Committing to just one Base Model Group
ScarletX1969
Posts: 587
Just trying to start an open discussion on people's journeys through this hobby. Has anyone settled on just one Base Model group to use from this point forward? Why or why not?
For me, I think I've settled on the Genesis 8 group. Despite all of the opinions that we sometimes have (and some are quite justified and unfair at the same time) about the Genesis 8 models and bundles, I must commend Daz on how they have addressed diversity and uniqueness with their line.
There was nowhere near as much model diversity back in 2003 when I started with Victoria 3 and 4 like there is today. And I use to complain about it a lot (which may have garnered a couple of my posts to be blocked or deleted here and there. I promise I wasn't trying to start stuff...I think).
Fast forward 17 (yep, my son was barely 2 when I started doing this) years and I've been loyal to Daz ever since and have seen (like many of you) Daz change with more advances in technology and diversity in their line of base models. That being said, I've settled on just using the Genesis 8 group from this point forward because I simply don't believe this could get any better than it is right now.
Genesis 9 or X (whenever it comes) may have some technological improvements but I'm not one for photo realistic images, just more stylized and I believe G8 will keep giving me that. I took a break from this back in 2012 to focus on my Master's Degree, so I've been struggling to catch up and reconnect with this. But now that I feel that I am in a place where I'm getting back into this grove with a better understanding of myself and my art, I think I can make this decision.
How about the rest of you?
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Comments
I started using DS in the G8 era, and experimented with every generation before deciding that G8 was the best one to use. Any time I've used another generation since has only reinforced that I made the right decision.
I use both G3 and G8, mostly depending on what shoes the model wears, since those are generally a pain to convert. For that very same reason, I use G2 on some rare occasions as well.
I'd consider using V4 and G1 if those came with iray textures in higher resolutions and had some other benefits found in G3 and G8, since I do like their more stylized figures. Realism is overrated in my opinion, I'm more into art-nouveau and impressionism.
With clothing, hair and figure/morph converters, I simply don't see why I'd pin myself to either G3 or G8. It's just the shoes that are often a pain, so those are leading when I want to use a specific pair of shoes that only fit either of these two base figures. When the shoes aren't an issue, I just pick whatever figure I feel like, and the figure becomes leading instead.
Thankfully there are a ton of converters and clones, so it's easier to use various generations in your renders if you want. I use a variety of figures and generations in my renders but I use Genesis 8 figures the most, as it gives me the look I'm after more often than not - plus you just can't beat the ease of expression creating and tweaking that comes with the PowerPose and face rigging for Genesis 8.
If there are decent technological advancements with any future generation figures (and there's no reason to assume there won't be - as technology advances and rarely, if ever, stays stagnant) I'll probably be on board with it. And there's no reason for me not to be, since just because a new figure comes out doesn't suddenly mean we can't use any other figures we've acquired in the past. I still fairly regularly use older generation figures in my renders and with Iray conversions, they can look pretty good. :)
I don't think I'll ever "settle" into a single generation for the rest of my life. lol For me, there's no reason to not explore whatever comes and just use a variety of content and figures in my scenes. For my comic, I use characters from three different generations of figures. I like variety - it's the spice of life after all. :D
started at end of 2018, so g8 already had a number of characters. Never used any other generation except that time i accidentally purchased a G3 character.
Im not sure i fully understand/remember what the problems were with G3 that mandated an "upgrade" to G8. I dont see the limitations with G8 being specific to the G8 figure but more the artistic ability of PA's, unwillingness to use high res textures, and Daz studio functionality (i.e., ancient hair tech, cloth simulation).
I only use G8 because I came into Daz when it was only a few base characters in so I didn't see a point in going backwards. But when the next iteration comes out, I'd probably move onto that and keep using what I have for G8 as well, but would probably stop buying G8 stuff at that point.
I get this. I probably won't just completely "settle" if something newer catches my eye and as long as I use Daz Studio, I will always have the next Genesis whatever base model for free. That being said, I think I'm done with the Pro Bundles/Theme Bundles. Maybe the newer base models but not these bundles.
Variety may be the spice of life but along with choice comes chaos...lol.
Question, what comic do you do, if you don't mind me asking? I'm working on my first OG mini comic.
I have been rendering this sort of thing from Poser 3 (circa 1997 or 1998) to the present. I render most what is state of the art at the current time; i expect technology to change, people to grow older etc....
I'm just starting out, but documenting some of the journey in the 3D Comic Book thread: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/6054302/#Comment_6054302
I'm using G8 by default just because that was the most recent generation when I started 2 years ago.
I'm very comfy here with my G8 library and I have no intentions of moving on to the next generation... but then again, we don't know what improvements G9 will bring.
Increased photorealism will not sway me. But perhaps muscular characters will pose better, without getting weird lumps everywhere? Perhaps DAZ will figure out some crazy trick to make G9 render ten times faster than G8? Perhaps G9 faces will not constantly land in the uncanny valley?
If the improvements are really significat... and especially if we get tools like XTransfer... then I might eventually move on to G9. Only time will tell! *sings Enya*
I have a lot of V4, some G, G2, a fair bit of G3 and a massive amount of G8. If/when G9 comes along it would have to take a really major feature add, soft body physics?, to get me to switch. I've got to much invested in G8 and I'm not really a hobbyist at this point. I've got more than enough assets for any renders I'd ever want to do. The only assets I buy at this point are ones that I need for a VN.
I have every generation since V3/M3 and tend to always work with the latest and greatest as long as there are improvements over the previous generation that works for my needs. unlike the OP I am all about as realistic as possible. While I have a ton of content for each generation I only tend to use it on newer figures if I can, otherwise it's history. I have found myself working with and buying more content for the G2 models over the past year since they are used in a VR app I like using and you can import content from DAZ..
I convert everything to G3. I started getting the G8 stuff on sharecg and converting them to G3 then dumping the G8 files. Finally finished my V/M4 conversions as well after avoiding touching my poser files for like 8 years..
I use... whatever. Sometimes I bounce back and forth.
Recently though, I've been on a Genesis 3 kick. This is because you can convert nearly anything and everything to (or from) G3 - morphs, poses, clothing, textures, whatever. That said, I still use the ancient Michael 2 mesh (see also that ugly mug to your left) on occasion, sometimes will whip out Aiko 3 (because let's be honest here, nothing has even come close to imitating it, and in spite of the irritating hip bends, it's still cute.)
I don't want to give up characters I like because newer ones have come along. But I welcome newer ones too. I use whatever fits. This one has a G3 figure in front and a G8 figure in the back. I have a favorite V4 figure that I use with the G3 and G8 figures too.
I use G3 and G8 and don't care which one, as long as the character looks right for the scene. Then again, I usually pick whatever character strikes my fancy, often a new purchase, dress it up, stick hair on it and that tells me what the rest of the scene will be.
I overwhelmingly use Genesis 1. I can convert most things from earlier and later generations, most of them pretty automatically, and I find it more flexible and resource-friendly than later figures. I don't use Iray, and do all my real work in DS4.8, so G8 is right out.
I wandered into this sandbox in mid-2009. That was solidly gen4 era, although gen3 as still widely used. At that point, if you wanted child characters you were forced to step back ad use gen3, or even gen2 since K4 didn't get released until well into 2010. And we never got official young teens models for gen4.
In 2011, out of the box, G1 gave me better performance, which was not incidently also facilitated by the fact that DS4 was *finally* available in a 64-bit version for the Mac and I was no longer fighting an uphill battle just to build a scene. G1 also seamlessly used skins from *all* gen4 figures, and most clothing could be autofitted without *too* much difficulty. Not as good as current autofit, but at least it existed. Most hair could be parented and scaled. GenX moved a lot of my prefered gen4 morphs, and latrer a number of gen3 morphs, up to G1 so I could use them too.
I also ported a number of gen4 expression packages to G1 with GenX, which put them onto dials. Gen4 expressions were almost universally one-click presets which you could not modify. That alone was worth ethe price of admission.
I picked up a number of the G2 and G3 bases as they were released, but I have to admit I virtually never used any of them. I stuck wth G1 all the way until 2018 when I finally made the jump to G8 and G3.
I more recently rebuilt all of my G3 characters as G8 with the aid of XTransfer. I'll probably dig my heels in with G8 and not move beyond that for a while unless something really game-changing *that I actually want* comes out. I don't really care that much about game-changers if it isn't my game.
This is a very interesting.
I use Genesis 2. I have the widest array of characters for it (I think I bought literally every base for G2M and G2F), it works in Poser and Carrara without any workarounds or hoops, and I have found that it matches my desired visual style (cartoon realism) better than the other generations. It is the best of all worlds, especially with the add-on that allows it to wear Genesis 3 clothes. It also seems to work in Unity without needing decimation.
I'm getting a lot of ideas from reading these comments. I'm still not buying too much past Genesis 8, but using Genesis - Genesis 2 for things like stylish cartoon as Strange Voyager or in Carrara has gotten my attention. I love Carrara, just wished Daz had of steadily developed it (yeah, that's a Carrara jab...lol). :)
I've really been very content with transfering characters over to G8 but may try the reverse to see how that will work with G2F.
I haven't "settled" into any particular generation, and I do have all of them to one degree or another, but I find I still use M4 and Gn(i.e. the original Genesis) the most. Although, I admit, that I haven't bothered to re-install my M1, M2 or M3 people since my last database rebuild.
I use G8.
I convert characters from V4 up to G3. Mostly textures using Blacksmith Pro, but I also convert shapes too - just less often. I'm more interested in the textures. I then export them to Blender where I do my rendering, and G8's bends are superior even to G3, and the comparrison with earlier versions is even more pronounced as a rule. Those better bends tend to export to Blender too.
Why do you bother with Blacksmith Pro if you are using Blender? Blender can rebake V4 textures onto G3/8.
I'm thinking/guessing it's more automated, so there's less fuss and muss invovled?
I have character models from generation 3 forward and still use them all. I don't do conversions, just tweak the surfaces to work in Iray. Conversions generate a lot of baggage in the data folder. But if I am using a generation more than others, it would be Genesis3/7
Simple to do, and I have the process streamlined now. I'd have to spend the time figuring it out; I'd be curious to see the process if you have a link.
... But, they work in studio that way and then obviously export to Blender. I rarely render in Studio, but have the option.
Genesis 2 was the latest and greatest thing when I started, so I have a lot of stuff for that generation. I've since moved over mainly to G3F, but still use G2M so I can use JoeQuick's ExtraOrdinary Men for Genesis 2 Male(s) Volume 1 and Volume 2, as well as characterful M4 characters that I've converted to G2M.
As someone who has baked from previous generations to gen 3 in blender. (and may have been the first person to figure out a way to convert textures to the new uvs ever)
it was very much not streamlined at all. maybe someone has since found a more streamlined method in blender, but mine involved manually loading in textures 1 by 1, and, saving out textures 1 by 1. It also involved making a custom morph to get a better bake (still up on sharecg) setting up textures to bake to 1 by 1 but these you didn't have to do every time.
Good to know.
Even before I was familiar with the process it was straightforward.
Now, I have a library specifically for it, and another library the converted textures go once I've manually made any changes, which I tend to do. There are some great textures from V4, G1 and G2 eras