Haven't purchased anything yet, just some general feedback on the sale.

-THANK YOU for making G8F backward compatible with G3F base UVs. This means that if I got into G8F I could continue using Vyktoria's second-skin bodysuits on her, as well as Skin Builder 3. I also think I've figured out the tool for transferring morphs, so I now have a G8F with Bethany, Karen, Mika, Ophelia, Genevieve, a few favorite PA creations for G3F and my favorite Facegen creations brought over as well.

-Useful generic angel wings with default texture in black and an indirect Lucifer reference in the product name: Sorry, that theming makes it an automatic no-buy for me. I'm not saying the PA's are required to accomodate my beliefs, I'm just noting what cost them this particular sale of an otherwise useful and not especially expensive product.

-The Victoria 5 and 6 Pro bundle freebies aren't sweetening the deal that much for me; I already own the characters from the V5 set (Gabi and Tori, fine work from two PAs who don't work on DAZ products anymore); the poses aren't anything useful to me (even as Genesis 1 and 2 toys), and between the two I would get: four or five marginally useful hairstyles, two marginally useful minidresses, some useless bits of skimpwear, 2-3 fantasy outfits that need a second-skin layer underneath, and a cool looking fantasy armor that probably won't autofit well. And a couple of perfectly fine but nonessential characters for G2F, one of my least-used Daz figures. 

-10% off V8 pro bundle for acquiring V7 Pro Bundle in the past: Thank you, nice gesture, pushes it down to about $59 with PC discount. That would be within my budget if I hadn't overspent last month. Pro bundle content is reasonably varied but nothing with that "MUST BUY" vibe for me. V8 herself...haven't cared that much about any of the Vickys as characters in themselves (as opposed to a platform for other characters), and this one's no different. I suspect this is one of those cases where the promo images make the skin and morph and morph look less attractive than they really are but it will be a while before I find out for myself. Best of luck, guys.

So, which method are you using to transfer morphs?

You can't chnage the parent, but what you could do is multiply the bend controls by 1 -  the moprh value, so when the hood was down the rotations would be locked to 0. That requires a new, hidden property that is the inverse of your moprh (default value of 1, ERCDeltaAdd your morph with a multiplier of -1), then add that hidden morph to the Second Stage (multiply) controlers for the rotations - and make sure the ERC iss et to save with the morphs, not the rotations.

While I'm grumpy about this for many reasons, I'll point out that having Skin Builder 3 for Genesis 3 essentially gives you skins galore with no need for waiting.

 

Yeah, the modular nature of the figures and the extreme capabilities of the morph and texture packs that folks like Zev0 put out, and the death of support for non-base UV sets by all the PAs  really makes the dedicated base figure a lot less necessary.  DAZ's wacko policies kind of force you to buy at least one pro bundle if you want to get their Anatomical Elements, but I see that as of last night there was already one competing new G8/V8 gen set over at Renderotica, so even that isn't really necessary anymore.

I did a couple of experiments with the muscle flex feature, and am now very much looking forward to G8M!  (use the builtin bodybuilder morph to make things obvious.  Bend forearm.  Watch upper arm.  Then _twist_ the forearm, and watch the upper arm)

Haven't purchased anything yet, just some general feedback on the sale.

-THANK YOU for making G8F backward compatible with G3F base UVs. This means that if I got into G8F I could continue using Vyktoria's second-skin bodysuits on her, as well as Skin Builder 3. I also think I've figured out the tool for transferring morphs, so I now have a G8F with Bethany, Karen, Mika, Ophelia, Genevieve, a few favorite PA creations for G3F and my favorite Facegen creations brought over as well.

-Useful generic angel wings with default texture in black and an indirect Lucifer reference in the product name: Sorry, that theming makes it an automatic no-buy for me. I'm not saying the PA's are required to accomodate my beliefs, I'm just noting what cost them this particular sale of an otherwise useful and not especially expensive product.

-The Victoria 5 and 6 Pro bundle freebies aren't sweetening the deal that much for me; I already own the characters from the V5 set (Gabi and Tori, fine work from two PAs who don't work on DAZ products anymore); the poses aren't anything useful to me (even as Genesis 1 and 2 toys), and between the two I would get: four or five marginally useful hairstyles, two marginally useful minidresses, some useless bits of skimpwear, 2-3 fantasy outfits that need a second-skin layer underneath, and a cool looking fantasy armor that probably won't autofit well. And a couple of perfectly fine but nonessential characters for G2F, one of my least-used Daz figures. 

-10% off V8 pro bundle for acquiring V7 Pro Bundle in the past: Thank you, nice gesture, pushes it down to about $59 with PC discount. That would be within my budget if I hadn't overspent last month. Pro bundle content is reasonably varied but nothing with that "MUST BUY" vibe for me. V8 herself...haven't cared that much about any of the Vickys as characters in themselves (as opposed to a platform for other characters), and this one's no different. I suspect this is one of those cases where the promo images make the skin and morph and morph look less attractive than they really are but it will be a while before I find out for myself. Best of luck, guys.

I've found the transfer utility is not so good for FBMs, as it's messing with the hands and arms.

This is an alternative, though slower method, with which I've had pretty good results. Tutorial and helper scene/morphs included. 

DOWNLOAD

Thank you, that helped a lot. :)

Let's go though 

I did not respond because I went to bed. But as you saw from Joequick's comparison, you could make those nipples with a normal map without the extra steps of HD if you wanted. It just goes back to no one even trying. For end users, a normal map is easier; and most of that is because no one has tried to even do any low poly techniques. You need to learn that first because HD isn't a shortcut.. it's a commerical tool that require more steps that you don't make messes of the genesis gene pool with morphs that aren't properly done and cause issues with clothing fitting the morphs. And it shouldn't be hard to do: Make a low poly nipple morph to the  size you want, subdivide that and add the detail you want around it and make that a normal map. Aside from the normal map, you would be doing the same flow for HD.. but there would be more steps after that. That's the part no one seems to get in these discussions.

@Joequick. for the argument of the end user, my comment about normal maps is correct. There is more complexity to making HD morphs especially for human characters; if they haven't even tried with normal maps, they are going to truly make a mess thinking HD will directly solve their problems. It's this lack of understanding and use that keeps the tool under wraps. It is what it is, so it's best learn low poly techniques and get used to that workflow. The longer no one adopts these techniques, the longer it would take for any type of HD tool release because the first part is absolutely necessary.

Oh well, I give up or this would be an endless loop. First I'd post a closeup photo of an old man with lots of wrinkles, and you'd post a guy from 3 meters away, and tell something about low poly sculpting and normal maps. Then I'd point out that your pic has nothing to do with closeup photos, old men or their wrinkles, and urge you to show how you'd do those gazillion wrinkles with normal maps. Then of course you would reply, that I'm not ready for that level yet, and I need to learn low poly sculpting and normal maps first, before I'm ready for the big leagues. Then I'd post a pic of an old wrinkled man and..... So let's just save ourselves from a lot of trouble, and just agree to disagree...what you say? 

 

When it comes to availability of HD morphs, yeah, I'd sure like to have access, but I still don't think Daz has any kind of responsibility to release those to the general public. It's their software and models, and they can do whatever they want with those. Daz has already given us lots of tools, and I'm grateful, but improper use of those current tools will mess up my models already, so I don't think they try to save us from mistakes. Personally I think, that keepig those HD morphs a secret has nothing to do with low poly sculpting or normal maps, and it's a calculated business decision to give their vendors an edge against competing vendors. Of course we could argue about freeware this and that, but in the end it's always about $. If keeping HD morphs a secret helps Daz keep DS free, go ahead, but please don't try to blame it on end users lack of understanding of low poly techniques or normal maps. That just sounds really condescending.

 

Even if no one believes that the process is more extensive to make HD than a normal map, yes it's ulitmately DAZ3D's brand, and they're under no obligation to give it away. You have industry standard techniques to add detail in lieu of not having access to a tool only a few have access to. But I'm not being condescending if you're not trying to understand that you need to learn how to use low poly techniques to even use the HD tool. It REQUIRES a low poly sculpt. If you're arguing that you need more polys to even make a low poly sculpt, you're instantly dead in the water when it comes to the tool. 

I've found the transfer utility is not so good for FBMs, as it's messing with the hands and arms.

This is an alternative, though slower method, with which I've had pretty good results. Tutorial and helper scene/morphs included. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

I've realised something. If you're reasonably confident with the techniques and using the transfer utility as per Sickleyield's tutorial, a much quicker way to do this is to load the G8F_G3FMorphs.obj onto G8F using morph loader pro so as to make a better clone of G3F. In the parameters choose your new morph and set path as hidden-clones and type as modifier/Clone. Save the morph and reopen Daz. Now when using the transfer utility as per Sickleyield's tutorial choose your new clone instead of the default one for G8F. I've found the transfer of body morphs much better, though a few extreme face morphs don't transfer well. 

I did not respond because I went to bed. But as you saw from Joequick's comparison, you could make those nipples with a normal map without the extra steps of HD if you wanted. It just goes back to no one even trying. For end users, a normal map is easier; and most of that is because no one has tried to even do any low poly techniques. You need to learn that first because HD isn't a shortcut.. it's a commerical tool that require more steps that you don't make messes of the genesis gene pool with morphs that aren't properly done and cause issues with clothing fitting the morphs. And it shouldn't be hard to do: Make a low poly nipple morph to the  size you want, subdivide that and add the detail you want around it and make that a normal map. Aside from the normal map, you would be doing the same flow for HD.. but there would be more steps after that. That's the part no one seems to get in these discussions.

@Joequick. for the argument of the end user, my comment about normal maps is correct. There is more complexity to making HD morphs especially for human characters; if they haven't even tried with normal maps, they are going to truly make a mess thinking HD will directly solve their problems. It's this lack of understanding and use that keeps the tool under wraps. It is what it is, so it's best learn low poly techniques and get used to that workflow. The longer no one adopts these techniques, the longer it would take for any type of HD tool release because the first part is absolutely necessary.

Oh well, I give up or this would be an endless loop. First I'd post a closeup photo of an old man with lots of wrinkles, and you'd post a guy from 3 meters away, and tell something about low poly sculpting and normal maps. Then I'd point out that your pic has nothing to do with closeup photos, old men or their wrinkles, and urge you to show how you'd do those gazillion wrinkles with normal maps. Then of course you would reply, that I'm not ready for that level yet, and I need to learn low poly sculpting and normal maps first, before I'm ready for the big leagues. Then I'd post a pic of an old wrinkled man and..... So let's just save ourselves from a lot of trouble, and just agree to disagree...what you say? 

When it comes to availability of HD morphs, yeah, I'd sure like to have access, but I still don't think Daz has any kind of responsibility to release those to the general public. It's their software and models, and they can do whatever they want with those. Daz has already given us lots of tools, and I'm grateful, but improper use of those current tools will mess up my models already, so I don't think they try to save us from mistakes. Personally I think, that keepig those HD morphs a secret has nothing to do with low poly sculpting or normal maps, and it's a calculated business decision to give their vendors an edge against competing vendors. Of course we could argue about freeware this and that, but in the end it's always about $. If keeping HD morphs a secret helps Daz keep DS free, go ahead, but please don't try to blame it on end users lack of understanding of low poly techniques or normal maps. That just sounds really condescending.

I did bother actually. Yara (released a few days ago) includes a HD nipple and navel morph.

https://www.daz3d.com/yara-hd-for-genesis-3-female

Some nude renders here: http://bluejauntepa.deviantart.com/gallery/

Wow, she looks really good. I don't know how I missed her, but thanks for the heads-up 

It's going to be a pain without GenX, but SickleYield's tutorial still seems to work from G3 to G8 with the Transfer Utility (http://sickleyield.deviantart.com/journal/Tutorial-Transferring-Character-Morphs-G1G2G3-409437916), at least with V7. Just substitute G2 to G3 instructions with G3 to G8.

(Renders: Left side is G3 with V7 mats and V7 morph (not HD) dialed in, Right side is G8 with V7 mats and V7 morph (not HD) dialed in.)

I'm following this tutorial to the letter, and it ALMOST works, except I end up with distorted arms and hands, like this:

Any idea what I could do to correct these?

Yeah, I've been facing the weird proposition that if I want access to the vendor tools I have to first impress Daz enough with some other different product, because I can't work out how to use a tool I don't have access to to try to pitch Hd stuff.

It's a weird and stupid catch-22, but oh well.

Genesis is a low poly mesh. To impress them enough to get access to the HD tool, wouldn't it make sense to show what you could do with a low poly mesh and a normal map? It's not a catch-22, that's the workflow you would need to even start on the road to use the tools. Also do you know what a projection morph is? That's important as well. I mean that's how some of the new character makers came on board.

EDIT: Let's go over how easity this scenario would be using Joequick's image:

You went through the process of making a character, and texture it using the low poly mesh. You took a copy of that mesh and subdvided it, making the details and saving that out as a normal map. You render an image of the the finished character and send to DAZ3D:  "This is my finished character with the normal maps for sale, if you accept it for sale, I think adding the HD to it would make it work better." Then the review team either accepts or rejects your product based on what you've shown... and gives you access to the tools based on that decision as well.

What part of that was so difficult to do where you had trouble visualizing your work without a using a tool you don't have access to?

Thank Redz!

Got this working on the first try, now I can morph my G3 library!

Or they could wear white leather or linen....or maybe thinner material is in and leather goes the way of spandex. lol

Or a vendor breaks the weight-map thing and has a way for clothes to sway better and suddenly THAT is the material or design everyone starts to use.

Hair has done that for me. Now, that I'm into hair with wind-morphs or great movement dynamics-

I hate hair with no bones or limited poses.

Those are now cheap, but I also know to only put those on character that won't be doing much. lol

Imagine no more morphs and you simply place the 'gravity point' somewhere in the scene and the parented objects are pulled in that direction.

Like the dress points that way...the figure's hair also points that way......

That would change every hair product thereafter.

Who would buy something- without that?

Suppose Victoria 8 was specially configured to temporarily assume the pose compatible with whatever clothing you picked, fit the clothing 100% and THEN switched back to the original pose she was in......

Suppose Victoria 8 had  a foot morph dial that could pick ~15 different foot poses -to fit ANY generation of shoes....and she would do the same with her feet- just so she could fit the,,,,,

Suppose she had a universal morph translator that could adapt to any generations morph dials......lol

You'd probably buy generation 8 figures and stop worrying about all these add-ons and compatibility issues and all the other headaches.....

Suppose DAZ worked different and you generated/customized each figure, like a video game or how you adjust bodily parameters......

Choose hair length....color, amount of curl...texture....oily, dry....split ends...buzzed, geled.....etc.......

That *could* change how hair for your figure is created.....

I believe the lashes were separated for easier morphing and importing into other programs for that very idea-making morphs without having to fix the lashes and tears after the fact.  This way they both follow the morph on the face without having to fiddle with them.

While I can imagine that to be a good reason wouldn't that be true for other "attachments" to the body as well? But then I'm not a character creator and have little knowlege about that part yet.

Eyes have always been a pain, since people want to reshape the mesh around them without distorting the lashes. Teeth can also be an issue, but they are easier to avoid.

This is my alternative method, but I've found it better than the transfer utility for body morphs especially

Tutorial and helper scene/morphs included

DOWNLOAD HERE

Very excited to try this out tonight!! Thanks.

Thanks for the info. :-)  I can't get anything character-shape wise to work though.  I checked the number of polygons, and G3F and G8F do not have an identical poly count.  No big deal.  I still like V8.

SickleYield's tutorial seemed to work for me once I selected "favorites and subcomponents" instead of "favorites." Didn't have time to test it extensively before leaving for work though.

Has anyone figured out how to transfer legacy morphs like V4/A4 to G8?

If I were trying that, I would see about transferring them to Genesis 1, 2 or 3 first and then transferring the result to G8.

---

First try transfering a G3F morph to G8F using the manual method that was described here on the forum when G3 first came out.

This is Monique 7. I think she turned out quite well for a first attempt, just a little kinking at the ends of the fingernails.

She looks very good, Redz! Do you have a link to that thread? Would love to try it. Thanks!

She'd look better if I'd remembered to put her lashes back on. This is the original thread https://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/24093/ If I have time tomorrow I may try to write up a quickie updated  tutorial. I can share my helper poses/shapes but not I should think,  the G8 mesh itself that''s used to make the morphs from G3.

Here's Mei Lin on G8F

Redz this is fantastic, How are you doing this because I can't seem to find the method you referenced in the thread you linked. I am quite on the fence because I have beautiful V7 characters and like most don't want to start all over again, I would invest in V8 if some of my character morphs can be used on her.

This is the method I used, slower but I've found it better than the transfer utility for body morphs especially, though the nails are still a little off

Tutorial and helper scene/morphs included

DOWNLOAD HERE

That looks very clear and very helpful - Thank You!

"Everyone needs to have access to the same toolkit.
This was the whole idea of making DAZ Studio free for everyone."

This is a gratuitous assertion based on no publicly 
available statement or Data.

A classic loss leader business model
of giving away the software so people can spend their money
on Paid content at the same webstore,
does not mean completely handing over all of your IP.

On balance I would say that the transfer tools and morph loader
tool being made free for all was the smartest thing Daz has done.
People have already Shown that HD morphs can be done with other 
software. if one is really serious about it one has those options.

Has anyone figured out how to easily transfer old morphs like Aiko4 / Hiro 5 to Genesis 8? Would love to take advantage of the new Power Pose. It finally allows you to do those delicate eye corner adjustment to finally make anime eye socket look like anime. Not to mention it's really easy to make meme faces now.

Well looks like I am going to have to eat my negative words and say that this will be, the first time since buying into Genesis 2 that I plan on going full tilt into Genesis 8.. And what did that was the much improved Powerpose, and looking at what the facial pose setup can do has hooked me big time so Genesis 8 here I come.. :) lol

Definitely play around with the Genesis 8 base figure before deciding. I've not purchased any of the G8 content yet - but I'm having fun creating morphs (or trying to lol) for the base figure. 

Though after playing with the base figure, I'm definitely leaning toward purchasing V8 and probably the face and body morphs.

Yeah after seeing how much cash I have and how much it will cost me even with all the discounts it is going to cost me about $90 AUD for the pro pack and the two morph packs and well would send me broke.. So yeah going to get the morph packs first and work from there over time, one big bummer in all this I had used my PC+ coupons already.. :(

I'd already used mine too, the day before G8 was released. Oh well. :)

I'm loving G8 too. I know she's not as totally backwards compatible as we'd all dream of her being and that she'll need further products to make her as versatile as her predecessors, but I don't think there's ever been a base figure released that you could do so much with without having to spend any additional money, provided you've already got clothes and mats etc from previous versions. I especially love her expressions.

I haven't bought V8 yet, but no doubt will do so sooner or later. Since G8 has it all without her (except the gens in the Pro version), she's just another pretty face to me. She's a more 'real' pretty face than her glamour-girl older sisters though, and I like her for that more. I'm not seeing the 'manly' qualities in her face at all that others talk of seeing. Perhaps they're seeing that because the glamour-girl thing has become the norm around here and anything less is perceived as unfeminine. Never mind. If Michael 8 turns out to look at all like Michael 7 then I expect he'll make up for any lack of feminity in the new generation :)