Where to start in the Daz Store?
mike_gionet
Posts: 0
Hey guys, Mike here. I just started working with Daz Studio for the first time yesterday. So far so good. I want to start getting some content for it ftom thr Daz store. I'm an author co-writing a young adult contemporary/urban fantasy series.
My main goal is to make characters from the book series, essentially teenage age and up. Do i focus mainly buying hair and wardrobe sets? Are morphs and pose sets essential? Trying to mske sure I'm buying material that'll be used a bit. Thank you in advance.
Mike
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To an extent that is a matter of taste and skills - you could, in principle, make any of those yourself. Several characters or a few morph sets would allow you to set up different bodies and faces, characters would give you skins (or you could use Skin Builder, though it has only a female version for Genesis 8 so whether it would cover the male characters would depend on their age). Poses are not that hard to make if you have the eye, and they don't require any external tools, but having soem sets as starting points may be a time-saver - just bear in mind that a lot of sets lean pin-uppy, which isn't going to suit YA characters.
As Richard said, what you need will depend largely on what skills you already have, if any. Some absolutely critical tools are the base morph packs for whatever generation you're working with, and it's advisable to stick with a single generation, whichever one you choose. For example, if you choose Genesis 8, you'll need the following:
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-female-body-morphs
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-male-body-morphs
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-female-head-morphs
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-male-head-morphs
On top of those, I'd recommend 200 Plus, which gives you a ton of extra morphs for building character faces from scratch, and since you're going to be working mainly with younger characters, also Growing Up. There aren't a lot of younger characters in the Daz store, so you'd be better off buying adult characters and making them younger. Beyond that, it's a matter of what suits your needs. Personally, I never buy pose packs because I find posing easy and can just do it myself; also, I tend toward poses that are not likely to be represented in the store.
There is not much support in the Daz store for teenage characters, or their age appropriate wardrobe, or poses. The Daz store emphasis (based on what most customers seem to buy) is sexy female stuff.
For shaping, take a look at products from vendor Zev0, in particular his Growing Up series. That lets you make other character that you purchase look much younger.
Stick to a single generation of characters, like Genesis 8. Products for different generations usually do not mix well or at all without expensive and imperfect converter products. There are exceptions, of course, but as a beginner, your life will be easier if you stick to a single generation until you are experienced. If you have compatibility questions, ask in the forum. Remember that Daz has a 30 return policy. If you buy something that doesn't work, submit a help request and return it for a no hassle refund.
Look carefully at the skins of characters you buy, to find characters without heavy wrinkles, dark beard stubble, etc. to find skins appropriate for teens. For male teens, I recently liked the skins of Ricardo (a adult male, somewhat effeminate) and Gage (a baby character). If you buy Gage, just to use his skin on other characters, you don't need to buy the Tobyn baby shaped character. Most of us think Tobyn is pretty far from a realistic baby shape and is kind of weird looking anyway.
For clothing, you might like products by Dogz. I find his clothes to be less sexualized than most, making them teen appropriate.
DON'T BUY TOO MUCH ALL AT ONCE! First experiment with a few things, like the free Genesis 8 Essentials package and be sure Daz Studio is a program that you want to stick with. There is a learning curve, like any software. You may decide it's not the right tool for you. Or maybe it will be perfect, and by experimenting with the free stuff, you have a better idea of what to buy. And watch for sales, which happen every single day. Don't buy at full price unless you are desperate to have something that day. Tomorrow, or next week, it might be half price.
If you want to buy a lot of Daz Original products, like character bundles ($$$), investigate joining the Daz+ program. It can save you money if you are a big spender on Daz Originals. If you want to buy mostly packages from other vendors, like the Ricardo, Gage, and Growing Up products, Daz+ is less beneficial. Daz+ membership also goes on sale periodically, so if you want to join, watch for a sale.
Look into installing the Daz Deals browser plugin. It can help you shop efficiently in the Daz store.
Welcome, and happy rendering!
Right now there is a Flash Sale including Zev0 products. You can get Growing Up products for 75% off. In a few hours, it will probably be back to full price. To get the discount you have to enter the coupon code at checkout.
And if you do need babies, definitely buy Small World. I would never dial in Tobyn or Caryn by themselves, but Small World and a few other add-on characters make them totally usable.
Back at my computer now, so I can look more closely at the teen content I have, which is surprisingly extensive given how rarely I use them myself. For males, MaleM3dia's Teen Shapes is a great place to start, and SF-Design has Girls, Teen Girls, Teen Boys and Young Boys to help you along. As far as individual characters, I'd recommend Josh, Tori, Olivia, Teen Princess Leila (for G3, but still worth getting even if only to XTransfer her up to G8), and the Brothers Bundle.
For clothes and hair, that's all going to depend on your setting and character design.
Thank you all, this has been a serious help for me! Any good hair packs you'd recommend? The setting for the series is a fictional place on Earth. I'm shooting for that everyday suburban/urban look. Jeans, hoodies, varsity jackets, dress pants and shirts. A very modern time frame think early to late 1990s. If any other clothing packs might fit this scenario, please let me know! I'm looking into Daz+ as I'm having a fun time with it so far.
mike
Any Iray hair by OOT (outoftouch) or Windfield would be my recommendation. They have the most realistic look, I think. Linday has very nice dForce hair products. Most Linday hairs are long and wavy or "wet hair" look.
The already mentioned Zev0 bundle "Growing Up Bundle for Genesis 8 Female(s) and Male(s)" (and/or its GEN3 equivalent) is probably the best "secret weapon" to obtain a younger character from an adult one. Those packages ALSO contain sliders so as to tweak the results something I learned only recently. Results may vary; I am currently in the process of applying "Growing Up" to ALL my 100 or so DAZ shop bought characters; a very time-consuming process. The resulting faces I catalogue for myself in a Word document for future reference. Some "Growing Up" results are quite stunning, coming quite close to the best of young characters in the shop (some legendary characters are hard to beat though), others like 'Agma HD' or 'Alexandra 8' (when transformed by "Growing Up") I find pretty much unusable although in the real world there is a diversity that probably includes even these shapes and (subjectively) haggard faces.
*shakes fist @Richard*
If you ever need help with posing, consider me at your disposal. I'm always willing to help. I got into pose creation because I wanted to build pose sets for graphic/sequential artists. And while I do have some pin-up type stuff in my store, I also cover a lot of action and story telling. DM me if you need assistance with posing.
I nearly mentioned you as one of the major exceptions.
Okay. I'll let you off the hook then. ;)