Essentials to buy when first starting

jukingeo

Hello All,

I am new to Daz3D and as of now I have not bought anything from the store yet.  I an am mostly interested in working with fantasy females and female warriors.  In poking around with the have noticed that there isn't much I can do in terms of adjusting the facial features and expressions of the face and head.  I have come across this:

https://www.daz3d.com/200-plus-head-and-face-morphs-for-genesis-8-female-s

I have also came across this:

https://www.daz3d.com/rarestone-s-face-morphs-collection-for-genesis-8-female

Not sure which one is better and thus the reason I am posting here.   I would like to know what are some good starting packages to go with.   Also, I am going to need some clothing packages too.  I found this:

https://www.daz3d.com/merimay-dress-designer-one

So anything that would start me off well I would appreciate any suggestions or pointers.

Thank you,

Geo

barbult

Both the 200 Plus and the Rarestone morphs are excellent. 200 Plus has some full face presets that combine some of the included morphs, to kind of give you a starting point or suggestion. I wouldn't rate one package above the other. Before either of those, you should consider the G8F head and body morphs Daz Originals products. They are often required by other products. They are a good starting point.

Erock3D

If you're going to be working with the Genesis 8 generation, then I would suggest getting clothing specifically for Genesis 8. The dress system you linked (which is actually an add-on and so you would have to purchase the base dress product for it to work) is made for Genesis 2 and/or Genesis 3. The G3 version would probably fit the G8 models, but if the other things you are looking at, like the head morphs are going to be for the Genesis 8, you're probably best off keeping it all in the same generation starting out. I haven't used this product, but here is a dress system for the Genesis 8 female that might be a better choice. https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-multi-dress-system-for-genesis-8-females

barbult

Consider joining the Platinum Club before starting your purchases. It offers great savings on lots of products.

Hylas

As Barbult has mentioned, I'd recommend starting with G8 Female Head Morphs and see how far it gets you, before getting either of the morph products you link to.
There's also G8 Female Body Morphs.

dForce Multi Dress System for G8 is specifically for Genesis 8, but it requires you to figure out dForce first. It's not that easy, but it's worth looking into.

I also find The Power Pump quite versatile, but I don't know how relevant that is in a fantasy setting.

jukingeo

Hylas said:

As Barbult has mentioned, I'd recommend starting with G8 Female Head Morphs and see how far it gets you, before getting either of the morph products you link to.
There's also G8 Female Body Morphs.

dForce Multi Dress System for G8 is specifically for Genesis 8, but it requires you to figure out dForce first. It's not that easy, but it's worth looking into.

I also find The Power Pump quite versatile, but I don't know how relevant that is in a fantasy setting.

Thank you for the info, all.

So it looks like it is best to start out with an offical Daz Studio face / head and body morph packages?

That Power Pump looks great!  I didn't even think of shoes at this point, but I could definitely see that as being useful.

As for a dress designing program, do you have a regular (non- dForce) recommendation I can start out with?

Also I would like to get something versitile for the hair.  Any recommendations there?  I will say that I prefer short hair over long hair.

I am mostly into fantasy type characters such as faries and warrior women.

Thank you all so far for the help.

Geo

Chezjuan

There was a thread last month that covered some of this as well. Many of them are covered here, but there are a few other things you may want to look at:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/4123591/#Comment_4123591

 

jukingeo

Hello All!

Ok, much has transpired since I was on here last.  Last night I made some of my first purchases here on the Daz Studio site.  I got the Daz 3D morph packages for the face and body as well as some other items:

Genesis 8 Female Body Morphs			42073	$19.95
Genesis 8 Female Head Morphs			42075	$19.95
Melo Hair for Genesis 3 and 8 Female(s)			52123	$23.95
LY Zara HD for Genesis 8 Female			46815	$18.95
Minami HD and Minami Hair for Genesis 8 Female(s)			50437	$29.95
dForce Miellyn Outfit for Genesis 3 and 8 Female(s)			48921	$37.95

I copied that directly from my order.  Upon installing the items, I have to say that my eyes widened considerably when I saw how many more options I had.  The Minami HD with hair bundle I thought was a good buy too as my first bundle purchase.  It came with an alterable hair style, but the Minami character is very cute too, so I am looking forward to working with her.  So this package gave me a long hair style, and then I got a similar alterable short hair style in the Melo Hair package.  LY Zara was another nice looking package for warrior looking women with slightly darker skin and there are some nice warrior makeup patterns in this package I liked.   The most expensive item was the package at the end, which is to create demon looking characters.  I bought it because it seemed like a good way to get horns, tails and wings in a single package.  I think I could create an evil faerie ala Maleficent with that package.

Ok, so I dove in and started from scratch with a base Genesis 8 female.  I played around with the controls until my heart's content.  I was at it for more than 2 hours until I got to a point where I didn't know how to move on.  I don't know what to do for skin color,  nor facial makeup.  I also have not decided on what clothing I should put on my first character.  So I just have her in a standard female 'workout' outfit which consists of a pair of short shorts and a sports bra.  I used the hair from the Minami character I bought above.  I manipulated the hair until it was all going to her backside as some was going over her collarbones and I didn't want that.  Once I was done with what I had, I did a test render.  I was completely shocked at the outcome.  Please see attached.  She came out FAR prettier than expected.  Clearly not what I was expecting my first time out.   I am still going to work on her though as I want to put her in decent clothing and put her in a nice pose.  Since she has an athletic looking body, I am figuring some kind of warrior look for her since one of packages above has a nice warrior outfit in it.   I named her 'Anna'. 

So now for some questions:

For the facial controls, I have noticed that some of them didn't work. For example, there were facial aging controls, such as Forehead Wrinkle and adjusting that had no effect.  Crows Feet was another adjustment that didn't work.  Any reason why?  Was it something I did wrong?

Next, while I was able to move the hair away from her front side to the back, I did it by clicking on the strand groups and pushing them back.  It took a very long time.  Is there a better way to style hair than this?

Also, I would like to color the skin and also do facial makeup next.  This is where I am at a loss of what to do next.

Also, I would like to see what different eyebrows look like on her.  I didn't see much in terms of replacing the eyebrows.  So tips there would be helpful.

So what do you guys think of Anna? 

There was a thread last month that covered some of this as well. Many of them are covered here, but there are a few other things you may want to look at:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/4123591/#Comment_4123591

Thank you for the info I will take a peek there!

Edit:  I took a look at that link and did find some useful information on lighting.   There was one post on free hair, but after going there, it was links for Poser not Daz.  I did look into something in terms of a decent background.  Since I am mostly going to do medieval work, but also doing some more modern model like 'photoshoots' I think my first backdrop should be a castle or other medieval structure.  This does dictate more medieval style clothing for my characters, but I am all for that as it is something I am going to use anyway.

At any rate, I found this:

https://www.daz3d.com/dreamcastle

It's beautiful and I can see so many areas on that where I could pose a character.    I could even place a character in a boat on the water near one of those big arches.  I think this is perfect for a good background.  I know it will keep me busy for a while. BUT if any of you happen to have a better suggestion, please let me know.

THank you,

Geo

Richard Haseltine

jukingeo said:

For the facial controls, I have noticed that some of them didn't work. For example, there were facial aging controls, such as Forehead Wrinkle and adjusting that had no effect.  Crows Feet was another adjustment that didn't work.  Any reason why?  Was it something I did wrong?

If they are HD morphs they won't show in the viewport, unless you increase the SubDivision Level (Parameters pane under Mesh Resolutuion). They will render, though how obvious they are will depnd on the lighting (as with the real world, a soft light can "fill in" wrinkles)

jukingeo said:

Next, while I was able to move the hair away from her front side to the back, I did it by clicking on the strand groups and pushing them back.  It took a very long time.  Is there a better way to style hair than this?

Most hair has moprhs to help with positioning.

 

jukingeo

Richard Haseltine said:

jukingeo said:

For the facial controls, I have noticed that some of them didn't work. For example, there were facial aging controls, such as Forehead Wrinkle and adjusting that had no effect.  Crows Feet was another adjustment that didn't work.  Any reason why?  Was it something I did wrong?

If they are HD morphs they won't show in the viewport, unless you increase the SubDivision Level (Parameters pane under Mesh Resolutuion). They will render, though how obvious they are will depnd on the lighting (as with the real world, a soft light can "fill in" wrinkles)

jukingeo said:

Next, while I was able to move the hair away from her front side to the back, I did it by clicking on the strand groups and pushing them back.  It took a very long time.  Is there a better way to style hair than this?

Most hair has moprhs to help with positioning.

 

Oh, so the wrinkles will not show up in the viewport, but they will in the render?  But I can see them in the viewport if I change the Mesh Resolution?

Yeah, I have noticed there were some controls for the hair, but not a lot.

Also I am looking to buy an eyebrow package, but I have noticed the base Genesis 8 character you cannot switch the eyebrows off on.  Which characters can you do this on?

 

Thank you,

Geo

jukingeo

Hello All,

Ok, after playing around with Daz a bit more I found out those makeup items that were not showing up in the viewport ARE showing up in the render.  But it does seem kind of counter productive to constantly hop back and forth between working and rendering just to see how a particular makeup pattern looks like on my model's face.  Is there a way to do this in the view port, or even do a rough render so that it doesn't take up so much time when trying out something?

 

Thank you,

Geo

jukingeo

barbult said:

Consider joining the Platinum Club before starting your purchases. It offers great savings on lots of products.

Thank you for the tip.  I signed up for a quarterly membership as I figured I would do most of my buying now, but once I get more experienced with Daz, I probably do more and more things on my own.

 

Geo

odastein

jukingeo said:

Hello All,

Ok, after playing around with Daz a bit more I found out those makeup items that were not showing up in the viewport ARE showing up in the render.  But it does seem kind of counter productive to constantly hop back and forth between working and rendering just to see how a particular makeup pattern looks like on my model's face.  Is there a way to do this in the view port, or even do a rough render so that it doesn't take up so much time when trying out something?

Do your make up first, with nothing else loaded than your naked, hairless, figure, so as to make the rendering very quick. If your computer can handle Iray, then work directly in NVIDIA Iray mode, instead of Texture shaded mode (I underlined the menu where you'll find the Iray mode in red). Alternatively, you can make a spot render by using the tool I underlined in blue and selecting only part of the picture to be rendered. Finally, you can reduce the definition of your image, in the panel I underlined in green. 

jukingeo

odastein said:

jukingeo said:

Hello All,

Ok, after playing around with Daz a bit more I found out those makeup items that were not showing up in the viewport ARE showing up in the render.  But it does seem kind of counter productive to constantly hop back and forth between working and rendering just to see how a particular makeup pattern looks like on my model's face.  Is there a way to do this in the view port, or even do a rough render so that it doesn't take up so much time when trying out something?

Do your make up first, with nothing else loaded than your naked, hairless, figure, so as to make the rendering very quick. If your computer can handle Iray, then work directly in NVIDIA Iray mode, instead of Texture shaded mode (I underlined the menu where you'll find the Iray mode in red). Alternatively, you can make a spot render by using the tool I underlined in blue and selecting only part of the picture to be rendered. Finally, you can reduce the definition of your image, in the panel I underlined in green.

Thank you, I will do the makeup first next time, and I have already made good use of the 'spot render'.

Geo