NEW! Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 6

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Comments

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited February 2015

    What the heck? When I am in DIM and click uninstall for Genesis Generation X2 a pop appears asking me for permission to do that as it's on the hard drive of my computer. The GenX doesn't do that. What's going on with that? When clicking uninstall, it should send the product back to the Ready To Download. Why is this one on my hard drive?

    Edit: same thing with
    GenX2 AddOn for Genesis 2
    GenX2 AddOn Gen3 Kids
    Grass Shader for DAZ Studio

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Fisty and DarcFisty and Darc Posts: 21
    edited December 1969

    <.<<br /> >.>

    =^.^=

  • jorge dorlandojorge dorlando Posts: 1,157
    edited December 1969

    So just now I was browsing amazon store, and the description of an item saying this:
    "" Free Kindle Reading App Anybody can read Kindle books-even without a Kindle device-with the FREE Kindle app for smartphones, tablets and computers. ""
    So now people can read an e-book for kindle, even without one, right?

  • jorge dorlandojorge dorlando Posts: 1,157
    edited December 1969

    Oops, sorry to post this topic here, but I think that this topic that attached to the interview with Scott.
    I was thinking of selling a tutorial in ebook form in kindle format.
    the tutorial is a technique using Virtual Painter 5 and Gimp ...
    my doubts: a tutorial must also be registered (for copyright protection)?
    thank you

  • jorge dorlandojorge dorlando Posts: 1,157
    edited December 1969

    <.<<br /> >.>

    =^.^=

    It is a marriage?
    Is that what you mean?

  • FistyFisty Posts: 3,416
    edited December 1969

    We've been married for about a year and a half now.. But instead of having Fisty and Darc Clan listed separately we'll have Fisty & Darc. (Future products, they can't change ones already in the shop)

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651
    edited December 1969

    So just now I was browsing amazon store, and the description of an item saying this:
    "" Free Kindle Reading App Anybody can read Kindle books-even without a Kindle device-with the FREE Kindle app for smartphones, tablets and computers. ""
    So now people can read an e-book for kindle, even without one, right?

    yes. There is a free Kindle reader available on Amazon for several years now. Works really well too.

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Fisty said:
    We've been married for about a year and a half now.. But instead of having Fisty and Darc Clan listed separately we'll have Fisty & Darc. (Future products, they can't change ones already in the shop)

    Love the new avatar, you look good together. :)

  • jorge dorlandojorge dorlando Posts: 1,157
    edited December 1969

    Fisty said:
    We've been married for about a year and a half now.. But instead of having Fisty and Darc Clan listed separately we'll have Fisty & Darc. (Future products, they can't change ones already in the shop)

    Wow !!! This is beautiful, a couple in the same professional road !!!
    Long live the wedding !!
    A toast to the couple !!
    I wish you good health! Cheers !! And prosperity in your way !!

  • Tarina KiviTarina Kivi Posts: 488
    edited December 1969

    Invited Guest Contributor

    Predatron Genista Hispanica (Predatron)
    http://www.daz3d.com/predatron-genista-hispanica

    I picked these flowers up some time ago during one of the sales and wanted to see how they would look like in close-ups. To get rid of the harsh edges I applied sub-d. The leaves are very simplistic but since they do not use alphas they render rather quickly. The textures are plain and as such they too do not look too realistic. In my opinion these plants are perfect as background fillers but can still look quite nice in close-ups if subdivided (at least if you are not trying to achieve a realistic looking image). I really like this set and would recommend it to anyone looking for more variety in plants. : )

    Other items used:

    Lights: Advanced DAZ Studio Light Bundle (Age of Armour)

    Ultimate Butterfly Collection (Ajax, noggin)
    Ultimate Butterfly Add-On (Ajax, noggin)
    Rock & Grass Bundle (Age of Armour, DimensionTheory)

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    That beautiful image just brightened my day, thanks for sharing it and your review Tarina. I can always use more plants so these have been on my wishlist a while.

  • Tarina KiviTarina Kivi Posts: 488
    edited December 1969

    Jindi said:
    That beautiful image just brightened my day, thanks for sharing it and your review Tarina. I can always use more plants so these have been on my wishlist a while.

    Thank you Jindi. : )
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited February 2015

    Absolutely stunning! The lights, colors, and depth of field all come together beautifully.

    I'm going through my files and downloading, and I am in the L's. It dawned on me no one has done any of the Lantios lights recently.
    http://www.daz3d.com/lantios-lights (There's several more.) One of these days I'll have to go back to those and do some.

    One thread I want to point out- I asked a question on how to quickly get to alphabetical pages in Product Library without having to click click click page by page, and Cypherfox answered. Take a peek! (In case you forget, I will put it in my Reference Links at the beginning of this thread, under Product Library section.)

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/52728/

    EDIT: Be sure and hit DELETE a couple times if you do a copy/paste of that code- spaces at the end (you can't see them) will keep the code from working. It DOES work. :)

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited February 2015

    Thought I'd mention an example of what combining a sale with the $20 off $50 could do, because there's also another $4 off within that sale. Remember the A Bit Of Mystique sale?

    First you have the spend $50 get $20 off. No new releases or PC items though. However, I'm looking at bottom line and will divide the number of products into my final total. Bear with me.

    Let's go to the Mystique Sale
    http://www.daz3d.com/0211-bit-of-mystique

    because if you buy two things, you get 40% off, and there were a couple things I thought were priced okay, so
    the fabric shaders went from 18.95>13.27>11.37 (due to 40% as bought 2 from this section)
    http://www.daz3d.com/hss-fabric-shaders-1-glamour

    the chair time poses (like the morphing couch with the indentations, in case you didn't notice)
    12.95>9.07>7.78 (due to 40% as bought 2 from this section)
    http://www.daz3d.com/chair-time-poses-for-genesis-2-female-s-with-morphing-chair

    NOW...if you go down the page, you then get $4 off any $6 or more Daz Original if you bought 2 from the Mystique sale (which I did) but again, no new releases or PC Items. I hadn't remembered that offer!

    So I put Yumi for Mei Lin 6 in the cart
    17.95>12.57> then the $4 off so > 8.57
    http://www.daz3d.com/yumi-for-mei-lin-6

    and to get to the $50 mark, I added
    http://www.daz3d.com/fw-jake-hd-for-brodie-6 (a PC+ item, $3.99)
    and
    http://www.daz3d.com/g-suit-2-hd
    which is not a new release so it will get discounted. My total was 51.66

    Then applied the GIMME20 and it took off $20-
    Mei Lin WENT TO 86 CENTS
    the GSuit went to $7.68 :)

    So here's my logic- if I were to take out the pc item as it was cheap anyway, let's round Brodie up to $4 and deduct that from my $31.66 new total- that makes it 27.66 for my main items. With 4 of those, I am paying $6.91 for those products, and two of those are brand new!

    And here's a thought-

    I bought the GSuit and the Brody PC item instead of a DO from that Mystique section, to get the total to $50 or more, but when the $20 came off, it did the DO that was already discounted by 4.00 and some of the GSuit.

    But if there's any of those DO's (or several) that you want, and you spend $50, you'll be getting $24 off (the $4 and then the $20)

    Or..

    you can use the 45% off the artists' catalogs on that page to get to the $50 mark- you'll get 45% off (with 2 of the mystique items) and then the -20.00 on top of that if the items aren't new or PC. :)


    This is a good chance to combine sales in case you had forgotten about the multi-offers on the mystique sale page.

    Edit: My total was $31.66 for the five things, and I am quite happy with that, with two new releases in that group and an outfit that by itself would have been $20

    example.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • MelanieLMelanieL Posts: 7,386
    edited February 2015

    Just a note to anyone who really liked Novica's renders of Predatron trees and plants a couple of weeks back: they are mostly in the 65%-off-if-you-buy-3-and-are-a-PC-Member Flash Sale today.
    ETA: For those who missed that long series of renders - they start on this page: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/44327/P1380

    Post edited by MelanieL on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Glad you mentioned that!
    Also, FYI, the holly bushes are probably not thought of as a Southern plant, but I have one out in my front yard here in Florida. They are nice for year round greenery. I don't own that one from Predatron yet so didn't showcase it.

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,106
    edited December 1969

    Novica said:
    Glad you mentioned that!
    Also, FYI, the holly bushes are probably not thought of as a Southern plant, but I have one out in my front yard here in Florida. They are nice for year round greenery. I don't own that one from Predatron yet so didn't showcase it.

    I have two holly trees in my yard here in Tennessee. :) They must be very hardy.
    They are over fifty years old...I helped my Daddy plant them when I was nine.
  • atticanneatticanne Posts: 3,009
    edited December 1969

    My mother's house in East Texas has a holly and I have two in the front of my house here in Austin. I didn't know they grew up Nawth. :-)

    Eventually I will have some of Pred's plants. Today I went with Toy Pony, Toy Animals Farm, and CandeeCurls.

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    Just be careful if you are a Poser user ... Predatron has "updated" all his plants and products to be DS native files and for Poser there are only DSON files now ...

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Kerya, what exactly does that mean so new users will understand? I don't use Poser but it would be nice to know. (Thanks!) :)

    BTW, love the look of the new Space brushes by Ron. They look awesome!

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    Well, on each product page there is a section "notes" which tells you what kind of content you will get:

    Notes
    This product includes:
    1 Poser Core Installer
    This means there are Poser native files.

    Notes
    This product includes:
    1 DSON Core Installer
    1 Poser Companion Files Installer
    This means there are DazStudio native files and the product will need DSON for Poser installed.

    DSON content makes your Poser slower. It works, but it is resulting in lagging response to moving things, posing figures and so on.
    Which is why I resent a vendor who takes things created earlier that worked natively in Poser and makes them into DSON content.
    Especially when that native Poser content HAD DazStudio companion files which set the materials in DS format.
    Best of both worlds - and now? I have deleted all Predatron from my wishlist.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the explanation.
    It doesn't make sense for a vendor to do that- certainly they'd know it would possibly hurt their sales, and why go backwards? I don't blame you for rethinking the products you want.

    Going to snooze as it's going on 3am here. It's 30 degrees and dropping to the low 20's. Ugh. C'mon Spring!

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,106
    edited December 1969

    Invited Guest Contributor

    "An Enchanted Evening"
    3Delight render in DS 4.7

    Products used:
    LY Anita
    http://www.daz3d.com/ly-anita
    Cici Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    http://www.daz3d.com/cici-hair-for-genesis-2-female-s
    Evening Gown for Genesis 2 Female(s)
    http://www.daz3d.com/evening-gown-for-genesis-2-female-s
    Dreamy Gowns (textures)
    http://www.daz3d.com/dreamy-gowns
    InaneGlory's Photo Studio - Point and Shoot (wallpaper roll backdrop)
    http://www.daz3d.com/inaneglory-s-photo-studio-point-and-shoot
    Core Lighting 1 (Lantios)
    http://www.daz3d.com/core-lighting-1
    Baroness Jewels

    http://www.daz3d.com/baroness-jewels

    Someone asked about Lantios lighting a while back. I have all 3 Core Lighting sets which are great for character lighting. The shadows for the main lights of each set are set for Deep Shadow Map but I change that to Raytraced Shadows at about 20% softness, because I like the results better.
    Anita is one of Lyoness' "dirty girls" (alternate dirty and muddy textures) but she cleans up nicely here. :lol:

    Thanks,
    John

    An_Enchanted_Evening.jpg
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  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245
    edited December 1969

    tjohn, that is gorgeous! The dress looks so much nicer than anything I have achieved with it. You inspire me to try again.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited February 2015

    tjohn said:
    Invited Guest Contributor

    LY Anita http://www.daz3d.com/ly-anita
    Cici Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s) http://www.daz3d.com/cici-hair-for-genesis-2-female-s
    Evening Gown for Genesis 2 Female(s) http://www.daz3d.com/evening-gown-for-genesis-2-female-s
    Dreamy Gowns (textures) http://www.daz3d.com/dreamy-gowns

    That dress really does look nice- I particularly like the shadows on the bottom layer, making it obvious that it's tucked. I, too, remove any Deep Shadow maps and only use raytraced as I never know when those pesky artifacts will pop up. It's always fun to see newbies asking what those colored squares are- we've all been through that, right?

    I mentioned the Lantios lights because I'm doing my files and recently finished the L's (now in the M's taken a week, sheesh.) and saw those. I'll have to putz around and refresh my memory with them, I like the lighting on yours. Thanks for sharing! :)

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited February 2015

    Asobi (DemonicaEvilius / Silver)
    Hitomi Anime Girl For Genesis (MallenLane)
    Toon Amy For Genesis (Character and Hair) (3D Universe)
    Lantios Lights (Lantios)

    http://www.daz3d.com/asobi
    http://www.daz3d.com/hitomi-3d-anime-girl-for-genesis
    http://www.daz3d.com/toon-amy-for-genesis-character-hair-1
    http://www.daz3d.com/lantios-lights

    I didn't have the best of luck applying the characters. I did Genesis>Hitomi>Asobi and then when I applied Asobi materials, there were large slivers of pale Hitomi showing through. I had to do this:

    Genesis>Victoria 5> Hitomi> Asobi to get the character and the materials to go on smoothly. I noticed that the description for Asobi had both the Victoria 5 and Hitomi listed, so that's how I figured it out. It may work for you otherwise, but it wouldn't for me. The Asobi product is nice as it has colors for the Toon Amy hair, and I selected the green. I like that there's white because you can Diffuse it in Surfaces and select your own color- but there's a really nice variety offered so you may not need to do that.

    Lantios Lights were some of the first ones I bought a few years ago, because they are so easy to use and there are so many combinations you can use. Because the UE2 loads separately, as do the back lights and main lights, you can load one thing at a time and get a fun combination. I'm going to show you one combination and NOT TWEAK ANYTHING EXCEPT ADDING A SHADOW- the intensities and location of the lights are out of the box.

    What I used was Backlight 01 and 06, UberEnvironment 07 (which has Specular 01) So this would be the starting point for you and you can tweak from there (or leave as is, if you're satisfied.) I rotated her around so you can see the difference in lighting, simply depending on your view.

    Get Lantios Lights (any of them) if you want some easy-smeezy sure to pleasey lights. (Couldn't resist)

    Large renders. Click to enlarge. EDIT: Is that hair band supposed to be ragged like that? It shouldn't require tweaking as the hair is out of the box and has nothing to do with head size. It's on the character it's designed for too. (See last image, shows it better.)

    asobiHitomiToonAmyHair3PS.jpg
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    asobiHitomiToonAmyHair2PS.jpg
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    asobiHitomiToonAmyHairPS.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,106
    edited December 1969

    OK, I tried "Genesis>Hitomi>Asobi and ... applied Asobi materials" without problem. I noticed that Asobi uses Victoria5 uvs, and Hitomi has her own uvs, but that doesn't really explain why you had slivers and I didn't. (shrug emote). :)

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651
    edited December 1969

    Looking good Novica. Like the background and how it matches the character's hair and outfit.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited February 2015

    tjohn said:
    OK, I tried "Genesis>Hitomi>Asobi and ... applied Asobi materials" without problem. I noticed that Asobi uses Victoria5 uvs, and Hitomi has her own uvs, but that doesn't really explain why you had slivers and I didn't. (shrug emote). :)

    I think I figured it out- while doing my files, I uninstalled files to reinstall to a "holding" folder so I could alphabetize them. The Genesis Evolution ones were missing from the studio (head and body morphs, etc) :)

    Now I have another "Hmmmm...." In Genesis>Clothing>K4 Basic Wear I used the Tankini. Can't find the K4 Basic Wear to link to it. Was this included in a bundle like a bonus, without being separate? When I browse back the file to it's location, and click properties, I'm not getting any information. How else do I tell where this thing came from?

    Pai Mei Character and Clothing For Hitomi (vyktohria)
    K4 Basic Wear
    Fair and Beautiful for Hitomi Rings (Renderwelten)
    Hitomi 3D Anime Girl For Genesis (MallenLane) (for the Hitomi Rings hair)
    Lantios Lights (Lantios)

    http://www.daz3d.com/pai-mei-character-and-clothing-for-hitomi
    http://www.daz3d.com/fair-and-beautiful-for-hitomi-rings
    http://www.daz3d.com/hitomi-3d-anime-girl-for-genesis

    Testing the same set of Lantios Lights, no changes. Wanted you to see how beautiful that top is- the texture is wonderful! (Now if we can get the link to it?) The clothing went on nicely, no tweaking.

    I had fun with the arm going through the hair loop. I like Pai Mei- a lot of fun makeup options. This may be a slightly altered Pai Mei as those Evolution files weren't all there (I think.)

    Large file, click to enlarge.

    PaiMeiGenesisV5.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,245
    edited December 1969

    I think the K4 Tankini is part of Genesis Starter Essentials, but I'm not at my DAZ computer to check.

This discussion has been closed.