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Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 9

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  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    Etamin said:
    Novica said:
    L'Adair said:

    Don't forget Kieron includes no-brow options and fiber mesh brows from Laticis Imagery. (Not to mention the beard and chest hair...!) You can easily tone down the gloss, if you need to.

    Yeah, I've spent this entire time reading product descriptions and also trying to whittle down my cart. It takes two NEW DEBUT to get that extra 20% off the stores, so I had him and the hair in my cart.

    I get so confused with these percent off stacks.  It makes no difference in my cart whether I have 2 debut new, or one debut new and one still new.  In either case, the featured PA items show at 68%.  Should I see a bigger discount with two debut new?  Sorry if I sound greedy, just the way they word it is confusing, and hey, I like bargains :)

    I had only one Debut new release in my cart and was getting 68% off feature artists' catalog items:

     

    20170926_cart.jpg
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  • EtaminEtamin Posts: 129
    Novica said:

    You're not greedy, and not the only one that goes "Say what?"

     To me, the promo page is really messed up. In one place it says you must buy two New Debut to get the extra 20% off the artists' stores, and in other places it says you only need one. So I don't know if that's an additional 20% on the 20% or not. I see you asked it on the sale thread, I'll go take a look at a cart and see if I can figure it out. (Or anyone else who is shopping and can explain it. That page is WHACKO.) 

    Hi Novica

    Thanks.  This is far from the first time that I have looked at a sale page, and found that the cart prices just don't seem to match what I am reading.  Sometimes it works the other way, and I go - wow, how did I get that much discount!. FWIW, I put Ravyn bundle https://www.daz3d.com/ravyn-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s and Maggie outfit https://www.daz3d.com/maggie-outfit-for-genesis-8-female-s as debut new, and Glowing window texture shaders https://www.daz3d.com/v176-glowing-window-texture-shaders as a still new.  Any combo of 

    L'Adair said:
    Etamin said:
    Novica said:
    L'Adair said:

    Don't forget Kieron includes no-brow options and fiber mesh brows from Laticis Imagery. (Not to mention the beard and chest hair...!) You can easily tone down the gloss, if you need to.

    Yeah, I've spent this entire time reading product descriptions and also trying to whittle down my cart. It takes two NEW DEBUT to get that extra 20% off the stores, so I had him and the hair in my cart.

    I get so confused with these percent off stacks.  It makes no difference in my cart whether I have 2 debut new, or one debut new and one still new.  In either case, the featured PA items show at 68%.  Should I see a bigger discount with two debut new?  Sorry if I sound greedy, just the way they word it is confusing, and hey, I like bargains :)

    I had only one Debut new release in my cart and was getting 68% off feature artists' catalog items:

     

    Yes, that is what I am seeing.  Adding a second debut new, or a still new makes no difference to the featured PA % off.  Thank you for checking.

  • EtaminEtamin Posts: 129
    L'Adair said:
    Etamin said:
    Novica said:
    L'Adair said:

    Don't forget Kieron includes no-brow options and fiber mesh brows from Laticis Imagery. (Not to mention the beard and chest hair...!) You can easily tone down the gloss, if you need to.

    Yeah, I've spent this entire time reading product descriptions and also trying to whittle down my cart. It takes two NEW DEBUT to get that extra 20% off the stores, so I had him and the hair in my cart.

    I get so confused with these percent off stacks.  It makes no difference in my cart whether I have 2 debut new, or one debut new and one still new.  In either case, the featured PA items show at 68%.  Should I see a bigger discount with two debut new?  Sorry if I sound greedy, just the way they word it is confusing, and hey, I like bargains :)

    I had only one Debut new release in my cart and was getting 68% off feature artists' catalog items:

     

    Oh, and I see you have one of the eywear packs in your cart.  The two packs look like great value - nice variety, and v4 to g3F g3m compatibility 'out of the box'

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874

    I am also getting the 68% off with two new debuts. 

  • EtaminEtamin Posts: 129
    Novica said:

    I am also getting the 68% off with two new debuts. 

    OK, so one new debut, plus one featured PA gives you 50% off both, and pushes the PA items to 68% off.  It just doesn't go higher.  Well, I am tired, and have to go to bed, so I will stick with my Ravyn bundle at 50% off thanks to one PA item which droped to 68%, plus ome of the fast grabs at 75 to 82% off.

    Thanks, Peter

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

    some of the ones I bought, and the prices with two new debuts:
    Modular Destruction   $6.23
    Expeditionary Force    $3.74
    Two textures for Attica:  Colonial Guard  $3.49  and  Futura  $3.23
    Fane Hair and Character (Gen8F)  $7.98
    Garden Pottery $4.78
    Karissa Hair  $7.34
    Jenn HD for Victoria 7   $6.38
    Mette (for V4)  $3.75    This one should be interesting, if you like bushier / natural eyebrows. 
    Diamond and Studs Boots (Gen3F)     Look at this one for high heeled boots that are more practical. The stiletto part is thick and shorter than most, not overly high. Would give support. Nice details. For  $5.11  Edit- also note the top of the boots is loose so you can probably insert pants easily into the boots.

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017
    RGcincy said:

    I've been judicious in my purchases this month but I couldn't resist the Old Chap for Genesis 3 and 8 Male since I've been one of many who say we need more age diversity. I've seen Old Chap as himself and mixed in with a variety of other characters and as a G3F clone, but not used interracially, so I thought I'd see how he works with Darius 7.

     

    Ooooh, those are neat! Reminded me of Lou Gosset on some of those. What a great experiement!

    Post edited by Novica on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited September 2017

    These are wonderful! Are you finding his skin a little challenging to light? I was working with him this afternoon and the light just bounces off of him. I detail what I was doing here on my art thread.  

    zombietaggerung said:

    They got me today, I couldn't resist FW Kieron HD and Kieron Hair. I'm very glad that the hair is for both G3 and G8 males. That hair is what really sold me on the lot. It kind of reminds me of the way my favorite boy wears his hair. blush But anyhoo! I like the character, he renders nicely and is so purty and the hair is gorgeous, with lots of movement. And the beard adds that roguish touch. I love him!

    Here he is as my character Hugh (who was born with white hair and pale grey eyes- I used Paris' Macro Eyes and then desaturated more in Photoshop.) I think with a few tweaks, he'll be on my next book cover: 

    Post edited by Llynara on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874

    I'll try him with the Pro-Studio lights and see how he lights.

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,830
    Etamin said:

    I get so confused with these percent off stacks.  It makes no difference in my cart whether I have 2 debut new, or one debut new and one still new ... just the way they word it is confusing, and hey, I like bargains :)

    It also varies every day. Sometimes there's an additional discount, sometimes not. Sometimes requires buy one debut or two, or one debut and one still new. Sometimes if you buy this you get that but only if you also buy this other thing. Sometimes it works out for me and other times it would have worked better yesterday and not at all tomorrow. One thing for sure; there will always be another sale. And with the base price being high, seeking bargains is good. 

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,604

    It is interesting to see other renders of Kieron. I like his shape but the promos of his skin kind of look gray and dim. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017
    Serene Night said:

    It is interesting to see other renders of Kieron. I like his shape but the promos of his skin kind of look gray and dim. 

    He's definitely not coming out that way- it's in progress but he's looking pretty normal to me. It's at 90% (20 minutes into it.) So I'll post in about 15 minutes, won't do any postwork.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    edited September 2017
    Serene Night said:

    It is interesting to see other renders of Kieron. I like his shape but the promos of his skin kind of look gray and dim. 

    I was willing to wishlist him, but after finding things I wanted in MFG, he was the only Debut item today I was willing to buy at a mere 50% discount. lol And as long as I was buying a new release, I needed something from one of the categories to to get the extra discount. Funny how saving money always ends up costing so much!

     

    Etamin said:
    Yes, that is what I am seeing.  Adding a second debut new, or a still new makes no difference to the featured PA % off.  Thank you for checking.

    That was my actual cart today. Happy to share. laugh

    Post edited by L'Adair on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

    FW Kieron HD for Genesis 8 Male and LI Kieron Whiskers       Axel Hair (Gen8M)       Gym Wear Outfit (G8M) 

    This is with the Pro-Studio lights, it's 14R. If I were to change him, I'd add more reflectivity and glossy. But we're doing the default so here it is.

    Kieron.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

    FW Kieron HD for Genesis 8 Male and LI Kieron Whiskers       Axel Hair (Gen8M)       Gym Wear Outfit (G8M) 

    This is with the Pro-Studio lights again. (a different one) I added a slight touch of reflectivity, didn't want to change the default too much. I would lighten the render and tweak in postwork, but again, didn't want to do any on it.

    Kieron 2.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,604

    Quite attractive, but sort of looks like he's wearing eyeliner. Is this the case?

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

     

    Serene Night said:

    Quite attractive, but sort of looks like he's wearing eyeliner. Is this the case?

    Yes, it's the thinnest one. Edit- I just figured out what I don't like- I like hair on men's arms, not shaved. 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,604

    Thanks for showing this. I think I will pass. There is something wooden about his mouth I'm not into. A lot of gen 8 guys seem to have their mouths too...Pursed or something. And a wee bit low.

  • zombietaggerungzombietaggerung Posts: 3,707
    Llynara said:

    These are wonderful! Are you finding his skin a little challenging to light? I was working with him this afternoon and the light just bounces off of him. I detail what I was doing here on my art thread.  

    zombietaggerung said:

    They got me today, I couldn't resist FW Kieron HD and Kieron Hair. I'm very glad that the hair is for both G3 and G8 males. That hair is what really sold me on the lot. It kind of reminds me of the way my favorite boy wears his hair. blush But anyhoo! I like the character, he renders nicely and is so purty and the hair is gorgeous, with lots of movement. And the beard adds that roguish touch. I love him!

    Here he is as my character Hugh (who was born with white hair and pale grey eyes- I used Paris' Macro Eyes and then desaturated more in Photoshop.) I think with a few tweaks, he'll be on my next book cover: 

    Hugh looks really good! I personally found Kieron pretty easy to light, but then I was just using an HDRi no other lights. I did adjust the tone mapping  a bit to lighten the scene up, but other wise he's straight out of the box. I'll be doing another render of him overnight with some different lighting, so we'll see how that one comes out.

  • NathNath Posts: 2,771

    Kieron looks good but I see the same problem with the low eyebrows that crops up everywhere in Gen8 - the inside of the brow is too low in relation to the eyesocket.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,604
    Nath said:

    Kieron looks good but I see the same problem with the low eyebrows that crops up everywhere in Gen8 - the inside of the brow is too low in relation to the eyesocket.

    Interesting. I hadn't noticed that until you pointed it out. You have an excellent eye for details, but yes that is off.

     

  • NathNath Posts: 2,771
    Serene Night said:
    Nath said:

    Kieron looks good but I see the same problem with the low eyebrows that crops up everywhere in Gen8 - the inside of the brow is too low in relation to the eyesocket.

    Interesting. I hadn't noticed that until you pointed it out. You have an excellent eye for details, but yes that is off.

     

    Thx:) - of course, it's becoming something that I can't unsee in characters.

    It's not my favourite 3D pet peeve yet, that place is reserved for archery poses with the arrow on the wrong side of the bow, but it's currently in second place.

  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770
    edited September 2017
    Serene Night said:

    Quite attractive, but sort of looks like he's wearing eyeliner. Is this the case?

    I actually put one of Darwin's LIE eyeliners on him, because otherwise he looked really washed out. Kieron does come with eyeliners, but I thought they were too heavy for my character. I just wanted thicker looking eyelashes. I've got them dialed up, but wasn't seeing any real difference. I can do a straight render with defaults and no postwork if you like. His face is great but his coloring looks sallow to me without tweaking.

    ETA: I'm also thinking of trying Redz's Supernatural Brows on him. My original Hugh was Sebastian for G2M, and I like the arching brow on him better I think.

    Post edited by Llynara on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

    Okay, problem. I already owned Xfrog billboards (amazing what you have when you start looking. We talked about billboards and I OWNED some that I had forgotten about!)

    Here's the thing- the backgrounds are NOT transparent. They are like a frosted glass (almost gone but still there) when two or more overlap. That is not correct, right? 

    xfrog.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,830
    Novica said:

    Here's the thing- the backgrounds are NOT transparent. They are like a frosted glass (almost gone but still there) when two or more overlap. That is not correct, right? 

    Not correct, should be clear. Have you looked at one of the images in Photoshop? Could there be some reflection occuring? The current version of Daz imports lots of older material with specular and/or ambient set at 100%. I constantly have to turn those settings down on older products.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

    Here's what I don't understand- if I am rendering in Iray, should I be Iray Uber Basing those? I may have done that out of habit on a few of them.

    Edit- nope,  I took everything out and loaded three of them, they are all frosted backgrounds (no Iray Uber Base applied.) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,830
    Novica said:

    Here's what I don't understand- if I am rendering in Iray, should I be Iray Uber Basing those? I may have done that out of habit on a few of them.

    Edit- nope,  I took everything out and loaded three of them, they are all frosted backgrounds (no Iray Uber Base applied.) 

    My understanding is DS adds the Iray base if you don't. I just checked and I have a couple Xfrog products. I'll take a look at them.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

    Without applying Iray Uber Base, I tried changing the Glossiness (default 50%) and nada. Same with Specular (default 100) and Ambient (100 default)  The billboards are still worth getting IMO at $3.37/3.38  but apparently can't be overlapped, which for trees rather ruins the purpose. So what am I not doing, that I haven't tried?

    xfrog2.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,830

    How did you find them in your library? DIM says they are installed but they don't show up even with a search.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,874
    edited September 2017

    They are in Poser in Props. Under XP. I used the readme for the Southwest ones.

    Post edited by Novica on
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