Models, Characters and Character Presets... what's the difference?
Models, Characters and Character Presets... what's the difference?
Without ever really having understood much, I have oddly amassed quite a collection* of DAZ models, characters and "character presets" over the years. It might be the simplest most obvious explanation but could somebody enlighten me so that I will no longer harbor this big question mark in my head :P
(1) Models are the basic, no-frills base starting point which is usually free (eg. Genesis 8 Male G8M)
(2) Characters are specifically created from base models and portray, well, a character; these usually come with their own set of skins, textures, body transformations etc to be applied on a base model from the same generation (eg. Jonathan 8 for G8M)
(3) Character Presets are other characters built/derived from Characters from the same generation; these always come with body/face transformations and sometimes with their own set of skins and textures (eg. Deric for Jonathan 8)
(4) Both Characters and Character Presets are primarily time-saving artistic renders that enable us to "dive straight" into a scene without having to transform the base models to a face which we will enjoy seeing in our renders :P
Q: Based on the examples above, if Deric is derived from Jonathan 8 who is himself derived from Genesis 8 Male, why then would Jonathan 8 be a prerequisite for Deric? Because Deric uses Jonathan's skins? (ie. if C:B:A then why not C:A)
Q: So, if one were to only purchase Deric, what would happen if one were to apply Deric to Genesis 8 Male without first owning Jonathan 8?
Q: Characters and Character Presets are not necessary items (eg. I could manually morph G8M to look like Jonathan but I will just not have the latter's skins and eye colors, etc).
*A cursory look at my Product Library revealed that I currently own Genesis, Genesis 2, Genesis 3, Aiko 3, Michael 3, James, Benjamin, Victoria 5, Gabi, Tori, Aiden, Axel, Logan, Brandon, Michael 6, Victoria 6, Genesis 8, Callan, Quinton, Zander, Ryker, Martin, Orrin, Chace, John, Wufei, ... most of whom I have never before used or even greeted... and not to mention I believe I have dogs, robots and dragons too!... I sometimes feel like I have a whole extended family that I have yet to meet LOL This has been such a mystery and it wish it could be unraveled once and for all :P
Thanks guys!
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Comments
Because it uses Jonathan morph as the base to create Deric.
He won't look as in the promos since you don't have one of the required morphs. The skin will work, but the shape will be different.
They're not necessary, except if you want to use a product which requires one of them. They're useful to get more variety.
Some of these terms are rather vague. I generally use Base Model or Base Figure to refer to Genesis 8 Female, etc., and Character to refer to something built on that base, such as Victoria 8 or a character made by a PA The following have specific meanings:
Actor: this loads the base model (e.g. G8F) and can apply other settings, like Shapes and Materials. Most characters based on the base model (e.g. Victoria 8) come with an Actor that installs the whole character at once.
Preset: this applies some properties to something already loaded into the scene
Material Preset: this just applies the textures and their settings to what's selected in the scene. For example, a makeup option for a particular character.
Shaping Preset: this applies the morphs but not the textures to what's selected in the scene.
Character preset: this applies both the materials and the shape to what's selected in the scene.
Pose Preset: this applies a pose to what's selected in the scene.
Properties Preset: this applies any combination of properties to what's selected in the scene. It might be a pose and also hiding some body parts for example.
If you want to save your character as well as their hair, clothing, hand-held items, etc., that's best done as a subset
Thank you for having shared your knowledge... it does get complicated and confusing at times :)
When i read this i get that sinking feeling... i realise that i have no understanding of some of the fundamentals of Daz!
i have characters who seem to work perfectly fine without the prerequisites... i also have products that work perfectly fine without them yet you could spend a fortune (and i have) on all the prerequisites.