Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 7
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I have to confess I haven't used UHT2 yet, I do own it- and use the stew out of the first one, love it! The second one has tiling and brightness adjustments (as you said, more advanced) so I'd be interested to see a proficient user show us the results. I can't fiddle with it at the moment- I am headed out the door with a truckload of cut vegetation from yesterday that I have to get to the landfill. So, doing a Lone Ranger. (ta-da-dump, ta-da-dump, ta-da-dump-dump-dump) It's only 7:15am here, but it's going to be near 70 today so I'm going to be outside most the day. I've got those stupid briars that are running vines, and they're easier to see when other plants have turned brown. So today it's me vs briars.
Also curious, any of you getting snow for Christmas? Apparently a second winter storm coming in for some of you.
Thanks, Novica. Good luck with those briars. Fight the good fight!
Snow is in the forecast here in Illinois for tomorrow, with freezing rain on Christmas. Oh joy! But it's the Midwest. The forecast can change at any moment. Anything and usually everything happens here!
Going to be in the hi 30's in Ohio with occaisional rain then its supposed to hit 56 and rain all day the Monday after Christmas (56 in Dec? What the heck?!) then drop to a high of 32 on Tuesday. Go figure.
Wanted to show you guys a preview of Strangefates new armour that will be hitting the shop soon. Incredibly detailed and well made, I can't even recommend this armour enough. Its just gorgeous. This is in 3Delight and there are more examples on his thread in the art studio here.
If you like fantasy armour this one is a must have. Lots of material zones and useful morphs.
Wanted to show you guys a preview of Strangefates new armour that will be hitting the shop soon. Incredibly detailed and well made, I can't even recommend this armour enough. Its just gorgeous. This is in 3Delight and there are more examples on his thread in the art studio
Ooh, that looks amazing! I will have to go catch up on his thread. The last pics I saw were great.
Nice render! Lucky you to get to do a preview.
You must be a bit farther north in Ohio (I'm in Cincinnati). It's 42F today, 59 on Monday, then doesn't get cold until later in the week (or so they say, it's just as likely it will change by tomorrow!).
I am honestly honored to have the chance. His stuff is really breathtaking.
I'm in Akron so you are definitely a bit more south than I am. I used to live in Dayton for several years, and really enjoyed going down to your zoo. Its a lovely place! A bit too far for a day trip now though.
Yep, I snagged her today. :) Stunning! I did a 'play' render with her - the only postwork on this is sharpening and contrast, nothing else. But only because I haven't had a chance to dig in and do the postwork I love to do. LOL. She's wearing hte siilver glitter option.
I used hte Painters Lights on her - beautiful lights but boy, they can take a long time to render. If i remember correctly, I actually stopped this at about 38%...after over an hour render time. It looked pretty good at only 38% so I was happy with it. She's wearing Tatum Hair - I noticed after that there are some stray hairs on the left of her forehead that look weird, so I'll have to fix that later.
So yeah, this is pretty much a straight DS render, nothing special but wow, she's stunning! Those EYES! LOL
Very nice Jakiblue!
She definitely has the soulful look. Like a sad sea siren. (wow, I'm going for alliteration this morning.)
She does! I thought that as I watched her render - I wanted to cry! LOL
Oh, she is so gorgeous! Of course I grabbed her after posting here, but haven't had a chance to play with her yet. Gorgeous render. Love the glitter!
And yes, she has a very classical look, as if she's stepped right out of a painting.
I posted the first part of this in the sale thread, but in case you don't surf that one- it may be hard to find things you like in the massive freebie section- to me, it's full of textures I'd never use. I want the original outfits, sets, or props. I found two outfits that also have textures, you can kitbash and probably get some awesome results. Here's the ideas: (and if it doesn't work, well, all of it was free.)
Well, thinking out of the box with kitbashing, and trying to get things that go together, here are two that you can use parts of a bodysuit underneath (then shader them for even more classy looks) and they go together. It was hard finding anything other than textures- but these are the outfits AND their textures, all in the freebies:
Think leggings, if you want to change the look and get more family friendly due to the shortness of the skirt:
http://www.daz3d.com/shirred-dress-for-genesis-2-female-s
http://www.daz3d.com/shirred-dress-textures
Definitely putting a bodysuit under the top and adding leggings. But heh, it's free.
http://www.daz3d.com/true-to-my-heart-for-genesis-2-female-s
http://www.daz3d.com/heart-to-heart-textures-for-true-to-my-heart
I didn't post this- so...
For sets
http://www.daz3d.com/muelsfell-rocky-outcropping-display-base
And DID YOU NOTICE- ('cause of course I didn't...) this actually has a little building as an option, not just pillars!
http://www.daz3d.com/stonehenge-and-ruins
Of COURSE yesterday I bought the Genesis 2 Santa Claus, so today there's the Genesis 3 one. Maybe they can duke-it-out sometime to see who the real one is.
During this sale, it's been ping pong for me on whether the increasing Holiday discount applies to the base price, or the sale price. For the daily new releases, it's been off the sale price. Today, for example, (51% Holiday percentage) the Santa Bundle is 7.20, MRL Mutations is 8.55. In the featured stores, that's where it's never been consistent. As I mentioned before, if the item is discounted percentage-wise MORE than what the Holiday percent is, it applies the Holiday to the already discounted price (and boy, do you win.) But if your Holiday percentage is more than the sale percentage, it takes it off the base price. (Seems like this should be the other way around, doesn't it?)
Example: Holiday discount is 50%.
Item A is already discounted 60% and is 10.00. The 60% is more than the Holiday percentage, so it whacks 50% (Holiday) off the 10.00
Item B is only discounted 40%. It's less than the Holiday percentage of 50%, so forget getting it off the sale price, that 50% is coming off the FULL PRICE.
But not always. Today, if you're shopping now, the Holiday (at least the 51% people, I can't test the others) are getting it off the sale prices, regardless of what percentage they are. Some days it does, other days it doesn't. Right now is a good time to shop, although it generally stays this way most the day. Just thought I would alert those of you who (understandably so) have stopped shopping in frustration. Shop!
Have to head out to take all the vegetation we cut later in the day to the landfill, and I have a house full of company but they're sleeping right now LOL.
Thanks for pointing that out, Novica. I noticed the prices were a little weird too at times. But still very good discounts. (And I almost bought the other Santa yesterday too.)
I've been doing the same thing with skimpy outfits- putting body suits and other things underneath. My characters are sexy, but they don't like running around with stuff hanging out. Especially the female Supers. When they want to kick butt, the last thing they want to worry about is a wardrobe malfunction, LOL.
I did this in my WIP here. That's Nova for V6 and the Sci Fi Siren Outfit (part of the Sci Fi Warrior Bundle which I think came free with DAZ Studio 4.9) with the V4.2 Bodysuit underneath. Not perfect yet, still needs tweaking.
And check out the Poncho Girl outfit today. I'm not that into ponchos but look underneath at the outfit. It's really nice! Love the boots too. The poses for it look very good as well. I might grab that one. You could have a lot of fun texturing in that in many ways, and the undershirt works well there. I would love to know what hair that is in the promo.
Beautiful and haunting! Well done!
@llynara- do you have the Sexy Skinz products? Those are good for under clothing too. (Linked to the bodysuit, there's gloves, undies, stockings, etc) Here's the store.
I picked up a bunch of gals during the sale, will render some for you. I've got to drive someone out of town shortly, will be driving right back, but I'll be gone several hours. I'll get a few done when I get back. Anyone else rendering anything, love to see it! SO many things on sale. Want to mention one that I think will make an excellent child, I really like Mihrelle characters. I just bought MRL Eden. I have all her characters, and you may recall when I showed Willow as a child- amazing results, so take a peek at that one too.
Look at the props in White Knight (for Gen3F) I looked at the various pieces of that outfit (and with a bodysuit underneath, it will be very pretty) and I was surprised how much this appealed to me. Take a close look at the gloves and you'll see the level of craftsmanship. Although it was more than what I've been paying for kitbashed stuff, each piece can stand on it's own (well, not the panties!) and I wanted to point it out. I think it's stunning. The shield with the ornate top (not the standard one, the one with the pointy scroll thingamajiggies) and the swords with the single jewel, really caught my eye.
The Back Room had some good props and did you note the cameras have built in lights? This is a one click and done setup for you. Only 5.61 (depending on your discount.)
Picked up Drone for 4.16- it has Red Cross (similar to) search, and a t.v. newstation logo options. Explosive Props was 3.66 and I like it because it covers both "old school" methods and modern (with digital timer.) So covers all time periods.
What a weird variety I got this morning. Santas and bombs, a back room for shady dealings then a drone to fly in and call attention to whoever gets shot after a deal gone bad. Then the White Knight gal shows up and saves the day.
HEY- that would be a funny thread- where you have to make a story up, limited to three to five sentences, using only what you bought in one order. (Putting the links of course. I'll just bold it.)
"Santa had just delivered his last bomb to the terrorists and decided to gamble at the Back Room, but he had a funny feeling he was being followed by a Drone. Sure enough, rounding the corner, he caught the White Knight at the controls, a guilty blush on her face as she stammered, "I just wanted to know when you were delivering MY present!"
I picked up two new skydomes this week: Flipmode's Eternal White Skydome and HDRI and High Peaks Skydome and HDRI. They come in a 3DL prop version and as an IRay HDRI. The renders here are in 3DL and go very quickly. I paired them with FirstBastion's Hilly Surround. For the snow scene I added a geometry shell to the hilly terrain and put DA Let It Snow shader on it. Because they have distant mountains and haze on them, they are a quick way to add depth to a landscape scene.
Novica, I've picked up SOOO much this week! I have a backlog of things to render and post after Christmas. Good grief, I have a ton from the PA and PC Club sales months ago still waiting to be played with. I just bought all the Sexy Skins items when they were on sale. That's a wonderful idea to use them under clothes! I will try that out soon.
I love everything about the White Knight except the battle panties. No woman in her right mind would go into battle wearing those things unless she wanted to shock the enemy into submission. (If she didn' shave, that might work!)
Here's a quick render I did for the RNDA bundle thread. Lighting needs tweaking, those Malaik wings cast a lot of shadows. I need to shade them for Iray too. This is LY Fallon (picture is much bigger if you click below.)
Oh, and I love the idea of a story thread! Kind of like the random items renders.
Posted this also on the sales thread:
Here's an interesting one in the featured PAs today, Gi Dome for Iray and 3Delight light set. It has five different lighting packs in it, for both render engines. Picked it up for $6 with all the discounts. Rendering now with one of the portrait presets. It's a lot like Dimension Theory's Iradiance Light Probes, which I love.
This render is still cooking. Looks a little dark, might need more lighting in the scene. Testing with only the GI Dome and have't decided on a backdrop or set yet. I bumped intensity up to 2. I love how the light hits Lilith's skin (used her normal shaders.)
Those both look really nice! It's rather funny that we don't have a lot of ponchos in the store. I like the Southwestern flair promo image.
I got the dome light product too. Good to see such nice results.
Played a little more, stopped this partially through to do a larger render.
As far as I can tell, this set does very well in enclosed settings. There's something very subtle going on with the lights. I like it and will keep playing!
I have the GI Domes and use them all the time. If I remember correctly it comes with both 3Delight & Iray sets in one. Its one of my go to light sets.
I'm never going to get caught up in rendering everything I've got since the start of October. Its going to take years....
MRL Eden Talisken Hair White Knight (Gen3F) Sexy Skinz Lace Bodysuits (Gen3F) Sexy Skinz Stockings (Gen3F) GIDome Iray and 3Delight
So here's the White Knight outfit with the Sexy Skinz under it. I chose the no navel option.
Note, the pauldrons do not stay with the outfit when you pose Gen3F, at least on the sets I tried. What to do if clothing doesn't follow the pose- select the article of clothing and apply the pose to it, just like you did the character. The clothing usually falls in to place!
The pose isn't perfect, regarding the cape- but I was playing and wanted to show you the fluidity. What a joy to pose! You can just click on various parts of the cape and drag it, and it makes really pretty patterns.
I have to agree, the GIDome lights are very soft (I used the Portrait ones, there's different options.) I like them! I turned the ISO to 138 with the Exposure value to 13.47 and i believe the one I used was number 8, which has about the same effect as Y Orientation 230 (a side light.) I did Y rotate her a bit too.
For the background, I'm using one of Merlin's textures again, it's in Runtime/Textures/Merlin/Church/MRLN_BeamsB
Getting off the computer for the night. Do take a look at Eden, I think you'll really like her. That hair surprised me a bit, I like it too.
I like those lights, and boy those heels are quite exotic aren't they?
I did pick up the Deluxe santa suit last month, and the suit and santa from today. I wish they'd released the new santa sooner than two days before Christmas! I would've loved to play with him for renders for the holidays.
That said, I like the new santa suit and outfit quite a bit- except for the unfinished top of his pants. Santa needs a waistline or something there.
Isn't this the second year in a row that we got a Santa suit very late?
The Santa character is nice. The fur looks pretty nice in most cases. It seemed to render pretty fast, too. I'm not thrilled with the coarseness of the hair and beard. I'm disappointed that the suit has almost no morphs and doesn't move very well. With much movement of Santa, the coat fur separates from the coat bottom and the fur on the boots starts to have jagged edges poking out. Don't try to sit poor Santa down! The coat and fur doesn't do well in that pose. That is too bad, because how can kids sit on his lap?
Edited to add: And again we have Iray shaders that aren't. The coat doesn't even use Iray Uber shader. They use Daz Studio Default and omUberSurface.
Santa head took hours to render. Here it is.
@Barbult
Your santa poes are great. I think the face and body shape of this santa is the best of seen. I wish the hair and beard were less stringy and it is a shame that Santa can't sit properly in his suit. That is.... Strange.
You can improve the hair and beard look a little by applying subD and smoothing, like I did in this image. But using the other Santa Beard we got recently or the Whiskers product or Unshaven might yield even better results. Here is Santa off duty.
I, too, lurk here often. We all need to do what it is we need to do, and I'm sure others will keep posting their thoughts on future products!
As for UHT2- get it. Seriously. Almost all of my promos use it. As long as the hairs are UV'd vertically, the UHT2 will work wonders.