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The lines. Sorry.
I think a big part of the reason that didn't sell better were the lack of cell shaded promos. Like others said, anime doesn't lend itself well to 3d, so using realistic skin or shaders can turn people off. If you are going for an anime look, go all out. There's only one cell shaded promo pic in that gallery. if people are wanting to make a digital manga with cell shaded art, they probably overlooked that product. Another issue, anime fans are not flocking to Daz, for obvious reasons. If you want to sell to people interested in 3d art with anime figures, somebody has to reach out to the places anime fans will be. That place isn't here. That's not really your fault, though. Daz is still very niche, I'd bet most of the potential buyers out there have never heard of Daz, or they just think Daz is sexy Victoria 6/7 stuff and has nothing to offer them.
And I have to agree with the original poster, it doesn't look like a truly great anime character has come out for Daz since Aiko 3. That's a really long time ago. Everything else has been some kind of hybrid character that straddles between real and anime too much. Aiko 7 doesn't cut it at all. Belbel is absolutely PERFECT. A modern version of that, with anime style shaders could do well. But it has to be marketed outside of Daz. People looking to make their own manga and visual novels are the target here. That means a place like Steam. There are lots of 3d party software's on Steam, including freemium ones like Daz. There's also places like Crunchyroll where ads can be shown. And don't bother advertising Victoria or Aiko (they'll laugh at Aiko.) And you advertise it as a tool that can help make a 2d manga or visual novel.
Is there another (non purchased) morph that does this? I can take a look, and maybe figure out what happens. Maybe it's a scaling conflict, which can be fixed by showing the hidden properties and tweaking back a few dials?
Tofusan made an Anime Head morph for G3F available on Pixiv (very nsfw)...but it's not Comipo-ish, unless you maybe add a nose morph to sharpen and remove nostrils (I made one of those for Keiko at one point), and then use the VSS shaders.
Forget that...I did a quick try of that morph, and a no-nostril "pointier" nose, and it still does not have that stylized anime look. The lips are wrong, and you would need some good lashes and brows...a lot more work is needed. You would need a model. Another option is touching base with Ken1171 about his Anime Universal Head. You can find him on DeviantArt and other sites... I think the goal of that is to just parent the head on the body of another figure.
I think I can see how it is impossible......I've been using BelBel for a long time......though even the head is outdated, another user had at least updated BelBel to at least update it's standards by someone named BelBel M http://www.sharecg.com/v/81656/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/BelBel-M
Now if only someone can make a BelBel or ChibiBel head to apply to a Genesis 2 or 3 Female.........we all be a lot happier, but unfortunately with the items payware, it's impossible. It'd be best to go with Asobi for G1 as well as any Aiko morphs for Genesis 2/3 Female.
Thanks to Tofusan http://www.sharecg.com/v/85535/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/Anime-Head-for-Genesis-3-Female
What Outrider42 said. The general anime style that we're used to, in all honesty, doesn't translate well to 3D unless it's cell-shaded IMHO. Plus,- a (possible) big reason why many anime fans that are also into 3D, have flocked to Miku Miku Dance because in addition to the program itself, the vast majority of content for it is free. Seriously, look on DeviantArt if you want a good example of this: the vast majority of uploads to their 3D Model resource category, especially if you sort by 'All Time', isn't Daz and surprisingly, it isn't Poser: It's MMD*. And even the MMD resources -like hair, shirts, clothes, etc.- that you have to "pay" for isn't exactly with cash, most times people ask for DA's version of Monopoly Money in DA Points.
Consider the following: If you're a person who is into anime, you're just getting into 3D modeling anime stuff, and you don't have much of a disposable income; what's more appealing: buying content that, while solidly put together and you have the option to customise your character, is oftentimes upward of $15+ per item/pose/figure (not to mention having to buy a decent cell shader plug-in), or a wide variety of content that's already out there that, while it might not be super detailed/textured/etc and you have limited-to-no control over and is pre-built with a cell shader, is free?
(* There's also the spawn of Satan known as XNA Lara/Poser Studio, but that's a whole other kettle of fish)
Well, I suspect some of that's because most folks want the "traditional" Anime look rather than the more modern CG Anime look that Aiko 6 and 7 had. I also think that Kieko was created to fill the niche that Aiko had been in, so we will see if a Kieko 7 shows up to fill it or if Star 7 takes her place.
That's lovely.
The main issue is the shader. It may look simple and it - is - simple when using photoshop or even hand drawing, but for shaders to mimic that look and unnatural shadow, it's hard.
I haven't tried on Daz Studio but there are complex shaders for Blender to mimic the toon style and it does okay but requires complex lightning setup to mimic the shadow.
Additionally, high poly meshes don't seem to trasnalte well for the toon look.
Edit: A link to Blender custom toon shader
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108666457756457924138/posts/VYs5EH85TvZ
This made me giggle a bit.
The XNA scene is also quite large and varied, though I totally understand why you would call it the spawn of Satan with some of the content they post (shudders.) However it is similar to MMD in that everything is free, and that's why they use it. That's because you have people basically lifting in game assets into XNA. I've managed to pull a couple of hairs out of XNA myself. There is a quirky section of DA devoted to video game hairs and clothes, called Moogle Outfitters. They have an excellent collection of Final Fantasy based hair, which is about as anime as it gets. They have a lot of anime-ish content in general for people who know how to import them.
It is true many of them are hobbyiest with little cash to spare, but if Daz had an easier way to import external objects and rig those objects within Daz, there would be an avenue in place for these people to branch out should they desire it. Some of them are pretty talented and dedicated, and they could be an asset to this community. And Daz itself is free, after all. If Daz can hook them in, there is a chance some will stay. There are people who do have some money to spend, just like some people are willing to spend $100 or more on a Gundam kit or buy anime DVD/Bluray which always cost more than other DVD/Bluray.
Wowsers, now that's nice. That is also a nice promo shot, even with the more realistic skin texture.
Your Google+ page is quite interesting.
It's not my work. I've been following the user for the shader while trying to come up with my own.
http://www.daz3d.com/manga-style-shaders
http://www.daz3d.com/visual-style-shaders
Anime is a 2D style and doesn't translate well.
Hi ScikleYield,
Thank you very much for SF-Anime-Character-Builder! I have purchased it and my DAZ 3D modeling life has been completely upgraded sice the day I did! The resources from that pack that has gave me limetless possibilities. Coincendetly I've just put one of my scenes I'm busy with on hold to log on today on DAZ site for the sole reason alone to ask DAZ why are they promoting the crap out of SF-Character-Builder on the Aiko 7 release. It just seems such a fantastic time to do Anime Bundles and stuff. I just so happen to run into this thread. I have been using the product on every scene I have built since purchase and your morphs has made my characters shine better than out of the beutiful box G3F models. It has been adding an amazing anime feel to everything,
I'm quite new to the scene as I've been in 2D for years prior but your stuff is the most used resources I have in my library. I've even gone so far as to convert your G1 / G2 morphs to G3 so I can use them in my scenes since G3F release. I still use them in pretty much all my scenes. Thank you so much for creating fantastic content!
The problem as hphoenix mentiond, there has always been a great obstacle to translate 2D anime to 3D. Even anime studios and games companies completely hit and miss it good amount of times. And there are so many different anime styles as well. It really all just boils down to what anime feature aesthetic you are going for. Then morphing your character slowly to that look.
Especially with the human eyes as it conveys a great deal of character emotion etc. Exactly why there is a style chart for what shape sunglasses on certain shape of head would immediatly make it look like a natural fit in a suiting aesthetic. Where some glasses frame shaped ones would never look well on certain head shapes. Projecting anime eyes on a G3F takes very slow tweaking to accomplish the look your going for. Most of the ones that looks the best to me are ones I've worked the longest on to look just perfect in regards to shape and perportion.
I personally find the same procedure with products body morphs and the 200+ head body morph packs. It take a lot tweaking to get the perfect look but when you do it turns out great. Some of my 3D anime characters looks so well in 3D it will now be hard to translate them to 2D because of so much details would be lost. Unless I really up my 2D art skill to make deviant art type portaits instead anime 2D cell shading.
What best worked for me, I've been reading mangas and watching anime for years. From drawing anime chars in 2D cell shading, I've learned I need to first establish what anime character type look am I going for. And that alone could take quite a few face redraws. Same I found with 3D anime, Its takes a lot of morph tweaking.
Thanks to everyone here that posted the resource links. I will certainly be looking into a lot the stuff here and procedures suggested.
Edit: Just want to include. If anyone here have bought or thinking of getting Aiko 7. Then also please look into SF Anime Character Builder. The amounts of G3F morphs sliders and materials has added countless dimensions to my anime character builds. Ones I will certainly take back to my 2D anime cell shading art.
Likely has to do with the style. I too have had trouble locating a good anime figure, but Kururu is probably the only one that actually fits the bill. Problem is is that it lacks in content and morphs so you're kinda limited unless you get really creative. I wish more people would take a look at that figure because it has a lot of potential.
Kururu freebies: https://poserdazfreebies.miraheze.org/wiki/Kururu
Excellent find!