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This was very interesting to read.
I'm amazed by how Daz Studio and the Genesis made creating new figures possible to amateurs like me.
I continue to find this a confusing naming structure when seeking assets, clothing etc.
When they refer to a "generation" of charactor it does not equate to one of the charactor sets like G2, G3 or G8. From above a Generation 6 is for Genisis 2 not "Genisis 6" which does not exist and so on. Many times an asset description may say for Victoria 4 but not mention the genesis version at all and I have to either try to recall (not doing well on that! ) or revert to some seach to find out what charactor Victoria 4 belongs to which is NOT G4F which, again, does not exist.
Why the ppl at DAZ did not name things to include both the "Generation" and the "Charator" for instance Victoria 4.2 to indicate Gen 4 for Genisis 2. Would make searching for clothing, hair etc. much easier to filter.
There's a compatibility matrix linked in the OP. Just go by that.
Victoria 4 was before the first Genesis, that's why there's no mention of the Genesis line on product pages for V4 items. Genesis was introduced as generation 5 of Daz figures.
It is not nearly as confusing as it seems. Michael and Victoria came first, then they were followed by the various Genesis models. This shakes down to this chronological order:
If you look at the numbers on the left, I think you can see why they skipped from Genesis 3 to Genesis 8. They realized that the numbering was getting more confusing, so skipping Genesis numbers seemed the easiest way to bring everything back into alignment. Not sure it worked, but it's a start.
I hope this helps.
(You are correct, they skipped Genesis 6).
This list is wrong. There were no Genesis 4, 5, 6 or 7, Daz moved from G3 to G8. And V4.2 was just the latest update of V4, she shouldn’t be listed on her own.
The actual “Generation list” is this:
Daz switched to labeling Genesis with the generation number for the fourth Genesis figures because it was too confusing to have different numbers, especially since V4 content is still widely used (while generation 1, 2 and 3 are pretty much retired)
Wow. You were fast. I only had the incorrect list online for about three or four minutes before correcting it.
I prefer to say Millennium for the generations before Genesis.
I can definitely see a logic to that. But I don't do it because they kind of dropped the "Millennium Man" terminology with Michael 2.
Millennium Kids (Laura 3 and Luke 3) are 3rd generation, Michael 3 model is blmilman_m3.obj
Millennium disappeared with the 4th generation but Michael 4 model is blMilMan_m4b.obj
I was mostly referring to the marketing.
I think some of the confusion is that with Genesis they split the name of the figure from the name of the platform (mesh)
Genesis came along and replaced Generation 4 (v4, m4, k4). So now you have just one mesh and for that mesh you got the version 5 series of the figure shapes - V5, M5 etc etc and they were all mixy matchy regardless of gender
Then came Genesis 2 Female and Genesis 2 Male got the version 6 figure names - V6, M6, etc These got split back out to male and female versions so you can mix girls with girls and boys with boys.
Genesis 3M and Genesis 3F therefor got the version 7 series of the shapes - V7, M7, etc etc Still split to male and female versions so you can mix girls with girls and boys with boys.
At this point DAZ realised it was confusing *lol*
So the next figure brought the base mesh number up to be Genesis 8 Male and Genesis 8 Female, with the version 8 shape names Michael 8, Victoria 8 and all of their 50? brothers and sisters
Presumably going forward they will keep the platofrm version number and the shape version number matched up.
.... My second DAZ store product was for Hiro 3 and came out at his launch. Some days I feel very very old.
LM
... and then there was IRAY, GTX cards, Dforce, strandbased hair, Blender 2.8's new user interface, RTX Cards, Face Transfer... Making anything prior Genesis 3 maybe even Genesis 3 itself obsolete. Muah ha ha ha...
4.12 and beyond!!!... To the Future!!!!
The last few comments above this post I'm making now were very helpful. Those should be added to the main page, so that they don't get lost.
I am returning to Poser after a several year absence and several computer changes. I'm currently in the process of gathering together all my assets that I collected since the very beginning. I bought Poser in 95 when it first came out, so you can probably guess as to the amount of content I collected over the two decades. I'm also trying to get back up to speed on which models can be used with what, and wow, there is a lot to catch up on. This is a very helpful thread, so thank you! I just bought Poser 11 Pro and want to jump back in with new eyes and see what I can do with it now. The main reason for my return is that I'm getting into 3D printing and I want to see if I can combine the two. I already did a proof of concept print with zero post processing of the export, and it came out remarkably well. If anyone has suggestions, advice, tips and tricks, etc for turning Poser renders into 3D print ready STLs, I would love to hear them.
Well, at least there are the converter programs, to allow us all to convert up to G8 most anything from before, must to keep them alive. ;)
Can't even begin to describe how utterly confusing this is for a (brand) newcomer to DAZ. It is beyond incomprensible how you're supposed to know configurations and what is compatible with what.
Case in point: I got a bunch of free shapes/materials yesterday (Candace) that was built on Stephanie 5 base - and I read that Stephanie five was compatible with Genesis base, but then I now read in here that Stephanie 5 was created from Michael?!?!?! WTF.
So I load in the Base Gen character (thinking to myself: Ok, so it says Stephanie 5 is compatible on Genesis - cool, this should work then!) and try applying the Candace head shape and skin, but it maps totally wrong. So I go into change the UV Set and I'm given the options of either Victoria 4, Michael 4, The Kids 4, Gen male, and Gen female. I try ALL of them, nothing works.
So now what? Do I indeed need to actually purchase Stephanie 5? Why doesn't Genesis Female base work????? It is CRAZY that you need endless multiple base characters in order for anything to happen, complete mine field and my entire experience of DAZ so far has been one of endless hours trawling through the shop and reading/watching tutorials instead of diving into it - the software is not difficult at all, but the compatability of characters/surfaces/textures (endless list) is just staggeringly frustrating.
Sorry (not sorry!) to vent, but I just want to throw my laptop out of the window right now.
Candace for Stephanie 5 shows Stephanie 5 as a required product. Also "for Stephanie 5" is right in the product name. That's pretty clear to me. Sometimes required products aren't absolutely essential, but it's kind of a proceed at your own risk kind of situation. Anyway, Steph 5 was only USD 5.59 a few days ago and she'll be on deep discount again soon.
Anyway, I stick to G3 and G8 as a new-ish user. They play together reasonably well, and all the materials they come with work with Iray. They're also heavily discounted often enough that it's possible to accumulate a decent number of assets if you're patient.
Unfortunately in this case, yes, you do need Stephanie 5 because Canadace does use the UV set for Stephanie 5. With Genesis(1) through Gennesis 3, the DAZ CharacterNameX (or named/numbered characters) typically had unique UV mapping. Some of the characters that require another character don't need the base character to work (they just don't look the same) because PA's started using the base Genesis(x) UV set. If you don't own the "required" base, and the product description doesn't mention it, it's always best to ask in the Commons to see if the base product is required.
I think due to the issue you are experiencing, with Genesis 8 DAZ seems to have moved away from the custom UV's (the custom UV's for each character reduced texture distortion). If you don't need to use Candace now, watch the sales and you should be able to get Stephanie 5 really cheap (or free) in the next month or so. The price of old content is often greatly reduced.
Stephanie 5 was not created from Michael, she's a shape for Genesis.
The first Stephanie, which was an independent figure released at the time of generation 2 figures, was based on the mesh for Michael 2.
I can completely sympathize with your situation. Yes, it is confusing. The reason for this is that – at least on the large scale – none of this was really planned. Yes, there are bits of logic scattered throughout the product lines, but the simple fact is that this is not something that was planned from the start, but something on which order had to be established after the fact (it's like anything in history). No doubt I'll get some kickback on that statement, but I'm right and no amount of arguing is is going to change the fact that, Yes, this is confusing because the naming and numbering system has evolved over time and there are definitely some oddities in it (particularly the habit of grafting familiar character names onto the Genesis figures (Michael 5 is Genesis, etc.).
So, my advice to you is this: relax and soak it in. You will eventually figure this out. When you have a question about requirements or limitations, ask someone in the forums. There are lots of knowledgeable people here willing to help out.
(Oh, and be grateful that you don't use Poser: We have even MORE figures than you do, and their use is even more confusing!)
I didn't quote your entire post, but I'm very, very confused about why there is no mention about the "7th Generation"—or whatever it's called. For instance:
Aiko 7
The Girl 7
Victoria 7
Where do they fit into this fine madness?
The "seventh generation" are Genesis 3 figures.
Thanks. Has the OP left the building? If not it would be a help to update the original post, given the thread's title.
He is still around, and still a member of the CV team. You do have to remember that CV stands for Community Volunteer, they are just froum members, like you who have volunteered to extra stuff to help new members (and others). They also have a real life and jobs etc to cope with as well.
So do I.
I didn't issue a command. I said, "it would be a help." And I stand by that.
If I could update it, I would. But I can't, so I shan't.
Agreed. It was just a suggestion, and a good one at that.
I am not saying it wasn't a good suggestion, I am saying that you have to apprediate that he may be otherwise engaged. He is aware it needs updating, but finding time to do is another matter.
This may have been stated somewhere but I can't find it.
The Generation 2 young characters were packaged by Gender: Millenium Girls vs. Millenium Boys
The Generation 3 were grouped by Age Young Teens (Luke & Laura) vs. Preschool (Matt & Maddie)
Semi-OT: At one time there was a series of third party (Content Paradise I think) Poser characters referred to as G2. They have nothing to do with M2 or V2 and are definately not Genesis 2.
Apologies for the Necro, but just ran across this and thought I'd go ahead and chime in on a couple of points.
First a bit of history. I first got introduced to Poser back with 4ProPack just before version 5 came out, and while I 'obtained' a copy of 5, I actually bought a copy of 6 and have faithfully purchased a copy every version since (I may have missed a version in there when they changed up their numbering sequence though). Didn't care much for D|S pre version 2 and really didn't care for the pre version 1 days. I actually started using D|S more often when Genesis came out. Even then I was more inclined to use Poser and really only used DAZ when something I wanted to use sisn't come with a PoserCF file to use with Poser. Since Genesis 3 I have pretty much stuck with D|S even though I still purchase my Poser because I do play with it from time to time if I want to work with the older characters. Needless to say I even remember the old PoserPros website that was a subsidiary I guess of DAZ, unfortunately when the site clossed down, all of those products vanished and were not available through DAZ3D itself. Such a shame too because there was good stuff on there.
In regards to the character line, one of the other things to remember with generation 4 is that there were no teen characters. I don't actually remember the reason DAZ gave for making that decision, but made it they did and initially had no intention of bring back the teens. While it was understood, no one much cared for it. This resulted in the teens being brought back into being with generation 5 although changes were required to the way textures had to be done for them.
As Duane_Moody said back in '17 Unimesh didn't come about until generation 4 and even then it was not until either v4.1 or v4.2 that was done. I do remember that it was done to allow textures and clothing to be shared amongst the characters for the same gender.
It was also possible for the kids, teens, and adults of the same gender to share textures. At least in gen3 and I believe in both 1 and 2 as well although I would have to load them up to verify.
There was also a version of Stephanie called Stephanie P4 where instead of using the blStephanie.obj (SKU 531) she used blStephanieP4.obj (SKU 664), I want to say the P4 version was for compatibility with Posette from Poser4. Stephanie 3.0 Petite came out with SKU 1750 on July 6, 2004. Not sure when P4 version was released but the first was on January 2, 2002 with the original product code of ps_pe027 and petite's product code was ps_pe042. Note that the current SKU identifiers replaced the original product code that was listed on store pages.
The 'Millennium Woman' Victoria 1 was actually released by Zygote. While it can be argued it was released by DAZ, that is because as I recall DAZ was actually part of Zygote at the time of release. This is why if you ever find any of the old Zygote stuff, much of it has a corresponding DAZ item that matches and is effectively the same item. I'd probably have to find some of my old back up discs that had my old zygote items on them as I know I don't have any on my computer (and haven't for years) if anybody wanted specific examples.
Unfortunately, the readme for 'Millennium Woman' Victoria 1 does not list the product code or release date in it, but after the changeover to SKU it was 85. Like the Zygote stuff, I could probably track down those old backups to find the original .exe file I had for install at the time (shrug).
Victoria 2 was released September 16, 2004 with product code ps_pe020 and is SKU 83 (note this is an earlier SKU than what V1 was); and the V2 upgrade from V2 reduced resolution was ps_pe047, SKU 2412, and released July 19, 2004. Which makes things very interesting when looking at those dates (both pulled from the actual readme file included with the products). Of course Lo Res did not come with a readme file unfortubately but it identified as SKU 659.
Yeah, SKU ordering really does not make sense when looking that far back, but it is what it is.
For those asking about the poly counts? Somewhere I have a file that listed thos for each generation all the way from the first victoria up to Genesis or Genesis 2; both for the Male and Female characters; again, it (like everything else) wil be on an old backup of material.