(image from https://www.daz3d.com/classic-fantasy-warrior-princess by Blondie9999)

Hi folks,
I'd very much like to create a live webinar event (it would be free entry - allowing anyone to participate) celebrating the versatility and longevity of the Victoria 4 (and beyond) 3D figures. I think it would be a fun AND a nostalgic event, but it would also underline the fact that some artists are still using this older generation figure and content for a few purposes. For example older generation characters are good for background figures and animation for example (less resource hungry).

Widening the subject matter to ANY generation figure of Victoria (we're looking at 20+ years of history) could be good, since looking at some of the very earliest "Millenium Woman" artwork is quite a "blast from the past". Widening the topic like this could help us see the evolution of 3D character figures over the years and also see what artists are creating with current Victoria 8.
I will most likely run this event on Saturday the 1st of August.

So here's some questions for you :-

• Do you still use Victoria 4?
• What are some of you favourite Victoria 4 (or later generation) Vicky vendors?
• Do you have some nostalgic or up to date Victoria artwork that we could help celebrate this particular generation character? 

Would love to see some of your nostalgic artwork as well as your thoughts on this.

The old RDNA site had a bunch of unique looking helmets by Maveris. This one is called 8509_HelmetS2V3. I believe the name means Sci Fi 2 for Victoria 3, though the readme refers to "Victoria 3, Victoria 2, Stephanie and Stephanie Petite characters"

Good memory! Thank you for solving the mystery @pwiecek ! Oh man... I would have loved that helmet! I'm so sad that it's not available anymore. :(

I did some digging (Google did NOT want to cooperate so it was a bit difficult), but I managed to find a few more images of Maveris's helmets. Such unique stuff! What a talented individual!

Cool stuff. I wish they were still available.

The old RDNA site had a bunch of unique looking helmets by Maveris. This one is called 8509_HelmetS2V3. I believe the name means Sci Fi 2 for Victoria 3, though the readme refers to "Victoria 3, Victoria 2, Stephanie and Stephanie Petite characters"

So I was hunting old freebies and found a texture for the Vicky2P4 actor that comes with the Victoria 2 package. So this actor is Victoria 2 with the shape of Poser 4 Female body. Kind of the beginings of a clone. Not bad for beinging 17 years old. Rendered in iray. A homage to the classic complaint that all Vicky ever got was skimpwear so she was forced to go fight at the temple.

Naaah, that 'complaint' would be NVIATWAS , but we can't show that here, or at the Wiki

So I was hunting old freebies and found a texture for the Vicky2P4 actor that comes with the Victoria 2 package. So this actor is Victoria 2 with the shape of Poser 4 Female body. Kind of the beginings of a clone. Not bad for beinging 17 years old. Rendered in iray. A homage to the classic complaint that all Vicky ever got was skimpwear so she was forced to go fight at the temple.

its an shame that the default G8F skin is made for skinny Victoria secret [figures].

most men prefers real womans with curves.

so whats the best skin for large [breasts] that doesnt look like an moon landscape with craters on it?

 

i guess you need another type of UV mapping?

Last time I looked, women came in various curvy shapes - not a sharp angle in sight.

 

Any character that has large breast should have had the texture painted on with that shape applied, which should then eliminate the texture stretching; if merchant resources were used then there can be issues.

Textures stretch IRL, too.

its an shame that the default G8F skin is made for skinny Victoria secret [figures].

most men prefers real womans with curves.

so whats the best skin for large [breasts] that doesnt look like an moon landscape with craters on it?

 

i guess you need another type of UV mapping?

Any character that has large breast should have had the texture painted on with that shape applied, which should then eliminate the texture stretching;

That only solves the problem of using that character's textures, though.

its an shame that the default G8F skin is made for skinny Victoria secret [figures].

most men prefers real womans with curves.

so whats the best skin for large [breasts] that doesnt look like an moon landscape with craters on it?

 

i guess you need another type of UV mapping?

Last time I looked, women came in various curvy shapes - not a sharp angle in sight.

Any character that has large breast should have had the texture painted on with that shape applied, which should then eliminate the texture stretching; if merchant resources were used then there can be issues.

https://www.daz3d.com/lie-wound-pack

A very cool product. Is there a way to make it work with gen 8 figures?

its an shame that the default G8F skin is made for skinny Victoria secret bitches.

most men prefers real womans with curves.

Womanhood is not defined by a body type, and you don't speak for men.

Some of us like smaller Tatas.

its an shame that the default G8F skin is made for skinny Victoria secret bitches.

most men prefers real womans with curves.

Womanhood is not defined by a body type, and you don't speak for men.

its an shame that the default G8F skin is made for skinny Victoria secret [figures].

most men prefers real womans with curves.

so whats the best skin for large [breasts] that doesnt look like an moon landscape with craters on it?

i guess you need another type of UV mapping?

I see these two products

https://www.daz3d.com/genx2-addon-for-genesis-3

https://www.daz3d.com/genx2-addon-for-genesis-2

I hope they are the ones and there is a bundle too, maybe I will go for that one.

Yes, they're the ones I was talking about. There's no bundle AFAIK.

I already have the character converter from Genesis 2 to Genesis 8

https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-2-male-to-genesis-8-male-

and the character converter from Genesis 3 to Genesis 8

https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-3-male-to-genesis-8-male

I think I will be able to master this with a lot of practice.

Is it better to convert M4 to Genesis 2 or Genesis 3 before converting to Genesis 8?

There's no set rule. Sometimes it works a bit better if you go to G2, other times converting from G3 works better, it depends on the character.

Also,

Now there is the question of: La Femme Pro - Female Poser Figure, La Femme Base Figure - Included in Poser Pro 11

Before I got really working a lot in Daz Studio I bought Poser 11 and the Noah L'Homme figure which is based upon the La Fem Pro figure

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/noah-lhomme/140673

Is this La Fem figure based upon any of the Victoria figures?

No, it's a totally different figure.

Is there a way to convert Noah to Genesis?

Not that I know of.

"Genesis" is the first one.

Did you buy and install the G2 and G3 add-ons for GenX2? You need them to be able to convert to Genesis 2 or 3.

Hello Leana, thanks a lot for your considerable amount of help here!

I see these two products

https://www.daz3d.com/genx2-addon-for-genesis-3

https://www.daz3d.com/genx2-addon-for-genesis-2

I hope they are the ones and there is a bundle too, maybe I will go for that one.

I already have the character converter from Genesis 2 to Genesis 8

https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-2-male-to-genesis-8-male-

and the character converter from Genesis 3 to Genesis 8

https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-3-male-to-genesis-8-male

I think I will be able to master this with a lot of practice.

Is it better to convert M4 to Genesis 2 or Genesis 3 before converting to Genesis 8?

Also,

Now there is the question of: La Femme Pro - Female Poser Figure, La Femme Base Figure - Included in Poser Pro 11

Before I got really working a lot in Daz Studio I bought Poser 11 and the Noah L'Homme figure which is based upon the La Fem Pro figure

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/noah-lhomme/140673

Is this La Fem figure based upon any of the Victoria figures?

Is there a way to convert Noah to Genesis?

I should probably start another thread for this but I thought I would inquire here first.

I will pop in and say that if you have the two add-ons, you get the ability to go from m4 to gen 3.  You have to get to Gen 2 or Gen 3 to make the final conversion...as long as you have the appropriate final converter, it probably doesn't matter since G3 and G8 share so much of the same topololgy. There is no way to go from Noah to Genesis; they are completely unconnected. La Femme has nothing shared with Victoria; two different competing companies.

Some of the possible converters:

https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-2-male-to-genesis-8-male-
https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-8-male-to-genesis-3-male
https://www.daz3d.com/xtransfer--genesis-3-to-genesis-8-converter
 

"Genesis" is the first one.

Did you buy and install the G2 and G3 add-ons for GenX2? You need them to be able to convert to Genesis 2 or 3.

Hello Leana, thanks a lot for your considerable amount of help here!

I see these two products

https://www.daz3d.com/genx2-addon-for-genesis-3

https://www.daz3d.com/genx2-addon-for-genesis-2

I hope they are the ones and there is a bundle too, maybe I will go for that one.

I already have the character converter from Genesis 2 to Genesis 8

https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-2-male-to-genesis-8-male-

and the character converter from Genesis 3 to Genesis 8

https://www.daz3d.com/character-converter-from-genesis-3-male-to-genesis-8-male

I think I will be able to master this with a lot of practice.

Is it better to convert M4 to Genesis 2 or Genesis 3 before converting to Genesis 8?

Also,

Now there is the question of: La Femme Pro - Female Poser Figure, La Femme Base Figure - Included in Poser Pro 11

Before I got really working a lot in Daz Studio I bought Poser 11 and the Noah L'Homme figure which is based upon the La Fem Pro figure

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/noah-lhomme/140673

Is this La Fem figure based upon any of the Victoria figures?

Is there a way to convert Noah to Genesis?

I should probably start another thread for this but I thought I would inquire here first.

I think the Wiki pages are wrong to say that Millenium Man Michael released at the same time as Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman in Feb 1999. That's been 21 years ago but I had just bought a Poser at a local book store in 1999 and I seem to remember Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman being sold for a shocking $99.95, which I wouldn't pay for and so used the Poser figures, and as the link you gave shows, Michael 1 aka the Millenium Man being sold for $39.95, which was still expensive but I did buy as $39.95 (eventually) was much more affordable, but he wasn't available until much later in terms of digital product lifecycle. So I think it was Victoria released in February 1999 as it coincided only maybe a month after my purchase of Poser 4 for a whopping 600 Swiss Francs (it may of been and probably was Poser 4 Pro I bought).  So Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman would of cost about 200 Swiss Francs! Wow, that's a lot of cash! Michael 1 aka Millenium Man, I remember and I thought it odd that Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman didn't have a male counterpart and seem to remember it releasing in January 1, 2000 just like your link says but I waited a while because at $39.95 I thought still expensive too but not crazy expensive like Victoria 1 was. 

Yes this correlates with my memories as well. I forget which caveman version of Poser I was using at that point but it was an early one!

I think the Wiki pages are wrong to say that Millenium Man Michael released at the same time as Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman in Feb 1999. That's been 21 years ago but I had just bought a Poser at a local book store in 1999 and I seem to remember Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman being sold for a shocking $99.95, which I wouldn't pay for and so used the Poser figures, and as the link you gave shows, Michael 1 aka the Millenium Man being sold for $39.95, which was still expensive but I did buy as $39.95 (eventually) was much more affordable, but he wasn't available until much later in terms of digital product lifecycle. So I think it was Victoria released in February 1999 as it coincided only maybe a month after my purchase of Poser 4 for a whopping 600 Swiss Francs (it may of been and probably was Poser 4 Pro I bought).  So Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman would of cost about 200 Swiss Francs! Wow, that's a lot of cash! Michael 1 aka Millenium Man, I remember and I thought it odd that Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman didn't have a male counterpart and seem to remember it releasing in January 1, 2000 just like your link says but I waited a while because at $39.95 I thought still expensive too but not crazy expensive like Victoria 1 was. 

Thanks for your input!  I'm all about having accurate release dates, hopefully others that were doing the Poser thing around that time can chime in here!

I think the Wiki pages are wrong to say that Millenium Man Michael released at the same time as Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman in Feb 1999. That's been 21 years ago but I had just bought a Poser at a local book store in 1999 and I seem to remember Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman being sold for a shocking $99.95, which I wouldn't pay for and so used the Poser figures, and as the link you gave shows, Michael 1 aka the Millenium Man being sold for $39.95, which was still expensive but I did buy as $39.95 (eventually) was much more affordable, but he wasn't available until much later in terms of digital product lifecycle. So I think it was Victoria released in February 1999 as it coincided only maybe a month after my purchase of Poser 4 for a whopping 600 Swiss Francs (it may of been and probably was Poser 4 Pro I bought).  So Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman would of cost about 200 Swiss Francs! Wow, that's a lot of cash! Michael 1 aka Millenium Man, I remember and I thought it odd that Victoria 1 aka Millenium Woman didn't have a male counterpart and seem to remember it releasing in January 1, 2000 just like your link says but I waited a while because at $39.95 I thought still expensive too but not crazy expensive like Victoria 1 was. 

Sooo, today's sale may be the closest we get to Michael 8's birthday this year (Yay!).  Michael 8 was released on August 22nd, 2017.  Glad to see Michael getting a nod of sorts today, even if it's about a month ahead of M8's BDay..

As for the other Michaels...

These are the 'officially acknowledged' dates taken from the documentation pages

Michael 1 aka Millenium Man: January 1st 2000 according to the docs page... The Wiki page notes that Victoria, possibly along with Michael (by then Zygote) was released around February of 1999.  Note that Daz Productions bacame it's own company around April 2nd of 2001, according to this archived press release:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030212201415/http://www.daz3d.com/pages/dp/press/press_releases/daz-zygote split.html

Michael 2 is a bit of a mystery.  There's currently no page for him in the docs pages index, and a number of pages in the 0001-9999 series are missing.  The M2 texture maps for M1 were released on October 25th, 2001.  I did come across this press release on webarchive that is dated January 7th, 2002:

https://web.archive.org/web/20021215112631/http://www.daz3d.com/pages/dp/press/press_releases/michael2.0.html

Michael 3.0 Base: September 10th, 2003

Michael 4 Base: October 20th, 2010

Michael 5: April 24th, 2012

Michael 6:  November 19th, 2013

Michael 7: November 17th, 2015

Michael 8: August 22nd, 2017.

I did this render a while back, which includes Michaels 4-8 and the corresponding Victorias...

I should give a nod to the Michael Appreciation Association:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/68371/michael-and-friends-appreciation-association-lots-of-images-please/p1

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/234631/michael-and-friends-appreciation-association-images-pt-2/p1

Quick nod to this thread, for those that might be curious about such things:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/24257/daz-3d-human-figures-a-history/p1

So as to when we should give Michael an 'official' nod as far as dates, that's a good question... I'm just happy that he was given a nod again today!  Thanks for the purple banner coupon Daz! (for those of us that previously purchased the associated Michaels).

YAY MICHAEL!

@AprilYSH you are too modest!  I've been buying your wonderful hairs right back to Victoria 3 (remember Sylphiad Hair? one of my all-time favs!), so you have vast experience of designing and making hair models, which are the "Gold Standard".