Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 4
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The standard morphs, you can adjust the lip protrusion. That's why I wanted to show the view slightly from the side and I'd personally also adjust the size of the upper lip if going for a "typical" appearance. I guess the vendors know puffy lips are easy to downsize :)
Thanks for the info, I may reconsider as I really liked the rest of her look, just not the lips :)
I'll do a tweak tonight so you can see the possibilities :) Even if you don't buy her, it will show other folks what can be done. I'm out the door running errands/headed to the ranch before it rains.
In honor of March Madness...take a peek at these DAZ products.
Zoey For Victoria 5 (DAZ3D)
Amethyst Fantasy For Genesis (DAZ3D / Debra Ross)
Genesis Barbarian Wanderer (DAZ3D / Valandar)
Alchemy II (DAZ 3D / IgnisSerpentus)
Siren Hair (Valea)
http://www.daz3d.com/zoey-for-victoria-5
http://www.daz3d.com/amethyst-fantasy-for-genesis
http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-barbarian-wanderer
http://www.daz3d.com/alchemy-ii
http://www.daz3d.com/siren-hair
Keeping with the March Madness theme and using DAZ3D products as the rewards, the SET, CLOTHING, AND FIGURE can be purchased (DAZ products) if you're interested in a fun, kit-bashed outfit and nice character. I like Zoey, she isn't a Botox Babe, her lips are a bit thinner than those, and she lights really easily. Only the hair is not a DAZ Original so you could get these with your March Madness rewards.
Alchemy II: The tarot cards came in huge! Nice surprise, you can use them for backdrops. You could even turn them into paintings. Just having fun with the set. Add some photoshop brushes for mist and you'd be all ready for some mystic action.
KIT BASHING: Amethyst Fantasy and Barbarian Wanderer
And a REALLY fun, easy kit-bashing outfit- it layers so beautifully over each other, is quite family friendly (note the high cut of the pants, to the waistline, and the top is very decent. Better than any swimsuit!) The pants and armbands are from one outfit (Barbarian Wanderer) and the top, skirt, arm pieces (gloves) and leggings from another (Amethyst Fantasy For Genesis). Literally took a minute to adjust the skirt using Scale and that was IT. Same with the upper armbands over the lower arm pieces.
Second image (the closeup) done without DOF so you can see the details on the tarot cards.
"Keeper Of The Cards"
Rapture with mouth adjustments:
This is a screenshot showing the tweaking. Currently rendering a second view. Will come back and post the changes- adjusting the chin will also make a difference as the bottom lip is reduced in size. And this is a somewhat quickie, I'm sure a lot more can be done. I reduced the size of the mouth overall, brought the top lip in, changed the depth of the chin, increased the mouth outline, etc.
Changes to the Rapture lips:
This would give you a good starting point for thinner lips and without the top one protruding:
mouth width -0.13
lip lower depth .40
lip lower size -0.83
lip lower width 0.27
lip top peak 0.12
lip upper curves -0.33
lip upper depth -0.30
lip upper size -0.84
lips define edge 0.49
lips heart 0.10
lips square -0.27
lips thin 0.070
mouth depth 0.070
chin depth .070
Dead Pool (The AntFarm)
http://www.daz3d.com/dead-pool
This is part of a scene from Dead Pool with the Skull Cove beach. Used the light set but added a distant light as it was otherwise too dark. If you add a distant light, try a grayish blue so you keep most of the detail of the white buildings.
Changed the water quite a bit in Surfaces tab because the additional light made it too light. Try darkening the diffuse, using a lower setting for glossy, and turn on ambient (which was black but zero percent) for starters.
It's a very large render, click to enlarge and click again to see the details.
Raelyn for Stephanie 4 (DAZ 3D / 3DSublimeProductions)
JeanZ For V4 (DAZ 3D / the3dwizard)
Sea Nymph Hair (Valea)
B2Basics Jane V4 (4blueyes)
Night Lounge ( SoulessEmpathy)
http://www.daz3d.com/raelyn-for-stephanie-4
http://www.daz3d.com/jeanz-for-v4
http://www.daz3d.com/sea-nymph-hair
http://www.daz3d.com/b2basics-jane-v4
http://www.daz3d.com/night-lounge
Showing you a few more DAZ3D items, Raelyn and JeanZ for V4.
Raelyn comes with a bikini top and "shorts" which are not really shorts, more like underwear. The textures are pretty but it seems more like lingerie than anything else. Raelyn has a very large nose and differs from the perfection of classic characters, which I liked. She is shown out of the box with the exception of a greatly reduced bust.
In case you didn't know, Sea Nymph Hair comes with about SEVENTY FIVE MORPHS. 'Nuff said. I loved finding a hair lily that somewhat matched her shirt. I left her hair flowing so you could get a feel for it, the purpose of the render was to test the light set and see the character.
Night Lounge probably has a hundred lights, I didn't count them. The table candles are lit, everything is amazing. Be sure and click the groups to open them up and turn off all the lights you aren't using in a scene. It took me about ten minutes to turn them off, and then I renamed the scene and removed the lights. I'm not sure if just turning them off speeds up the render time or if they are still processed, albeit more quickly? Is removing them better?
Anyway, this is the lighting out of the box with only those lights which impacted the scene used. (When I turned off a light, there was no change in the scene.)
JICC 3000 (DAZ 3D / Dodger)
Dungeon Entrance (First Bastion)
http://www.daz3d.com/jicc-3000
http://www.daz3d.com/a-dungeon-entrance
Here's another DAZ3D item to consider.
JICC 3000 is really a fun bot. However, you'll have to be careful with those dark hands because the body is so light. Getting a light background is helpful, or you could do a point light by the hands, or postwork.
A Dungeon Entrance is a really nice set, there's rocks, sand, pillars, and underground areas. This is showing the closeup details of some of the ground plane and structures.
CLICK TO ENLARGE/CLICK AGAIN. It's 2000 pixels.
This is a larger view of the outside area of Dungeon Entrance. The sand is wonderfully detailed and the rocks make a nice backdrop.
Currently rendering and will add here- the camera view if you were standing behind the bots and looking down into the tunnel which leads to the dungeon entrance. Will be about fifteen minutes. EDIT: DONE.
Be sure to click to enlarge/click again, large 2000 pixel render and you'll really see the sand details.
FW Darc
The Guildhall (Jack Tomalin)
Night Guard For Genesis 2 Male (DAZ3D / Ravenhair)
http://www.daz3d.com/the-guildhall
http://www.daz3d.com/night-guard-for-genesis-2-males
FW Darc didn't come up in search, didn't find it in two of the bundles, and FWArt and Fisty do not have that character either. Lights are Age of Armour Advanced Ambient with additional lights added.
Will post as leisure time permits, but am extremely busy and will be for the near future. So don't worry if renders aren't frequent, nothing is wrong :) I have several other programs I want to explore, and my horse to enjoy. It's spring and I am moving him to the top of the priority list as rendering is an indoor activity which can be resumed in the blistering summer months. So Life and horse will be slowing this down for awhile, but ICG's can feel free to post as usual, if you use some neat products and want to share or to discuss the good buys during a sale. :)
I think Darc Was a freebie which probably explains why he is MIA.
Like your lighting there and cute little bot!
I've been having fun converting my m4 content to Genesis 2, using Genz I must admit, so nice to have a variety of characters now for genesis 2 male, and like how they look in gen 2. Also converted some expressions for M4, quite nicely.
Next up, I'll convert v4 on over.
Yep, Darc was a PA Christmas present. :)
Umm... I prefer the supplied Dungeon Entrance lighting... Once set to Ray Trace it looks great.
The tunnel was just shown so folks would know there was one. I didn't spend any time on it. (no flames, etc)
Thanks for the explanation about Darc. I went to the ReadMe to find the vendors, to their stores, and kinda wondered about something so new being discontinued. Hope folks were able to get him. I did increase the specular a bit on him.
A couple of quick tips-
If you can't get a hair for one generation to fit, pose the character then just use the translations to get it into place and then rotate it.
Also, if the hair isn't sticking to the figure even when parenting, OR if the hair isn't meant for the figure and you just can't get it into place in a reasonable manner, pose the figure THEN select the hair in Scene and click on the pose and the hair often spins into place.
So in other words, pose the figure, then use the pose on the hair, and see if it goes into place or at least does something reasonable. I just did Pepper Hair for Genesis on Genesis 2 and it didn't want to work very well, so I translated it and then applied the pose and voila, looks really good.
It works on this one:
Pepper Hair (Valea)
http://www.daz3d.com/pepper-hair
I should render Darc in The Living Room which I grabbed when they accidentally put it up as a freebie for a few hours and then snatched out of the Store. :lol:
I expect Darc and The Living Room will eventually return to the Store someday.
Darc
Taylor for Stephanie 6
Pepper Hair
http://www.daz3d.com/taylor-for-stephanie-6
http://www.daz3d.com/pepper-hair
Showing you the Pepper Hair for Genesis which did not auto fit onto Genesis 2, it fit only so-so. It is translated and rotated and looks just fine- I posed the figure, then posed the hair as mentioned previously.
Still at The Guildhall, this is Darc (still wearing Night Guard) and Taylor with a combination of Advanced Ambient Lights and UE2 with my lights added. Taylor's outfit is kit bashed from three different clothing sets. I recalled when testing Darc previously that he could have noticeable shadows under his eyes and there is a second render coming up showing that.
Taylor is out of the box and another Botox Babe but you can again easily lower the lip size. I really like her eyebrows. If you have Stephanie 6, you'll enjoy her. She's filled out and not a "model." Her face is a lot thinner than it appears in the promo.
Taylor and Darc are slightly difficult to light together as she is lighter, these are out of the box and you can adjust in the Surfaces if you want to darken the materials and make other adjustments. She's a bit further out from the covered arch too (hard to tell from the renders.)
I don't think I have the living room, just the Living Room Collection which is definitely a different thing. Sure, if you've got it, would love to see what it is.
Headed out to the ranch, the other Darc/Taylor is rendering. He seems to be a bit grainy, is that UE2 with imbalance of some other light? (EDIT: Click to enlarge, click again- previous render is large.) It may just be his skin texture, what do you folks think? Anyone got renders of Darc that are well lit and clearly show the skin? (Don't want distant shots.) My render settings are on really good. (shading rate .30, pixel samples more than 10, etc)
The sales seem pretty good right now. I received an a pretty hefty discount on
Raphael M4 and Kory for Olympia (they were only about 2 dollars and some change), when I bought Domina today.
I haven't bothered to figure out how the discounts are working, but there are amazing prices. I have all the hair that the fast grab has the "Fair and Beautiful" sale prices (70%) so I grabbed the ones I didn't have (notice the Sea Nymph hair was one of them? Just featured that hair.)
I went ahead and got Ocean Wide, HDR ProSets - Urban Storm, Gwen for Victoria 4 and Genesis, and DM's Secret Chamber too. I put back so much stuff onto my wishlist, but I am sticking to budget.
Darc and Taylor are coming up with my morphs, I changed Taylor's mouth, nose, shape of face, tilt of eyes, used about 35 different settings. Also changed Darc quite a bit. Wish they would bring him into the store, I think the rest of you who don't have him would really enjoy that character.
Estal Hair (DAZ3D / SWAM)
http://www.daz3d.com/estal-hair
Here's Darc and Taylor with the tweaks. :) He's wearing Warrior Hair.
Ginger (DAZ 3D / Countess / Silver)
FW Neomi (Skin) (DAZ 3D / FWArt)
The Garden Wall (DAZ 3D / ARTCollab)
Winston Dress For Genesis 2 Females (DAZ 3D / Bobbie25 / Sarsa)
http://www.daz3d.com/ginger
http://www.daz3d.com/fw-neomi
http://www.daz3d.com/the-garden-wall
http://www.daz3d.com/winston-dress-for-genesis-2-female-s
In keeping with March Madness, here's a character, another character's materials, an outfit, and a set to consider as all can be used for your DO rewards.
Ginger is for Stephanie 6 but used on a Genesis 2 Female. So the character is Ginger. Hair is Thalia, featured several times previously.
I tested a darker skin and used Neomi. Will give your character a nice sun tanned look. I LOVE the Ginger / Neomi combination!
Not pleased at all with the Winston Dress so far as adjusting the neckline. Hopefully I just missed how to do it, but I didnt find any morphs, went into Scene and broke it down. Not in Actor either. You can turn the character and shoot from the side and hide the deep V, but I wanted to show the outfit's plunging neckline. It's a shame as the textures (polka dots or stripes) is really cute.
Instead of fixing the poke through for the middle of the dress, I actually liked it and turned it into a peek-a-boo slit by sharpening the end and making it a V shape. (If you don't like that, it is easy to just scale it or use the sit morph which is included.)
This is again combining my lights with Advanced Ambient Lights, some of Chablis lights, and UE2.
TIP:
Scale The Garden Wall 110.5% and it creates a nice ledge to seat your character. Just rotate them slightly. Use bump and displacement for more depth on the wall. Bump was 56% with slightly increased settings from the default for the positive and negative.
I also changed the diffuse color to 187/171/134 for a warm brown, instead of the gray stones.
EDIT: Hope you enjoy the second render, that sucker took NINE HOURS due to the high shading rate and all the vegetation/panorama.
HDR Prosets Urban Storm (DimensionTheory)
Kori (For Olympia 6) (DAZ 3D / Countess / Silver)
What A Cutie Expressions For Stephanie 6 (DAZ 3D / 3DCelebrity)
V6 The Tourist Poses (Diane)
Boardwalk Outfit For Genesis 2 Females (DAZ 3D / Bobbie25 / Sarsa)
ValenTina Hair For Genesis 2 Females (SWAM)
DA Roller Skates (Design Anvil)
http://www.daz3d.com/hdr-prosets-urban-storm
http://www.daz3d.com/kori
http://www.daz3d.com/what-a-cutie-expressions-for-stephanie-6
http://www.daz3d.com/v6-the-tourist-poses
http://www.daz3d.com/boardwalk-outfit-for-genesis-2-female-s
http://www.daz3d.com/valentina-hair-for-genesis-2-female-s
http://www.daz3d.com/da-roller-skates
I used Olympia 6 HD, don't know if that made any difference or not. Kori has thinner eyebrows than I prefer, I like Ginger and Taylor much better frankly. When using the HDR Prosets, do what the ReadMe suggests and turn Gamma to 1.40 (I used 1.43)
Here's the ReadMe: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/read_me/index/18347/start
If you're using the skates, try the Tourist Poses (number 19) and then just change the arms slightly.
The ValenTina Hair has a headband but it barely shows. Remember, if you don't like the options, you can always use The Fabricator.
The roller skates were easy, no adjustments.
If you've never used the HDR sets, it's going to be strange. The background will be out of focus/blurry- that is normal. When you render, it comes in correctly. This one came in without shadows and I had the ground plane, but don't know what I'm doing (aka, I had shadows on with the lights but am not seeing them.) Any ideas what I am doing wrong?
Did you by any chance "close the eye" in the Scene pane for the Shadow Catcher to see where you were placing your character relative to the background and forget to open the eye before rendering? Been there, done that. :)
Is the shadow catcher the ground plane? If so, it was closed during a test render and then I opened it for the render you see. I am just totally dissatisfied with that render- so flat, just ugh. The ReadMe just mentioned the gamma but otherwise was no help at all. I am going to go through the thread but wondered if there was something easy that I just missed. Thanks tjohn! (Have you used this product yet?)
For you folks considering or who own the vacuum cleaner, I've putzed with it for an hour and want to share some tips with you. Coming up. (Be sure you have The Fabricator installed.)
Yes it is the ground plane. I don't have the new set, but I have the first Urban set and the Yosemite packs. I haven't seen a problem with them unless I forgot to turn the Shadow Catcher back on.
Did you use a different light setup? The Shadow Catcher probably won't work with some lights. The lights in that set are designed to simulate an overcast sky, i.e. very diffuse light. This may be what you're not pleased with about the lighting.
John
ETA: You may want to save the scene and reboot DS and reload the scene. I think it glitched like that once on me (the shadow catcher).
When you look at the Preview window, are you seeing the ground plane?
Winston dress for Genesis 2 is low cut. :red: I know, that comment comes from someone who routinely dresses young women in bikinis. lol I never heard of Winston dress before. Thanks for posting the render.
edit: the dress comes with shoes. I might buy it.
Yep, the dress is LOW. (Not quite the "neckline where the waistline should be" but you definitely need to shoot from the side if you want to hide the cleavage.) The outfit is really adorable though with the different options of stripes or not, and different colored shoes (red, blue, etc) which can go with all outfit options. It fits really well and I liked the "sitting" morph.
tjohn- going to post the vacuum cleaner then I'll reload/eliminate lights. Thanks so much for your help :)
Vacuum Cleaner ( DAZ 3D / Serrge)
http://www.daz3d.com/vacuum-cleaner
For your rewards using DO's, here's a $9.95 that's $6.95 if you are a PC member. I used the same set of lights with a brighter spotlight on the handle to show you that effect, and I darkened the diffuse to accommodate the brighter light. Although the coil seemed to have ridges in the promo, I tried lighting it several different ways and my ridging wasn't quite as pronounced so I upped the bump and specular and will share that with you in the next post. For now, here's the two renders of my vacuum, the original vacuum. I used The Fabricator and textured the handle and the wheels.
BE SURE TO CLICK/ENLARGE and look at the handle, the wheel, and the ribbed hose.
EDIT:
My vacuum cleaner adjustments:
black: negative bump -0.21, positive bump 0.23
black: displacement strength .10
black: minimum and maximum displacement: -0.15 and 0.15
glass: glossiness lower to 72.6 (from 84.6)
glass: ambient changed to 108 / 158 / 160
metal: diffuse 161 / 161 / 161
metal: diffuse strength 92.3
metal: glossiness 88.5
plastic mat 1: diffuse 182 / 182 / 182
plastic mat 1: diffuse strength 83.7
plastic mat 1: glossiness 78.4
plastic mat 1: negative bump -0.12, positive bump 0.14
plastic mat 2: diffuse strength 72.1
plastic mat 2: glossiness 79.3
rubber: this is where you use The Fabricator and put Fine Wool Jersey as the shader. It will automatically load into the bump and displacement channels. Negative bump -0.10 and positive bump 0.15
rubber: displacement 100%, minimum displacement -0.10 and maximum 0.17