Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 11
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+1
I liked this set except for the high heels on the boots as usual Woodland Rogue
https://www.daz3d.com/woodland-rogue-outfit-for-genesis-8-females
It's not. You should come see me and Stetson :)
I think this is meant for me maybe? lol. I would love to, we will be there for 18 days.
@icedragonart Yes, LOL, you and your family. Have you been to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola? It's really nice. Last time I was there, they also had the capsule the astronauts were in which splashed down into the Atlantic. (from the 1960's) Anyway, I'll PM you sometime later tonight or tomorrow. :)
Its on our list of things to see. My husband was in the Navy so its definitely something he wants to see. Its actually a working trip for him, one of our customers owns a vacation home/rental and she wanted him to paint the outside for them. So we get to stay for free (although we do have to pay for plane and car lol) he gets paids, and I can legitmately write it off on our taxes. He will start early in the morning (he's a morning person anyway) and will work until early afternoon. Then we will have the rest of the day/evening to do things. I am going to help as much as I can so he can get done as soon as possible so we will hopefully have plenty of time to do things together. I'm super excited honestly.
I've visited Destin & Fort Walton beach. I remember the beaches are very nice but there were repeated evacuations because of sharks and a sand storm on the beach like they have in the deserts if you can believe that. I never knew sand could hurt so much! It was blowinf strong and fast parallel to the ground!
We also visited an big US Navy ship & some older ships they had moth-balled but I think that was in Mobile, Alabama.
You just had to mention sharks didn't you lol. We were in Cancun many years ago, and there was a hurricane working its way toward us. ( we got home two days before it actually made landfall) and you could not swim, and walking down the beach was like being in a sandblasting machine. It would blow the sand so hard it would actually take skin off. We didn't walk on the beach much on that vacation lol.
Yeah, that turned it into an instant no-buy for me (and yes, I know I can kitbash, but I was feeling petty)
Well sadly you're coming when things are racheting up A LOT. Two more storms and one already at 90%, don't know where that one is going, and one is right behind it. If he's getting paid to paint, I think I'd really crank that up and not take afternoons off for those first days, in case a storm does come that way. Destin hasn't been hit either in the past 13 years, we're all overdue.
Battleship Alabama is Mobile, AL, another hour to the west. Well worth the visit!
Yup. Yet another one that I pass on because of the high heels. My adventuring/outdoorsy fantasy ladies are of the practical variety. I have no need for heels that het them stuck in the forest floor.
BTW, I'm generating the Not So Fast! 2 contest list, and while going through the stores, noticed this Breakfast Nook Furniture was free, if you don't have it yet.
I picked up Harrison. I think he looks quite different from most of the male characters out there. His eyebrow shape is pretty unique. His eyes are also smaller, i.e., more realistic. Eye color options are really nice, though I'm not showcasing the colors. Here, he is wearing classic side part hair and 5 o'clock shadow, and bounty huntsman clothing. He makes a good action characters, and I'd post my action scene, but I haven't nailed the pose yet.
This is SO much fun- I'm going through the vendors, starting with A. It's amazing what I own that I don't remember! This has never been rendered, and has interiors as well! Antebellum Mansion. Have any of you rendered it?
He looks like Michael York, but the nose isn't quite as wide. :)
Omg Logan’s Run!
I saw about 30 minutes of Logan's Run when I was a boy. I didn't like it so I went outside but I'm guessing the heros won and got to grow old.
Manga Style Shaders are in Fast Grab. I haven't used those (that I recall) but since we were talking about toons, thought I'd mention it.
It's and old fave of mine. I also loved the TV series.
So are the similar Visual Style Shaders. I bought both.
I've been trying to do a render with them but I am having trouble loading Sakura & Pace such that they are completely using RSL/3DL materials before I apply the Visual Style / Manga Style materials.
I'm frustrated with it now so I will try again tomorrow. I did do a render though & except for the eyes not rendering the renders were like the ad copy. They are a good deal for about $6 each.
That sounds like the sort of thing the RSSY Iray to 3Delight converter would be perfect for. Just a shame SY's blink sale was over before you posted. The converter was only $7.98, with any new release, including PC+ items. (I picked up the 3DL to Iray version…)
I had the converter in my cart and was doing additional shopping when the blink sale was over, alas. It's on my wishlist now.
CO Ichigo (and Hair) (Gen8F) Dark-Space Outfit And Weapons (Gen8F) Tousled Pixie Hair (Gen3/8F) Ultimate Eyebrows (Gen8F)
Brow Remover for Daz Studio Channen Hair (Gen3/8F)
I like certain aspects of the Tousled Pixie Hair, but wish there was a way to raise the center of the hair. Using the side morphs, not much happens, and undoing the parameter limits still doesn't address the top of the head. I'd like to lift the crown, give it some curve (think of a bell curve in a graph.) So what you see in the main promo is what you get. It is an adorable hair but you get mostly "one look" to it. The back lengthens, the bangs move a bit.
Original Mouth (which many people will like, I just prefer a bit wider.)
Another look at the brows. Tried it in a few lights, still didn't really like them. LOVE Channen Hair!
So far as Ichigo, I didn't like the brows so replaced them. (Flat Brow 02, medium brown.) Also, showed you the original mouth, then using the W viseme (remove the parameter limits and go negative) I posed the mouth wider, and to get rid of pucker at the corners I used mouth corner depth 22 and cheek lower depth -7.8. The mouth width was increased to 21. She's wearing Calista Tails Hair.
@zev0 Your ReadMe for Brow Remover doesn't have Genesis 8 as being supported. Your product page does, however, as does the main promo image.
Beautiful renders @Novica. They give a whole new look and feel to CO Ichigo. I agree, the Channen Hair is gorgeous.
Thank you :) I think she has a really pretty profile.
OMG Hurricane Florence is now going to drift SOUTH and impact down from Charleston Savannah, Georgia. It's NOT going to drift inland and northwestward BOTH Euro and GPS are in agreement. People, told to evacuate- EVACUATE. I went through TWO Category 3 hurricanes in nine months (almost Cat 4s) and stayed due to being inland. (And it was BAD.) But people on the beach were right to leave! The waves were so high they went down the bay at 28 feet high and took the Interstate 10 bridge totally off the foundation! That was well INLAND.
And I don't blame the officials for saying emergency personnel won't go out after winds get 50mph. That won't take long. I still remember people drowning in their attics here in Pensacola, who refused to evacuate from the beach and evacuation zones a few miles inland. They called frantically and couldn't get through to 911 or 911 said can't come (and should add "and told you that days ago.")
Those emergency workers have families and IMO they should get equal priority for safety. If people make stupid decisions even knowing the facts, the consequences shouldn't be on other people.
Edit Tropical Storm force winds will be a whopping 300 miles across! (as of 6am forecast) The eye is 150 miles wide.)
I am on a laptop due to the desk, top crashingand despite following numerous instructions on how to turn off the annoying touchpad, it won't turn off and keeps erasing/going around in the paragraph. So I won't be posting much. Going to get a laptop.Will post research after I get it.
Well I really decided to research every nit picky detail on laptops, I wanted one which wouldn't get obsolete quickly. In case anyone else is looking for a laptop, I thought I'd share what I read. I am NOT a technical person and can't explain all the specifics on these, but I'll be sharing some great articles for you which will assist in comparing those apples and oranges. I concentrated on LAPTOPS.
The MSI GT75 Titan RG is what I bought, with 32GB RAM and several more upgrades (better cooling, remove Windows bloat, pixel perfection check, eliminate backlight bleed) Here is the post regarding bloatware.
These bits and pieces have to be considered when buying a laptop no matter which one you are considering. And of course, this is just my logic and the conclusions I arrived at, and I can't possibly type all the findings which helped merge all this together.This is how I made my decision after I spent 6 days comparing laptops and researching all those crazy abbreviations. UGH. My first problem was not knowing if what I was seeing was the latest thing, or what I should be comparing it TO. So here's what I found to help with "compared to?" and "Is that good? Worth paying for?" and "What would be the best combination to maximize the output?" The goal was to blend aspects which complemented each other.
First, the operating system. I looked at Intel Core i7 7th or 8th generation or Intel Core i9 8th generation. Expect your price to increase of course for the i9. But if you want a most up to date system, this is where it starts. There are not a lot of laptops offering this but many allow upgrades. The i9 was released last summer and that link has a few explanations. This one by LaptopMag has a great comparison and read the section on Which One To Get? where it mentions doing art.
Edit: I also looked up another i9 which has 32% better performance (cost $1,800 just for it!) The i9 7980XE is one to watch in the future when prices drop. Here are the benchmarks between i9-8950HK (mine) and i9 7980XE This has the best comparison/pros and cons.
I also thought you may be interested in seeing how some of the i5, i7's do for gaming (bottom of page) and the best CPU's for gaming and an explanation of what they are.
Here's another aspect- I looked at the GHz and the i9 was 2.90, while the i7's were 2.20 OR 2.60 for the CPU. The higher, the better. So if it was an i7, I looked at the GHz too. (Think speed.) I did go with the Intel Core i9 2.90.
Edit: But cores (CPU) and clock speeds- confusing at best when trying to decide what to prioritize, or what they mean. This is a great article!
Operating System- some offer Windows 10 Pro. (mine did) Find out if it is 64 bit (ASK) if you want that, as some may not be.
To get good results, the graphics card and operating system both need a healthy balance. So I went with the NVIDIA GeForce 1080. The 1080ti is even better- and costs more, and hard to find as a default, and I didn't see any options on the pages to upgrade. I think it requires calling and asking. Price difference here. (Shows benchmarks too.) Google says "the 1080 Ti is NVIDIA's latest flagship 4K VR ready GPU. It supersedes last years GTX 1080, offering a 30% increase in performance for a 40% premium." The other cards which are also very good are the 1060 and 1070.
Something to look for- I only went with dedicated graphics cards. This means they are not soddered into the motherboard and you can upgrade the graphics more easily. Can't afford a 1080, 1070, etc? Have to make a decision on RAM (memory) and graphics? Get a dedicated graphics laptop and you can get more RAM, then upgrade graphics later.
Screen: For the screen, most are 120Hz. Look for some with 144Hz, but those aren't the norm. Mine is 120Hz.
RAM/Memory: An explanation and those DDR's! This is a great article.
Here's another thought from SimonJM
Memory: This is where you do NOT want to scrimp, the RAM. 32GB is worth getting. Note DDR4 is the latest for laptops. DDR5 is not available for the memory, according to a few sites. This "allows higher clock speeds and therefore performs faster." When buying a laptop, if DDR4 isn't listed (mine says 32GB DDR4) call and ASK about the DDR.
BTW, want to check to see if your RAM is still good? Here.
Cores: This relates to the processor. The CPU is the Central Processing Unit. How many cores determines the speed. Every program you open will work on its own core, so if the tasks are shared, the speeds are faster. I would recommend quad (4) or 6 Cores. I went with 6)
Video Memory: Mine is 8GB GDDR5X The explanation of GDDR5X is here.
MemorySpeed This one, I read about in different forums. They tested it and said not that much difference in the DDR4 2400, 2666, etc. Mine is 2666
Memory Spec: What I read- It is better to split the memory into different channels so if one fails, everything isn't lost. You will see 16GB x 2 if it is split. This is a good thing
Storage: When listing the GB or TB (gigabyte/terabyte) Look for SSD (Solid State Drive) or SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive, not as good) SATA is the least desirable. And even better, PCIe/NVIe I didn't even consider laptops without SSDs AND the PCIe or NVIe designations.
CPUs Cache L1, L2, L3 explained here. Mine has L3 listed with 12MB which apparently is a good size.
Chipset I definitely wanted the Intel CM246 and not HM370. One site said it is used by the new 8th generation core laptops having Xeon-E processors and is a "beefed up" version of the HM370. It supports 24 PCIe lanes, six USB 3.1 ports, 8 SATA ports etc Why the chipset is important- "it is the backbone of the motherboard- it's quality and capabilities define the qualities and capabilities of the computer."
Resolution: HD: 1366 x 768 is standard on mainstream laptops HD+ 1600 x 900h is fine for casual gaming/watching movies
1920 x 1080 is Full HD so you can see every detail. (Most laptops I saw were this)
QHD is even better, either 256s0 x 1440 or 3200 x 1800
Then there's 4k Ultra HD It has 4x the pixels as the 1080p (3840 x 2160) EDIT: Note I found conflicting information on if this does or does not have the G sync which stops flutter and lag.)
LCD Features The higher the NTSC value, the better, so far as matching RGB colors. (Mine is 94%)
HDD RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) The higher the number, the faster the system works. This will be betweeen 5400 and 7200 (Mine is 7200)
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LAN This is just other forum sites' people testing it - the Killer Gaming Network tests showed little improvements over standard LAN. I didn't spend excess time on this. The AQC107 came across as more desirable but this quickly went out of my comfort zone. From businesswire.com-
About the AQtion AQC107
The Aquantia AQC107 Multi-Gig Ethernet controller easily handles 10GbE performance with a x4/x2/x1 PCI Express interface. It incorporates Aquantia’s industry proven AQrate® PHY technology to deliver up to 10 GbE network connectivity speed through 100 meters of Cat 6a cabling enabling higher data rates with zero change to legacy cabling.
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Turbo Frequency Wide range, it's a feature that automatically raises certain parts of the operating frequency and performance when demanding tasks are running. The higher ends I saw were 3.90 to 4.80GHz (Mine is 4.80)
USB Look for Type C as that is going to be the "fits all" for the future. Also look for 3.1 instead of 3.0 as it doubles the transfer rate to 10Gbps. Try to get the 3.1 Generation 2
Bluetooth: Ask if it doesn't say 5.0 (the latest)
Other info/ terms you might encounter:
Difference in Windows and Windows 10 Pro
SPDIF in audio ports (A good thing)
Thunderbolt 3 transfer speeds up to 40Gbps for a port. Great for plug and play.
Subwoofers Better than just internal speakers
G sync Synchronizes display refresh rates to the GPU and eliminates stutter and input lag
Gaming Laptops- Best Brands (I got MCI)
Edit: This post explains all the Letters and Numbers in the MCI titles
Do you need a laptop cooling pad? Do they work? (One does, a LOT!) The link to the reviews are on that page.
So with all that in my checklists, I ended up with MSI GT75 8RG TITAN 17.3” FHD 120Hz G-Sync Gaming Laptop | 2.9 GHz i9-8950HK, GTX 1080, 32GB DDR4/2666MHz RAM, PCIe 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD
See the reviews (videos) HERE and HERE Found these after I bought it, so I made a great choice apparently :) This one explains in more technical detail. Here's a written review of the GT75 8RG Titan. Another review comparing to other gaming computers. Another review
And another
Keeping in mind the pricetag, I'd suggest cherry-picking and getting the aspects which give you the best bang for your buck. I wanted that chipset as it gives a "hefty" boost in performance over HM370's (which apparently many laptops have) You definitely want SSD or SSHD (hybrid) and NVIe/PCIe, a minimum 16GB RAM, and a dedicated graphics card.
Secondary would be the intel i9- if you get i7 look at the GHz and try for 2.60 instead of 2.20 You don't need a 4.80 Turbo Boost either, lesser amounts will do, and the Pro version of Windows 10 isn't needed. The quad cores instead of six will drop the price, and I'm really guessing but I think the CM246 chipset (if available for quad cores) would help make up for that.
Breaking all that down-In red are the things which made the decision for me:
It has the intel 9 2.90 GHz i9-8950 HK (that 8950HK is rated awesome!)
GTX 1080 32GB DDR4 / 2666MHz RAM Memory Spec- 16GB x 2 (two channels)
NVIe/PCIe 512GB SSD + 1TB HDDl
Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit Video Memory 8GB GDDR5X 6 core processor turbo boost 4.80GHz
Chipset Intel CM246 NTSC 94% Graphics- Dedicated card
HDD RPM 7200 LAN MultiGig AQC107 Bluetooth 5.0 (5) USB 3.1 Generation 2
Video Port Thunderbolt 3, MiniDisplay Port 2.1 Has the Thunderbolt, G-Sync, AQC107
Edit: If you are wondering about the competition, the closest thing is the Aorus X9 with again, the same folks' review on the MSI GT75 Titan RG.
The Aorus runs HOT (130 degrees on the bottom after 15 minutes of extreme use compared to 113 of the Titan), the fans are loud and whiny, and the display is dark and not nearly as vibrant. But the Aorus does better at some things so it depends on what you like.
Wow is it being made and sent to you or do you already have it? I am curious how it compares to your previous machine.
I went to a variety of sites and really loved newegg.com because of the "compare" function and you can do up to five. Then what stood out was the seller HIDevolution had the option to choose the upgrades right there on the page. It did lock other things in, but it must be because of what is compatible. I called to ask several questions and they were SO nice (and this was after I had made the purchase) I just got an email telling me they had pulled all the components and would work the rest of today and Monday- and try to ship it Monday! (they have 3 ratings which isn't many, but all are 5 eggs. (LOL) and sending it fast was a perfect score.) It had said to allow 3-5 days after a day to process it.
Here's what got my attention- all their upgrades are approved and warrantied :) and on the page is this:
A product that passes through our hands has a much lower chance of DOA (defect on arrival). Your laptop has better reliability with thorough QC (quality control) checks.
We perform a full quality check - ensure the latest stable BIOS firmware and drivers are installed, burn-in stress testing for temperature, benchmark testing to ensure it is functioning to standard, keyboard and touchpad test, check of ports for functionality, display check for abnormalities, and a physical inspection of the chassis.
The HIDevolution Benefit
We research and develop our laptops in-house and only offer upgrades that work to benefit performance and reliability. We provide unique upgrades and services such as high thermal conductivity TIM (thermal interface materials) upgrades, and cherry picking a display panel with minimal backlight bleed.
1. Cooler system temperatures for the CPU (central processor) and GPU (graphics processor) through Gelid GC Extreme TIM (thermal interface materials) upgrades. Lower system temperatures, prevent throttling during CPU and GPU intensive tasks, minimize fan noise, and maximize reliability with upgraded thermal interface materials.
The Alienware51 I'd have to pull out and see the exact model, I'll try to do that tomorrow :) There's an R model, etc and I'm not sure what I've got. The Titan is going be a beast compared to it, due to the i9, the chipset, etc. Not sure about the RAM.