Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 10
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@rgcincy I like the sag on the arm. I do think all of them need to continue further down to the elbow. LOL my fat doesn't just stop past the bicep. (Hey, I'm working on it.)
BTW, I just sent you a PM
Not giving specifics but it's a great time to have any new release in your cart, (do a PC+) and test your wishlist (not the new status).
So I was surfing through my purchases from the past week, today and tonight, (and then I looked at some I already owned from these same vendors and expanded my recommendations) and evaluated how practical I was. How much was utility? What were some of the fun to have items? You might want to take a look at these. I had a new release in my cart and with everyone having different loyalty rewards, you'll just have to see what the pricing is. (The loyalty is still in place, btw. In case you hadn't shopped today.)
Barriers and Barricades Practical
Wireframe and Hologram Shaders for Iray Practical
Impossible Objects Hmmm, both. Practical for futuristic, but just fun to play with.
3D Toon Clouds for Iray and 3Delight Practical, if you're doing toons why ruin it with real clouds?
The Void Who cares, this is just awesomely mind blowing!
High Tech Scuba Diva (Gen8) Practical for water scenes, even if they're not IN the water. Like on a boat. Even if you're not into Gen8 yet, take a look.
Angel Armor and Demon Armor for Genesis 3 Female Get the set. Good price.
Fantasy Eggs Well, thought those could be fun to use for a scene. Practical? Probably not.
A Place Along The Creek Practical I think adding some different vegetation to what's there would be neat. I'm always looking at water scenes.
EJ Arena and Water Nymph (Gen3f) Practical. Look at the different skins offered.
EJ Vera Delux Pack (etc) Practical. Character, outfit. Unusual eye option. Good brows.
EJ Nina and Ella (Gen8f) Practical. Two characters, heavyset option, and dark skin characters. I did not check out EJ's hair products as I own so many, but you may want to take a look at those also.
Contemporary Garage Very practical.
Misty River Gorge Practical as a set. Stonemason and gorgeous.
Riona Hair (Gen3/8) Practical, two generations. So is Kim Hair
Benita for Victoria 8 Very practical- aged character and materials.
Everyday Coffee Well, can't get more practical than this!
Royal Garden and The Forgotten Park Practical for outdoors scenes.
i was looking at that high tech scuba diva....and I think, with the right shaders and/or even retexturing it yourself, you could turn it into a pretty cool futuristic sci fi set. That helmet could be good for a sci fi astronaut type (not realistic).
@jakiblue I can easily see that. As a matter of fact, looks like it should have started out that way and evolved into the wet suit!
A few people gave me some suggestions so here's a couple more.
DA Rust and Grime Shaders Very practical to change things up.
MV Stella Command Deck Practical for a set, look at all the views when you go in/at/around the hatch to outside the vehicle.
County Crime Lab A good building, don't have to use it for a crime lab. There's the bundle too (I already own part of it.)
Framed Practical- get frames AND a lot of art.
Another go at the flabby underarm. I used a push modifier to get at that area down by the elbow. Not perfect yet but looks better I think. It also doesn't hold up if I change the arm position.
I have yet to do a push modifier but I know who to ask if I do and run into problems! The arm does look better I think.
Yea, that chin is extreme, but that look is quite common in Anime art. Personally I don't like it either so I've purchased FSL Mix and Match Shapes for Sakura 8 which has a lot of nice options. Here I've changed the chin and nose:
@taoz I like that one a lot better!
That link is this one (getting an error on yours)
Oops, link fixed...
Lots of products from the past few months that I haven't tried out yet. Here's a review on one of them, Haven Park.
First, the trees and other foliage look really good, especially the grass. That comes at a price however, as it slow to render and slow to move about the viewport. It does have a set of cameras so you can jump to several good view points quickly. I ran Scene Optimizer on it and that helped with the viewport moves but doesn't speed up the render time. The vendor does warn about the speed caused by the grass prop which can be replaced.
This first image is the view from the main camera. It uses the night time scene preset. Took one hour to get to 90% convergence, so fairly slow render on my computer especially given that it is only 800 by 640.
This is the same view with two changes: applied Scene Optimizer to reduce the larger texture maps by half and I put a block from Urban Sprawl 3 in the background. Took about the same time to render, maybe slightly faster.
Same view but in daytime. There is no preset for daytime, so this just uses the basic set. One irritation is that the night scene applies an image to the iray dome and you have to manually remove or replace it. It took several false starts on renders before I figured out why the scene kept rendering dark.This day scene was even slower to render than the night scene (a surprise as usually iray renders faster with more light). It was at 75% convergence after 1 hour 10 minutes when I stopped the render.
This is a view from a different position in the park. US3 buildings still in background, although I changed their position. You can see the grass in the foreground is not a shader but individual geometry. I only took this render to 35% convergence (37 minutes).
Another useful aspect of this product is many of the elements are separate props that can be used to kitbash. It also makes for a nice big city scene if you put Urban Sprawl or one of the Dreamland products in the background.
Whoa, that may really be a slow set for other people then. You and I have almost the exact same render times when we tested a setup. It was really nice of the vendor to point that out, and yes, substituting things will help. I do love that grass though! The renders look great, very detailed and makes me want to go for a walk in the park.
Thanks for letting us know about the Iray dome image, I'm sure most of us would make the same mistake!
Anyone else render this and can comment on render times?
You will enjoy this Sakura by Stormlyght. It looks really 3d to me, like there's actually depth to the render. The rabbit awesome. Pop on over and tell her what you think!
That really is very well done. I don't really like Sakura, but I love what Stormlyght has done with her. (I left a comment and a thumbs up on the gallery page.)
Glad you mentioned that, I forgot to do that.
BTW, CNN just said Atlanta Georgia is currently colder than Ankorage Alaska!!!!
Shadow (my stray) was indeed in his tent at 2am when I opened the door to check. He got another can of catfood and is enjoying his heated bed in the quilted/comforter tent. (The heavy king size comforter is over two 3 foot potted plants, then I put a doesn't shut off heating pad (Sunbeam makes them) over lambswool with towels curled around to give height to curl into.) It's 35 right now, 10 degrees warmer than last night.
Oh my- looking at the radar- ice is moving in on Jacksonville, Florida and there's snow in Tallahasse! Look at the Florida radar right now. This is crazy!
Just wish they'd included some clean ("as new") textures as well. Common problem with many products and I wonder why, for clean textures are much easier to make than dirty or worn looking ones. Simply start with making some clean ones and then make the dirty/worn ones by adding dirt/wear to the clean ones.
Yes folks, it's that time again for our annual tradition. We've done this several years now, so....
For 2017, pick your top ten products!
PLEASE TITLE YOUR POST "(NAME'S) TOP 10 FOR 2017" and bold it / color it blue or red. (if you know how.) (You highlight the print with your mouse, hit the "B" for bold, and the underlined A to color it blue or red.)
1. The products do not have to be FROM 2017, they can be from any year. You must have USED the products in 2017. Please do a link to the product. Test your links please.
2. Link to the image(s) (max 3 per product please) No personal website/commercial links. Only Daz forums, galleries (Daz/Rendo/DA, etc.) You can label them Render 1 or Example 1, etc. REMEMBER PC MEMBER FORUM IS FOR MEMBERS ONLY. People can't see images from there if they aren't a member.
3. (Optional) What do you like about the product? (If a room, do windows/doors open/close? Are walls separate? If clothing/hair-favorite/unusual morphs?)
4. Products don't have to be ranked in order (number one isn't necessarily your top pick)
We'll be doing this through the weekend, so take your time and look through what you've done. (Wow, page 91 on my thread 7 is where 2017 starts!)
When we're done, I'll do one post (as usual) with links to all your posts, then put the Favorite Products of 2017 as a link on the first page, first post. PAs feel free to participate.
Here's mine as an example.
Thank you! I'm glad you like it.
Trish
Thank you! I'm glad you like what I've done with her.
Trish
Novica's Top 10 For 2017
In progress
1. Iray Ghost Light Kit Render 1 My very first try! These are really versatile- you can use as stand alone or add to other lights to brighten a room. Think of panels that emit light, you put them in place, click a button which hides them. You set the color and the intensity with clicks, or can easily customize the light output. They're a must have in my opinion, and are my top pick for 2017. Render 2 Render 3 with examples
Showing you the Boo Light Presets that KA and I provided for free. (They are Ghost Lights in a setup) Here's a render.
2. The Resort Pool Render 1 Render 2 Very large set, water renders well.
3. Skies of iRadiance (Bundle) Render 1 This post also gives you the settings used. Wonderful variety in the bundle. Edit- while going through thread 8, I found one RGcincy did with those skies. Here it is.
4. Espirit d'Autrefois Render 1 It has sets indoors, it's not just an outdoor city! Scroll a couple posts down from the one linked.
5. Water Spring Render 1 This was when I was kitbashing two sets. The architecture is from Violin Soul: Balcony,Violin, and Poses. They go GREAT together!
6. Oriental Breeze Pool Render 1 I pushed this product hard when I found out all the blinds go up and down in the pavilion. Very detailed and the water renders nicely too.
7. SC Alice (Gen3F) Render 1 Alice looked to have ultra-heavy eyebrows in the promos, but I didn't find that to be the case. And in my second render in that post, she reminded me of Cybill Shepherd in the eyes and nose.
8. Bella Donna Dress (Gen3Fs) and Bella Donna Posers, Chaise, and Shaders LONG before Dforce gave you flowing fabric, there was Bella Donna. Enough said. Render 1
For now- may get bumped- but take a look in the meantime. If I remove them, I'll put them in the Down Memory Lane posts.
Modern Bathroom Render 1 I love the modern look, the no-frills, and the warm tones.
Flower Cart Render 1 I love these are all separate props, and so colorful. Great addition to your towns!
Divamakeup's TOP 10 FOR 2017
You most certainly may love your own product! :) (I mean, if you don't, you wouldn't be selling it!) And again, congrats and excited! Is she already in the queue?
Thank you, Novica! :D Yeah, she's in the product queue - she's been asigned to Marketing and her status has been changed to "Ready to Release". So I just have to wait until I hear from them on the release date. :)
I'm liking the list so far. I've already decided (based on your renders) to add The Resort Pool and the Skies of iRadience to my wish list. :) I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your list.
So far this year has been a mixed bag for me, several good products have come out but also a lot more products are memory and scene intensive making them tough for me to use. So scenes I could render easily before I just cant now making this years releases of diminished value.
I would say michael 8 and his morphs and shapes have been the successful release for me. I also really like dforce but the lack of dforcable male content makes it again more a novelty than usable at this stage.
Trip Down Memory Lane: SOME Thread Renders of 2017
I thought with March Madness coming up in a couple months, you might want to take a trip down Memory Lane from Thread 8 and see some of the contributor's reviews and showcasings. (Some of these may get duplicated if they do their top 10, but I've got so many tabs open I have to link these and close them.) Couldn't list them all of course. I don't know if I'll be able to do Thread 9.
I'd love to do the proper linking and write out all the products, but I'm not writing out the entire name. I'll list a few products from the renders if there's a lot of them. The artist listed is the person who took the time to do these for you. Many thanks!
I test the links after doing a couple. The links go to the render, where you can find the link to the product.
DONE- I'll add more in another post as it will get confusing for you if I keep inserting here, and I have got some other things to get done. I'll finish my top ten tomorrow as I go through the rest of thread 8.
200 Plus Head and Face Morphs Darius 7, Kimo 7, Aging Morphs and more FANTASTIC RENDER by Barbult. Photographic!
Badlands Roamer Outfit FWSA Tisha Kansashi Hair Tisha with Eliot Hair Novica
BD Aether (Mika 7) and Mischievious Fairy Outfit Novica
BD Esther Llynara
Biker Bandit and Danny Novica
Biker Bandit Poses Barbult
Biker Bandit Poses Ekko, Jeans and Button Up Outfit, Heath Hair Novica
College Girl Dorm Bundle Isidorn
Creepy Hollow FW Aran Akiko Lucille the Zombie Novica
FWSA Chastity Barbult
FWSA Grace and Vidra Hair Novica
FWSA Halina (mixed with Genevieve) Halina Barbult
FWSA Seth Construction Worker Outfit Novica
FWSA Sushmita Barbult
Heavy Motorcycle Road Cruiser Novica
Medieval Tavern IceDragonArt
Mika 7 character (with others mixed in) Wonderland|
On The Shore Example 2 RGcincy
Radioactive Corridor Interior Labyrinth Circle Decimator Crab Novica (a fun challenge with RGcincy- we had to kitbash and combine sets, using our order histories)
Shaya for Mika and Georgia Hair Wonderland
Skelita and Darkshade Outfit Novica
Talisken Wonderland
Tara and Sachra Nox Hair Novica
Wishful Thinking and RPC Volume 5 Tropical Rainforest RGcincy
L'Adair's Top 10 For 2017
In progress
1. Hands down my favorite of favorites is KA's Iray Ghost Light Kit. There is no better way to increase the "ambient light" in a scene without ruining the mood. Render 1 Here, a subtle ghost light brings out the details in Giovanni's face. Render 2 In this render, the ghost light on the bottom of the spaceship makes the ground below light enough to see details while keeping the overall "night" feel of the scene. Render 3 I used ghost lights in the entire "Photo Shoot" series, but none were more important than in this scene. A ghost light at the back of the room, out of sight, mimicked light coming in from the open door, and two more enhanced each of the photographer's lights, all without adding any unwanted extra shadows. (By the way, the brick wall uses shaders from Mec4D, Volume 2, listed below.)
2, 3, & 4. Mec4D's PBS shaders: Volume 1, Volume 2, & Volume 3. When it comes to all things metal, 99% of the time I turn to Vol. 3. And I often mix the micro surface patterns from Vol. 1 with the metals of Vol. 3. And Vol. 2's volumetric shaders, from water and milk to gummy bears, can't be beat. (IMHO, of course.) Render 1 In this scene, the glasses and whiskey shaders are from Vol. 2, as is the metal of the gun, (there are actual "gun metal" shaders!) The metal on the man's spurs and the foot rest are from Vol. 3. Render 2 Anything in this scene that's metal or painted is using one of Mec4D's shaders, as well as the glass on the car.
5. Grassy Grounds Megapack from Esha is not Iray, but works really well in Iray. I frequently use the smaller clumps of grass with Ultrascatter to create lush lawns, or add some 3-D grass to an otherwise flat ground plane. Render 1 and Render 2 both have lush lawns of instanced grass, with just Iray Uber Base applied before rendering. Render 3 uses sparse grass on the floor of the cyclorama to add texture, yet preserve the wild feel of the environment.
6. UltraScatter Advanced Instancing for Daz Studio is a must have in my tool arsenal. In the lush Grassy Grounds renders above, I've used thousands of instances, something I simply wouldn't attempt without this utility. To date, I've used UltraScatter for lawns more than anything else, but I have one published render where I used the trees from the Dark Trees Pack 1, (an old PC+ product,) and used UltraScatter to place them thoughout the ground plane of Stonemason's Through the Woods. Render 1 (This scene uses subtle lighting behind the trees to allow emphasize the glowing alien. This image is best viewed full-screen—with room lights off!)
7. I really can't say enough about City Bike and Poses; The poses, the movement, male and female, icons to turn the light on and off... Hands down the best 3D bike I own. I was so impressed with the attention to detail from this vendor, I bought his Dolly Heels when they came out, just to support him. Render
8. KA's Iray Snow, Ice and Ash was a Christmas freebie in 2016. A DO, Daz pulled it from the virtual shelves until this past December. I didn't need it earlier in the year, but I used it on my last render of 2017, Render The falling snow behind the faun is all from the "Snow System" object, and I used shaders from the product to add snow to the cliffs, rocks and water of Secluded Shoreline, as well as on the existing snow of the RPC Winterland tree and bush. (The snow in front of the faun is postwork.) This product is easy to use and gives great results. (Of course. It's from KA, After all.)
1. NGS2 This shader brings new life to older generation characters and generally improves most later generation characters as well. This adds a high level of realism to most skins.
2. Facegen Artist Pro If you like making your own characters, FG gives you a great place to start without needing to use a more robust modeling software. It is the best of all the sculpt from photo software for Daz Studio.
3. Karissa Hair Finally, a long and curly hair for later generations. With a bit of modding via Dformer, you can create a side part version as well. I posted the morphs in the Freebies section if interested.
More later...I'll edit this post after I think it over. :)
Trip Down Memory Lane: SOME Thread 8 Renders of 2017 Post #2
Again, the link will take you to the post with the render, which also has a link to the product. Thanks to these contributors for showcasing the products and sharing their opinions.
Camdyn Cebele Hair H&C Sweater Dress Novica (I really like Cebele Hair)
College Girl Dorm Novica
Cookie Wonderland
Diesel Llynara
Elijah 7 and on Gen3F Barbult
FWSA Xavier Firefighter Uniform Beach Vibes Outfit Buzzed Hair Novica
GDN Luna Scott Hair Oleander Hair Novica (For Luna, also see Hat and Hair Helper)
Gemma Pro Studio HDR Lighting System Novica
Gentle Paladin and P3D May Novica It works as a modern dress, and the boots can also be used!
Hat and Hair Helper (Gen3) GDN Luna X-Fashion Turban Scarf X-Fashion Leather Jacket Novica
Lilinoe & Aiko 7 combo Georgia Hair Starlight Dress Jewelry Basics Barbult
Mid Forest Vale Example 2 RGcincy
Nyarai Hobby Clothes RGcincy Be sure and read hair tip, in case you forgot about it.
Princess of Atlantis Textures For MFD Vega for V3 Llynara
Rabbicus The cactus rabbit creation by RGcincy, see the link under the image for the saga.
Robbus Goblin IceDragonArt
SC Laurana Wedding Dress Novica
Shanghai Style Pix Jingfei Llynara
Talisken Barbult
Thieves Alley Novica and question/answer about the set
More coming sometime tomorrow. (well, it's 4am so later today.)
Trip Down Memory Lane SOME Thread 8 Renders of 2017 Post 3
The link will take you to the render.
Andy Nath
Anicinable DivaMakeup
Arianna for Aiko 7 Zamara for Aiko 3 Wear Them All Autofit Expansion (Gen3M/F)
Army Uniform (Gen2/3M) Mayan Ruins Theo Novica
Brigitte Barbult
Collective3D Movie Sets Backyard Vacation Style Set Anicinable Beach Vibes Outfit Novica
Dale Luci45
Dax Hair FW Hillary This shows UHT Shaders high shine, tweaked Novica
Eilish Rundown School Classroom Wall Ranger Outfit Apocalyptic Plant Indoor 2 (lighting) Novica
Far Journeyer (Generation 4) FW Brianna (using Wear Them All) Novica
FWSA Liam H&C Casual A FWSA Robert Matthew Hair Novica
FWSA Noah Lynara
FWSA Yulia Bella Donna Dress (and Poses, Chaise, Shaders) Anjou Hair Novica
FWSA Whitley Jolina Hair Sand Serpent Outfit Novica
Honeybolt Ceramics for Iray Novica
Iray Faux Fur Shaders Bearded Lady Dorian Hair Myrddin Wizard DonovanColbert
Knights of Valor (G3M) IceDragonArt
Lexi for Rune 7 IceDragonArt
Medina City Generator RGcincy (This seems like a really fun product!)
Nala Cold Shoulder Outfit Gladstone Gardens Novica (another outfit with good movement)
Rane Daria Dress Different Teeth *See this for swapping teeth maps with another character. Another of Rane Novica
Sexy Skinz Lace Bodysuits Novica
Streaming Hair Novica
Summer Maxi Dress FW Hillary (see also Dax Hair) Twlight Hair Novica Wonderful materials on that dress
The Briefing Room RGcincy
Wasteground Vignette Novica (great props!)