Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 11

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    @chris-2599934   Thanks for showing those, I like the variety of options. Having the choice of a light splattering is really good.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    barbult said:
    barbult said:

    The contest is over. And the winners in the "which one is barbult" contest are:

    Correct number selected: @IceDragonArt - yes, I am number 23. How fortunate for you, that you were forced to select a new number! You got it right.  A $5 GC code is coming your way via PM.

    Best Rationale (even if the number is wrong): @jakiblue - well thought out deductive reasoning, even if one invalid assumptions led you to the wrong conclusion. Yes, I am "mature" and female. But no, I am not single; I have a husband, standing next to me at number 26. Yes, I do tend toward the stern/firm rather than silly/giddy. You wondered if I was a teacher. Well, I have a teaching degree, but I ended up in a software development career instead, through a fluke of fate. A $5 GC code is coming your way via PM.

    I'm awarding a third $5 GC to @Novica for her generosity in hosting the contest and summarizing the results as we went along. That was very helpful. She buys so much to test and feature for us, I'm sure it won't take her long to put it to good use.

    Thank you all for participating!

    Fun contest and you and your husband are so cute together! You almost look like brother and sister, so lucky you found your soulmate! 

    Thank you, Wonderland! We have been married for over 40 years. I guess we grew into looking alike LOL.
    Someone else, years ago, thought we were a brother and sister from England. I don't know where they came up with that. We both grew up in the US midwest and have no hint of any English accent. 

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    You squashed her hopes and dreams laugh

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    edited August 2018
    Novica said:

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    (As her claws come out- "Get away from my man, yes, he's SPOKEN FOR!") 

    Lol Pretty sure she got the point!

    And yes, I did squash her hopes and I'm not the least bit sorry either.

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

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    (As her claws come out- "Get away from my man, yes, he's SPOKEN FOR!") 

    Lol Pretty sure she got the point!

    And yes, I did squash her hopes and I'm not the least bit sorry either.

    I guess you want to keep the guy!

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    barbult said:
    Novica said:

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    (As her claws come out- "Get away from my man, yes, he's SPOKEN FOR!") 

    Lol Pretty sure she got the point!

    And yes, I did squash her hopes and I'm not the least bit sorry either.

    I guess you want to keep the guy!

    Lol ya we just hit 30 years last month.  Clearly, he's a keeper!

  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 5,942
    barbult said:
    Novica said:

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    (As her claws come out- "Get away from my man, yes, he's SPOKEN FOR!") 

    Lol Pretty sure she got the point!

    And yes, I did squash her hopes and I'm not the least bit sorry either.

    I guess you want to keep the guy!

    Lol ya we just hit 30 years last month.  Clearly, he's a keeper!

    You mean he's broken in? laugh

  • Robert FreiseRobert Freise Posts: 4,247
    Novica said:

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    (As her claws come out- "Get away from my man, yes, he's SPOKEN FOR!") 

    Mmmmmrrrrrrrrrrrowwww!!!!

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    edited August 2018
    SimonJM said:
    barbult said:
    Novica said:

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    (As her claws come out- "Get away from my man, yes, he's SPOKEN FOR!") 

    Lol Pretty sure she got the point!

    And yes, I did squash her hopes and I'm not the least bit sorry either.

    I guess you want to keep the guy!

    Lol ya we just hit 30 years last month.  Clearly, he's a keeper!

    You mean he's broken in? laugh

    *snicker* it would be a shame to have to start all over again lol!

     

    Novica said:

    That's funny!  My husband and I were sitting in a bar a while back (not something we do often but occaisionally, we head out to the lakes and watch a band and hang out by the water) and some girl came up to me and asked me he was my brother.  I replied with a very emphatic no! he's my husband lol.

    (As her claws come out- "Get away from my man, yes, he's SPOKEN FOR!") 

    Mmmmmrrrrrrrrrrrowwww!!!!

    Usually, I'm pretty even tempered but I'm pretty sure my eyes were glowing green with a vertical slit instead of a round pupil lol

    Post edited by IceDragonArt on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,890

    People tend to ask those sorts of questions in touristy type places. Of course two people looking English doesn't mean they are brother and sister. My mom said when we kids was all little everytime a child happened by that had red hair that wasn't from that neighborhood the kid would be brought to me mom's asking if it was her kid. And again she'd say no, sorry. It's true though that one can often tell the region of the world and even of a particular country in the way that a person looks although not always, often enough, particularly in non-Americas locations.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,890
    edited August 2018

    dup post

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited August 2018

    Oh you'll love this video if you haven't seen what they're doing with car windows!   Click the link in the story that says Smart Car Windows Are Coming. 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • SloshSlosh Posts: 2,391

    Thanks everyone for the Colorwerks advice. There is more in the forum "Colorwerks" if anyone else is having issues. The thing is I never had issues with the OOT shaders but I am with these. When they work with a hair, they look great, but when they don't they look way worse than the original hair so it's kind of hit and miss and probably better for giving color options with new hair than working with older hair. OOT shaders are MUCH better with older hair so I'm glad I have those, but these hopefully will look great on newer hair. The only new hair I tried it on was Lana Hair (which requires SubD and smoothing of 5 to look good) and I like the way it looks except for the thinning part and now have several suggestions for a fix. 

    Edit: Nothing fixed it. Tried everyone's suggestions, just going to fix it in Photoshop... Hopefully it's just an issue with Lana Hair. 

    @Wonderland, I posted some information in the ColorWerks thread that I think will answer all your questions about the Lana Hair, as well as help you with using it on older hairs.  I would have posted it here instead, but I think it is better to keep it with the thread related to the subject.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited August 2018

    @slosh    Agree!  Feel free to post a link to the thread. 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • @Wonderland, Did Richard's advice solve your problem?

    I would have recomended the same, for some reason that folder is hidden. I wouldn't recomend reformatting the drive.

    If Richard's recomendation didn't work, I can think of another try, perhaps the thumbnail cache for Windows explorer became corrupt.

    If you need ti, I could send you another step by step on fixing that to see if it helps, but it is a long process so I'll hold off unless you need it.

  • SloshSlosh Posts: 2,391
    edited August 2018

    Thanks, @Novica.  Here is a link to my post in the ColorWerks thread, addressing the issue Wonderland is having with that hair:  https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/3837241/#Comment_3837241

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

    I decided to do a contest and do it with a big twist. The Not So Fast! Contest for Mischief Makers encourages artists to have some fun by switching things around on other artists. Artists are given guidelines as to how they choose products from their Product Library, then NSFs (Not So Fast!) are used to change things up.  One artist can take a product from another and use for their own render, they can have another artist take a product from someone else (while sitting back and enjoying the show) and more! 

    It's a new concept and while it may at first seem a bit tricky, I'll be monitoring and guiding folks through the setup. When we get going, you'll definitely get the hang of it as other artists swoop in and change products with you, etc. You also get to contribute to the "Now Available" list which is a list of fun items which give us a broader base from which to involve the participants. I've got the list started with things like the platypus, the shark... you get the idea. 

    You do need to own at least two sets, one character, and three props (guidelines apply) to participate, and be on the forums daily / every other day through next Friday. Next Saturday through Tuesday, daily. The NSFs kick in then and we're going to have some fun with the switcheroos. After that, you have two weeks to render whatever you get stuck with! 

    Oh, and people who aren't rendering can sponsor by contributing to the gift cards- and get NSFs to influence the gameplay!  Limit of 3 NSF purchases ($5 ea.) The sponsor money will get added to the lower tiers. A minimum of 8 people must participate (I haven't had problems with that in my contests, but with the prizes totaling over $100, it had to be mentioned.) 

    I've got to get some sleep, so don't think I'm ignoring you if you have questions. (Post on that thread.) It's 6:30am here so I will be back this afternoon. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited August 2018

    Want to send some love to a couple gallery images by @xmasrose. These are fantastic!
    The Last One!    and Where Is Home?   Please Like and comment if these appeal to you. 

    Don't forget the Favorite Gallery Images thread here in the Art Studio. If you want more likes and comments, that thread let's thread surfers know when you have posted something new. :) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Thank you very much Novica, you made my day! blush

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Heads up, I'm not sure if this is the same at all Best Buy stores, but the Deal of the Day for a 128GB flash drive that is $80 is on sale for $19   You save $61 dollars! 
    Type in PNY Attache 128GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive     It has a 4.7 rating out of 5.0 

  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    Hi there. I made my first render in a while and since I used some newish products and products without a lot of links, I thought I'd share and discuss here:


    The newest thing is the Victorian Parlour, which I shoved into the Old Shambles so there was something to see out the window. It renders pretty nicely and not too slow despite the polished floor. Before I put something outside the window, there was quite a strong reflection in the windows and also, although I ended up not including it, the grandfather clock. I was originally using the Promo Catch Lights and I had to remove them because the big eyecatch light reflected in the window even after the view was added was just too strong.

    This is the most technical picture I've ever done, since it involves both the dForce Vernea dress and the LAMH Catalyzer. The Vernea Fae dress took a long time to get right and I had to turn off both her lower arms and lower legs (as well as the piano) to make sure it didn't cling to them. Then I had to merge the main picture with the tiger because I was using the Catalyzer and it doesn't like being added to existing scenes. I noticed that each time I had to reload the picture the hair on the tiger got longer so I had to eventually remove and redo it, but I think it ended up all right, especially after a bit of filtering.

    I'm also using the new Nyo hair, which I think I picked up entirely because it came with fits for all the Rarestone characters and had a hint of dForce. There's a note that the dForce is only for slight adjustments and that seems to be the case because although it was active during the simulation for the dress and it has dForce surfaces, I'm not sure it moved at all. It's okay hair; I'm not going to return it but I'm not sure I'd purchase it if it had been 'try before you buy.'

    I originally rendered the main scene and the tiger separately and planned to merge them in post-- but that highly reflective floor of the Parlour made that trying. So instead I let it render overnight. 8 hours to 80% at 3300 x 2750 pixels, with the Scene Optimizer lightly applied to everything and heavily applied to the Shambles. The light is a nighttime HDRI, the built-in Shambles lights (minus the tunnel/modern lights), and the Painter's Lights Chiaroscuro 1. I applied some slight Bloom, Noise Reduction and Precision Contrast via Topaz Studio afterwards.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,890
    Novica said:

    Want to send some love to a couple gallery images by @xmasrose. These are fantastic!
    The Last One!    and Where Is Home?   Please Like and comment if these appeal to you. 

    Don't forget the Favorite Gallery Images thread here in the Art Studio. If you want more likes and comments, that thread let's thread surfers know when you have posted something new. :) 

    Yeah, those are good. I saw them back when she won the PC+ contest I think it was. The float one reminds me of the Gulf coast.

  • EtaminEtamin Posts: 126

    Great image @dreamfarmer  I haven't had the courage to try the LAMH catalyzer yet, but your dforce and LAMH catalyzer image sems to be working well.  It almost looks like a trial run for the @Novica NSF competition, with two sets, character and props smiley  Somehow the tiger brings to mind an old British children's programme called Bagpuss

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Hi there. I made my first render in a while and since I used some newish products and products without a lot of links, I thought I'd share and discuss here:


     

    @dreamfarmer   Oh this is stunning!!!  I love the tiger not being fully lit, it really adds to the majestic aura surrounding the animal. Her legs are so relaxed, they really convey the "nothing to worry about" composure. Your set is darkened to really take advantage of emphasizing her, and you balanced the light and dark beautifully. Well worth waiting for! 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    A special thanks to @worldsedge for contributing $20 to the NSF (Not So Fast) contest. That means that 4th, 5th, and 6th places are up to $10 (instead of $5)  I'll decide later what to do with the remaining $5.  We have a fun group of people so far (barbult, jakiblue, nonesuch00, 3dcheapskate, icedragonart and myself) and there's still time to join the fun. If you need help picking your products or understanding how it works, feel free to PM me.

    Once you get the hang of it, it's easy, and the gameplay is very clearcut (you steal a product from someone, force them to steal from someone else, swap with people, force a swap. It's devious!) All that starts next week. And of course, you can also help sponsor and get Not So Fast input where you tell the contestents what they have to do. devil

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    If anyone is still shopping the Light/Dark rotating banner sale, PM me now. (People that I haven't already chatted with in the past half hour.) And no, this isn't to the detriment of the vendors.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited August 2018

    edit  The store is changing over soon so you need to get on the ball.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,552
    edited August 2018

    So are the dreamland models only for distance work? Is this why we only see them at 50 yard distances? They look cool but I admit I don’t do a lot of distance work so....I am curious if they have rooms and can you use them for closeups.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,890
    edited August 2018

    I bought some of Dreamland's land models. They are Poser format and the trees unsurprisingly are billboards so yes, only distance work. Buildings are OK outside but inside nothing (that I know of) but you can do closeups but outside and you can't do closeups near any trees I've see in Dreamland's sets. Understanding how they are done and those limitations they are good in that context and they also are organized good but you have to navigate to them via the Content Library tab. 

    I, someday, will buy some of their city blocks to go with the land blocks if they ever go on a discount deep enough to inspire me to buy something I use so infrequently (but it's not Dreamland's fault of course that renders take a long time to do while finding one's purchased content in one's library, then create the scene, proceed through several test renders, and then actually render...).

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • Robert FreiseRobert Freise Posts: 4,247

    The ones here at Daz are in Studio format

    The buildings are props with no interios and no opening doors Basiclly they're intended for outdoor and neighborhood scenes.There are no trees in the sets here but the do come with modeled grass and a simple grass

    There are also a large number of props included and there is  a day and night setting for the lights

    Here are a couple of quick renders

    Lot08Day.png
    1914 x 1022 - 4M
    Lot08Night.png
    1914 x 1022 - 2M
  • escrandallescrandall Posts: 487

    The ones here at Daz are in Studio format

    The buildings are props with no interios and no opening doors Basiclly they're intended for outdoor and neighborhood scenes.There are no trees in the sets here but the do come with modeled grass and a simple grass

    There are also a large number of props included and there is  a day and night setting for the lights

    Here are a couple of quick renders

    They also have a large number of siding type/color and roof material selections.  Unfortunately the ones here are McMansions...    Over at R his older sets can be converted to Iray, but you have to get rid of the trees and bushes.  They mostly 40s and 50s vintage, which is an era i use often. Rather than a house you get a full block.  I'd like to see updated DS versions...

This discussion has been closed.