Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2026 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Amy, Lana, Marie, and Maya (and their male counterparts), were the gold standard for years. And deservedly so. All of them hold up very well with a bit of tweaking. Lana was ported over to Genesis as part of the starter essentials, for that matter.
But we are still talking 3DL and at least five years ago. The tech has changed, and the very fact that the tweaking is necessary underscores this.
It is *good* tech. But it is still *old* tech. We are not yet to the point that the tweaks and hoops to jump through make using any of them more trouble than it's worth. But we will eventually reach that point. One needs to at least pay attention to the direction that things appear to be moving, whether one choses to move at the same time or not. Ignoring the trends is a good way to find yourself stranded.
The thing is, good texture maps are going to work decently until the tech significantly changes.
The baked in lighting in color maps was deprecated long before Iray came on the scene, that was the biggest shift.
Most of the less usable textures (like bump map = desaturated diffuse map) weren't done properly from the beginning, it was just less noticeable or simply tolerated.
And so until the resolution demands increase more or the underlying technology -really- changes (like vector placement of features and more coded elements to a skin), I don't think skins are going to be outmoded for quite some time. Barring simple UV incompatibility.
Here's my two cent. You can still make some nice realistic renders with old figures. I don't know why you would need super ultra res photos to get nice results or the fact you need photoscans, it'll just take up to much memory. And I also think to many users want the make art button. You need to put some effort in understanding how to use the application and how stuff interact. Here's a render I did using the m4 base figure with m4 merchant skin. It still looks great for being a very old product.
Hmmm. I don't think they actually want to use super hi-res photos in the 3D model or rendering of the model itself but instead what they want is more complex surface material zones and 'PBR micromaterials' created/generated from such hi-res photos (and by the way they are using more than 'regular light' now to create such reference materiels) for ease of variance and uniqueness. And they want those correctly defined in PBR for use in the iRay shader renderings. And they want a UI that makes sense to a 5 year old playing dolls.
In the same way DAZ has made it easy (well easier) to apply morphs (although it's not so simple to me if you look at a morph that has been applied from every angle and often find that it's just not working from some angles) so to do they want to easily configure unique skins for their characters that are one offs to their own personal project goals.
It is really a reasonable goal given what DAZ is and that each individual is trying to create their personalized art, personalized graphic novel, personalized animation, although I admit personally I am more of a tech nerd so I mainly am interested in seeing that although far too lazy and untrained to think my curiosity is going to lead me to make a significant contribution to the technical implementation.
If the majority of DAZ hobbyists wanted to become competent amateurs to the point of being able to create their own textures sets and geometries then really those customers should be asking why even bother with the expense of DAZ products? Blender is free.
Couldn't agree more.
Yes, I hope that people keep the conversation focused on answering the initial question of which Genesis 3 characters are the most real... The whole reason I asked is that it helps me to cherry pick the best of the best out of DAZ's library.... Instead I'm getting a history lesson. By asking this question, I hope to sort out a lot of more pedestrian varieties without being negative about it. So whats your answer? Which one do you feel is the most realistic G3 character?
For the guys: Dale or Kimo
For the gals: LY Stormy
The question is "Which DAZ G3 M and F character is the best?".. That is a whole other topic that is unrelated and nothing to do with the topic at hand..
They sound like interesting recommendations... Please show me more than just a few names.. tell me why.. what stands out about them to you? Show me why if you can.. if you don't mind. Thank you for sharing in advance. There a hundreds of chioces out there.. why do those names stick out for you?
Grateful
Because the skin textures on them are better the the more blurred, Reba Sky style air-brushed models. Also, although Stormy is your typical female model beauty, Dale & Kimo are not so typically male models. They look authentically like 'character actors'.
Not much more reason than that. It comes down to unique body and face geometries and unique skin texture sets created for those characters. Others have stated why they like other Genesis 3 models best.
By the way the easiest way to up the 'realism' in the eyes of the average viewer is to increase the strength of the 'bump' and 'normal' maps, although personally I think a lot of times it is way too strong in some popular examples. It is a matter of personal taste.
Which one do you feel is the most realistic G3 character?
I have to say that I like you have very interesting tast and I strongly agree with you about Dale and Kimo...
I own "Dale" so you inspired me to go back and take another look... You're right on the money with that call.... Thanks for that. I am curious as to how changing the maps increases the realism... maybe somebody out their has the time and knowledge to talk about this in more details.
Stormy is an interesting chioce... I wonder if anybody has any examples ... none of the promo pictures on her page really enticed me to want to own that character.
This is a perfect example of why this thread is flawed, everyone has their own tastes. The exact reasons you mention Stormy are the reasons why I don't hardly use her, too basic and monotone looking on the textures. She is a good character, but to basic and flat looking IMO.
While I am sure there are better looking textures out there, one of my go to texture sets is Mother and Daughters from Anain at rendo. Here is a comparision with Stormy with basic GF3, no HD morphs. Stormy on the right
As for female shape, I use my own morphs, never use any of the packaged ones. For addon characters, I have to say V7, Genevive and Ophelia are the ones I like the most
Yeah, I like a lot more detail, like the one on the left, because it looks more... real to me. But some people WANT glamor airbrushed-looking models, particularly for women.
I normally don't worry about it too much because I have Skin Overlay for G2 and Skin Builder 3 for G3 to add more detail, and Aging/Vascularity/Muscularity to add lots of HD details.
On a related note, some people prefer highly glossy/greasy looking models, while I prefer something more on the dry side with some natural glossy bits.
It depends on your goals; I like rendering people in real scenes (or weird versions of real scenes), other people want pin ups, etc.
OK, I will post example. I am currently rendering a corny scene for the milk props freebie in the PC+ section of the forums with the LY Stormy skin texture with the Bethany 7 morph shape and the Dale texture with the Brian (3) combined with Hunter (5) Head morph shapes which is part of the LY Distictive HD Faces and Bodies morphs Lyoness released recently.
I do admit the the LY Stormy skin texture is model flawless but it is not so blurred and capable of showing fine details, albiet it details a Dove Soap model would have...but still.
I don't use Dale's acne scar textures and I avoid dialing up the details too much as it then emphasizes some unique skin properties of Dale that others have already used.
The main thing that draws me to a texture when I buy it is, is it a skin tone other than this generic California tan that is so easy to get in the DAZ Store. Dale, Kimo, and Stormy all meet that criteria for me. Skin is more than just light to dark; there are quite a few color hues for skin that are valid and subtle but hardly ever available.
When my render is finished I will post it here but it will be a while as I am CPU rendering volumetric milk in the scene from MEC4D's vol 2 iRay shaders. Currently it looks like to me an image a meticulous painter might do more than a realistic photograph. In the DAZ world I've only found few renders that are momentarily looking realistic. It's an OK render although I'm as usual not entirely happy with the face expressions and other aspects. Oh, does DAZ need a new cow and/or do I need to learn to create my own textures that are good, lol, one of the two...or both.
For good rendering tutorials that are simple you should do the tutorials here:
http://thinkdrawart.com/
Several vendors whos G3F girls I like (skin wise) are:
https://www.daz3d.com/freja
https://www.daz3d.com/p3design
https://www.daz3d.com/raiya
https://www.daz3d.com/ozichick
Nice thing about SB3 is that if a model is too 'perfect' you can fix that. :)
"I don't want reality, I want magic." ~ Tennessee Williams from Streetcar Named Desire
This particularly useful for story telling narratives in animation that call for Characters living under "less than ideal " conditions.
I just wish there were more options for
cracked dry heels,lips and chipped nails with dirt under them.
Hmm. You know, Genesis 3 has the nice feature that the fingers are solid objects apart from the nails, so there might be some possibilities with placing stuff between the two. Worth experimenting with.
I think you are absolutely right on the money... The characters skin is the most important aspect of creating realism and this m4 merchant skin is amazing looking and you've done a brilliant render. You have clearly illustrated your point and I agree wholeheartedly on your opinion concerning realistic looking characters. In fact, some of my favorite characters are still V-4 characters. If the goal was simply a realistic skin, then of course, we have zero need to ever update since we already have a massive library of amazing skins on a decade old character... BUT...
The question I asked is "Which DAZ Genesis 3 character looks the most real' because while your character certainly has its uses... and nobody is saying that they don't.. He is entirely incapable a reproducing complex human expressions that Gen 3 can... that area that most often forgotten because V4 lacks the articulation points that are the very reason I bothered to basically restart my collection in favor of the updated characters. I've tried converting my v-4 skins to Genesis 3 but it simply doesn't fit. So now.. I cherry pick the best of the best out of the new line up which brings me back to the very reason I started asking about Gen 3. You 'very old product' is good but I'm looking for the best of whats new. Thanks
Some very cool choices but all 4 of them have a massive library of characters... so imagine that you are brand new to the market and you have a budget under a hundred dollars but you want to make the best choice from all that line up... Which characters do you pick out of that huge line up... It's not like I'm a millionaire who can afford the entire collection... help me choose the best of the best. What do you say? Thanks in advance.
Looking at buying the one on the left.... Wow. See.. a good looking skin like that sells itself.
Cailin seems the most popular from my casual observations of what others have said.
https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/mother-and-daughters-for-g3f/115836
Love that quote. To me, the goal is to create reality and make that magic.... otherwise you are just making cartoon magic. Give me the real magic.
Personal favorite from each:
https://www.daz3d.com/millie-for-aiko-7
https://www.daz3d.com/p3d-chandra-hd-for-victoria-7
https://www.daz3d.com/cathy-hd-for-victoria-7
https://www.daz3d.com/isa-for-rune-7
I really love the new boys by JavierMichael, Arran and Isamu. They are gorgeous and a bit ethnic which I like a lot.
And if you're still looking for a super realistic guy, then check out Gregory by Tempesta3D over at the other store. My jaw dropped when I saw him!
The Exile skin is AMAZING.
... What?
.
https://www.daz3d.com/n-g-s-anagenessis-2-revolution
https://www.daz3d.com/skin-builder-3-for-genesis-3-female-s
https://www.daz3d.com/cailin-for-victoria-7
https://www.daz3d.com/chiyo-for-victoria-7
Characters are great; two of my favourites are here, but I also make my own from scratch, as well as altering ones I have.
Sometimes the best characters aren't the ones with the most detail, but ones with less - they are easier to alter.
Some people have nearly flawless skin, but most do have a lot of different hues in different areas of their face. The below render is G3F and the skin texture is from a woman who has a much less than perfect complexion.
My question is how much detail is too much? Where is the line for what is attractive and when does realism start to become undesirable? My take is that DAZ and their PA's have a pretty good sense of what people actually want and what sells.