HD Add-ons: Why don't some DAZ characters get them?
Ivo Shandor
Posts: 74
I looked through this forum with a Google search and didn't really find an answer. I usually just wait patiently for the HD Add-on for the figures I own. I find them to make closeup shots for the face, hands, elbows, and knees look much, much better. It really takes the characters to another level of realism. So I can't quite figure why some of the characters just never seem to get one. I can't place the logic behind it.
It would make sense if cartoonish or unrealistic characters didn't get them but Guy 7 has one despite that he doesn't have any wrinkles on his hands, elbows, or knees. Then there's Kenji 7. He is slightly more realistic but he has an HD Add-on as well. He also doesn't have any wrinkles on his hands, knees, or elbows. However Aiko 7 which is more realistic than either of those doesn't have an HD Add-on. The Girl 7 is cartoonish enough that I feel it doesn't need one but why not, her male counterpart has one.
You might think that perhaps they skip the tween characters, but Izabella doesn't have one and seems to be halfway between realistic and stylized. Her face looks to me to be in her younger days but still an adult. Sunny doesn't have one but I will give it the benefit of the doubt because she is new. I would argue that she isn't considered young since DAZ promos her in lingerie on the product page which they would never do on the younger characters.
Overall, I would like to see HD Add-ons for the remaining characters out there especially since they are not done in a semi-realistic style. As far as I can tell, we are still missing ones for Belle 7, Julie 7, Izabella 7, Sunny 7, Ryan 7, Girl 7, Aiko 7, Girl 7.
Maybe it is based upon sales figures and that is why I have no insight. I would buy HD Add-ons for all of my figures if they were an option. I find them to be quite valuable for realism and especially helpful with alternate PA characters that don't have good quality displacement maps or normal maps.
Maybe some one else can enlighten me and I should give up hope on them. Please let me know.
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Comments
It's purely a matter of whether there are details which would be useful for the figures. In some cases even with paired male and female figures, one can benefit from an HD add-on and the other doesn't.
It's rather strange in some cases. Guy 7 gets one, yet Girl 7 doesn't, for instance.
Although, I'd much rather Daz just simply include the HD morphs with the original figure, these days... It's not like it's a new development after all of this time! Failing that, at least make the HD add-ons a lot cheaper.
Exactly. I've never bought an HD add-on - as much as I'd like to, I can't justify the price. The price of the base figures are expensive enough, but more often than not the HD add-on is just about as expensive as the entire figure. Which to me is just crazy. They should be included with the base figure and shouldn't be an additional purchase. With Iray being a thing and the strive for more realism for many people, HD should be the standard. Having the HD add-on as a separate expense (with it also being nearly as costly as the entire figure) is aggravating.
I suspect the HD add-on is made when the artist who creates the iconic shape has time to make it, offer it to Daz3d, and has it accepted. I gather a lot less is "commissioned" by Daz3d than people think. I wouldn't be suprised if the HDR add-on is not contractually obligated to be made. They are wonderful but I'm not sure if people would want them included if it effectively doubled the price of the character or caused those low RAM machines to stall.
It probably depends whether the figure needs it or not. I would think guy 7 would need it for the muscle detail, but girl 7 doesn't need it for her boobs ;)
It's my understanding that the tech used to make an HD character is avaliable only to the PAs and as such is something DAZ wants them to produce.
I only have one and unless you crank up the subd on the figure, it's hard to notice which doesn't really make me want to run out and get more HD characters. I am all for including the HD morphs with the character, but then the price would go up, so separate is probably better IMO
some of the hd addon morphs are better than others too some don't seem to add as much detail as others
I really notice the HD for some of the monster figures with extreme weird details, and when using procedural skins where much of the skin texture is going to be driven by the mesh and not skin maps.
Agree, in my opinion, they are very expensive.
Here's the another issue - benefit I guess for having separate packages (and I apologize if it's already been discussed). You only see the HD if you render close-ups and up the subD level (which has been mentioned). So if you don't do close-ups as a rule, there's no reason to pay for it. I've only bought the ones for the characters that I do tend to use for close-ups, like V7. Which leads the real question I was trying to find an answer for... I bought Liam HD for M7 and Chiyo HD for V7. I just loaded them both and I'm seeing HD morphs for Chiyo but not for Liam. Is that because I don't have the M7 HD? Do the HD characters require the base HD?
The OTHER other issue is that stuff like Vascularity, Muscularity and Aging morphs apply to EVERY figure.
So if I'm going to spring for HD stuff, I'd rather spend it on an item with broad use rather than (mostly) specific to a single figure
No, you don't have to have M7 HD to use the add-on figures HD.
I'd be happier if it was a one-time thing. When I compare the promos, I can't really see any difference between V7 HD and Mei Lin 7 HD. And I hate paying for the same thing over and over.
Yes, I understand that I can load Liam and "use" him just fine. But there doesn't seem to be any HD. If I actually want HD, do I need to have the base figure's HD?
I would be really curious to see what the exact HD morphs are on a generic genesis 3 character without the base figure. I already add the V7 ones to all other female characters I create, but V7 isn't as specific as say Rune or Mei Lin and I'd love to see what just the HD morphs from one of these specialized characters do to the base genesis 3
No, the HD morphs are independent. I don't have Liam, so I don't know why you aren't seeing the HD morphs, but it's not because you don't have M7 HD.
Looking at the file list in the readme, it's because FWSA Liam is only an HD morph. Since that's the only option, it wasn't separately labeled. He doesn't have separate standard and HD versions. (Other vendors do this as well, but they sometimes label the sliders or presets as HD. It's not consistent, either way.) Chiyo V7, by Raiya, does have separate standard and HD versions. As mentioned, practice varies by vendor.
Looking at a couple of other Genesis 3 characters by FWSA, they're generally pretty consistent in supplying only the HD version and not labeling it as such. Raiya, conversely, consistently supplies and labels separate versions.
That explains a lot. Thanks for the update. Now I know where to look to find out this kind of information for myself .