Aiko 6 is here and what do you think of it comparing to Aiko 5?
iSeeThis
Posts: 552
There was a thread waiting for Aiko 6 to come http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/41092/ and now it's here. Wonder why no thread comparing them. I've got Aiko 5. Now please tell me it's worthy or not to buy more. What do I get MORE from it? Thank you!
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Well, being the community's local Iconic Character nut, I'm biased to recommend that the more the merrier, especially if you like blending different versions together. :)
But the thing with A5 & A6 is the style. A5 was made to look more realistic in a Fantasy-Game-type. This is because of the release of Hitomi stealing the mantle of "3D Anime Girl" for Gen 5, taking Hiro 5 along as her partner for the run. A6, however reclaims her more "Stylized" Anime/Manga roots while receiving the same Gen 6 detail treatment like Victoria, Stephanie, and even Girl did.
Because of this, those of us expecting a Hiro 6 are anticipating a similar pattern as well.
...well, she will not be as versatile as Aiko5 as there needs to be an AIko3 autofit clone for G2F which I do not think will happen.
With Genisis2 so far we only have Vicky and Mike 4 autofit/UV clones.
With the ability to purchase (or genX) iconic shapes for previous generations and transfer them to Genesis and Genesis 2, there's very little sense in making each new iteration of character toe the same line as it's predecessors. Frankly, I love Aiko 5 and Aiko 6 both and I've transferred both characters to the other's base, as well as made masculine versions of both for Gen2M. They're all just collections of morphs, really, so which one I use depends on whether I want a more complex pose and bending, which the Gen2s excel at, or if I want the greater versatility of Genesis 1.
That said, the one really great thing about the base A6 is her legs. She's completely unrealistic in her proportions, but her silhouette is just spectacular and extreme poses look far more dynamic. In contrast A5 works better with a lot of sets and props, because her proportions are a little more "real"; and she's a bit more versatile in terms of the look you can get out of her by rolling in other morphs. Really, it's kind of like comparing art by Kirby to art by Wally Wood. Both were acknowledged masters of the comic book form and both work spectacularly well doing the kind of work they liked to do.
Get GenX2 and the Gen2 add on and as long as you have the A3 clone for Gen 1, you can transfer all the morphs straight through to Genesis 2, while clothes can be run through an intermediate Genesis generation with surprisingly little loss... I actually think a lot of A3's stuff works better on Genesis 2 than a lot of V4's stuff works on Genesis.
...I have the update of GenX, Yes, you can transfer the morphs but not the clothing fits. That is done though an autofit clone only. While there are legacy body shapes available for Genisis2, they do not include autofit clones or UV maps.
The lack of ability to autofit clothing and UVs from figures other than M4/V4 is one of Genesis2's weak points, especially given the different UVs used in the Gen5 characters.
For the clothing fits you convert Gen3 to Genesis, save that, then the converted Genesis version autofits on Genesis 2. It's a two step, but as Gen3 clothing usually fits better on Genesis than Gen 4, the end result on Gen2F/M is fairly comparable.
And I'm guessing that you missed these:
http://www.daz3d.com/generation-5-uv-bundle-for-genesis-2-female-s
http://www.daz3d.com/generation-5-uv-bundle-for-genesis-2-male-s
...true, however Genesis1 did not require as extensive an outlay (particularly the M4/V4 and K4 fit clones that were included with the base mesh) as Genesis 2 does. Furthermore the other G1 body shapes and other characters also included autofit clones (save for Mavka) which the G2 ones do not, and all the G1 shapes were "Daz Original" instead of PA content (which made hving a PC membership a better deal).
The bottom line is, to make G2 as versatile as G1 requires a greater investment (not even taking into account the gender split), and some things are still not available, like autofit clones for other Daz figures/characters.
...my two zł worth.
I'll give you 60% of that. Like Genesis 2, Genesis was only 1 generation backwards compatible without add-ons. Of course, there was a vastly greater number of items already available for Gen 4 compared to what had been produced for Genesis at the time Genesis 2F came out, so it really wasn't a great decision from a consumer stand point, whereas the add ons that allowed one to use Gen3 products on Genesis were a huge motivator for my own total switch from Gen 4 to Gen 5.
That said, the multiple UV thing really has become an ongoing idiocy with DAZ, given that hardly anyone has ever supported ANY of the Gen 5/Gen 6 UVs outside of the base Victoria/Michaels once the initial propacks have been released. In fact, the vast majority of my purchased Genesis texture sets use V4/M4 UVs while my G2F/M's overwhelmingly favor V5/M5. I guess Genesis 3 will probably be wearing V6/M6 UVs, if we ever get that far...
...he really sad thing was for theGen3 and original toon figures, there was only a "default UV" This makes it impossible to use maps for Aiko3, Sadie and other older characters ith genesis. I know there is the Texture Converter, but 3DU has ceased further development of the plugin for the PC platform and even getting the Gen3 textures to work using it on Genesis1 is a real pain as I understand.
I have a good collection of A3 and Sadie skin maps I'd like to use with the Genesis versions of the characters.
You can easily create your own autofit clones though. I've done so myself for Kids 4 clothing. It's far from perfect, but then when was autofit ever perfect. In fact, you can do it just by owning Genesis classic and the Aiko 3 shape, without ever needing GenX2 or other purchases!
As for Aiko 5 versus Aiko 6, I definitely prefer Aiko 6 simply because it's a return to a more stylized figure. Aiko 5 was more 'real' than previous incarnations and lacked the anime style of earlier versions. Aiko 6 isn't exactly the anime girl I dreamed about, but she's a solidly made figure with enough of her own style to make some great art with.
...I've tried, even with the tutorials and still couldn't get things to work right.
I am an avid Aiko 3 user and fan. I have loved using the character to no end. But I will be honest, I am liking G2F more then Aiko 3 now and personally speaking, I dont see a need to try and bring old Generation 3 content forward to Genesis 2. I would rather have new content that is made for Genesis 2 used on Genesis 2 so that it works properly with little or no issue. Even though I can manually fit things like hair and boots I would still rather they be made for Genesis 2. And personally speaking, I much prefer having the gender split in Genesis 2 then an all-in-one figure like Genesis because when you start getting more and more character packs installed for Genesis and a lot of the extra morph kits, the whole thing becomes a very convoluted never ending mess of morphs.
On that note, I am liking Aiko 6 more then Aiko 5
I think the newest Aiko is part of a trend I've disliked since Aiko 4. That is, moving away from the Aiko 3 / standard anime look into a weird stylized hybrid look. The new Aikos and Hitomi look creepy. There is no real non-weird middle ground between anime and realism.
Define "standard anime look"
There is no rule stating they have to repeat the past. Just because it worked well once does not mean it will a second time. If all the newest generation of models looked the same as the last, what would be the point of making them in the first place let alone buying them?
The below link is a plain google-image search of "anime." "Standard anime" is very, very well established. To the point that it does not need to be defined, when you're talking about something that isn't the standard, then you need to define it. The newest generation brings better technology, it does not need to redefine the shape. Look at the "Girl" line, look at the generic V3/4/5/6 line. They don't go designing the shape of "human" because it's a new generation.
Sorry if I sound curt, I'm just getting very tired of having to explain what I mean by "anime" when it's a globally acknowledged standard term. We can debate the etymology until we're blue in the face, but the world knows what "anime" means.
I would pay out the *** for a genesis / g2 remake of futepen's models. When they stopped making characters and entire genre for DS died.
https://www.google.com/search?q=anime&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=o9i6U7XaL_G-sQTUjYGIBw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=875
...have Aiko4 and 5, but am still very partial to Aiko3.
Love a lot of the characters that are based off her like Xin Xin, the original Aikobot Maria, Aiko19, Sylfie, and Mentha Piperata. For some reason (particularly the ones by Thorne/Sarsa) don't seem to work as well when transferred to Genesis via GenX. Also you cannot transfer the maps (some of which for the Thorne ones are a necessary part of the character) without the TC2 and Aiko3 plugin and even then it requires additional tweaking to fix seams as they use what is called a "Default UV" rather than a designated character/figure UV map (like V4).
...
Everybody has opinions, so here's mine.
I think A5 and A6 are one in the same mold. A6 is continuing a trend that A5 started - kawaii with a gaming flair. Yet some would argue that the whole anime genre of Poserdom died a long time ago, I respectfully disagree. There are more renders of A3 so far this year, and methinks that broke the average display of A3 renders for a given calendar year. That figure includes the renders of Bel and Chibi, Futepen's original models. and a various amount of Japanese Poser freebie makers and vendors. The genre's dead? I doubt it.
Back to the topic, I like A6. Since there is no definition of anime, as one suggests, then the mangaka are free to draw men and women in many ways. A6 is a reflection of this. A3 represents the manga made in the 90s (and beyond, depending on the mangaka) and even then there was no guidelines that said characters have to be drawn a certain way.
~GO
That genre didn't exactly die, it just stopped being pitched to U.S. markets and DS as the market in Japan gravitated towards different applications and dedicated figures, and that's easily the lion's share of both the market and PA base for that style. For example, the product that's called Manga Studio in the U.S. is Clip Studio in Japan, and there's a thriving market there for second party figures in both the old school and newer anime styles. Unfortunately, Cel-Sys the Japanese company behind Clip Studio and Smith Micro have been at loggerheads over where the market needed to go until very recently, so we haven't been able to access any of the Japanese products here, let alone the nifty Qumarion digital input device. Recently, however, Smith Micro began re-marketing the digital version of MS as Clip Studio, so I'm hoping that that indicates that there's going to be be a thaw in in the situation. (Now that I'm thinking about it, I need to reach out to my contacts at SM and CS to see what's going on.)
...I still have Aiko (Anime/Manga Character).