I'm entering the beginner "props" pose this month as I still consider myself a beginner. This is a simple scene I'm calling Prohibition. The figure I used is Victoria 8. I finally bit the bullet and picked up Victoria because every other product seems to be tailored for her, but I have to say, I'm a little disappointed. I've rendered this scene 4 times and can't get the grain out of her. I don't know what's causing it either. I've just put together a new computer with a rtx 2070 super for rendering and all my other figures look great. She is the only exception. Oh well. Here is the scene anyway. Let me know what you think.

 

"Daz 3D has let us know that they are working on the issue with the sales rules and it shouldbe fixed in a few minutes.  In the meantime we have a contest.  Post what your favorite product is and why.  The most entertaining 3 answers that have been posted when the issue is fixed each get $150 store credit added to their acount.  Here is my post"
Victoria 8 , who continues the long linage of Victorias...since the very 1st Victoria 1. The beginnings od DAZ. 
Probably too late, but 

I have 17 G8 Pro Bundles. As far as I know, I got Ellithia 8 Pro for free with Dain (which I wouldn't have otherwise bought because I only liked him, but had Ellithia on my wishlist because I didn't have enough to get her when she was released), and Victoria 8 Pro was once offered for like $20. Most of mine were the earlier ones that offered a lot more Freebies.

That said, if you are uising SmartContent/Connect as your primary download option then not all items have the Connect install options and a quite a few of these content require DIM/manual download so they won't appear in SmartContent tab.

 

How can I figure out which of my items are cannot be installed with Connect? I know about Victoria / Michel 4, but I don't use them and I don't care.

There was a thread about it a while back: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/257606/finding-dim-manual-only-available-content-i-e-only-non-connect-ones

use DIM to install everything and obvious anything is then not installed with Connect.

That said, if you are uising SmartContent/Connect as your primary download option then not all items have the Connect install options and a quite a few of these content require DIM/manual download so they won't appear in SmartContent tab.

 

How can I figure out which of my items are cannot be installed with Connect? I know about Victoria / Michel 4, but I don't use them and I don't care.

There was a thread about it a while back: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/257606/finding-dim-manual-only-available-content-i-e-only-non-connect-ones

That said, if you are uising SmartContent/Connect as your primary download option then not all items have the Connect install options and a quite a few of these content require DIM/manual download so they won't appear in SmartContent tab.

 

How can I figure out which of my items are cannot be installed with Connect? I know about Victoria / Michel 4, but I don't use them and I don't care.

Some of these terms are rather vague.  I generally use Base Model or Base Figure to refer to Genesis 8 Female, etc., and Character to refer to something built on that base, such as Victoria 8 or a character made by a PA  The following have specific meanings:

Actor:  this loads the base model (e.g. G8F) and can apply other settings, like Shapes and Materials.  Most characters based on the base model (e.g. Victoria 8) come with an Actor that installs the whole character at once.

Preset:  this applies some properties to something already loaded into the scene

Material Preset:  this just applies the textures and their settings to what's selected in the scene.  For example, a makeup option for a particular character.

Shaping Preset:  this applies the morphs but not the textures to what's selected in the scene.

Character preset:  this applies both the materials and the shape to what's selected in the scene.

Pose Preset:  this applies a pose to what's selected in the scene.

Properties Preset:  this applies any combination of properties to what's selected in the scene.  It might be a pose and also hiding some body parts for example.

If you want to save your character as well as their hair, clothing, hand-held items, etc., that's best done as a subset

Models, Characters and Character Presets... what's the difference?

 

Without ever really having understood much, I have oddly amassed quite a collection* of DAZ models, characters and "character presets" over the years. It might be the simplest most obvious explanation but could somebody enlighten me so that I will no longer harbor this big question mark in my head :P

(1) Models are the basic, no-frills base starting point which is usually free (eg. Genesis 8 Male G8M)
(2) Characters are specifically created from base models and portray, well, a character; these usually come with their own set of skins, textures, body transformations etc to be applied on a base model from the same generation (eg. Jonathan 8 for G8M)
(3) Character Presets are other characters built/derived from Characters from the same generation; these always come with body/face transformations and sometimes with their own set of skins and textures (eg. Deric for Jonathan 8)
(4) Both Characters and Character Presets are primarily time-saving artistic renders that enable us to "dive straight" into a scene without having to transform the base models to a face which we will enjoy seeing in our renders :P
Q: Based on the examples above, if Deric is derived from Jonathan 8 who is himself derived from Genesis 8 Male, why then would Jonathan 8 be a prerequisite for Deric? Because Deric uses Jonathan's skins? (ie. if C:B:A then why not C:A)
Q: So, if one were to only purchase Deric, what would happen if one were to apply Deric to Genesis 8 Male without first owning Jonathan 8?
Q: Characters and Character Presets are not necessary items (eg. I could manually morph G8M to look like Jonathan but I will just not have the latter's skins and eye colors, etc).

*A cursory look at my Product Library revealed that I currently own Genesis, Genesis 2, Genesis 3, Aiko 3, Michael 3, James, Benjamin, Victoria 5, Gabi, Tori, Aiden, Axel, Logan, Brandon, Michael 6, Victoria 6, Genesis 8, Callan, Quinton, Zander, Ryker, Martin, Orrin, Chace, John, Wufei, ... most of whom I have never before used or even greeted... and not to mention I believe I have dogs, robots and dragons too!... I sometimes feel like I have a whole extended family that I have yet to meet LOL This has been such a mystery and it wish it could be unraveled once and for all :P

Thanks guys!

First is plain Aubrey as she loads in. I'm not seeing the face/body seam issue. 

Next is with Victoria 8's HD details, resolution at 3, with the Natural Eyes iris and lacrimal morphs at 100% and cornea at 70%
Last we have maps edited in the style of the Sunless product, with normal map strength bumped up to 2.

Yea, not seeing any seams there.

Maybe it got corrected between the time the promos were made and the release itself.

First is plain Aubrey as she loads in. I'm not seeing the face/body seam issue. 

Next is with Victoria 8's HD details, resolution at 3, with the Natural Eyes iris and lacrimal morphs at 100% and cornea at 70%
Last we have maps edited in the style of the Sunless product, with normal map strength bumped up to 2.

I own 27 G8 pro bundles, but I own over half of the 76 core figures, which didn’t sound right until I realized that the centaurs counted for two, and the list also included the basic morph packs. I got Victoria and Michael for free, I bought the parts of Gabriela’s bundle that I wanted out of Fast Grab, I picked up Caryn and Tobyn during a March Madness sale, Charlotte’s starter bundle somehow showed up in a PC+ for a day sale and I got it for $3, the Girl 8 was, if I remember correctly, free as a giveaway of core characters...

I’m really at a point of diminishing returns for pro bundles. There are a bunch more that I still have wishlisted, but none that I’m super excited about except maybe Alexandra. 

 

 

This one I call ''Uh oh, looks like trouble"

Glamorous Vickie 3 has wandered too far while talking on her phone. Suddenly she's in an area she doesn't know, surrounded, with no way back, forwards or to either side.

Figures are Glamorous Vickie, Aurore and Aisling (latter two are G8F). Car is Dry Jack's Fiat 126. It's strange and rather nice to see one with a UK number plate. Street is 'Northern Terrace Street'.

Wow, nice. I've found mixing Mil-3 with Genesis close together more often usually looks jarring, but she looks very darn good next to the modern figures - the only giveaway is those skinny V3 arms.

 

Never really noticed skinny V3 arms before, always thought it a feature of the particular look of GV3, but looking back at some of the older images I favourited on Rendo, yep, you are right.  I can't really remember using V3 much myself. I suppose I may have done, but  my DAZ history seems to start in 2002 with Victoria (1?) sample maps but not Victoria, not sure why. I suspect my PC was such a limitation at the time that I didn't do a great deal of rendering. In November 2004 I got a 0.7.?? beta of DS and spent a fair time trying to learn that. My first image on Rendo was using Poser 4 in Feb 2005 (still the only Poser image I've displayed), but since Sep 2005 all my images including figures have been DS or Flowscape. Will admit to a gap 2007-2019 where I did nothing; a 26 hr 43 min rendering may have prompted that and convinced me my PC couldn't cope with V4..

Oh, I only started using Daz end of 2016, but curiousity prompted me to a few older figure purchases at the beginning, but running Daz on Linux with Wine as I do, I found the older figures meant a more stable Studio, I could cram more figures in, and the simpler skin materials made it easier to experiment.

I've had 4 day renders - but they really need to be interesting images or I'd get bored waiting and cancel as not worth the inconvenience.

V3 skinny arms aren't as bad as Sp3s strange upper arms - worst cases mostly due to poses failing to utilise collar joints as well as arm joints.

well the simple answer is obviously yes it is cheaper to buy DAZ licenses than to pay someone else to create you bespoke models.

is it cheaper to buy DAZ licenses and models than other options 

not always depending on what you buy or are willing to do yourself 

 

yeah that is another thing i love over daz is they "really cheap prices" even the licenses time to time get some discount like 30, 40, 50 or even 70% discount without count the "regular prices discount sales, it easy make daz much, really much more cheaper than  many high or middle quality stuffs in unity or unreal stores.

 

Sometimes i really can't understand that "bad stigma" daz got about "game" is more like some peoples or do hate the ideal or do fear or never tried or tried in the wrong moment, like the age of victoria 4 and g1 and g2 where the d3 game was still in the "toddler" and kid phase" and really you could not work with "proper realistic characters", but with the current ps4 and incoming ps5 age and the today pcs, you can easy use g3 or g8 character almost without any issue as long you know what you are working with.

Mostly because the DAZ models are good and usuable in games mostly. The trash talkers are the same ones that trash people buying game frameworks and assets in the Unity / UE4 asset stores. You really needn't pay them any mind.

On an aside, I've always read that as Victoria 3 Self Addressed Envelope...

After years I finally realized that I had always used Victoria 3 SAE, the one bundled with the first version of DAZ that I downloaded (2.X). I have all generation 3 (Michael 3, The Girl, The Freak, David, Aiko 3), but I never had Victoria 3.

Also because when I started V4 was just released, and in a short time I had the basic version for free.

 

 

This one I call ''Uh oh, looks like trouble"

Glamorous Vickie 3 has wandered too far while talking on her phone. Suddenly she's in an area she doesn't know, surrounded, with no way back, forwards or to either side.

Figures are Glamorous Vickie, Aurore and Aisling (latter two are G8F). Car is Dry Jack's Fiat 126. It's strange and rather nice to see one with a UK number plate. Street is 'Northern Terrace Street'.

Wow, nice. I've found mixing Mil-3 with Genesis close together more often usually looks jarring, but she looks very darn good next to the modern figures - the only giveaway is those skinny V3 arms.

 

Never really noticed skinny V3 arms before, always thought it a feature of the particular look of GV3, but looking back at some of the older images I favourited on Rendo, yep, you are right.  I can't really remember using V3 much myself. I suppose I may have done, but  my DAZ history seems to start in 2002 with Victoria (1?) sample maps but not Victoria, not sure why. I suspect my PC was such a limitation at the time that I didn't do a great deal of rendering. In November 2004 I got a 0.7.?? beta of DS and spent a fair time trying to learn that. My first image on Rendo was using Poser 4 in Feb 2005 (still the only Poser image I've displayed), but since Sep 2005 all my images including figures have been DS or Flowscape. Will admit to a gap 2007-2019 where I did nothing; a 26 hr 43 min rendering may have prompted that and convinced me my PC couldn't cope with V4..

well the simple answer is obviously yes it is cheaper to buy DAZ licenses than to pay someone else to create you bespoke models.

is it cheaper to buy DAZ licenses and models than other options 

not always depending on what you buy or are willing to do yourself 

 

yeah that is another thing i love over daz is they "really cheap prices" even the licenses time to time get some discount like 30, 40, 50 or even 70% discount without count the "regular prices discount sales, it easy make daz much, really much more cheaper than  many high or middle quality stuffs in unity or unreal stores.

 

Sometimes i really can't understand that "bad stigma" daz got about "game" is more like some peoples or do hate the ideal or do fear or never tried or tried in the wrong moment, like the age of victoria 4 and g1 and g2 where the d3 game was still in the "toddler" and kid phase" and really you could not work with "proper realistic characters", but with the current ps4 and incoming ps5 age and the today pcs, you can easy use g3 or g8 character almost without any issue as long you know what you are working with.

I tried it, it didn't try to install anything.  It picked up my paths from DIM but still said I didn't have Daz Studio installed.  The list of your products is in way too big a font -- even if I was starting out it would quickly become unwieldy.  Having the figure the product applies to is the only plus, but you can't sort by that column, and AFAICT it's just pulling that information from the store pages, which has problems (textures for outfits don't have a compatible figure listing, and DazCentral doesn't know that listing Victoria 7 means it's G3F).

I'm not the target audience, but it doesn't feel to me that it would give a new user anything but confusion.

After closing it I opened DIM and nothing had been altered (although I hadn't tried to change any paths in DazCentral).

I think if it adds a dial, it adds to the RAM overhead. Genesis figures are a lot mor complex than like victoria 4. In the push to realism, there are a lot of JCM built right into the base. It's why the armpits for example look so much better than V4.

 

Was able to run some base tests, here is the results

G8F Starter Essentials                              File loaded in 0 min 29.5 sec            577MB RAM Load
64 expressions with dials added                 File loaded in 0 min 3.6 sec              633MB RAM Load
Starter, 41 non-HD Bases                          File loaded in 0 min 27.1 sec.           1,194MB RAM Load
Starter, 41 Base + HD                               File loaded in 0 min 14.4 sec            1,104MB RAM Load
Starter, 41 Base + HD + My Essentials      File loaded in 0 min 21.1 sec            1,398 MB RAM Load
The last test, "my essentials" includes the packs like glute control, breast control, and all my 3rd part naughty geographs lol. It's oddly inconsistant, not sure why. In hindsight I should have did a few loads of each setup, then averaged them. Oh well. The test did convince me that I should do a clean reinstall though, that snappy load time was great. I am planning on doing a test, seeing if regular poses have an effect, and also clothes and hair before I proceed though.

Cavolo, mi sono accorto adesso di una cosa, non ho mai comprato Victoria 3.0, ho tutte le figure della serie Generazione 3, persono David, ma non ho mai comprato Victora 3. Ho sempre usato la versione SAE che usciva in bundle con il DAZ. E vero anche che quando ho iniziato io era ppena uscita V4 e te la regalavano anche se solo giravi nel sito, io l'ho avuta con l'iscrizione a quella specie di social della DAZ (ti ricordi @Muscleman) e ho sempre usato lei.