Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 7

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Comments

  • I really don't like that water.  The ripples seem too intense and too random.

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    Novica said:
    And next, talk about weird. I could NOT LOAD HAIR ON MY FIGURE IF SHE WAS IN THE HOUSE!  I tried five different hair products. Once I pulled her outside, ALL FIVE WORKED. The house is interfering with the loading of hair onto the figure!  That's a new one. 

    Did you try rendering it anyway?

    I've often seen items "disappear" in the viewport, depending on things like being on the other side of glass, etc., but the items rendered just fine... 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    L'Adair said:
    Novica said:
    And next, talk about weird. I could NOT LOAD HAIR ON MY FIGURE IF SHE WAS IN THE HOUSE!  I tried five different hair products. Once I pulled her outside, ALL FIVE WORKED. The house is interfering with the loading of hair onto the figure!  That's a new one. 

    Did you try rendering it anyway?

    I've often seen items "disappear" in the viewport, depending on things like being on the other side of glass, etc., but the items rendered just fine... 

    @L'Adair   You know, that's right!  I know when I had a figure in the Nino car, the hair didn't show up. I had forgotten about that, thanks! yes

    @TabascoJack   Yeah, I think of oil more than water. But your mileage may vary depending on your lights. I'm not faring too well with any of mine! The best pool by far is the one in Penthouse Living- it is EXQUISITE!   If you haven't seen it (I did showcase it) take a peek at the promos- it's got a great one of the pool.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552
    edited October 2016

    I like the ripples in the water like that. 

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

    I'm still trying to figure out what the green section is on the right. It doesn't seem to be a reflection of the tiles. When the lights are on, it goes lighter, of course, but the green area still exists. 

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805
    edited October 2016
    Novica said:

    I'm still trying to figure out what the green section is on the right. It doesn't seem to be a reflection of the tiles. When the lights are on, it goes lighter, of course, but the green area still exists. 

    Is it reflecting something from behind the pool? It looks like some type of reflection to me. Maybe you can hide different objects or surfaces and see what changes.

    EDIT: Hmm, looking back at your image, there's not really anything back there.

    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2016

    Yeah, I looked at that when the render was done. Great minds think alike, eh? BTW, love what you're doing with the Dreamland sets. 

    Things I'm looking at (have to check out before 1am) are Wastelander (Gen3M)  as it's  $1.62 with a new / debut item  (I had to laugh at one of the promos- the man looks more Deer-In-Headlights rather than threatening. Go look, you'll know which one I mean!  If I had to caption it, it would be "Get me away from this guy, PLEASE?" or "I don't KNOW how I got here!" 

    Medieval Tower Bedroom goes down to $8.98  Note the doors all open and close, as do the curtains. I absolutely adore the cradle-type chair in that one.  There's a fair amount of props, and very well made. Great price for what you get. (Think if YOU had to model all that...)

    Yeah, I'm back at IH Kang again. This swimsuit is suitable for kids. I did a Google search for 6th grade swimsuits and got all ages, but eyeing the 5th grade up, this suit is very modest. Check out the backside, it actually has good coverage.  Edit: Price: $7.18  w new / debut.

    Tatum Hair drops to $4.53   I'd use Slosh's shaders or OOT's and soften it up a bit.

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2016

    One of our Daz forum members has a book out that is free from the 20th to the 22nd. Congrats to @Llynara and if you can, please download it, read, and leave a review. Books disappear quickly from rankings if there aren't a good number of those. When I get mine done (in the next century) I'll be letting you know LOL. Wonderful cover!  

    Good job Llynara! I downloaded it a few minutes ago and will read it and leave a review for you.  PS- you should really have a link in your signature about the free book.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited October 2016

    Oh, thank you so much for the mention, Novica! It's free tomorrow too, so there's still time to grab it. It'll be .99 from Oct 23-31st. I'll try to do another free promo before Christmas. When the next book in the series is out, Unlucky Charm will be permanently free as an introduction to the Black Kat series. 
     

    And since we're doing product reviews here- I listed everything I used for the book cover in my gallery post. BD Esther is stunningly gorgeous and Dimension Theory's iRadiance Light Probes are just magical. I'm creating a free downloadable wallpaper of Kat for my website and I cannot believe how beautifully those two products turn out in every render! Belladizines and Dimension Theory both outdid themselves. I'll post the raw render here as soon as it's done cooking. 

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

    Sure!  Feel free to remind me whenever any of your books come out (and other members who have free ones for a limited time offer.) I think it would be okay for you to put your website link in your signature- you aren't selling anything on the site so it's not a commercial link. (Mods, correct me if I'm wrong please.) 

    The cover is really gorgeous. REALLY.  And yes, post any renders you'd like, just be sure and mention which products are used please. Love to see them!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2016

    Wow, it's Christmas! A really good looking male outfit, and an older, weathered male- both by @Kayleyss   Stunning from the looks of the promos. The Hunter Gear details are very nice, I particularly like the midsection with the buttons/rivets, (whatever they are), and the arm where the bands run horizontally. The shoulder layering with more buttons/rivets is just plain scrumptious!  And the character Gwenbleiz is unique and just what we've been waiting for- an older, flawed dude who exudes power  and a no-nonsense approach.  Thank you Kayleyss!

    Post edited by Novica on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited October 2016

    Thanks, Novica! I'll get a link in my sig today and work on a banner too. 

    Here's a WIP, fresh out of DAZ. Working on a full length version, and haven't decided on a background yet. I just adjusted her coloring slightly in Lightroom and scaled the image down a bit in Photoshop to post here. The coloring looks weird on this monitor, but I haven't had my coffee yet. I'll check it on another computer, this one always seems a bit off. That's on my Christmas list. Such a gorgeous model. Not much is needed to make her shine!

    EDIT: Yeah, it's too dark and undersaturated. It's the same preset and lighting I used for the cover but it doesn't look right. Looks good in DAZ, Photoshop and Lightroom, but not here. That's weird!

    Products used are the same as on the book cover: 

    • Dragonfly hair by Goldtassel
    • BD Esther by Belladizines
    • iRadiance Light Probes by Dimenion Theory
    • Cateye Suit for Genesis 3 Females by OOT
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  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited October 2016

    Here's a screenshot of her in Photoshop. I think my "save" settings got messed up when I brought her in from Lightroom. This is how she's supposed to look! I stuck Kerya's Very Cloudy Skies behind her.

     

     

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  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,038

    It looks like it is being desaturated when you save it.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    Are you saving it with a color profile other than srgb?
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    I will check. I think I need coffee first. LOL

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited October 2016

    Nothing else is saving badly, so it's probably something I did in Lightroom. I think the real issue is PEBKAC: "Problem Exists Between User and Chair"! HA!

    Post edited by Llynara on
  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723
    edited October 2016
    Novica said:

    Oh weird. And a tip for you- 

    These villas load at different locations, not World Center (0/0/0)  so take your villa to World Center if you want to do a one house scene, because otherwise your characters are REALLY going to be out in Lah-Lah land. Which brings me to my question- Why doesn't the character appear in the villa (is still way out in nowhere land) if you enter the exact same coordinates that the villa is located?

    And next, talk about weird. I could NOT LOAD HAIR ON MY FIGURE IF SHE WAS IN THE HOUSE!  I tried five different hair products. Once I pulled her outside, ALL FIVE WORKED. The house is interfering with the loading of hair onto the figure!  That's a new one. 

    A very similar and frustrating thing happens with Jepe's special effects products, like SteamZ, ElementZ etc. It hides/obscures the figure's hair as you move the special effect towards the figure! I've tried different hair,  different figures and outfits, different opacity levels, different x-y-z's. Nothing helps. So far it seems to only affect the hair.

     

    Post edited by dawnblade on
  • ValandarValandar Posts: 1,417
    dawnblade said:
    Novica said:

    Oh weird. And a tip for you- 

    These villas load at different locations, not World Center (0/0/0)  so take your villa to World Center if you want to do a one house scene, because otherwise your characters are REALLY going to be out in Lah-Lah land. Which brings me to my question- Why doesn't the character appear in the villa (is still way out in nowhere land) if you enter the exact same coordinates that the villa is located?

    And next, talk about weird. I could NOT LOAD HAIR ON MY FIGURE IF SHE WAS IN THE HOUSE!  I tried five different hair products. Once I pulled her outside, ALL FIVE WORKED. The house is interfering with the loading of hair onto the figure!  That's a new one. 

    A very similar and frustrating thing happens with Jepe's special effects products, like SteamZ, ElementZ etc. It hides/obscures the figure's hair as you move the special effect towards the figure! I've tried different hair,  different figures and outfits, different opacity levels, different x-y-z's. Nothing helps. So far it seems to only affect the hair.

     

    It's the way the preview window displays transparency - it only shows the closest object that has transparency or a transparency map. It's not a DS or Poser problem, or a product problem, it's an OpenGL problem. When it renders, it'll render properly.

  • dawnbladedawnblade Posts: 1,723
    Valandar said:
    dawnblade said:
    Novica said:

    Oh weird. And a tip for you- 

    These villas load at different locations, not World Center (0/0/0)  so take your villa to World Center if you want to do a one house scene, because otherwise your characters are REALLY going to be out in Lah-Lah land. Which brings me to my question- Why doesn't the character appear in the villa (is still way out in nowhere land) if you enter the exact same coordinates that the villa is located?

    And next, talk about weird. I could NOT LOAD HAIR ON MY FIGURE IF SHE WAS IN THE HOUSE!  I tried five different hair products. Once I pulled her outside, ALL FIVE WORKED. The house is interfering with the loading of hair onto the figure!  That's a new one. 

    A very similar and frustrating thing happens with Jepe's special effects products, like SteamZ, ElementZ etc. It hides/obscures the figure's hair as you move the special effect towards the figure! I've tried different hair,  different figures and outfits, different opacity levels, different x-y-z's. Nothing helps. So far it seems to only affect the hair.

     

    It's the way the preview window displays transparency - it only shows the closest object that has transparency or a transparency map. It's not a DS or Poser problem, or a product problem, it's an OpenGL problem. When it renders, it'll render properly.

    Thank you @Valandar! I'll test it out when I get a chance. That will be great if it works!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2016

    Just checking out some hair- and I opened studio 4.8 by mistake instead of 4.9 (Iray renders a bit differently.)  So just look at the character morphs, not the skin, as I think she may be a bit "flatter." This is out of the box (in 4.8) and she needs some gloss/adjustments in 4.8.

    This is Arianna for Karen 7 wearing Anny Hair  (Gen3F, Gen2F, Vict 4)  I  couldn't find in Anny Hair a movement option to get the really sticking out piece brought in closer to the head, I (see fourth image below)  even went in to Scene>(the hair) and broke it down.) Wearing Cailin Dress. (available in a bundle too, with the character.)  The second outfit was Summer Star Outfit (Gen3)

     I also had to turn smoothing way up (30) as I wanted to smooth the strands in the back-  the ones at the top. I just personally don't like them at all.  The best way I would put it is the other strands are more razor sharp, and those are a bit too wide and blobby. But 30 is too high, you can see (I beieve it is) the skull cap and the hair thinned too much. So experiment and see what the sweet spot is, I remember doing 10 and it didn't do much.The hair is rather cute from the front, with just slight  smoothing to ease the crinkles. 

    I think the promos make her seem a bit cartoony, she's actually quite nice. Good teeth too!

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    Post edited by Novica on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584
    Novica said:

    One of our Daz forum members has a book out that is free from the 20th to the 22nd. Congrats to @Llynara and if you can, please download it, read, and leave a review. Books disappear quickly from rankings if there aren't a good number of those. When I get mine done (in the next century) I'll be letting you know LOL. Wonderful cover!  

    Good job Llynara! I downloaded it a few minutes ago and will read it and leave a review for you.  PS- you should really have a link in your signature about the free book.

    Rats, missed it. Oh well.

  • Novica said:

    Just checking out some hair- and I opened studio 4.8 by mistake instead of 4.9 (Iray renders a bit differently.)  So just look at the character morphs, not the skin, as I think she may be a bit "flatter." This is out of the box (in 4.8) and she needs some gloss/adjustments in 4.8.

    This is Arianna for Karen 7 wearing Anny Hair  (Gen3F, Gen2F, Vict 4)  I  couldn't find in Anny Hair a movement option to get the really sticking out piece brought in closer to the head, I (see fourth image below)  even went in to Scene>(the hair) and broke it down.) Wearing Cailin Dress. (available in a bundle too, with the character.)  The second outfit was Summer Star Outfit (Gen3)

     I also had to turn smoothing way up (30) as I wanted to smooth the strands in the back-  the ones at the top. I just personally don't like them at all.  The best way I would put it is the other strands are more razor sharp, and those are a bit too wide and blobby. But 30 is too high, you can see (I beieve it is) the skull cap and the hair thinned too much. So experiment and see what the sweet spot is, I remember doing 10 and it didn't do much.The hair is rather cute from the front, with just slight  smoothing to ease the crinkles. 

    I think the promos make her seem a bit cartoony, she's actually quite nice. Good teeth too!

    Seeing this on Anny hair reminds me of an accidental discovery I made using it with Zev0's Fit Control.  It has probably been noted elsewhere, but I've found it's ability to modeify hair useful.  The real of Anny hair is overly high for my taste and I was looking for a control to see if I could reduce it.  One existed and  it did exactly what I wanted. Later I was trying the same thing on a figure where I had not applied fit Control to deal with clothing.  The morph was gone. Applying Fit Control to the character with just hair brought it and several others ranging from useful to useless. 

     

     

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  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited October 2016
    Novica said:

    One of our Daz forum members has a book out that is free from the 20th to the 22nd. Congrats to @Llynara and if you can, please download it, read, and leave a review. Books disappear quickly from rankings if there aren't a good number of those. When I get mine done (in the next century) I'll be letting you know LOL. Wonderful cover!  

    Good job Llynara! I downloaded it a few minutes ago and will read it and leave a review for you.  PS- you should really have a link in your signature about the free book.

    Rats, missed it. Oh well.

    @TangoAlpha - it's .99 through Halloween. It'll be free again on Black Friday (Black Kat, Black Friday, ha ha) and on the day after Christmas. Once the next book comes out, I'll make the prequel permanently free, so there are plenty of chances to pick it up again. Or just PM me and I'll send you a free copy. I'm more than happy to do that for my fellow DAZies!

    Kim :)

    Post edited by Llynara on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    I suspected it would come around again sometime - these things usually do.smiley My book1 is already permafree, and book 2 will be .99 for a week at the beginning of November.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

     

    I suspected it would come around again sometime - these things usually do.smiley My book1 is already permafree, and book 2 will be .99 for a week at the beginning of November.

    I just downloaded Wanted and as soon as I can, I'll read it and leave a good review for you. (Everyone- look at his sig for the book link on Amazon.) 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2016

    As I told you at the time, I put in a ticket regarding the knuckles on Akiko, as I showed you, the knuckles, to me, have blobs that aren't present in knuckles. I showed it here.   Look at my renders closely, you can see those even in the fists-up one where it's not even a closeup. Just to let you know, VirtualWorld has declined to customer support to fix it. 

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

    As I told you at the time, I put in a ticket regarding the knuckles on Akiko, as I showed you, the knuckles, to me, have blobs that aren't present in knuckles. I showed it here.   Look at my renders closely, you can see those even in the fists-up one where it's not even a closeup. Just to let you know, VirtualWorld has declined to customer support to fix it. 

    There is a thread here saying that the product was updated to "changes to the hands textures of Akiko to soften the knuckles and to lightening a little bit the skin area around the fingers".

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    I suspected it would come around again sometime - these things usually do.smiley My book1 is already permafree, and book 2 will be .99 for a week at the beginning of November.

    Thanks! I just grabbed the first one and will keep an eye out for your promo :)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2016
    barbult said:

    There is a thread here saying that the product was updated to "changes to the hands textures of Akiko to soften the knuckles and to lightening a little bit the skin area around the fingers".

    Interesting. My input was May 28th, Apparently Customer Service didn't get the memo that the vendor had input from whomever, maybe me, maybe others, or both, and fixed it. The Customer Service email to me for the "request to fix these textures has been denied" was October 19th. That thread is October 17th. So why didn't the vendor just tell Customer Service that they already got the input and fixed it on the 17th? Or they did, and Customer Service messed up. Whatever! 

    Thanks for pointing that out Barbult. yes

    Post edited by Novica on
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