Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 9

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  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    oh that's a good point! i have the growing up for Gen3, and I'd been wondering if I'd get the one for G8 - I'm not a fan of G8 at all, but I suspect that at some time I'll cave and use her more, so the growing up would be good. Might check and see if he has a commercial thread for it.  

    Novica said:

    I'm just wondering if Zev0 is going to do an additional discount for those who own the other Growing Up products. I think he has offered discounts to folks who have the other generations' products. I've learned not to buy right away, orange banners show up midmornings (or afternoons) so getting off the computer and checking back in later. The 75% off stores have Aave's Sunny outfit- for $4.49 and the textures- $2.98 and the outfit also works with poses from Always A Lady  which I like a lot.

    If you like dragon themes, check out the Classic Weapons of the East- China blades- only $2.73 if you're getting 75% off (one debut item required) 

     

  • My daughter in law is living in S Carolina but she is about as far away as you can get from the coast in South Carolina thank goodness.  My son is driving down tomorrow, staying til Monday and driving back.  She is in Clemson (well, 15 minutes outside of Clemson)

    Its not even going to break 70 today or tomorrow.  Its the first day of September!  Totally not normal for around here at all as RGcincy said. I'm glad your brother is safe RGcincy, and that things are starting to move in the direction of him getting home.

    Please stay safe! That goes for everyone who lives anywhere this hits. 

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    jakiblue said:

    oh that's a good point! i have the growing up for Gen3, and I'd been wondering if I'd get the one for G8 - I'm not a fan of G8 at all, but I suspect that at some time I'll cave and use her more, so the growing up would be good. Might check and see if he has a commercial thread for it.  

    Novica said:

    I'm just wondering if Zev0 is going to do an additional discount for those who own the other Growing Up products. I think he has offered discounts to folks who have the other generations' products. I've learned not to buy right away, orange banners show up midmornings (or afternoons) so getting off the computer and checking back in later. The 75% off stores have Aave's Sunny outfit- for $4.49 and the textures- $2.98 and the outfit also works with poses from Always A Lady  which I like a lot.

    If you like dragon themes, check out the Classic Weapons of the East- China blades- only $2.73 if you're getting 75% off (one debut item required)

    Yes, Zev0 has a commercial thread for Growing Up 8. He's planning on releasing a bundle as well, when the male version is ready. He did say if you buy the female version, there will be a discount for you for the male version. He didn't mention anything about a discount for those of us owning the G3 versions, though, and there isn't an offer in my inbox. Probably because of the PA Festival and the extra discounts on offer already, but that's me just guessing.

  • donovancolbertdonovancolbert Posts: 1,421
    edited September 2017

    ​Hey, anyone know of a prop or set with a building like this... a manor/mansion? 

    I'm finding Victorians and Castles... but not this "American Gothic" mansion in between. The ones I find look like Insitutions or Hotels. 

     





     

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  • Novica said:

    To save you the trouble of figuring all this out on Day 1 of the PA sale- if you buy 2 of the Debut items, you'll end up getting 55% off on those, and 64% off the stores. (Not the Mega Fast Grab stores. Those will be 75%.)

    I learned my lesson last year, I am making a chart each day of what percents I got off and what was required, so I can do price adjustment requests. It helps to know what triggered what, as this is going to get very complicated. (you can already tell!)   

    That's a great idea! But how do you know what triggered what? My Daz cart seems to be a magical place where items change prices and statuses (seriously - new or not new?) seemingly at random.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2017

    Hi @lapetiteverita   What I've learned to do from years of shopping- instead of adding things to the cart right away, I right click and open a new window so the product is there for me to fiddle with and try different combinations. I also open a shopping cart window, so I can just refresh it, and take things in and out of the cart. The reason that is so helpful- when you get multiple scrolling banner sales, there may be a vendor who is in more than one and things stack. Since many products are co-vendored, someone who is not listed as being a featured artist store (they do miss listing them on occasion) may be in the main sale and your cart will catch it when you test things.

    In addition to the new windows (which only take a minute or so to set up) I suggest only doing one sale section at at time, that way the results are grouped together. For example, today- put your Debut item or items first. Then do your featured stores as a group. Last, the Mega Fastgrabs. Then you can check to see if the correct discounts are applying (the last group should go 75% off the regular price if you have a debut item in the cart.) 

    By having all the products as separate tabs, you can experiment by taking them in and out of the cart (and just refreshing the cart tab.) That's how I am able to find deals and point them out (as well as the other contributors on the thread. It's amazing what combinations we find, eh?) 

    I also open the scrolling banner sections in different tabs then compare the vendors in each sale, see who overlaps, and test stacking prices.

    Just in case some people don't understand this-

    Knowing how discounts apply is important- if it's 50% off, that is off the REGULAR price, not the sale price. (This is how it is supposed to work, but there are glitches where it takes it off the sale price.) If it says you get an "additional" 10%, you first take the 50% off, then 10% off that. It's not 50% PLUS 10% (60%)  

    Example, let's use 100.00    50% off is 50.00 then x .90 (what you must pay, that's 10% off) is $45.00   THIS IS CORRECT
    If you do it the wrong way (50% PLUS 10%, or 60%)  is 100.00 x .40 (what you must pay, that's 40%) is of course $40.00
    So often times, people think the cart isn't right, not applying the discounts correctly- when they are doing ADDITIVE discounts (50 + 10) and that's not how it works.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    ​Hey, anyone know of a prop or set with a building like this... a manor/mansion? 

    I'm finding Victorians and Castles... but not this "American Gothic" mansion in between. The ones I find look like Insitutions or Hotels. 

     


     

    No, the one I checked on was, as you said, Victorian and had the rounded turret sections. No help. I guess you could google "3d gothic mansion"

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    BTW, the models, including the European, are getting more in agreement for the East Coast for Hurricane Irma. While for now I'm relieved for the Gulf Coast, we don't want a Category 3 or 4 on the other coast! Again, wunderground.com has the spaghetti model maps that you (as non-weather professionals) cannot see unless a pro posts them.  Go to the blogs/Category 6. 

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,834
    edited September 2017

    ​Hey, anyone know of a prop or set with a building like this... a manor/mansion? 

    I'm finding Victorians and Castles... but not this "American Gothic" mansion in between. The ones I find look like Insitutions or Hotels. 

    I didn't see anything similar in my runtime. The closest look to that are some of Dreamland Models Single Homes 1, 2 and 4. Not as big and sprawling but you could potentially kitbash them together. I did a quick scene where I put homes 1 and 3 side by side and home 2 raised and in the back (I don't have #4). Windows aren't the same style however. 

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  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2017

    Ah, Weather Underground just posted the rain totals from Harvey. I think I told you, I had to give up and turn around and go back from my eye appointment as it was blinding rain- look at Pensacola's rain total. THAT explains it. (but how piddly compared to Houston!)  Taking out Arkansas, Alabama, etc...about 9 states originally listed.

    Florida:  7.95”, Pensacola
    Louisiana:  22.25”, Bayou Conway
    Texas:  51.88”, Cedar Bayou at FM 1942

    Post edited by Novica on
  • So far the PA big first day has been a wee bit disappointing. I  was expecting a bit more on the first day. Seems like another day of the usual sales and releases.

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    So far the PA big first day has been a wee bit disappointing. I  was expecting a bit more on the first day. Seems like another day of the usual sales and releases.

    I know. I'm like, "Yeah, and...?"

    But I seem to recall similar sentiments posted at the beginning of most of the big sales. Hopefully they'll take it up a couple of notches before long.

    Then again, if it stays like this, I might just survive the month. Financially speaking, of course.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    I like the 10% added to the Mega Fastgrab section- that is a nice incentive because it only takes ONE debut item, and if you do get two, that extra 20% off in the second section gives more ooomph there. Hey, at least they aren't doing punch sales! (remember that mess where they then changed it and whatever punch discount you were at, you STAYED there? What sale was that- wasn't it Christmas two years ago?) 

  • It was a christmas. I remember because it was a never-ending onslaught of all-female stuff and then towards the end there were like one or two mens outfits. But meanwhile, the ladies get all the nice holiday outfits and skimpwear.

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    edited September 2017
    Novica said:

    I like the 10% added to the Mega Fastgrab section- that is a nice incentive because it only takes ONE debut item, and if you do get two, that extra 20% off in the second section gives more ooomph there. Hey, at least they aren't doing punch sales! (remember that mess where they then changed it and whatever punch discount you were at, you STAYED there? What sale was that- wasn't it Christmas two years ago?) 

    I just verified by checking my old order emails, it was the PA Festival two years ago... I had five punches and got 64% off everything sale related for the rest of the sale. I was thrilled! (That included the PC membership, that was discoutned to $42 for a few hours one day of the sale.) It was really hard to go back to "regular" sale discounts after that. lol

    It was a christmas. I remember because it was a never-ending onslaught of all-female stuff and then towards the end there were like one or two mens outfits. But meanwhile, the ladies get all the nice holiday outfits and skimpwear.

    They did a modified punch sale at Chrismas the same year, (2015.) I'm pretty sure punches didn't expire, so it was easy to get to the top discounts. But, yes, it was the never-ending onslaught of stuff for the ladies. But the 75% off new releases was nice. You only had to have one new release to get the discount, and if you did it right, you could buy one "regular" sale price new release and get two of the special new releases at 75% off. (Then at the end, they did a "catchup" that let you buy one new release and get any and all of the special products with the 75% discount.)  It was also the time of the first "It's Raining Men" render contest. All our "suggestions" for several months preceeding seemed to have worked because afte the first of the year we started seeing more male figures, as well as more male content.

    And it's now only three months away from the next Raining Men contest! How time flies...

    Post edited by L'Adair on
  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    well, today's offerings aren't bad, particularly the "animals and creatures" section of the "mega fastgrab stores". Yesterday's were pretty bleh but it was cool to see slightly newer stuff in there today. I've blown through one PC coupon, my store credit remaining from my gift cert (a friend sent me one unexpectedly the other day plus the $5 one I won from Novica's contest), and spent a grant total of...wait for it...$1.64!!!!! laugh I nabbed 5 items today:

    Abhorrentus for G3M - in the 'mega fastgrab' store of animals and creatures. Nice surprise to see him there! He went down to about $2.98 as i had a new release from today in the cart. 

    Make a Mess - a pick from blackfeather1973 who is in the 'mega fastgrab' section also. Have wanted this for ages. One of the little packs that you know you'll end up using a heap. 

    Morning Star Wings for G3F and G8F - also in the 'animals & creatures' section of the 'mega fastgrab'. Good deal on this one! $4.89 and went lower due to the new item I had. 

    Everyday Crockery - this is from today's New Releases that helped bring everything else in the cart down considerably in price. I admit, I don't really have a need for crokery - but it has three things in its favour - it's by Maclean, it's iray, and you just never know when you'll need a bowl or plate or whatever to fill out a scene and the price was quite good for that. So I was happy to pick this up today. 

    Everyday Books - BOOKS! and magazines! the other week I searched my runtime for an open book that i could put on the ground in front of a character lying on her stomach, reading. I had lots of closed books and a few stacks of books...but do you think I had a single OPEN book?? Drove me nuts! This one will get used a LOT. From maclean's store as he was a featured PA store in today's sale, so was very happy with the price. 

    And that's it from me. I won't be purchasing till at least next week on Tuesday as the money is now GONE GONE GONE. heh. On the bright side, hubby and I are quitting smoking so with a bit of luck, I can manipulate convince him to let me have a decent budget for the fortnight. LOL

     

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    jakiblue said:

    well, today's offerings aren't bad, particularly the "animals and creatures" section of the "mega fastgrab stores". Yesterday's were pretty bleh but it was cool to see slightly newer stuff in there today. I've blown through one PC coupon, my store credit remaining from my gift cert (a friend sent me one unexpectedly the other day plus the $5 one I won from Novica's contest), and spent a grant total of...wait for it...$1.64!!!!! laugh I nabbed 5 items today:

    Abhorrentus for G3M - in the 'mega fastgrab' store of animals and creatures. Nice surprise to see him there! He went down to about $2.98 as i had a new release from today in the cart. 

    Make a Mess - a pick from blackfeather1973 who is in the 'mega fastgrab' section also. Have wanted this for ages. One of the little packs that you know you'll end up using a heap. 

    Morning Star Wings for G3F and G8F - also in the 'animals & creatures' section of the 'mega fastgrab'. Good deal on this one! $4.89 and went lower due to the new item I had. 

    Everyday Crockery - this is from today's New Releases that helped bring everything else in the cart down considerably in price. I admit, I don't really have a need for crokery - but it has three things in its favour - it's by Maclean, it's iray, and you just never know when you'll need a bowl or plate or whatever to fill out a scene and the price was quite good for that. So I was happy to pick this up today. 

    Everyday Books - BOOKS! and magazines! the other week I searched my runtime for an open book that i could put on the ground in front of a character lying on her stomach, reading. I had lots of closed books and a few stacks of books...but do you think I had a single OPEN book?? Drove me nuts! This one will get used a LOT. From maclean's store as he was a featured PA store in today's sale, so was very happy with the price. 

    And that's it from me. I won't be purchasing till at least next week on Tuesday as the money is now GONE GONE GONE. heh. On the bright side, hubby and I are quitting smoking so with a bit of luck, I can manipulate convince him to let me have a decent budget for the fortnight. LOL

    Interesting... I already have Make a Mess. I put Everyday Crockery in my cart first. I love Mac's Everyday line. I use props from Everyday Drinks fairly often. I had Everyday Books wishlisted, (among several others,) and added it to my cart next. Then I went poking through the mega fastgrab and added Morning Star Wings to the cart... If it weren't for you getting Abhorrentus, I'd be worried you and I were long lost twins or something! lol

    I also added, Wicked Undead Fiend Morphs and Wicked Skullcrusher Ogre Morphs to my cart to go with the characters I got free with purchase over a year ago. And finally, I added the Eastern Dragon, something I've wanted for a long time, but couldn't justify price when I don't really need it. Then I remembered the coupon, and added Hellborn Dragon HD for DAZ Dragon 3 and Galapagos Tortoise. I won't checkout until later in the day, so the extras may change.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Good shopping from both of you!  I have the Make A Mess, haven't used it but it sure looks natural. And also have the books and crockery in the cart. I forgot to check out last night due to the contest ending, and didn't get the Mega Fastgrab items (darn it, that Sunny Outfit and textures!)  but they will be on sale some other time and I don't need them anytime soon. 

    I was at that top tier too, in that sale- but really felt bad for those who weren't. It certainly wasn't fair to get locked in to a discount rate without warning. 

    Getting some sleep, ttyl (it's 6:30am. Irma tracks are driving me nuts- the Euro is doing a more southerly track but the graphics are still doing an East Coast hit. Ugh.) 

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,834

    If you bought any of AM's older animals a couple of weeks ago while buying his Catalyzer, those animals are now 60% off with a new purchase instead of 50% off. I'm going to request a store credit for the difference.

  • I picked up Linday's bandage kit. https://www.daz3d.com/bandage-kit-for-genesis-8-female-s

    I think its my favorite bandage set for Gen 8 yet. I tried and it also autofit to Gen 8 male. It looks good!  I Just wish that there were a few single bandaids in the set. They could be useful for kids and others.

    I also picked up: https://www.daz3d.com/cosmic-crew-cabin

    I found it rendered nicely, but I will be returning it, as you can't hide the ceiling and the robot is parented to the crew quarters and even when you separate it, it moves in a really wide arc like unparented jewelry does making it tough to pose.

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,224

    I picked up Linday's bandage kit. https://www.daz3d.com/bandage-kit-for-genesis-8-female-s

    I think its my favorite bandage set for Gen 8 yet. I tried and it also autofit to Gen 8 male. It looks good!  I Just wish that there were a few single bandaids in the set. They could be useful for kids and others.

    I also picked up: https://www.daz3d.com/cosmic-crew-cabin

    I found it rendered nicely, but I will be returning it, as you can't hide the ceiling and the robot is parented to the crew quarters and even when you separate it, it moves in a really wide arc like unparented jewelry does making it tough to pose.

     

    The bandages are too gory for me, but everything I've purchased from Linday has been top notch. I'm sure they'll be useful for your combat related scenes.

  • barbult said:

     

    The bandages are too gory for me, but everything I've purchased from Linday has been top notch. I'm sure they'll be useful for your combat related scenes.

    The promos seem to showcase the gory ones, but there are plain ones without blood as well.

     

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    in the very last promo, those gory looking stitches on the forehead and the chin....they're not included, are they?  

    barbult said:

     

    The bandages are too gory for me, but everything I've purchased from Linday has been top notch. I'm sure they'll be useful for your combat related scenes.

    The promos seem to showcase the gory ones, but there are plain ones without blood as well.

     

     

  • MelanieLMelanieL Posts: 7,368
    edited September 2017

    I picked up the Ophelia bundle on Thursday when it was on sale (good price with the September PC+ coupon - that's the first time I used a PC+ coupon the day before it offficially started!)

    Earlier that day I needed a couple of new items to trigger the discounted giftcard, so I picked up ForbiddenWhispers' Iray Promo Lights (new PC+ item) not really expecting to get a lot of use from it, but I've really taken to those lights. Here are a couple of pics that show what very different effects you can get with different settings - Ophelia is the model of course.

    Today I picked up the Centaur 7 Female bundle, which I was quite surprised to see in the Animals and Creatures section in the Mega Fastgrab category at over 84% off (ETA: with purchases from the Debut selection) - so there goes the other PC+ coupon! I'm still downloading it, so no chance to play yet.

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  • in the very last promo, those gory looking stitches on the forehead and the chin....they're not included, are they?  

    No, I don't believe so. but I will verify when my current render is complete.

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    i didn't think so, they were what really grabbed my eye! :D I wonder what they are from, whether Linday made them herself or whether they are a brush/effect pack somewhere.  

    in the very last promo, those gory looking stitches on the forehead and the chin....they're not included, are they?  

    No, I don't believe so. but I will verify when my current render is complete.

     

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,636
    edited September 2017
    jakiblue said:

    i didn't think so, they were what really grabbed my eye! :D I wonder what they are from, whether Linday made them herself or whether they are a brush/effect pack somewhere.  

    Judging by the promo the heavy stiches appear to be a character with texture.. I verified they aren't included. If you see in the promo it is only on the face, perhaps it is a WIP. (Although I'd hate to be a patient of the doctor who stitched her up). It may be something available here or elsewhere. Or it may be a frankenstein-esque skin/texture and part of a monster pack.

    What you get is bandages, from clean to really shabby dirty ones.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,748
    edited September 2017

    MelanieL,  the renders look great! I got those lights too but haven't used them yet.

    The bandages looked too gory for me too but I love Linday's stuff too. I have a lot of it. 

    I bought some fun stuff today. Got the Growing Up for Genesis 8 Female(s) and Rawart's Alpha Centaur for Centaur 7 Male, which was on my wishlist - I got it today because the Centaur 7 for Genesis 3 Male(s), which was required, was in the super-bargain bin. I couldn't pass that up. Also picked up Dark Fantasy Add-Ons for Genesis 3 Male(s) and the SilverKey 3d Giraffe.

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  • Thanks for the scoop @serenenight I was wondering if the bandages would fit GM and hesitated, but now I added it to my cart.  I was also looking at the crew cabin but if the robot is hard to move out of the way, I have enough trouble posing as it is without added difficulties! 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,636
    edited September 2017

    Thanks for the scoop @serenenight I was wondering if the bandages would fit GM and hesitated, but now I added it to my cart.  I was also looking at the crew cabin but if the robot is hard to move out of the way, I have enough trouble posing as it is without added difficulties! 

    The robot can be deleted, but it is parented and although you can unparent it, for some reason it doesn't move well, and has a remendously wide arc of movement similar to some forms of jewelry. It is a cool little bot so wish it behaved normally.

    The deciding factor for me is the ceiling. I really like this Pa's sense of design, but the inability to hide the ceiling, usually makes me not buy more stuff. Yes, I realize I Can do a section plane, but the ceiling is very high up, and doesn't show in the render, I'm not sure why they didn't make it hideable to make lighting easier.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
This discussion has been closed.