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Everything is awesome with the 4.5 release apart from that I can't seem to get UberSurface2 to work (I reset the downloads today, uninstalled the older 4.x version, installed the one that came with the reset, but still, it wants the displacement part of it to be recompiled and renders blank).
I tried it, and so far the Geometry Shell seems to be essentially useless.
I don't know where that stuff in the original release post about the geometry shell being to help with geo-grafting came from.
My prior understanding of it is this -
It creates a second surface around the figure/prop, set a certain distance 'above' the surface of the original figure/prop. The shell surface stays identical to the original surface beneath it in all respects (shape, morphs, scaling, posing, subdivision, UVs etc) except for two:
1 There is a slider with which you can adjust how far above the original surface it sits.
2 You can apply completely different materials to it from those you have on the base figure/prop within the shell.
Its main use is therefore that you can e.g. apply an M4 texture to Genesis, click to create the geometry shell round Genesis and then apply one of Jepe's Hairy or Tears and Jewels texture sets to the shell, You will then get the hair, or jewels or water drops appearing a little above the main Genesis skin, giving a better 3D effect (and you cna adjust how far 'above' the skin the hair, drops or jewels appear). Or you can apply second skin clothing textures to the shell and winnd the shell out a bit so the second skin clothing looks like it is really round the bodu, not painted on the body.
It's also worth noting that having a shell round Genesis for e.g. a Jepe Hairy texture is far lighter on program resources than loading a second Genesis, applying the textures to that, and morphing the second Genesis out a bit and fitting it round the main Genesis figure the way one has to using those texture stes with M4.
For this use at least, I find the geometry shell works very well indeed. There are quite a few possibilities for texture effects one wants to add on top of a skin texture but with a bit of obvious 'height' of the effect over the skin. Using the geometry shell is easy, and often considerably quicker to do and with better effect than trying to add a LIE layer along with displacement for the 'height' effect. You can also collide clothes with the shell, where just displacing a texture overlay pokes it straight through clothes being worn bby the figure.
Hold it. You can collide clothing with a Shell? So if I'm getting poke through on my Genesis I could create a shell and have the item collide with the shell. Possibly fixing the poke through? Or should I try the new PokeAway first? If I knew how to find it or use it That is.
Highlight Genesis, go to your Parameters tab, and you should see an entry called "X_Away." Expand it out, and you'll have Poke-Away sliders for all the applicable body parts. Works really well, from my experience. I haven't tried using a geometry shell yet...
Which intro screen are you seeing? Did you also install the Genesis Starter Essentials?
jadiana:
You've been with us since 2004, so I assume (my apologies) you have been using DAZ Studio for a while.
Did you by chance just start using the DS4 series which incorporates the Content Management Service module?
The reason I ask is because your issue appears (to me) similar to the issue we hashed out while beta testing DS4 before it went live.
Not sure if this is your issue, but if it is the following might be of some use. If not, then disregard.
The issue I had was it hung at start-up at 100% CPU cycles, and would never finish starting up. I had to kill the processes. Even with the correct settings applied to allow my firewall (ZoneAlarm) to launch both the Content Management Service, and DS4_beta it refused to load up correctly.
The issue we discovered was in the firewall itself. I don't remember all the details, but it had to do with the firewall locking out the Content Management Service upon system boot-up before I even locked it (usually first thing I do).
The solution was to set the CMS to manual (not letting it start with windows), and not lock the firewall until after the Content Management Service let DS4 actually complete start-up. On my offline PC that had no firewall there never was any issue.
I hope this helps, but if not, I hope you find a solution soo... quick. I know how frustrating it can be trying to figure out why something that should be so straight forward does not work as expected. Good luck...
I don't know where that stuff in the original release post about the geometry shell being to help with geo-grafting came from.
My prior understanding of it is this -
It creates a second surface around the figure/prop, set a certain distance 'above' the surface of the original figure/prop. The shell surface stays identical to the original surface beneath it in all respects (shape, morphs, scaling, posing, subdivision, UVs etc) except for two:
1 There is a slider with which you can adjust how far above the original surface it sits.
2 You can apply completely different materials to it from those you have on the base figure/prop within the shell.
Its main use is therefore that you can e.g. apply an M4 texture to Genesis, click to create the geometry shell round Genesis and then apply one of Jepe's Hairy or Tears and Jewels texture sets to the shell, You will then get the hair, or jewels or water drops appearing a little above the main Genesis skin, giving a better 3D effect (and you cna adjust how far 'above' the skin the hair, drops or jewels appear). Or you can apply second skin clothing textures to the shell and winnd the shell out a bit so the second skin clothing looks like it is really round the bodu, not painted on the body.
It's also worth noting that having a shell round Genesis for e.g. a Jepe Hairy texture is far lighter on program resources than loading a second Genesis, applying the textures to that, and morphing the second Genesis out a bit and fitting it round the main Genesis figure the way one has to using those texture stes with M4.
For this use at least, I find the geometry shell works very well indeed. There are quite a few possibilities for texture effects one wants to add on top of a skin texture but with a bit of obvious 'height' of the effect over the skin. Using the geometry shell is easy, and often considerably quicker to do and with better effect than trying to add a LIE layer along with displacement for the 'height' effect. You can also collide clothes with the shell, where just displacing a texture overlay pokes it straight through clothes being worn bby the figure.
From my tests It works very well with geographing. It correctly merges the meshes into one when Reality exports to Lux.
Hide the original figure and set 'offset distance' in geometry shell parameters to 0.
Subdividing before creating the shell gives a subdivided shell, although it incorrectly displays as a base mesh when switching veiw to wire shading .
Smoothing modifier is not working at the moment.
I can't get an X_Away parameter to appear no matter what I try. Could you explain Poke-Away in a little more detail?...maybe I'm misunderstanding something. Thanks very much!
@SnowSultan
I just stick img , X_away parameter shoud appear in only parameters tab. (in my ds 4.5):coolcheese:
with select genesis
it just change size of genesis body parts for remove poke through.
or if you installed the products correctry?
have you tryed reinstall?
it seems better check your installer version. if you can not find them.
edited)
( if you thought it is plug in tool,, no, it is product you need to buy)
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/poke-away
mm but my install ver seems not updated,,12752_1_ds_PokeAway_1.exe
so may you check install folda?
I\Mylibrary\data\DAZ 3D\Genesis\Base\Morphs\xenic101\Poke away
is my install rocation for the product.
As you have Advanced, you need to go to the store and "buy" the Pro version:
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/software/daz-studio-4/daz-studio-4-pro
It's free.
Yes I do have DS4 Advanced and I reset both the 'Daz Studio 4' and the 'Daz Studio Advanced Upgrade' and I then get in my Downloads from any of the related Dowload files............Version 4.0.3.47.
Judging by what I have read here it may very well be that because I have Advanced as opposed to Pro, I have to go through some convoluted download process but only if it's a Thursday. the Sun is rising in the North and I'm dancing around a Fairy Cake.
JHC!....It's simple!...put the Update in our downloads and send a simple mail informing us...that is most definitely not ROCKET SCIENCE!
Does anyone know if geometry switching has been fixed in this version?
I'm feeling very very very confused by all the talk going on about updating and redownloading things for Daz studio 4.5
do I need to download and install everything I've purchased again in order for it to work with 4.5? I've got morphs which are no longer showing up in the shaping tab.
Thats strange. Was 4.0 installed to the default locations.
The morphs haven't yet been updated to appear in the Shaping pane, so for now you need to use the Parameters pane. If an item gives the Duplicate IDs error when you load it then yes, it should have an update to fix that issue - or you can use my script, at least until you have time to get the official updates.
I reset my download - and it's there.
I'm making the assume that "Genesis Starter Essentials 1.3" is the default content. I've also got both 4.5.x and 4.0.3.x in the download queue.
I did not see an answer. I believe that the new release of 4.5 does NOT have any content like the 4.03 version. So where do I get the content or is the Genesis starter essentials 1.3 the default content?
Genesis starter essentials is indeed the default content.
As you have Advanced, you need to go to the store and "buy" the Pro version:
http://www.daz3d.com/shop/software/daz-studio-4/daz-studio-4-pro
It's free.
Yes, I would suppose it could be used for that.
I imagine different people will come up with all sorts of different and inventive uses for the shell. For myself, all my initial thoughts were to do with having a second surface above the main one that can have completely different mterials applied to it, and uses that can be put to.
Note that in the parameters pane for the Geometry shell you can turn the visibility of different parts of the shell off by body part, surface, or a combination of the two, and you can also use transparency maps of course.
My first thought was as in my previous post: with human figures you can put transmapped body hair, close croped beards or stubble, water droplets, dirt etc on the shell, and adjust how far above the figure's skin they are. In many cases it can be simpler and produce better results than just using the LIE or Ubersurface2 to layer the hair, water droplet, dirt etc onto the skin texture surface.
My second thought was that for assorted fantasy, horror or scifi images one could apply the UberArea light to a geometry shell round a figure or prop to have a figure or a prop like a sword producing an even colored glow even though the surface of the figure or prop is textured with varying maps and colors over its own surface.
My third thought was a Star Trek one. In Star Trek, starships have been shown with two different types of shields. Most commonly, In TNG, DS9 and VOY, they have had simple elliptical shields surrounding the ship, and that can easily be simulated with a primitive round the ship which one can then texture with a transparency map to show a phaser/disruptor/plasma weapon strike on the shield at some point, with the glow of the energy of the strike over part of the primitive's surface. But sometimes - especially in some of the movies, and in effect in ENT with the polarised hull plating - the shields haven't been an even ellipse, but rather what some call 'comformal shields' where the shield surface is only a meter or two outside the hull, and follows the exact shape of the hull. For conformal shields in a Star Trek space combat render (or any other SciFi that has that kind of shielding) one only has to create a geometry shell on the ship, dial out an appropriate mesh offset, and there you have the conformal shield surface which you can texture so that the energy round the phaser/disruptor beam point of impact flows round the hull shape below.
Whatever the primary intended use for the geometry shell the DAZ designers may have had, I'm quite sure users will come up with many, many inventive uses for it. Even if it doesn't quite have the abilities some may want it to have for whatever first use for it occurs to them, it's certainly quite useable as it is for many other uses.
Before I spend hours downloading...
What version is the current Daz Studio executible?
I am currently running 4.5.0.49 and was unaware of any new updates.
Ironically I spent last night downloading the latest version of Reality (2.5) and LuxRender (1.0) to be able to get right to work this morning. And now I find that Reality needs DS 4.5.0.114. Which I now need to download on my cellphone.
DS 4.5.0.114 is the latest build.
Where was that announced? I can't find version numbers on the website anywhere.
And which of these is the executible package and which is the content?
DAZ Studio 4.0.3.x 64-bit - exe - pc
DAZ Studio 4.5.x 64-bit - exe - pc
Or is one of those the old version that got populated into my available downloads for some reason?
And what is the the file sizes on these so that I know if its even possible for me to download them right now?
Could DAZ make this any more complicated? Is it even possible?
You want DAZ Studio 4.5.x 64-bit - exe - pc.
The other one is the old version. You will also need to download Genesis Starter Essentials.
I don't want to sound like I doubt you, because I don't... But who decided to list the download like this:
DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro - DAZ Studio 4.0.3.x 64-bit - exe - pc
If it is not DAZ Studio 4.5, why does it have that title?
And I know other people have complained about this, but again, why no file sizes? Why list confusingly misleading wrong information yet fail to list one of the most important pieces of data?
I apologize for sounded heated right now, but I really am frustrated. This was exactly the situation I was trying to avoid last night. Stuck downloading an unknown sized package at 20K per second. And not knowing if it's going to be done in thirty seconds or thirty days.
So OK...I'm Blond so now I have downloaded the Free Version of DS4 Pro - All '19' Files for PC! Including for some reason:-
DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro - DAZ Studio 4.0.3.x 64-bit - exe - pc
DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro - DAZ Studio 4.0.3.x 32-bit - exe - pc ??
Now I have all the files and I currently run DS4 4.0.3.47 Advanced, rather than go through the multitude of posts how do I simply update my current version to DS4 Advanced 4.5 without screwing everything up as it seems to me a straightforward update would have been far simpler.
I don't think you have that option. I think you have to do a complete uninstall of DS4 4.0.3.47 and then do a complete reinstall.
Yes, I would suppose it could be used for that.
I imagine different people will come up with all sorts of different and inventive uses for the shell. For myself, all my initial thoughts were to do with having a second surface above the main one that can have completely different mterials applied to it, and uses that can be put to.
Note that in the parameters pane for the Geometry shell you can turn the visibility of different parts of the shell off by body part, surface, or a combination of the two, and you can also use transparency maps of course.
My first thought was as in my previous post: with human figures you can put transmapped body hair, close croped beards or stubble, water droplets, dirt etc on the shell, and adjust how far above the figure's skin they are. In many cases it can be simpler and produce better results than just using the LIE or Ubersurface2 to layer the hair, water droplet, dirt etc onto the skin texture surface.
My second thought was that for assorted fantasy, horror or scifi images one could apply the UberArea light to a geometry shell round a figure or prop to have a figure or a prop like a sword producing an even colored glow even though the surface of the figure or prop is textured with varying maps and colors over its own surface.
My third thought was a Star Trek one. In Star Trek, starships have been shown with two different types of shields. Most commonly, In TNG, DS9 and VOY, they have had simple elliptical shields surrounding the ship, and that can easily be simulated with a primitive round the ship which one can then texture with a transparency map to show a phaser/disruptor/plasma weapon strike on the shield at some point, with the glow of the energy of the strike over part of the primitive's surface. But sometimes - especially in some of the movies, and in effect in ENT with the polarised hull plating - the shields haven't been an even ellipse, but rather what some call 'comformal shields' where the shield surface is only a meter or two outside the hull, and follows the exact shape of the hull. For conformal shields in a Star Trek space combat render (or any other SciFi that has that kind of shielding) one only has to create a geometry shell on the ship, dial out an appropriate mesh offset, and there you have the conformal shield surface which you can texture so that the energy round the phaser/disruptor beam point of impact flows round the hull shape below.
Whatever the primary intended use for the geometry shell the DAZ designers may have had, I'm quite sure users will come up with many, many inventive uses for it. Even if it doesn't quite have the abilities some may want it to have for whatever first use for it occurs to them, it's certainly quite useable as it is for many other uses.
It would be much more useful however if we could do something as simple as change the UV map settings of the shell. That way, we really COULD use it to blend the textures of geografted shapes, or we could use Jepe's M4 bodyhair over an M5/V4Male base texture.
We can't use the old method of creating two Genesis figures and conforming one to other, for as soon as you use one of the main shapes (such as M5, Hitomi, Jason, etc), the proportions go completely out of whack.
As it stands right now, the geometry shell doesn't have much in the way of use that couldn't already be done using the Layered Image Editor.
I don't think you have that option. I think you have to do a complete uninstall of DS4 4.0.3.47 and then do a complete reinstall.
no just run the install - it will uninstall the old one
You just need to install DS 4.5 - it will uninstall DS 4.0 as part of the update process. You must also install Genesis Essentials 1.3 as that contains genesis and all the other default content (which used to be installed along with DS itself but is now a seperate installer.
no just run the install - it will uninstall the old one
What problems can I anticipate if I attempt to have both versions installed?