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

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2015

    SY Ultra Templates for Genesis 3 Female(s)

    Wonderful PDF explanation  (be sure and read it for tips for long, tight dresses)

    Well, getting an idea of what this does in combination with the Wear Them All. I was putting the Kenzi Outfit (V4) on Genesis 3 Victoria 7, and then I got the additional options shown. (see screenshot.)  Very nice!  It's my first time encountering that drop down with the Ultra Templates, when I went into Scene (Pelvis, see screenshot) or clicked on parts of the skirt, I did have handles and movement (in addition to some default scaling (the XYZ) which made this skirt rock!

    You know how hard it is to do ruffles, when you have a leg raised- pokethrough with ruffles disappearing. Well, with the handles, I swung, was able to bend and twist (default options) and look at my skirt. A V4 outfit on GENESIS 3!  

    Be sure and look at the skirt the way it loaded, even with Wear Them All, the SY Ultra Template came to the rescue with the bent leg and ruffles.The Wear Them All gave the correct fit, but the movement was handled with the Ultra. 

    BTW, remember with Leggings like this, to choose "Pants" for the autofit. 

    And yes, the shoes were a BREEZE with the Wear Them All!!!!

    So big, huge thumbs up to SY Ultra Templates and Wear Them All. Yes, I would buy both.

     

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    One outfit, Arabesque, has skates and the skate blades seem to deform a bit with the Wear It All. Understandably, because it's more than a shoe and everything gets bent to conform. So be aware skates are iffy, but regular shoes are really good so far as my tests. Hope this has helped.

  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,762
    Novica said:

     

    I'll be trying some V4 stuff. Anything in particular you'd like to see, feel free to ask.

    Looks pretty good! How about longer skirts? They alway have that ugly crease in the middle with earlier conversion methods (to Genesis 1 and 2 from previous generations.)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    I've tried Sensibility and Veranil, and you don't get an ugly crease in the middle, but what I don't like is stretched out material and that seems to happen no matter what outfit is on a figure (even V4 on V4) so I'm never happy with long skirts that have any type of motion. One of my nit-pickies, I suppose. I can't post the experiments because I'm not happy with them, but there's so many movement morphs (handles?) that you can get the dresses to do a lot of things. I am having trouble getting the side (by the tummy) covered when I do the bend or twist to cover the extended leg. If I had another hour I could get it fixed (but I don't.) If I find a long skirt that I like (or is halfway decent) I'll post it for you. I can tell you that you don't get the shrinkwrap effect of having the clothes wrap around the legs, so that's a good thing.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2015

    Okay, here's one without a pattern- she has one leg slightly behind the other so that's why one foot shows more than the other. As you can see, no deep creases between the legs. (And wow, that material was a pleasant surprise for an iray non-optimized surface!) It's Fae Realm

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  • Half LifeHalf Life Posts: 479
    edited August 2015

    Inverted textures have been inverted by choosing the texture slot dropdown (it will either be a thumbnail of the loaded texture, or an arrow if no texture has been loaded) and selecting the Image Editor option. Once inside the Image Editor Dialog you have the option to invert a texture. This can be particularly useful for masking techniques, where you want to apply different effects to opposite parts of the material while only using one texture.

    One of the goals I had for myself when making the Naturally Real V7 materials was to achieve the look I wanted, but without adding any new textures beyond the V7 defaults. This required some creative use of the existing textures in ways that were not what they were initially intended for. Thus the need to occasionally invert a texture. This should only be an issue for users who are wanting to understand what the textures and settings are doing to get the look... in cases where a user might want to make changes.

    Post edited by Half Life on
  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,762
    edited August 2015

    Thanks, Novica, for the Fae Realm render. Not having that ugly crease is wonderful. Too bad about the pattern stretching. I will buy this for sure at some point, especially since G3F doesn't have any clothes that appeal to me so far and V4 and Genesis have so many good ones. Also her PDF is really good!

    Thanks for posting that tip about inverted textures, Half Life. I will try this as I like to fiddle with textures when it isn't too complicated.

    Duh, I just re-read stuff and discovered that you were using two products to get the desired results. Argh, the price we pay for beauty!

    Post edited by luci45 on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2015

    Luci- if you fiddle with inverted, would love to see your renders whenever you get a chance (if you don't mind sharing your experiments/finals) 

     

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

    One other thing about the Naturally Real V7 (which I usually cover) is how easy the product is to use. If you're familiar with the Surface Pane/tab, and have the figure selected, you can easily choose which surfaces you want to apply this to. That's what I did with the lips for example. 

    If you're tired of the ruddy muddy skin, this is really a fast way to get more normal skin materials. 

    Some input from emails/PMs, the V4 Pose Converter is receiving positive feedback. I don't have it yet but guess I'll have splurge and dip into next month's budget. With the Naturally Real 7, Ultra Templates, and Make It Fit (all great stuff!) piled on with some of the other goodies, I'm beyond going broke lol.

    Anyone who has used the Pose Converter, feel free to share.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2015

    For you folks having trouble with iray lights and/or wanting a more normal looking skin, take a look at Destiny. Read what is included- that might have slipped past you (it did me!) Her skin isn't ruddy muddy and I'm assuming you can learn a lot from the light setup and tweak as you want. Also, she's 50% off.

    "While Destiny was designed with DAZ Studio 4.8 in mind, and it's amazing Iray render engine, she will also work and look great in earlier DAZ Studio versions, as well as in Poser!"

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651

    I really like Destiny's skins a lot. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm only a bit bummed all the new FW characters are HD. I like it best when characters have normal morphs in addtiion to HD. HD is too time intensive for me.

    The V4 pose converter is pretty nice. It does convert most poses well, including those designed for other characters like Freak 4. You can apply them to Gen 2 male as well, making it pretty valuable. You need to be using the latest version of DAZ Studio or the app will throw errors.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    If you didn't notice this over in Commons, there is a video on how to use LAMH (Look At My Hair) with iray. Featuring the cute koalas.

    Did anyone buy that new grass product? I haven't seen any renders of it. 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651

    I bought the grass product but my computer is tied up converting gen 4 poses...... I can render something later this week for you.

  • KhoryKhory Posts: 3,854

    I'm actually working with it for a promo. If you like I can post a test render of it. I have to say that the grass looks amazing and is pretty easy to set up.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,651

    Well, I'd certainly love to see it. =-)

    I like the grass model that looks like... Something being harvested in rows. That's a good touch.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    Khory said:

    I'm actually working with it for a promo. If you like I can post a test render of it. I have to say that the grass looks amazing and is pretty easy to set up.

    Yes, thank you- would love to see it too!  I've got the Leather and Fur Iray shaders in my cart, but won't be able to mess around with them for awhile.

  • KhoryKhory Posts: 3,854
    edited August 2015

    I've done two. One has the headlight on so you can see how green and lush the grass looks in bright light. The other uses a pretty overcast HDRI as the only light (working on a product for evening hence the dark HDRI). I have a slew of the grasses in there as well as the two trees and the castle and it all still renders rather quickly.

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Ooooh, okay, that's a must have. Thanks! 

  • KhoryKhory Posts: 3,854

    My pleasure. It really was something that turned up just when I needed it.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    The vendors not showing the back of outfits is annoying. The Heroic Defender Outfit- one can only get a glimpse from the untextured one, and it looks almost like a thong type back, or almost "not there" piece of cloth. Perhaps that's why it wasn't shown. Otherwise, I thought it would make a good gymnastic outfit or even a dance studio type outfit (without the boots.) But no back shots, no buy. Anyone who gets it, will you please show the backside? 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Well, not only is product downloads screwed up, (don't worry, all your Product Library will be restored) but for Fast Grab, I got an off the wall price on one of the products that doesn't add up to either the full price or the 70% off price either. It was a 12.95 price and the 70% off price was $3.89, but the price it changed to was off by $5.76 AFTER I checked out.  So anyone notice Fast Grab or other prices going wonky along with the DIM screw up?

    BTW, for people who are wondering, Karen does have a natural makeup set, with nude lips. Looks quite natural. (No, I haven't rendered her yet. Got her a few minutes ago and can't download yet.) 

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,107

    The pricing for the 25% off items if you have Karen 7 is not working, probably because the store can't see my Product Library, so buyer beware.

    Also: What new grass product? smiley

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    This one.  I got it but haven't done any renders in the past few days so haven't tried it.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    FYI, the In Bloom for Mei Lin 6  if you look at the fourth thumbnail, the first character on the left, that's a nice muscular, stocky build. This product gives you a nice variety and is 60% off. Anyone got renders of these?

    Also getting It Takes Character  (nice work Cris!) as I particularly love the second thumbnail, upper right character- unusual nose. The nostrils are unique. I like that the "Clear Body" is included so you can retweak if you want to start over. Have fun with dials! 

    Wow, fun tiger tattoo on her back!  Kenzie for Mei Lin 6 

    Like the eyebrows, not sure if the mascara will be too clumpy to use on other Gen2F's  Nastya for Aiko 6   Anyone rendered her?

    Double feature- get the necklace,etc, a variety of colorful skin materials, and a character with decent eyebrows. Also freckles!  EJ Bellaluna And Moonchild Jewels

    Warmth for Lilith 6  I like the third thumbnail, bottom right character. She would seem a bit older to me, good for more mature woman.

    Okay, I'll stop. What are you folks looking at?

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,249

    I have a render of EJ Bellaluna and Moonchild Jewels in my gallery http://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/48338/

    That product has lots of options to choose from. yes

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    They ended the flash sale (at 5:15pm) so I didn't get any of them. And they pissed me off doing that, so I put back all the other stuff in my cart and not even looking at the other flash sales now, lost interest.

    Barbult- gorgeous render!

  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 11,396

     

    Novica said:

    Also getting It Takes Character  (nice work Cris!) as I particularly love the second thumbnail, upper right character- unusual nose. The nostrils are unique. I like that the "Clear Body" is included so you can retweak if you want to start over. Have fun with dials! 

     

    Thank you, Novica.  :)  Much appreciated.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    You're welcome-- but sadly I wasn't able to get it. They stopped that Flash Sale before I checked out. It's kinda sad, because I try to share the nice finds in time for others to check it out (while I'm shopping is the only way I can do it in a timely manner), but in this case, it stopped me from getting it! 

  • anikadanikad Posts: 1,919

    There is a gorgeous new character from Raiya. Almost makes me wish I had the money for Gen 3/V7

    http://www.daz3d.com/kelly-for-victoria-7

  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited August 2015
    anikad said:

    There is a gorgeous new character from Raiya. Almost makes me wish I had the money for Gen 3/V7

    http://www.daz3d.com/kelly-for-victoria-7

    Very nice, I'm just curious how many D-forms had to be thrown on that bikini? I haven't tried that on the daz originals, yet. Tho i have found that it is not the most friendly outfit for non-daz custom shapes... to put it lightly.

    So, if that bikini dose indeed fit as well as it is shown to in Kelly's promos, that is impressive. That or the Promo artist has allot more patience then I do, lol. (that's a complement).

    I'll throw that in the 'bin' for the third, the skin texture alone is worth it. Especially with the palms done properly as there shown in the promos.

     

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