@mats76

The default Iray spotlight settings (1500 lumen) will be way too dark. Don't be surprised to use values of 50000 to 500000 as needed.

Here are two more examples. First is with 50000 Lumen Spotlight only (scene only), seconed with 50000 Lumen Spotlight and Renderstudio Pro HDRI (Dome and Scene), Compare to my previous examples which were HDRI only

Thanks

Must try to learn more about the light settings. With Renderstudio Pro HDRs thats looks nice on Cayenne, how would that affects Victoria 7 skin in the same scen? Would she become super pale?

Thank you for taking your time to help out. 

victoria 8 makes no sense

they baked the scaling into the body slider.  why do that?  it doesnt muck up xfering to clothes?

and then around 3 of the left toe nails, something is horribly awry there. 

kwdmakesnosense

The lack of quality darker-skinned characters is at least partially due to the relative paucity (compared to Caucasian resources) of black photographic full nude models. Raiya (the Queen) seems to have a source that no one else uses, although she has re-used darker skins a few times on different characters—for example, Keira for Stephanie 5 / Sapphire for Victoria 7 and Nala and Nia / Olivia for V5 / Kelly for Victoria 7; (there's a male example as well, but I can't be bothered to find them). A couple of Saiyaness' (the Princess) skin sources betray that their owners may have lived harder lives (Imari's jaundiced eyes and eye bags, Nyarai's darkened lower eyelids and rough soles—

The only ones of these I have are Imari and Nyarai because they're ones that looked more authentic to me.  The other ones don't really fill the bill.  

Character skins made with Skin Master also don't look authentic to me.  They all have an odd hue and flat appearance.  I have Skin Master Pro but only used it a couple times because the skins just didn't look right.  I was proably doing some wrong with it.

FRIENDS

featuring Michael 8 with Victoria 8 and Olympia 8

https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/423206

Ok, this topic has morphed into a different one, however, it still seems like there might be some relationship between these issues. Maybe, not sure. When I save the Morph, it asks me to select a node or nodes. I just select the whole figure node, and then hit accept. It seems to do a lot of stuff, saving the asset... but it just saved it to "product" and nothing appears different (which I would think is good since we are trying to overwrite). However, the default is unchanged the next time I load the figure. These are not 3rd party figures, and no third party content is being used in the scene, nor have I gone in and installed any 3rd party content into folders meant for DAZ official content or messed intentionally with anything manually. This is very strange. I just load up an official content purchased from DAZ store like Victoria 7 figure or a figure based on that, and even though I saved the morph with 0% on the Julie morph, it doesn't seem to take, it's still doing it on the next time Ioad one of said figures.

The lack of quality darker-skinned characters is at least partially due to the relative paucity (compared to Caucasian resources) of black photographic full nude models. Raiya (the Queen) seems to have a source that no one else uses, although she has re-used darker skins a few times on different characters—for example, Keira for Stephanie 5 / Sapphire for Victoria 7 and Nala and Nia / Olivia for V5 / Kelly for Victoria 7; (there's a male example as well, but I can't be bothered to find them). A couple of Saiyaness' (the Princess) skin sources betray that their owners may have lived harder lives (Imari's jaundiced eyes and eye bags, Nyarai's darkened lower eyelids and rough soles—are they from the same resource?) than their/her Caucasian counterparts, which could be their/her financial incentive for submission to having their/her entire body photographed. Finally, the primary sources for skin resources are reportedly located in Eastern Europe, which has historically had a lot less inhabitants of African descent.

When lesser character creators release people with non-photographic-looking skin textures, I pass on them (having a hard drive peppered with their previous attempts). Other customers are evidently passing on them as well. And this, I think, is the basis for the oft-repeated, "darker characters don't sell as well." If you peruse Raiya's and Saiyaness' stores, you will see that they apparently have no hesitation at releasing darker-skinned characters (Raiya Genesis 3: 25% dark-skinned, Saiyaness: 9/7 split light/dark); indeed, Raiya told me that she would like to make more, but there are so few skin resources. And she said that her darker-skinned characters sell as well or better than her Caucasian characters, Monique 6 being only one instance of this.

For authentic African-descended morphs, I suggest GenX-ing (the full monty) reciecup's Generation 4 products (which are being retired at an alarming rate) at the other store, and any other African characters that you like from previous generations. reciecup's head morphs alone capture so many previously nonexistent types in Daztopia. And samsil (at the other store) has two characters that provide excellent unseen-in-Daztopia types. I have found his skins to be unusable for my purposes, although his African hair more than atones for this (wish they had more morphs though). After over a decade of Poserverse/Daztopia, there are enough African morphs and skins to fill a big story, but the customer will have to fix their own plate.

Thank you for the replies everyone.  After a couple of days experimentation, I am going to keep DS installed.  I looked in my purchase history and found that I have a fair amount of Genesis products, so I re-downloaded those.  Then I bought the new Michael 8 because of the included M7 and M6 figures.  Also got Victoria 8.  Along with the old content and trying out HDRI lighting, it has definitely kept me busy.

Overall though, I am loving the Iray renderer, which is why I thought it was worth buying some new content just to try out the renderer and its options.

At first I was quite annoyed that the new figure line didn't offer anything new from customer perspective, and I was even little angry that I would have to buy all the toys again for such a little gains. I was hoping soft body physics and all the cool stuff, but what I got was new A pose, which means absolutely nothing for hobbiest user. That got me thinking that do I really have to upgrade? What would this new figure really brings in the table that the old one can't do, and only thing that I could think of was HD expressions ( which could have been done to G3 ). Since I really didn't like the looks of new V8, decision was finally quite easy, and I decided not to upgrade. Also I realized that release of G8 was actually a good thing; Now "old" G3 products get really nice discounts, and I'm still not out of the technology train, since new model is pretty much the same as the old one. If I need some new skimpwear, there's always that other marketplace, and I still continue to support DS development by buying new environments etc., where my old G3 figures work just fine. If Daz Steve brings something spectacular for G8 later this year, I can always reconsider, so currently I see no reason to upgrade.

Pretty much exactly how I feel.  So far the G8s have been a disapointment and while I have bought a few of the G8F items, it's been as much to key other sale discounts as for the figures themselves.  Beyond that, I'm just not seeing enough benefit to rush to replace everything with G8 equivalents. 

Heh, I have to admit that I almost slipped once too, and https://www.daz3d.com/fwsa-analia-hd-for-victoria-8 was already in my shopping cart, but luckily I noticed that she was V8 based, so it was really easy to resist the temptation. Now that most of the new items are for G8, resisting those impulse buys has actually become quite easy. Well, or at least it gets easier every day. Dazholics probably should have their own 3-step program, and fist step is to wait for next generation release, and make your run then.

Sorry that I have to make a second thread. I want to fit G3F clothes to Victoria 4.2 and found this plugin https://www.daz3d.com/wear-them-all-autofitting-clones-and-clothing-smoothers-for-genesis-3-female-s but it says its for genesis 3. Can I still use it or is there another one for victoria 4?

Actually, with UV Swap, you can add Michael 8 eyebrows to Benita, and have a black/Hispanic/Middle Eastern/Southeast Asian/Pacific Islander G8M TODAY, that is, provided you have and know how to use the head morphs. Your wait is over. ;)

Moreover, since Michael 8 came three months earlier than the pattern established by the previous two generations, perhaps Darius 8 will arrive ahead of the 13 months (or so) we waited between Genesis 2/3 Michaels and Dariusae.

I cannot shake how much the main promos look like they were taken from a low budget 1990's sci-fi, possibly Canadian.

While that gives me a bit of a chuckle, there is just something that feels very "off" about Micheal 8 and the whole of Genesis 8 for that matter. So many of these promos look both better and worse at the same time. It is extremely hard to explain but I'll try. One thing for sure is the overly waxy look these images possess, they could pass as wax figures in a museum, and wax figures are often super creepy. That is instantly off putting to me. Also, Micheal 8 is one really white dude in many pics, like he hasn't spent a day in the sun in years. That seems strange for a character who is supposed to be a bit more mature, and thus weathered. He has the skin of a teenager, which I thought would be a different product, lol. It just seems to me that there is a one step forward and one step back compared to some of the outstanding characters that were released at the end of the 7 cycle. V8/M8 (at least in the pictures I have seen posted) do not look as interesting as, say, a character by Kayleyss.

My guess as to why is perhaps the new dual lobe specularity settings are being used a bit too much. As this is new, it is something people are still figuring out. Maybe it will get better, but in general Genesis 3 had pretty much figured that stuff out. IMO, in so many pictures of G8, the skin lacks any significant detail, and this breaks the realism. Where did the detail go?

Like with real skin, lighting plays a big difference in how the skin looks on the Genesis 8 figures - more so than the previous figure lines. My recommendation: Don't try to render with the default settings. Those are kind of rubbish, imo, when it comes to decent lighting and render settings. 

But lighting and render settings can make a difference for sure. Here's Victoria 8's textures "out of the box", I didn't change any of the skin settings - the only thing I changed was the lighting and render settings:

 

 

The skin can look quite different depending on the lights and render settings. Here's another with Victoria 8's textures:

To me, the skin doesn't lack detail at all. It just requires some adjustments to lighting and render settings. 

The default settings don't look very good, imo. Here's Victora 8's textures "out of the box" with no changes and the default Iray render settings:

It doesn't look very good with the default Iray settings, in my opinion.

But here are the exact same textures with no changes to the skin settings, the only thing I changed was the lighting and render settings:

To me, Victoria 8's skin looks fantastic - just not under the default settings. Like with real skin, some thought needs to be put into lighting. And the render settings are really important as well. 

I like how her face/skin  looks in the adjusted versions with the shine seems to have more life in her and her eyes kinda got a soul to them

Thank you. :) And yeah, I totally agree about the eyes. :)

I cannot shake how much the main promos look like they were taken from a low budget 1990's sci-fi, possibly Canadian.

While that gives me a bit of a chuckle, there is just something that feels very "off" about Micheal 8 and the whole of Genesis 8 for that matter. So many of these promos look both better and worse at the same time. It is extremely hard to explain but I'll try. One thing for sure is the overly waxy look these images possess, they could pass as wax figures in a museum, and wax figures are often super creepy. That is instantly off putting to me. Also, Micheal 8 is one really white dude in many pics, like he hasn't spent a day in the sun in years. That seems strange for a character who is supposed to be a bit more mature, and thus weathered. He has the skin of a teenager, which I thought would be a different product, lol. It just seems to me that there is a one step forward and one step back compared to some of the outstanding characters that were released at the end of the 7 cycle. V8/M8 (at least in the pictures I have seen posted) do not look as interesting as, say, a character by Kayleyss.

My guess as to why is perhaps the new dual lobe specularity settings are being used a bit too much. As this is new, it is something people are still figuring out. Maybe it will get better, but in general Genesis 3 had pretty much figured that stuff out. IMO, in so many pictures of G8, the skin lacks any significant detail, and this breaks the realism. Where did the detail go?

Like with real skin, lighting plays a big difference in how the skin looks on the Genesis 8 figures - more so than the previous figure lines. My recommendation: Don't try to render with the default settings. Those are kind of rubbish, imo, when it comes to decent lighting and render settings. 

But lighting and render settings can make a difference for sure. Here's Victoria 8's textures "out of the box", I didn't change any of the skin settings - the only thing I changed was the lighting and render settings:

 

 

The skin can look quite different depending on the lights and render settings. Here's another with Victoria 8's textures:

To me, the skin doesn't lack detail at all. It just requires some adjustments to lighting and render settings. 

The default settings don't look very good, imo. Here's Victora 8's textures "out of the box" with no changes and the default Iray render settings:

It doesn't look very good with the default Iray settings, in my opinion.

But here are the exact same textures with no changes to the skin settings, the only thing I changed was the lighting and render settings:

To me, Victoria 8's skin looks fantastic - just not under the default settings. Like with real skin, some thought needs to be put into lighting. And the render settings are really important as well. 

I like how her face/skin  looks in the adjusted versions with the shine seems to have more life in her and her eyes kinda got a soul to them

I cannot shake how much the main promos look like they were taken from a low budget 1990's sci-fi, possibly Canadian.

While that gives me a bit of a chuckle, there is just something that feels very "off" about Micheal 8 and the whole of Genesis 8 for that matter. So many of these promos look both better and worse at the same time. It is extremely hard to explain but I'll try. One thing for sure is the overly waxy look these images possess, they could pass as wax figures in a museum, and wax figures are often super creepy. That is instantly off putting to me. Also, Micheal 8 is one really white dude in many pics, like he hasn't spent a day in the sun in years. That seems strange for a character who is supposed to be a bit more mature, and thus weathered. He has the skin of a teenager, which I thought would be a different product, lol. It just seems to me that there is a one step forward and one step back compared to some of the outstanding characters that were released at the end of the 7 cycle. V8/M8 (at least in the pictures I have seen posted) do not look as interesting as, say, a character by Kayleyss.

My guess as to why is perhaps the new dual lobe specularity settings are being used a bit too much. As this is new, it is something people are still figuring out. Maybe it will get better, but in general Genesis 3 had pretty much figured that stuff out. IMO, in so many pictures of G8, the skin lacks any significant detail, and this breaks the realism. Where did the detail go?

Like with real skin, lighting plays a big difference in how the skin looks on the Genesis 8 figures - more so than the previous figure lines. My recommendation: Don't try to render with the default settings. Those are kind of rubbish, imo, when it comes to decent lighting and render settings. 

But lighting and render settings can make a difference for sure. Here's Victoria 8's textures "out of the box", I didn't change any of the skin settings - the only thing I changed was the lighting and render settings:

The skin can look quite different depending on the lights and render settings. Here's another with Victoria 8's textures:

To me, the skin doesn't lack detail at all. It just requires some adjustments to lighting and render settings. 

The default settings don't look very good, imo. Here's Victora 8's textures "out of the box" with no changes and the default Iray render settings:

It doesn't look very good with the default Iray settings, in my opinion.

But here are the exact same textures with no changes to the skin settings, the only thing I changed was the lighting and render settings:

To me, Victoria 8's skin looks fantastic - just not under the default settings. Like with real skin, some thought needs to be put into lighting. And the render settings are really important as well. 

Here are three protraits done with the BOSS lights. I think they were all done with the 1FF CRT setting, but honestly, I wasn't recording the settings when I made the images. I know that in all cases I turned off or significantly reduced the sceondary behind ear light, because it shows white halos and bad effects on hair. I believe I pulled the camera back in all images also. On the woman with pale skin, I reduced all the lights to 90% lumens, using V3Digitimes Iray Light Manger Pro. That tool is indespensible for adjusting a large group of lights like this.

Drako in HIghlander Outfit

Michael 8

Benita for Victoria 8 with Lilith 7 skin

I have an ongoing issue where some clothing, particularly items attached to the head and feet, such as hats, jewelery, and the like, deform in weird ways. The thing is, this only happens when the file is loaded. If I put together a brand new file and fit items to the figure, everything looks fine. Save, and reload, and it deforms. In the attached file, I have made a file where I did nothing but load a G3 Victoria figure, and fit the footwear. It looked perfectly fine upon save, but on reload, it looks like this. This happens reliably, and not just for this product, but for most footwear, and many other items. I've tried redoing the database and uninstalling and reinstalling everything, and no change. What is broken here?

''To me, G8 should really have been named Genesis 3.2, as there are lots of small improvements, but no major changes.''

If there was major changes you then get users complaining old content no longer works. Unfortunately there is always that decision to make. Go all out and break users investments, or improve a figure in a way where some of the old content is still usable. I for one fought for the fact that Daz loses the multiple UV sets per character for Genesis 8 and that it becomes standardized and is compatible with G3 skins by default. (Thank God that actually happened lol) Daz could have easily created a figure where all that wasn't possible. So yes, sometimes, keeping some things the same is beneficial, and minor improvements is better than changing everything completely:) Also the change in naming convention was to allign the figures with the base model. Calling Victoria 8 for Genesis 3.2 is a marketing nightmare and would just confuse new users.

If I recall, the first male character after M7 was Leo 7, who arrived a few days after Olympia 7. Then is was Girl 7 / Guy 7, and after that Gia 7 / Gianni 7. 

No idea if it will be the same this time round though, series 8 release order is already way different to 7. By the time M7 arrived, I think we already had six or seven girls as well as Victoria, this time we just have Olympia 8.

You should be able to just "use it" (no user-facing files, just files in the Data folder). Select your G8 Female in the scene, find a G3 Figure whose materials you want to use in your Content Library (e.g. Victoria 7, Monique 7,..) and double-click on their skin materials to load up to that G8 Female - it should load the textures and skin settings and change the UV Map to V7/M7/etc for you so that they fit.

Edit to Add: I don't actually have this product but I have similar ones for earlier generations and I believe they work in the same way.

Thank you very much, that worked (I guess, using, viktoria, olympia or bethanys skin had me look a few time before I could notice a small difference).

I think this is the product to use the unique G3F UV's, i.e. Karen, Olympia, Eva, etc. ( https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-3-character-uvs-for-genesis-8-female )

In this case, Select your G8 character: Surface>Skin, Lips, scroll down until you get to UV Set. Click the dropdown menu and slect the UV set you want (Karen 7, Eva7, etc. Then find the G3F skin you want and double click your G8 character/

Thank you very much, unfortunatly this method gave some black tears in the skin using Bethanys skin.

Honestly, I'm not sure how this generation isn't simply a significant downgrade over the previous one. The features are backwards compatibility, the expressions, and the horrible A pose? Is there more than that?

As for the expressions, they could've easily just added them to the previous generation, since they're just HD morphs. And G8 is no more backwards compatible past G3 than G3 is, so there's no upgrade there.

In return for this improvements (?) we get yet another lower resolution figure than the previous generation, and have to start all over again with content. It's like they're not even trying anymore.

Most of the lost polygon count is in the separation of the eyelash mesh from the main model mesh. And while they probaly could, in theory, have updated the older base mesh, as was done with Victoria 4, many people were expecting the new generation to come out in June of this year, just as it has every two years since the original Genesis figure came out. As for the pose change, unless you're a content creator, you don't realize how much of a pain in the backside the T-pose really is when if comes to properly modeling certain kinds of clothing items.

Adding the brows to Victoria 4 was possible as it was a Poser figure, with the geometry belonging to each body part and morphs loaded per body part - so a new eyebrows bone didn't break anything. Adding or removing geometry from a weight-mapped figure would break existing morphs as the geometry belongs to the figure node, and the total vertex count and order must be preserved.

I like G8 but this doesn't make much sense. They could easily have released conformers for G3 because that's what they did for G8's brows and lashes. It was already possible to remove G3's existing lashes through surfaces.

Well, there are already add-ons for that - I thought you were suggesting removing the existing lashes, which would have the issues I listed.