Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 4

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  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,340
    edited July 2014

    I don't have that character, but are you looking in the Content Library or browsing for the files in Windows? If the former, did you check in Poser Formats? If the latter, according to the file list which I guess is working now, check in /Runtime/Libraries/Pose/DAZ Victoria 4/Characters/Lyoness/LY Emily/

    Edit: actually maybe it's /Runtime/Textures/Lyoness/Emily/

    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/29558/P30/#640535

    This is the thread I was/am in - and that ear issue is recurring, not just me. That's why I am rather annoyed no one has addressed this issue with this product- even if there is a workaround, that needs to be noted. I'm still trying to figure out though if it's just that I am not finding the right file to work from, but as you can see, I've looked everywhere and nothing material-wise jumps out at me. If I'm getting this right , I'm not going for a cr2 (or whatever, obj) I am trying to find the materials?

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,340
    edited December 1969

    Yeah, sorry, it appears that the mat poses are in /Runtime/Libraries/Pose/DAZ Victoria 4/Characters/Lyoness/LY Emily/ but the textures themselves are in /Runtime/Textures/Lyoness/Emily/

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    I don't have that character, but are you looking in the Content Library or browsing for the files in Windows? If the former, did you check in Poser Formats? If the latter, according to the file list which I guess is working now, check in /Runtime/Libraries/Pose/DAZ Victoria 4/Characters/Lyoness/LY Emily/

    Edit: actually maybe it's /Runtime/Textures/Lyoness/Emily/

    Yep. That's the place where only the 91 x 91 exists.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2014

    Yeah, sorry, it appears that the mat poses are in /Runtime/Libraries/Pose/DAZ Victoria 4/Characters/Lyoness/LY Emily/ but the textures themselves are in /Runtime/Textures/Lyoness/Emily/

    Great, that's where mine is empty. I'll reinstall and see if it behaves.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Are you kiddin me?
    Out of ALL the hundreds of V4's that I have, I pick one that the file stays empty???? I just reinstalled using DIM and it did nothing. (Yes, I uninstalled, had the studio shut off, then reinstalled, reopened the studio.)

    ARRRGGGGHHH.
    I'm going to MANUALLY install. Let's see how that does. But did I find a glitch in DIM?

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Stetson is a beauty!

    I wish I had the same converter thing as you so I could help with that. It's frustrating knowing I have just done something similar but in a totally different way.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2014

    :)
    Doing it the other way is tempting, but I am not going to do that until I get this licked. If it's giving me problems, I don't want it to give anyone else problems without a solution. I have to be in the mood to do this, though- and those empty files now have me curious. (In other words, why were they empty? Why is the DIM installation not doing what the manual one does? And DIM has failed to load the Emily files into the Textures>Lyoness file TWICE.)

    Here's the manual install, now I'm going to go try and use, I guess- the torso one that shows the ears. Let's see how this goes.

    autoEmily.jpg
    1556 x 1932 - 348K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Hold on, found the problem. Yeah, and DUH. When you use the genie lamp, it is set for PNG's. That's why none of the files were showing up, but they were there. Now question, does this only work with png?

    I'm going back to that other folder and see if there is a larger than 91 x 91 in jpg format.
    So glad you all are witnessing my idiotic mistakes :) (But that's what this thread is for, so you will remember my goofs too.)

  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Well that sounds like progress if you have the files now via a manual install. Fingers crossed it all works out now you have the torso jpg. When you've got it all figured out, I'll be interested to see the end result and especially to know how well it coped with the eyes.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Okay, it won't open the 4000 x 4000 jpg in Textures.
    Going back to the original place where the 91 x 91 is located, when I have "All Files" selected, there are more options, including Pz2 files. The 91 one has a 8.36KB size, and the pz2 had an 800KB, (no size came up, even with mouseovers) so I chose that one, and I still have weird ears.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    I don't have that v4 to G2F skin thing yet, I'm at odds about distorting mats to drape over a different polygon-shape. I'm thinking an insane resolution conversion of each jpg would be better, if it were possible.

    Looking at your screencap #3, I don't think it works on the 91x91 pixel icons. I think it wants the 4000x4000 pixel mats? or the DUF (whatever) file. Question is there, do I need to hunt down each individual jpg file, or just the 'Matt load' CR2/DUF?

    Doesn't work with the 4000 pixel mats, doesn't work with the DUF.

    Giving this product a "I don't think this is true" so far as the claim "click and click" and easy smeasy. I've inserted every file known to mankind and those ears do not behave. It doesn't matter if I've started with a product that has 91 x 91 images, I tried the duf, I tried pixel mats, there's no other files that I can think of to try. So it appears (for now) it's a thumbs down on this product. I always leave the door open that it's possible I am making mistakes, but you can see the process I've gone through and I have applied every file possible, gone through all the folders and tested every file, and those ears are a no go.

    If you transfer materials and are not going to show the ears, then it's no big deal. But that's not why I bought this darned thing.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Reminder: Scott (and other folks) do it this way, so here's what I'm doing next:

    1. Load the Victoria 4.2 figure (note: you can use Genesis instead, but you’ll be missing the Eye Reflection surface, so for best results use V4)
    2. Apply the texture you want to use to V4, including eye color, makeup options, etc.
    3. Save a Materials Preset. (File>Save As…>Materials Preset) Make a note of where it’s being saved.
    4. Load Genesis 2 Female. (You can remove the V4 figure from your scene if you wish)
    5. Apply the materials preset you saved to G2F. You should be to navigate to the appropriate location in the Content Library.
    6. I’m not sure, but as I recall you need to manually change the UV set to V4. Go to the Surfaces pane, select Genesis 2 Female, find the UV dropdown, and select “Victoria 4.” Note: you need to own Victoria 4 for Genesis 2 Female or the Victoria 4 UV set won’t appear in the list.

    I'll be back, giving this a try. Sheesh, 9 hours down the drain.

  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,106
    edited December 1969

    Just bought LY Emily to see if I can help.
    I've seen the ear problem. It occurs when you apply the texture that is meant to be used with Poser SSS. This is why you get the .pz2 message because that's meant for "Poser only".
    I'll see if I can do something with Emily as soon as I download and install.
    John

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    tjohn said:
    Just bought LY Emily to see if I can help.
    I've seen the ear problem. It occurs when you apply the texture that is meant to be used with Poser SSS. This is why you get the .pz2 message because that's meant for "Poser only".
    I'll see if I can do something with Emily as soon as I download and install.
    John

    thanks. However, note the V4 is only in the Pose folder. I didn't use the SSS one either. (there are two choices.) Hope you can figure it out and will appreciate the help.

    Here's a post that has the solution to the ears, I'm going to try it if I can understand what to do.
    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/29558/P30/#649545

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Someone shy (lol) asked to see a screenshot. Sure! Here's the problem. Sorry, I should have shown you that before- I just never got back to the screenshots because this wasn't working right.

    autoemily2.jpg
    1370 x 1830 - 128K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2014

    IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!

    linvanchene was the poster in the other thread that provided the solution, I want to be sure everyone knows I didn't.
    I wanted to test the files before I went this route, as this shouldn't be required. But at least we know how to get it working. And I did it with the 91 x 91 texture image.

    autoEmily4.jpg
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    autoEmily3.jpg
    1346 x 2000 - 276K
    Post edited by Novica on
  • TJohnTJohn Posts: 11,106
    edited July 2014

    Well this is perhaps, too little too late, but here is the location where the pngs are for Emily V4. This is what you would use for the Auto-Converter script.
    Both the SSS and other skin mat have the ears problem but it can be fixed as you've already shown. Good info. :)

    emily.jpg
    833 x 1000 - 246K
    Emily.JPG
    954 x 650 - 97K
    Post edited by TJohn on
  • ZarconDeeGrissomZarconDeeGrissom Posts: 5,412
    edited July 2014

    Novica said:
    Stetson, charming as ever. Photo taken yesterday by my friend when she was out with him in the arena. We take turns visiting him so he gets out to play more (the arena is huge, we let him loose and just let him run.)

    His summer coat is fun- he is coal black but look at those gold areas and dapples!

    love the photo, (speechless).

    I don't have that figure texture, yet with the other "Elite", there is a folder for in my directory further down specifically for "V4 EliteTexture: Natasha", not in the other folders for V4 or Elite. It is odd.

    It almost looked to me as if you were asking the icon file to be the DUF file, tho it looks like that is all straightened out.

    Thanks Novica, Scott, Jindi, and tjohn. I'm learning so much just looking at this topic-distraction-of-sorts.
    (edit)
    An entire page appeared before I finished looking up some stuff and posted, lol. Glad to see it worked.

    Post edited by ZarconDeeGrissom on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    thanks for trying tjohn- you did help, you verified that is what should be used. (and was, from the very start. I only had that little 91 x 91 image to work with, the png. Little, but it did the job!)

    Here's the rest of the process. Reminder, if you put a ! in front of a file name, it stays at the top. It is more of a placeholder than a number 1. So I named my file !V4 Auto Converter and that's where these materials will be.

    First, create the location where you want these material presets.
    If you do what I did, in the studio you go Daz>People>Genesis 2 Females>Characters, then right click and name your folder !V4 Auto Converted.

    Next, you select your figure, go to File>Save As>Material Preset(s) and select this path:
    Daz>Content>People>Genesis 2 Female>Characters and that will be the same location as to what is in the studio. Name your character (LY Emily, for example) and it will show up as shown.

    Then, whenever you load a G2 Female, in the future, you have Emily to choose from. Or whomever. Tracking down those materials is not something I look forward to, no vendor puts them in the same place it seems?

    WHEW. Enjoy your auto converter.

    autoEmily7.jpg
    1999 x 1376 - 190K
    autoEmily6.jpg
    1584 x 2000 - 211K
    autoEmily5.jpg
    1575 x 2000 - 322K
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2014

    Now back to Jindi's question- how do we get the eyes to keep the reflection?
    EDIT: Well, I guess we have to use the method that Scott is using...
    1. Load the Victoria 4.2 figure (note: you can use Genesis instead, but you’ll be missing the Eye Reflection surface, so for best results use V4)
    2. Apply the texture you want to use to V4, including eye color, makeup options, etc.
    3. Save a Materials Preset. (File>Save As…>Materials Preset) Make a note of where it’s being saved.
    4. Load Genesis 2 Female. (You can remove the V4 figure from your scene if you wish)
    5. Apply the materials preset you saved to G2F. You should be to navigate to the appropriate location in the Content Library.
    6. I’m not sure, but as I recall you need to manually change the UV set to V4. Go to the Surfaces pane, select Genesis 2 Female, find the UV dropdown, and select “Victoria 4.” Note: you need to own Victoria 4 for Genesis 2 Female or the Victoria 4 UV set won’t appear in the list.

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited December 1969

    Well, in my opinion, I won't be using the converter. It requires knowing where the material files are, then doing that surfaces workaround with selecting the neck surface then applying to the ear- when all you have to do is load up v4 and apply the materials straight from the studio (no looking up files) saving as a preset, then applying. Yes, DO buy the Victoria 4 for Genesis 2 Female, and change the UV set immediately in Surfaces tab when you load up your G2. Then just apply your material preset (I did it to the same place as I showed you) and easy smeezy.
    Meet Bianca, took me FIVE MINUTES.

    V4 is on the left, Gen2F on the right.
    http://www.daz3d.com/victoria-4-for-genesis-2-female

    BiancaV4_and_Gen2.jpg
    992 x 1000 - 302K
  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited December 1969

    Yay for the success with your auto-converter, you are nothing if not persistent! :) And thanks too for the walkthrough on what you did with the eyes.

    I have to say, Bianca looks gorgeous, eyes and all. Seems the V4 for G2F is the way to go for a quick solution.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2014

    Now, next questions:
    The description for that product says

    "Generation 6, meet Generation 4! Victoria 4 for the Genesis 2 Female, premiere 3D models, gives you a path to use your existing Victoria 4 accessories and textures on your Genesis 2 Female characters. Use the AutoFit clone to access your favorite outfits, the Victoria 4 UV set to use your favorite textures and the Victoria 4 figure shape to see a familiar face.

    note: Due to a limitation in how DAZ Studio handles presets, only material presets which are in DUF format can be directly applied. Any existing material presets must be re-saved in DUF format from the original Victoria 4."

    So I need some assistance interpreting this. I did the textures, that was a materials preset. What about that last paragraph? Is taking the V4 materials and saving them as a material preset, doing what it is saying to do, or is that something different?

    Now, does this product save shapes too? (and the Victoria 4 figure shape to see a familiar face.) How do I do outfits?

    Post edited by Novica on
  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Here's a silly question— What's the big deal about the so-called "reflection surface" that Gen 4 figures have and Genesis 2 figures have that Genesis supposedly lacks? IF you want a Genesis figure's eyes to have reflections, why not simply bump up the reflection strength value in the surfaces tab on the individual parts of the eye—namely the sclera, cornea, and iris. Why would you need a separate surface for eye reflections?

  • Tarina KiviTarina Kivi Posts: 488
    edited July 2014

    Novica said:
    Now, next questions:
    The description for that product says

    "Generation 6, meet Generation 4! Victoria 4 for the Genesis 2 Female, premiere 3D models, gives you a path to use your existing Victoria 4 accessories and textures on your Genesis 2 Female characters. Use the AutoFit clone to access your favorite outfits, the Victoria 4 UV set to use your favorite textures and the Victoria 4 figure shape to see a familiar face.

    note: Due to a limitation in how DAZ Studio handles presets, only material presets which are in DUF format can be directly applied. Any existing material presets must be re-saved in DUF format from the original Victoria 4."

    So I need some assistance interpreting this. I did the textures, that was a materials preset. What about that last paragraph? Is taking the V4 materials and saving them as a material preset, doing what it is saying to do, or is that something different?

    Now, does this product save shapes too? (and the Victoria 4 figure shape to see a familiar face.) How do I do outfits?

    Taking the V4 materials and saving them as a material preset is exactly what they mean in that paragraph since it will save them in .duf format.

    This product does not transfer shapes, for that you need http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-generation-x2 and http://www.daz3d.com/genx2-addon-for-genesis-2
    I think that when they've written "a familiar face" they meant only textures. In the case of outfits it lets you autofit v4 clothing to g2f. Haven't you already done that though? I thought I've seen many of your showcased g2fs wearing v4 clothes...

    Post edited by Tarina Kivi on
  • IndigoJansonIndigoJanson Posts: 1,100
    edited July 2014

    Novica said:
    ? Is taking the V4 materials and saving them as a material preset, doing what it is saying to do, or is that something different?

    I would think the answer is yes, it's the fact that you are using DS4.6 and re-saving them in the .DUF format when some other, older format was originally used that isn't suitable for conversion. (Cross-posted with fast-fingers Tarina!)


    Here's a silly question— What's the big deal about the so-called "reflection surface" that Gen 4 figures have and Genesis 2 figures have that Genesis supposedly lacks? IF you want a Genesis figure's eyes to have reflections, why not simply bump up the reflection strength value in the surfaces tab on the individual parts of the eye—namely the sclera, cornea, and iris. Why would you need a separate surface for eye reflections?

    My thinking is that it's the fact that the reflection won't cross the boundary from one eye mat zone to another in a realistic way. Here's what PhilW says on his Eye Surface for Genesis product:

    "one area that was missing from previous generation figures was the Eye Surface, which allowed special effects to be applied across the whole eye, especially to provide reflections and reflection maps."

    So I guess it's just about more realism, plus the convenience of being able to use the eye surface of a V4 on a Genesis. Which makes me wonder if I should actually get Phil's product while it's still on sale. But maybe you could fake it just fine the way you suggest -- it would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison doing that way vs. with an eye surface add on.

    Post edited by IndigoJanson on
  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Jindi said:
    Novica said:
    ? Is taking the V4 materials and saving them as a material preset, doing what it is saying to do, or is that something different?

    I would think the answer is yes, it's the fact that you are using DS4.6 and re-saving them in the .DUF format when some other, older format was originally used that isn't suitable for conversion. (Cross-posted with fast-fingers Tarina!)


    Here's a silly question— What's the big deal about the so-called "reflection surface" that Gen 4 figures have and Genesis 2 figures have that Genesis supposedly lacks? IF you want a Genesis figure's eyes to have reflections, why not simply bump up the reflection strength value in the surfaces tab on the individual parts of the eye—namely the sclera, cornea, and iris. Why would you need a separate surface for eye reflections?

    My thinking is that it's the fact that the reflection won't cross the boundary from one eye mat zone to another in a realistic way. Here's what PhilW says on his Eye Surface for Genesis product:

    "one area that was missing from previous generation figures was the Eye Surface, which allowed special effects to be applied across the whole eye, especially to provide reflections and reflection maps."

    So I guess it's just about more realism, plus the convenience of being able to use the eye surface of a V4 on a Genesis. Which makes me wonder if I should actually get Phil's product while it's still on sale. Well, "realistically", the eye doesn't have a single reflection anyway. The cornea reflects light differently than the sclera. And I don't use reflection maps anyway. I like my reflections to be that of whatever is around or in front of the reflective surface, not a pre-made map. And I've managed to ad "special effects" to eyes on Genesis 1 figures without a so-called "over-all eye reflection surface". So I still don't see a benefit.

  • Tarina KiviTarina Kivi Posts: 488
    edited December 1969

    Jindi said:
    Novica said:
    ? Is taking the V4 materials and saving them as a material preset, doing what it is saying to do, or is that something different?

    I would think the answer is yes, it's the fact that you are using DS4.6 and re-saving them in the .DUF format when some other, older format was originally used that isn't suitable for conversion. (Cross-posted with fast-fingers Tarina!)


    Here's a silly question— What's the big deal about the so-called "reflection surface" that Gen 4 figures have and Genesis 2 figures have that Genesis supposedly lacks? IF you want a Genesis figure's eyes to have reflections, why not simply bump up the reflection strength value in the surfaces tab on the individual parts of the eye—namely the sclera, cornea, and iris. Why would you need a separate surface for eye reflections?

    My thinking is that it's the fact that the reflection won't cross the boundary from one eye mat zone to another in a realistic way. Here's what PhilW says on his Eye Surface for Genesis product:

    "one area that was missing from previous generation figures was the Eye Surface, which allowed special effects to be applied across the whole eye, especially to provide reflections and reflection maps."

    So I guess it's just about more realism, plus the convenience of being able to use the eye surface of a V4 on a Genesis. Which makes me wonder if I should actually get Phil's product while it's still on sale.

    Well, "realistically", the eye doesn't have a single reflection anyway. The cornea reflects light differently than the sclera. And I don't use reflection maps anyway. I like my reflections to be that of whatever is around or in front of the reflective surface, not a pre-made map. And I've managed to ad "special effects" to eyes on Genesis 1 figures without a so-called "over-all eye reflection surface". So I still don't see a benefit.

    I only know that the eye reflection surface is very useful when you use unbiased render engines such as LuxRender or Octane. It allows to achieve more realistic reflections by setting eye surface to a specular material which is transparent but reflective and has no diffuse. The texture maps are then used on sclera and iris, etc. I'm not good with technical stuff but from what I've seen this set-up yields more realistic results. As Jindi has said, it also allows to apply the specular material across the whole eye. My knowledge of this subject is very limited so I cannot give you in-depth explanation of why people think it's better to have a separate eye surface material, but from what I've read here and there people find it easier to work with. Getting realistic looking eyes is very difficult imo and I think that eye surface gives you additional options (you can still adjust reflectivity etc. of the iris and sclera, and so on but you also have the eye surface material which simply gives you more flexibility). I have little knowledge of material settings in DS but I must say I like the existence of the eye surface material and frequently use material presets for it included in DimensionTheory's Project EYEris - Subsurface Expansion, which imo make the eyes look better.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited July 2014


    ... I like the existence of the eye surface material and frequently use material presets for it included in DimensionTheory's Project EYEris - Subsurface Expansion, which imo make the eyes look better.

    I've never used that, but I have it. :) I'll have to explore that, maybe next week.
    What is Phil's product?

    EDIT: here it is: (and I have it. SIGH. Maybe I should use the stuff I buy on sale.)
    http://www.daz3d.com/eye-surface-for-genesis

    Post edited by Novica on
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