Need advice: Genesis shapes vs Gen 4 figures

Ravensmark

Hello all,

Life has had me preoccupied for a few years and I've been gone from 3D art for the duration of Generation 4 but Daz is sucking me back in with a vengeance.

First, my pics tend to be high population sci-fi city scapes so I don't need lots of up close detail.

My problem is I'm cheap. I can't even admit to frugality at this point in my life, I'm simply cheap. So my quandary is this; do I spend this sale getting caught up on the Gen 4 figures, or do I get the shape addons for Genesis?

So these are what I'm considering;
1) M4, V4, S4, F4, A4 and G4 Starter packs
2) Genesis Starter pack, M4 & V4 Shapes, Gen4 Shapes, 4++ morphs, and Gen 3 Iconic Shapes.

Pros : 1) Lots of extras and no ambiguity about whether I get all the best out of the figures.
2) Swap clothes between shapes and maximize the overall variability between individuals

Cons: 1) More expensive and specialized
2) Less body textures and requires further addon of Gen X to utilize character morphs

Please help. I have only one day left to get this right :) I can't seem to find a definitive answer saying that M4, V4, A4, F4 (etc.) base figures are no longer required? Do I need 4++ Morphs or do I just get more Genesis morphs? While I'm certain there are still advantages to be gained from owning the base figures, are there any real drawbacks to holding off or foregoing them all together?

Lots of questions and I hope this isn't simply a rehash of an old topic. I spent the night searching and couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance,

Will

JimmyC_2009

Buying all of these starter packs would run to a fairly hefty investment. There are loads and loads of free clothing items for V4, you can pick up a lot at ShareCG, Rendo and RDNA. The models used to be free, but there is still a free model pack at CNet with most of the Generation 3 figures in it. I don;t know if there is any clothing in the bundles (probably not).

If you go the Genesis route, there are more and more clothing itmes available for it, and the beauty of Genesis is that one size fits all (in most cases). The clothing shapes with the character form a child to an ogre. There are many new characters for Genesis too.


If you go down the V4 route, and buy characters for it, to transfer them to Genesis you will still need Morphs++ to transfer most of them to Genesis, even when using Generation X. You DO NOT need the base figures of V4, M4, G4, SF4 etc etc, to use the iconic shapes for Genesis, they are not the same figures as V4, M4 etc, but are morphs which make Genesis 'look like' the original Gen 4 characters.

Autofit (now free with DS4P), can fit Gen 4 clothing to Genesis fairly well in most cases. ANy Gen4 clothing you have, or can get free, will transfer to Genesis (almost any shape). The iconic shapes bundles also supply clones for use with autofit, and if you have say, the David 3 shape, you can fit D3 clothing to Genesis as well..

Genesis has it's own morphs, and Morphs++ are no use to Genesis, but may be able to be used if you have the Generation X plugin.

It is hard to advise anyone, but there is the 30 day money back guarantee, and you could try before you buy. I got all of the models when they were free, but I still prefer Genesis. It is so versatile. You can also use V4, M4 and K4 skins on Genesis too, due to the extra UV Mapping.

Best Wishes.

Szark

IMHO, because I am also tight, sorry cheap, if I was only doing distant shots I would stick with Gen 4 giving the price difference and amount of freebies out there.

JimmyC_2009

The other thing worth mentioning, V4 and M4 come with LOD (Level of Detail) basic figures as well. There is a 17k, 8k, 4k and even a 1k version, which would be ideal for crowded scene shots.

Scott Livingston

Enforcer said:

Cons: 1) More expensive and specialized
2) Less body textures and requires further addon of Gen X to utilize character morphs

You can use any V4 or M4 textures on Genesis, without needing to buy Gen X or anything else. When I first started and was faced with this decision, I picked Genesis for the reasons you mentioned, and also because it seems to be the technology of the future. I don't own Gen X and don't feel like I need it, since I've never invested in 4th Generation stuff (aside from a few characters I bought solely to use their skin texture on Genesis, and a few hair and clothing products that I've also been able to use on Genesis). I can't say what's right for you, but I'm very happy with my decision.

Edit: you might also consider Victoria 5 and Michael 5, or even the bundles that contain them, perhaps instead of some of those legacy Genesis shapes. Michael 5 Pro Bundle or Pro Suite are great deals right now. V5 bundles are good too, but the M5 stuff often looks just as good on female characters.

Ravensmark

Thank you all for you feedback. I decided to go with option 2 without morphs++ and with Daz's sale I was even able to pick up the Genesis body suit. I look forward to playing with my new toys and seeing just how many shapes Genesis can become.