Genesis 2 Female, V6, Gia Product Consideration - UV Hell?

bohemian3

With the advent of Genesis 2 Female, V6, Gia I find myself increasingly hesitant to purchase products as I try to understand how they fit into my current production pipeline.

With three new products we already have 3 new UV maps - a challenge when you're trying to use SSS maps, makeup options and tattoo products etc from other venders. I understand the need to avoid texture stretching, etc and have no problem with that.

But as we move ahead I would really urge DAZ in partnership with the fantastic artsts who create all these top notch textures to consider the following suggestions:

- Product description should make it clear what UV maps are used - Including Genesis V4, Stephanie, etc.
- As we move into a new era of realism with the latest figures, normal and sss maps should become part of the standard maps included when a texture pack is released, the normal maps including skin pore texture and not just muscle contours for heightened realism

I know some artsts already do this and I applaud there work in going the extra mile - and continue to purchase their products as my thank you for their dedicated work.

However as I move ahead with my goals and pipeline considerations, I most likely will not be purchasing products that do consider the suggestions included here. I share this because I know others like myself use render engines other than 3dDelight which rely more heavily on normal and sss maps for superior results. Though I think we're in a minority.

And also because I do spend a decent amount of money here, and in the past never really hesitated when a new character came out to purchase it, but now I find myself doing research, and really weighing if I need it.

I write this in a really positive spirit because rock bottom - I do want to support the amazing artist community here and continue to purchase first-rate products as I have for last 2 years.

swordkensia

I agree with the UV Map minefield we have now entered with this more 'versatile' G2.

So I echo the above, Vendors please make it clear what UV Set a character is intended for.

Cheers,

S.K.

cwichura

This isn't really new to G2F, though. All the DAZ characters for Genesis have each included their own UV mapping as well. (E.g., V5, M5, S5, A5, H5, Hitomi, ...) And of those, only V5 ever had more than the launch skins use the mapping. With G2F, I suspect most third party skins will use the V5 mapping, since that's the only mapping everyone is guaranteed to have. And this market is too niche already for content vendors to artificially restrict their product to those who have also purchased an additional add-on character like V6 or Gia.

JennK

I too agree with this. I came in basically with Genesis 1 and loved it.

I am now totally confused, admittedly that is not hard to do, however I look at the new items and am very skittish. I still buy predominately Genesis 1 items as to me that is a better figure and the reason I started with DAZ to begin with.

I understand the tech reasons but without PA's and even DAZ saying this uses this UV or that UV I am not buying any new releases. That being said I like G2F but the confusion I feel at things not being clearly marked is a big draw back to me.

RAMWolff

Someone did mention that DAZ Studio had a built in map transfer option in the Surfaces drop down menu (upper right hand corner) so I guess you can transfer the Gia textures to a V5 UV or if you have the V4 clone you probably will have the option to transfer to that one as well. I've not tried it as of yet but it's something to consider.

DZ_jared

If a character pack or a texture set uses a UV mapping that doesn't come standard with the base figure then the figure with the necessary UV map is listed as a required product. For example a character or texture that uses the V5 UV map would list V5 as a required product.

JennK

RAMWolff said:

Someone did mention that DAZ Studio had a built in map transfer option in the Surfaces drop down menu (upper right hand corner) so I guess you can transfer the Gia textures to a V5 UV or if you have the V4 clone you probably will have the option to transfer to that one as well. I've not tried it as of yet but it's something to consider.

Thanks. And what I wouldn't give for some Actual DAZ documentation not the weird book that was supposed to be a manual that really wasn't and not just you tube videos but an actual Manuel sigh.

Back on topic thanks DAZ-jared for the clarification.

icprncss

DAZ_jared said:

If a character pack or a texture set uses a UV mapping that doesn't come standard with the base figure then the figure with the necessary UV map is listed as a required product. For example a character or texture that uses the V5 UV map would list V5 as a required product.

The required products are not always accurate. On recent occasions I've either had the same product listed repeatedly in the box or a product listed that isn't really required. Hairs are famous for this. Several times I've looked at a hair for V4 and had Reby Sky show up in the required products box. Now I've been here long enough to know that the required products list is inaccurate but not every here has been.

DZ_jared

JK0011 said:

RAMWolff said:

Someone did mention that DAZ Studio had a built in map transfer option in the Surfaces drop down menu (upper right hand corner) so I guess you can transfer the Gia textures to a V5 UV or if you have the V4 clone you probably will have the option to transfer to that one as well. I've not tried it as of yet but it's something to consider.

Thanks. And what I wouldn't give for some Actual DAZ documentation not the weird book that was supposed to be a manual that really wasn't and not just you tube videos but an actual Manuel sigh.

Back on topic thanks DAZ-jared for the clarification.

NP, as far as manuals for software we are switching from the traditional .pdf manual (can a .pdf manual be termed traditional?) to a documentation center: Docs Center There is a lot of great stuff for DAZ Studio, check out the Content Creation section of the user guide for the more advanced stuff. The Hexagon and Bryce sections have links to the .pdf documentation. And the Carrara section .... hey look over there guys something shiny.

JennK

DAZ_jared said:

JK0011 said:

RAMWolff said:

Someone did mention that DAZ Studio had a built in map transfer option in the Surfaces drop down menu (upper right hand corner) so I guess you can transfer the Gia textures to a V5 UV or if you have the V4 clone you probably will have the option to transfer to that one as well. I've not tried it as of yet but it's something to consider.

Thanks. And what I wouldn't give for some Actual DAZ documentation not the weird book that was supposed to be a manual that really wasn't and not just you tube videos but an actual Manuel sigh.

Back on topic thanks DAZ-jared for the clarification.

NP, as far as manuals for software we are switching from the traditional .pdf manual (can a .pdf manual be termed traditional?) to a documentation center: Docs Center There is a lot of great stuff for DAZ Studio, check out the Content Creation section of the user guide for the more advanced stuff. The Hexagon and Bryce sections have links to the .pdf documentation. And the Carrara section .... hey look over there guys something shiny.

Wait there was ever a PDF for DAZ where?

In the Doc Center there are several instructional videos and where that works for some others of us need the written instructions it would be awesome if we could get those as a pdf on the page. Also there are a lot of WIP pages that have been marked WIP for months. I don't mind printing the pages and creating my own manual but if it says WIP to me that says it still needs stuff added even if it is complete.

Sorry to bohemian3 I did not mean to get off topic.

Barubary

bohemian3 said:

- Product description should make it clear what UV maps are used - Including Genesis V4, Stephanie, etc.
- As we move into a new era of realism with the latest figures, normal and sss maps should become part of the standard maps included when a texture pack is released, the normal maps including skin pore texture and not just muscle contours for heightened realism

As much as I'd like to see more SSS and normal maps - we're still working on getting artists to include specular maps. Let alone good spec and bump maps that had more time put into them than what it takes to desaturate the diffuse texture.

I think it will be a loooooong time before we see normal or SSS maps become standard.

In fact, I was wondering about this earlier, maybe the reason V6's and Gia's normal maps are only used for more general muscle contours is because they are supposed to be usable on every character based on them - with the normal maps being used for the larger stuff and the character-specific bump / displacement maps for the finer detail.

Since no one is using normal maps anyway, that slot will always be free, so that could be a valid strategy.

Just a thought , of course.

bohemian3

DAZ_jared said:

If a character pack or a texture set uses a UV mapping that doesn't come standard with the base figure then the figure with the necessary UV map is listed as a required product. For example a character or texture that uses the V5 UV map would list V5 as a required product.

Thanks for the info - and in the past I've safely assumed that any Genesis/V4 product would use the V4 UV as in this product (excellent product, one of my favorites)

http://www.daz3d.com/chablis-for-genesis-v4

But in this instance, if you're using Genesis the required product info is not really accurate, I believe you need this:

http://www.daz3d.com/v4-and-m4-shapes-for-genesis

So I guess I posted as a cautionary request to state it in the product description as we move ahead to make it crystal clear what UV maps are used to avoid confusion mainly if products are made for multi-generational (V5-V6), inter-generation (v6-Gia) products. I guess that's what I meant by UV hell.

Thanks all for your posts! And I'm really grateful for the link to the new documents - I had given up on documentation altogether and now I'll give it another chance.