Kendall Sears said:

Krissy said:

Kendall Sears said:

Little NAE from Alexa.

This was an halfhearted attempt at making "Thor" from SG-1. This was done the week after Genesis Evolution Morphs were released.

The title is: "Times are tough! Can I interest you in a slightly used hammer or helm?"

Kendall

Oh that's funny :) Do we pay cash or pay pal is acceptable ;)

Asgard Express: Accepted Galaxy wide. Rumor has it that PayPal is working out a deal with the Asgardian Central Bank to accept it. Unfortunately, the stupid replicators keep eating the courier ships.

Kendall

I will gladly get secured service :)

Krissy said:

Kendall Sears said:

Little NAE from Alexa.

This was an halfhearted attempt at making "Thor" from SG-1. This was done the week after Genesis Evolution Morphs were released.

The title is: "Times are tough! Can I interest you in a slightly used hammer or helm?"

Kendall

Oh that's funny :) Do we pay cash or pay pal is acceptable ;)

Asgard Express: Accepted Galaxy wide. Rumor has it that PayPal is working out a deal with the Asgardian Central Bank to accept it. Unfortunately, the stupid replicators keep eating the courier ships.

Kendall

Kine_magiK said:

Hello, this is Peter.

I am going to try and post a large image. Before the size was limited to 800 by 800 PIX.

Let us see if it works.

Well this is my first submission on this one, although i have posted many images in the main threads.

This is Bryce-ONLY modelling and render. No Photoshop which is taboo for me and no 3D app to make the models! It is the way i like to do it, but i certainly do not expect others to do the same. This scene employs some of the techniques of my tutorials which are accumulating at an alarming rate.

Well i needed a break from the tutorials and do something creative! This scene still has a long way to go because i need to add hundreds of fine details. This will take much time. But i think it is not too bad to show now. Render time is very slow - about a day. The central forms use instancing so they are no problem but the cactus-like objects in the water are a nightmare [all composed of MBs]. I will need to add many more of them as well as much else.

Kind regards from Australia to you all.

If all the computers in question are yours and under your roof, then the easiest way would be to install all your content and data folders to a central location....like a network attached drive or a shared folder.

Jamahoney said:

I would go for the house on the right..with the odd windows' set..it looks more natural. This was a great project, and very encouraging for you to do more, I would think.

Also, the 'seam', as above mentioend, is sometimes seen in these old house where the mason's have to allow for several group of layers of blocks (usually about 4 to 5 high up) to 'settle-in' and for the cement & mortar to dry. In the end you would get some group of layers lighter-coloured than other, because sometimes the builder wouldn't have enough blocks, and so had to go away and get more from the local quarry, or pick them himself from a rocky/stony-type beach.

Have seen one of these old houses in which the drying-out time wasn't adhered to, and the whole lot had collapsed. The house had obviously been built by a 'cowboy' - an inflamatory term for someone who really don't know what they are doing.

Jay
PS. My Euro0.02 worth :)

However for some reason THe house next door to us has not been rendered on the wall that is shared with us, and his house is taller than ours and goes back further ( we are known as the little house to locals) and you can see now the rocks are in the gable end. Nowhere near as neat and tidy, or equally matched as modern construction.

Our walls are 18" thick, so we have nice deep windowsills indoors and on the outside the windows are set 6-8" into the wall.
Also we do have matching windows either side of the front door, as shown in the one style, with the front door being alomost central/

JohnDelaquiox said:

I have two two internal drives for backups, One is the backup of the backup and the third is a network harddrive that I use for backups and for moving stuff from one computer to another

Internal drives are convenient for backups but if the system gets stolen/killed by energy surge etc... this won't work. Consider external drives that are unplugged when not backing up. Where internal drives are helpful is if using a 'constant backup' system. If using that type system I would also recommend considering an external drive that stays unplugged for above reason. Network drives give some protection but they can also be taken out by a surge through either the house or the network cabling.

Where network drives become handy is when we are working on multiple systems, in which case it helps to have one central data store that we can syncronize our systems between. My biggest problem in the past has been that I use multiple systems and the data becomes fragmented, duplicated, out of sync and a general mess. Without a good central data store/sync system we can end up loosing things and/or spending inordinate amounts of time trying to find things.

As we move forward into tablets etc, and multiple device use becomes more common this will be a more common problem unless people are proactive.

I'd like to see some more ethnic clothing for Genesis...any culture would be appreciated (although in particular I'd like to see more Japanese, southeast Asian, and central Asian clothing). The new Mec4D sets (sari, kurta, and tunic) are a step in the right direction. Hoping we'll see some ethnic sets released as PC items, as in Gen 3 and Gen 4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_costume

For older characters, here's another new freebie that will help: FaceJowls for Genesis by Zev0
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/7763/

Roygee said:

Just in general - be wary of projecting a Euro-American centricity to all things artistic. There are many, many other cultures in the world that view colour and symbols very differently to Euro-America. In some countries white is the colour of mourning. In Africa and South-Central America art is vibrant and can be seen as over-saturated to Euro-American eyes. In English-centric countries, an owl is seen as representing wisdom: in Africa it is the harbinger of death. And so on - just don't get comfortable and assume that what you are used to, what your culture perceives as this or that, what emotions it evokes applies equally to all cultures.

Roygee, you're right about this, and I do tend to think in Eurocentric terms when creating. It's kinda hard to get away from it. You're lucky I don't throw Texas centric stuff at you. You'd all run for the hills.:lol:

I will say that in recent years I've had the most enjoyment from movies (I'm talking CG movies) made in Europe, France mostly. The story telling as well as the color pallets used are refreshing and exciting. It pays to open your eyes and see the rest of the world. Thanks for the reminder.

Just in general - be wary of projecting a Euro-American centricity to all things artistic. There are many, many other cultures in the world that view colour and symbols very differently to Euro-America. In some countries white is the colour of mourning. In Africa and South-Central America art is vibrant and can be seen as over-saturated to Euro-American eyes. In English-centric countries, an owl is seen as representing wisdom: in Africa it is the harbinger of death. And so on - just don't get comfortable and assume that what you are used to, what your culture perceives as this or that, what emotions it evokes applies equally to all cultures.

On a much lighter note (pun?) I've just spent the day replacing all the light fittings in my house - a fashion/culture statement by my wife?

It occurred to me that it may be time for you guys to break out the Tipex and update your reference books on lighting - we've succumbed to the Greenies and can no longer buy incandescent light bulbs. it's all long-life, energy-saving CFL's, so from now onwards in my house indoor light renders will no longer be yellow, but blue-white.

If you dare do a yellow-lighted indoor render you will be judged harshly as a recidivistic, politically incorrect, energy hog.

Cheers

meh is cold again but home now central heating is kicking in ;)

David Brinnen said:

Having checked Mark, neither the clouds nor the resolution of the HDRI are central to the tutorials. Any cloud slab could be employed, or none, the key point was to show that the two effects could co-exist. Night clouds, seemed a logical choice for this scene - but any night sky would do. And for the HDRI, any resolution version of the same HDRI will provide the same light, the only thing that will suffer is the resolution of the background image. Given the abstract nature of this scene, you need not worry overly on that score, since the image is not a significant feature. The render time, however, yes, due to the Max ray depth setting ... that might give your CPU pause for thought.

Yeah but I'm not really at the point of creating my own cloud slabs yet. I'd like to understand more about making them first. :) Also I already had some other changes in mind and so didn't want to make things too different. Otherwise comparing my results would become even more difficult. Like for example, I'm interested in using the lighting aspect of the lamp you used to create the lighthouse but I'd like to adapt it to work with either of the two lighthouses below. The one on the left is from Alfons Blom and either it came in Bryce 7 pro as part of the free content or I got it from some place like sharecg. The other one is made for Bryce by Phillip Drawbridge, that I purchase way back when Daz first aquired Bryce.

I'm leaning more towards the one on the left as it would work better in the scene describe by the tutorial then the one on the right. I guess I could just try to wing it but I don't feel confident enough with Bryce yet to just wing it. I'm not yet at the point of visualization of a scene in my mind and being able to know how to realize that visualization in Bryce.

Having checked Mark, neither the clouds nor the resolution of the HDRI are central to the tutorials. Any cloud slab could be employed, or none, the key point was to show that the two effects could co-exist. Night clouds, seemed a logical choice for this scene - but any night sky would do. And for the HDRI, any resolution version of the same HDRI will provide the same light, the only thing that will suffer is the resolution of the background image. Given the abstract nature of this scene, you need not worry overly on that score, since the image is not a significant feature. The render time, however, yes, due to the Max ray depth setting ... that might give your CPU pause for thought.

Martin_C said:

You picked one of the very few DAZ bundles, where the bundle price is only slightly cheaper than the total amount of the individual items. Otherwise, for the vast majority of bundles, it is rather some 50% of the total amount.

However, in this special case, the content is only a mixed bag of vintage Gen3 items getting some Gen5 fits. It was probably a perfect freebie back then, but afterwards I rather think that they either forgot to delete it from the shop or to reduce it to some reasonable level.

All other old wigs that are now turned into Genesis are all sold as 1.99 PC items, and if you just take two of them and add some Aiko 3 boots and the odd low polygon armors, it certainly does not justify charging $120 - at least not if any kind of sense is concerned ;-)

All of the PC genesis refit hairs were PC hairs in the first place, or at least most of them. (I assume you're talking about the SWAM hairs like the Lady Elf hair that was just released.) I know because I have them in the V4 format.

What I picked were the first two bundles I came across that were made of multiple, independently released products (as opposed to suites of products made around a central idea/character) that didn't include a base figure.

And the bundle has several Gen 4 items, which have not been discounted down to nothing:

The V4 fantasy wrap (which is in the refit bundle) is still $20
Radiant Jaguar Hair for V4 is still $30
Cuban Diablo shoes... well, the bundle has half of that, so $10
V4 Future Cop is $20
The Gen 3 Sci Fi boots are still $20 each (boys and girls)
Mitsu Hair is $15
Marauders for M3 is $15
Roxanna Yaroslavana is $25

These are the current, non-PC prices of the older generation versions of the items in the classics bundle. $175

Yes, $119 isn't as much of a discount as some others, but it's still not unprecedented.

I believe that is around 2pm central and I will do my best to attend, sir.

Thanks for posting this! I appreciate learning whenever and whatever I can.

Hope to see you then.

Zev0 said:

Stand alone Figures are dying. Morphs for a central base is the in thing. Daz didn't misjudge the market, they are re-defining it. If you're happy with tons of stand alone figures with limited support and flexability then good for you. I prefer one figure that can do it all. Lets see how long all the new stand alone figures coming out stay in the limelight. Lets see how well they are supported. I already know the answer. They would make more money being morphs for Genesis:) People love choice and the freedom to blend and use what they want from their favourite items. No stand alone figure can offer that but Genesis.

Really? Since the release of genesis, the Poser community has gotten Mariko, Antonia, My Michelle, along with are completely reworked Alyson 2 (Anastasia). Miki 4 (a rework of Miki 3), and Tyler (the rework of Ryan 2) will arrive at the end of the month. There is at least 1 more male in the pipeline that I am aware of (Lucas) - I don't know the status of Brad (another male figure)

In addition to these new figures, a group of folks are starting to rework G2 figures to take full advantage of both Poser 9/2012 capabilities, in addition to a much needed mesh cleanup.

If Morphs for a central base was the "in thing" Apollo Maximus would have been ruling the DS4/Poser world since 2005. That mesh could go male to female and from adult to child to monster, just like genesis can - in 2005.

The only content support a figure needs nowadays is Wardrobe Wizard or Xdresser. With either of these 2 products I can put any outfit on any character, DAZ, SM or independent.

Let me show you some examples. These were some test shots for a fan fiction project I am fiddling with - I was testing some retexturing of outfits.

The female image - The outfit is Courageous for V4. Going from left to right - V4, V3, Kez (an independent figure), G2 Sydney, Anastasia (Alyson 2), and Miki 2.

The male image - The males are wearing the male counterpart Valiant for M4 - the male figures from left to right - M4, M3, Apollo Maximus (independent figure), Rikishi (independent figure), and G2 Kelvin. The V4 on the far left is in this to show the difference between the male & female tunic textures - different collars.

I agree that being able to use any outfit for any character is a great thing - of course, I have been able to do that since 2006. Welcome to the party.

ssgbryan said:

RKane_1 said:

Question to Poser users...

Would you guys be happy with, instead of Genesis, V5 and M5 being released as separate Poser products with now all of the content made for each available and SOME (certainly not all the Genesis morphs) available on them such as the evolution and most of the characters for the individual V5 & M5 figures available.

This would provide you with new Poser ready models and a slew of clothing, morphs and products, but maybe not so much heavy lifting for DAZ3D in the short term.

I think if DAZ did these two things (Something for the Poser users and a solid manual), that would make many in the DAZ community a lot happier, then they should spend time on ensuring more stability in the 4.5 platform, which is sorely needed.

I wouldn't be happy with a V5 and a M5 - that is missing my concerns - purpose build meshes or "one size fits all".

Let me take a few minutes to explain why.

What does a separate V5 & M5 have that V4 & M4 doesn't? Nothing from my perspective. A whole cottage industry sprung up making products to correct the problems with the V4 & M4 meshes. The weight mapping capabilities of Poser 9/2012 addressed the last remaining issues, in my opinion.

What genesis does do (the only thing that makes it worth taking up hard drive space in my opinion) is the ability to make the characters that DAZ dropped. I don't need another Vicky - I have 150 or so V4 characters, and a few of the other variations (A4, G4, S4, and SF4), I was very disappointed by the Gen4 versions of The Girl, Aiko & Hiro - they were completely lacking in personality and the vendors noticed that - how many A4 & G4 characters were created? Not too many. We never got a Gen 4 David, Luke or Laura - She Freak was ignored and Stephanie 4 was so late to the party that very few items have S4 morphs in them.

The clothing content issue has been resolved on the Poser side by using Wardrobe Wizard or Xdresser for the base mesh and then the Morphing Clothes script to put any morphs the character needs, so the doesn't have any clothing issue is addressed. Not perfectly mind you, but I get a 90% solution, and as a hobbyist, that is good enough.

What I want is Gen 5 versions of all of the Gen 3 figures. I want a full range of figures. I am most certainly not interested in the "Logan's Run" world that DAZ appears to have embraced as far as figure development goes.

The monster making capability in genesis is interesting, but if I need a monster, I'll get a purpose designed one. Not to mention the fact that while being able to add an extra pair of arms to a character is neat - I would be a lot more impressed if someone got a shirt on them.

As far as the "slew of new clothing", it simply doesn't exist. In the year that genesis has been out on the market, I have seen exactly ONE original outfit (the short order cook - that is neat) that made me think about getting the genesis plug-in for Wardrobe Wizard. The only place you can get more than a few outfits for genesis is DAZ. Almost all of the clothing for genesis at 'Rosity is made by 1 vendor, and genesis support is practically non-existent at every other storefront.

For the price of a couple of outfits, I can convert any piece of clothing from 1 figure to any other figure - which has fairly ominous implications for clothing content vendors. Once I get a good outfit - say a male business suit - the next business suit has to be miles better than the first one for me to justify purchasing it.

The clothing vendors that are still here at DAZ for the most part are only interested in making impractical armor, skankwear or fantasy clothing. And they aren't taking requests, unless it is something that they are already interested in.

It is all a moot point anyway. For DAZ to release a stand alone V5 & M5, they have to be willing to stand up and say that they misjudged the market. I don't believe their corporate ego will allow that based on how DAZ has been run since the merger.

Stand alone Figures are dying. Morphs for a central base is the in thing. Daz didn't misjudge the market, they are re-defining it. If you're happy with tons of stand alone figures with limited support and flexability then good for you. I prefer one figure that can do it all. Lets see how long all the new stand alone figures coming out stay in the limelight. Lets see how well they are supported. I already know the answer. They would make more money being morphs for Genesis:) People love choice and the freedom to blend and use what they want from their favourite items. No stand alone figure can offer that but Genesis.

chohole said:

No it was quite a serious operation. This was in Hyde Park, middle of Central London, and always popular with the tourists of all ages and nationalities.

I often worked closely with the RPC (Royal Parks Police) as it is surprising how many times a cleaning contractor comes across things they need to know about. And of course my cleaners cleanded their police station amongst other buildings. The duty sergeant did ask if I minded following him, and as soon as they had him in sight of their offivcers they told me I could stand down.
But they did need my keeping an eye till they got units in place, as easy to lose someone in a Park, lots of pathways going in different directions, and places to hide.

In his case it was more like "unhide all" (for those who model in 3D applications regularly...) :lol:

No it was quite a serious operation. This was in Hyde Park, middle of Central London, and always popular with the tourists of all ages and nationalities.

I often worked closely with the RPC (Royal Parks Police) as it is surprising how many times a cleaning contractor comes across things they need to know about. And of course my cleaners cleanded their police station amongst other buildings. The duty sergeant did ask if I minded following him, and as soon as they had him in sight of their offivcers they told me I could stand down.
But they did need my keeping an eye till they got units in place, as easy to lose someone in a Park, lots of pathways going in different directions, and places to hide.

Hello, this is Peter.

I am going to try and post a large image. Before the size was limited to 800 by 800 PIX.

Let us see if it works.

Well this is my first submission on this one, although i have posted many images in the main threads.

This is Bryce-ONLY modelling and render. No Photoshop which is taboo for me and no 3D app to make the models! It is the way i like to do it, but i certainly do not expect others to do the same. This scene employs some of the techniques of my tutorials which are accumulating at an alarming rate.

Well i needed a break from the tutorials and do something creative! This scene still has a long way to go because i need to add hundreds of fine details. This will take much time. But i think it is not too bad to show now. Render time is very slow - about a day. The central forms use instancing so they are no problem but the cactus-like objects in the water are a nightmare [all composed of MBs]. I will need to add many more of them as well as much else.

Kind regards from Australia to you all.

David Brinnen said:

Thanks Rashad, yes the inconsistency you correctly observed is central to the topic of RGB response.

Here's another Bryce 20 scene lighting project - Using IBL with boost light and TA gels - by David Brinnen

Here this issue with noise, disproportionate RGB response, IBL incompatibility and boost light, is overcome - by quite a devious strategy.

Watched the video. I am speechless. Now ask yourself how often I is it that I don't have a word to say? I am really excited by this find and I think your steps in this video might be just what the doctor ordered. Brilliant work, David as always. You must be feeling good about yourself. This bit of cleverness is quite high. Wicked work around. Thanks so much for sharing this insight. You clever one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not sure if you are planning products around these new discoveries. I am of the mind that these processes that require lots of steps and understanding of nuts and bolts are sometimes best presented as mature features within the next release of the application, if there ever is one. Here's hoping!