What works and what doesn't in 8.5?
So because of the recent sales, I decided to grab a Platinum enrollment and scoop up Pro 8.5. I've used Pro 7 for a long time and was happy and didn't see a huge reason to upgrade. But because there were claims that Genisis works in 8.5, I finally made the switch.
My concern now, though, is that I purchased a ton of stuff textures and morphs over the years that failed to work in Pro 7. (RAWART especially consistently fails in Pro 7).
Since I have a Platinum membership right now I'm planning on buying a bunch of product to use in 8.5 Pro, but I'm concerned about what will and won't work in 8.5 Pro. Also, I don't know that I have time right now to check like 100-200 items to make sure they're functioniny correctly, Ya know?
So does anyone know why certain textures and morphs and all that (like with RAWART) wouldn't have worked in 7 but will now work in 8.5? Is there any reason to consider that they would work? And, of course, does Gensis and all its morph add ons actually work in 8.5?
Thanks!!
Comments
^ And the 100-200 -- I'm talking about new product. Like, if I buy 200 new items, I don't think I'll have the time to go through them all one by one to make sure they work prior to the return time policy running out on the item. So if anyone knows if this issue has been fixed between 7(.2) and 8.5, that'd be awesome.
I know the Cowbell from 3DUniverse's Toon Cow totally crashes Carrara if you try to load it.
Other than that, I'm not sure - I hear people have good luck with the human stuff released prior to 8.5, but the stuff after it is sketchy.
But I so rarely use the human figures I'm not the one to ask. I did just get 8.5 as well, and was DEVASTATED that the Cowbell wont work. Not only wont work, but crashes the whole program taking all unsaved work with it.
I will have to open DAZ Studio and export it as an obj file for use...
Most things seemed to work okay for me. I haven't had a chance to really put it through its paces yet.
That being said, the HD micro displacement probably doesn't work, so if you see HD, be aware there may be issues. Also, the Genesis 3 figures don't work. Neither does DAZ or Poser dynamic cloth.
Ah! That's a huge help. I'd heard about dynamic cloth before (nice to know that it was never fixed). And VERY good to know about Gen 3.
Any ideas about M4/V4 morphs and textures that didn't previously work in 7Pro? Any chance those would work in 8.5?
Right now I have a project that I'm finishing in 7Pro so I'd like to not have to start working in 8.5 until after that's done as I'll have to redo all my shaders and stuff, ya know?
So something like this, because it has HD in the title, probably wouldn't work --
http://www.daz3d.com/vascularity-hd-for-genesis-2-female-s-and-genesis-2-male-s
Yes, you are correct. The HD morphs don't work and you can't fiddle with it yourself to get a useful approximation.
Another category that does not work well is some recent skin shader character packs because Carrara will misinterpret the settings, especially SSS. However, unlike the HD morph settings, you can still take the hi res texture maps that come with a character pack and make a custom Carrara shader that will work. Then you can save the working version for later use.
I have had trouble with some of the more complex fibermesh hair items, but that may be a limitation of my computer. They work but resource intensiveness slows down my response time.
You will have the most problems with loading a .duf file that contains a lot of specialized D/S shader functions, since even the Carrara equivalent is handled differently, such as SSS. I will say that in my limited experience, the genesis base textures that load when using a genesis figure seem to look better to me, than how Carrara translates the Poser textures.
As to the older stuff that didn't work in Carrara 7, if you have any of those items still, you could try and see if they work. If you don't, DAZ does have a 30 day money back guarantee, so the risk would really be kind of nil, and if you are a PC member, the initial out-of-pocket expense should be minimized.
It is also worth noting for new users that come across this thread, that just because shaders may have issues or require certain areas to be tweaked or rebuilt, it is not a weakness of Carrara, but rather how different render engines are built.
I just did a quick "grab" of Genesis/Genesis2 items in my product library. I think I removed everything that I know doesn't work, but I could have missed one or two. Some of the products listed may have issues that will require some work to get functioning properly. As I recall, all of the Genesis 2 items listed should work without a lot of problems (though some will need you to manually set up the textures - they will come in all black - Hot Mess and the X-Bikini bith have this issue), but I do stronly recommend Poke-Away 2 for Genesis 2, it really makes fiting things much easier.
Also, many of the Genesis (1) products come in the older ..DSF format and have never been upgrader to .DUF, and Carrara 8.5 does not recognise .DSF file. These products are still usable, you will just need to open them in DAZ Studio (DS) and resave them as the appropriate type back to your content libray (this will save them as a .DUF and they will now be usable in Carrara). Many of the Gensis products will have significant poke through that will require a bit of work in Carrara to fix. In my experience Genesis 2 items seel to fit better straight "out of the box", plus Poke-Away 3 makes fitting thins much better on Genesis 2.
I hope the list helps - and I didn't inadvertantly give you and bad info (though it is VERY possible - it's a fairly long list). I'm 99% sure all of the morph products listed work very well, the cloths and hair are more of a mixed bag.
Essina Outfit for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Capricornia for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Miwa Anime Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Bow Skirt For Genesis 2 Female(s)
Janna Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s) and Victoria 4
Scifi Bunny For Genesis Textures
Leyton Hair for Genesis 3 Female(s) and Genesis 2 Female(s)
Genesis 2 Alive! (need to bake the morphs to keyframes using DS and Animate2)
Muscularity Morphs for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Birthday Girl Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
AlphaKini for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Heart Jewels for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Shoe Pack For Genesis 2 Female(s)
Scifi Sniper Suit for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Patty Jewels for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Actual Hair 2 for Genesis
Nomad Wanderer for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Shape Presets for Genesis 2 Male(s)
The Artemesia Gown for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Angel of Retribution for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Leisure Pants for Genesis 2 Male(s)
Paper Dress for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Christmas Earrings for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Clogs for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Indoor Shoes for Genesis 2 Female(s)
NJA Ponytail Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Fantasia For Genesis 2 Female(s)
Mech Girl for Genesis 2 Female(s)
REV Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Sorcery Poses for Genesis
Tears Hair for Genesis
Battle Kimono for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Newport Outfit for Genesis 2 Male(s)
Genesis Starter Essentials
Pharaohs of the Sun for Genesis Female
Genesis 2 Starter Essentials
Crazy Locks Hair for Genesis & V6
Jungle Girl for Genesis 2 Female(s)
End of Summer Hair for Genesis and Genesis 2 Female(s)
Genesis 2 Female Clone for Genesis
Superhero Monokini for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Breast Control for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Char Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Francesca Dress for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Leris Outfit for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Guardian for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Dark Heart for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Lilim Outfit for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Victory for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Mistress Lilith for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Sci-Fi Siren Outfit for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Rope Sandals 2 For Genesis 2 Female(s)
Olympian Heroine for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Genesis 2 Female Mixed Morph Resource Kit
Genesis and V5 Walk Aniblocks (Requires Animate for Carrara)
Crowns for Genesis
Everyday Wardrobe for Genesis 2 Female(s) Jeans and Shirt
Hawthorn Hair for Genesis and Genesis 2 Female(s)
Poke-Away2! for Genesis 2 Female(s) (STRONLY RECOMMENDED)
Fantasy Collar Set for Genesis 1 & 2 Female(s)
Fantasy Collar Set for Genesis 1 & 2 Male(s)
Prehistoric Princess for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Belly Control For Genesis 2 Male(s)
T-Shirt Dress for Genesis
Ranger Outfit for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Ranger Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Ranger Props for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Intriguing Poses for Genesis Male
Morphing Fantasy Dress for Genesis
Clothing Breast Fixes For Genesis 2 Female
Handy for Genesis
Genesis Female Genitalia
DragonLord for Genesis
Genesis Ranger
Carrara Hair Caps for Genesis and Genesis 2
SciFi Bunny For Genesis
Sexy Silky For Genesis
Magna Hart for Genesis
Expressive for Genesis
Town and Country for Genesis
Preppy for Genesis
Pure Hair: Bubblegum for Genesis
Pure Hair: Classic for Genesis
Pure Hair: Sleek for Genesis
Genesis Supersuit
Genesis 2 Female Head Morph Resource Kit
Shape Shift for Genesis 2 Female and V6
Shape Shift for Genesis
Casual Sexy Poses for Genesis 2 Female(s)
Genesis 2 Female Body Morphs
Victoria 4 for Genesis 2 Female
Genesis 2 Female Head Morphs
Glute and Breast Movement for Genesis
Lily Nymph for Genesis
Boots for Genesis
NGM for Genesis Female
K-Nicky Hair for Genesis
Andromedas Legend for Genesis
Motorcycle Helmets for Genesis
Genesis Body Morph Resource Kit 1
Genesis Bracers
Nata Toon Hair for Genesis
Nata for Genesis
Lady Blaze for Genesis
Enamore Mage for Genesis
V3 and M3 Shapes for Genesis
A3 and H3 Shapes for Genesis
Stephanie 3 and FREAK Shapes for Genesis
Genesis Head Morph Resource Kit 3
Genesis Head Morph Resource Kit 2
Ethnicity for Genesis: Native American
Ethnicity for Genesis: Asian
Ethnicity for Genesis: African
Genesis Head Morph Resource Kit 1
Genesis Bikini
Genesis Alive (will need to bake the morphs to keyframes using DS and Animate 2)
G4 and F4 for Genesis
Gorilla for Genesis
Svana for Genesis
Highlander: Wildenlander for Genesis
Genesis Generation X
Genesis Evolution: Muscularity
V4 and M4 Shapes for Genesis
Genesis Evolution: Expressions
Genesis Evolution: Body Morphs
Genesis Evolution: Head Morphs
texture that use .ds and not .duf don't work.
iron freak don't work.
I have used the Knight Guard for Genesis 2 Male with no problem
Daz Hourse 2, DA Mounted Knight Pose Set, Knightly Barding, all the viking stuff,
those are a few I have recently used.
Thanks for all the feedback. It's helping! :)
There is a "Mega Flash Sale" going on today for select Genesis (1) items - up to 90% off (http://www.daz3d.com/daz-original-mega-flash#). Would be the perfect chance to build up your Genesis library with minimal investment/risk.
These sales are always so confusing. And they never seem to work when the items are in my cart."
I keep reading that there are a lot of issues with Genesis clothing in Carrara. Maybe all of that stuff was cleared up after the beta run through (as a lot of the comments seem to be talking about Carrara 8.5 beta).
Genesis is and Genesis 2 clothing and figures are, by and large, perfectly fine and functional in Carrara tho now, right?
I keep reading that there are a lot of issues with Genesis clothing in Carrara. Maybe all of that stuff was cleared up after the beta run through (as a lot of the comments seem to be talking about Carrara 8.5 beta).
Based on my personal experience,I would say your probably right as far as most of the Genesis/Genesis 2 content/figures work in Carrara, though as you can see from the list I posted I have only a small portion of what is avalable. I think the most recent update may have addressed some of the issues, but I wasn't experiencing a lot of problems before the update. But of course there are those items that don't work in Carrara, like HD morphs (too bad, because they are quite nice), or anything that has geografts. If in doubt, you could always post here to see if anyone has used an item in question.
Other than the items that are known to have problems, my strategy has been to get what I really want and hope for the best. If it's something I really want to use, but it just won't work in Carrara, I'll just use it in DS. But if you really don't like using DS, this strategy wouldn't work at all.
I'd keep watching the sales, with Genesis 3 out, a lot of the Genesis/Genesis 2 content will go on some pretty deep discount sales. For example, last week I was able to pick up the Aiko 6 pro bundle for about $10, compared the normal PC+ price is about $66.. With really deep discounts, you might not feel as bad if something doesn't work in Carrara. As you noted, the sales can be very confusing. I typically just go for the "simple" sales, I'm guessing we should start seeing more of the older generation Genesis stuff in sales where you can easily get 60-80% off.
Yeah, in the end I decided to disregard any Genesis 2 and beyond stuff. I'm really happy still with M4/V4. I just need access to a little more variety in clothes, etc. So Genesis is enough to help with that.
I cannot find the other thread on what works so shall post here
Predatrons zombie hunter van the rigging does not work or sliders for opening doors etc
I will have to convert to a prop in DAZ studio and break it up into bits by looks
or export as obj in bits
update converting to blended weights in DS and saving as a subprop worked
the sliders still do not but the rigging does
old barn duf import needs a fair bit of tweaking
ironically Age of Armour prob modelled it here
UV unwrap needs unticking particulary on grass and opacity and normal maps added
and bump maps added where needed
Amost all the stuff for the first Genesis works, except for anything that relies on geografts - those will either graft correctly but mess up the UVs (this is what happens with the gens) or will completely crash Carrara on save or (worst of all) appear to work correctly but crash Carrara when you save and then re-open the file. Somewhere in the forum there is a workaround but I can't find the bookmark.
Jonstark came up with one, conform a second set to geograft and hide the geograft
I don't know why some people say that HD morphs don't work in Carrara 8.5. I just made an experiment. I loaded Genesis(V5) with a few morphs added (left face pic) . Then I went to the parameters options, augmented them to 2 and, in Carrara 8.5, I applied the HD aging morphs (right face pic) to the figure face. There's a definite difference.