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Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 9

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  • donovancolbertdonovancolbert Posts: 1,421

    The uncertainty about development and support of GenX2 is a huge concern, too... but Cayman's geografts aren't cheap either, and by the time you buy a clone shape, autofit clothes utilities, pose transfers, map transfers, and put all the time to move things around to the generation you want to work with... Getting all that old stuff to a new generation isn't a cheap prospect.

    ​Then you've got to mess with upgrading surfaces to Iray and playing with things like glossiness to make everything look right...

    ​I know a year ago everyone was saying this about Genesis 3... but here is the thing... on top of all of this, DAZ prices seem to be trending up and glitches are more rare and do not last an entire weekend anymore.

    ​I guess maybe this is their model. Maybe the pros are willing to pay the premium up front, and then once they get tha initial rush of top dollar purchases... they have convenient "glitches" that encourage hobbyists to buy in cheap, and DAZ has the plausible excuse with the pros who paid 10 times as much, "We didn't INTEND to sell that stuff that cheap... we basically LOST money because of that mistake!"

    *shrug*.
     

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    edited July 2017

    Well, I have successfully moved all of my G3F characters to G8F (118 of them) without spending a dime.  All of the base G3F skins work just fine on G8F.  So if you can move something to G3F with the utilities that you have, then you don't really need to spend any extra money for utilities at the moment.  There is a thread with how to do it in the Commons area with a link to the free clone.  Also a free script to convert the G3F poses to G8F super easy to use.  Apply the pose to V8 hit the script button, done. 95% of the clothing for G3F (that I have) works just fine as well.  So there isn't really a huge investment if you don't want to..

    The  thread for converting the morphs is here. you will need to go a couple pages in I think to get the final version and clone from Redz. I literally converted all of my G3F's in 2 evenings.

    Post edited by IceDragonArt on
  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    Ice Dragon Art said:

    Well, I have successfully moved all of my G3F characters to G8F (118 of them) without spending a dime.  All of the base G3F skins work just fine on G8F.  So if you can move something to G3F with the utilities that you have, then you don't really need to spend any extra money for utilities at the moment.  There is a thread with how to do it in the Commons area with a link to the free clone.  Also a free script to convert the G3F poses to G8F super easy to use.  Apply the pose to V8 hit the script button, done. 95% of the clothing for G3F (that I have) works just fine as well.  So there isn't really a huge investment if you don't want to..

    The  thread for converting the morphs is here. you will need to go a couple pages in I think to get the final version and clone from Redz. I literally converted all of my G3F's in 2 evenings.

    When you say the clothes work too, does that mean that the movement and adjustment parameters work as they do for G3F? And the Auto-Follow when you pose the character? Did you get shoes to convert and fit?

    I read quite a lot of that thread for converting morphs but was put off when it got really technical and I thought that it wasn't worth thr effort seeing as G3F is mostly fine for my needs and I don't really understand what advantages G8F brings. Also, I''ve seen a few posts about problems with the new Iray for G8 and lots of transparent pixels and fireflies.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    They do auto follow, and the ones that I have tried seem to have everything they should althought I haven't specifically checked.  I do have a render cooking with G8 and the boots for the outfit (from G3F) fit fine. I haven't done a huge amount of stuff with G8F yet but I will try and pay attention over the next several days and let you know about the adjustments.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2017

    Thanks @icedragonart  for addressing the concerns. I am not playing with G8F and honestly can hardly remember anything about her. Between my son's lung collapsing and surgery, mom's multiple falls and getting her apartment done (and we are DONE as of tonight- see funny story below*)  I can't even remember what was in the threads. I'm staying on track and focused on getting all the Rendo stuff installed/packaged so can't really help much on the explanation of why to go G8F. One thing I can tell you, I remember the expressions are amazing compared to even G3F- they are more fluid, the mouth seems to bend more naturally, and the eyes too. Is it Pose Master that shows you the face with the dots? (See, can't remember.)  Anyway, I remember thinking shoes may be the best thing to buy for G8F when they are on sale, as that's probably going to be the most common problem area, if there is one. But other people can weigh in on their experiences and Sonja is a great tester, time permitting. 

    I agree on the prices- and double whammy with the 30-40% discounts. Not much motivation to buy one or two things to get 10% more off, etc. I've got enough living rooms, bikinis, hiney-sticking-out-and-wondering-why-I-bought-them,-so-had-to-be-great-discount-pose-sets. And I don't need anything else unless it's unusual. I will be buying the utility items to convert things faster or more efficiently to G8F. 

    So for awhile, you'll be seeing a bit more Rendo items as I test them after I package and install them, so more V4 and Genesis than usual in the thread. I want to see if I like them, to GenX them up. Will post another one I did last week in a few minutes.

    *Okay, funny story- My sister and I took the last items over to Mom's room in specialized care, it's the size of a hospital room and there's two people. The other woman has been there FIFTEEN YEARS and is 100 years old! She sleeps a lot. Anyway, I had told Mom and my sister I was leaving and would bring the other birdfeeder tomorrow and hang it on the shepherd's hook (tall one, like a staff. It's black, keep that in mind.) So they weren't expecting me to be out on the porch when I changed my mind and decided to bring it and put it in the ground tonight instead. AFTER DARK, at 9:20pm at night.

    It took me about fifteen minutes to get back to the apartment, take down the birdfeeder, load it, and drive around to the new place. So,  I step on the porch, and only the light from the room is lighting it- so it's not much- and I decide to step forward to let my presence be known. Had I thought what I looked like, I may have thought twice about holding the shepherd hook (black) and wearing a black shirt with thin white stripes that didn't really show up-  and being on a porch at night. The African American nurse happened to look up right when I stepped forward and waved, and her hand flew to her throat and she gasped. She told my sister she thought the Grim Reaper had come to the door because of the black "staff" in my hand! She started laughing so hard, she doubled over.

     So you get a real feel of my mom's personality, when the nurse told Mom she almost peed in her pants, Mom didn't miss a beat and sweetly replied, "It's okay honey, I have plenty of Depends." 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • firewardenfirewarden Posts: 1,482
    Novica said:

    Thanks @icedragonart  for addressing the concerns. I am not playing with G8F and honestly can hardly remember anything about her. Between my son's lung collapsing and surgery, mom's multiple falls and getting her apartment done (and we are DONE as of tonight- see funny story below*)  I can't even remember what was in the threads. I'm staying on track and focused on getting all the Rendo stuff installed/packaged so can't really help much on the explanation of why to go G8F. One thing I can tell you, I remember the expressions are amazing compared to even G3F- they are more fluid, the mouth seems to bend more naturally, and the eyes too. Is it Pose Master that shows you the face with the dots? (See, can't remember.)  Anyway, I remember thinking shoes may be the best thing to buy for G8F when they are on sale, as that's probably going to be the most common problem area, if there is one. But other people can weigh in on their experiences and Sonja is a great tester, time permitting. 

    I agree on the prices- and double whammy with the 30-40% discounts. Not much motivation to buy one or two things to get 10% more off, etc. I've got enough living rooms, bikinis, hiney-sticking-out-and-wondering-why-I-bought-them,-so-had-to-be-great-discount-pose-sets. And I don't need anything else unless it's unusual. I will be buying the utility items to convert things faster or more efficiently to G8F. 

    So for awhile, you'll be seeing a bit more Rendo items as I test them after I package and install them, so more V4 and Genesis than usual in the thread. I want to see if I like them, to GenX them up. Will post another one I did last week in a few minutes.

    *Okay, funny story- My sister and I took the last items over to Mom's room in specialized care, it's the size of a hospital room and there's two people. The other woman has been there FIFTEEN YEARS and is 100 years old! She sleeps a lot. Anyway, I had told Mom and my sister I was leaving and would bring the other birdfeeder tomorrow and hang it on the shepherd's hook (tall one, like a staff. It's black, keep that in mind.) So they weren't expecting me to be out on the porch when I changed my mind and decided to bring it and put it in the ground tonight instead. AFTER DARK, at 9:20pm at night.

    So I step on the porch, and only the light from the room is lighting it- so it's not much- and I decide to step forward to let my presence be known. Had I thought what I looked like, I may have thought twice about holding the shepherd hook (black) and wearing a black shirt with thin white stripes that didn't really show up-  and being on a porch at night. The African American nurse happened to look up right when I stepped forward and waved, and her hand flew to her throat and she gasped. She told my sister she thought the Grim Reaper had come to the door because of the black "staff" in my hand! She started laughing so hard, she doubled over.

     So you get a real feel of my mom's personality, when the nurse told Mom she almost peed in her pants, Mom didn't miss a beat and sweetly replied, "It's okay honey, I have plenty of Depends." 

    Too funny! Your mom sounds like a neat lady! :)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2017

    Okay, from last week- I tested P3D Payton (you can tell what store was on sale during this order!) over at Rendo, with Small Lovely (increased the bump a bit) as the outfit. The hair is from here, it's Meru Hair (for Genesis, G3F, V4) and this Payton is a V4. I used Slosh's hair shader on the Meru Hair and set the transparency to medium just to play with it. So, those wisps can be thicker, like the promos. I like her teeth, very natural. 

    All of these are using the same Iray skin converter that I previously mentioned. I definitely plan on converting her up to G3F or G8F, she's quite lovely. I changed the skin and translucency colors slightly.

    PaytonSmallLovelyRENDO Meru.png
    590 x 800 - 850K
    PaytonSmallLovelyRENDO Meru2.png
    520 x 800 - 646K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    Great story!  So glad your mom is settled now and she sounds like she has a great sense of humor!

    And thank you!  Always happy to help.  I will be following along with the Genx conversions of V4 to G8, I have all I need I'm just seriously intimidated by the whole thing.  Even with the step by step instructions I am confused lol. But I have a huge collection of beautiful V4's and with Cayman's V4 skins converter I should hopefully be able to use them all. 

    And yes, its is the Pose Master that has the face with all of the dots.  And I've discovered that you can also alter her facial structure quite a bit with that, so don't hesitate to experiment with pushing those dots around lol. 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651
    edited July 2017

    If anyone gets The Aberration for Genesis 3 Male let me know if you can 'decrab' the mutated arm.. I like the figure, just can't see wanting them all to have the same mutation.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • Saba TaruSaba Taru Posts: 170

    The arm is an attachment.  You can use it or not as you need to.  Skin materials are full body with separate arm materials for the crab attachment and it comes with several varieties of materials.  I like it so far.  :)

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651

    Thanks Saba! I like the character. I'm going to pick him up.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2017

    Another one from Rendo, Sultan's Pool. I Uber Based everything and used the Water shader that is in the same group as the Uber Base. What is that group called- the essentials? You know, the set with water, water thin, water dispersive, and all those metallic colors, etc?  Anyway, I added a blue to the water base 193 / 217 / 217  and the glossy color  234 / 255 / 255 and for all of the building,  raised the Base Bump to 21.76 (good for this DISTANT shot- not for closeups) and upped the glossy reflectivity from .50 to .70   For the entire render, in Corel Photo Paint, I turned up the Saturation to 18, darkened the Midtones and Shadows. 

    And think what you could do with stone shaders! Anyway, onto the next ones to package. Can't render all of them but will be popping in more frequently this week to show you things. I have a lot of things to go through from the storage unit (trying to empty it, and it's 10 x 20 ft!) and then all of Mom's things (stacked in the living room) but I want to split my time so I can "relax." (Yep, packaging products is relaxing compared to dealing with storage LOL.) 

    I like this set for distant renders- it's got nice patterns, and the vendor left you plenty of "deck" room. I also like there's  two sets of stairs. If you add vegetation to those (looks like?) rock planter areas, it will be sooooo lush!

    Edit- turning it around and showing you some questionable work on this- and what the materials look like close up. You'd probably want to re-shaders and definitely not shoot from this backside. Where the architecture connects is messy IMO, it should end. That "blending" doesn't look right to me.

    sultans pool Rendo.png
    896 x 940 - 1M
    sultans pool Rendo CLose.png
    900 x 1000 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2017

    So decided to do a render of Sultan's Pool (Rendo)  to check the closeup of the water.  Again, everything was Uber Based, the water shader was used, and the bump of the building was lowered to around 7 (down from 21 for a distant shot.)

    This is with Mitchell filtering, noise filter enable On, noise degrain filtering 1 / radius 2 / blur difference .20 and pixel filter radius 1.26

    P3D Duffy HD for Victoria 8      Vertigo Ponytail for Genesis 8 Female(s)    Summer Island for background. Not overly fond of the tree bark though. The swimsuit was H & C Bikini Set for Genesis 3 Female(s)  with Khory's Aged Leathers for Iray. 

    This render took an hour and a half. CLICK TO ENLARGE, large size. 900 x 1000

     

    Sultans Pool Duffy SummerIslandMitchell Filter.png
    900 x 1000 - 1M
    Post edited by Novica on
  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    I see Khory has a pose pack in today's New Releases: Well Heeled Poses for Genesis 3 and 8 Female It's in my cart because she's supporting both G3F and G8F, making this a good investment.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2017

    That's a good point.

    Not related to poses, but I was looking at the characters for Genesis 8, the characters have been Ise, Maliah,  Aine, and Kiara.  There's also LY Arden, Nenana Alien, First Class Faces HD, Fane Hair and Character,  Keri, FWSA Danica, Millicent,  EJ Vera, Ana Lucia, Pix LIliana, Jiao, VYK Ruby, Joana, and then the bundles start. (Hope I didn't miss a character.) 

    I haven't bought any of these, for one reason or another. Some look similar to other characters by the vendor(s) in Genesis 3, one looks a bit masculine to me,  one is very muscular and I just don't need that anytime soon (but so nice to see that variation), and Jiao and VYK Ruby were wishlisted as possibilities.

    I'm frankly tickled to see vendors still releasing the Genesis 3 characters and items, it's a smart move. Please continue!

    BTW, look at Fast Grab, I think they added items last night. I picked up Nathy's Swimsuit (looks good from the front, the back is too skimpy for my books), Metal Collection (Vol 1) from there.

    So I was curious about my purchases this month, there's not been anything I needed and don't do 30-40% on things I don't need, that's just practical.  I'm seeing almost all of my purchases are expanding the use of Genesis 3, and utilities to move things up to Genesis 8:

     the Wingtips for Genesis 8 Female(s) (since shoes are the hardest thing about any new generation to get to fit)
    Genevieve 7 (which with the deal that day, made her around $7)
    Legacy UVs for Genesis 8: Victoria 4
    Legacy UVs for Genesis 8: Genesis 2 Female
    Poke Away 3 Bundle
    Mars Rover
    Versatile Morphs for Genesis 3 Male
    Thorneworks Ultimate Fantasy Ear Resource for Genesis 3 Male
    Genesis 3 to Genesis 8 Pose Converter
    Distinctive Faces and Bodies- got the Genesis 3 Male and Female ones. 

    So what have you nibbled at since Genesis 8 came out? I see quite a few posts about people not being enticed or buying less, with the exception of Fast Grab. I think summer activities may be part of it too. People spend money going on vacations (or weddings, right?) and may be doing things other than Daz in the summer. (This Florida gal is happily indoors in the summer rendering LOL.) 

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • donovancolbertdonovancolbert Posts: 1,421
    Ice Dragon Art said:

    Well, I have successfully moved all of my G3F characters to G8F (118 of them) without spending a dime.  All of the base G3F skins work just fine on G8F.  So if you can move something to G3F with the utilities that you have, then you don't really need to spend any extra money for utilities at the moment.  There is a thread with how to do it in the Commons area with a link to the free clone.  Also a free script to convert the G3F poses to G8F super easy to use.  Apply the pose to V8 hit the script button, done. 95% of the clothing for G3F (that I have) works just fine as well.  So there isn't really a huge investment if you don't want to..

    The  thread for converting the morphs is here. you will need to go a couple pages in I think to get the final version and clone from Redz. I literally converted all of my G3F's in 2 evenings.

    I'll look into this. Thanks for sharing the links! 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,247

    Since getting V8 pro, I've purchased the following things for her:

    Karissa Hair for Genesis 3 & 8 Female(s)
    P3D Duffy HD for Victoria 8
    Genesis 8 Female MEGA Wardrobe
    Great Lashes for Genesis 8 Female(s)
    Genesis 8 Female Body Morphs
    Genesis 8 Female Expressions
    Genesis 8 Female Head Morphs
    Boho Short Outfit Textures

    I've been happy with all of them. I also bought a couple G3F, G3M, and shader things on sale. And of course I "bought" all the freebies.

     

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    Novica said:
    So what have you nibbled at since Genesis 8 came out? I see quite a few posts about people not being enticed or buying less, with the exception of Fast Grab. I think summer activities may be part of it too. People spend money going on vacations (or weddings, right?) and may be doing things other than Daz in the summer. (This Florida gal is happily indoors in the summer rendering LOL.)

    Well...

    I think I've been going a little bit crazy, with the excellent deals. I picked up the Rune Bundle, for example, for just under $10. And I had enough items in my cart to trigger the 75% off with Martin J Frost plants, (even the new release was 75% off!) 

    Things I bought:
    The NightQueen Hair for Genesis 3 Female(s)
    Ancient Egypt Bundle – Character, Outfit, Expansion and Poses
    Rune Bundle for Genesis 2 Female(s) and Genesis 3 Female(s)
    Wild Arums - A wild flower bundle for Daz Studio
    Wild Plants Vol: 1 for Daz Studio
    Tropical Plants for Daz Studio and Iray Vol.1
    Day Lilies for Daz Studio
    Tropical Palm Trees for Daz Studio
    Tropical Plants for Daz Studio Vol 2
    Epic Skydomes - Mystical Island Cave 16K HDRI
    Tornado of the Four Elements
    Crystal Dragon Saddle
    Dragon Reign Poses for Dragon 3 & Genesis 8 Female
    Crystal Dragon for the Daz Dragon 3
    Legacy UVs for Genesis 8: Victoria 4
    Legacy UVs for Genesis 8: Genesis 2 Female

    And things I got for free:
    Collective3d Portrait Vignettes Old West 4
    Wooden Bleachers
    Fantasy Loading Dock
    Jungle Hideaway
    Lee 6 Starter Bundle
    --Kung Fu HD for Genesis 2 Male(s)
    --Yasuo for Lee 6
    --Serpentine Monk Outfit for Genesis 2 Male(s)
    Cocktail Dress for V4

    Still not sure I'll keep the Crystal Dragon, though. I never liked the cystals, and I'm a bit less than delighted with the skins on Dragon 3, specifically the heads...

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2017

    Testing them as I package, can't render all of them, but here's a quickie of Peek IV for Generation 4 (Rendo.)  The hair is Anemone Hair  (NOT to be confused with the one for Genesis 2!)  Anemone Hair was always a favorite of mine, very elegant and classy. That is V4 Elite Texture: Lana using the Iray converter (V3Digitimes)

     

    peekIVRendoLanaElite.png
    315 x 700 - 305K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    @barbult  I wishlisted Karissa Hair, I really like that, and have P3D Duffy, somehow missed that one. I bet Duffy would look cute with that one!  I got the megapack and those shorts textures too, they're really cute. 

    @ladair  Yes, the conversations about the dragon in the threads have been mixed reviews, from what I read last week. I can see the appeal of it.
     I think you got great deals with Frost's plants, I already had them but if I didn't, I would have been buying right along with you! 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651
    edited July 2017

    I really hope more Pa's follow Rendo's model and release figures for both Genesis 3 and Genesis 8 female. I also hope some update their Genesis 3 females with Genesis 8 shapes....Many G3 females here could benefit from the improved movement and shape  and HD expressions Gen 8 female provides.

    I've bought

    Dark Basement

    The Aberration

    Chill Wear

    Soap Suds

    Guitar and Props

    Rock star poses

    Epic Skydomes mystical cave.

     

     

     

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    @serenenight  I checked your thread, (great rain in the motorcycle render, plus the puddles are awesome!) and you haven't rendered the soap suds for it yet, but was wondering if you had tested it? It looks interesting.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651

    I haven't rendered it yet. I haven't done much art this weekend because somehow DAZ lost all my categories, and whenever I clicked on one of my items wanted me to download it over content manager. Had to reinstall everything. I will try it tonight...

    Do you have https://www.daz3d.com/ron-s-flying-dirt-debris-particles  ? It seems to indciate there are 2 pdfs. I only seem to have one.

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    Serene Night said:

    I haven't rendered it yet. I haven't done much art this weekend because somehow DAZ lost all my categories, and whenever I clicked on one of my items wanted me to download it over content manager. Had to reinstall everything. I will try it tonight...

    Do you have https://www.daz3d.com/ron-s-flying-dirt-debris-particles  ? It seems to indciate there are 2 pdfs. I only seem to have one.

     

    No, it's unusual not to have it, but I am not rendering for my book (not writing on it either! Got sidetracked) so I didn't get it. Looks good, as usual. Someone else can help, I hope. And you lost all your categories? That's no small thing! OUCH. 

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548
    Serene Night said:

    I haven't rendered it yet. I haven't done much art this weekend because somehow DAZ lost all my categories, and whenever I clicked on one of my items wanted me to download it over content manager. Had to reinstall everything. I will try it tonight...

    Do you have https://www.daz3d.com/ron-s-flying-dirt-debris-particles  ? It seems to indciate there are 2 pdfs. I only seem to have one.

     

    You should report your categories loss as a bug.  Its been happening to me in the beta build, it will lose items in a category even though DIM shows it installed, and even if it shows in the files inside of the program as being installed. Its like its trying to force me to use connect.  And when you do load it with connect you all of a sudden end up with 2 of everything in the categories and if you delete one it deletes both.  I've mentioned this more than once in the beta thread

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Okay, ya'll are making me nervous. I'm doing all this packaging of Rendo stuff and doing the custom categories under the main Rendo category- so refresh my memory. To back this up, I have Smart Content selected, go to the menu and select Content DB Maintenance, then Export User Data. Was there something else I need to do to back this all up?

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I honestly don't know.  I have all of mine on an exterior drive.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    And its not that its not there.  It just disappears from the custom categories. Its really odd.  The categories are still there, just the content doesn't show. Although, so far, its only happened for me in the Beta build not the pro build.

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    I'm sure there are lots of things that don't work right in the beta that will be fixed in the next release. For a bit of fun, load a Daz "base" figure. I'm working with Victoria 7. Apply the SSS Teeth On preset. Now give your girl a big smile...

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    lol uh oh I'm afraid to look!

This discussion has been closed.