Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 8

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017

    I'm going to summarize what I rendered for March, then put my top picks in another post. Since I opened tabs for all the posts containing renders, thought it might be fun to give you a quick peek back of my month. Ugh, now I have to whittle this down to five? (other sites not included. Listed them here so you could see them, but they can't be included in the top picks for the month.)

    Aster Meison (Renderosity, by TruForm) 

    Toon Animals (Renderosity) 

    P3D May, Isidora Dress, Oriental Breeze Pool, Dragonfly Hair

    LY Serenity, Patty Clothes, Patty Clothes Morphs and Textures, Honey Buns Hair

    College Girl Dorm

    Gentle Paladin, P3D May, Pauline Hair 

    FWSA Xavier, Buzzed Hair, Beach Vibes Outfit, Firefighter Uniform

    FWSA Grace, Frosty Winter,  Vidra Hair

    BD Aether (Mika 7), Mischievous Fairy Outfit, Tropical Plants (DS) Volume 2,  Honey Buns Hair.  Also Aether here. 

    Streaming Hair 

    Thieves Alley 

    Desert Villa, Gemma, Hinata Dress, Vintage Hinata, Free Spirit Hair, Vogue Poses (Eva 7), Pumps 3

     


     



     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    You can add stuff from catalogs or whatever to also get the 55% discount on new stuff. In case you don't already have everything. 

    I should see if I have rendered enough finished things to do a Top 3 post!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017

    Novica's Top 5 Picks for March

    While it is not required to @ the vendor, I though they might want to know they're a top pick. 

    Isidora Dress     @PandyGirl      Example
    This dress has fantastic morphs and lovely textures. It's a classic.  Note the SEVEN pose packs it works with! (If they have another end of March Madness catchup sale, I'd get those pose packs.) 

    Hinata Dress     @aavenainen     Example    Be sure and get the 252 poses too! 
    This dress is just pure fun, with the layering of the skirt. It's dressy, casual, and there's really cute materials offered. It's a PC+ must have! And although I didn't pick those shoes linked in the post as a top item, they go really well with that outfit.

    Desert Villa    @dreamcatcher       Example
    There's a lot of photo opportunities in this set, from the porch to the courtyard, by the haybale area, up in elevated area (not sure what to call that-it's a covered patio-type space)  And the props are great! Hay bales, a wagon, old furniture- you can't go wrong! (And who doesn't need a cactus or two?) 

    Gentle Paladin    @Bluebird3d   Example
    I'd be crazy NOT to pick an outfit that can be a fun, flirty dress for today, and part of a knight's armor! Dual usage- automatically on my list! So my March list is full of outfits, but quite a variety.

    FWSA Grace HD (V7)    @sabby  @fredwinklerart          Example
    My Grace shows her versatility, she looks different from the promos by just using a different camera angle. Grace isn't your same-old-same-old- that nose really sets her apart as a fun gal to have in your gene pool. 

     

     

     

     

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017

    Hmm, gotta think about this. I rendered a lot of stuff from "The Other Store" this month. And a lot of Generation 3 stuff too. And a lot of freebies. Lord knows I spent plenty in both stores. Just have to figure out what the heck are my top picks now, LOL.

    Post edited by Llynara on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017
    Llynara said:

    Hmm, gotta think about this. I rendered a lot of stuff from "The Other Store" this month. And a lot of Generation 3 stuff too. And a lot of freebies. Lord knows I spent plenty in both stores. Just have to figure out what the heck are my top picks now, LOL.

    It helped me to make a list of what I did render. You might want to do that in your thread? I'm going to start summarizing the month here and probably for thread 9, have a link to it in my first post. (Renders: (Month)  Renders: (Month)  Will help people surf faster. I'm certainly not going back and doing it (or at least, not anytime soon for this thread), but if I do it from the start on the next thread, it may help. If several of us do it, people can surf the threads faster who just want to see renders (and not the tips, tutorials, or chitchat.) 

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

    LOL, @barbult   I can only imagine the tough time you have, in trying to narrow down your renders to five choices!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017

    March 2017  Top 3 - 5  Picks  (Summary Post)

    I will add a link to your posts here, so all the posts are in one place and easy to surf. Then in the first post of the thread, I'll be linking the summary posts. You'll be able to quickly surf the months.

    Isidorn
    DonovanColbert
    Deathbycanon
    Novica
    Dreamfarmer
    Llynara

    RGcincy
    Ice Dragon Art
    Jakiblue

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    Dreamfarmer's Top 3 For March

    DA Blue Bell Woods: I keep reaching for this when I need a bit of framing for a render, and then it urges me toward making it into a scene. I was a bit taken aback by the HDRI backdrop the first time I saw it and I still tend not to use it, but I've always loved bluebell woods and this one is just so.... friendly. Example.

    Realistic Grass Evolution: So I bought the Poplars almost by accident, to get one of those 'buy two' discounts one day. And I kind of liked them, but the preset scenes kept annoying me because I didn't have the required grass. So I bought the grass another day when it was on sale. Reader, I loved it. The high-poly grass is ridiculously heavyweight, even for my brand-new computer, but fortunately, the low-poly grass seems just as good for most purposes. I am often driven into nail-biting anxiety by how... awful natural ground textures are in IRay and this is just lovely stuff. I even stuck it under Andrey Pestryakov's The Forest and it made the whole thing look nicer. Example. Example.

    LIE Make Up Presets for Genesis 3 Male: I can't lie: eyeliner makes the man. (Except The Guy, who, in his native skin, prefers to wear it as football makeup on his cheeks. It figures.) But it's more than just stark eye-delineation in a world of mechanized line-art filters: the whole set brings characters to life. Example.

     

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited April 2017

    @Novica - thanks, I've started to put them there too, along with top picks from other sites as well since I use so much stuff from everywhere. 

    Llynara's March Picks

    Here are my March 2017 Top Picks. Mostly older stuff, because I spent the entire month working in Generation 3. It was a good month to do so with all the extra discounts on older SKUs. I learned so much, and gained a new appreciation for Gen 3 as well as Gen 4. 

    1. Vega for V3 - Render 1 | Render 2 She is so gorgeous in Iray, and totally changed how I look at older items in the store and how I shop. Between her and "The Dress" for V3, I am now hooked and totally in love with Generation 3. I spent a good part of this month playing with her and with her generation. I plan on doing a lot more with them as I've found they are still very beautiful and useful. I think Vega is easily one of the best V3s out there. 
    2. Skadi for V4  Render 1 I fell in love with this outfit when I saw it on RDNA over a year ago, and had it on my wishlist for a very long time. It has so many pieces and textures to it, and it's so well made. I finally picked it up when it moved over to DAZ. It fits very well on both older and newer generations. Here it is on a V7 and a V3. Totally epic. Totally cool! 
    3. DA Real World Lighting - Render 1Render 2 I love the flexibility of this set. It simulates real world lighting very well and is easy to use. Adding a haze softens the lighting nicely. Perfect for real world AND fantasy renders of all kinds. 
    4. V3 High Fantasy Character and Clothing Bundle-  Render 1 Don't be fooled by the promos, This older bundle is an incredibly large and versatile set, it comes with multiple pieces of clothing, 2 entire V3 characters (who look very much like Aowyn and Arwin from LOTR.) There are also 14 textures for the MFD, which will work across all generations (working on a render of all of them.) This set is a STEAL.
    5. M3 High Fantasy Character and Clothing BundleRender 1 This set also comes with two characters, for M3 (they look like Legolas and Aragorn from LOTR.) A very nice, full clothing set with many textures is included.
    Post edited by Llynara on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    I actually love having all the vintage / older items in the spotlight- they are underappreciated at times. Two of you have focused on those and it's wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing! The rest of you, don't be shy. We have two new contributors to the list so far, appreciate their help in showcasing their favorites!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Okay, I have everyone's for March up to here. I had to laugh when I added mine to the list by person (of your Jan/Feb/March selections, again found in the first post near the bottom, in case you need to see what you've already picked)  This month, I had a D, F, G, H, I.  And I didn't plan that. I only skipped the letter E. Never made it to the rest of the alphabet! 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017

    Anyone have the X-Fashion Girl Outfit that can show us those jeans? I am not going to buy it when the vendor won't clearly show the top of the pants. I want to see the hem of the waist and where it sits. And interesting- (yeah, eagle-eyed me again) the shirt goes through the arm a bit in that pink top thumbnail (the arm on our right) with a spikey thing sticking up. What IS that? Can someone check that too? (Click on the thumb, then click again on that area and it will enlarge, clearly showing the spike.)

    I like the flow of the hem around the bottom of the top. 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Novica said:

    Well, this is doesn't make sense DAZ. That 95% off an item (old ones, I might add) gets removed if you have TWO of the Newly Mad items in your cart. Sorry, but I'm not going to get a great discount on old items and increase the price on NEW ones. Do I want Genesis and V4 stuff dirt cheap, or 50% (plus 10% BB discount, plus 20%+ gift card discount) on New items?  It makes sense if you're going for the bundles, or if you don't have most the items, but for the rest of us, yawn!

    The vanishing discount with two new Newly Mad items was fixed (oddly it worked with one, three, and four when I tested).

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Thanks for the heads up Richard. I hadn't checked out so that's good to know! What a funky glitch.

  • donovancolbertdonovancolbert Posts: 1,421

    I finished a render, then clicked on your link and thought to myself... well, that doesn't look like the same outfit. 

    Indeed, it is not. :) 

    https://www.daz3d.com/x-fashion-girlOutfit2-for-genesis-3-female-s

    I don't have that one. But the one I do have, Outfit 2 - doesn't have the issues you're noting. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    I love getting PMs. If you're on my thread right now, it'd be a good time. As long as you're not a moderator, that is. wink  Love ya too, but...you have a habit of doing the right thing, and I'm SOOOOOO into the wrong things. 'Nuff said.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017

    Folks, apparently what is now going on (keepschanging) is that for every Newly Mad you have in the cart, you can add one of the 95% off items. So if you have 4 newly mads, put up to 4 of the 95% off items in the cart. This actually makes sense, because you could just do four separate orders, so they hopefully will leave it alone.

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

    I love getting PMs. If you're on my thread right now, it'd be a good time. As long as you're not a moderator, that is. wink  Love ya too, but...you have a habit of doing the right thing, and I'm SOOOOOO into the wrong things. 'Nuff said.

    This is why I wuv you so! heart

  • FrankTheTankFrankTheTank Posts: 1,131

    OT, but I don't think I should start a thread for something this simple and hopefully someone here knows...

    Is it possible to turn off shadows for just one object in your render? I'm making my own billboard clouds and I don't want ground shadows of them, as I'm floating them unnaturally low to the ground. Seems like there should be a way to do this but I can't find it. 

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805
    edited April 2017

    RGcincy's Top 5 Picks for March

    1, Medina Cityscape Generator    Example 1  Example 2  Example 3  360 Example   A tool to quickly create your own mid east city.

    2. Nimos Transit Bus   3 Examples   A nicely textured city transit bus made for Bryce but easily usable in Daz Studio. 

    3. The Briefing Room  3 Examples  Animated gif of rigged cabinet   A modern, general purpose meeting room with all the accessories you might need.

    4. Sawmill  360 Example   A large industrial setting that is surprisingly romantic looking at sunset.

    5. Job Site Scaffolding   Example    Every modern city has construction work, these let you set the scene.

    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017
    DSDT said:

    OT, but I don't think I should start a thread for something this simple and hopefully someone here knows...

    Is it possible to turn off shadows for just one object in your render? I'm making my own billboard clouds and I don't want ground shadows of them, as I'm floating them unnaturally low to the ground. Seems like there should be a way to do this but I can't find it. 

     Try this post (keep reading the thread) as it tells you how in iray and 3dl.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • FrankTheTankFrankTheTank Posts: 1,131
    Novica said:
    DSDT said:

    OT, but I don't think I should start a thread for something this simple and hopefully someone here knows...

    Is it possible to turn off shadows for just one object in your render? I'm making my own billboard clouds and I don't want ground shadows of them, as I'm floating them unnaturally low to the ground. Seems like there should be a way to do this but I can't find it. 

     Try this post (keep reading the thread) as it tells you how in iray and 3dl.

    Thanks!

  • isidornisidorn Posts: 1,601

    I finished a render, then clicked on your link and thought to myself... well, that doesn't look like the same outfit. 

    Indeed, it is not. :) 

    https://www.daz3d.com/x-fashion-girlOutfit2-for-genesis-3-female-s

    I don't have that one. But the one I do have, Outfit 2 - doesn't have the issues you're noting. 

    Heh, I have that one too and I've used the hoodie a couple of times. It's a nice, casual contemporary piece of clothing. I don't have the one Novica asked about though, so I'm not of much help I'm afraid.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited April 2017

         Nala (Gen3F)        Choppy Bob Hair (Gen3F)       Cold Shoulder Outfit (Gen3F)        Gladstone Gardens

    Nala has cute freckles and I also like her teeth. The Choppy Bob Hair looks natural, with just enough "mess" and it can of course be tweaked. Shown with Slosh's hair shader, and high shine.

    The Cold Shoulder Outfit has crinkling with the breasts so you'll need to smooth that if you use plain materials. It does VERY well with movement- the last render shows the shirt in an extreme sitting position- and NO TWEAKING was needed. 

    The Gladstone Garden fountain is huge, when you load your character, you'll realize how big that fountain really is. It's a nice outdoor area.

    Well, Pensacola made it through the severe storms okay, there was one tornado to the north and east but no hail or strong winds. Hope those of you who are now in line for it aren't driving in it though-  a lot of rain and a LOT of lightning. Stay indoors and stay safe! 

    NalaColdShoulderChoppyBobGladstoneGardens.png
    800 x 900 - 2M
    NalaColdShoulderChoppyBobGladstoneGardens3.png
    800 x 900 - 2M
    NalaColdShoulderChoppyBobGladstoneGardens4.png
    800 x 900 - 1M
    NalaColdShoulderChoppyBobGladstoneGardens5.png
    581 x 873 - 809K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • ArtAngelArtAngel Posts: 1,484

    https://www.daz3d.com/terradome-3-iray  for Daz is almost 80% off with 2 newly mads

  • FerretmaniaFerretmania Posts: 883
    edited April 2017

    Wauw Gladstone Gardens looks really great. I forgot I bought that one. For once there's only 1 thing I don't have that you're showing :D The outfit , wish-listed for now. 

    Nala is really pretty with those freckles. 

     

    Edit to add : I'm glad you're okey and I hope everyone else that lives in that area is too. 

    Post edited by Ferretmania on
  • ArtAngelArtAngel Posts: 1,484

    I knew I should have come here before I checked out. well ... at least I don't have to buy a newly mad to get the Gardens. I love the resolution. Next time I get a flu/cold or a few do nothing days, I am snuggling with my laptop and reading the earlier pages to this and other threads by Novica, and make a new Christmas wish list based on the renders here. Hmmm maybe my hubby could do some casual browsing lol.

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    Ha ha, I had to check. I purchased Gladstone Gardens...but I couldn't remember! blush

  • donovancolbertdonovancolbert Posts: 1,421

    Heh, I have that one too and I've used the hoodie a couple of times. It's a nice, casual contemporary piece of clothing. I don't have the one Novica asked about though, so I'm not of much help I'm afraid.

    My favorite content is everyday items... not luxury cars or skimpware or fashion runway dresses. Give me stuff that is borning and every day. Not enough of that. Tab at ShareCG has been coming out with some great G3M outfits that fit this bill. 

  • WonderlandWonderland Posts: 6,695

    Are we allowed to submit artistic renders? Because I don't have GPU rendering, I render a character separately then in Photoshop add backgrounds and special FX like here, where I actually have four of my favorite items in one render!  https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/326096 Everything I do is postworked to some level or other, is that OK?

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