Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 9
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It'll be interesting to see how long the sale lasts on her. She's out of my price range this week, but I'm not sure I even need another female nor teen character.
This product:
https://www.daz3d.com/grunge-boards
The trucks are on backwards. The circle in the middle of the trucks, they hold things called "bushings" which are little rubber grommets that give some resistence when the trucks turn but also absorb a little shock. They should both be on the inside of the trucks pointing at one another, not the outside pointing away from one another.
Also, the board in the promo render, it is just a personal preference, but the way it is being rode looks backwards, with the fat end at the front and the thin end at the back.
In either case, any skater of any age that sees any render created with this skateboard set is going to instantly go... "tsk... poser..."
And seriously, this is more than just pedantic. You couldn't ride a skateboard with trucks like this. The trucks won't carve (turn) right when you lean or kick-turn or try to do anything.
;)
Yeah. I'll probably buy the new Josie... but I still feel like these "Get 20% off for previously buying, or get everything from before for FREE for NOT buying," offers actually *punish* for loyalty.
The discount, in free products, for not buying, is WAY bigger than the discount in reduced price for having previously bought.
I'm not sure why DAZ thinks this is a good idea. It always feels a bit like a slap in the face to me. Give a RANGE of products of equal value free, or just do a flat discount... but the way DAZ is doing it, it is less like loyalty rewards, and more like loyalty punishments.
Totally agree- I don't benefit from ANY free goodies. None. And I had to buy two New Debut's to get the additional discount, which wasn't cheap.
Well, I kind of agree with you Donovancolbert, while I have the base Josie for 6 and 7 and the teens for 5, if I chose to buy the Pro bundle today, I would get all three other pro bundles for free. And even though it kills me to pass on that much free stuff, and I know the hair alone would probably justify it, I just can't do it. I just don't need it. And, most (okay all) of the clothing in all 4 bundles is more modern than what I need. I rarely do modern renders and have more than enough clothing for the small amount of modern renders I do. And while I will be using some teens and children in upcoming renders for my world building project, having the base products (plus I also have Teen Princess Leila by PA_Philosipher) I just don't need her or most of what comes with her.
I feel a bit like I got the best of both worlds when it comes to the Josie offers. I had Josie 7 pro, so that qualified me for 20% extra discount, but I didn't have Josie 6 or the Teens 5, so I got those bundles free. Adding a PA catalog product for extra discount I finished the deal. Starting up DIM, I had 73 new items to install! Everything in the Teens 5 bundle seemed to have a poser version too though, so it wasn't quite that much in truth. Still, a lot of stuff for just a bit over $40. (and I could have taken a cheaper product for the extra discount to cut off a few $, but I rather take something useful, than something just because it's cheap)
I never bought any of the Josie Pro bundles, but I have a lot of stuff purchased separately from the Josie 7 pro bundle, not so much from 6 and very few from the Teens bundle. Unlike Sonja, I prefer more contemporary clothing, so bundles work for me.
Yes and no. If you're new to Daz, you probably have few if any of the products from the older bundles. But you probably don't have the know how to use the older products on new figures, either. If you're a long-time DS user, you either bought the pro bundles, (so you get a discount on J8,) or you have a significant number of the items in the older pro bundles, so "free" is less of a bargain.
I have J8 in my cart at 65% off. Along with the three free pro bundles, the Bitwelder new release, three back catalog items, some Mega Fast Grab stuff, and two Addons. Comes to well over $99. Assuming I can get the deferred interest through Paypal Credit, (which has been working all the time lately,) I'll go ahead and pick up Josie 8. If not, I'll whittle that cart back down to $55 or so, minus the Josie stuff.
Teen Josie is really just Genesis 3. She doesn't even have brows. I'm not sure why the character was released as a gen 8 figure.
I would really like to see real teens someday. The ones with zits, big ears, awkward teen bodies and rebellious attitude. The pretty girl teen is kind of over done here. She's like a Barbie doll. I thought we were trying for realism.
Teen Josie 8 Jocelyn Hair (Gen 3/8 Females) Denim Jumper Outfit (Gen8F) Capsces Poses and Expressions for Teen Josie 8 (Pose Only.)
Using the Pro-Studio lights, with increased glossiness on the lips (including just a touch of metallicity) and Mitchell instead of Gaussian. Eyelash changes provided (you need to click on the Currently Used to get to these.) You will have to click the cog on some of the sliders and do Parameter Settings and turn those off. (Edit- I know there is one more slider that isn't shown, I didn't bother it. I believe it is at 100%. Whatever it is, don't do anything with it.)
I didn't have zits or big ears as a teen (or even now) so I'd only want to see that if it was an option, and not part of the base materials. The eyelashes were a joke at default, but they are easily reduced to normal size, and of course, I like the thicker brows. I do think the mouth is cartoonish more than realistic, but with a neutral shade that might help (and widening it IMO) I do agree I would like to see some different materials other than the perfect skinned folks, but ONLY if both options are available for the same character. People who get pimples don't have them in the same place all the time! Edit- I also like the shorter fingernails.
I agree with you L'Adair, as a newer user of Daz, I will very rarely purchase Genesis 1 things, and hesitate on older Genesis 2 things, for the very reason that I may not be able to deal with them. So if the offer is a version 7 bundle, then it is attractive. I already had Josie 7, and was thinking twice about do I really want to download really old hairs/characters? I did, but I may uninstall them if I try a couple and they don't look good. I have enough trouble learning how to make the newer stuff look good!
Also agree with you @novica, I will get characters with blemishes, scars and such only if it is an option. Same with very dark freckles, but I think I can now change skins so maybe that's ok.
The character sure looks a lot better in Daz users' renders than in the promo. I really think they over-exagerated her expressions. Being able to shorten the eyelashes is a relief. The long lashes are fine for "party" scenes, though.
You would be unusual then as many do go through a phase where they have awkward or ungainly things happening to their bodies and zits are common as are braces chewed on finger nails less than perfect hair and such. But I agree they should be optional.
The point is the figure is way too perfect for your average teen. The majority of teens aren't young beauty queens with doll like features perfect skin and makeup.... but pass through an awkward phase. She is also rather skinny to be an average teen. Rather ideal rather than a reflection of reality.
Mexico just had a 7.1 earthquake. It hit 75 miles away from the capital.
I'm testing the gazebo set with different lights, I'll be back in awhile.
The gazebo looks cool. I'm not sure about the water but the product looked appealing in the promos
I ended up returning the Teen Josie 8 Pro bundle last night. Confirmation came through this morning. I was really unhappy with her. Yes, I got a good deal on the bundle, but as I already have young teens 5 pro, josie 6 pro and most of the josie 7 pro bundle (three products I don't have), the incentive of getting them free wasn't big with me. And while the products in the pro bundle are things that I would probably use at some stage, I won't miss them if I don't have them. I have similar things. (I did buy April's Jocely hair separately tho). I really wasn't happy with TJ8. The eyelashes are ludicrious for a teen and there was no alternate option for them. Her mouth is VERY pouty and lines appear around it in even the most subtle smiles/expressions and I noticed when applying a gloss lipstick, it looked like the lines were more noticeable, whereas the matte option had the lipstick looking more applied. The makup off option left her with lipstick lips, not plain clear lips. She had no normal maps, just a bump map. Her eyebrows aren't separate like V8 and O8 - they are painted on eyebrows, and there were no 'eyebrows off' makeup maps for those who like to use other eyebrows. The G8 line is supposed to be the "new very best thing", but Josie 8 just reminds of Genesis or even V4 with her settings. Her skin - which is usually the main reason I get a figure/character - just wasn't special or even good enough for me - it really felt very "V4 with iray settings". Hmmm can't explain it properly.
No normal maps????? That's disappointing. Perhaps that is because she is supposed to have a young smooth skin????
Edit: fixed typos
Just for the record, turning off the eyelashes is ridiculously easy, like two clicks and a drag easy.
As I said in my previous post, I feel I got a good deal with discount and freebies so I won't be returning Josie. But I'm not impressed.
First disappointment was seeing that she, unlike the G8's before her, did not have separate eyebrows, but instead the common painted on ones. But then I saw she came with optional bracers, so I thought, ok, she has bracers instead of eyebrows, fair enough. Then I rendered and discovered how painted on the bracers are, making them pretty useless for closeups. This render isn't "finished". It was supposed to be a quick test render, but when it after 12½ hours were only 65% done, I had enough. So pardon the fireflies.
Also, those lips looks awfully dry and as already mentioned, the eyelashes are ridiculous.
The ring, if anyone wonders, is from Jeweled Excellence Rings 1, a product I'd rather recommend than Josie.
Painted on braces! That's a disappointment. Thanks for commenting on your experiences with her.
Josie will be useful to have in the mix. The eyelashes are easy to turn down to normal levels. I'm more frustrated about the lips - there doesn't seem to be a good pale option that looks natural. They're all too dark with what I've tried so far. Overall, she's kinda cute, kinda useful.
I'd probably be returning her if the rest of the pro package didn't make up for her so-so-ness, and if I hadn't also got the G3M Egyptian bundle at 90% off (yay glitches) in the same order.
@novica Thank you. :-) Can't thank these threads enough for all the cool tips and techniques.
Gazebo, Garden and Patio Set Thunderbolt Tuning Style
I'm just testing out those Bell garden lights, when the scene has overall lighting and heading into dusk. Although it had extended time and max samples, there was still some noise.
Just a heads up: RedzStudio, (just Redz here in the forums,) has released a new fiber mesh eyebrow product, Super Natural Brows, for G8F/G3F. I already have Oh My Brows so I asked her if these had the same shapes, and she said they are "a completely different set of geometry, morphs and styles." She also said they are "designed to work best as stand alone brows on the newer browless textures. They are more substantial." I noticed on the product page, these have three separate material zones, too, for more natural coloring. And there is a male version, too. I assume that means G8M/G3M.
The brow thing confuses me a bit - are there many G3 skin textures without brows, so you can use these?
If they're like Oh My Brows, they should also work well in combination with Zev0's Brow Remover.
And before anyone else looks that up, that brow remover does also work with the Genesis 8 male and female.
Ok, I'll be the weird one (nothing new to me!) I actually like her. I like the eyelashes, the brows can be dealt with. The braces look bad if you zoom in (which I did on Isidorn's pic- great pic, by the way.) I really love that hair here. Not sure I really need another character, can't afford her at the moment, but if she's still on sale next week I might get her.
Thanks for showing the gazebo, Novica. The car is a nice touch and the hanging lights are cool.
I think the ground and water are problematic. I can see why the promos are rather dim.
About a year ago, Zev0 and Draagonstorm released Brow Remover for Daz Studio, a script that modifies all the image maps for the character by copying the area above the eyebrows and pasting it over the eyebrows. It uses LIE but saves the resulting images so they don't have to be recreated every time you open the scene. You can also save the results as a preset. It works amazingly well.
And Brow Remover is not figure/generation specific, so it should continue to work with future releases of Genesis. You can even use your own masks, so this can be used with non-Daz figure/characters, too. (You will need to create those mask in another program.)
At the same time, Draagonstorm released Wow Brow, which lets you add eyebrows to the face maps, including bump and specular, again using LIE. Another brow product released aroudn the same time is Real Eyebrows for Genesis 3 Female. I didn't get it when it came out, (silly me,) and now it's in my wishlist. The PA modeled individual hairs! Over at Rendo, you can get Oh My Brows by RedzStudio. There are both male and female versions, and a bundle with both. These are fiber mesh brows, intended to be used with the "painted on" eyebrows of numerous characters. (I've used them on their own, too.)
There are also several vendors who give us both a brow and no brow options, though for the females, that usually means the one without any makeup. With Brow Remover, you can remove the brows on faces with makeup. And with G8/O8/M8 being released with No Brow mat options and fiber mesh eyebrows, it appears a lot of the generation 8 figures and characters will have a No Brow option. (One of the big dissapointments with Josie 8 is she doesn't come with a no brow option and fiber mesh brows.)
Super Natural Brows are intended to be used instead of the "painted on" brows, allowing us to give our creations a unique look. And with the included morphs, it's very easy to make the brows asymmetrical.
The ground didn't impress me from the get-go, seems very painted, and the water meeting the shoreline could do with a bit of rippling or something, which is what most of them suffer from the lack of. Totally agree with you. I basically liked the hanging lights and gazebo, will probably replace the water.
I'm wondering if the extra 10% off for Josie 8 buyers on N.Debut and S.New will be in effect only today? I normally try to have a few New Debuts left over for the next day (making them Still New) but don't know if I want to do that if the offer is only for today.