Purchasing Old/New Content

Brank

I have recently decided to get back into 3D art after a 15 year hiatus. A LOT has changed. In addition to needing to master the latest incarnation of 3D software, almost all of my original content is gone and I want to replace it with something better. This is a rabbit hole with a very deep bottom, though. I'm just a hobbyist with practically no knowledge beyond the basics of how to put things together in a scene and render it. I've looked through the store a bit, and there is a bit of confusion regarding the genesis figures. At first, I thought they were each individual figures, but it seems it's just one mesh that has been morphed? Even male and females are still the same mesh with different parameters applied? Is content for Vicky for example, usable on another figure? I'm assuming this is not the case, and to do so would require a lot of fiddling and/or additional software to make it happen. So, if I decide to buy a figure and accompanying accessories, I'd like to get the most bang for my buck.

This discussion: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/210021/new-clothing-still-looks-like-stiff-tubes/p1 has me wondering if I'm better off buying content for older figures, since it's cheaper and there's a lot more of it, or taking a leap of faith and buying the newer, more expensive content on the grounds that it's supposedly better and will continue to improve in quantity and quality over time.

I'm also wondering, since I'm practically starting from scratch, is if there is a certain core group of content I should focus on first? Like, it seems to me that packages or bundles that offer the ability to customize figures (head and body morphs) would be a sound investment that I could get a lot of mileage from. If it matters, I'm primarily interested in fantasy themes with the occasional toon thrown in.

Thanks for any helpful advice you may have.

IceDragonArt

Here is a thread on converting the older content up the generations.  Its still a work in progress but it does list the utilities available and some of the clothing that works well, or doesn't when moving them up to the newer generations. A LOT of the older content works just fine for the newer generations.  A lot of them don't need any of the utilities but I have found the utilities make my life much easier lol.  I still buy the older stuff all the time. 

BeeMKay

Genesis 1 has one base figure for male and female. All figures based on Genesis 1 have a 5 in their name, like Victoria 5, or require a figure that have a 5 in their name. But they are all just morphs of that G1 mesh.

Genesis 2 comes in male and female separate figures, though the mesh is pretty much the same between them. All figures based on them have a 6 in their name (Victoria 6), or reference to them. You can't use morphs and skin between male and female directly starting with G2.

Genesis 3 and Genesis 8 basically have the same arrangement as G2, but they have much different bones and UV map, so downward compatibility for poses and materials is not so good. 

Another thing to keep in mind when buying older content is that it was made for 3Delight, and while you still have the 3DL render engine in Studio, the new default engine is Iray. Materials are converted on the fly, but will usually win from a proper conversion. Some will look entirely too glossy, so you'd have to dial that down in the surface tab.

That said, using older content and generations is not so bad. I have G2 as my main work horse in renders, and even though most skins will need a bit work, It's doing what I want it to do.

dracorn

To help you avoid confusion (or maybe add to it...)

Victoria 4 and Michael 4, aka "generation 4."

Genesis 1 aka Victoria 5 and Michael 5.

Genesis 2 Female aka Victoria 6.  Genesis 2 Male aka Michael 6

Genesis 3 Female aka Victoria 7.  Genesis 3 Male aka Michael 8.

Apparently that was just too confusing so they made the numbers match.  There is no Genesis 4, 5 or 6.

Genesis 8 Female aka Victoria 8.  Genesis 8 Male aka Michael 8.

As for older content -

There currently is no converter for clothing between V4/M4 and Genesis 8.  So until one is offered (i.e. Wear Them All), you won't be able to use those.  Certain things don't convert well -

Long billowy sleeves, especially for generations older than Genesis 3.  Some G3 long sleeve will work fine (Medieval Princess Dress for Genesis 3 Female) while others won't (Sorceress for Genesis 3 Female).  Shoes, especially high heels, don't convert well.  Most of my high heel shoes for G1 and G2 won't work for G8 (I don't have any heels for G3).  FLAT shoes will convert (Flat Boots 2 for Genesis 2 Female).

I created a tutorial for fitting older high heels to Genesis 8.  This works for closed shoes where the skin of the foot is not showing.  You can find the link in my signature below (Fitting Old Shoes to Genesis 8).