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

1333436383950

Comments

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited November 2014

    Thanks for Klaus. I do like his general look but yes the pink under-eye and white under his lip were unexpected. Orianne has beautiful eyes.

    Bald is fine for me too, by the way. :)

    Post edited by IndigoJanson on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,647
    edited November 2014

    Jindi said:
    Thanks for Klaus. I do like his general look but yes the pink under-eye and white under his lip were unexpected. Orianne has beautiful eyes.

    Bald is fine for me too, by the way. :)

    Glad it worked out. =-)

    I also picked up Marco who I anticipate will be lots of fun. =-)

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

    Jindi said:
    Thanks for Klaus. I do like his general look but yes the pink under-eye and white under his lip were unexpected. Orianne has beautiful eyes.

    Bald is fine for me too, by the way. :)

    I've been trying the past twenty minutes- my Products are not only whacky, they won't open. They freeze when I click on them. I have started/restarted CMS, reimported meta data, reset database, then reimported again- nothing is working. My M4 is frozen up in People too- so can't access anything. This is annoying because I have used the studio several times since the new version install, this shouldn't be happening. I want to see what Pierre looks like, dang it! Will give it a few more tries then will have to try again tonight.

    I did read in a post where I had this before, and I shut off CMS then turned it back on again- but now I have to find how to shut it off. TIRED. :)
    (And I was going to do Pierre anyway, I don't want you to feel bad that I'm trying to do this for you and having trouble. As I said, I had him wish listed a long time. So excited to have him!) Check back later tonight and I'll see if I have things sorted out. But I am out of ideas as to how to fix the studio.

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    OK, no problem. I hope your software problem resolves itself. Nothing worse than suddenly finding Studio is unusable and not knowing what to do to fix it.

    By the way, lots of new freebies to pick up today everyone!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2014

    Pierre for M4 (Faber Inc)
    http://www.daz3d.com/pierre-for-m4

    Got it working. FINALLY. I have changed all my lights to blue (medium grayish blue) and that neck is still red. IT IS NOT MY LIGHTS.
    BTW, ReadMe is useless. You will find him Daz Studio Formats>Daz>People>Michael 4>Pierre. He's NOT in characters.

    I'm showing you the default with the red neck, I'll take a few minutes and tweak the surface, just that area.

    Edit- okay, I have tested him with four different light setups, including those that Serene Night and I really, really like. This is the Angkor Wat lights, all put on white/blue white, and even before the lighting, you can see a clear definition of different colored areas. Never seen anything like it. Showing you the screenshot of what he looks like in the viewport.

    pierreViewport.jpg
    1093 x 1500 - 105K
    pierre.jpg
    757 x 1000 - 397K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2014

    So, knowing that I am really tired (going on noon here, was headed to bed hours ago) I am probably doing something wrong. But all the lights are WHITE to almost white, so my lights are not making those zones from what I can tell. Below will be the render. This is a light set that I have often used.

    pierre2.jpg
    757 x 1000 - 383K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    I am looking at the promo art and starting to get a not warm and fuzzy. The promo art hides the neck. It's in dark shadows. So I'm thinking it's not me. Here he is, rotated around so the lights are different. Neck is still redder, but not quite as much. Okay, going to get some sleep. Anyone else have Pierre who has him rendered? Would like to know what you think/ what lights you used to make him look more balanced (or maybe you like him this way.)

    pierre3.jpg
    757 x 1000 - 371K
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,340
    edited December 1969

    My theory is that poor Pierre is just really, really embarrassed. :lol:

    Seriously, though, you should check the texture files to see if the skin looks normal there or not. If the textures are red, there's the source of the issue. If not, something is happening at the shader level, and should be adjustable in the Surfaces pane.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,244
    edited December 1969

    I don't think Pierre looks bad in your renders at all. I don't see any sharp delineations in the textures in your renders. Am I missing something? I think most DAZ model textures are too uniform in coloration. Real people that I know are not perfect in that way. I like seeing some variation in skin color and texture in different areas of the skin, as long as there isn't some sharp line between the areas.

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Oh, Pierre is here! He does look like he's had a bit too much sun in places. The morph is very nice and I love the eyes and brows.

    I seriously hope you are away getting some sleep....

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,647
    edited December 1969

    I had the issue with an ear on a character. It is was gray. My theory was the texture converter was applying poser mats for that body part.

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,106
    edited December 1969

    My theory is that poor Pierre is just really, really embarrassed. :lol:

    Seriously, though, you should check the texture files to see if the skin looks normal there or not. If the textures are red, there's the source of the issue. If not, something is happening at the shader level, and should be adjustable in the Surfaces pane.


    Looks more like a rash to me. :)
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,647
    edited December 1969

    Pierre has been getting an uneven tan on that tanning bed again. =-)

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    Thank you all!
    Me thinks I will go for Orianne instead of Klaus ... (and I thought I could find a M4 character to add to my runtimes ... welllll)
    Thank you!

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2014

    Diana Boots For Genesis 2 Female(s) (Slosh)
    Sweet And Sassy For Genesis 2 Female(s) (Aave Nainen)
    Nidale (DAZ3D/ Countess/ Silver)
    Hot Tub Pergola (DAZ3D / Jack Tomalin)
    Yu Hair (DAZ / SWAM)

    http://www.daz3d.com/diana-boots-for-genesis-2-female-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/sweet-n-sassy-for-genesis-2-female-s
    http://www.daz3d.com/nidale
    http://www.daz3d.com/hot-tub-pergola
    http://www.daz3d.com/yu-hair-for-genesis-2-female-s-and-victoria-4

    The dress is on sale at 46% off ($16.47 instead of $29.95) so you can use the twitter $2, or one of the others depending on the amount needed (there's the email $20 one for $4 off, Facebook has a $3, etc)The dress is REALLY easy to pose. She has a bent knee/leg out, no problem at all. It's in the Flash Sale, used one of the featured vendors for you :)

    Yu Hair is not on sale. I think SWAM was featured yesterday, I'm frankly not shopping anymore, loaded up- so not looking at the Flash Sales. I looked this morning so I could feature someone and Aave's is on sale. Yu Hair went on smoothly, no adjustments, renders fast. :)

    The biggie I was testing was Slosh's boots. OH MY GOSH!!!! This is a product that you may have breezed by because we are all frankly a bit overwhelmed with new releases, cart glitches, price changes, special deals. So I'm guilty of not closely scrutinizing some of the new releases. Thank goodness I did- the material zones on these are awesome- and Slosh was smart- there are WHITE options for the sections so you can make your boots match your outfits! Kudos! It's nice to have high quality with a lot of options- and again, I love the white options so we can play!

    I want to say when I think of boots, I think fall or winter. Slosh was smart and made them stylish so they can be boot-shoes. The details are really good- even the zipper pull has options- gold or silver. They are a bit glossier than shown, I changed the surface settings. I wanted the boots to be more like shoes than boots and shiny makes me think boots/rain/cold.

    Will be adding one more view so you can see the details in the sole/ front of the shoe tip. EDIT: Added. I left it with the light that was in the scene because it shows the pretty wrinkles and seams.

    I'm headed to get some sleep then have errands, so will check back in later tonight. Happy shopping! (if you have any money left or room on your credit cart that is)

    EDIT AGAIN: Here's the tip done a different color. HINT: It will still look black possibly in Diffuse, trust yourself. I did the green and thought, "Uh oh." But it rendered just fine.

    nidaleSloshBoots4.jpg
    432 x 900 - 283K
    nidaleSloshBoots3.jpg
    432 x 900 - 313K
    nidaleSloshBoots2.jpg
    432 x 900 - 294K
    nidaleSloshBoots.jpg
    432 x 900 - 356K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,340
    edited December 1969

    barbult said:
    I don't think Pierre looks bad in your renders at all. I don't see any sharp delineations in the textures in your renders. Am I missing something? I think most DAZ model textures are too uniform in coloration. Real people that I know are not perfect in that way. I like seeing some variation in skin color and texture in different areas of the skin, as long as there isn't some sharp line between the areas.

    Yeah, you know, it may not be a bad thing at all. People get rashes, people get sunburns, and many people have naturally ruddy skin (mine has a certain red tint to it, in fact).
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    The ruddy doesn't bother me, it's the clear delineation -a bar of different color cutting across his head- that doesn't seem right. Oh well. :)

    Here's a closeup of Aave's dress. If anyone is looking for a good starter light set (and who isn't?) try Merlin's Oak. That's this set, tweaked for a darker skinned figure.

    nidaleSloshBoots5.jpg
    1182 x 2000 - 2M
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2014

    Earlier, I was headed out the door to take my dog to the vet- people laugh when they hear his name is "Vanish." He was a stray, hard to earn the trust, took 6 months to collar him, and the name just stuck. Anyway, with that Hot Tub Pergola, try it as a blank deck- it comes with chairs and an umbrella, and without the hot tub, you have a really roomy gathering area. Beautiful for backgrounds too as there are so many different elevations. (Edit- and a distant light from the back makes a great striped shadow pattern, see behind Nidale?)

    FYI, I update the stats on the five thread every month or so. In two months, there were 23,255 views/posts (four threads closed out of five) and in the past month, 20,082. Glad people are still finding the threads and seeing the products/discussions. After this V4/M4 sale, we'll hopefully find some time to do some of those. :)

    Old Total 2 months ago: 178,888
    New total as of Oct 3,2014: 202,143 (+23,255)
    New Total November 19: 222, 225 (+20,082)

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2014

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/48855/
    LY Alysanne and LY Kennedy have been retired/pulled from the store, in case you didn't see the thread. I have both characters fortunately.

    This is one of my pet peeves- no announcement made by the vendor or DAZ. If we don't spot it, we don't know. I can see that the vendor may not want to announce it ahead of time if they are pulling the product because they aren't happy with it (which is the case with of these) but on the other hand, if someone has it wish listed (we can't buy everything we want all at once, it's called The Budget) then they don't get a chance to buy it. So I see both sides of it.

    Edit- put Kennedy in the spot Nidale just had (adjusted the lights) just to show you a quickie of Kennedy. No adjustments to expression obviously.

    kennedy.jpg
    637 x 1006 - 482K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    I'm hearing from folks that they are liking the new edition. We're out of the 4.6's and into the 4.7's now! 4.7.0.12. I haven't switched yet- dang it, just two days ago I updated to the latest version. Late to the party.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/48862/

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Yeah, I just downloaded and installed the update. I haven't tested it yet though.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Let us know what you think after you get a chance to try it :)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    When I installed it, got that "fatal error, must close" message, then it blinked and went off, and the studio was there. For pete's sake. There can't be a fatal error and HAVE to close, then it goes "well okay, forget that..."

    Here's a screenshot of the new studio.

    studio2.jpg
    1999 x 1112 - 173K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    WOW!!!

    Fast Grab has 92 items!!!!!
    (And I don't have 11 of them. That's all-eleven!) Is this a glitch? NINETY TWO???

    http://www.daz3d.com/fast-grab-3d-models/

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited November 2014

    So here's what you'd see as a PC+ person (and I am assuming PC also?) with both Belle (Pro) and Brodie (no Pro. Hmm.) in the cart, the discount is 48% according to the banner.. but the email says save additional 20% off when both are bought.

    For me, theBelle Pro Bundle said 51% off before adding to the cart which is 61.23
    Brodie was 35.75 at 51%

    Both together- it went Belle 61.23 to 48.98 (20% off 61.23 is -12.25, and so that is correct.)
    Brodie 35.75 to 28.60 (20% off is -$7.15, so that is correct.)
    total of cart was $77.59

    Added Skater Dress at 30% off 9.77
    So the prices then went $48.98 to $44.08 and 28.60 to $25.74 so the total was $79.60
    (You could also look at it that the Skater Dress ends up being $2.01, as that's the cart price difference when you add the third item Skater Dress)

    So with the Pro Bundle and Skater Dress (which is nice, lower priced out of all the choices) you'd be spending about $80

    Post edited by Novica on
  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Novica said:

    So with the Pro Bundle and Skater Dress (which is nice, lower priced out of all the choices) you'd be spending about $80

    Good morning Novica! :) Good work with the discounts.

    Sigh... I don't even have 80 cents left after the 2 and a half months of sales. I'm impressed with some of the outfits that these two have been released with though. Definitely some for the wishlist there.

    Wow, you have 81 of the Fast Grab items already? I have 8 of them. I have some serious catching up to do... ;)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    I guess I do- didn't do the math lol.

    I'm not buying anything either Jindi, I made myself a promise that if I splurged on the V4M4 that I would not buy much the rest of November, and family presents are my priority for December. And paying off the credit card. I just wanted to check and see if the discounts were applying correctly, and they are. I can't possibly use everything I have bought, and I haven't even used the other teens yet.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Oh hey folks- remember you can use your PC coupon to get $6 off too- or that $4 off $20.

    The timing on releasing two new characters is awful- is there anyone who has any money on the 20th, after two sales, with Thanksgiving in the US (translation- travel is expensive) coming up next week?

    So here's a fun question (and you lurkers stop lurking! Inquiring minds want to know...) but we need to nail down dates first-

    What day did the PA sale start?
    What day did the PC sale start?

    Then you pick up to 5 items that are your favorites from the sale. You don't have to have them rendered, but just judging on the promos, what are you REALLY excited about that you purchased? I can't answer this until we nail down the dates. Help?

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited November 2014

    The savings on the V4/M4 sale were so good, we all got a lot for our money there. I was down to $2.73 last night and still managed somehow to get 2 more male characters. Which reminds me to thank Luci for the helpful comparison of Phoenix1966 characters she posted to one of your previous threads, which I had on bookmark during the sale.

    I tend to search the forum for renders of characters and other things before i buy. 9 times out of 10, your Art Studio threads come up. That was how I found Luci's very useful review. :)

    Post edited by IndigoJanson on
  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Novica said:

    What day did the PA sale start?
    What day did the PC sale start?

    Well this one is easy (I keep records of all the dates).

    PA Sale was Sept 1st to Oct 14th
    PC Sale was Oct 15th to Nov 19th

This discussion has been closed.