Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 7
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Let me interject quickly- a few things in my cart- (so MelanieL can possibly spend more money...again)
The Cowgirl 3 Outfit because of that jacket and shirt- think "Shader!" and what that short jacket can look like. Only $3.83, depending on your discount (plus new release, like a PC item.
Alphakini Bundle is $7.35 and with bodysuits, some of those pieces will really look good layered on top. Definitely wouldn't want these by themselves.
LY Jolie is $3.76. Grabbing her for the morphs. She'll be a really good child figure with that nose and mouth. (Like Shiloh, Angelina's daughter with Brad. I don't know if she was named Jolie on purpose or if it was an accident.)
Lekkulion Bundle is $9.79 from $34.95 and think of what you can do with those skins on other figures, and by adding morphs to these. Probably won't get much cheaper anytime soon. (now the minute I say that, it'll go Fast Grab...)
Excellent choice! That is an amazing set. Can't wait to see it.
Thanks. I have a small corner rendering now but it will probably be an several hours so might not see it til tomorrow lol. Its so big and so varied there isn't any way to really render the whole thing.
#4. Again not in any particular order
Lakeside Folly - this is a stunning set. Really really beautiful. This render doesn't really do it justice since it was more about the girl than the place, but I'm upstairs with my heated mattress, the cat and the laptop and am far too comfortable to run downstairs to see if I can find another right now lol.
#5 Tyrannosaurus Res Tyrant King - Best dinosaur ever.
No those two links are not going to the renders.
I've been linking the product page and posting a render, I think I am doing it wrong lol.
Must be something going on with the forums tonight as some links are acting strangely - takes you elsewhere first but if you then refresh the page it goes to the right spot.
I already have quite a few from your list Novica but you also cost me money today with the Nomad suggestion. I also have Oriental Breeze Pool on my wish list, need to get it next time it's on sale. The i3 barn looks really good. I got hat too but haven't had a chance to use it yet.
Isidorn, I too like your #2, 3, 5 and 8. I don't have the CityScapes or ForestScapes but do like the MountainScapes - easy to use.
Ice Dragon, that T-rex looks really good. It's now on my wishlist. I didn't get Knight's Acdemy, looking forward to seeing what you do with.
Isidorn, I really like the Rune character and Mech4D's shaders as well.
RIch, I have the Instances but haven't had a chance to use it yet, it looks like its very useful.
Does anyone know if Sickleyields Rigging and Morphing system works on the newer generations of clothing? It says it will work on clothes you make yourself as well the V4 A4 M4 and Genesis line but not sure if it works from there up.
Its so cool to see what other people have as favorites. I'm seeing stuff I never even knew existed lol.
Well dang it. I've done the links twice, and entered them in a separate window by pasting the URL and they indeed are correct, go to the right post. But when pasting that same URL for the link, it's taking me to the post above (the Fern Lake one) instead of the barn, and to Mace's product page. How the heck did it know to go there?????
I'll wait a day then try again, but Moderators, perhaps report the links aren't working right?
@icedragonart - And you're doing it fine if you are posting the renders, at the end if you'll do what I did and put all of them in one list, in THAT one, link to your renders. (Like a summary.) I remember your T Rex- quite nice!!!! Also for new viewers to the thread- the Lakeside Folly she mentioned has AWESOME water. I used it with Palm Island.
I bet those Nomad pants will look good with the Cowgirl 3 short jacket that I mentioned. I did get it, think I'll try it.
To be honest, I have so many products and they aren't front-facing, that sometimes I don't know what's doing what or kicking in. I haven't used much Genesis 2 for awhile, mostly in the 3's, so hopefully someone else can answer that for you.
Your links aren't the only ones going wonky, there are several other threads that have links that aren't going where they should. The forum gremlins seem to busy tonight.
I will post the whole list with links to renders when I am done then, as I am still debating the other 5
Okay, don't have a great render to show you, did a quick test- that Cowgirl 3 jacket for Genesis 2 fits beautifully on Genesis 3 and goes very well with the Nomad pants. A darling outfit. I used DestinyGarden's Iray Cotton/Denim/Wool shaders. Wanted to let you know in case you wanted to scoop up the Cowgirl short jacket, it's in that greatly discounted section, as I mentioned. The tank top fits nicely under the pants, no tummy showing, very family friendly. Will post a render back here, but it will be about 10 minutes or more. The discount ends in an hour, that's why I am rushing to show you.
Sorry if the links don't go where they should, but they are correct.
Here it is. And I didn't do anything with the buttons, but how cute if you used shaders to make those silver, burnished, etc. The tank top is part of the Cowgirl 3 outfit. Shown on HPVYK Lennon for Genesis 3 Female. Doing a closeup or two for you, will add to this post.
Edit- I did a second one, and again left the buttons so you can see the two styles. The pants and jacket won't match, so you may want to shader them.
Okay, headed to bed- spent most the day on the computer, so tomorrow is my yardwork day (dodging rain showers) and reading a Zbrush book. Will be popping in and out, curious to see what you folks liked best in 2016. (Come on, get us to spend some money, you know you want to!)
Here's my list (in no particular order):
#1 - Victoria 7
Getting V7 allowed me to take my art to the next level.
Working on her skin settings taught me a LOT.
And helped me create some custom skin shaders and even a custom skin texture with a mix of V7 skin texture and G3F skin texture.
V7 is DEFINITELY on my top 10 list! :)
#2 - Genesis 3 UVs for Genesis 2 Female(s)
This is a great product for anyone who enjoys using G2F. Being able to use G3F textures on G2F has been great! And it's allowed me to create my favorite character, Athyn. She's G2F with G3F textures, thanks to that Cayman Studios product! :)
#3 - The Spirit of '45
This is such a great pose set! It really captures the classic pinup poses and expressions! Excellent for anyone who enjoys creating pinup art.
#4 - Promo Style Catch Lights
A great product that I use almost every day! :)
#5 - Wear them All
AMAZING product! I just got it recently and I can't believe I went so long without it! Being able to wear like ANY clothes from V4, M4, Genesis 1, G2F, G2M, and G3M on G3F has been AWESOME!
Wear them all is a staple for me LOL. Was thrilled when that came out. And don't forget she has the Gen3F to Gen2F as well, where you can put Gen3F clothes on Gen2F :D
#6 - Char Hair
I really like this hair! I usually use my own custom hair shaders on it, but the morph options and it's natural messy look makes me like it. :)
#8 - Nature Shaders
This product really breaths new life into older trees, rocks, etc. It has really nice bark, leaves, ground, and rock settings. Oh and the water options are great!
#9 - Star 2.0
She's such a unique character! Her shape is VERY toon so even just a little bit dialed into other figures helps me create some fun toon type characters! :)
#10 - Last by not least is Gwennili HD for Victoria 7
She is, by far, the best character I've ever bought. She's AWESOME, Imo! :) I posted quite a few renders of her in over in this thread.
Oh nice! I didn't know that! :D I'm so going to have to get that!
I've decided to test something fun for Thread 8, which will also make doing our final Top 10 for the year a bit easier. Each month, the last week of the month, I'll ask you for your top three products that you used for the month. (Good luck whittling it down to three! If you'd like, we can do five. I just don't want to make it difficult or a chore to do. So which would you prefer?)
I think for me to keep it straight, I'm going to do a separate folder temporarily (very original name, probably something like "!!!ThisOne") which will make it easy. I'll remove the renders at the end of the month to keep the next month's separate. Otherwise, I'll never remember. From the past two or three sales, I think there's enough purchases between all the thread visitors to never purchase another thing and render all year long in 2017!
Speaking of which, remember to:
1. revisit that Christmas freebie thread to be sure you didn't miss anything
2. use your PC+ discount codes, today's the last day!
Since you mentioned pinup poses- check out Fast Grab- it's got a nice bundle for under $10.
http://www.daz3d.com/pin-up-backgrounds-poses-and-expressions
I just spent the afternoon running through my 2016 acquisitions. Here's my list (sort of - not exactly 10 items but therabouts)
#1 - Favourite G3 ladies: earlier in the year Olympia 7 became a favourite, but she was overtaken first by Aibell then recently by Ceridwen - so here she is (wearing one of the my clothing faves - the hair was just a first trial so don't take too much notice of that)
#2a/b - Favourite G3 men: George by Deepsea and Ragnar by gypsyangel (for rather different purposes!)
#3a/b - Clothing: my favourites were Arki's Rune for G3M (and also some of Arki's transfers from RuntimeDNA) and Scarves for G3F (for sheer usefulness - seen in the pic above) I don't have a Rune for G3M pic to hand, but here is Arki's Angeloi ported from V4 to Aibell.
#4a/b - Hair: I especially liked Geneva Hair (a handy high ponytail) and Anjou Hair (nice high style so no posing problems with the neck or shoulders that I've found yet!)
Here's a lot to look at, thought I'd mention them in my never-ending quest to get you to spend $ with me. I went for variety, and thought while I was testing the cart, I'd link to the ones that I know are correct. The only one that isn't is the first one. Perhaps because it is a DO, some of those are hiccupping the Holiday discount.
For the "new" item to trigger the 50% in the stores- I went with Fantasy Thief. That hood is ADORABLE. I like the way it fastens in front, and look at the first thumbnail- how it is drawn up in the back.It's looser fitting too so quite a few hairs will work with it. It's 1.75 for the 30% Holiday discount folks, and slightly more for others. That hood alone is worth it. Give it a look for your "new" item to trigger the discounts, and take a peek at these...
First, this one is not doing the Holiday discount, so you'd need to submit a ticket. Because it's a set/scene, it'd be worth it IMO. If you have a 30% discount, you can just copy/paste this for the ticket:
Molto Bello SKU 34357 is 51% off at 8.80 and is not taking off my Holiday of 30%. Should be 8.80 x .70= $6.16
or with 25% Holiday Should be 8.80 x .75= $6.60 or with 20% Should be 8.80 x .80= $7.04
Here it is and that's an excellent price.
********************* All these are 30% Loyalty and with a new release in cart. Some may require PC+ membership
Next: Super Hero Cape Set because capes come in handy for many outfits. Nice variety- long and short. ($3.17)
Mountain Track Grab it! $5.93 for a trail and vegetation! Figured most of you wouldn't get to the V vendors. I happen to have it in my wishlist.
Tiles 2- Mosaic Same vendor, and you get TABLES and a vase too. Cute tables!!! $4.88 Don't miss this one!
Moped Side Car Because well, it's just so darned cute. $1.75
SS Marcoor Medbay Poses Can be used for many scenarios $1.40
On the Fringe If I read that right, the fringe comes off. Top is cute, can possibly be old fashioned swimsuit (use lingerie bottoms that are higher topped.) $1.74
Male Swimsuit (Gen3M) $4.64 It's a good price if you may need a swim team outfit This video gives you an appreciation for these: Regular People Try Olympic Swimsuits
Kylie Hair $4.40 Using it for kids and that price, I'll try it.
Epic Heroine Poses $1.40 and that page links to the male poses. What the heck, the crouching poses will save you time/give a good starting point
Sighni Outfit $1.75 LOOK at the morphs on that! With shaders, so many possibilities. 3DL and Iray!
Gen's Dressing Room $6.98 If you have the mall or a store of any kind, this will make a clothes store easy to do. Has rack to hang clothes, hangars, etc. Cute props!
Mikaela for V7 $6.28 Would make adorable child
Forsaken Village and Construction Set Every single thing is moveable- windows, doors, walls. $8.73 Has trees, bushes, well, lantern posts- nice props.
Camp Dining Hall $8.74 Has nice serving line setup (things you put the food on) and industrial appliances too! (again, think mall cafeteria)
Ancient Temple Ruins $8.38 You may have missed this, thinking "I've got temples." But it's one from Cambodia, with exotic markings on things/architecture.
Clown Wigs $7.68 If you have toon characters, consider these. Quite a variety.
VYK Morwenna For Lavinia $5.94 even if just for those materials, look at the thumbnails.
BD Nadira $6.28
Faded Memories Chateau $8.37 Love the tower section, the windows in the building are unique with the scroll/pointed parts.
Airport Island $9.79 (and the entire series, linking to this one) You do get a lot with these sets.
Luxurious Chair and Sofa $6.63 Very classy, different. Perry does a nice job. In case you didn't get to the W's, I scoped out the latter part of the alphabet first.
PW Treatment Chair $5.23 and if you need a dentist scene, Dental Tools (Also get the scrubs so you have the mouth covered, just don't use the pants.)
Art Nouveau Bathroom $7.69 Gorgeous! Take out certain things and you may be able to kitbash it to a hotel corridor, a home setting, etc.
TreadZ for Genesis 3 and Genesis 2 $5.23 Look at the variety- the heels. I don't like messing with the different generations when it comes to shoes, so linked both.
Parthenon Bank $4.89 Because you know eventually you'll need a bank. Where else would your robbers go?
City Chic Too $7.68 Nice jacket, lots of morphs, includes shoes and jewelry. Can't lengthen skirt though, would put leggings or something with it possibly.
Eyewear Pack 3.0 Glam $6.98 Variety and modern.
Sci-Fi Rover Titan $1.74 Reminds me of futuristic military vehicle.
Llamaghini (whatever) $11.54 One of the more expensive ones on the list. But would you rather drive a Rover or a Llamaghini?
DE Nomadic Tentz $5.23 (After you buy that car, this is where you'll be living after you pay that sucker off.)
SciFi Sentry $7.68 A good outlook post, versatile
Vintage Tech $5.23 Good for parts too, even for sci fi
So this should keep you busy. (Wicked cackle.)
#5a/b/ (.../z!) - Environment items: ooh, really hard to chose between bitwelder's Crescent Cove and Lakeside Folly (with their great water planes and shaders), Stonemason's The Streets of Tuscany, Jack Tomalin's Balneae (PC+), TangoAlpha's massive Medieval Hall and Garden and Howie Farkes' Harpsburg (Pic is Balnea from a PC Monthly contest)
#6a/b - Favourite lights: I discovered Sveva's lights this year and use them a lot now - my favourite is probably Chroma Iray Lights - but I also love JCade's Painter's Lights (I just haven't had them long enough to do many renders yet - I picked them up in the Holiday Sales)
#7 - For outdoors, I'm already using Flipmode's new HDRI sets a lot (especially the Eternal White and the High Peaks)
#8 - Favourite tool: I love UltraScatter Advanced Instancing (example below of Merlin's Wild Borders flowers scattered over FirstBastion's Two Creeks)
#9 - Favourite shaders: quite a few contenders here too. Mec4d's PBR volumes 1-3 and any of DestinysGarden's - my current favourite is her Fabrics of Asia,
My, you've been busy Novica - I'm not going to follow any of those links
...oh no 
... definitely not! Well, maybe one or two?...
I added a second pic to my first post (above) - if I find any more to demo my picks then I'll add them.
Now that I'm done shopping for the year (holy cow!!!) I can start thinking about my top ten. Got some great deals today and really need to stay off the sales page and start using this stuff. It's hard to narrow it down to just ten. There are so many great PAs and products, but here's what I've used and loved the most this year:
Llynara's Top Ten List
#1: NGS Anagenesis 2 Revolution Shaders - These skin shaders are a game changer, especially for older items. They literally breathe new life into characters who were not designed for Iray. Sometimes takes some tweaking but a very worthwhile investment.
#2: Epic Props: Dynamic Lens Flare and Starburst Prop for Iray : I love Philopher's products, everything I've used has been excellent so far and his support is fantastic. He often makes video tutorials too. I used his lens flare in the pic below for the redo of the cover of my first book (still a WIP) as well as the Anagenesis Shaders on M4 and V4:
#3: Iradiance: The entire line of products by Dimension Theory as freaking amazing. I use the HDR Light Probes a lot, and I used the IRadiance Sunset HDRIs as the background and lighting in the scene above.
#4 Lilith 7 - I didn't buy her at first, but she has really grown on me. She's versatile and interesting. I think she has a "presence" about her that's mesmerizing. Some people have Naked Vicky in a Temple with a Sword (NVIATWAS), I've got Lilith! She's my go to girl now. I wuv her so.
#5 GDI Dome for Iray and 3Delight: Just got this and LOVE it! OMG, I can't stop playing with it and it's HUGE, for both rendering engines. Can't beat that! It's a soft light, and pairs very well with a glow in Photoshop. I love how it made Lilith's skin look, and this is without any additionals shaders.
#6 Wear Them All: I can't live without the product. It makes my entire Product Library useful.
#7 Cayman's UV Products- all of them. I think I have most of them, and it's wonderful to be able to use older skins on newer characters.
#8 BD Esther for V7 HD: I loved her enough to make her my Black Kat and put her on my first book cover. Belladzines makes some incredible characters.
#9 Ron Deviney's Brushes: all of them. I use them a LOT. They make postwork an absolute joy. You can take a half way decent render and turn it into something really special with his brushes. I used the fog brushes in the book cover above. I used his Light Fusion brushes here to do the special effects, along with item #10. I can't wait to play with his latest Fireflies brushes.
#10 Marshian's Back Rim Light Rig: All of Marshian's products are fantastic. I haven't even begun to play with all his stuff I've picked up recently, which is the only reason they aren't all on the Top 10. He does amazing, unique products. I just wish this one was for Iray. It works great in 3Delight and comes with these incredible hair shaders. Combined with Ron's brushes, it really made Jacob, my energy shifter, come to life.
Honorable mentions:
If I had to pick say, three- I'd pick the TreadZ because you get SO many different styles of shoes, the Tiles 2- Mosaic for the tables, and Gen's Dressing Room because you can use those props SO many ways.
Ah, dang it. Gotta go back and get that closet! LOL
Yes I have Treadz (not yet used much but I'm sure they will be one day!)
They seem to have "fixed" the PC+ items which earlier were going at 50% less Loyalty Bonus - now the Bonus isn't even applying to the newest items, so the Fantasy Thief remains at 3.49 in the cart. I ditched my cart, but may try later in case this is one of those store-is-in-flux things.
Edit: clarified that the lack of Bonus is only on the latest PC+ items - older ones still get the full deal - I expect the 50% on new PC+ Items was a mistake but the missing Bonus % seems wrong.