NEW! Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 5

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  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,756
    edited December 1969

    Luci45 said:
    Luci45 said:
    Invited Guest Contributor
    Hi Cathie. Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I have been lurking some and busy with RRRR.
    I only have one character of the ones you listed, have not been buying most of the big character sets, just the base figures. Anyway, here is Neomi. (I think I made a few adjustments as her skin tone is too orange for someone from the Middle East.) She looks a little tamer without the tattoos. ;-P
    changing the color of the skin, did the trick. If I may be so bold as to ask, how? Is that done with another plug-in, or by just changing numbers in color-boxes next to the maps in the surfaces tab?

    I changed the subsurface, specular and velvet colors on this one, as well as diffuse, because the diffuse wasn't enough. I will check and post the formula for you later. I think I might have borrowed it from another model.

    Edit:
    Here are the changes I made to Neomi, pretty radical actually. I fooled around with her skin shade forever and finally used the trick that I think Scott-Livingston shared of Ctrl+ Clicking on another character to keep the maps but use the second character's settings. I used Ryuu for M5, and Neomi went from SSS shader to EHSS. I don't know which is better. I think SSS is better for really light skin that is more translucent. And here is Neomi as-as (left) and with the Ryuu shettings.

    Novica, with the EHSS the velvet is between 15% and 25% on the ones I have bought. It seems to do something nice. The newer SSS still baffles me, but I am not really too great with skin settings. Things are never predictable it seems to me, or else I just get confused easily with different maps, lighting and so many settings involved.

    ryuu_dials.jpg
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    neomis.jpg
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  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited December 1969

    thank you so much. so I'm guessing the ones that are full white or black need to stay that way. I'll look at one tomorrow to figure out what that forth color is, I've only noticed three. and am quite tired at this point (helping mom clean for an inspection).

    That attest gives me a clue, tho still confused as to why so much blue for the different skin depths (If I grasp that 1st and 2nd specular color thing at all). Perhaps I'll just throw stone at that surface thing, and make statures, lol.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2014

    Okay, you lost me. Ctrl + click and what? Somehow I missed that tip. What exactly do you do- I"ll try it, sounds interesting. Your skins always look nice, so you must be doing something right :) I just keep piddlin' until I get it right, if I'm doing a serious render and not an out of the box sample.

    Yeah, I'm with you Z- I'm not sure how to fiddle with the second specular either.

    FWSA Siblings- Jaina and Jessie (FistyFWArtSabby)
    Terri Hair (Predatron)
    Easy Environments: Oasis (Flipmode)

    http://www.daz3d.com/fwsa-siblings-jaina-and-jessi
    http://www.daz3d.com/terri-hair
    http://www.daz3d.com/easy-environments-oasis

    This is Jaina, with Terri Hair. And of course, the beautiful Oasis.

    What I did fiddle with was depth of field. I was practicing on trying to get it not just front to back, but off-sided a bit too. So I rotated my character so the fist in front has DOF, as does part of the palm tree leaves hanging down (that was tricky- look at leaves going in and out of the DOF) and I'm quite happy with it. Note the front fist, off to the side, is out of focus too. With the palm tree leaves and the fist, it puts the DOF off to that side.

    This took 3 hours to render as I really put my settings to adjust for the DOF (increased pixel filter width) and did really good settings overall.

    CLICK TO ENLARGE.

    JainaLtTerriHairOasis3.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited December 1969

    That is spectacular Novica. something with the lighting, camera settings, somewhere. The cloth of that outfit looks alive and real, like a photograph more then a render. very nice.

    I wish I could hang out and have fun with DG Shaders and Daz Studio settings, however I need to run and help mom clean up the place. Perhaps some day I can convince my younger brother to actually use Daz Studio and Blender rather then just talking about how cool it is.

    So much to do, not much time, have fun y'all.

  • scorpioscorpio Posts: 8,418
    edited December 1969

    Novica said:
    Okay, you lost me. Ctrl + click and what? Somehow I missed that tip. What exactly do you do- I"ll try it, sounds interesting. ...

    When you apply a shader for example if you hold down CTRL when clicking the apply icon a box will pop up where it says image, choose ignore then the shader applyes leaving the maps in place. This can be done to get the shader settings from one character to another character.
    Apply the character mats you want and then apply the second character mats holding down the CTRL key and choosing ignore and only the shader settings should apply. Do check that the new settings haven't placed any mats in places where the first mat didn't have any.
    Hope this helps and hasn't just confused more.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited August 2014

    Thanks ZDG :)
    I'll try the CTRL thing soon Scorpio64Dragon :) Thanks for the explanation.

    Lotus (DAZ3D / Silver / Countess)
    Nightfever Hair (DAZ3D)
    Midnight Huntress For Genesis 2 Female(s) (IgnisSerpentus)
    Gia Witchcraft Poses (Muscleman)

    http://www.daz3d.com/lotus
    http://www.daz3d.com/nightfever-hair
    http://www.daz3d.com/midnight-huntress-for-genesis-2-female-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/gia-6-witchcraft-poses

    Lotus was not put on Aiko 6, I used G2F. Wanted to point out the Midnight Huntress outfit has a purple material option, and the Nightfever Hair also has purple color. Also, Lotus has nice violet eyes. Love the hood on the huntress outfit, it has many morphs to help with hair poke through- easy to work with. It also lowers.

    Large renders. Click to enlarge/click again. EDIT: Added one without the hood.

    lotusMidniteHuntressNiteFeverHair4.jpg
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    lotusMidniteHuntressNiteFeverHair3.jpg
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    lotusMidniteHuntressNiteFeverHair2.jpg
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    lotusMidniteHuntressNiteFeverHair.jpg
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    OMGosh, Robin Williams (actor) committed suicide this morning- just posting it on CNN. He was 63 years old. His family said it well- focus should not be on his death- it should be on the laughter he gave to millions.

  • AJ2112AJ2112 Posts: 1,416
    edited December 1969

    Awesome renders Cathie :) Truly sad news on R. Williams, was a fan of his movies.


    Novica said:
    OMGosh, Robin Williams (actor) committed suicide this morning- just posting it on CNN. He was 63 years old. His family said it well- focus should not be on his death- it should be on the laughter he gave to millions.
  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    That purple hood is gorgeous, looks like real velvet. You just want to reach out and touch it.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Thank you awesome and Jindi :) I was pleased with the knee and ankle area lighting too, gave it a bit of oomph.

    I really like all the New Releases today- the swamp and the mountain villa in particular. Going on my wishlist though as we just got a new pool liner so we had to empty out and replace 30,000 gallons of water- so saving up for that water bill. We went swimming last night under the bright moonlight, was really neat. It was so bright we could see the polaris moving around and flipping its tail to scoot it along. (that's the "robotic" machine that cleans the pool.)

    Aspasia Hair (3Dream / Mairy)
    Aspen For Gia (DAZ3D / Morris)
    Jungle Girl for Genesis 2 Female(s) (DAZ3D / Mada)
    Perfect 10 Standing Poses For Genesis 2 Female(s) (Dumor)

    http://www.daz3d.com/aspasia-hair
    http://www.daz3d.com/aspen-for-gia
    http://www.daz3d.com/jungle-girl-for-genesis-2-female-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/perfect-10-standing-poses-for-genesis-2-female-s

    Make a note if you haven't tried Aspasia Hair (Genesis, Gen 4) on Genesis 2, it works wonderfully. Auto Fit does it's job (you'll have to select shoulder length hair,wonder why there's no long hair option) and you don't do a thing. Well, I'm guessing you don't, depending on the pose. I didn't move any strands and there may be some going through something, but it's such a tousled mass it's not readily apparent at first glance. This is without smoothing, I'd probably up that a bit to get the crinkles out of those higher strands. We discussed this hair in another thread- it's great for underwater scenes, nice floating action- and there are many morphs from which to choose. Slightly blowing, full blown, etc.

    I don't know how long the render took, because it was an over-nighter. It's also large. The Jungle Girl outfit has a nice top and other pieces, but the skirt is too skimpy for my typical render. She'd get a lot of bug bites in the jungle wearing that thing- but at least she'd be cooler, lol.

    Aspen For Gia has several makeup options, I went dark to match the hair.

    The Perfect 10 poses comes in a bundle too.
    http://www.daz3d.com/perfect-10-poses-bundle

    AspenGiaAspasiaGenesisHairJungGrlUSE.jpg
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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    http://www.daz3d.com/the-priory

    Reminder: I pointed this product out a long time ago- the main promo can't give you an idea of the gorgeous renders you can do from behind the main building. Be sure and check out the thumbnails, you have a great waterfront behind The Priory. At 60% off, it is a steal for what you get! (Go to New Releases page, banner, to see all the latest offers.)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Someone already posted about this, so I will mention it. I don't call attention to glitches for several reasons. But since someone already has...
    If you add all these to the cart it will drop to zero owed:

    1. Arcane Wands
    2. Victoria 5
    3. Michael 5
    4. DAZ Dimension Lights 1

    Other people are saying Fantasy Camp II must also be added- but all still comes to zero.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited August 2014

    Novica said:
    Someone already posted about this, so I will mention it. I don't call attention to glitches for several reasons. But since someone already has...
    If you add all these to the cart it will drop to zero owed:

    1. Arcane Wands
    2. Victoria 5
    3. Michael 5
    4. DAZ Dimension Lights 1

    Other people are saying Fantasy Camp II must also be added- but all still comes to zero.

    Have you tried it recently?

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    Novica said:
    Someone already posted about this, so I will mention it. I don't call attention to glitches for several reasons. But since someone already has...
    If you add all these to the cart it will drop to zero owed:

    1. Arcane Wands
    2. Victoria 5
    3. Michael 5
    4. DAZ Dimension Lights 1

    Other people are saying Fantasy Camp II must also be added- but all still comes to zero.

    Have you tried it recently?I tried it earlier and it didn't work for me, even with Fantasy Camp II (which I already own anyway).

  • KaribouKaribou Posts: 1,325
    edited December 1969

    *sneaks into thread as though I haven't been absent for months...*
    So... Hi! (lol) After falling off the planet (for a laundry list of reasons that you wouldn't believe if I told you), I FINALLY find myself drawn back here! But... I'm in a slump. I cannot seem to render anything without external prompting! I'm staring at a runtime full of goodies and I am at a loss. Someone needs to kick my Muse in her rear. Any suggestions?

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Don't worry about it, people pop in and out. Life happens.
    Do something fun- kit bash two scenes and put them together, or do a set you haven't done before, or pick one of the characters from the list I posted (from all those free figures- I listed the characters under each one.) I just did Aspen.

    I don't have Aiko 6, so anyone that has some of those characters, I can't cover them on Aiko 6 and that would be good too. Just have fun!

  • KaribouKaribou Posts: 1,325
    edited December 1969

    Oooh! I have Aiko and have barely taken her out of the box. Good idea!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Looking forward to seeing what you come up with :)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Fast Grab has become quite the joke the past couple of weeks, hardly changing. They added a couple things, in case you hadn't noticed. If you have garbage or just need an industrial fence, get this for under $4.

    http://www.daz3d.com/the-back-fence

  • KaribouKaribou Posts: 1,325
    edited December 1969

    I actually picked up that fence today, lol. I was somewhat astonished that there was an item in Fastgrab that I didn't already own...!

    Anyway, here's my "Fun With Aiko 6" render. My birthday was yesterday and my bff sent me a very generous DAZ gift card, which I promptly dented. Not much to say here -- everything in this image was effortless. It practically rendered itself!

    Used:
    http://www.daz3d.com/fw-lin
    http://www.daz3d.com/niaby-hair-for-genesis-2-female-s-and-victoria-4
    http://www.daz3d.com/mec4d-the-vampire-huntress-for-genesis-2-female-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/asian-prop-set
    http://www.daz3d.com/lady-samurai-poses
    http://www.daz3d.com/jewelry-box-everyday
    http://www.daz3d.com/the-streets-of-asia-2
    http://www.daz3d.com/wild-orchid-hair (orchid only)

    Oh, I'm going to tackle my favorite Olympia character next -- Persephone. In truth, it's a texture set and not a complete character, but that's one of the reasons I love this package so much. More than ANY other Daz figure to date, I adore Olympia out of the box. She's lovely, curvy, feminine, and graceful and her facial features are sooooo beautiful. The awesome Persephone textures are the perfect complement to Olympia.

    DeadlyGrace1.jpg
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  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Wow, that is just beautiful Karibou. I love it! Hope you had a good birthday, it certainly sounds like it. :)

    I was just stopping by to let you all know about the Fast Grab outfits (there's sci-fi and steampunk stuff) and Back Fence but of course Novica is already on top of it! (The deals, not the fence... LOL) The fence set is quite a new one and is definitely a bargain at that price.

    I agree about Olympia, despite being gorgeous she seems more real-world than some other characters (Victoria always seemed a bit cold and untouchable to me). So far, Olympia is the only G2F pay-for figure that I've invested in due to budget and because she was the one who appealed to me the most. I haven't been able to contribute much to the recent look here at the Genesis 2 figures for that reason.

    I think of my Olympia characters, I like Cassia the best, with Nidale a very close second. Cassia was a surprise, I picked her up with a coupon and didn't expect to like her half as much as I do.

    Can't wait to see your Persephone, Karibou!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Llamaghini Amenazador (Mattymanx)
    Nauticalli (Silver / DemonicaEvilius)
    Grid Girl Poses (DAZ3D / JGreenlees)
    The Secret Garden By Merlin (Merlin Studios)
    Cute Mini Dress And Shoes (DAZ3D / Sarsa / Xena)
    Pure Hair Lovely For Genesis (DAZ3D)
    Newport Outfit for Genesis 2 Male(s) (DAZ3D / Mada / Sarsa)
    Edric Hair (EmmaAndJordi)
    Hyacynth (Lisas Botanicals- not sold here anymore)

    http://www.daz3d.com/llamaghini-amenazador
    http://www.daz3d.com/nauticallie
    http://www.daz3d.com/grid-girls-poses
    http://www.daz3d.com/the-secret-garden-by-merlin
    http://www.daz3d.com/cute-mini-dress-and-shoes
    http://www.daz3d.com/pure-hair-lovely
    http://www.daz3d.com/newport-outfit-for-genesis-2-male-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/edric-hair

    Well, first of all, I am not a fan of short dresses so it's no surprise I think this dress should at least let me lower the hem. I found that disappointing- there are no morphs to adjust the hemline. I broke it down in Scene tab (hip, pelvis, you name it) so I dont think I missed it. It's cute for standing and the textures are very nice- just don't have your gal do any sitting. I've never seen a mini dress yet that was decent when a gal sits down- that's why they are minis. The shoes that come with the dress are very nice and have several color options- they look very classy.

    If you do want a character to sit on the hood of a car, keep Grid Girls Poses in mind.

    One thing to note- Lisa's Botanicals are really good about the material zones- I was able to turn the opacity to 0 on the leaves, and the leaves have several material groups. Lisa was also good about doing single stems. You can Google and see where she is currently selling, but the prices are higher.

    The Llamaghini is of course an elegant car, and Mattymanx delivers.

    TIP: for the Newport shoes, if you want to make them more formal, darken the sole. It's a separate material zone.

    If you have Dungeon Entrance, try the lights on other sets. I could have tweaked this scene a bit more but out of time. :) I only added one dim spotlight to the Dungeon Entrance lights.
    http://www.daz3d.com/a-dungeon-entrance

    llamaghini3.jpg
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    llamaghini2.jpg
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    llamaghini.jpg
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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Ooooh Karibou- LOVE Lin, the depth of field, and the lighting. I don't have most of those products. I am waiting to get the Aiko 6 bundle and Aiko stuff at Christmas or March Madness. But you're making me very ancy!!! That render is gorgeous.

    I'm with you- I was stunned there was a Fast Grab that I didn't have. I think they had to find something unique since nothing new had been offered for a bit. They delivered nicely!

    BTW, off topic- next time you folks in the U.S. are near a Best Buy store, go in and look at the Samsung 50" Ultra High Definition televisions. My jaw dropped- water in the scene is so crisp and realistic you think the screen is wet. Not kidding. And birds in the sky look like they are flying out of the screen. Some of the tv's were better than others (even among the Samsungs) but the 50" (and there are two) were the best by far. The larger ones were $9000 and the one I loved was $1400 on sale. (And yes, it's still in the store, and will be!)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    And happy belated birthday Karibou!

    cake.jpg
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  • KaribouKaribou Posts: 1,325
    edited December 1969

    Awww, thanks! It was a very good day. But now I want cake, lol...

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Awww, thanks! It was a very good day. But now I want cake, lol...

    Can I share it with you? I posted that and then thought about it all night!

    Reminder: Please vote in the RRRR thread.
    The theme is Freak Accidents.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/44964/

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Oh well DUH.
    I've been using DIM to download files so I can get them on external. I didn't want to do it helter skelter by making additional folders to store them in because I want to pick through all the ones I downloaded to see what I wanted to carry through and put in the studio. So I have it where "install after download" isn't ticked off so they don't install to studio. However, that leaves a huge bunch in the ready to install group.

    So, I want to install a product in the studio, but I don't want to install all those suckers. DUH. All you do is type in that ONE product in search, it clears out the Ready To Install bunch, then you can download it, go to Ready To Install and check the install box, and that one product zips right on through, leaving your original group stranded. Be sure and uncheck that "install after download" box again.

    For heaven's sake.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    I sure am saving money. It will be a cold day in you-know-what when I buy FOUR products to get a discount of any kind. Seriously? So I took a look at what I have bought since August 4th- the past 10 days...as I know I am not buying as much. I am still PC, not PC+, so buying the $1.99 items and any flash sales stuff. Here's my list:

    Sam Safari Pack (vendor 60%) (I have all the other Safari items in the set.)Then PC Items or free- Arcane Wands, Regal Cordivae, Beach Pod, Fafnir, Platea : Pergo, and The Back Fence.

    Hmmm... in 10 days I have spent about $13. That's only a bit over $1 a day. I have to switch to PC+ after this month.

    A lot of it has to do with the elevated prices on the men's items. $16.95 for a shirt/hoodie is not a must-have item for me, even at 30% off. Women's shirts in that range come with shorts/skirt and often shoes or jewelry.

  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,756
    edited December 1969

    LOL. Great minds think alike sometimes. I picked up the Back Fence too. I still don't have Olympia, but she is on my list. I didn't want to spend $50 to get her for free (probably should have.) Hopefully she will go on a good (like 65%) sale soon.

    I love the purple hood too, Novica, and Aspia Hair is pretty awesome too. Sorry I didn't reply to your question about Ctrl+Click to borrow character surface settings. ScorpioDragon described it better than I would have. I think it is Double click though.

    Karibous, that is a beautiful render. I know what you mean about doing anything without an external prompt. I have so much stuff and I just pull it out and play with it for a bit and go on to something else. If it weren't for RRRR I would probably never finish anything.

    Robin William's death really knocked me for a loop. He was one of my favorites.

    Invited Guest Contributor

    What a Character for Lee 6 http://www.daz3d.com/what-a-character-for-lee-6

    This is an excellant set of 24 face morphs for Lee 6. A lot of variety, from Chinese, Japanese, Korean to Vietnamese and Cambodian, etc. Just speculating from my impressions as to nationalities.) A great addition to the GM2 gene pool!

    A couple of idicyncrocies: If you try using the morph on Lee it will look weird, as the Lee head shape has to be zeroed first. The PA who did them, Chris Palomino, explained on the promo forum that he used the Lee head shape and made the sculpts from it in ZBrush, then saved them. So you need to have Lee to use them, but not have his head shape loaded, and you can use a different body of course. The second thing is that the morphs make the head wider so that the faces look a tad large, especially next to other figures. You can use the head propagating scale to reduce head size or reduced figure size. The head shapes actually look like average Asian head shapes so I am glad he did them this way.

    Asian_Characters.jpg
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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Kiddo, you lost me, which isn't hard to do. Are you saying studio will recognize that you have Lee installed and all we do is use GM2? I like the looks of the heads you did. I think I like the third one, top row, the best.

This discussion has been closed.