Bonnie 8.1 Bundles
Ghosty12
Posts: 2,065
Well saw this pop up in what is new, interesting and it is different, https://www.daz3d.com/bonnie-81-mega-bundle the content of the bundles are what has me the most interested.. As there has not really been that much content over the years covering this time period, It is good to see.. And as for Bonnie herself she does have that certain charm that does make her very cool.. 
Post edited by Richard Haseltine on
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'm especially interested in the Noir Monochrome Iray Shader Bundle, those black and white textures should be very versatile in their use, not just in the diffuse channel, but I'm pretty sure they could also be used in places like the Diffuse Overlay, Glossy, Emission and Opacity channels. Would have to manually plug them in there, but with the matching bump and normal maps already included, the results should be pretty decent.
I recognise that I'm probably more of a railway pedant than most people around here, but I have to say I'm not particularly impressed with the "Luxury Passenger Train" included in some of the bundles.
The multiple bogies underneath would be unable to articulate around curves (there's usually just one at either end - also, as it lacks couplings* and seems to be self-propelled, you'd need that space on the underside to put stuff like the actual engine/braking reservoirs/etc), there doesn't seem to be anyway to get on board, and pinching the walls of the passenger compartment in is just odd** given that space is at a premium on a railway carriage. (Serving that dining table - for which there is no kitchen, only a bar, nor anyway for food to be brought in from another carriage - would be quite a pain).
* Which is an issue in its own right, as other locomotives need to be able to couple up to move it in the event of a breakdown. Even on something like the BR Class 43 where the couplings are covered over for streamlining purposes, there's a panel that can be accessed for emergency use.
**Also, from a rendering perspective, making the space smaller is going to make it harder to compose a scene and position the camera.
The whole thing feels more like something from a dream, where you don't notice all the inconsistencies until you wake up.
For me, You described the main problem of Artists not being experienced with the things they try to produce from a professional standpoint. Be it trains, policestations, medieval clothes and/or weapons or even modern clothes, that often could never ever be worn, due to being an insufficient of buttons/zips/straps and/or too small openings to get the different body parts - mainly the head - through.
Yeah, this is a hard pass as the character set does not take advantage of the AO/Detail mapping of a true 8.1 character set, otherwise, it's basically no different than a gen 8 character, and it's 8.1 in name only... these fake 8.1 character sets are pretty much moot and should not be considered as an 8.1 character set.
NOTE: I mean character sets as in textures and not the G 8.1 model itself...
I like the 1920s Street by Polish. I've added building 2 to a scene and it loads easily and looks good, but unfortuantely the doors and windows don't open. Thank you for a good set, Polish, but that little extra could have been rigged doors and windows. I plan to keep it and will have to fiddle with the mesh if the door issue comes up.
https://www.daz3d.com/1920-city-street
This Polish 1920s set fits in nicely with the New York building series by Aurelio. corrected link
https://www.daz3d.com/aurelio
I agree. I was looking at the floor plan and was really put off by the organization...what I would really like to see is someone create American railcars of the 20s. Not the lightweight/streamlined cars of the 30s and 40s, but the old Pullman cars, that have 6 axles instead of 4, such as Observations cars (with the platform on the rear of the car (ACWR 600 Roamer - ACW Railway Company), a dining car, a sleeper car, baggage car, RPO (Railway Post Office)
I just pulled her into Daz and she does use the PBR skin shader and does have AO maps and micro detailing just like all the other Daz 8.1 characters
She certainly has some of the characteristics - and at first glance I assumed Daz was bringing in to the fold characters with apparent disabilities. It does seem strange to introduce her in this particular setting though - but I suppose there's no reason not to in a fictional scenario. However it is sadly unlikely that such an opportunity would be provided to her in the early 20th century (source) so maybe it wasn't Daz's intent to portray a woman with Down's Syndrome.
I don't think we always have to be 100% faithful to history - espcecially in situations like this. While an amazing amount of care has gone into the character, it's cool to base her in a better 'universe' than most likely would have been.
I wouldn't necessarily insist that artists are experts on their subject, but more research and reference would certainly benefit a lot of the assets out there.
And the radio... and the TV... and the record player... and the coffee machine... and the book shelves... and the floor lamp...
She looks to me quite realistic, would be happy to see more less attractive/normal people. I've enough super models in my collection.
I'm not sure if I'd put a person with Down syndrome as a sleuth in the Roaring Twenties as it was a fairly brutal era for umpthillion bazilions of reasons so the choice is pretty schizophrenic here. The character is useful as a standalone, still lacks the male counterpart.
The street environment looks very high quality, but then all models from this PA are high quality.
Not sure why this train needs so many bogies, it does look weird. It has this weird driver's cab-like compartment in the front but nothing in this room like someone wanted to model a locomotive and then changed mind and finished it as a luxury wagon. It still doesn't look like any train wagon from the Twenties.
The detective room is a mashup it seems of objects from the 20s on up to the 90s. That typewriter is the 50s, and not electric. I learned to type on one like that (actually more playing, as it took real finger pressure to press the keys down.) and it weighed a ton. I didn't see a coffee maker like that until the 80s. Early TVs were in the late 40s and were huge! My dad built one from scratch for his dad. It wasn't until the transisters were invented that small radios and TVs could be shrunk down. My grandparents had a radio from the 30s in their boys' rec room that was a huge cabinet. Record players were also large. Reel to Reel tape machines I think came out in the 40s.
But, if you buy the Mega Bundle and look at that product as a resource to kitbash from for detective offices spanning the 20th Century, say a family firm... you may have struck gold. But you will need to get rid of the PA's name everywhere. Pity that.
Like that railcar, homework is needed. I looked at the railcar again, and where are the doors? How does one get in and out? Maybe I didn't look close enough? My experience with railcars and railroads is from being a kid around the Los Angeles Live Steamers and running all over and checking out the Rail Museum for fun on weekends. Not an expert, just a kid. My memories are from 50-odd years ago, but really, I think blueprints are available. I know my dad used them when he built steam locomotives to 1/4in scale.
Bonnie tugs on my heart strings. She interested me. And yes, I saw that skin. And like a lot of the 8.1 characters, I wonder if she just needs a little love and lighting to bring out her best qualities.
I have the Mega Bundle in the cart, for $41.12, with 3 add-ons and using my Platinum Club discount. I also had a 25% discount on top of the other discounts offered on the sale page.
And I want to point out, the pose set included are different than normal and rather fun. Good work. I also like the hairs and clothing items. The gloves remind me of the ones my grandmother kept in a special box for me to look at when I visited her. She had others she wore when she went out in the 50s. My grandmother was a young woman in the 20s, and while she was not racy, rather the reverse, she did love fine clothes and elegance. The other sets evoke the era quite nicely and fill a niche we have been asking for. And the shaders, oh yeah. Love them.
Great job over all PAs and Daz Team.
A good bundle doesn't require kitbashing. This just doesn't deliver.
I can appreciate the inclusivity of the character...however I really don't like anything at all to do with the bundle(s). I might pick up Polish's set separately at some point, but as for the bundle(s) themselves as a whole package...hard pass.
The modern globe also struck me as out of place, especially in a set with a calendar dated 1950. Kazakhstan? Russia? The 1990s called and wants its globe back.
They may as well have thrown in a laptop and a VR set while they were at it. Perhaps even some future tech like energy cuffs or a mind-reading machine. And, of course, a caveman's club so people can render prehistoric noir scenes.
I love her promo images. But it's a pass for me.
She is a nice addition to the gene pool, especially her body and proportions, finally someone has realized that not all women are 6 feet tall, starved and have built in basketballs on their chest
much dollars for the mega bundle, and the others not so cheap either. I like the Polish city blocks...very nice.
I have no coupons or savings so the deal not vert attractive. Also just had a bundle deal where you got overall 4 free starter bundles and I had an impossible time trying to get any as I've picked over most of them or have the pro bundles. The incentives aren't too good for me any more.
The other thing, if you buy the two bundles not the mega, they both come with Bonnie 8.1 so that seems strange to me.
There are a lot of things I like in these bundles, the interiors, street, some of the clothing, the hair. I wish I could pick and chose pieces to make my own bundle.
Yes ..that would be great, but its like cable TV ... 180 stations you pay for and only use 10.
+100000000
also the rule of realism doesn't tend to be applied in the most uniform fashion. No one complains that "Wolfgang has that big scar, but historically he probably would have just died of infection you know"
Appreciate that some of the newer characters really add something fresh to the gene pool.
And I don´t see a problem with the theme. A little random perhaps, but whatever. It´s a fantasy, as so much on this site is... which is a big part of what makes DAZ so fun!
I've got an orange bar off for an additional 20% off on the mega-bundle, which brings the average per item cost down to aproximately $4.02US. That's acceptable, though I'm still not even bothering to use the 8.1 figures, so the flaws of the character and the curious lack of any additional character sets isn't a major issue for me. On the other hand, the add on offers are basically worthless as incentives... I've scoured all of the DAZ original back catalog of everything that I could possibly want, so 75% off something I have no interest in is still 25% more than I'm willing to pay, while the "free bundles" selection is even more of a washout. So, looking at the positive... the 20's style (but definitely not period accurate) clothing will probably be useful eventually, there's always room for more hair and shader sets and these look quite nice, and the props/sets all look useful though I'll definitely have to graft on a different under carriage from one of DryJack's products (over at Rendo) to make the train exterior passably believable. That's a shame, but Fugazi is sadly one of those once great DAZ vendors who've really fallen badly in quality over the last few years, clearly prioritizing cranking out a pile of products rather than putting any real research into them. And yeah, vendors stamping their names all over everything is really getting freaking annoying. It does make one wonder if they ever stopped to consider how much 3D product gets used in adult-type stuff...
Anyway, the end result is that the mega bundle is currently sitting in my cart and I'll probably buy it, though I may wait until tomorrow and see if any better offer pops up.
No kidding. I could make a render with a different character every day for years just with the G3/G8 characters already in my library and never repeat... and that's before I start spinning morph dials. Thus far I've seen very little in 8.1 that has impressed me at all, and given that the G8s were only a tiny bit more "advanced" than G3, 8.1 really feels like DAZ is trying to use the auto industry model, slapping on new paint and headlights just for the sake of something "new" to advertise.
Historic wound treatment practices and barbaric sociological systems are not really directly comparable, although one could say the former is born from sociological evolution it would be like comparing the apple to its tree. It would be perfectly reasonable to expect Wolfgang to survive a non-penetrative wound assuming the ship's doctor was reasonably proficient - and there was plenty of brandy on hand to clean the wound.
Bonnie is a smashing character on her own merits - I find the setting irrelevant to her usefulness as a 3D library asset. When I have need and after her male counterpart arrives, I'll buy them.
Ah yes, the noir genre, famously realistic in its portrayal of depressed middle-aged men as heroic crime solvers. The fictional role Bonnie's playing never actually existed and any of us would have probably gotten shot for trying.
Nearly all of the core characters reflect an aspirational fantasy that in no way touches reality. Even the realistic older folks are martial arts masters or can afford a huge apartment on a teacher's salary or whatever. If you're doing anything these characters get up to in addition to sitting in front of your computer making renders of them doing it, congratulations on living the dream.
Everyone gets to imagine people like them doing fantastical things they couldn't do in real life. No one's on the forums complaining that real spy work is unglamorous and frequently ridiculous when a James Bond lookalike and femme fatale hit the core lineup.
If you look closely, the certificates on the walls are dated in the late 1960s