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Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 13

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  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 18,131
    edited September 2020
    L'Adair said:

    A bit of off-topic rambling… Summers here in Eugene, Oregon are generally mild enough that central air conditioning is more of a luxury than a necessity. (Although there was the summer of 2015 that broke all kinds of heat records.) We've been especially fortunate this year, with overnight lows in the mid-60s or lower, allowing us to use fans to bring in the cooler air overnight, keeping the house quite comfortable in spite of temps in the upper 80s and lower 90s late in the day.

    We're smack dab in the middle of an atypical heat wave, for this time of year, with high winds coming from the northeast. Meteorologists say these NE winds this time of year, especially this strong, only happen a few times in a century. The forecast for tomorrow is still 99-100ºF, depending on what tv station you watch.

    The problem is, there are wild fires to the east of us, including one that just started yesterday only about 75 miles to the east. There's also one in Washington, about half way between Seattle and Spokane. (Not that air quality here is much of an issue, compared to the losses from the fires. I understand a small town in WA has been completely destroyed, and the fire to the east of us has detroyed at least 100 structures.)

    I usually close the house up during the heat of the day, opening windows and doors in the evening to start bringing in the cooler air. But not last night. I went to the front door and it looked like we were socked in with fog. But when I opened the door, I was hit with the smell of smoke. No clouds; just smoke, thick and low. I could see the trees across the street, but I couldn't see the top of the trees on the other side of my neighbor's house.

    Things are bit better today. The wind is not as strong here as it was last night and the smoke is higher, though according to Google on my phone, visibility is now at 2 miles. We've been told to stay inside if we can, and definitely avoid outdoor activities like running or bicycling. But I couldn't resist the temptation to take my DSLR out and try to get some photos in manual mode, (so I could work with the camera raw files.) It was as if I were looking through a yellow filter at everything.

    Here are a few images to show the ash. (Images link to larger versions and open in a new window/tab.)

    Our cars, (links to full 3888 x 2592 pixel image, to show details):

     

    All those white speckles on the leaves and the chair are ash. Based on the debris on the cars, I'd say most of the brown, dusty stuff is too.

    My thoughts and prayers go out to the people who are losing everything in these fires.

    Mother Nature has not been kind to human beings this year.

    Sorry, but when the fires subside at least the ashes are great fertilizers. When I lived in DFW, Texas in the summer of '96 there was a huge Central American fire that caused similar problems in Texas, even as far as I was in DFW! 

     

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    @ladair  Oh goodness, so sorry you've got to breathe in those particulates. I also feel for the wildlife, and especially those in and near the fires. I saw California isn't scheduled to get rain in the upcoming days, how about where you are?

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    nonesuch00 said:

    Sorry, but when the fires subside at least the ashes are great fertilizers. When I lived in DFW, Texas in the summer of '96 their was a huge central American fire that caused similar problems in Texas, even as far as I was in DFW!

    2017 was really bad for air quality here, between the Chetco Bar Fire to the south of us, and a very busy fire season in WA, OR and CA overall. But in spite of how smoky the air was, (for weeks, it seemed,) we didn't see the ash.

    The winds have kicked up, too, and the ash on the cars is no longer evenly distributed. I can still see the ash in the air, though, when I venture outside. It all seems so surreal, with the murky yellow tint to everything.

  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 4,115

    @ladair I know what you are dealing with. My old home in Lompoc CA was built in 1989 without an A/C unit. Just open windows and let the Pacific winds blow in. But when the wildfires would start up, we could get covered in ash and have to button up. And there are generally a couple weeks every year where the Santa Ana winds blow from the desert and we just baked. 

    There is a fire that started west of Fort Collins and over Labor Day weekend, its ash came as far down as north Denver and we had yellow-orange skies, and a scarlett sun as it set. I had to wash my face and skin off after walking Bugsy. I was living in my running shorts and shirts.

    Now, the rain, and finally the snow is helping the fires and the air is breathable. 

    Wear your mask when you go out, it may help protect you from particulates in the air and keep you from breathing them in. Especially if any of the fires are from structures. Too many firemen come down with cancer from exposure. 

    Mary

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    memcneil70 said:

    @ladair I know what you are dealing with. My old home in Lompoc CA was built in 1989 without an A/C unit. Just open windows and let the Pacific winds blow in. But when the wildfires would start up, we could get covered in ash and have to button up. And there are generally a couple weeks every year where the Santa Ana winds blow from the desert and we just baked. 

    There is a fire that started west of Fort Collins and over Labor Day weekend, its ash came as far down as north Denver and we had yellow-orange skies, and a scarlett sun as it set. I had to wash my face and skin off after walking Bugsy. I was living in my running shorts and shirts.

    Now, the rain, and finally the snow is helping the fires and the air is breathable. 

    Wear your mask when you go out, it may help protect you from particulates in the air and keep you from breathing them in. Especially if any of the fires are from structures. Too many firemen come down with cancer from exposure. 

    Mary

    Thank you. Good advice, though the air quality people say the masks should be N95 quality or better to be effective. I'm just staying inside, other than the two quick forays to the front and back yards to take photos earlier today, (before the winds kicked up again.)  Things will start clearing up tomorrow as the wind shifts to bring in cool, marine air. But it could still be Thursday before either hubby or I venture out again.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020

    I was asked an interesting question and thought just in case others were unaware, I'd share a tidbit of "how-to."  For folks who aren't very technical (ahem- ME) sometimes we just putz then have an "aha" moment. Fortunately, I had this one quite awhile ago, aka years. But if you're new to wanting images in folders (aka, I make a folder for each product), here's what I do.
    1. open your folders in one window then hit the double sheets of paper icon in the upper right corner of your screen so it minimizes. Click and drag the corners so it is half your screen. 
    2. Do the same thing with your Product Library, make sure it does NOT overlap the folder page. Otherwise, clicking on one will make the other disappear.
    3. In Product Library- click on the link to the product page of the individual product, it will open in a third window.
    4. LEFT click on an image and hold down, and simply drag it across to put in the product folder.  In other words, you don't have to do screenshots, or copy/save.  This is obvious to experienced computer users, but just in case someone is new to messing with images, it isn't intuitive so thought I'd mention it.  

    My workflow is to download the files (from one page of the Product Library, about 40 products) then make the folders and drag the files to the folders. Last, I add images. I open about 20 product pages by right clicking the product pages, so I have a nice, tidy row of tabs across the top. Then I just open each tab and drag the images in, because I have that split screen  (folders this side / product pages this side). 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 18,131
    Novica said:

    I was asked an interesting question and thought just in case others were unaware, I'd share a tidbit of "how-to."  For folks who aren't very technical (ahem- ME) sometimes we just putz then have an "aha" moment. Fortunately, I had this one quite awhile ago, aka years. But if you're new to wanting images in folders (aka, I make a folder for each product), here's what I do.
    1. open your folders in one window then hit the double sheets of paper icon in the upper right corner of your screen so it minimizes. Click and drag the corners so it is half your screen. 
    2. Do the same thing with your Product Library, make sure it does NOT overlap the folder page. Otherwise, clicking on one will make the other disappear.
    3. In Product Library- click on the link to the product page of the individual product, it will open in a third window.
    4. LEFT click on an image and hold down, and simply drag it across to put in the product folder.  In other words, you don't have to do screenshots, or copy/save.  This is obvious to experienced computer users, but just in case someone is new to messing with images, it isn't intuitive so thought I'd mention it.  

    My workflow is to download the files (from one page of the Product Library, about 40 products) then make the folders and drag the files to the folders. Last, I add images. I open about 20 product pages by right clicking the product pages, so I have a nice, tidy row of tabs across the top. Then I just open each tab and drag the images in, because I have that split screen  (folders this side / product pages this side). 

    Thanks. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020

    Chamani for Nida 8           FG Sleeping Shirt           Yara Hair (G8F)             Rising Star Poses (G3F / G8F)           Brocade Iray Shaders- Geometry

    I didn't do anything with the sleeping shirt so far as morphs, it's how it loaded onto the figure and I liked the way it looked. It has a brocade shader applied. :) 
    Chamani has several different skin tones, just click to select. This was the default.
    I tightened the Yara Hair so it wasn't overwhelmingly poofy. (There's a slider to do that.) 
    The pose I used really had her head twisted and thrown back, made me uncomfortable just looking at it LOL. So I twisted her head back around and straightened it a tad. 
    TIP: change the spotlight to match the color of the shirt. The lighting was blue, I made it a light pink/red.

    I'll be doing a post on the Brocade Iray Shaders-Geometry and showing you more options. Yes, I'm TAKING YOU DOWN THAT RABBIT HOLE. With the 60% off today, I just happened to be exploring these shaders (I already owned) and got sucked in to looking at the other shaders. Don't blame me, you do this to me, too.  Note I changed the tiling from the default 5 x 5 to 15 x 15 on this shirt shader.

    Want this look? Here's the smile!  (Works great on Chabani, may need slight adjustments on other characters, but not much!) 
    In the Viseme section (under Poses, Head, Mouth)   L  43.8       SH   28.1      W  -34.3  (You'll have to use the cog to undo limits, then you can go negative. Remember, we've covered this a lot- many mouth poses make the mouth shrink in width, to the point of looking "pulled" and the negative "W" will widen the mouth without distortion.) 

    In the Mouth section, Mouth Corner Up/Down  52.8      Mouth Smile Open   14.0   

     


     

    Chamani FG Sleeping Shirt Yara Hair2.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020

     Brocade Iray Shaders- Geometry

    Here's examples with various tiling settings, ranging from the default 5 x 5, up to 20 x 20. Note most of these are REDUCED so the patterns are larger, and really look good that way, too. I also didn't mess with vertical or horizontal adjustment (to get the rows to line up at the seam) so that option is also there. 

    You can also reverse this and have the patterns on the neck and sleeve cuffs, with the shirt being the solid color.  To me, some of these have a 60's and 70's vibe. 

    Other shaders I'm looking at buying with the 60% going today-

    https://www.daz3d.com/brocade-iray-shaders--roundabout

    https://www.daz3d.com/rattan-iray-shaders

    https://www.daz3d.com/iray-kids-room-carpet-shaders

    Edit- and another one-    https://www.daz3d.com/carpet-shaders-flowers-and-shapes

    bro1.png
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    bro4.png
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    bro6.png
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    bro8.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,823

    I've been eying those shaders, thanks for showing them off more Novica :) Hopefully they be on sale around the time my money lands on my account lol

  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 4,115

    Those shirts looked great. I have the kids carpet shaders and used them on a two-piece swimsuit, I think it was the otters. And a solid sheer from something else for the coverup top. Really fun set of shaders.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020
    memcneil70 said:

    Update on our weather: Rain right now, temps in the 30s, but windchill, in the teens. Snow is expected to move into the Denver area proper at any time. Took me a bit last night to find my ski hat, gloves, and other fuzzy stuff. 

    And NO, obviously, that's not ME.

    Gilia Classic Bikini Winter Beach SurrCurlsHr 2.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020

    Gilia HD (G8F)         Classic Bikini for G8F        UltraHD Iray HDRI w DOF- Winter Beaches (16k)           Cheers Drink Tray And Drinks       

    Surrounding Curls Hair  (G3F / G8F)           Rock Collection- Real World Stones

    First of all, those rocks REALLY go well with the Winter Beaches. Just resize by scaling, rotate, and have fun. There's also gray rocks, too. I like this HDRI because the footprints in the sand make it easy to position your character into one of them and it makes them very "grounded." 

    One thing I did with the render was to use White Point in Tone Mapping (Render pane) and set it to a blue, to take OUT the blue.  162 / 179 / 255   and even then, in postwork I had to still add a touch more red. I added more glossiness to her skin and metal flakes. 

    In the Cheers Drink Tray and Drinks, I changed the surface of the tray because it was a neutral color and blended with the sand. 

    I changed the beads on the swimsuit to a black, to match the stripes. (Beads on both top and the sides of the bottoms.) 

    Gilia Classic Bikini Winter Beach SurrCurlsHr.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020

    AJC Cropped Style Outfit (G8F)         Haydina Hair (G8F)   

    Haydina Hair has tons of colors, and I love the details in the Cropped Style Outfit jacket. One thing I don't like about Gilia are the ultra long nails. 

     

    ...and this is Gilia's twin in Colorado,  looking outside her window the next morning at the snow.

    Gilia Haydina Hair Cropped Style Outfit.png
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    Post edited by Novica on
  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 4,115

    LOL! Some areas along the Front Range got snow, as did the mountains. Denver did get measurable snow, but you couldn't prove it by where I live. A skiff of snow fell. But the freeze killed a newish tree that looks like an overgrown fern. A large branch broke off and all the leaves curled up. This happened last year, except no snow. Hard freeze and plants weren't ready for it. Crops and general plants died or were damaged all over. 

    We are warming up, supposed to go up to 57F. We have had a light rain. 

    I tried working with a new character yesterday, but I had problem after problem. Word of warning with the new 60s style PC+ outfit, simulate piece by piece. It makes a great explosion together.

    BTW, how is your mother doing and her fellow residents and caregivers at the residence? I keep them in my heart and prayers.

    Mary

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    I visited Mom Monday, she was back in her room so it was nice for Ci Pwff to NOT be on the frontside of the building by the parking lot. I was able to trot him around in the nice, lush green yard (about a couple acres, all patios face it.)  Still can't go inside to visit, even though the Governor has said it's okay, I don't agree with him. So I think the senior home is doing the right thing. I forgot my phone though, so we had to chat through the glass patio door. They always volunteer to set up speakers, but Mom and I do fine on the phone and it's less of a hassle for the activities folks. :)  She loves seeing Ci Pwff. I tossed him treats and he caught them. (I throw lightly with a slight arc so he doesn't choke, it never barrels down his throat or hard into his mouth.)

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Going through my products doing folders, I just found DE Leticia for Gabriela 8 does not have a link to a product page in the Product Library. Doing a forum search was useless. (There is a forum member named Leticia and that's all that kept coming up, plus every word that has de in it. HATE this forum search software!!!

    Anyone know why she went ka-put? Was she supposed to?

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887

    Okay, another tidbit- Maxx has water droplets which can be used for other figures. Any of you rendered him with those?

  • zombietaggerungzombietaggerung Posts: 3,726
    edited September 2020
    Novica said:

    Okay, another tidbit- Maxx has water droplets which can be used for other figures. Any of you rendered him with those?

    I did, in this render and this render, not on Maxx though.

    Post edited by zombietaggerung on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    zombietaggerung said:

    I did, in this render and this render, not on Maxx though.

    Gave both a thumbs up. The water droplets are better seen on the second one, thanks for showing them :)  

  • zombietaggerungzombietaggerung Posts: 3,726
    Novica said:
    zombietaggerung said:

    I did, in this render and this render, not on Maxx though.

    Gave both a thumbs up. The water droplets are better seen on the second one, thanks for showing them :)  

    smiley Sure thing.

  • vwranglervwrangler Posts: 4,889
    edited September 2020
    Novica said:

    Going through my products doing folders, I just found DE Leticia for Gabriela 8 does not have a link to a product page in the Product Library. Doing a forum search was useless. (There is a forum member named Leticia and that's all that kept coming up, plus every word that has de in it. HATE this forum search software!!!

    Anyone know why she went ka-put? Was she supposed to?

    No idea why she went away, but she does still have a docs wiki page: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/read_me/index/62609/start

    It doesn't list any issues. Release date was August 8, so she was one of Gabriela's sale-day addons. No unusual sale, as far as I know. I suppose it's possible that she simply didn't sell at all; Daz and PAs have been known to pull products that perform poorly out of the gate.

    Post edited by vwrangler on
  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 4,115

    I have DE Leticia for Gabriela 8. Here is her pdf I made when I bought her. No clue when she disappeared.

    Good to hear about your mom and the cautious approach her senior home is taking. 

    Mary

    pdf
    pdf
    DE Leticia for Gabriela 8 _ 3D Models and 3D Software by Daz 3D.pdf
    2M
  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 4,115

    I got fed up with no thumbnails for new and old items and spent all day yesterday on two computers tracking down missing ones and creating new thumbnails (and yes, I also found a number of newer items now missing from the store too, along with older ones) and trying to decide where to place them data/cloud/meta or runtime/support. There just didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to where they went. And sometimes, one computer had working thumbnails, while the other didn't. And I have to give the generation 3 era folks props, none of the items I owned was missing a thumbnail. Now, Victoria 4, Michael 4, The Kids 4, Freak 4, Stephanie 4, She Freak 4... a mess. 12,396 products. My eyes hurted.

    Then I exported my user data.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    memcneil70 said:

    I got fed up with no thumbnails for new and old items and spent all day yesterday on two computers tracking down missing ones and creating new thumbnails (and yes, I also found a number of newer items now missing from the store too, along with older ones) and trying to decide where to place them data/cloud/meta or runtime/support.

    If there is a product page in the store, and no thumbnails, perhaps look and see if there's a forum reference? I can't speak for other people, but if you like them,  you're more than welcome to use any of my renders as thumbnails for personal use. With 13 threads, we've covered a lot of products. I'm not sure how others feel about that?

  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 4,115

    I was able to use the content library image, with only one exception of PW Productions' Airport Island - Sea Base (Inactive) when I bought the bundle. So no references, and I didn't think until now to check the other two environments in the bundle. So I brought up the environment and made a 114 x 148 px render really quick. I had put all the thumbnails I had to make into a file folder on Google Drive and opened it on my other computer, then found I had already done the same thing at some point in the past on it! You know, if Daz pulls a product, it might be nice if they place a thumbnail for download on the Content Library page or at least the image of the original product.

    What I did find was weird was one computer would accept the thumbnail from the Meta file, and the other insisted on the Runtime/Support folder. I have also found their drop-downs are different in organization of options. 

    Thank you for the offer.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020

    :)   Sure!
    Glad I didn't just "miss" the discussion about DE Letitia but even if I had read it, I probably wouldn't have remembered. There's so many products pulled it's a waste of time to try and remember them, or keep a list.  

    There's also this thumbnail product in the store-   Thumbnail Mastery     I own it but haven't used it. 
     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • gitika1gitika1 Posts: 948
    Novica said:

    :)   Sure!
    Glad I didn't just "miss" the discussion about DE Letitia but even if I had read it, I probably wouldn't have remembered. There's so many products pulled it's a waste of time to try and remember them, or keep a list.  

    There's also this thumbnail product in the store-   Thumbnail Mastery     I own it but haven't used it. 
     

    I own it as well, but couldn't figure out how to use it. blush

  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 4,115

    I have too! Same issue, but that might be needing more time to sit down and dig into it. Like most of the utilities I have bought and aren't just click and run.

    Maybe it is more for folks who make products to share or to sell and need an easy way to create them in bulk?

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,887
    edited September 2020

    Well, at least we know DestinysGarden knows how to use it, if we try it and get stuck. We were discussing this back on my Thread 11.  :) 

    Edit- and the PDF

    memcneil70 said:

    I have too! Same issue, but that might be needing more time to sit down and dig into it. Like most of the utilities I have bought and aren't just click and run.

    Maybe it is more for folks who make products to share or to sell and need an easy way to create them in bulk?

     

    Post edited by Novica on
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