Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 8

12122242627101

Comments

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited March 2017

    Wow, right now at 6pm in Pensacola, it's 80 degrees with a real feel of 85! For March, this is ridiculous! How about you? Where are you and what's your weather / temperature?

    Post edited by Novica on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050

    Brevard County, Florida, 7:20 pm, 75 degrees.

  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454
    edited March 2017

    Panhandle of Texas 6:50 pm 60 degrees. It's been a weird winter. I should add while it was about 65 today, it was 87 yesterday.

    Post edited by firewarden on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805

    I'm in Bellingham, Washington right now where it's 47F. Back home in Cincinnati, it's 33F. 

  • deathbycanondeathbycanon Posts: 1,227
    edited March 2017

    Iowa girl here, 7pm, 19F and snowing, it's cold here in the north. :)

    Post edited by deathbycanon on
  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454
    Novica said:

    Someone asked me how to put products on an external hard drive, which is funny because I just mentioned that to someone else yesterday.  If you're new and just starting out, or old (couldn't resist) and haven't done it yet, consider doing it. Should Daz's site go down (and it did) I kept puttering along because I put every product on the external drive the minute I buy them. I just make it habit.  So here's the way I do it (and as you know, I am SO not technical. So if I can do this, so can you. It's easy.) 

    1. Make sure your external hard drive is plugged in and ready to use. Go to your DIM
    2. Have the Ready To Download column active.
    3. Uncheck the "Install After Download" that's at the bottom left.
    4. Click your items that are new/that you don't have in an external drive

    5. Click Start Queue and the items go to the file you have selected for the downloads. If you don't know, go up to the right corner in DIM and click the cog, there will be a tab that says downloads and it tells you what folder.

    6. Go to that folder and then hold Shift and click on the first and last one, and drag them into a folder (that you have already made) in your external hard drive. I used to make individual folders for the products first, then drag them into it, but have waaaaay too many products to do that for. Here's a tip:

    TIP: Make folders by the month and just drag them in there. Be sure you have the year. So have a January 2017, February 2017 etc folder.  Then if you want to find a product, just go to Product Library, type in the product, and you have the date.  I was doing folders for each product, but by the month is so fast and easy!

    Thanks for the reminder. I'm going to do this tonight or tomorrow, as soon as I decide which drive I want to use. Also wondering if my DropBox  will freak if I add my DAZ backup. 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050

    Iowa girl here, 7pm, 19F and snowing, it's cold here in the north. :)

    I grew up in Iowa. I was in the Marion/Cedar Rapids area most of that time. My brother and sister still live in Iowa.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    Novica said:

    TIP: Make folders by the month and just drag them in there. Be sure you have the year. So have a January 2017, February 2017 etc folder.  Then if you want to find a product, just go to Product Library, type in the product, and you have the date.  I was doing folders for each product, but by the month is so fast and easy!

    Thanks for the reminder. I'm going to do this tonight or tomorrow, as soon as I decide which drive I want to use. Also wondering if my DropBox  will freak if I add my DAZ backup. 

    I do eventually want to get back to doing each product with its own folder, but this way, if I want to find them, at least I can quickly get there by month. 

  • Holly MI here 17F

  • deathbycanondeathbycanon Posts: 1,227
    barbult said:

    Iowa girl here, 7pm, 19F and snowing, it's cold here in the north. :)

    I grew up in Iowa. I was in the Marion/Cedar Rapids area most of that time. My brother and sister still live in Iowa.

    no wonder your living in Florida now lol I'm in Fort Dodge area. Kids are out for spring break next week and it's supposed to snow through half of it. :D 

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    10 o clock and 23 degrees in Ohio.

    I didn't get the orange banner either.  I'm kind of bummed about it because I buy a lot of stuff.  And yes, I've been buying a lot less than usual but still...

    As far as external drives go I just moved all of my content to two external drives, one for the laptop and one for the pc.  I did it out of a sheer need for space but am happy I did, I feel a bit safer as far as losing stuff goes.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited March 2017

    @greymouser @deathbycanon  You can always take an extended vacation...come to Florida and  
    1. claim your GPS in the car broke and you're stranded.

    2.Then claim the dog ate the map that you were using to get back home. Or, claim the dog had it in his mouth when...  

    3. Robbers stole your wallet / purse with all your cash/credit cards (and you can't remember the name of your bank to get more money) and they also took the dog, who had the map in his mouth.    

    4. Last but not least, look for a new job in Florida because your boss isn't buying a word of this. 

    Sounds like a good RRRR topic. Excuses for why you didn't come back from vacation.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050
    Novica said:
    Sounds like a good RRRR topic. Excuses for why you didn't come back from vacation.

    That does sound like a good topic. Send it to Totte.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,473

    I  keep that in mind ;-)

  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454

    Gift cards are discounted again, so I guess a new character (Mika) is on the horizon? I'm thinking of getting Iray EnviroCam, Iray Light Manager PRO, and Iray Rain to qualify. I don't know if they were included in the Utilities sale, but I just decided they look way too useful. Has anyone tried them? Wondering if they're worth going for at this percentage, rather than waiting for another sale.

  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601
    edited March 2017

    I bought the College Girl Dorm Bundle yesterday and thought I'd share my experience. First I have to say I think the bundle is really nicely priced, basically giving you $3 off on the room and props together and throwing in the poses for free. The bundle product also comes with two extra preload scenes. So far so good.

    I loaded up one of those extra preload scenes. It has the room and all the props (sans sofa). And that is a lot of props! My poor computer started complaining a bit right away. So that was the first bit of disappointment, although not entirely unexpected. Then there's some things with the loaded scene. One of the beds, for example, is pushed a bit through the wall, so I had to adjust that. There's a few other things also poking through the wall, but not really requiring any attention. Still, I expected better from a Polish product. The window was the next thing needing adjustment. It doesn't come see through, so I had to change the glass shader on it. Though I suppose that can be a good thing if you don't want to put anything outside the window.

    The scene loads with one wall hidden. It's a wall with a door so it's a complete room for anyone wanting that. Another good thing I can mention about the scene I loaded is that things come neatly organized in small groups. For example, when I moved that bed poking through the wall, everything on it followed as it was parented to the bed.

    Anyway, I added Ducky and a college girl and loaded a HDRI to get some scenery outside the window. Unfortunately the HDRI gave too much light on the front of the room with the girl so I put a box around the camera, blocking out the light that otherwise came in through the hidden wall. That instead made the foreground too dark, so I had to add a light there. With that, and some DOF adjustments I was ready to render. Might be worth noting my settings for this was a 1920x1080 image at quality 5. Sadly, this was all too much for my poor 4GB NVIDIA cart, so it became a CPU only render and 7+ hours later it was still at 0% and as you can see, lots of graininess left.

    Even with that setback, I'd still recommend the bundle, as you get a lot for it. Kitbashing FTW! smiley I need to try a render with less props in it, but that'll be some other time.

    Dorm.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 2M
    Post edited by isidorn on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    @isidorn  Wow, there's a lot packed in there. No wonder it took so long! Thanks for the detailed information on what you liked about the set and what needed a bit of tweaking. Yeah, agree that is surprising with a Polish product, usually very meticulous. 

    @firewarden   I've used the Iray Light Manager Pro but it has been so long I don't remember much about it. 

  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454

    @Novica, I may grab it anyway. It looks incredibly useful. But now I need to browse 10 million artist stores to see if there's anything I'd be sorry if I missed. I wish they'd put out one link that showed all vendors involved at the same time.

  • MelanieLMelanieL Posts: 7,092
    edited March 2017

    @Novica, I may grab it anyway. It looks incredibly useful. But now I need to browse 10 million artist stores to see if there's anything I'd be sorry if I missed. I wish they'd put out one link that showed all vendors involved at the same time.

    If you look at the A-Z vendor list, it's almost (possibly exactly, I didn't count the vendors under every single letter) the same as the Vendor List for the entire store, so pretty much everyone is in there. You just need the url to remove New and PC+ items: http://www.daz3d.com/shop#index=0&filter_new=0&filter_platClub=0&filtered=1 and you pretty much have your all vendor list.

    (Edit to correct typo)

    Post edited by MelanieL on
  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454

    @MelanieL, for some reason, I thought it was a subset. must learn to read! Thank you for the link. :)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited March 2017

    Oh hey, look at this one. It has a weathered/ destroyed corner. Look at the last thumbnail!!! Never would have guessed. And is in featured stores. With a name like i13 Stylish Apartment, I didn't look at all the thumbnails as I wasn't shopping for another apartment, but wishlisted it. It's currently 11.23 with other things in the cart plus any discounts you got with the gift card at the time you bought it. 

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

    Post-Apocalyptic World The Outpost  A nice variety of props- starts at 58% off (all these assume you are PC+) so it's 24.95 > 10.48 > 7.86 and that's not including any gift card discounts.   It's a Daz Original, you can also use your PC code on it.

     

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    Anyone know if it's iray materials? store page doesn't list anything about iray at all, and the file list (from the readme page) doesn't mention any either.  

    Novica said:

    Oh hey, look at this one. It has a weathered/ destroyed corner. Look at the last thumbnail!!! Never would have guessed. And is in featured stores. With a name like i13 Stylish Apartment, I didn't look at all the thumbnails as I wasn't shopping for another apartment, but wishlisted it. It's currently 11.23 with other things in the cart plus any discounts you got with the gift card at the time you bought it. 

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Oh shoot! I forgot to do the drawing for the Top 3-5 favorite rendered products for February. I just sent Serene Night the numbers and asked her to draw one. She'll post the number here and I'll tell you who it was. Thanks to the little Aussie bird who chirped in my ear and reminded me! 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited March 2017
    isidorn said:

    I bought the College Girl Dorm Bundle yesterday and thought I'd share my experience. First I have to say I think the bundle is really nicely priced, basically giving you $3 off on the room and props together and throwing in the poses for free. The bundle product also comes with two extra preload scenes. So far so good.

    Might be worth noting my settings for this was a 1920x1080 image at quality 5. Sadly, this was all too much for my poor 4GB NVIDIA cart, so it became a CPU only render and 7+ hours later it was still at 0% and as you can see, lots of graininess left.

    @isidorn   Just a thought- when I tested the quality renders at higher numbers, there was very little or no difference that I could see.

    If you want to PM me with your email addy, I'll email you back and you can send me the duf to render for you. My computer is ultra fast.  I have that dorm product but not sure who the girl is, if I don't have all the products (don't have that dandelion hair) and clothing we can substitute in. But that brings up a question- do duf files sent to others include the light settings? 

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

    FWSA Saffron has four brow colors. (Daz Original)  Starts at 58% off, goes to $5.66 before any gift card discounts.

    Space Merc is higher priced but starts at 58%, goes to 7.86 (plus g.card discount)  and is also a DO. 

  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601
    Novica said:
    isidorn said:

    I bought the College Girl Dorm Bundle yesterday and thought I'd share my experience. First I have to say I think the bundle is really nicely priced, basically giving you $3 off on the room and props together and throwing in the poses for free. The bundle product also comes with two extra preload scenes. So far so good.

    Might be worth noting my settings for this was a 1920x1080 image at quality 5. Sadly, this was all too much for my poor 4GB NVIDIA cart, so it became a CPU only render and 7+ hours later it was still at 0% and as you can see, lots of graininess left.

    @isidorn   Just a thought- when I tested the quality renders at higher numbers, there was very little or no difference that I could see.

    If you want to PM me with your email addy, I'll email you back and you can send me the duf to render for you. My computer is ultra fast.  I have that dorm product but not sure who the girl is, if I don't have all the products (don't have that dandelion hair) and clothing we can substitute in. But that brings up a question- do duf files sent to others include the light settings? 

    Lights are part of the scene, so they should be there, shouldn't they? As for quality and other settings I'm probably overdoing it, but I'm kind of OCD about it. If I can't have it big and shiny, I don't want it at all... When I was doing small test renders while setting things up, it rendered on fairly well.

    The girl is Blaire and as you noticed, the hair is the Dandelion Hair that I finally got to use. I cut down the scene to focus on Blaire and deleted everything not in sight. After 12½ hours of rendering it's 80% done, so it should be finished within a day. So I'm still getting a render out of it. smiley

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    I do have Blair. Well, if you ever get stuck and need help rendering, let me know. 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050

    Gift cards are discounted again, so I guess a new character (Mika) is on the horizon? I'm thinking of getting Iray EnviroCam, Iray Light Manager PRO, and Iray Rain to qualify. I don't know if they were included in the Utilities sale, but I just decided they look way too useful. Has anyone tried them? Wondering if they're worth going for at this percentage, rather than waiting for another sale.

    Iray Light Manager Pro will save you a lot of time if you frequently adjust lighting. I love it. I've also had fun with Iray Rain and Enviro Cam, but if I had to choose only one of the threee, it would be the light manager for sure.

  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,454
    barbult said:

    Gift cards are discounted again, so I guess a new character (Mika) is on the horizon? I'm thinking of getting Iray EnviroCam, Iray Light Manager PRO, and Iray Rain to qualify. I don't know if they were included in the Utilities sale, but I just decided they look way too useful. Has anyone tried them? Wondering if they're worth going for at this percentage, rather than waiting for another sale.

    Iray Light Manager Pro will save you a lot of time if you frequently adjust lighting. I love it. I've also had fun with Iray Rain and Enviro Cam, but if I had to choose only one of the threee, it would be the light manager for sure.

    Awesome. Thank you so much! :)

This discussion has been closed.