Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
I am super happy with the gymnasium as I have not bought any of the prior gymnasium offerings because they weren't the correct style that I wanted. This one is.
As far as Machael 8.1 I like the character and agree with a few others that the skin is a bit too perfect looking. I think it's because this character actually resembles Elvis Presley to a great degree and whoever modeled Michael 8.1, well good luck finding photos of Elvis Presley that aren't heavily edited and have him wearing heavy pancake makeup.
I am buying Michael 8.1 & the gymnasium no hesitation. The wheel chair has to wait but it is practical for some storytelling situations.
I like him! I think he has a little more personality than M8 or M7, both of whom were pretty generic.
M8.1 looks a little younger. And he reminds me of M6, as others have already mentioned.
The paraplegic morph is a nice bonus and I like the marketing around it.
I do think there's a discrepancy in realism between V8.1 and M8.1, latter looks more toony. It doesn't bother me because I don't generally go for photorealism but the discrepancy is a little strange.
About the new Genesis 8 Male Starter Essentials that appear in the DIM today, along with other Genesis 8 Male things: I already have Genesis 8. I have not updated to DS 4.15. So, I'm still using Genesis 8.0. Should I download these new items in the DIM? Would they help just the regular Genesis 8 Male figures?
Will products for Michael 8 still work with 8.1?
Looks good, just too orange on the skin, try to lower values in saturation, a slight change on Hue towards red values and:
Mostly yes; but some expressions may not work.
I don't see any hair by that name by Redz in the shop. Do you mean Electro hair?
*edit* Nevermind, I see it is Electro hair. Thanks!
Or buy Redz's new character that is way nicer and cheaper with better quality skin and uses the new PBR shader.
Does M8.1 present the same issue as Victoria 8.1, where you have to move a couple files out of the data folder in order for G8M expressions to work on the newer model?
Mike 8.1 definitely looks like he's ~18-24 to me in the promos (and with some expressions), but messing with the actual model he seemed like he could be anywhere from 20 to a youngish 30. Maybe it's because me and a bunch of my friends had terminal babyface until our mid-thirties.
The biggest issue I have with him is that with Victoria 8.1, the difference in expressions was immediately obvious to me. When I dial in a smile expression, she looks alive in a way I couldn't quite reach with basic 8, and I think it's because the expression seems to reach her eyes more. Michael 8.1 looks good to me with a neutral expression, but when he smiles it's kind of uncanny. I can't recall if I mentioned it earlier, but his overall mouth size is pretty small and it sits high on his face, while his chin, jaw, and nose are broad and fairly strong. I think it makes it hard for full smiles or other dynamic expressions to affect his entire face. A similar thing happens with some G8 characters, where smiles on a small mouth shape will pull it up into sort of a pout or look weird if stretched wide. What's interesting is that he looks most natural to me with a full-face smile in the promo pic where he has a beard, I think because it balances out those proportions and makes the size of his jaw less obvious.
(I'm glad I got him and this isn't really an "augh he sucks" complaint, I just like to pick at what makes things work or not work for me in character design.)
The images I posted of him on the first couple pages of the thread are without M8.1. :D He doesn't require him at all, he's a standalone (that seems to be the case with most characters in core bundles now?).
I'm disappointed with the HD Add On and also that there's no HD Anatomical Elements.
I have no problem with his body. It's that he's entirely too young and his skin is abysmal. It should be noted that M8.1 is still pretty muscled.
My wish, as I've said before, is to see someone with a build like Gustaf Skarsgard...tall and lanky...particularly when he was playing Floki on Vikings.
Here is M8 out of the box. I apologize for the lack of HD, my machine cannot handle it.
His "youngness" is only a problem because of his name. But then again, I'm probably the only one here who is bothered by the disproportionate amount of young female characters and equally young male characters. It's easier to age a character than make it look younger.
Even though I don't care for lanky male characters at all, it's an odd argument to use with "Michael". He was never the skinny guy. He wasn't a younger man either (David was), but I feel that's been lacking in the bases, so I'll take it.
Now that I think about it, perhaps this character would've been better received as "David 8.1"? Probably not, since he's not small-enough or thin-enough.
I never said there was an issue with his body...I was just responding to your comment that you find it funny people were complaining about guys that were too big but are still complaining when a small one is released. I wouldn't say M8.1 is small at all.
In terms of age, I don't care for any of the younger characters, male or female. I'm turning 40 this year, the characters I create for my artwork are definitely past their college years, lol. I have no interest in those young'ins. In fact, I find the obsession with tweens and teen characters kinda...off-putting, but that's just me.
Here's a out-of-the-box comparison of Michael 8 and Michael 8.1. Michael 8.1 looks like Michael 8's younger, shorter brother.
Full Size Version
Jason
It comes with the bundle. Here's the individual item.
I also made a side by side * well almost side by side * image with M8 and M8.1.
Both with no HD.
I gave them both the same HD smile.
I must say, I much prefer M8.1.
But there is one that looks not like the sports wheelchair, more like an Everyday Wheelchair. Maybe it is in the tomorrow bundle...
I don't really want to buy younger female characters, but I sometimes do because they're either included in a bundle of something I want or have some intersting/stylized textures or shapes that look usable to me. Males are slim pickings and most look too old or lack similar stylization, to remove the "disproportions" in my own personal G8M genepool collection. I still want an "anime boy" that looks like the 3D version of how little kids draw anime. *coughsakura8cough*
M8.1 was more on the "small/medium" size. Clearly no barbarian or Brute, so he's small to me. I've said before that I'd buy M8.1 and his bundle, but at a later date when it's more discounted than it is right now. Never picked up any of the original M8 bundles, because there's only like one hair I liked and the base is used in other characters that interested me.
People will complain no matter what. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This
Here's my render of Mikey 8.1. Enjoy
wow great wow stunning
I have purchased almost every single Daz male release in the last 10 years and spent many 1000's of dollars. I love most of GM8's male core figures and salute Daz for giving us such diversity. I'm delighted with GM8's gene pool, although perhaps I would have liked a few younger (less beefed) characters. There is absolutely nothing I like about M8.1 (based on the promo renders). The skin looks 'toon' and the face lacks character, let alone realism. I'm kind of relieved I don't warm to him as perhaps I can finally break my decade long addiction.
Wow! He looks amazing!
I can see a bit of the Dawsons Creek guy in there, not enough to call it a look alike though.
Steve.
Not really identical but in the direction of Elvis I think.
I too think it looks more like James Vanderbeek from Dawson's Creek as opposed to Elvis
Great render @mal3imagery
Silly me being the render that follows you but my first render of M8.1 with the hd addon. I must admit I don't mind the look as much as others.
David