The basics of Daz 4.5 characters.
Drekkan
Posts: 459
What is the best main bundle combination to purchase for Daz 4.5? what I mean by this is in Daz 3 you had the main M4 and V4 Elite +++ addons etc to make the characters work to their full potential. What is whats needed for Daz 4.5 genesis/V5/M5 characters please?
Also is M5/V5 the same as genesis? I a little confused. Thx.
Comments
Genesis is the base figure in D|S 4.xxx. Every Generation 5 figure from DAZ IS Genesis. Basically a morph, but it's actually more than that.
Okay, so here's what you do:
Download Genesis Starter Essentials.
Then goto ShareCG and download the following:
http://www.sharecg.com/v/58198/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/DieTryings-182-V4-Morphs-for-Genesis
Everything here:
http://www.sharecg.com/pf/full_uploads.php?pf_user_name=wilmap
The only free hair for genesis that I'm aware of (other than what's in Starter Essentials)
http://www.sharecg.com/v/67985/view/21/DAZ-Studio/WC-Samantha-Hair-for-Genesis
As it said most of Genesis figures aren't separate figures but morphs (like for Generation 4, Freak 4 and Hiro 4 were morphs for Michael 4 - Genesis takes it one step further by combining male and female (monster, childred, faeries) into one extremely morphable figure.
Genesis can use Generation 4 textures but not morphs (without a special and pretty costly plugin), so any Elite textures you had will work just as good on Genesis.
There is a couple of Elite textures for major Genesis "figures"
http://www.daz3d.com/stephanie-5-elite-texture-joanie
http://www.daz3d.com/michael-5-elite-skin-texture-dave
As for morphs, you can pick up your own. Must haves, I think, are Genesis Evolution (head and body) but after that everything is pretty much up to your taste. I like this morphpack extremely but it isn't by DAZ3D and somebody else might like something else better. I also like Creatures and Muscularity and Ethnicity but you might not have need for either. I also like new Aging morphs by Zev0.
Aside of free morphpack that wancow mentioned, there is often overlooked but excellent RamWolf's morphpack as well as some free aging and alien morphs
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/6841/
http://www.sharecg.com/v/64698/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/FaceJowls-for-Genesis
http://www.sharecg.com/v/66890/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/HFS-Shapes---ME-Expansion
Thx guys! its kind of a shame how you can add mats from Daz3 figures but not the morphs. Oh well ty :)
Wancow, that hair is cool, but the are other Genesis freebies too, for instance, Flat Top hair: http://www.sharecg.com/v/67275/related/21/DAZ-Studio/SOTOs-Flat-Top-for-Genesis. Some other like Tragic hair (http://www.sharecg.com/v/67654/related/21/DAZ-Studio/Tragic-Hair-for-Genesis) or GenMoustache (http://www.sharecg.com/v/67612/related/21/DAZ-Studio/Moustache-for-Genesis). Most of the freebies designed for other figures can be autofitted if I'm right. I'm a beginner, but Arah's ones (http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/index.php?user_id=644963) worked for me. RedViper2012's HMHM Long Braided Hair for A4 (http://www.sharecg.com/v/65755) should do the trick too. Maybe this hair for V4 (http://www.sharecg.com/v/24968/browse/5/3D-Model/V4-Hair) with or without additional textures (http://www.sharecg.com/v/25013/browse/5/3D-Model/V4-Color-change) will work too. Nice stuff can be found at Faery-Dreams store (http://www.faeriedreams.com/store/index.php?main_page=page_3 and http://www.faeriedreams.com/store/index.php?main_page=page_2). I also saw Freaky Hair (http://www.sharecg.com/v/8715/browse/5/3D-Model/Freaky-hair), Mifuyu Hair (http://www.sharecg.com/v/50768/browse/5/3D-Model/Mifuyu_Hair), SalterDesign's hairstyles (http://www.salterdesign.com/Studio/Poser_Downloads.htm) or Blue Toon Hair (http://www.sharecg.com/v/57153/browse/5/3D-Model/Blue-Hair-Genesis), but except the last one, there's no figure specified for them.
There are fantastic alternative morphs for Genesis on ShareCG: Genesis Alive (http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/6841/), elf ears (http://www.sharecg.com/v/57817/related///) and witchy face (http://www.sharecg.com/v/64661/related/21/DAZ-Studio/Genesis-Witch/Warlock-Head-Morph).
If one got Evolution morphs, the teens are very nice: http://www.sharecg.com/v/65619/related/21/DAZ-Studio/Tween-Morphs-for-Genesis and giants: http://www.sharecg.com/v/61852/related/21/DAZ-Studio/Genesis-Giants. This uses Gen4 males bases too: http://www.sharecg.com/v/58894/related///.
I hope it helps!
EDIT:
I almost forgot PA Christmas 2012 Ciri Hair and its textures, they are for Genesis too (http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/13080/P255/#194667 and http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/13080/P405/#200843). Other free hairstyles are there: http://shop.aprilsvanity.com/index.php?searchStr=christmas&_a=viewCat&Submit=Go.
You can't use Daz Gen3 textures, only Daz gen 4.
You have to convert them using Generation X: http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-generation-x
Genesis is a low poly figure in that it only has fewer than 19,000 Polygons. Generation 4 (V4, M4, etc) have 79,000 polygons.
Forgot the Flattop and those others...
You can continue to use all your previous generations with all their morphs in DAZ Studio 4.5 also, especially if they're the look you want. This goes for all the various figure in Generation 3 and 4. They can all work along side Genesis.
K so does this in include the previous generations mats? I confused because now people are saying you can't use them.
Generation 4 (Michael 4, Victoria 4, etc) with Genesis
- Skin textures: mostly yes, there are alternative UV maps in Genesis that take Generation 4 textures, be it Michael 4 or Aiki 4
- Morphs: no, unless you use an expensive external Gen-X plugin.
- Clothes: mostly yes, through autofit although not all clothes convert well
- Footwear: mostly no, even if some flat-sole boots convert better than high-heels and SickleYield made an additional converter option, for autofit, shoes conversion still isn't giving a very good result
- Poses: yes, with tweaking. Genesis has few extra-bones (abdonmen 2, for example) that won't let original Gen4 poses to convert 100% but the result is usually close
- Expressions: I think no, didn't check
- Hair: mostly yes. You don't have to convert, you can use any cr2 or hr2 hair as a prop, parented to Genesis hair and adjusted;
there is also an autofit option but it isn't always working well, especially if elf ears morphs are involved
Generation 3 (Michael 3, Aiko 3, Victoria 3)
- Skin textures: no but you can use expensive external Texture Converter 2 program to convert them to Generation 4 textures and use on Genesis as regular Generation 4 textures above.
- Morphs: no known way. You can replicate some of them with Generation 3 Iconic Shapes for Genesis product and new Genesis morphs but the direct translation isn't possible.
- Clothes: same as Gen 4, through autofit, and you must have Iconic Generation 3 shapes for Genesis product for autofit to get those options, but only Freak 3, M3, V3, Aiko 3, Hiro 3, SP3 and David 3 can be converted so no Luke and Laura conversions.
- Footwear: same as Gen 4, through autofit, you must have Iconic Generation 3 shapes for Genesis product for autofit to get those options
- Poses: same as Gen 4, with more tweaking
- Expressions: I think no, didn't check
- Hair: same as Gen 4 and you must have Iconic Generation 3 shapes for Genesis product for autofit to get those options
Generation 2 and 1
I don't think anything is convertable from there. I can still use hair from Gen2 as a prop hair for Genesis.
There was, I think, 3D Universe expensive external plugin to convert Gen2 textures to Gen3 so theoretically it is possible to use Gen2 textures on Genesis through two conversions but that program is no longer sold.
K so does this in include the previous generations mats? I confused because now people are saying you can't use them.
The Mats in DAZ Studio are Renderman Shader Language based Materials and still are. 3Delight is the render engine. http://wancow.deviantart.com/art/3Delight-The-2-Render-Engine-in-Hollywood
K so does this in include the previous generations mats? I confused because now people are saying you can't use them.
You can use the gen 3 figures and then obviously use their mats. Also the same goes for gen 4 figures.
Using Genesis does not mean that you can no longer use the older figures if you prefer them.
But Genesis itself does by default use Gen 4 mats, will not use gen 3 mats.
If you like the idea of really customizing your characters, I recommend any or all of Thorne's Head and Body Morph Resource Kits.
AGREED! I love those morph sets! They're amazing!
You can convert the Gen 3 morphs with GenX; you have to have the Generation 3 Iconic Shapes for Genesis and the GenX AddOn Gen3 Bundle (http://www.daz3d.com/genx-addon-gen3-bundle). It may not be that cheap (you need three products to get it done), but it works fine. I recently converted the Gen 3 version of She-Freak to Genesis with no problems.
K so does this in include the previous generations mats? I confused because now people are saying you can't use them.
You can't use the Gen 3 mats on Genesis. You can, however continue to use the Gen 3 figures (not the Gen 3 Shapes for Genesis) in DAZ Studio, and the mats will work on those figures. So, if, for example, you have Victoria 3, you can load her into your scene, and apply the V3 mats to her. You could have Gen 3, Gen 4, and Gen 5 (Genesis) figures all in the same scene, if you want.
Speaking of skins, are there any decent K4 textures shared for free please? I look for a black one, to be precise. I tried to apply Candance texture, but I ended up having her lips around K4's nose as if the kiddie had a moustache :-(. Thanks in advance!
EDIT:
I found out by mistake that there are some close similarities between Flat Top Free Hair by Hellboy and Neftis3D's Flat Top Hair. See yourself: http://www.sharecg.com/v/67275/related/21/DAZ-Studio/SOTOs-Flat-Top-for-Genesis vs http://www.daz3d.com/flat-top-hair - was it intentional?