Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 9
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I'm in the Poser Formats>Daz Figures>DAZ People> and it's Victoria4.2.cr2 so it's a cr.2 already. But that info says thats an object. So wonder why?
D:/Daz/Content/Runtime/Geometries/DAZPeople/blMilWom_v4b.obj
Edit: I don't know what I'm supposed to choose with that popup when I do an export, but when I saved to Daz>Content>Presets>Character she doesn't show up. So I did her to the Daz People and she did. But it is still saying Poser figure not supported when I drag mine over.
I found the problem, after hours of frustration. I don't know how, but the X2 version didn't load in the 4.9 studio. It was still showing the X version. And I used it (going through the threads, I chatted with Ralf about the issues I was having when X2 first came out, and my thread has a lot of conversions from that time period. So go figure. Anyway, if you have trouble selecting a Victoria 4.2, that may be your problem. See that you have the X2 version.
You're making me very nervous about trying Gx2lol! We are going camping this weekend so I will be offline for the most part, the state parks around here don't have wi fi. I'm taking the laptop as I can still work in Studio, and its a 60% chance of rain tomorrow lol. Hopefully will just be a quick downpour. So, no trying that out for me til next week. I'm going to read through all the info in the link you gave me and then give it a go next week.
I don't remember anyone showcasing this, its Machina by GKDantas. Its a character shape and metal skins. You can choose just the body or the body and the head, and it comes with several different bump and diffuse settings. Very easy to change the color, this is a light purple. I really like that bits of real skin show through on this, its a great contrast to the shiny metal. This is not a clothing set, the metal is a skin with different settings. I was able to change this from the original look to very metallized and shiny very easily.
I went through hours of reading all the threads, and never did quite get specific settings on Resolution, I remembered I had mine lower (sharper details) than the default of 50, I put it at 25, and changed the limits to -20 and positive 20.
Enjoy your camping!
Thanks! Im sure we will. Its nice to unplug for a couple of days.
TIPS ON USING GENX2
I'm going to do a "may wanna try this" post for those who are getting back to GenX2 from a prolonged absence (me) and who need some refresher tips. I also got tired of trying to remember WHERE to find WHAT.
But first, to mention a generation you will definitely want to transfer up:
The V4 to Genesis 3 is not sold here, it's over at Rendo. So if you're wondering how I am doing Victoria 4, head over there to find it (at least as of July 2017.) Cayman Studios is the vendor, and it's Legacy UVs for Genesis 3: V4.
There's a lot of videos but here's one that really nails it and moves right along, with perhaps a couple areas which you can tweak. So, using my frustrating experiences last night, before you watch the video and get started, DO THIS:
1.) First make sure you have GenX2 installed. I did, but somehow when I went from studio 4.8 to 4.9, only GenX was installed. I KNOW I had GenX2 installed previously, because I discussed what I was doing on the GenX2 thread with Ralf, and in PMs- and posted my results in my threads! So whacky. How do you check? If you use DIM, just go type in Genesis Generation X2 and be sure it's installed.
2.) In the studio, go to Help>About Installed Plug Ins> and click on Genesis Generation X2. At the bottom, it will tell you the version number. 2.1.1.0 is the latest.
3.) I recommend this Black Sun Comics video: and start at 3:15 Here's a helpful tip when watching that- where to find GenX-
You find the GenX tool in Window (Panes/Tabs) then after you click on it, you can drag it wherever you want.
4.) He doesn't change settings at the bottom. If you're going to do that, do it first so you don't forget. I changed Resolution to a lower number, which means sharper details. The official thread said not to get that ultra low (You can go to 0) and last time I used this, I had 30 and the results were very good. Default is 50, but the pdf mentions lowering it. What do you folks use? I also changed the limits to -20 and 20. I also compress the files, as per the discussion in the Commons.
5.) Note your generation 4 figures probably won't be in the dropdown for source, you can Load Source and track it down, or drag and drop. After you do it once, they will appear in the source choices.
For dragging over the first time for V4 and M4:
Content Library>Poser Formats>Daz>Figures> DAZ People then get the cr2 (base model)
Content Library>Poser Formats>Daz>Pose>DAZ's Victoria 4 (or Michael 4) >Morph Injections>INJ Morphs+++ (get the morphs you need. See Tip, next line.)
TIP: Check all your characters BEFORE YOU START to see if they need addtional morphs, some of your muscular ones may need those. Just go to Product Library and the individual product pages, it's fast and easy. WHAT I DID: I loaded up the muscularity and the Morphs+++ because those two are common. If you're doing aged people or fantasy, you'll need the others, but I picked the two I think will be most commonly used, then I don't have to worry about it.
If loading the source and doing it from Load Files, in my studio it's Content>Runtime>Libraries for both of these, then:
Character>DAZ People>(Victoria 4, etc) for the base
Pose>(DAZ's Victoria 4,etc) >Morph Injections>INJ Morphs++ for the morphs.
After you do these Generation 4 people once, they now appear in the Source dropdown list.
6.) Generally speaking- Select Edges if you are using a Generation 4 as the source. Use Smooth for the others. The explanation for this is in the official thread.
7.) Don't forget to use Select and choose Transfer On for all Non-Zero Values
8.) Doing complete figures, vs head then body: after watching the video, I'm a firm believer in doing heads and bodies separately, due to getting a separate slider for the head and really maximizing morphs- you get sliders for each head and mixing morphs with other ones is SOOOOO easy.
The way I named mine was to identify:
a) character Tiffany (which would be the body one) OR TiffanyHead
b) where it came from REN (Renderosity)
c) what figure it came from V4
So the identifier would be Tiffany_REN_V4 for the body
OR TiffanyHead_REN_V4 for just the head. Then the Name would be the same, without the underscores (_)
Choose Actor for the body (in Region) and don't forget to choose HEAD for the head!
So now you have your morphs. Load up your target figure (the figure you're putting this on, such as Genesis 3) and now to apply those morphs, using the Shaping pane. (First, remember to dial in your Source figure to 1.0. For example, Victoria 4. If you are putting that source onto the Genesis 3 Female target, you would select Genesis 3 in Scene. In Shaping, Genesis 3 Female > Actor > Generation X > Victoria 4 OR you can just type Victoria 4 in the search of the Shaping pane. )
9.) Make sure you have Genesis 3 or your target selected in the Scene. Then choose it in the Shaping pane. Your morphs will then be > Actor > Generation X
10.) And also in the Shaping pane, the head will be: Genesis 3 Female (whatever your target is) > Head > Generation X> VIctoria 4 (whatever your source was)
EDIT: This will also help you- Let's say you messed up and want to delete the morphs. I didn't try the morphs tab, I used (and this is when transferring a V4 onto a G3F)
Content > Data > Daz 3D (note the space) > Genesis 3 > Female > Morphs > D3D Gen X > Victoria 4
Hope this helps, you should breeze right along! Once you get the morphs, then you need to do the materials. See the next post, you don't just apply materials, you may have to convert to Iray, and you definitely need to apply the UV's. A Victoria 4 skin won't just plop onto G3F.
Preparing and Applying Material Presets for GenX2 Characters
EDIT: This has been totally updated to reflect more experimentation and the best way I've found to do it (my opinion)
So, now you have the morphs- what about the skin? How do you apply the skin materials from your V4 source to the Genesis 3 target?
You can load them onto V4 and save as a material preset (a duf) then use Cayman's Legacy UVs for Genesis 3 Volume 2: Victoria 4, from Rendo, or Draagonstorm's Batch Converter. I'm using Cayman's.
1. First, I go to Daz Studio Formats > Daz > Materials > Genesis 3 Female and make files for the V4 characters I am doing material presets for. I do the (name) REN (for Renderosity/store) V4 (the Source generation it is coming from)
2. So load the V4 materials on V4
3. IMPORTANT: Get the view you want in the viewport because Studio is going to use that for the thumbnails. Get it brightly lit. For eyes, ZOOM IN! TIP: Create a camera, select it in Scene, go to Parameters, select Camera, and change the focal length to 110-125 so your face won't distort with the extreme closeup. Thumbs are only 91 x 91 (square) so don't waste render time doing large ones.
4. I use V3Digitimes Iray Converter for Generation 4 to apply Iray materials. I just do the one click option of applying the materials, I don't tweak the skin at this point. TIP: If you right click the first image icon (NOT THE FOLDER) and choose Create Custom Action, it will appear in Scripts up in the top menu area. Very speedy for applying Iray materials, go ahead and do that for your V4.
Location of the converter: Daz Studio Formats>Daz>People>Generation 4>Materials
Here's more information- You have all those makeups, lips, and eye colors. I recommend saving only a few, definitely get the lightest lip color, because lips are SO easily done in the Surface pane by simply adding a darker color. Don't waste a lot of time on getting every lip option, you've got all those eye colors and makeups to do! Eyes and makeup are more complicated than lips. The vendors do a lot more with the eyes than simply darkening them. Here's some tips.
BASIC SKIN:
Load the materials. Name the file !(whatever. Default Mats or Default Skin) Having !Default Mats puts it at the very beginning of your choices.(!) keeps it at the front.
THEN CREATE>CAMERA>EYE CAMERA and use that to zoom in for the eyes and makeup.
EYES:
TIP: Before you start, view each color and write down their colors. Some may be so similar you don't want to bother getting both. It's also a time saver because you can also write down what they are and compare, and not have to go back and re-name colors. You might wish you hadn't named one gray when it's blue compared to the other options.
1. Apply the color.
2. Find the NO Reflections if offered (you don't want those baked in.) Your Iray eyes will appropriately show the light in the scene, you don't want those on top of fake highlights!
3. Click the Iray Converter* (EVERY TIME YOU CHANGE COLORS. Otherwise you're applying non-Iray materials!)
Then Save As >Material Preset and the popup appears to choose what areas I want, I click the submenu and "Uncheck All." Then for eyes I select everything relating to eyes. (tear, lachrimal, cornea, pupil- everything.) You're going to have to do this for EVERY EYE COLOR.
*You get really speedy IF you have that Iray Converter as a custom action and in the Script section up at the top of your studio. Here's that thread.
I don't bother using the Surface Tool. Once I change the eye color, with Victoria selected in Scene, I click the Iray converter, the entire body is done but it only takes seconds. It's lightening fast and it takes a LOT longer to make sure things are correct in Surfaces, than just clicking and doing everything. (When you Surface Tool and click on the eye, it only gets "Eye Surface." You have to go and manually select everything else in Surfaces. Trust me, just change your eye colors the way I told you, then click the script.)
Now go to File>Save As>Material Preset so it's a duf. (again, mine goes to Daz Studio Formats > Daz > Materials > Genesis 3 Female) How to name them- You can name them the same (Makeup 04) or Makeup Brown W Liner (which is what I do) in case your image thumbnails are hard to see.
MAKEUPS
When the popup happens, I select Skin Head, Skin Face, and Skin Neck, just to be on the safe side. Ever applied a makeup, only to find then the skin didn't match the head? It didn't match the neck? I play it safe. Remember, you have to reapply the Iray converter every time you change makeups, just like you did with the eye color.
Again, go to File>Save As>Material Preset so it's a duf. (again, mine goes to Daz Studio Formats > Daz > Materials > Genesis 3 Female)
So after you do all your eye colors and makeups, if you're thinking you've got the presets and you're all set, no you aren't. You can't plop those materials on another generation. You need to buy the appropriate UV product to do that, Cayman Studios over at Renderosity has the V4 one to go onto G3F. If you've bought it, Cayman's product is located in Daz Studio formats>Daz>People>Genesis 3 Female>Anatomy>Legacy UVs.
5. Load up Genesis 3 Female. Select in Scene. Click the Prepare G3F, that only takes a couple seconds.
Apply your legacy duf materials that you made. (Mine were Daz Studio Formats > Daz > Materials > Genesis 3 Female)
If the maps are wonky, click the Apply V4 UVs from the Caymen product. TIP: Make this a custom action too (right click on the Apply V4 UVs image.) Then it's right up there in scripts and easy to click!
And then you're done! Here's Dublin, a Victoria 4.2 character from Rendo, on Genesis 3. I darkened her skin from the original, she is VERY pale, added more gloss, etc. Rendered with Mitchell filteration of 1.25. She is wearing Anjou Hair, and Isidora Dress for Genesis 3 Females. Very simple, classy, and elegant all at the same time. I increased the bump.
So I tackled GenX2 doing a legacy figure up to Genesis 3, and Irayed it. Wheee! And keeping my notes as to where all of this is so I can breeze right to it.
CLICK TO ENLARGE. 1400px tall
With the cayman uv's, I like to apply the iray settings on the V4 skins before saving as a material duf file. :) find it easier that way.
I'm probably just a bit foggy from working will all this for hours yesterday, and just getting back "into it" today- but how would that be easier? The shoulders and other parts of the Cayman UVs that provide the "fill in gaps" wouldn't match your already Iray-ed material preset being applied. (You'd have to select the Cayman UVs such as the shoulders, and match those completely.
I would think selecting all the skin, including the applied UVs, and doing the Iray at the same time, would be easier. What am I not following? I'm all for easier
Edit: Caymen's product has an easy click option to fix the V4 UVs, so doing it before you apply is easier. I changed the tutorial.
Fast Grab changed.
More of Exnem's food. Out of the box (this time I remembered not to Uber Base it.) Now I'm hungry. This is doughnuts, candy, pie and cake, the cheese and bread megapack, and the hotdog cart. Obviously, everything is not to scale.
I did a very large render so you can click to enlarge and see the details.
The best tutorial, I think, is Redz "Genesis 8 Clones Tutorial," which walks you through the creation of clones for both the G8F base and G2F base. (You can use any Genesis base, though.) You can find the dropbox link in the Morphs from G3 to G8 thread. Follow the instructions in the tutorial using G3F instead of G2F. In Part 3, you apply a shape to G3F that will become your morph. That shape could be your GenX V4 morphs. And when you finish Part 3, you'll have a shape morph of your V4 character for G8F. Then use Cayman's V4 on G8F version of Legacy UVs to apply the materials.
And the last batch, including the sushi, sweet pastries, bbq steak, kitchen tools, pizza. Something to mention about all of Exnem's foods- if food is in a tray, each piece is selectable. For an entire pizza, each piece is selectable. VERY considerate to do that, you have a lot of options.
Again, click to enlarge, a 1400 px render. Only a few samples of each set shown.
Thanks- I was thinking about just holding off doing any V4 to Gen3F because I really want them to go to Genesis 8. Has there been any hint of what's going to happen so far as an official product released that would be similar to GenX2? I'll take a peek at the tutorial. (I'm trying to stay focused on packaging though. As you can see, not really doing that LOL. But I was doing Exnem's food so that's my excuse, still testing as I go to make sure things work right.)
@ladair Sending you a PM.
@novica Replied
Well, I certainly have some fun products that I've never tried. And looking at just the titles, I hadn't a clue what they were. (That's why I have a window open so I can open them up from the orders.) First, a fun one. In the next post, I'll explain how this came about. But take a close look at it first.
This all started with backgrounds. I blurred and lightened them. Then I added another background image called a Gnarly. That tree behind her is not there as a 3d object, it's just a png. So the little dragon is actually floating in the air. I then added the tree and vegetation (recommend Asia River) and did a DOF camera.
One of the tricky parts is getting your light setup to match the hue of the fakes. Pro-Studio (as you know by now) is my go-to, even for many scenes. And it has several "red" options, so it gave her the perfect orange/red tint to match the "sun" on the fake tree branch behind her. Your lighting MUST MATCH your backgrounds and inserted pngs (such as the branch.) So have you ever mixed a background with a separate background png in a scene?
And here's another Gnarly, they're fun for DOF in foregrounds. I put a background first, imported the Gnarly, then Gaussian blurred both. (Gnarly from Rendo, called Gnarlys Megapak. There's some neat fire sets by this vendor too.)
I really like seeing the food. For some reason 3d food is really fascinating to me. The plate of steak, the bitten chicken wing and the doughnuts in the box look real enough to eat.
Thank you very much for the detailed description for moving V4 up via Genx2. Hoping to give this a go next week. Just got back and wow, I love camping but its a lot of work for just 2 days lol. It was, interesting, to unplug (except for the phone which only worked intermittently). Its really crazy how much we have come to depend on technology. I'm old enough to remember dial phones plugged in the wall lol.
Hey, welcome back!
Yep, I remember rotary phones, and the basic color choices were that gawd-awful tan or black. And the curly cord that everyone used to sit and play with while talking on the phone, just out of habit. You'd hold the phone (probably with your left hand, up to left ear?) and play with the cord with your right. And having to put the phone down and ask people to wait a minute if you had to go do something, and missing television shows because there weren't any vcr's, or you weren't recording a show and there weren't any playback options.
I turned 61 in June, I remember when color television came to our house, I was third or fourth grade! Speaking of television (and those HUGE heavy sets!) for the weather- you got it at 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock in the news, it wasn't available all the time. If storms were rolling in (like tornado looking clouds) we checked the radio first, as there was a lag for when television started announcing it.
And sure, no problem on the writeup. I also wanted it for myself, because I am spreading out what I'm doing, and if time passes, I will forget the fine details.
I want to thank L'adair for the links to the "how to" clone onto Genesis 8, there's a lot of steps and I wouldn't have time to do it, so I'm sticking with getting my V4's up to Genesis 3 and calling it a day. (When I tried taking my GenX2'd V4 onto Genesis 3 and then applying that material preset to G8F, it won't work, that's what started the conversation about the G8F clones.) So just going to Genesis 3, I'll have the morphs and skin, a complete character.
I did remember a product that fixed V4's seams, but that was only for Genesis. So a question for everyone- I take it there's no problem with G2F, G3F?
Yup lol! And, we all lived for the saturday morning cartoons lol! My birthday is in June too! The 11th.
I'm always looking for realistic food. Mostly of the medieval kind though. Faveral's MICK series, the kitchen comes with a TON of medieval food. His coming soon Dining Hall in the series comes with a bunch of food as well.
I'm the 29th. Cancer the Crab. Oh this is too funny- Cancer is intuitive.
Just a heads up, I spent about four hours tonight doing backgrounds. First went with lace ones, as I was packaging some brushes. Then away I went, down the rabbit hole. Then I did smoky/fantasy, then a couple sci-fi.
Anyway, here's one for the background. The link is in my signature for the backgrounds. You can use any of those in the thread for personal use.
For me it was the Friday night westerns. Miss those! Don't remember what night these were on, but the Westerns whose names I remember (not necessarily all the details) were Gunsmoke, Men From Shiloh, Sugarfoot (my sister wrote him and got a personal letter back. Those were the days! She also got one from Mr. Chekov from Star Trek) , The Rifleman, Bonanza, Laredo, The High Chaparral, The Big Valley, Wagon Train (I remember that cook! They sure ate a LOT of beans LOL) and Rawhide (can still remember that song! Roll 'em, roll 'em roll 'em, keep those doggies moving.... OMGosh.)
I had to look up the others because now I'm curious as to who I am forgetting- and they were (and how could I forget???) Have Gun Will Travel, The Wild Wild West, Alias Smith and Jones (came later, not in the 60's), Maverick, The Virginian, The Rebel, F Troop (talk about corny, but it was fun to watch as a kid!) and Here Comes The Brides. I vaguely remember Cimarron Strip. Type in Google- "western tv shows of the 60's" and you'll get a strip showing images of the shows. Oh my goodness, now I really feel old! I guess I could get you started on listing your cartoons LOL. The one I remember was the "Exit, stage left" Jinxy cat. And the dog that would float in the air and then sink slowly down in a flat out, on his back prone position, after he got a treat. Don't ask me who that was. (Anyone know? Why not, go for it! I think they'd ask if he wanted a treat, he'd go "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" Then they gave it to him.)
I found it. Snuffles from Quick Draw McGraw. I typed in treat loving cartoon dog from 60's LOL, I almost had it right. He floated UP.
I used my Plat Club + (for DO's) which took $6 off the library, and the bikini, so they were each 66% off. I don't need long sleeve clothes, or too-short pants/cartoony style, so I'm staying focused on what I can actually use.
And some of Tesla is 70% off in Fast Grab. I got the little laundryroom/bathroom, and the lecture hall. I've got another lecture hall, but if you're doing a university setting, many times the halls are different. (full time faculty five years, had an auditorium class and I really liked it. Fun being on stage with a clip on microphone, I didn't have to project as much as a normal class. I'll never forget I was just leaving home to teach that auditorium class when the news about the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 came on television, no one had cell phones so the students heard the news from me. )
Anyway, I think Fast Grab just changed late this evening as those weren't there earlier.
One thing about the kitchen- Modern Kitchen and Dining- I don't need anymore kitchens, but note this one doesn't say anything about doors opening and closing, or drawers. Does anyone have it that can check that for other people?
EDIT: Also, one of Mely's products that is a Daz3d and old item (so you can use either coupon) is the Sci-Fi Square. (There may be others, this is just showing what I haven't bought, and I found it in my wishlist because the coupon requires $18 of stuff. Those two fast grabs (lecture hall and bathroom/laundry room) and this come to $19.79, then minus $6, so all that for $13.79! (66% overall)
Novica, you share the same birthday as my mum! She's 72 though, so much older than you are :) I'm 53 today, and when all my kids were round earlier I was telling them about when they raised the Mary Rose in the eighties and we were all glued to the screen watching nothing more than the sea for the best part of a day in case something happened - none of the instant news you get today. I also mentioned how we were advised not to put pot plants on top of the TV because of the risk of water running into the electrics. They all looked at our flat screen model, flush against the wall. 'Uh? Pot plants? On top of the telly?!' I think I've just cemented my dinosaur status around here :)
Happy birthday! It is totally amazing that we've gone from televisions with tubes, to razor thin ones. I guess the next step is holographic so there won't be anything there!
I watched it life from the seafront through binoculars! I remember there was a real sense of occasion about it. Our telly back then had rows of framed photos on it, which was a pain, cos they all fell over whenever it got jogged!
Was looking at the latest OLED tvs at the weekend, Utterly gorgeous, but way beyond what I could justify spending!