- This topic has 129 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
That may be a poor way of starting out a thread. I have been doing 3d art starting with V4 which really was a beast that needed tons of add-on shaping just to get some type of good results. IMO. Every bend could possibly break the mesh. Genesis and G2 are ok but I don't even keep a runtime with them anymore. All that Iray converting with mediocre results because the texture were optimized for a different shader.
I love the G3 series but there was always a small problem with bends looking realistic no matter how many utilities you added. Especially with arms raised. I just started using G8 and wow I am impressed with the movement/bends/expressions. I pretty much decided to use the g8 series full time at this point with a few G3 characters mixed in (hate to lose all those shoes and specialty characters).
Just wondering what everyone thinks. Have you started using G8 more than others? Stopped using any of the other character iterations? Personal favorites? Thanks for your time.
I prefer G8F.
I love what the more talented vendors have done with V4 & I still think that, like for like, she is the prettiest base character.
Genesis I thought really too androgenous.
I always felt I was looking at an effete male or a butch female.
Genesis 2 went some way in reclaiming the lost ground.As an ultra-realism freak G3F & Iray combined to knock it out of the park for me.
G8F refined things further & is proving to be very versatile.That said I prefer G3F & G8F to their equivalent Victorias.
🙂
I can't pick a fav I like them all , I find they all can serve for different purpose's from V4 right up to Genesis 8 weather its for just a back ground character or your main one I find them all useful and some have different stuff and capabilities others do not. 🙂
Actually what I would like to know and see, is in five to ten years what the next Gen's will be like and the software.
Personal preference currently is G3 for me. I have my reasons.
I like G3. More realistic than previous and I like realistic. Previous was too plastic, yet even some G3 characters have suck ass textures and still look plastic. Those artists need to get on board with the modern skin texturing process.
G8 doesn't have a lot of stuff that fits the bill for me yet so I haven't worked with her, though I have a few items and characters. Her world is still being built.All that being said, I find myself going back to V4 and M4 figures for clothing items that aren't made for G3 F or M. The Wear Them All Utility doesn't work all that great for a lot of items, especially footwear. Luckily I only go back for Cosplay items. I wish artists would make those outfits for current figures also but hey, I get it. I wouldn't want to remake crap from 10 years ago either. LOL.
Being an older artist, I'm into the classic scifi also.So currently its G3 with G8 in the wings, and a small spattering of V4 and M4 for specialty renders.
"G8 doesn’t have a lot of stuff that fits the bill"
Yes, that was what I was thinking. It is always hard to give up some of the older products that just don't convert well to current generations. But I always fall into the realism trap and it seems newer things have more realistic rendered appearances. I think this has to do with the expansion of computer resources.
I say realism trap because all the models can produce great images if you are looking for more stylized renders. Comic book, illustration, cartoon...
Related to the subject of realism, one thing I have noticed of late is excessively large normal maps, in the case of FW products, typically 48MB apiece!!
Now, I appreciate that storage is cheap & I do have extensive capacity, but I feel that filesizes of around .5 Gig is excessive for one character, especially as there are a lot that look pretty good at around 100 - 150MB package.The same applies for scene props too. Items by Tesla3D Corp look excellent with remarkably small file sizes.
I think what I am saying is large file sizes don't necessarily correllate to a good product & neither do small file sizes to a bad one.
🙂
I really do like G3. It is going to take some time to get use to G8. Just when I seem to get use to and create reliable results with one generation I also see the failings of that figure. So onto G8... Getting to know the best characters, where all the morphs are, as well as converting previous props, poses usually takes many weeks. Which means I am not creating. I even erase my whole runtime and start from scratch.
Rank:You can't have realism out of the box with DS and Iray, you have to work for it if you want the dolls to resemble anything like a real human being.
Texturing being the main hurdle if you want to use any of the Genesis characters.I recall a guy on a now gone site who would take V4 and dabble with the skin in 3DS Max and use Vray to render, the results were outstanding. It was as close to realism as I and many others had seen. Then along came Iray in DS and those skills seemed to vanish overnight as many hobby artists abandoned rendering with any engine except Iray.
Enough of my rambling and onto the Genesis figures 🙂
Has anyone tried sitting any of the DAZ dolls on a chair while looking over the shoulder at a camera? I tried it and it's Impossible because the mesh won't contort and the neck looks broken or bent out of shape. This is a natural movement for a human but a simple one G8 simply cannot do.
Therefore with all the advertising that Genesis 8 is a huge improvement over the predecessors is nothing more than hype. And lets not go down the regurgitated outfits route....I’ve complerely gotten on board with G8. Sure, resources are a little limited, but with backwards compatibility and dForce, I haven’t had a problem making things work. Power Pose for facial expressions is a high point. About the only thing I was missing was Musculature for G3F/G3M, but The Muscularity Morphs for G8F work for the time being and hopefully they will come soon for G8M. Nothing adds to realism like the subtle flex or a muscle to accentuate an action.
I really enjoy using G8 for this reason. However, there is currently a huge market/availability for many g3 and g2 items that are amazing, not quite out for g8 yet that limit me. When g8 came out, I did a test render with random hair and no morphs, and was pretty floored by the realistic expression and pose.
Admittedly, it all comes down to what an artist is most comfortable using. I find that sometimes, trying new things / models / programs can really bring frustration when you are so familiar with doing something one way, and are forced to re-learn or do it another.
I learned everything with g3 because I am so new to this, and actually had to teach myself some of the v4 things, because a certain headpiece (twi'lek tentacles) fit more perfectly on v4 than the others (though there is a free tentacle set fo g2 and lekkulion for g3--I just haven't figured out yet how to recreate + pair +paint realistic skin texture to match) anyway what I mean is: change can sometimes be good! Just the market isn't very flooded with G8 stuff right now.
Rank:G8 just can't bend the ways a real human can, so on that note the mesh needs a major overhaul IMO.
Erogenesis has a doll on sale based on V4 and I know from the early stages of development he wanted it to bend like a real human, seen a few promo's and it looks promising. The only problem is I'm rusty as hell with Poser otherwise I'd purchase dolly and see what I could come up with :/
This is what I want my renders to look like.
@Picaya , Realism is just another aspect. I understand what you mean by that, but for me its just another avenue I'm pursuing. If I want comics or whatnot, you are correct. I can use any generation with any texture map, or, just draw it myself. 😉
@eelgoo I agree. There's no reason for a file size that large.@SparklePants the expressions for all the characters leave a lot to be desired IMO, though I haven't tried G8 yet. Frowns are OK, but I haven't seen a good smile to save my life yet. They all look so creep.. Even Stephen King would get inner chills. LOL
@norbertz I've noticed that natural bending isn't a thing too. I want to try that head over the shoulder pose now though. LOL
"This is what I want my renders to look like."
https://pret-a-3d.deviantart.com/art/Rio-again-200580139
You can do that in DAz3d with Iray. I see well placed 3 point lighting and an awesome skin texture in that image.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.