NEW! Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 6

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Comments

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    i have no idea what a local user thingie is...shows how much attention I am paying to all this new stuff LOL

    Another one to read is SnowSultan over at DA. He has a journal there and recently he's been writing about 4.9 and what he's discovering and it's REALLY interesting. As I said to him, he's doing all the hard yakka so I don't have to LOL

     http://www.deviantart.com/journal/4-9-experiences-last-update-586196548

    Novica said:
    jakiblue said:

    Oh is THAT what the Local User thingie is! I never clicked on it because I wasn't sure if it was going to do a James Bond ejection-seat type action. Now, back to serious- I'll have to read through it- thanks so much for posting!

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    Novica said:

    Oh, this can't be right. Little One is not required for Anemone Hair!   (and what a hilarious collection of promo art for Little One!)

    It's because the hair has a hair fit for Little One. The way Daz lists required products is screwed up. It is just like some of the MFD textures that say all the versions, V4, Genesis, G2F, G3F are required, but really you only need any ONE of them to use the texture.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Yep, an hour ago I was on a hair that said David Base, and it could be used by about six different figures (A4, V4, K4, etc.)  So the David Base is REALLY misleading since everyone isn't listed. But I'm not reporting all this garbage, I already reported that one two years ago. Haven't found any more errors in the DIM, which is good! 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited January 2016

    Oh, BTW Barbult- never did hear anything back from customer service about the botched custom categories, got the standard received your message junk then nada. (4 days ago) 

    Wonder where Rich is? Working on his cactus? (LOL)

    Post edited by Novica on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805
    edited January 2016
    Novica said:

    Wonder where Rich is? Working on his cactus? (LOL)

    I'm here. And I was working on my cactus! The shape reminded me of Rabbids so I added some features.

    cactus.jpg
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    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    OMGOSH, remind me never to get into a battle of wits with you. THAT IS PRICELESS!!!  (Hey, would make a good avatar. I can see you trying to explain THAT.) 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited January 2016

    Here's some more backdrops for you, I made these lighter and de-saturated a bit so you can have less bright backgrounds, less intense. For personal or commercial use, not for resale.  EDIT: I changed out the last one, no matter how much blurring and smoothing it still was a bit streaky. Some colors do better than others when mixed.

    backgroundAP.jpg
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    backgroundAQ.jpg
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    backgroundAR.jpg
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    backgroundAS.jpg
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    backgroundAU.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943

    Anarane http://www.daz3d.com/anarane

    It's beautiful, but for closeups in DS I am not sure I would use it again, the curves are not really curvy (in Poser you have smoothing in the render settings, which helps in this case)

     

    TealEmpress.jpg
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  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,565

    It's pretty old, maybe convert to subD?

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943

    I rendered that in 2013 ... but I think I tried subD and had things explode ... vague memory.

  • FistyFisty Posts: 3,416

    A lot of older stuff, and even a lot of new stuff by some PAs have unconnected mesh, no egde beveling, are nearly impossible to select areas to make invisible if you need to with the polygon group editor because control + doesn't work, and turn into a bunch of floating oval planes if you try to sub-d them.

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    that bit about the "...lot of new stuff by some pa's" has me worried.  

    Fisty said:

    A lot of older stuff, and even a lot of new stuff by some PAs have unconnected mesh, no egde beveling, are nearly impossible to select areas to make invisible if you need to with the polygon group editor because control + doesn't work, and turn into a bunch of floating oval planes if you try to sub-d them.

     

  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited January 2016
    jakiblue said:

    that bit about the "...lot of new stuff by some pa's" has me worried.  

    Fisty said:

    A lot of older stuff, and even a lot of new stuff by some PAs have unconnected mesh, no egde beveling, are nearly impossible to select areas to make invisible if you need to with the polygon group editor because control + doesn't work, and turn into a bunch of floating oval planes if you try to sub-d them.

    I'm sorry. That Obelisk pack is on my "Must fix" list, the UV mapping is also not all that good on it, I didn't know better back then. (pauses to think) I'm not a PA technically tho, just a hobbyist having fun making stuff.

    Post edited by ZarconDeeGrissom on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited January 2016
    Fisty said:

    A lot of older stuff, and even a lot of new stuff by some PAs have unconnected mesh, no egde beveling, are nearly impossible to select areas to make invisible if you need to with the polygon group editor because control + doesn't work, and turn into a bunch of floating oval planes if you try to sub-d them.

    Fisty, I don't know which products you are having difficulty with, but I have had a couple recent bad experiences.

    I bought Lucid Dream, a PC+ product, which was a total mess. As soon as you apply one of the supposedly supported morphs, polygons go shooting out the sides. It doesn't fit a posed model unless you have smoothing and collision way high. The mesh is very dense - over 88K polygons for a little dress, if I recall correctly. I submitted a help request for the Lucid Dream problems over a month ago, and it hasn't been fixed. I just finally got fed up waiting and told customer service that I want to return it and the associated texture pack.

    I have several clothing products with the "disappearing body parts" issue, because of the geograft technique. We got some clues about how a user can edit the files to remove the graft, but now I have discovered some of the other issues with the same products. As you describe, they have the polygon group editor issues, and no edge beveling. They are new products and I really like the look of them, but they can be problematic.

    Doesn't Daz have certain standards that a PA's products must meet? Does Daz QA really test products that are submitted? I'm becoming concerned about the quality of some things I'm getting lately. We need to be even more careful of buying during those "No Returns" sales.

    Post edited by barbult on
  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016

    I have a number of products (from one PA) with exploding polies after a scene is saved and reloaded.  Generally I can fix these by changing the smoothing  setting to a lower number than the default set by the PA, which is usually 20 on these exploding items.

    First time it happened was a shock though.  No clue how to fix it, and I was convinced I had done something stupid.  "It's a pro product".

    Also I feel I have too many clothing products that simply don't have a "collision" parameter included

    Post edited by Teofa on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    Teofa said:

    I have a number of products (from one PA) with exploding polies after a scene is saved and reloaded.  Generally I can fix these by changing the smoothing  setting to a lower number than the default set by the PA, which is usually 20 on these exploding items.

    First time it happened was a shock though.  No clue how to fix it, and I was convinced I had done something stupid.  "It's a pro product".

    Also I feel I have too many clothing products that simply don't have a "collision" parameter included

    20 used to be the standard smoothing amount (maybe in DS 4.0?). If it is an older product, that might explain why it loads at 20. Setting it back to 2 is usually a big improvement.

  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016
    barbult said:
    Teofa said:

    I have a number of products (from one PA) with exploding polies after a scene is saved and reloaded.  Generally I can fix these by changing the smoothing  setting to a lower number than the default set by the PA, which is usually 20 on these exploding items.

    First time it happened was a shock though.  No clue how to fix it, and I was convinced I had done something stupid.  "It's a pro product".

    Also I feel I have too many clothing products that simply don't have a "collision" parameter included

    20 used to be the standard smoothing amount (maybe in DS 4.0?). If it is an older product, that might explain why it loads at 20. Setting it back to 2 is usually a big improvement.

    Yes, setting to 2 is the magic bullet.  Most of them were in the v5 pro bundle I bought.  Worst decision ever, DAZ wise, I simply don't like or don't use most of it.  Those products are fine now that I know what to do, but it took a week of asking on the forums to find out how. 

    Post edited by Teofa on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited January 2016

    I know this thread is usually featuring products that we like, but we also discuss products we buy and then have an "uh-oh" time when use them. I brought up the legs disappearing under the outfits because people need to know that (jaki did a thread out in Commons too) so if you are getting not-up-to-par products, I think people have a right to know about your experience. (So I am glad you are mentioning them) The other reason is perhaps it is something that can be easily tweaked (not that you should have to) or there could be a slight chance of user error. (Not with you Barbult, you know what you're doing!) 

    So as long as the issues are addressed wtih the product and there's no disparaging remarks about the creator of it, it would be a very helpful review. I would refrain from saying "all this vendor's products are..." if you do a specific review in the future and keep the review to each product discussed, or say this and this product also has that problem, which is fine.

    BTW, I just heard from customer service (Sat-Thurs) and I told them I'd moved on and wasn't using 4.9 and to forget it. At least they're trying!

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    Teofa said:
    barbult said:
    Teofa said:
    Yes, setting to 2 is the magic bullet.  Most of them were in the v5 pro bundle I bought.  Worst decision ever, DAZ wise, I simply don't like or don't use most of it.  Those products are fine now that I know what to do, but it took a week of asking on the forums to find out how. 

    And you shouldn't have to do that! You were very patient.

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281
    edited January 2016

    I do know there are a couple of older PC products that are now completely broken in DS - they were mentioned over in the Updated Products thread in the forum. Uhhh....I think it was called something like temple of darkness or such..I do know I own it, but haven't used it in years.  

    Novica said:

    I know this thread is usually featuring products that we like, but we also discuss products we buy and then have an "uh-oh" time when use them. I brought up the legs disappearing under the outfits because people need to know that (jaki did a thread out in Commons too) so if you are getting not-up-to-par products, I think people have a right to know about your experience. (So I am glad you are mentioning them) The other reason is perhaps it is something that can be easily tweaked (not that you should have to) or there could be a slight chance of user error. (Not with you Barbult, you know what you're doing!) 

    So as long as the issues are addressed wtih the product and there's no disparaging remarks about the creator of it, it would be a very helpful review. I would refrain from saying "all this vendor's products are..." if you do a specific review in the future and keep the review to each product discussed, or say this and this product also has that problem, which is fine.

    BTW, I just heard from customer service (Sat-Thurs) and I told them I'd moved on and wasn't using 4.9 and to forget it. At least they're trying!

     

    Novica said:

     

    Post edited by jakiblue on
  • FistyFisty Posts: 3,416

    Yeah smoothing used to need to be set really high, they made each number increase do a lot more, around version 4.5? or so.  Also changed how it calculates somewhat.  Works better now for most things but the older products that weren't designed to specifically to take advantage of smoothing and just have it on as a matter of course don't play very nice anymore.  I made a couple of products for Genesis 1 that have it set quite high, I haven't bothered to update them because they don't mind, they just look a bit smoother.  Bonus if you're sticking them on G2 or G3, don't need to turn it up to account for auto conversion weirdness.

  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited January 2016
    Fisty said:

    Yeah smoothing used to need to be set really high, they made each number increase do a lot more, around version 4.5? or so.  Also changed how it calculates somewhat.  Works better now for most things but the older products that weren't designed to specifically to take advantage of smoothing and just have it on as a matter of course don't play very nice anymore.  I made a couple of products for Genesis 1 that have it set quite high, I haven't bothered to update them because they don't mind, they just look a bit smoother.  Bonus if you're sticking them on G2 or G3, don't need to turn it up to account for auto conversion weirdness.

    There is that. Some things do work better with the new smoothing 'algorithm-what-evers' in that thingamabob, lol. Other things, like that Obelisk, tend to explode into giant lozenges, with mesh smoothing turned on (not to be confused with cloth smoothing also being discussed).

    I'm guilty of taking the day off to experiment with cloth, and debating weather I should bother going with a four or eight float over the warps. Or some doohickey like that, lol.

    Post edited by ZarconDeeGrissom on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    If you like that show on CBS called Blindspot, type Dthuregrif in Google or in the Rendo store search and go look at her new G3F figure. Awesome tatoos, don't know how close they follow the ones on the show. (And yes, the character promo has dark hair and is named Jane!)  For you V4 folks, that vendor also has a nice African American character. Thanks to the person who pointed out Dthuregrif to me (hadn't heard of them), and it was quite fun to see Jane.  

    Oh, and those adorable mini bots that keep winning in my Because I Said So! contest are part of that sci-fi sale. 

    And since we were discussing teeth, I showcased Fangtastic on regular people's teeth in one of the threads. They do a great job of rounding the tips without making them snaggly, like one of the other teeth sliders. Very easy to use.

    
     
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited January 2016

    Oh, jaw dropping. Renders are finishing in 17 seconds that took me 25 minutes to three hours on my trusty laptop I've used all these years (since my threads started.) I'm doing one with a person in it now, it will be much longer than that.  If you're not a computer / technical person that wants to install their own build, I would definitely recommend the Alienware 51. Gotta PM Kharma and see how her build is going/if she got all her parts. Oh, and yes, Windows 10 is doing great with 4.8 and 4.9, even though I am not using 4.9 since it mangled my categories.

    Here's The Dark Star done in 3DL with the default lighting. Just load and go!  There IS a hallway behind the door. It's darker, and has a door at the end with lit red thin stripes.

     

    The Dark Star.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited January 2016

    This is a Genesis 2 male (Alfred, love him) wearing Fraser Hair and Darkwoods Hero, with the scene changed to Iray and the lights switched to Photometric and lumens increased to 20,000-30,000 for the reds, and 50,000 for the blues, the main door was 100,000 lumens. I put a spotlight through the window and another one on the other side, for increased lighting. I left the scene rather dark as it would be weird to have that kind of corridor with too much lighting.

    The Dark Star6.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • TeofaTeofa Posts: 823
    edited January 2016

    That is a scary amount of Lumens in one place.  What if some get loose? :)

    It's always nice when you post a scene.

    Lumen Breach.jpg
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    Post edited by Teofa on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,553
    Novica said:

     

    Great render Novica! I like him Alfred is incredible, and I love this render.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,553
    edited January 2016

    Invited Guest Contributer

    Here is Kane for Genesis 3 male, recently released and purchased today  at Rendo by Redz. For those who like rendering men, he comes with some excellent 3delight mats that look great. He also has chest fiber mesh chest hair, fiber mesh armpit hair, fiber mesh groin hair, and fiber mesh beard stubble, and iray and 3delight shaders for the hair and iray and 3delight mats

    I really think this is a nice character set, and it is nice to have so many options and items included with one character.

    The only thing you may have to fix is the finger and toenails which render light in 3delight. I'm showing them so you can see what I'm talking about. The iray mats do not have the nail issue.

    kanefinal.jpg
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    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Kane looks good- from the side, almost similar to perhaps Inuit heritage? I love the chiseled nose- straight lines.  I see what you mean about the fingernails and toenails, they could be darker with some bluish-gray/pink. I'm trying to figure out what that ornate tattoo is on his back. Ceremonial perhaps?

    Teofa, you crack me up! Little lumens advancing everywhere...

    Jakiblue- thanks for the heads up as I'd been off the forums for awhile (65 degrees yesterday, 72 today, headed out the door to the barn again- horse is doing great!)  So I started reading that thread, it's bogging me down with this entire DRM debate so I've decided to skip those threads other than reading what Daz is implementing. They can do what they want to do and we'll just enjoy our rendering over here and let the world go by without us lol. I do have to get in the habit now of checking what I put in the cart as to how it's installed. What a pain. I put things in the cart yesterday and had to go check each one for DIM. I got FirstBastion's access hall and the cottage on the water. 

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