NEW! Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 6
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I think the sigs were lost in the change (mine was). I still haven't figured out how to use named links in the new forum.
No, I haven't bothered to do it. I had Jaderail's image and haven't replaced it,I was going to leave it up a year but the forum changed over and it will be a year on the 23rd. It basically linked to my thread and I think the Zbrush Art Studio thread. Whatever I do, it won't be a huge banner. (TJohn, your cat is priceless!) I am probably taking a humorous approach for part of it.
Well, Eva's made her debut. Anyone who bought her can share their renders, I think I am sitting totally out of this with exception of perhaps the hair products. The lack of family friendly outfits in either bundle makes it a no-go. The fairy outfit is decent and without cleavage (and backside is well covered) but with a cutout to show the belly, that eliminates it for my book.
I have enough thinner/ precise eyebrow figures so I really don't need anymore. There is some hair at the beginning of the eyebrow, but you'd have to be as close as the closeup promo art to see it. I do like the aging wrinkles around her eyes, nicely done! If it weren't right after the Summer sale, and I weren't so broke, I might dabble- but it IS right after that long sale so...nope.
Anyone who uses lingerie does get offered a very nice set in that Pro Bundle, it's definitely a bit different (bottoms in particular.)
So if you buy anything from this sale, feel free to post it. I'm not sure whether I'll get the hair right now or not. There is already an Eva thread in Commons (it's only 2:30am) so hop over and weigh in.
I'm not seeing the need for a base figure that isn't too different looking from V7. The hair looks good. And the (mostly) IRAY only promo art doesn't help me decide whether I will be able to use it. Like Victoria 7, the skin has a coppery cast in the promo art which I'm not sure is the choice of lighting or whatever. But it doesn't appeal to me.
In the Eva forum, they announced they listened to the posters about the lack of family friendly, so check the scrolling banner to see the free outfit if you buy the base or the bundles. (Although I am wondering frankly how they got that promo banner art done so quickly.) Whatever- it's a nice gesture.
Well, you lovers of men characters, there will be a new male released within the next 6 weeks, according to Daz_Steve. It will be Generation 2.
Bar Italia
Oh, what a cool FAST scene this is- I mean literally three minutes and poof- with the lights/full scene preset. If you want a fast scene at an eat-out place, Bar Italia is for you! I also love that you can turn off certain walls to get better shots. That fuzzy background is not DOF, it is a well placed DOF image to give the illusion of an extended room. However, you CAN go through those swinging doors to another section. In the render with the doors, you can see the "DOF" oven in the background. Really fun and well done! I put Georgy in the scene so you could see how the default lighting does on this. Also check out the Cafe Italia and Pizzeria Italia.
Yep, it's 3DL lighting.
So you can easily tone down the lights, add a distant, etc. One thing- there is a Shadow Map shadow setting which will throw artifacts so change that to raytrace. I believe it was "Sun" distant light.
I like the idea of getting a new male figure. Maybe it will be freak 6? That is the only character left in the iconic male character line that sold well I think.
Of course I'm secretly hoping for the cute male alien with exotic skins. But I don't forsee that happening.
That is some bar. I think that is the first time I've ever seen a red cash register. I like image number 8 which shows the bar's niced rounded counter.
My favorite was the soccer match playing on the television. Wonder who won? I noticed some of the lighter areas do have a bit of washout throughout the cafe, but as I said, these are the defaults.
LY Mila Phoebe Hair Jessica Dress
Mila was already iray optimized (says MilaIray) and I had "surfaced" her with the Iray Uber Base. So instead of removing it, I decided to test and see what loading that on top of an already iray surface would do. (Keep in mind I don't know what I am doing, so if my explanation is wrong, anyone hop on in!) What this shader does: If your surfaces aren't optimized for iray, you select them and apply it. (over in Surfaces, make sure everything is selected.)
In my mind, this should be increasing the effects, only guessing though, and I think that's what it did. Compare these two images. I'll do a 400 width so you can see them side by side.
iRay Uber Base is found in Content Library under Shader Presets>iray.
Headed out the door for a vet appointment. Does anyone have any renders showing the effects of before and after the iray Uber Base?
Thanks for the heads up - just added it to my cart, got the discount to make it free, clicked on the next
Iray Uber Base preset just applies the sahder with some default settings - applying it to a surface thata lready has the shader will at best do nothing and at worst override the custom settings.
SimonJM- You're so welcome.It's so hard to keep up with all the threads and see what the latest info is, or where it's posted.
BTW, if you like the more natural eyebrows, Mila is a good choice. That's who is rendered above, I added the products link. It was Mila, Phoebe Hair, and Jessica Dress (got that really discounted, otherwise I wouldn't have it. I don't particularly care for the side of the bust (what there is of it!)
I do have a question- I did use the Uber Base on the dress, but it doesn't sparkle. What exactly can be tweaked in Surfaces to make things more glimmery if they were originally 3DL surfaces, but are being rendered iray? (after Uber Base has been applied.)
Coming up: LYFW Sherri.
Thanks Richard! Will that work on the V6 M6- or if I recall from another Sickleyield article, there's a different one for people other than the Uber Base?
I am reading this at the moment: (From Sickleyield.)
Iray Surfaces And What They Mean
LYFW Sherri REV Hair For Genesis 2 Female(s) Jazzy Ruffles
One thing to note about Lyoness / Fred Winkler Art, is the real approach to eyebrows. Look at the promo art- note one of Sherri's is different than the other one. Only slightly, but that really adds to the realism. You can't see that in mine due to the hair covering the eyebrow.
Looking for a fun, casual short hairstyle? REV it up!
FWSA Tomsy Sai Fon Hair For Genesis 2 Male(s)
KNOCK ME OVER WITH A FEATHER!!!
I am not a user of Fiends but I decided to give Tomsy a go on Genesis 2 Male. Wow, nice regular looking young man! (The thumbnail promos do show that but I'm guilty of surfing through using the main promo art sometimes.)
I'm playing with the iray Linear Point light and thought I'd share some settings for people who haven't played around with it yet. As you know, you'll get different results based on your character's skin, and your light setup, but this will get you good light placement then you can change the strength of the light / settings as you wish. So going to show you what light and shadows the linear point light will throw based on these given character and light locations. Just playing around but it might save you some time.
Showing you the JPA's (just playing around!)
This first one, if you added a distant light on our left, you could get a subtle, more rounded lit scene. As is, this is more of a lantern/object glowing close to him (about chest height) in the front. The character and light location are below.
After you set up your character, add your point light (Create>New Point Light) then Create a new camera. Use that camera to view where your point light is located. This is what it looked like for this first exploratory render.
Okay, so the light is moved and casts a more even, but fainter light. The settings in the screenshot will do that for you.
However, once nicet thing about postwork is the ability to brighten, contrast, etc. Both of these are the same render, the darker one is the original. You can see I was able to bring it up to the same brightness as the render in the above post.
Heroes Defender Poses for Genesis 2 Male(s) Cutting Loose For Genesis 2 Males
Great variety of poses in this product. And you don't even have to have a hero! There's also a product for the gals. One thing to note- the URL will say for Lee 6, while the product name is for Genesis 2 Male(s) They need to get that in sync. Which is it? The product name and URL should be the same.
I'm seeing some common trip-you-ups (what does this do?) from people using iRay that through trial and error I've also encountered and tested. If you want to know what makes a big impact on your render, twiddle with the items below. Hope my explanations are on track, if not, anyone feel free to elaborate/assist. I've posted a render below, with the exact settings that I am giving you here. Go play!
In TONE MAPPING:
1. When you lower the Exposure Value, the Shutter Speed also lowers. Or vice versa. LOWER IS LIGHTER. Note when you move Exposure Value, it does not change the ISO. When you change ISO though, it does change the Exposure Value.
2. When you lower the F Stop, the Exposure Value lowers. So what's that tell you? Yep, LOWER IS LIGHTER
3. EDIT: Film ISO affects Exposure Value, and it is the opposite of the three above sliders. LOWER IS DARKER. It's like real film- ISO 100 is okay, but I'm finding I like to start at the 115 - 125 range and tweak the other three.
4. Burn Highlights- how much your highlights show up (I think of it like how "tight" they are too- sharp difference or fade out.) HIGHER IS MORE.
5. Crush Blacks- think of this as contrast using your dark colors. HIGHER IS DARKER.
Try these settings:
Exposure Value: 12.81 Shutter Speed 138.62 F Stop 6.71 Film ISO 115.00 (testing 125, which is good too)
Burn Highlights .17 Crush Blacks .35
Now do a render for about a minute, hit cancel. Go change that ISO to 100 and Resume your render. You'll see the difference. It's darker. Stop the render again and drop the ISO to 90, hit Resume. You'll see it's even darker. By playing with only one thing, you'll get a better feel for it.
So clear that render and start a new one, put the ISO back to 115. Go to Exposure Value and put lower it to 12.00 and see what that .81 difference will make. Render that for a minute or two, cancel, then drop it to 11.00 and Resume. You'll also notice the Shutter Speed dropping too. Your render gets lighter and lighter! Now reset Exposure Value back to 12.81 and twiddle with your F Stop to see how it lightens with lower values and gets darker with higher values. You can play with all of these and find your happy place so to speak.
Remember you don't have to Cancel and start completely over when you are tweaking these- and by Resuming it's a great way to see where the changes are! BTW, be sure and stop any Aux Viewport previews before you start rendering so you don't strain your system.
Another thing worth mentioning- if you are getting grainy, you may be timing out. The default settings in your Render Settings for seconds and iterations (Look under Progressive) aren't that long or many. Remember with iRay you can stop anytime, cancel, then go up to Save>Save Last Render- at whatever point you want to stop. Really cool. I stopped this one at only 27% to show you what to look for- graininess or "blobs." This is using the settings listed in bold, above.
Environment
To get this look, for Environment:
Sun Sky Only, Infinite Sphere, Draw Dome Off, Environment Intensity 1.0, Environment Lighting Resolution 512, Lighting Blur Off, all the Dome XYZ at default 0,
SS Sun Node- Set to my camera. Did you know you can create a camera then select it as your sun position? So go up to Create>Camera, then in parameters here are the XYZ translation and rotation coordinates: (First is translation, second group is rotation) To set it in Environment, do NOT click the cog for SS Sun Node. Click the text box itself.
-159.32 / 51.66 / 308.84 6.97 / -28.42 / 0
Your character will be well lit from anywhere near World Center (0, 0, 0) (BTW, you 3DL folks can use the XYZ's above to create a good distant light from front)
Disk Intensity is 1.00, Scale is 4.0, Glow Intensity 1.0, the rest are default. (Some of these might be too, I don't remember so I listed them.)
Whew. So if anyone still says they're stuck with something that doesn't show up at all, well, I'd be at a loss to assist. Hope this helps.
Going to render one while I get some shuteye- turned up the ISO to 128 and the Burn Highlights from 17 up to 20. Will post tomorrow, but I think these settings might be an improvement. The post above will get you started and then you can tweak from there- and have fun!
The Exposure Value, ISO, and Highlights were changed. Here's what it did:
Exposure Value: Was 12.81 went to 12.96 (that means the second one went darker. Remember, lower number is lighter)
Shutter Speed and F/Stop stayed the same.
Film ISO (ISO) was 115 to128.00 (Went lighter- higher ISO is more sensitive to light.) When ISO was changed, that's what changed the Exposure Value. The ISO will change that and leave Shutter Speed and F Stop alone.
Burn Highlights went from .17 to .20 so the light areas will show up more. Note how some of the details disappeared even with this tiny change (in conjunction with more ISO and higher Exposure Value)
Since I want detail, I would probably settle on an ISO of 123 or so (which would change the Exposure Value to 12.91)
Odd note on lights, from a photography vid I watched some time ago. Yellow lights (or was it red) make skin look soft, and it makes details difficult to see. Blue light makes skin harsh, and brings out details. That in it's self is a difficult thing to balance, lol.
It's why I haven't missed working with Iray of late, there is just so many angles to mess with, and so many things that must be perfect, or the render just looks like play doh. lol.
Good renders tho, far better then anything I managed to scrap together.
http://zarcondeegrissom.deviantart.com/art/Iray-It-s-a-grand-new-world-520743258
You have a nice variety of skin tones in your gallery. I have the lights at 6500 which is pretty much white, or higher, so it's a whitish blue. I'm still trying to figure out when that kicks in and when it doesnt (aka, the lumens and temperature do or don't affect distant and spots? Is it only the Environment lighting? Arrgh.
In order for the color box (RGB number thing) to work (be true), that 'Temp' needs to be set to 6500k. Otherwise, the 'k' tints the color coming out of the other box (and then the map after that if there is one). It's like having two 'Jell' slots in front of each light, they both combine to tint the light color (before the map if there is one).
That in itself was quite maddening for me before I figured out what was going on, lol.
(EDIT) runs to double check, as it may have changed since the beta.
(EDIT2) Yep, still the same.
As for 'environment' in the render tab for environment mapped lighting, haven't a clue. That dose not work inside a room unless there is windows, lol. The Emisive shader, and the other 'Photometric' lights do all act the same with color.
I only mention that 'Map' bit, as the Emisive shader also has a map thing on top of the other two settings for color. like three jells instead of two.
Iray, is complicated. I have concluded that if you don't have a docterets degree in Photography, and atleast a masters degree in "geometric optics", Iray will be incredibly dificult to grasp. I have neither, lol.
Jaderail died a year ago today- if you'd like to pay your respects, he has a thread here in the Art Studio called "Jaderail Is At It Again."
Jeff was very patient with me. I have to laugh when I think about some of the things I asked! He and several others pitched in during the wee hours of the morning to help me out and of course, it was usually something I was doing wrong.
Miss him terribly and think of him often, not just today.
Interesting- with the model for Tulip Hair. You know, the one with the huge lips and glassy eyes? I admit, I hate pencil thin eyebrows but to me, it's also beause the lips are oversized, not wide enough to pull off that much botox, and they pull the skin SO bad at the corners. They overdid the "turn up the corners."
Go to the bundle then look at the thumbnail to the right of the one where she is doing a backbend. Then skip one and look at the next closeup. What do you folks think? Attractive? Perhaps the ability to morph her gives a different look.
I looked at the e-mail, and thought it was just another hair in the eyes style, lol. I didn't even give it another thought. Simply the slice-frame cover-promo in your link is enough. I'll bight my tong there, as I suspect I'm already in the Daz3d dog-house as it is for discovering more fundamental problems with G3F fit-to 'Auto-generated morphs'.
bbhg, what would you think about all this. Perhaps silence at this point is best.
I've never seen a model quite like this one, so that's why I am thinking she can be morphed into a more traditional character without that skin pulling. It actually makes me hurt to see the corners of the mouth like that. It's too much mesh stretch.
Oh, you're in the dog house? If you discovered something that isn't working right or could be improved, then you did the right thing to bring it up. Sometimes I hear of people supporting bug reports and they don't get any feedback whatsoever that it's been addressed, other time it seemed like rapid fire response. Was this something inherently wrong?
I have found to my dismay, that if the mouth is far enough off in shape from plane genesis, dials alone can't undo the shape and leave the rest of the face shape intact. I've picked up a few figures in the past, because I like some part of the face, only to find that something else just, well mixing face parts from different figures is a tad tricky if not impossible, lol. As for personal taste, the figure in the promo for that hair, I simply would not have an interest in myself (not Human, not Elf, and not Vulcan, lol).
Without going into the complete backdrop of what I'm aware PA's do to make cloths and hair fit specific daz original figures, and the mechanisms that are supposed to make those outfits fit other figures based on genesis or the daz original figures. I just pealed the 'New' stickers off the V7 Pro bundle stuff yesterday, and the entire cloth-fit shape-following system appears to be broken on G3F.
If the pics are inappropriate for your thread, I will respectfully remove them.
Never before, have I needed to resort to using D-forms on outfits to deal with poke threw on G2F/G2M figures. "Mesh smoothing" has just worked before, and now it is equally as broken as the mechanism that imposes the figure shape onto the cloths and hair for G3F figures.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/869357/#Comment_869357
To be fair, some stuff dose work fine, as it is well away from the 'problematic' areas.
EJ Valeria, Austrani Outfit...
Images are fine Z- I am only picky about the thong butts and size 46 busts barely covered, lol. I'm still looking at / reading what you posted.