Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 7
This discussion has been closed.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
224 S 200 W, Suite #250
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Here a Cut Through the Plane. I took the opportunity to play around with IRay Section Planes
Nuts. Totally forgot about that. Think they will give it to me retroactively?
Support Ticket almost allways help...
Is this how you want to have Morphs listed ;-)
I'm not sure how useful this will be so any questions fire away and I will try and remember what I did :) I tend to shift sliders, Ctrl/z then shift something else until I get something to work so I may have missed a few stages in the write up of the instructions :)
Loaded Worlbase
Loaded Shantara city scene - it loads with Worlbase as default so hid the extras using the eye icon in the scene tab
This loads with lights and camera all ready set up
I use aux view set to iray for setting up
Be aware that some lights loaded don't get converted to iray lights and don't show as being used in the iray aux view but are used in the render. I had to turn these lights off to get rid of the extra light making the render too bright and left the ones that were converted to Photometric Lights in place.
I used Instances+ for the 'crowd', (spot the odd man out :) )
I used emissive lights on the windows that are lit up, the dome of the temple in the centre and the lights below the floating building. The last two have an emissive profile plugged into them.
The sky is sunrise that comes with Worldbase, the skydome is set to allow Iray dome lighting through. I turned the sky in Worldbase to get the clouds behind the city. To do this click on the skies part of the dome, change to perspective view, click on the zoom button in the view and it will change to viewing the dome from the outside where the image on the dome can be seen with the base and turning just the skies in Worlbase allows the background to be positioned.
This render has been running for 17 hours and is still at 85% but I thought I would post it just now and then let it run to completion.
Renomista- wow, that's a LOT of morphs! Anything's better than "8 other hair morphs." That one you listed is certaninly chocked full of opportunities!
Fishtales, that looks really good, I particularly like the lighting on the trees at the top, it's a good color palette with the blue of the city too. That sky really sets off the main building but isn't distracting. Nicely done- and thanks too for the writeup. I know that takes quite a bit of time. I've never done instancing- is it easy to do?
I got the plane too, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet. From the promos, looks like a LOT of options for scenes, with many nooks and crannies.
Thank you. The colours and the sky are just what looked right, I could probably do it all again and come up with something completely different. The lighting on the tops of the trees is coming from the 'lights' under the floating building. Everything is a WIP as far as I am concerned :)
Using Instances Plus is reasonably easy, what you see was just an experiment with it without reading any instructions :) I did have a look at this video when I first bought it but not since :) Generally I just use the Instances in the drop down menu and move them around as I need them, in this one I wanted a crowd quickly :)
Was there a reason given for pulling Alex Hair? It's 404. Someone sent me a render of it and so I Googled when I couldn't find it in store search.
See this if you want to add some "old" into your Gen3F characters. You can't tell it from the main promo!
Thanks for the hint, I have this for a couple of months but never really used it.
Here's the explanation on the Alex Hair. It wasn't supposed to be released. Dang it, I'm doing the right link, but the stupid forums are taking you down one post. Just scroll up one. And the one that will be released will have more fits, so keep a look out for it for updates if you already have it.
Thanks for this, hadn't noticed it, but definitely a good find of versatility.
Have you all noticed the trend in pulling hair horizontally, then putting vertical strands through it? There's been a few lately. Ohara Hair has the bangs tied back, with crown hair coming down and slicing through it. Look at the second thumbnail, the brunette. Then go to the second row, the blonde, from in back. Look at the Cai promo, second on the bottom, how the hair on your right cuts through the other hair. (That's the other side of the Ohara Hair.) How do you folks like this style? Anyone rendered this yet?
To compare, look at Maia Hair which doesn't embed the hair strands vertically into the horizontal ones. Look at the main promo, then go to thumbnails bottom row, second image. This style has the uninterrupted horizontal sleek lines.
Anyone have renders of Ohara and Maia hair products?
I took a look at Ohara hair and it actually looks pretty normal for a hair model. The problems that I found are not showstoppers for me and I do like the style. I did not look at morphs or anything else. Just the textures.
I think most of what you're seeing (if I'm seeing what you're trying to point out in the promo images) is the unfortunate side effect of the camera angle used. There is one spot in the back of the hair that, in my opinion, need to be fixed, but that's just my opinion and it's not really a strand intersection problem as much as it is a problem with the way the model is constructed and the textures assigned. The rest of the hair looks ok to me.
I've rendered the hair without textures. The colors show the material zones and illustrate the intersection, or lack thereof, in the strips of polygons that make up the hair strands. I've also rendered the hair with a light brown texture so you can compare the two. The red boxes show the potential problem areas / intersections, but honestly, the intersection on the left side of the hair is only flagged because the right side lacks the same problem. Otherwise it looks like a hair model to me.
You will have to click each image. I'm not going to add big versions to the post itself since there are so many.
(If you want to manually open an image in a new tab, CTRL + Left Click it. Works with any image no matter what it's coded to do)
Thanks for taking the time to show us! Appreciate it very much.
Took me all day to decide, I used the PC coupon to deduct the $6 and that made it okay for Mei Lin, only because I want to get Hye and the Maia Hair. I'll tell you what I was looking at, was the Genesis 2 gals. I already have Maeki whose nose is really close to Hye and the mouths are both fairly close too. You know me and thin eyebrows, I'll most likely be using Maeki mats on Hye in the future. If you don't have Maeki for Genesis 2 Female, give her a look. She's a cutie! (And a DO)
I think Maeki and Hye are quite different, at least from the Promos.
I Picked up super cute Jas today from the Even More Mad Category and now have to wait until Mei Ling 6 is for sale
I also Picked up todays DMB Xiuying as a younger chinese alternative to more adult (maybe early 30s) Mei Ling (and also because she is super cheap in the sale)
BTW : I really like that they made Mei Lin 7 ab bit less youthfull
I belive Hye is supposed to be Vietnamese and Cai maybe Cambodian/Laotian/Thai
I admit, I only like Me Lin. I didn't buy the other ladies. I like less plump lips. It gets overdone for me on female characters at least. I have several dozen female characters with round full lips. Can't buy anymore.
I picked up Maia hair and Mei Lin base. I like really long poseable hair and Maia hair looks neat.
Yep, I'm definitely morphing the lips.
Later tonight (headed out the door to run errands) I will be posting my experiments with the Iray Smart Converter and Smart Skin Managers for Genesis 2. Here is the ReadMe. I thought it would be rather fun for you, the viewers, to suggest what you'd like to try on a character, given screenshots of your options with the product. Want to know what the translucency does? We'll check those. Scattering effect? Glossy layered weight? We'll click and see.
This product is excellent for quickly twiddling the skin, instead of going to Surfaces constantly and scrolling down through the sliders. Make it a custom category and have it at your fingertips! (I have Slosh's hair product, the Uber Base, and the optimized Genesis 2 skin all right there handy.)
I'm just exploring this product, so join the fun. If you have suggestions for a character you'd like to test it on (doing Genesis 2) just let me know. I'll be starting around 7pm Central. Anyone else who has this product, feel free to help showcase it. (You can also do for Genesis, Genesis 3. I have all three of these, I like it that much.)
Very curious, I bought this at releas but did not find the time to really test it.
If you're available for awhile tonight, would love to have you experiment and share what you're seeing. It doesn't have to be the "right" result, we're sharing what the product does and what the various options DO.
Folks who have graphic programs- I would suggest getting my images and then layering them (if you have Photoshop or a program that does layers) or even another graphics program that lines them up (like Corel Photoshop) across the top. Then by clicking, you'll see the skin changes. Some are fairly subtle.
Sorry its bedtime here in europe. my boys will want my attention in approx 6 hours so off to bed, and DS is busy with a Batchrender until tomorrow anyway.
I fiddled with Maeka last night. I'll go ahead and post her in a bit. Keep in mind I don't have a clue what I'm doing, so that is actually GOOD because it will show how user-friendly this is. I am not going to be moving maps
Let's start the tutorial on what the setup looks like. I will be giving you the choice of settings, but I want you to SEE what it looks like.
In Content Library: The location of the Iray Converter and Managers (SHORTENED TO ICAM) People>Genesis 2 > Materials
This post shows what you get when you open the ICAM and explanations of Preset 1, 2, 3.
Image 1, what you see when you open the ICAM. First step, choose the Caucasian or African skin.
Image 2,3,4 Explanation of the PRESETS. Second step, choose your preset. (I used Preset 2 on Maeki) Click to enlarge and read.
I use the smart converter for gen 3 figures a lot. It is very easy to use, and I like the effects. I do find that it tends to bleach out the caucasian character's skin, so if you start with a nice robust tan like Gianni's adding the smart converter will turn him sortof pale. However you can add a warm skin tone too.. Although I have not yet needed to do so.
Next a look at the setup, now that you've chosen your skin type (Caucasian or African) and Preset 1, 2, 3.
This post will only cover Base Color Brightness so we can refer back to ONE aspect of this product at a time.
Image 1. You have Base Color Brightness, Initialize Your Gloss Weight, Further Gloss Management, Translucency Options, Bump Management, Geograph Transfer.
Image 2. Let's go to Base Color- Brightness. I clicked the Base Color Manager (1 in screenshot) then the (2) more information which popped up as (3.) Note you have a choice of changing the base color of your figure, those in the screenshot are not the true colors as I contrasted the screenshot so you could read the print more easily. If you read their description below the icon you'll get a good feel of it.
Notice that instead of going to Surfaces to choose the nails or lips, or both- you can easily do that with this product! You do that by clicking that (1) to get the popup.
Let's look at your options for the Gloss Weight Manager. (Under Further Gloss Management in our screenshot one post up.)
Glossy Layered Weight is recommended to be tweaked before Top Coat Weight. You have the option of .15, .5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20. The image shows you the popup for the Gloss Weight Manager (again, with the ability to choose nails, lips) and sliders to do the Glossy Layered Weight and Top Coat Weight if you want to finesse them.
Remember in all of this, you get REAL TIME CHANGES in the viewport if you've selected the NVIDIA Iray view. So if you don't know what Glossy Layered Weight and Top Coat Weight do, this is a great, easy to use tool to learn what happens with those.
Let's look at your options for the Gloss Weight Manager. Glossy Layered Weight is recommended to be tweaked before Top Coat Weight. You have the option of .15, .5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20. The image shows you the popup for the Gloss Weight Manager (again, with the ability to choose nails, lips) and sliders to do the Glossy Layered Weight and Top Coat Weight if you want to finesse them.
Remember in all of this, you get REAL TIME CHANGES in the viewport if you've selected the NVIDIA Iray view. So if you don't know what Glossy Layered Weight and Top Coat Weight do, this is a great, easy to use tool to learn what happens with those.
Be sure and open this manager and read the suggestions on the settings for both of these. This vendor has REALLY gone above and beyond to help you. Keep in mind, this product is NOT complicated. You can simply click the presets and see what they do out in the viewport. This is designed for new users, and those who want more advanced control, but even new users can click and explore until they get their desired results! If you look at the icons, you can click on those and increase or decrease the glossy features and the layered weight, step by step. No going to Surfaces and moving sliders!
I'm back. Was settting up a character to test ICAM. This is the translucency section and you can click Translucency Base Manager to get the second popup.
In the Bump section, this is your popup.