You really don't need an expensive program. The texture maps that Daz creates are often detailed enough. Occasionally they need slight adjustments with Photoshop or Gimp or pretty much any photo editing program - but most of them are detailed enough "out of the box". The problem is their Iray settings are usually pretty bad, imo. You just have to learn how iray settings affect the look of the textures and adjust accordingly.

It depends on your definition of "detailed enough".   The DAZ tex maps I've seen are jpg (!), so you are already talking about a lot of loss of fidelity from the start.  JPG files are lossy and only 8 bit, so you are already starting out on the low end of the spectrum.  But a good knowledge of how textures work in relation to realistic skin is a must.

That sounds a bit condescending. I think my definition of "detailed enough" would cover many (most?) people's idea of "detailed enough". 

This is Victoria 7's textures - with no changes made to the texture maps (click for full size):

Most people aren't going to need more detail than that. The only things I changed where her Iray settings, added displacement maps, and Duel Lobe Specular bumps.

And as I said earlier, lighting and render settings can play a big role in adding realism.

Skin looks fantastic, Diva! Was just checking out your flavor of Lee 6, too, which also looks really good.

- Greg 

Thank you, Greg! :D I adore, Lee 6! He's one of Daz's best, imo.

You really don't need an expensive program. The texture maps that Daz creates are often detailed enough. Occasionally they need slight adjustments with Photoshop or Gimp or pretty much any photo editing program - but most of them are detailed enough "out of the box". The problem is their Iray settings are usually pretty bad, imo. You just have to learn how iray settings affect the look of the textures and adjust accordingly.

It depends on your definition of "detailed enough".   The DAZ tex maps I've seen are jpg (!), so you are already talking about a lot of loss of fidelity from the start.  JPG files are lossy and only 8 bit, so you are already starting out on the low end of the spectrum.  But a good knowledge of how textures work in relation to realistic skin is a must.

That sounds a bit condescending. I think my definition of "detailed enough" would cover many (most?) people's idea of "detailed enough". 

This is Victoria 7's textures - with no changes made to the texture maps (click for full size):

Most people aren't going to need more detail than that. The only things I changed where her Iray settings, added displacement maps, and Duel Lobe Specular bumps.

And as I said earlier, lighting and render settings can play a big role in adding realism.

 

I can totally see the DL specular bump at work! Gotta love those scattered shines on the skin

Right!? I'm so excited that they added Duel Lobe to the Iray shader. :) 

You really don't need an expensive program. The texture maps that Daz creates are often detailed enough. Occasionally they need slight adjustments with Photoshop or Gimp or pretty much any photo editing program - but most of them are detailed enough "out of the box". The problem is their Iray settings are usually pretty bad, imo. You just have to learn how iray settings affect the look of the textures and adjust accordingly.

It depends on your definition of "detailed enough".   The DAZ tex maps I've seen are jpg (!), so you are already talking about a lot of loss of fidelity from the start.  JPG files are lossy and only 8 bit, so you are already starting out on the low end of the spectrum.  But a good knowledge of how textures work in relation to realistic skin is a must.

That sounds a bit condescending. I think my definition of "detailed enough" would cover many (most?) people's idea of "detailed enough". 

This is Victoria 7's textures - with no changes made to the texture maps (click for full size):

Most people aren't going to need more detail than that. The only things I changed where her Iray settings, added displacement maps, and Duel Lobe Specular bumps.

And as I said earlier, lighting and render settings can play a big role in adding realism.

 

 

wow, looks wonderful! I guess I need to do some reading up on maps and bumps and figure out how to change them in PS..but yes, I have noticed lights play a huge role..

Thank you! :D Before doing anything else, I highly recommend playing with Tone Maping first. Bumping up the Crush Blacks can really bring out the details in skin. :)

I am by no means any kind of expert, but in my experience, there is no "real world difference" between jpg and other formats for textures when rendering with Daz Iray. Yeah, jpg is lossy and loses some detail...

See my post above you.  You are not taking into account the need to edit the texture.  jpg is just a terribe format for editing.

There are Victoria 4 skin maps that are still some of the most amazing skin maps ever made. Like those by danae at the other store. "London" is just amazing. 

I agree.  Metropolitan Series of figures are my favorite textures by far.

You have NGS2 which is pretty nice. Don't forget that NGS2 has a number of options to tweak the look further, like brightness. I almost always click the max brightness option every time I use NGS2. There is also Iray Smart Converter, which seems to not get as much love as NGS2, but IMO it offers more nuanced results out of the box so to speak. Being able to pick between cold and warm skin with one click is convenient. These two products do a great job and compliment each other very well...if one doesn't look great on a figure then often the other will. And if they don't get a great result, they will get you pretty close.

It is also worth noting that there is a NGS3 in the works that could possibly blow all the previous Iray skin converters away. DZ has taken lessons learned from NGS2 and has been taking his time trying to perfect 3. Keep an eye out for it.

NGS is ok, for an EZ dial.  But it doesn't teach you anything about what is going on underneath.  As an artist, you learn nothing about how to make good skin.  And even NGS has to work with the spotty quality jpg's.  And in my opinion, NGS doesn't even produce realistic skin (my definition of realistic), just perhaps better looking.  Like a fashion magazine.   It is always better to educate yourself so that you can make your own creative decisions.

I am by no means any kind of expert, but in my experience, there is no "real world difference" between jpg and other formats for textures when rendering with Daz Iray. Yeah, jpg is lossy and loses some detail...but the amount of detail lost is pretty pointless if the resulting render is at a resolution of 1080 by 1920 pixels. Now if you desire to make really, really massive renders, then and only then do the less lossy texture formats have any kind of impact. You will not see the fidelity otherwise. Also, using jpg is helpful because that texture data can really eat up your highly precious VRAM. That is why jpg is used to begin with, the file sizes. Genesis 3 and 8 already take a considerable chunk of VRAM, if you use less compressed and lossless textures then you run a very real risk of running out of VRAM and unable to render with a GPU! So trust me here...you probably want the standard jpgs for most instances. The compression of the textures used is probably the LAST thing to go looking for realistic skin. There are so many other things that will impact your render more that can be done first. Like lighting, you could have the most perfect skin and shaders ever but poor lighting can still make them look bad.

There are Victoria 4 skin maps that are still some of the most amazing skin maps ever made. Like those by danae at the other store. "London" is just amazing. She was made for Poser but translates beautifully to Iray with a few adjustments. London works great because her texture is one of the most true to life ones around, with photo referenced imperfections and all. So many Daz textures are just straight up cartoony, which is fine if that is what you want.

You have NGS2 which is pretty nice. Don't forget that NGS2 has a number of options to tweak the look further, like brightness. I almost always click the max brightness option every time I use NGS2. There is also Iray Smart Converter, which seems to not get as much love as NGS2, but IMO it offers more nuanced results out of the box so to speak. Being able to pick between cold and warm skin with one click is convenient. These two products do a great job and compliment each other very well...if one doesn't look great on a figure then often the other will. And if they don't get a great result, they will get you pretty close.

It is also worth noting that there is a NGS3 in the works that could possibly blow all the previous Iray skin converters away. DZ has taken lessons learned from NGS2 and has been taking his time trying to perfect 3. Keep an eye out for it.

72% off? On release day? Why? Victoria, Teen Josie, Stephanie, Olympia, Michael were nowhere near this percentage off. Is this the new price for future characters? Aiko, Rune, Lilith, Sunny, Gia.....etc

Probably has to do with PC+ and the Platinum Club sale.

72% off? On release day? Why? Victoria, Teen Josie, Stephanie, Olympia, Michael were nowhere near this percentage off. Is this the new price for future characters? Aiko, Rune, Lilith, Sunny, Gia.....etc

Okay Richard.

Loaded base genesis 8 female figure which looks okay. Checked parameter pane and checked the currently used group. Heading was genesis 8 female and all morphs were at 0 (including hidden). As a precaution I uninstalled the Demona figure which is reported to be bugged.

Loaded a genesis 8 figure - in this case 3DA Airlie for G8F and voila - bug eyes, 2nd helping of botiox mouth/lips and heavy weight lifter thighs. parameter pane showed all zerod morphs so unsure how to explain it.

The reason I chose 3DA Airlie is she comes with a version for G3F. Loaded the Gen 3 version and no deformity issues.

Tested Stephanie 8, Victoria 8 and 1 or 2 other G8F figures. Stephanie and Victoria appeared normal. The alternate G8F figures - varying degress of deformity.

Having already unistalled the genesis 8 female starter essentials,head and boy morphs and anall 3rd paty morphs for gen8 I am not sure how to proceed, 

As a different way to test Ioaded the genesis 8 base female, and used shaping to add full body/hed of 3da Airlie again. This time a different kind of deformity - sunken eyes and jaw, ultra thin body.

Any ideas appreciated. Have already redone all the meta data via DIM and reset content via content manager and reloaded.

Yes, that should work - and yes, all the map types use the same UVs. Don't forget that you need the materials as a .duf file, so you'd need to apply them (to Genesis say, or better to Victoria 4 if you have the figure) and save as a Materials preset. Of course the shader would be the basic one, not one of the newer 3Delight or Iray shaders, so there might be a need for reworking.

The attached image shows a comparison between the Muscle Maps on Victoria 4 and the same textures on Genesis 8 Female using the Legacy UVs.  Bear in mind that the Muscle Maps were designed specifically for the Victoria 4 shape and that they are more unforgiving in terms of minor unavoidable distortions than a normal skin texture would be.

You really don't need an expensive program. The texture maps that Daz creates are often detailed enough. Occasionally they need slight adjustments with Photoshop or Gimp or pretty much any photo editing program - but most of them are detailed enough "out of the box". The problem is their Iray settings are usually pretty bad, imo. You just have to learn how iray settings affect the look of the textures and adjust accordingly.

It depends on your definition of "detailed enough".   The DAZ tex maps I've seen are jpg (!), so you are already talking about a lot of loss of fidelity from the start.  JPG files are lossy and only 8 bit, so you are already starting out on the low end of the spectrum.  But a good knowledge of how textures work in relation to realistic skin is a must.

That sounds a bit condescending. I think my definition of "detailed enough" would cover many (most?) people's idea of "detailed enough". 

This is Victoria 7's textures - with no changes made to the texture maps (click for full size):

Most people aren't going to need more detail than that. The only things I changed where her Iray settings, added displacement maps, and Duel Lobe Specular bumps.

And as I said earlier, lighting and render settings can play a big role in adding realism.

Skin looks fantastic, Diva! Was just checking out your flavor of Lee 6, too, which also looks really good.

- Greg 

Hey Richard,

So would Cayman's "Legacy UVs for Genesis 8: Victoria 4" work for the "V4 Muscle Maps"? To get them to work on G8? And if so, would it also allow for the included "bump maps" to work?

Been hoping forever that someone would update the V4 Muscle Maps, but it seems to have been forgotten about.

Thanks.

- Sol

Apart from Genesis 8 the base figures came only with clones for the previous geenration of the same sex and the current geenration of the opposite sex - oh, and since Genesis was unisex it had clones for Michael 4, Victoria 4, and Kids 4.

You really don't need an expensive program. The texture maps that Daz creates are often detailed enough. Occasionally they need slight adjustments with Photoshop or Gimp or pretty much any photo editing program - but most of them are detailed enough "out of the box". The problem is their Iray settings are usually pretty bad, imo. You just have to learn how iray settings affect the look of the textures and adjust accordingly.

It depends on your definition of "detailed enough".   The DAZ tex maps I've seen are jpg (!), so you are already talking about a lot of loss of fidelity from the start.  JPG files are lossy and only 8 bit, so you are already starting out on the low end of the spectrum.  But a good knowledge of how textures work in relation to realistic skin is a must.

That sounds a bit condescending. I think my definition of "detailed enough" would cover many (most?) people's idea of "detailed enough". 

This is Victoria 7's textures - with no changes made to the texture maps (click for full size):

Most people aren't going to need more detail than that. The only things I changed where her Iray settings, added displacement maps, and Duel Lobe Specular bumps.

And as I said earlier, lighting and render settings can play a big role in adding realism.

 

I can totally see the DL specular bump at work! Gotta love those scattered shines on the skin

Who is this gorgeous character in the Pascal Hair promos? The product page lists FWSA Zoe, but that's definitely not her skin. Is she custom or something available? She's a knockout!

I was wondering that too, she is gorgeous!

You really don't need an expensive program. The texture maps that Daz creates are often detailed enough. Occasionally they need slight adjustments with Photoshop or Gimp or pretty much any photo editing program - but most of them are detailed enough "out of the box". The problem is their Iray settings are usually pretty bad, imo. You just have to learn how iray settings affect the look of the textures and adjust accordingly.

It depends on your definition of "detailed enough".   The DAZ tex maps I've seen are jpg (!), so you are already talking about a lot of loss of fidelity from the start.  JPG files are lossy and only 8 bit, so you are already starting out on the low end of the spectrum.  But a good knowledge of how textures work in relation to realistic skin is a must.

That sounds a bit condescending. I think my definition of "detailed enough" would cover many (most?) people's idea of "detailed enough". 

This is Victoria 7's textures - with no changes made to the texture maps (click for full size):

Most people aren't going to need more detail than that. The only things I changed where her Iray settings, added displacement maps, and Duel Lobe Specular bumps.

And as I said earlier, lighting and render settings can play a big role in adding realism.

 

 

wow, looks wonderful! I guess I need to do some reading up on maps and bumps and figure out how to change them in PS..but yes, I have noticed lights play a huge role..

Kudos to Daz for getting the character morph, skin, and promos right. I don't know why joelegecko isn't handling everything, but it's a nice change to have professional-looking promos that flatter the character rather than having to wait for users to post renders so we can see what the girls really look like. After Victoria & Olympia, I was about to check out. Thanks also for heeding our request to introduce Monique and Darius earlier than usual. Five months from Victoria to Monique is a huge improvement over a year plus.

A similar thing happened to me last week, HorusRa. I was charged $78 for a $27 purchase, but that amount never appeared in my cart or at checkout. Yes, Sales Support credited me the difference within 24 hours, but now I check my Orders page and card account after each purchase, which sucks really.

Who is this gorgeous character in the Pascal Hair promos? The product page lists FWSA Zoe, but that's definitely not her skin. Is she custom or something available? She's a knockout!

Damn right. I'm actually impressed! LOL. And considering my loathing of the G8 line, I surprised myself! Other than PA-created characters, I haven't liked a single G8 base. But Monique is fantastic.  

Oh, she's BEAUTIFUL!! The best G8 female yet!

I know right!

 

My feelings to the G8 line started out with optimism, which quickly turned into tepid interest. But Monique 8 is stellar. I think maybe Daz is starting to take some of the concrits of the last few female figures, because I feel she strikes a good balance between idealism and realism (even though I didn't mind the non-Barbie doll looks of Victoria, Olympia, and Stephanie). I know I can be very critical of Daz, but credit where credit is due: she's one of the best so far. Makes me very optimistic for Darius 8, whom I hope we'll get next month.

She also will work as a great "base" for a model of an original character of mine (one of my oldest characters I've created) to get 3D printed eventually too, hehe. Just need to get subbed to MD7 again and learn how to make some of my own props and textures for her. XP

Ragazzi ho comprato questo prodotto:

https://www.daz3d.com/otherworldly-wonders-tanwen

E non funzona perchè chiama un INJ/DELTAS che non trovo.

Però nella descrizione ho notato questa cosa:

• Victoria 4.2 must be initialized for this morph add on to work

Però non ricordo come si fà. Qualcuno può darmi suggerimenti?

Mind giving a link to this figure?

OT: You should be able to put her on Genesis 2 via GenX and UV Legacy items.

If you're converting it via Genesis 1 to Genesis 2 then check this section:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/925558/#g1-to-g2

If you're converting via Mil4 (Aiko4, Victoria 4) to Genesis 2 then check this section:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/925559/#gen4-to-g2

@ Everyone,

Thanks everyone for suggestions, tips & encouragement.

Think this will do it, although I think Daybird called it right in saying the grass texture is horrible.  Looks like green linoleum tile-- not grass at all.

“Sugar in Gas Tank” done in DS 4.10

Major resources used:

1961 AM Roadster
Darius 7 - Diesel Hair
Garrett for M8 - Buzzed Hair for G2/G3
Millennium Cat
Modern Bungalow
Monique 7 - Karissa Hair
Terradome3
Victoria 8 - Whitney Hair for G3 & G8

Very nice finish. BTW, if you use Carrara at all, there's a nice real hair product for the Millenium Cat for use in Carrara.