Yesterday evening both my flatmate and I were sniffling and dragging our tails, headaches blooming and just wanted to eat and sleep but we tried to keep going to get back on our normal schedule. The cats on the other hand... had their own plans. This morning at 01:15am first one, then the other, toys, then food, then their trays, and then ZOOMIE WARS started. Right over me who was trying to get back to sleep. I gave up, made coffee, put more food out, and as you can see, I am at the computer, wrapped in a warm throw with coffee at hand.

Simon is on my pillows, Charlie just jumped off the bed to check out the food again. 

It's going to be a long day. On a Saturday.

No snow yet.

Oh yeah, when the flatmate arrived at work at 05:00am yesterday a line was formed up already, cops there too. He didn't see it, but apparently before the doors opened some hopeful customers got into a fight before the doors opened. Possibly line jumpers, or someone staking out the top of the line for a group of late arrivals. Others not going for it. American Christmas shopping at its best.

NGartplay: The clouds remind me of some I once saw in my country (Chile), but I can't remember if it was in Santiago or on the coast. The snowy landscape made me feel cold, and the new version of the other one is very good. The camera inside Bryce's star looks like wrapping paper. The snowy mountain looks very realistic. The other snowy scene looks good; I think the low resolution you used gives it a special touch (less realistic, perhaps, but more different). The strange thing looks good with any of the textures. The abstract is beautiful, like a detail of fine jewelry.

Horo: The boat on the island's beach looks great; I wonder what happened to its crew (I hope the dinosaurs didn't eat them). The city by the sea with the HMS Victory takes on a special prominence with that golden tone. The snowy mountains with the moon in the background look very desolate. The space landscape looks beautiful, especially the terrain quality.

mermaid010: I think I see the Pixar lamp in the sphere tower (it looks good anyway).

ed3D: Damn, just when everything was going well, you show up with a recipe that whets my appetite.

Now I'll contribute something of my own:

"Ready to shut down the main engine," the captain announced. "Let's see what that strange ship adrift in the gas clouds is."

The background is Deep Space by David Brinnen and Horo Wemli; the ship is a model I made in LightWave two decades ago; the Eagle was created using Fast3D (an AI-powered 3D model generator).

A small tribute to one of my favorite childhood series.

Coming soon: Bryce Magazine issue 2.

MissLeah said:

The Fleet Commander Texture Add On also has an editorial license, though the base product doesn't.

Similarly, the dForce Titan Clothing Set for Genesis 9 by itself does not have an editorial license, but its add on texture set does.

Just a heads-up for anyone who, like me, avoids these products in their entirety because I do commercial renders.

Fleet Commander add-on is Star Wars inspired. Note that several other EL Star Wars-esque add-ons are still in the store, unlike the Trek-ish EL add-ons for other SF items. (The base items are still sold, but the EL add-ons were discontinued.)

I don't recognize the Titan add-on.

You could kitbash one from any store and some game-specific products.

There was at least one tabletop strategy type game product in the store: https://www.daz3d.com/game-master-s-tools

and some other related things that might look right in the background: https://www.daz3d.com/board-games

A few low-poly characters would work for action figures. Perhaps the Lowpi products with their addons, or the Now-Crowd billboards.

My Chess for Genesis 8 product ( https://www.daz3d.com/chess-for-genesis-8 ) is currently on sale in the Outlet and has a base to stand figures on. There are other base-products too (e.g. https://www.daz3d.com/doll-display-stands-and-poses-for-star-2-0 , https://www.daz3d.com/armory-stands-1 , https://www.daz3d.com/bc-standbox).

My Old Arcade product (also on the Outlet for now: https://www.daz3d.com/the-old-shopping-arcade) has a generic toy-shop and book shop with shelves and boxes that might do for background as well.

Something a bit different.  I put the camera inside of an installed Bryce star.  Softer colors, less clutter.

Ryuu@AMcCF said:

Auroratrek said:

A character animation test for an upcoming episode of my Star Trek fan series Aurora. This was really supposed to be a simple test of some new morphs and clothing for a minor background character you’ll see for about 10 seconds, but it kind of got away from me LOL. I hadn’t intended to use cloth physics (in C4D) but it turned out to be easier than it used to be, tho I went through about 5 different outfits to get here. Anyway, it was a fun exercise, and I learned a lot, including some problems I didn’t know I had to solve. This is using 3DUK's TOS Dress for G8F, Mylochka's Observation Deck, and RawArt's Big Cats: Lion texture. 

Pretty kitty! 

LOL  

Auroratrek said:

A character animation test for an upcoming episode of my Star Trek fan series Aurora. This was really supposed to be a simple test of some new morphs and clothing for a minor background character you’ll see for about 10 seconds, but it kind of got away from me LOL. I hadn’t intended to use cloth physics (in C4D) but it turned out to be easier than it used to be, tho I went through about 5 different outfits to get here. Anyway, it was a fun exercise, and I learned a lot, including some problems I didn’t know I had to solve. This is using 3DUK's TOS Dress for G8F, Mylochka's Observation Deck, and RawArt's Big Cats: Lion texture. 

Pretty kitty! 

Sniperwolf:

Character: https://www.renderhub.com/al5929/sniperwolf-star-for-genesis-9
Hair: https://emmaandjordi.gumroad.com/l/QnmMV?layout=profile
Tank top and shorts: https://www.daz3d.com/urban-angel-for-genesis-3-female-s
Shoes: https://www.daz3d.com/mango-movement-collection-for-genesis-9
Choker: https://www.daz3d.com/catsuit-for-genesis-9
Glasses: https://www.renderosity.com/marketplace/products/90720/i13-accessories-braces-and-glasses (Unavailable)

SilverGirl said:

joanna said:

barbult said:

I really don't want any more black rooms with garish strip lighting. That's what we get over and over and over...week after week after week.

I know what you mean. At least shaders, robots, and plants provided some variety. These all feel the same. Not that generic corridors/stairways feel better. I know Daz is trying to make freebies useful for all members (so no things like G9 products), but they feel so generic and repetitive. We used to get more elaborate corridors/spaces like Sci-Fi Hole or even Sci-Fi Star Bridge (black, but at least with various interesting elements to play with that you could retexture easily).

...for the set of "all members" that equals people doing sci-fi settings, anyway. Or hot tubs. Or sci-fi hot tubs.

I don't expect the offerings to be 100% to my taste. The fun should be spread around. But right now it seems about as well spread as a four-year-old trying to make a sandwich with stick butter fresh from the fridge.

Constantly monochromatic, mostly monolithic - and monotonous. I don't need any more tunnels  from nowhere to nowhere else or brooding sun-baked deeply shadowed concrete art forms trying to pass as buildings. I've passed on the last dozen or so. 

joanna said:

barbult said:

I really don't want any more black rooms with garish strip lighting. That's what we get over and over and over...week after week after week.

I know what you mean. At least shaders, robots, and plants provided some variety. These all feel the same. Not that generic corridors/stairways feel better. I know Daz is trying to make freebies useful for all members (so no things like G9 products), but they feel so generic and repetitive. We used to get more elaborate corridors/spaces like Sci-Fi Hole or even Sci-Fi Star Bridge (black, but at least with various interesting elements to play with that you could retexture easily).

...for the set of "all members" that equals people doing sci-fi settings, anyway. Or hot tubs. Or sci-fi hot tubs.

I don't expect the offerings to be 100% to my taste. The fun should be spread around. But right now it seems about as well spread as a four-year-old trying to make a sandwich with stick butter fresh from the fridge.

barbult said:

I really don't want any more black rooms with garish strip lighting. That's what we get over and over and over...week after week after week.

I know what you mean. At least shaders, robots, and plants provided some variety. These all feel the same. Not that generic corridors/stairways feel better. I know Daz is trying to make freebies useful for all members (so no things like G9 products), but they feel so generic and repetitive. We used to get more elaborate corridors/spaces like Sci-Fi Hole or even Sci-Fi Star Bridge (black, but at least with various interesting elements to play with that you could retexture easily).

I wonder which Star Wars related film inspired this? 

mermaid, your space scene looks fantastic.  I was a huge fan of Star Trek with Captain Kirk.  Takes back to that.

Horo, always interesting and beautiful landscapes.  Your mats are especially excellent here.

...it happened nine years ago when Peter Cushing was "brought back to life" digitally in Star Wars, Rogue One..  A younger version of Princess Leia from A New Hope also made a brief appearance near the film's end.

In the current era of AI imagery, anything is and will be possible,

miladyderyni_173d399f47 said:

Today at Daz...No new character bundle... No additions to itsy-bitsy Premier bundle selection...Wait how many antler sets for people is this now?...Skimp wear texture in Better Than D+...(Insert Star Wars "Nothing to see here. Move along." meme here)

Yes, as a matter of fact there are a bunch of outlet items I like - but am so bored with everything else here I am not even feeling those.

I am UNoffially declaring the Member Festival - or whatever the heck Daz calls it now - is over!

It seems like there are always at least one or two Thursdays now without a new DO character release, the official good ones I mean. I expected something more exciting for Halloween, because last year we got Lycan, and the year before that we had Death, Dain, and Karmen. This year all we got was Bluepage Riding Hood.

Kayla's textures look great, but it still feels a bit underwhelming.

Today at Daz...No new character bundle... No additions to itsy-bitsy Premier bundle selection...Wait how many antler sets for people is this now?...Skimp wear texture in Better Than D+...(Insert Star Wars "Nothing to see here. Move along." meme here)

Yes, as a matter of fact there are a bunch of outlet items I like - but am so bored with everything else here I am not even feeling those.

I am UNoffially declaring the Member Festival - or whatever the heck Daz calls it now - is over!

memcneil70 said:

SilverGirl said:

miladyderyni_173d399f47 said:

@SilverGirl We've been doing Star Wars (& other cosplays) since the 1990s. I also do X-wing pilot. Our kids grew up with the hobby and still do cosplaying, lots of anime and Legend of Zelda.

Freshly laundered underwear is indeed an underrated pleasure. Lack thereof is the main reason today is Laundry Day.

 Very cool on the cosplay! A vast majority of my & my brother's costumes as kids were cosplay. His were usually video games; mine were shows and movies. I'd wear mine to school in junior high, and if I hadn't already been at the bottom of the social hierarchy, that probably would've put me there. (But the great thing about already being at the bottom is you have nothing left to lose!) I'm a little envious of this generation that it's considered cool. Teen Kiddo has taken up the vibe. Lots of anime. This year it was Kokichi Oma from Danganronpa. They totally pulled it off. 

Wish I could share the joy with Little Dude, but it would just annoy him. He thinks his sibling's outfits are awesome, though, so we've got that!

You just woke a memory for me. Before 'cosplay' my backyard had a 50-gallon drum, rusty and on its side. (I have no idea why it was there!) But after reading some Heinlein books in the school library, it turned into my rocket to the stars and I had marshalled my little brother and sister, along with some neighbors to join me on the trip. I was space mad. 

...and you just reawakened an old memory of a kids illustrated Sci-Fi story I loved titled Rusty's Space Ship by Evelyn Sibley Lampman. It told of an imaginary journey that the main character and a fried took through the solar system with a mysterious alien guide in a backyard ship cobbled together of old boards and such named the "Terra Terro 1".(no spoilers).

40 years ago, a friend of mine (and fellow Sci-Fi aficionado in Seattle (where I was living at the time) found a copy at a library book sale and lent it to me  It brought back fond memories making me feel like I was ten years old again. 

I even thought about building a similar "backyard space ship" while other kids were building go carts and "soapbox" racers.

Back then I was a total astronomy and science "geek. I even has my own 50 power refractor telescope which my mum bought as a birthday/Christmas present    Just about every night it was clear I'd be out in the back yard scanning the cosmos.

I also would check astronomy books out from the local library's adult section which I took home poured over, learning a lot about what was known back then.

Years later in college where I took an astronomy minor, I ended up in what was a "dream job"I had as a youngster, working as an assistant at the school's observatory (which had a 16" Celestron "light bucket" under a dome on top of the science building .

I remain extremely fascinated in astronomy in m y senior years, and the images from the Hubble and Webb space telescopes along with the Mars rovers and probes that flew by Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto still captivates me.

memcneil70 said:

SilverGirl said:

miladyderyni_173d399f47 said:

@SilverGirl We've been doing Star Wars (& other cosplays) since the 1990s. I also do X-wing pilot. Our kids grew up with the hobby and still do cosplaying, lots of anime and Legend of Zelda.

Freshly laundered underwear is indeed an underrated pleasure. Lack thereof is the main reason today is Laundry Day.

 Very cool on the cosplay! A vast majority of my & my brother's costumes as kids were cosplay. His were usually video games; mine were shows and movies. I'd wear mine to school in junior high, and if I hadn't already been at the bottom of the social hierarchy, that probably would've put me there. (But the great thing about already being at the bottom is you have nothing left to lose!) I'm a little envious of this generation that it's considered cool. Teen Kiddo has taken up the vibe. Lots of anime. This year it was Kokichi Oma from Danganronpa. They totally pulled it off. 

Wish I could share the joy with Little Dude, but it would just annoy him. He thinks his sibling's outfits are awesome, though, so we've got that!

You just woke a memory for me. Before 'cosplay' my backyard had a 50-gallon drum, rusty and on its side. (I have no idea why it was there!) But after reading some Heinlein books in the school library, it turned into my rocket to the stars and I had marshalled my little brother and sister, along with some neighbors to join me on the trip. I was space mad. 

So cool! I didn't discover cool grown-up SF books until I was in junior high. I thought it was something you were supposed to outgrow, so I was just obsessively rereading the Prydain Chronicles (and Narnia, but I didn't like those as well). 

SilverGirl said:

miladyderyni_173d399f47 said:

@SilverGirl We've been doing Star Wars (& other cosplays) since the 1990s. I also do X-wing pilot. Our kids grew up with the hobby and still do cosplaying, lots of anime and Legend of Zelda.

Freshly laundered underwear is indeed an underrated pleasure. Lack thereof is the main reason today is Laundry Day.

 Very cool on the cosplay! A vast majority of my & my brother's costumes as kids were cosplay. His were usually video games; mine were shows and movies. I'd wear mine to school in junior high, and if I hadn't already been at the bottom of the social hierarchy, that probably would've put me there. (But the great thing about already being at the bottom is you have nothing left to lose!) I'm a little envious of this generation that it's considered cool. Teen Kiddo has taken up the vibe. Lots of anime. This year it was Kokichi Oma from Danganronpa. They totally pulled it off. 

Wish I could share the joy with Little Dude, but it would just annoy him. He thinks his sibling's outfits are awesome, though, so we've got that!

You just woke a memory for me. Before 'cosplay' my backyard had a 50-gallon drum, rusty and on its side. (I have no idea why it was there!) But after reading some Heinlein books in the school library, it turned into my rocket to the stars and I had marshalled my little brother and sister, along with some neighbors to join me on the trip. I was space mad.