Novica, Serene Night, & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 3
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LOL- It looks like the guy in back is pouting at being left out of something (say a tournament), and the man on in front on the left is saying, "Oh for pete's sake, let him play!"
The man on the right is saying very firmly but with dignity, "Must I remind you that I AM THE CAPTAIN of the team? Forsooth you forget!"
The best looking guy (2nd from the right) is just thinking, "This is a good thing.... We keep this up and the tournament won't even start. I won't get any dirt on my new clothes."
Kidding aside, I really like the facial hair. The only thing I am picky about is how it matches up with the head hair, and that's hard when some of it is a bit more painted.
I had forgotten about Mec4D leaving.
Precisely. And a 5.9 is good for an HDD (traditional, spinning drive.) The ONLY place I notice a difference in having a lower HD speed is when loading runtimes. (You would probably also notice this if you use a USB2 external hard drive to store runtimes... it will be noticeably slower to refresh your content directories in DS or Poser, compared to data you'd retrieve with your internal SATA or eSATA or USB3 drive.) You have a very good system -- better than my old PC, which is still a workhorse. (I still use it to farm renders.) To score much above a 5.9, you'd probably need a solid state drive. SSDs are, granted, awesome for boot time, but they aren't cheap. I, like most people with SSDs, have my boot data and main programs on the SSD, but pretty much everything else on a traditional hard drive.
I'd venture a guess that most people with decent PCs that are a few years old are also limited by their hard drive speed. Aside from that, my old PC wasn't all that much slower than my new PC. But I won't admit that loudly, because I'd be hard-pressed to justify having a new computer -- I could have just turned my HDD into a data drive and just bought an SSD to boot up! (Don't tell, lol!!)
I reviewed let it snow shader in thread 2 I believe. You can make some really cool things with it. What are you having troubles with?
Here is something I used the shader on a while ago, when I was more of a newbie. In hindsight the front step is a bit over-exposed but you can see what you can do with it, using moongate.
At first I wasn't getting any snow on anything and then I realized it was a selection thing..I always forget to do this with shaders...make selections in the surface tab to apply shaders!! Is there a way to apply more or less snow? the first slider only has 0 or 1 which gave me lots or no snow. Also I couldn't get any response at all out of the haze camera...obviously user error, so if you have any tips I could use some. I will go back and find your review, I think this will be an awesoe product once I get it figured out. Thanks for helping :)
At first I wasn't getting any snow on anything and then I realized it was a selection thing..I always forget to do this with shaders...make selections in the surface tab to apply shaders!! Is there a way to apply more or less snow? the first slider only has 0 or 1 which gave me lots or no snow. Also I couldn't get any response at all out of the haze camera...obviously user error, so if you have any tips I could use some. I will go back and find your review, I think this will be an awesoe product once I get it figured out. Thanks for helping :)
Put a camera in your scene. Select it in the Scene pane. Double click on the icon for the Haze Camera (It isn't a camera, but a camera preset). :)
At first I wasn't getting any snow on anything and then I realized it was a selection thing..I always forget to do this with shaders...make selections in the surface tab to apply shaders!! Is there a way to apply more or less snow? the first slider only has 0 or 1 which gave me lots or no snow. Also I couldn't get any response at all out of the haze camera...obviously user error, so if you have any tips I could use some. I will go back and find your review, I think this will be an awesoe product once I get it figured out. Thanks for helping :)
Put a camera in your scene. Select it in the Scene pane. Double click on the icon for the Haze Camera (It isn't a camera, but a camera preset). :)
thank you tjohn..will do that as soon as I get my laptop going. I am at work but will have time to play later, once I get paperwork outta the way :)
Beautiful work..I have her on my wishlist still, but I didn't get that hair as I was afraid it would be the same issues as I have with the alanna hair, but may reconsider now I see it in action.
Today’s Review is:
Security! Genesis 2 male(s)
http://www.daz3d.com/security-genesis-2-male-s
Sickleyield
Some other Content:
Portrait Artist Background (Diane)
http://www.daz3d.com/portrait-artists-backgrounds
Benjamin for M5 (Daz)
http://www.daz3d.com/benjamin-for-m5
Jepe’s Nathan (Jepe)
http://www.daz3d.com/jepe-s-nathan-for-michael-6
Basic male (Daz) Included in Genesis 2 Male essentials.
I’ve actually been eyeing this clothing set for some time. I like portraying law enforcement, and this set includes a number of useful items, jacket, pants, boots, shirt, belt, accessories, flashlight and hat. The clothing and jacket have countless morphs making adjustments and movement believable and realistic. For example, there are undress morphs, unzip morphs, and morphs to open the jacket and raise and lower the jacket to cover the belt. The morphs provide a level of customization and adjustment that I think is quite superior and welcome in genesis clothing. So often clothing is sold here does not have sufficient movement or adjustment morphs.. There are also a few texture recolors, but I haven't played with those yet.
I felt the suit rendered nicely and looked really good in my test renders (shown here). I think the suit could easily be re-textured to give it a sci-fi flair, or military aspect, or even used for just your everyday character.
I found the jacket in particular looks great. You can see how it responds to movement and how nice it looks when flaring open in my action images.
What can I say, other than that I wish I’d picked up the police set as well when it was on sale! I’m liking this set, and really appreciate the fine work Sickleyield did to make this set. I can see it is one I will use!
Images 1-5 security guards in action.
Invited Guest Contributor
Products Used:
Easy Environments Winter by Flipmode
http://www.daz3d.com/easy-environment-winter
Let It Snow DS Shader by DraagonStorm
http://www.daz3d.com/let-it-snow-ds-shader
Hybrid Grunge Bundle for DAZ Studio by Marieah and DraagonStorm
http://www.daz3d.com/hybrid-grunge-bundle-for-daz-studio
Pickup Truck 1930 by DAZ 3D and Serrge
http://www.daz3d.com/pickup-truck-1930
The image below had its beginning when Kharma asked about Let it Snow. I realized I owned that product but had never tried it, so i set about trying to familiarize myself with it. In the meantime, Kharma figured it out. :)
Easy Environments Winter is one of a series of detailed environments from Flipmode that I own. The Easy Environments are beautifully done, and render quicky. They come complete with lighting and a Skybox and are very reasonably priced.
I set the Pickup Truck in the snow and turned the opacity to zero on the surfaces for the windows, tires, etc. to make it look like an abandoned vehicle by the roadside. Then I started working with Hybrid Grunge Bundle (Grime-Inizer, Rag-Erator, Rust-Icator, and Gore-Dom). This is a set of products for adding textures to surfaces through the use of the LIE (Layered Image Editor) which adds a layer to the texture while leaving the main texture visible underneath. I used Rust-icator and Grime-Inizer to add rust and grime to the truck's surface.
Lastly, I used Let It Snow DS Shader to put some snow on the truck. I'm assuming that this product uses the LIE as well, because the results seem to be similar to other LIE shaders. A very cool thing about Let it Snow is that it appears to be able to calculate where the snow is applied based on how parallel the surface is to the ground plane (x-axis and z-axis) and how perpendicular it is (y-axis). This lets it mimic the way snow naturally accumulates on surfaces.
I also used the Haze Camera preset that comes with Let It Snow. And here is "Abandoned". :)
-John
@TJohn: Nice image, and thanks for the detailed description of how to use the product.
Will comment about the renders shortly- first, as time is important (less than 30 minutes left)
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/34967/
If you want to learn modeling (people like hexagon, some don't-- reading about crashes with some folks, others have no problem, not familiar with it) Mattymanx uses SILO- I bought the fancy car (lamboghini, cant spell, in a rush) from them- and many vendors here use SILO to do the modeling. Say it is SO much simpler to use.
Anyway, Steam website has it on sale for $40 for the next 30 minutes. You do have to have a membership. Many folks buy from there, I went with the 99.00 version ($50 off, has a holiday code, may end today, don't know) with nevercenter.com/silo who make it. When my son used our credit card on Steam, there were Walmart charges the next day. May be coincidence, never heard of anyone else having problems. My hubby would have a fit if I used Steam website. Anyway, I AM going to learn modeling, we have LIghtwave but is very steep learning curve, my sons are using that and jumped on the SILO bandwagon to do things more quickly and learn modeling. IT WILL NOT HAVE UPGRADES anytime in the near future, but people are saying that doesn't matter, it's so good.
SmithMicro has the 160.00 version, for the user- not the computer- and you can reupload it with the 2 year plan for about 9.00
About 25 minutes left on the 40.00 option!
PS- there are GREAT videos and tutorials with Steam, and one of the video guys has a book that is really the repeat of the videos- but you'd have it all in print. So TONS of support using it, I watched the videos, they go SLOW.
tjohn thank you for posting a great render and info about the let it snow shader . I think I have it totally figured out now :)
You're welcome! Glad to help. :)
I'm glad you know what they were discussing, Novica. I didn't. ;-) I just wanted to put them together for one render instead of four and then thought they needed to be interacting and it got a bit heated. It ended up taking longer than four renders would have by the the time I got the lighting going. The beards are worth it to me even if the color is a bit off from the hair, and these are so much better than the previous ones.
Thanks, KaribousBoutique. I didn't know they made SSDs. I will look for that next time. This one should be good for a few more years.
Security! looks pretty good. I missed that when it came out. Now it's on my wish list. This forum is dangerous!
Wonderful render, tjohn. I like the Easy Environments too but haven't used them much so far and I don't have this one, which is really nice. I forgot that Let it Snow came with a Haze Camera preset - very cool.
I really like the fluidity of the clothing- you're right, it moves really well. Your lighting is good as usual! I didn't particularly care for the shoes when I saw them- the ends seemed a bit bulbous to me. (heavily rounded.) But that's what steel toe boots look like and they appear fine in your renders. I have this set so I will look forward to using it one day.
tjohn- I think that is one of your best renders ever. It's so serene, even though the car is abandoned, it has a sense of eerie "oh well" about it. Like it had a good run and is satisfied. I'll have to try that shader and experiment with the layering.
One favor to ask of folks when doing quotes- please trim the quotes down to a few lines so folks don't have to scroll through copious repeats. Like to tidy up the thread a bit. If you grab just the bracket [ and quote then bracket ] and get a snippet so we know what you're referring to- only a sentence or two will do- then get the bracket [ and the /quote ] (put those together) it will just show those few lines. We're getting the entire posts (some quite lengthy) so if we can get the essence, I would appreciate it.
And SereneNight, thanks for putting the vendors. Will make it easier for me to do links. :)
I am working on my RRRR so not posting for awhile. On the second render of the FIRST story (only doing one.)
I did get Silo. So after the RRRR I will be experimenting with that. I know of one other team member who got it, so we're going to try to start from scratch together. (Both got it from the nevercenter.com folks. You can put it on three computers, one user/license.) It was $50 off still today (merry99 code) The $40 Steam one expired. Supposedly a really good but simple modeling tool. I need simple. And I like good :)
This is beautiful! Now you're making me wish I'd bought that at the intro price! (On the wishlist now!)
Really a lovely render.
SereneNight really impressed me when she did the Let It Snow, that was over a year ago and I remember that render.
And I really, really like the Easy Environments with the skyboxes- as you all know, The Rock one is my favorite so far. Haven't tried the winter one but I did grab it during the sale. Just can't get over the beauty of your render Tjohn, that REALLY should be a promo image for the Let It Snow. REALLY.
Speaking of which, wind is howling at 25mph here in Pensacola, going to be 13-15 degrees (real feel) for NINE HOURS tonight. I have a heating pad in a box with blankets on the front porch (out of the wind) for the feral cat that I've fed for the past year, and of course the stupid thing is nowhere to be seen tonight. He ate then left. LEFT. That's gratitude! I'll have to turn the heating pad off before I go to bed, don't trust anything electrical like that being outside and running (especially since not made for outdoors, even if using industrial outdoor cord.) Stay warm everyone! I see lots of snow on the radar for the East coast!
@Novica
The boots gave me pause when I saw them in the promo art. They seemed to stand out in some way that looks artificial and that I cannot quite explain. To be honest, the promo art didn't thrill me, but the set certainly does!
The pants are wide enough that just about any good men's shoe will fit under the pant leg which is great. We need less clingy men's pants. =-)
Lol... I feel for you, simply because you Floridians are not used to such nonsense. But be grateful. In Milwaukee, it's currently -2, Real-feel of -6. By Sunday, we're expecting a HIGH of -12 with wind chills down to -15/-20. And this goes on for, you know, WEEKS. Plus, the gas bill is ridiculous when those temperatures strike, so my thermostat is set at a very brisk 63. We're big on fuzzy blankets, fuzzy socks, hoodies, and cat-snuggling at my house!! We just got about 6" of snow yesterday, plus almost that much on Christmas. It's pretty -- but A ROYAL PAIN to shovel! I also drive a Mustang (I lost my "winter" car in the divorce...) which means I'm frequently sideways while driving in this mess. I have 200 pounds of sand, a shovel, kitty litter, rock salt, and several blankets in my trunk! :D
It's funny to see all the hoop-la when it snows here in the Panhandle. I've had a ranch in Minnesota and am originally a Hoosier (although my mom is from here and we spent all our summers here while I was growing up, and I moved back here years ago, then married military, moved around, then back again about 15 years ago.) I remember once in Indianapolis, I had to pick someone up from the airport, it was blizzard/ icy (their plane was the last one to land safely, and I always thought it was stupid for them to even attempt it) and in that person's neighborhood, I felt like a bumper pool piece. We were only going about 5 miles per hour but still hit ice, car cherio-ed, then I was just bumping from curve to curve going from one side of the street to the other- going between the parked cars! (And having a few choice words in between the "bumps.") I dodged about six cars but only because they weren't parked together and I had a lot of leeway. Afterwards, it struck both of us as really funny.
Cuddlin' with the kitties eh? We have a few of those too. :) SereneNight keeps putting the bug in the vendors' ears about getting another cat model.
Oh!
Those images are better than the promo's for the security outfit.
Usually I almost toss anything male in my cart but skipped this one.
Now I am rethinking that :D
I admit the promo art gave me pause, and since I bought it with the no return policy I was worried. . But after working with the set, I think it is one of the best sets I've used from Snowball.
There are just so many morphs. Including some to sag the pants, unzip the fly, open the jacket, zip it up, raise and lower, even an undress morph. It really is well done.
I wish more vendors would add morphs like these to their products. It really makes adjusting the figure and illustrating a character so much easier.
You can also hide the security wording on the jacket and top so it could be any sort of outfit =-)
Man, I am tempted by the bot, but the bot is a bit sexualized for me and kind of high in price. (sexy bot limits my applicable uses). Hard to justify the expense when I own original bot. =-)
I do think set 2 (which I can see if I click on the bundle), has some options I like, such as the armored gun and helmet and I like the idea of applying separate bits like I did with the original. So, just thinking about it.
I like the idea of a sci-fi sale, but wish there were actually more sci-fi things on sale.
IF anyone gets the tower, I'd love to see the interior without the grainy postwork. Tough for me to see what that really looks like. =-)
Today is the first day in a month that I haven't found something really tempting. The back of that bot is "butt." Seriously, could just be advertised as a Sports Illustrated paint job like they do on the bikinis. They should have included a materials zone which could be turned off and on. You want hiney, have hiney. Family friendly, no problem....wrong- problem. It's beautifully crafted, just won't use it as can only have front and side shots.
Nothing else appeals to me with only 30% off. Too spoiled from the sales yesterday.
Wow. Still only 32 degrees here, going on 10:30am. Unreal for Florida. (Chill is 20 degrees.) Stetson (my Morgan horse) is still blanketed and won't even have it taken off today.
NOTE: If you have submitted a support ticket, they may have been rejected. Britney and team are "on it." Check your emails.
Oh, yes! I love the new big cat -- now we just need a little one! Speaking of which... has anyone done a review of the Big Cat? Because I haven't played with him yet. I didn't see it on the list of product reviews...
No, haven't used the cat yet, go for it. =-) I actually think the cat model could use a bit of work in the face myself, but I've seen some great renders done with it.
I think bots need to be versatile, so providing different skins so people can have different looks from child to mature bot would be helpful.
I have found most of the daz original clothing released the last few days to be somewhat boilerplate and lackluster. I was hoping with the advent of gen 2 to see more realistic less doughy clothing being produced with a more fitted feel.
Then again, as we know, promo art doesn't always showcase outfits in the best light.
In the realm of New Products in the Store, I've been spoiled as well by the Snowball Savings (goodbye - eyes filled with tears).
I did however buy Fly Girl HD by the AntFarm. I love extreme morphs, lol, what can I say?
BTW, thank you to all who enjoyed my snow scene.
The fly girl is pretty amazing. =-)
Agree, like that fly!
Will do more work on the product review list after I get done with RRRR, but cats have not been done. :)
I posted this on the RRRR thread but no response yet- can anyone load up the Jet Bike and tell me where it's at? There is no ReadMe, I can't find it, can't do it with DIM, I manually did the sucker twice (no, not nested. No Content folder under Content, etc) It is nowhere to be found. I have to use it for the RRRR.