair and all that you said is very very helpful for me to know how to go forward with the next. Not dividing the areas (except top and bottom) is completely on me, because I thought I could do that later and it turned out to be more complicated as the afterthought than I had expected, but I'm working on having that workflow corrected for future :) Fun fact, this hair was made completely with SBH editor (and PA tools), as I wanted to get the most out of it without leaving the Studio in the making to see how far I can take it.
I'll do some extra shots and see to post them later for you here to show more of what the hair can do :) I tried including as many morphs to ease up on the dForce and have it capable to be used out of the box, and yes Cap remark is completely understandable too *takes notes* Thanks again and I'll come back if anyone has anything else to add I'm happy to hear it :)
V.
Thank you @valzheimer for stopping in here and answering questions and such. I tend to support vendors more who have a presence in the forums because I know that if I run into issues or questions that that product is going to be supported and usually more quickly. By that im not dismissing other vendors because most are good with support but if your not available on the forums its a bit harder to get in touch and I do understand that sometimes that can be a troublesome thing because people are always sending messages and such.
Thank you for saying that! I truly appreciate it :)
Thank you! :) I admit I don't talk too much around the forums and messaging system somehow doesn't work too well for me around here, but I'm very easy to find (just google "valzheimer" search basically shows all my network places). Opening a commercial thread would probably be a good idea, but I was a little late to that this time.
Anyhow, I found original renders of my thumbs which are a bigger resolution and definitely show detail better than small thumbcard in the promos, so hopefully that helps. Also one promo that didn't make the cut with Monique and Darius because I wasn't sure if showing refitted hair on Genesis 8 Male would send the worong message that G8M version is included (it's not) and I felt it was kind of a "meh" on the artistic angle ;)
Note: Natty Top Styles - these are controlled by SBH surface and are just different ways to generate hair that I thought make this style look best. Last style on the 6th slot is the default that hair loads with so it's basically a style reset. Natty Top Moves are controlled in the Parameters tab and are combo of different dials, that again I thought would make one-click presets more interesting but dials can be used and dialed per need as any moves on any other hair. Bottom styles are SBH surface generations, there wasn't much to manipulate for dForce there as it's really short but it does make slight movement when draped. Also closer view of the parameters tab with shapes included on Cap and Top (again, bottom is pretty static and not problematic, it follows the Cap closely).
Now I'm gonna go and render some closeups per requested :) Character used in thumb cards is Darcy 8 (who is trully a gorgeous character and was really easy to work with with this project).
Post refers to dForce Natty Undercut Hair for Genesis 8 Female(s)
Gwendolyn- So I picked up what I *thought* was my first ISource character and used her to created the following image. While I was working on the smile I thought "gosh her teeth look dark" and went on with other things not really paying much mind until it was done. In the image I did it doesn't bother me much because her mouth is pretty much dark with shadow so hard to tell but I decided to do a test run to see what was up (image 2). So if someone has this character could you please test this for me? When I look at promos theres only 2 that even partially show the teeth which to me is hard to tell. I took a look at the texture map and sure enough the texture is pretty dark to me too. *Note: she comes with an eyebrow remove option but she does not have fibermesh brows included*
I really like her textures and the makeups are good they include a couple of more toned down looks, the reason I picked this one up was because I liked her face shape and textures and shes got some good nail paint options. The eyes really intrigue me almost like they glow but there is no emissive there. I like when creators include presets to apply body/head/full without having to use Smart Content or having to manually dial everything in manually if I use the content library. ISource includes several color options for eyes, lashes, lips, eye shadow and nails (both toe and finger).
Abby Holiday Dress-Honestly I would not have probably purchased this if it wasn't for the $3.99 sale. Was not really impressed with the really low cut front with no option to cover besides the cape. It comes with several color options plus some patterned options also for materials!! Love this since so much now adays you have to pretty well by completely seperate packs to get any options. The dress is cute though and it simed well with the pose I did. I ended up using Mesh Grabber on it to pull in the sleeve and skirt because I decided on the scenery after I posed, was originally just going for a portrait type image. It has jewelry and shoes!! Im really liking this vendor and have previously picked up some of thier outfits because of this also! It has several adjustment morphs and some wind morphs if you need a little extra to add.
Death Strike Hair- This hair is very nice it has movement morphs, multiple hair colors including solid and striped and utility presets for turning the spikes, skulls and hair on/off. It positions well with individual bones but the creator made it simple for this pose with a L and R shoulder pose. I used a cloth shader for the hair tie because it only has presets for metal and bone (they look great but didn't go well with the dress). The only thing I would have liked added is morphs for the end of the braid to make it a little longer and fuller (I was able to make it longer some by using the scale y on the end believe its labeled Braid 10)
Rural Chateau-This is an older product but it was the first time I have used it. Was expecting it to be bigger but its pretty and renders well! Ill have to play more in the future with it. I did not use any of the props due to them not showing in the image. It has door open morphs! I couldn't find them at first but if you exand the Doors then look under Door L and R its there. It does have this weird piece that sticks out on the outside, its part of the floor and I don't know why its there. Geometry editor wouldn't let me select it so I postworked it out.
Realistic Grass Evolution- I used it for a filler in front of the door. I used the low poly option and geometry editor to delete most of the prop that you wouldn't see in the image. I did try this with UltraScenery and I guess I went to far with the geometry removal because it completely crashed DS. OoPs
Gwendolyn HD for G8F Abby Holiday Dress for G8F Death Strike Hair for G8F Rural Chateau III Realistic Grass Evolution
@valzheimer You should put a link to your product in your post, that way it will link it on the product page with the Daz Dealz add-on. Thank you for the previews and looking forward to the new ones! Honestly I passed on the hair originally because I do not do a whole lot of afican american images (mainly because I can't ever get them lighted correctly and get agrivated) and didn't see any need for the hair AND THEN ya'll started talking about it then I had to go check it out and look at all the options! Oh my! Unfortunately budget does not allow right now but it has been wishlisted for asap!
Most wardrobe and hair products that I own load with smoothing automatically enabled on load (i.e. smoothing defaults to ON). So, relying on smoothing may be bad practice, but it seems to be common practice with wearables in the Daz store. Personally, I find using smoothing on a hair cap to be much easier than trying to fiddle with a bunch of morphs to figure out what morphs to dial to get the cap to fit without floating too far away from the head.
Oh MY, those teeth! I'll go see if I have her. EDIT- Nope, sure don't. Anyone else that can help out and check the teeth? And how DO you people always manage to find the few I don't own? (LOL maybe I'm psychic. If you're having trouble, maybe I predicted that in advance....NOT)
I didn't know that about the link, I'll edit the post after this one :) I was actually warned (by my husband) that the hair may be too specific and it may deter customers who don't usually render African-American themes and that not everybody shares my fascination with this type of hairs, but I guess my personal taste prevailed in the decision as it happens so often. I like to say I make my products for myself and my taste and needs first, which may not always the best commercial decision :)
I remember it being the regular case mostly until maybe halfway through Genesis 3 (Genesis and Genesis 2 nearly always came with smoothing modifiers), but I was told, while of course we are allowed to do it, it shouldn't be the practice, actually I noticed quiet a lot of items coming with the smoothing modifier but it is set to OFF (as is the case with the Cap on this hair too) :)
Anyhow to continue here's some requested shots of dForce Natty Undercut Hair for Genesis 8 Female(s) (this time linked). On Zelara 8 as she's a pale girl so you can see where hair meets the scalp more clearly in the contrast, smoothing modifier set to ON, no other adjustments.
First and second image are closeups of the forehead and hair under (undercut), All Hair Down morph (which is basically pre-draped state), All Hair Raise (can be used also after the sim if hair gets too glued down by force), All Scale (puffs up the hair physically in size making strands a tad longer), All Hair Back, All Hair Front, All Hair Left, All Hair Right, All Twist Left, All Twist Right, Front Forward (divides the bangs and moves them further forward). All morphs dialed to 100% each image a separate morph, used on Style 03 hair (one that makes hair the puffiest as I think it shows moves to the biggest extent). No postwork, all images rendered to couple hundred samples in resolutions shown, HDRI 20 (default value) and lights from Fast Production Lights.
Hope that helps, and I'm truly grateful for all the feedback, needless to say if anyone needs to see more I'm around :)
V.
Marella HD (G8F)
@daventaki I am rendering another isource gal because in all likelihood, the teeth (issue) would be the same or very similar for the textures. I am finding the two front teeth are orange under the default studio lights! Here's that one, and testting in progress with the Pro-Studio lights which I use a lot. Back in a bit.Okay, even as it's rendering with the Pro Studio lights- a BLUE one- those front teeth are definitely orange tinted, and the rest of the teeth are indeed looking a bit too blue/gray like what yours were showing. I'll post it here in about five minutes.
And the Pro-Studio lights. 17R. The teeth are more blue gray and the two front teeth are still orange.
Will those of you having isource gals test them with the mouths open and teeth showing, under the default studio light? (Keep the map which loads.)
@valzheimer Thanks so much! Don't be a stranger to the thread. Pop in anytime, particularly if you want to ask the thread surfers' opinions on something you're working on. :)
Yep went through several of there gals and most of thier promos show no teeth, the ones that do that you can actually see the teeth on all look close to the same to me with the yellow/brown textures. Looks like ill be borrowing someone elses textures in the future to use these gals. I have Marella also, shes the one I didn't realized I owned until tonight
Interesting fact: I searched for isource in the forums to see if this had been brought up by anyone else and did not see one single post about the teeth......
I've never borrowed teeth textures. What's involved in that? Going to the texture file of another character and copy/pasting it in in Surfaces? Do the teeth have to match exactly, or will it be irregular around the edges?
For teeth I just go to the surface panel for the teeth and change all the parameters until they look 'right'. Or replace the texture with a bone one which can be interesting :)
Have you all read this thread?
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/411231/do-you-remember-each-and-every-asset-used-in-the-scene-now-you-don-t-have-to#latest
I downloaded it but am hesitant to give it a spin because it's an exe. Thoughts?
I was skeptical because I searched gumroad and could not find it that way. The thread has been removed now, so I hope noone that did download it came across any ill effects.
I've been working on some summer scenes and a background set for doing some 60's hippies type of images. Haven't yet posted anyplace but someday will get around to it.
This is an image of Casssandra by @isourcetextures https://www.daz3d.com/cassandra-for-genesis-8-female
And, Xanthe https://www.daz3d.com/xanthe-for-stephanie-8
I think the teeth shown in the smiles worked out well at least this time.
@cismic Nicely done, and yep, your teeth look normal so guess it's a hit and miss type thing. Thanks for sharing. Love the funky backgroun on the second one!
BTW, off topic and a few observations/comments. I decided to go to Walmart today, and do it early. Here was my reasoning:
1. Hurricane season starts June 1st, and for some reason, many people are oblivious that is approaching until the word "June" appears. May 31st is SO different than June 1st. (Sarcasm) So come Monday, if you thought things weren't on the shelves now, just wait until June.
2. It's the end of the month so many people are broke.
3. I'm not going on Walmart's designated senior day. I went one morning and the line was down the sidewalk and down to the Garden Center.
4. Going early, as close to opening as possible, as less crowded.
5. June 1st starts tax free hurricane season buying, and that brings crowds. So no way was I going on Monday or later. People getting paychecks PLUS tax free? No way.
How did it go? JACKPOT. No more than two people at a time on any aisle, if there were three, one of us was at the end leaving the aisle.
Talked to the cashier, and she passed this along- "Come before 10am. It starts getting busier around 9am, and it varies, but by 10am we're always busy. And avoid Senior Hours. It's like a herd of cattle stampeding through, and they never social distance."
And I had to laugh, being a senior, because the only clueless people ignoring the ONE WAY signs were seniors, just going wherever they wanted, whenever. The way it was marked, it was really unlikely they didn't see it.
But anyway, early morning and about two days before the middle of the month and end of month paychecks are going to be my only shopping days. I had my hand sanitizer and also my wipes, to wipe down my key fob and my door handle, before I ever got in the truck. Let everything sit until that evening (cardboard is estimated at three hours IIRC for the virus to live) and scrubbed my hands afterward when I unloaded everything.
What items are you folks finding hard to get? For me, it's the No Yolk egg noodles, of any type. I like the broad. It used to be chicken broth, but now that's back. No problem at all with toilet paper or paper towels, and of course no Lysol or Clorox wipes. But we now have the Lysol sprays off and on. I'm anticipating bread and water going fast starting mid-June if hurricanes start forming. And batteries. I already ordered (Walmart delivery) AA batteries for the troops for the neck fans I'm sending them. It's already 114 degrees in Afghanistan. So what are you finding hit and miss in the stores, and is it Walmart or where do you shop? FYI I haven't been in Walmart since FEBRUARY. I just use the pickup and they bring it to the car, or the delivery- love that! Never any errors, everything is always there, and it arrives usually within 2-3 days. Some things have taken a week if it's a specialty item, like a card game.
I always go to Walmart earlier or later in the day, to crowded otherwise. Noone follows the signs here as far as I can tell..... Cleaning supplies are completely wiped out and things like rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. I live in a small town but you would think we are the only place around because it is always busy busy and you can forget on paydays and th first of the month!
Walmart here has no good time to go as it's packed from open to close
Very nice renders @cismic, thanks for showing those; the teeth in them look fine. Love the background on the second one also very colorful!
I did not look at either of those girls when I was previewing promos they both have normal looking teeth. Cassandra has some very interesting eyes!
I tried the "in stock alert" and it worked like a charm on a cereal I wanted. So maybe go to Walmart.com and find the alcohol you want (I just checked and they have an Equate brand with two for $5) and it will probably be out of stock, but if you submit your email they will indeed let you know the minute it's in stock. That particular one is a delivery only thing too, so no hassle if you don't have a Walmart near you. Since many of us are up late at night, or get up early, it is nice to get an email saying the item is now in stock :) when other people may be snoozing. The cereal alert came at around 3am if I recall correctly.
There is a site I noticed on Walmart, called pharmapacks and never order from them. They have a 2.5 rating, folks hardly ever get their stuff or it's expired. So I always research the other companies first. Some of them are quite stellar, and I used them and no problems.
Since I use Walmart delivery several times a week (again, for troops) I will tell you they rotate what they have in stock. Welch's fruit snacks for instance- not available for a month, now I can get them anytime. What did annoy me though- they had a TON in the store this morning of something they said "out of stock" for delivery or pickup! So even if they have it, again, they rotate what they offer, then rotate it back again usually. I don't hoard, and hopefully others don't either.
Not something I do much of is Animation, this is the latest effort. Done in Iray and edited in Vegas Pro 16.
(Best viewed in HD)
Hmm thats interesting on the stocks I would have thought they offered what they have in store or warehouse. I haven't so far used the curbside pickup yet but I order from the site from things I can't get in store. I always research those companies im not familiar with, got burnt pretty bad one time for it. At the time I hadn't realized Walmart had went and started offering items from other stores and accidently ordered from them a brand new item and it came in looking like it had gone through 20 not so clean homes that didn't take care of things, then had to battle to get my money back. I found alcohol at another store but thank you for the tip I will remember that for the future!
I hope they go back to longer hours, at least til 10pm. I used to go around 830-9pm and that was so nice nobody in there hardly but the workers. Course who knows with covid now everyone things Walmart is the local hangout, drives me crazy.
Sandy that is so neat! I love the changing perspective, going through the actual blades of grass. Kudos!