This same question about G8 characters was asked not too long ago and my favorite remains Elizabeth for Victoria 8 but I have now bought G8 males too and my favorite is Lucus 8. I almost would have picked Tyrone for Darius 8 (both regular and albino) as for most renders he and his hair are great quality but for nude render there is visible seam when he has anatomical elements attached. I've written a ticket and they gave me a solution of uninstalling and reinstalling my G8 content that worked all of one render before the problem returned. Its not that frustrating since it was only a test render but you have to evaluate and rate a product from head to toe and that one has a problem.  My tests with Lucas 8 & Michael 8 no longer have this problem after the DAZ 3D suggested remedy.

I look at Elizabeth and I see a character whose skin is cartoonish and lacking any sign of realism.. no sign of pours, hairs, veins or any real details..   it's a beautifully shaped morph in a really generic rapper...

Agreed a thousand times over. FW characters have beautiful morphs but for realistic skin they are not where you point someone.

This same question about G8 characters was asked not too long ago and my favorite remains Elizabeth for Victoria 8 but I have now bought G8 males too and my favorite is Lucus 8. I almost would have picked Tyrone for Darius 8 (both regular and albino) as for most renders he and his hair are great quality but for nude render there is visible seam when he has anatomical elements attached. I've written a ticket and they gave me a solution of uninstalling and reinstalling my G8 content that worked all of one render before the problem returned. Its not that frustrating since it was only a test render but you have to evaluate and rate a product from head to toe and that one has a problem.  My tests with Lucas 8 & Michael 8 no longer have this problem after the DAZ 3D suggested remedy.

I look at Elizabeth and I see a character whose skin is cartoonish and lacking any sign of realism.. no sign of pours, hairs, veins or any real details..   it's a beautifully shaped morph in a really generic rapper...  to me personally, I want to be able to zoom in on that character and see something that already has details built into it that make it looks real.
If Elizabeth is really that good then, see if you can do a close up and let's see how real she is because the promo pictures just aren't impressing me... What am I missing?

I don't see such things. All the models look good and realistic but I favored the ones that give me the more character creation flexibility as purchased and that is Elizabeth for Victoria 8, Lucas 8, and Tyrone for Darius 8 andf the G8 DO morph packages for head, body & expressions. I don't look for 'wow the model looks real' when I buy it. I like it or I don't and I see flexbility in it or I don't. I only buy the specifically realistic when I want to create a specifically realistic render. For example, I have Michael 8 and he is very, very realistic and looks like John Travolta. For my general purposes the realism is impressive but he is too realistically like John Travolta in looks. In Elizabeth (although I think Elizabeth is actually based on Elizabeth Taylor in her National Velvet - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof period), I see a reasonable 3D model that looks good in renders and is a good basis for other characters too using morphs and LIE or other texture sets. She can be made to look more realistic if it is wanted as supplied on purchase but for me a nice classic artistic and meticulously painted look is nice also.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Indeed, but I think he said realistic.   Maybe that's subjective too because he wanted for super model couple?

Anyway, my two cents as a beginner who can use them quickly with a minimum of tweaking.

Victoria 8

Monique 8

Stephanie 8  (She looks a little jaundiced, but is probably average height.  Adjust weight as needed?) 

I missed out on Charlotte.  Killisto is cool, but I have to dial down super pin-up body.  ; )

---
Males are more difficult for me because they all look to have had wax jobs.  : 0 !

FWSA Gunner (for Lucas 8)

Owen 8 (quickly becoming a favorite)

Faber's Garret (for M8)

I couldn't fit Milo (for Lucas 8) into top 3 but he is my favorite 'go to' guy if I want a male actor who isn't Mr. hardbody.  Goes well with Stephie, but he needs face morphs & think OP wanted straight out of box.

Quick compare render since I had nothing else to do

Victoria 8,  Monique 8, Stephanie 8

FWSA Gunner for Lucas 8, Owen 8, Faber's Garrett for M8

This same question about G8 characters was asked not too long ago and my favorite remains Elizabeth for Victoria 8 but I have now bought G8 males too and my favorite is Lucus 8. I almost would have picked Tyrone for Darius 8 (both regular and albino) as for most renders he and his hair are great quality but for nude render there is visible seam when he has anatomical elements attached. I've written a ticket and they gave me a solution of uninstalling and reinstalling my G8 content that worked all of one render before the problem returned. Its not that frustrating since it was only a test render but you have to evaluate and rate a product from head to toe and that one has a problem.  My tests with Lucas 8 & Michael 8 no longer have this problem after the DAZ 3D suggested remedy.

I look at Elizabeth and I see a character whose skin is cartoonish and lacking any sign of realism.. no sign of pours, hairs, veins or any real details..   it's a beautifully shaped morph in a really generic rapper...  to me personally, I want to be able to zoom in on that character and see something that already has details built into it that make it looks real.
If Elizabeth is really that good then, see if you can do a close up and let's see how real she is because the promo pictures just aren't impressing me... What am I missing?

This same question about G8 characters was asked not too long ago and my favorite remains Elizabeth for Victoria 8 but I have now bought G8 males too and my favorite is Lucus 8. I almost would have picked Tyrone for Darius 8 (both regular and albino) as for most renders he and his hair are great quality but for nude render there is visible seam when he has anatomical elements attached. I've written a ticket and they gave me a solution of uninstalling and reinstalling my G8 content that worked all of one render before the problem returned. Its not that frustrating since it was only a test render but you have to evaluate and rate a product from head to toe and that one has a problem.  My tests with Lucas 8 & Michael 8 no longer have this problem after the DAZ 3D suggested remedy.

That's very much about tastes, to show my precedent tastes first:

My favorite G7 male character are from DarwinMishaps, my 1st would be Damen, followed by Iain, and Ahmad. I am awaiting for his take on more G8 with the same style.

My favorite G7 Female are from chevybabe, my 1st would be Aibell followed by Draupadi and VIncenzina. I am awaiting for her/his take on more G8 with the same style.

all vyktoria G7 characters are very a must have G7 too. I bought almost all from her instead the Daz G7 pro bundles.

Now going toy answer our question:

I bought ALL G8 pro bundles released, and the most realistic and beautiful of females tor me are 1st Aisling for Charlotte, 2nd FW Laverne HD for Monique 8, 3rd Monique, 4th BD Jayde for Teen Josie 8, 5th Charlotte, 6th Xanthe for Stephanie 8, 7th Pei and Petit Suit for genesis 8, 8th Alondra for Monique 8,  9th FW Marieke HD for Charlotte 8 , 10th Hyuna for genesis 8, 11th Kim for genesis 8. 12th FWHP Eris HD for Genesis 8 Female. 13th BD Corsen for Victoria 8, 14th FWSA Lavana HD for Stephanie 8, 15th VYK Raine for Genesis 8 Female, 16th FWSA Elizabeth HD for Victoria 8

for G8 males I would say the 1st is Alexander for Darius 8,  2nd Tyrone for Darius 8, 3rd Darius 8, 4th FWSA Nick HD for Owen 8, 5th Giuseppe for Lucas 8, 6th FWSA Gunner HD for Lucas 8, 7th Lucas 8, 8th Owen 8, 9th FW Kasper HD for Owen 8, 10th Chance for Owen 8, 11th Ren for Genesis 3 Male and Genesis 8 Male, 12th FW Quinton HD for Michael 8, 13th FWSA Zander HD for Michael 8, 14th EJ Hiroshi and Masao for Genesis 8 Male.

Special mention for this G8 pack of male morphs https://www.daz3d.com/m3d-dalton-hd-for-genesis-8-male that's the best G8 male characters pack  for realism and doing renders without porcelain male models.

Overall, the better G8 pro bundle is Charlotte and Monique oand the third would be Stephanie, on that order. On males it is Darius and Owen and the third would be Lucas, on that order.

For everyday very action centered renders I would pick gothic pale light skin and asian women from the bottom of my female list, similar gothic and asian handsome guys if I have or the 3d dalton hd for genesis 8 male.from the bottom of my male list.

The top beautiies of my lists deserves more quiet, romanceable and dramatic hearthbreaking stories, because realistic top beauty helps to not fall in boredom when all slow pacing.

Peony Kimono for Genesis 2 Female fitted to V7 Anna via SY Ultra Templates for G3F (using the option for big dress) out of the box. It worked like a charm. The only thing I did was use the timeline (pose her at 30 frames and adjusted the dress, then let it run for 30 more frames), turn off self collision and freeze the obi (so it remained rigid). Also, I forgot to freeze the bow, so it ended up sliding down. You can sort of see a bit of it poking through her back (just below her bum).

Updated: It also works on Gen8 (Sakura).

Here's my walkthrough for Victoria 4. The actual shader techniques work for anything though.

@dijidave_a64850a362 "I mean all the morphs listed in your product description which aren't being applied to the clothing, ie in this screenshot of Hongyu's Bikini 2 on Victoria 8, there are these"

The morphs are available in the product. They are "excluded" in the case you show because you haven't chosen to apply them. The interface has been changed from the previous version such that you start by slected the morphs you want to apply rather than transferring all morphs (as in G3 versions), then deleting those that aren't used.

A cleaner and more logical application in my opinion.

What I'd actually like to see with skirts, and I know there are technical reasons why, is for them to fall to different lengths depending on the character's leg length.  Wha'ts a mini-dress on my 5'9" friend is knee length on my 5'0" frame, even though there was a time we could otherwise share them.

So all these tiny skirts on 5'10" Victoria should fall lower on 5'5" Stephanie....

But then the bones don't line up right and everything gets weird in terms of bending...

(And I'd say skirts here in Chicago aren't that short, but I think it's probably more accurate to say that there's more variety in skirt length in a cooler climate city like Chicago than in generally warm LA)

''Can you clarify what you mean by morph exclusion? ''

I mean all the morphs listed in your product description which aren't being applied to the clothing, ie in this screenshot of Hongyu's Bikini 2 on Victoria 8, there are these

• Crotch Expose L
• Crotch Expose R
• Crotch Loosen 1
• Crotch Loosen 2
• Crotch Width
• Front Down 1
• Front Down 2
• Front Down 3
• Front Down L
• Front Down R
• Front Pull
• Front Width
• Height Adjust
• Height Adjust Front
• Height Adjust Rear
• Rear Center Depth
• Rear Center Height 1
• Rear Center Height 2
• Rear Down 1
• Rear Down 2
• Rear Loosen 1
• Rear Loosen 2
• Rear Loosen 3
• Side Down L
• Side Down R

that have been excluded from the Underwear morphs/Pelvic area set, I'd like them to be available (I thought I'd bought them  in your product)

                                 Thanx ,

                                            Dave

Neither talking about it or avoiding the issue really seems effective strategies.

You and the others who post on this thread are very specific about what you don't like, and courteous. I appreciate all of you doing that. But hey @donovancolbert   I happen to think my horse's face is gorgeous! But I'm biased.

I think that most people just aren't PRACTICED in giving constructive criticism. They don't know how to verbalize what they don't like, or they don't take the time. I haven't bought Victoria 8 because I think she has a horse face, it is very long,

Thanks for the links to the classroom poses for Victoria 4 and Genesis 3 Male/Female.

Now, I'd like to ask if there are any free classroom poses for Michael 4?

Not free but not expensive https://www.daz3d.com/the-briefing-room-poses you could try the V4 poses on the M4 as sometimes they work :)

I think that most people just aren't PRACTICED in giving constructive criticism. They don't know how to verbalize what they don't like, or they don't take the time. I haven't bought Victoria 8 because I think she has a horse face, it is very long, and her body has a very chisled, angled look that seems unnatural to me. I also feel like a lot of the releases recently based on V8 look less natural, more like paintings - that I find better results using V4 skin maps on G3 with UVs than what I am seeing from G8 pro packages and characters. But... I think in the forums, I might have just said I think V8 and G8 characters are "ugly". 
I was very critical about a cop car that one of the PAs did when I saw it months ago. Said things like, "it looks like a cop car from Grand Theft Auto 3..." 
And it does. The artist saw the comment and said, "I keep it up because it still sells," and I've since learned a little about applying shaders so I can see where an object originally designed for Poser 10 years ago can have new life with modern iRay shaders - especially if the base object is well built with lots of material zones. That could be some of the problem too. A lot of the ART of 3D content isn't in the final product, it is in the framework that a lot of people don't even know exists, or understand. 
I'm not trying to give a pass to people just being mean or insensitive because they're mean and insensitive. I'm just saying, just because they're mean or insensitive in expressing themselves, doesn't mean they might not be saying something you should try and focus in on as an artist. "WHY do you think my campground looks fake?" 
On my campground - I was justifying it in my head as a composition thing. If I make the lake as wide as I want it, all the background details would move so far back that they would be more lost than they already are - and it COULD be a perspective trick that MAKES the dock seem to jut out and the opposite bank to be closer than it is. :) But the fact is that I had already noticed it, thought the same thing, and came up with a justificaton because it is a compositional problem with the art. 
I've got a tin-image of Speed Racer jumping into the Mach 5 in my study/studio. It uses foreshortening to create a very dynamic image, but when you look at it critically, Speed's extended leg is out in front of the headlight and his rear leg is back by the rear fin of the car and the perspective is just totally wonky. I think if the artist had done a more realistic perspective on the image, it wouldn't feel as dynamic or exciting, though... so sometimes, there is a trade off between realism and what looks best. 
But... maybe I just need to fix the width of the pond! :D 

Entry:  # 13

Title: Sting in the tail.

Artist: Bunyip02

WIP Links: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/3179961/#Comment_3179961

Products Used: Victoria 4 https://www.daz3d.com/victoria-4-2-base

                        https://www.daz3d.com/riae-hair

                        http://www.sharecg.com/v/43656/related/11/Poser/ScorpionDoll

                       https://www.daz3d.com/fantasy-tunnel

Additional Notes: Postwork using Mediachance Dynamic Auto Painter - Aqua Real filter.

Thanks for the links to the classroom poses for Victoria 4 and Genesis 3 Male/Female.

Now, I'd like to ask if there are any free classroom poses for Michael 4?

Some of my favorite G8Fs:

https://www.daz3d.com/fw-laverne-hd-for-monique-8

https://www.daz3d.com/kallisto-for-genesis-3-and-genesis-8-female

https://www.daz3d.com/victoria-8

https://www.daz3d.com/charlotte-8

https://www.daz3d.com/pepper-for-genesis-3-and-8-female

https://www.daz3d.com/lainey-for-victoria-8

https://www.daz3d.com/joanna-for-genesis-3-and-8-female

https://www.daz3d.com/aisling-for-charlotte-8 (I'm not a fan of her brows, but she comes with a no-brow option to use fibermesh brows with her. Her skin is great, imo!)

And some of my favorite G8Ms:

https://www.daz3d.com/owen-8

https://www.daz3d.com/giovanni-for-genesis-3-and-8-male-s

https://www.daz3d.com/giuseppe-for-lucas-8

https://www.daz3d.com/marc-for-michael-8

https://www.daz3d.com/darius-8

You aren't missing out on anything by not having V1, V2, or M1, 2, or 3. Trust me. I have them. I've had them since they were new. They were great 20 years ago, and even Michael 1 was an improvement over Poser Dork, but really, scroll through the back pages of the store and look at them. They're hideous.

Hideous?

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/108001/the-older-generation-victoria-2-3-michael-2-3-and-their-children-renders/p1

This upcoming June will be Victoria 6's fifth birthday since her release. She was free for a short period on her first birthday, so do you guys think that model would possibly go up being free this June for her fifth birthday?

I wish Victoria 6 was on sale, or maybe even free again. I would love to have that model!