Some questions about HD Add-Ons
A few questions about the HD Add-Ons. Maybe someone can explain what I don´t understand.
As I can see the Victoria6 and Michael6 HD Add-Ons come with new Skin Texture Sets each. But all the other HD Add-Ons seem to be only morphs. So with the latest offer in the shop the choice which Add-Ons I will purchase first is pretty easy: Victoria6 and/or Michael6.
Per example, there is Nyssa based on Victoria6. I will dial in the V6 HD Morphs to my taste. And if everything works fine, Nyssa will be a high definition character with more details. Is this correct?
If the answer is yes, do V6 HD Morphs only work on V6-Characters? Or Is it possible to use V6 HD Morphs like any other morph on any character even if it is not based on V6?
As a second example, is it possible to use V6 HD Morphs on Meridiana, a Lilith6 based character? If the answer is yes, why would I need the Lilith6 HD Add-On?
I will barely use the Victoria6 or Lilith6 base shapes. Most of the time I will use characters like Nyssa or Meridiana or sometimes completly customized characters.
So does it make sense to have a variety of HD Morphs? Is it possible to Mix and Match? Or will there be distortions or other problems?
Comments
The HD morphs will have been designed with the base character in mind, so although the morphs will work with other characters the refinements afforded by HD may not be as convincing on those characters. Nyssa is actually 50% V6 anyway, and the V6 HD morphs seem to work fairly well on her. I have attached some comparisons below using default G2F skin and no special lighting.
This is a question that I have wondered long about as well, so thanks a lot to the OP for bringing it up.
Has anyone ever tried using, say, M6 HD morphs with Teen Jayden? Poor kid has no dedicated HD pack of his own.
Here's Lilith with the V6 HD morph. I don't have the Lilith HD Add-On, so I can't make a direct comparison, and I don't consider myself sufficiently a connoisseur of facial features to judge whether it works. But the philtrum does not look right. Perhaps it's best to consider the HD morphs as akin to texture maps. What we see here is an attempt to fit a V6 UV map onto a Lilith UV - they don't quite match.
Cayman, could you please make a test with hands?
Mustakettu85, here's Jayden with the Michael 6 HD morph. As you can see, it's terrible! Jayden's texture uses the Base Male UV, not the M6 UV. I have also redone Lilith using her own texture and applied the V6 HD morph. Again, the philtrum problem looms large.
I'll make some coffee and then I'll do some hand tests.
Well here are Jayden's hands, gnarled by the M6 HD morphs. I think "HD" could almost be a euphemism for "getting on a bit". Jayden is a teenage character, which is probably why he doesn't have an HD Add-On. So not only do they not fit properly, they are inappropriate for his age. :lol:
If the HD Morphs are dependent on the UV, it make sense now. Your comparisons are very helpful. :)
So it seems to be more important what UV is applied and less important what shape is dialed in.
Thank you very, very much, Cayman!
The HD morphs are not UV-dependent - that's one of their benefits over displacement. The textures that come with the M6 HD morph are of course UV dependent.
Sorry, if I don´t get it. But my main figure is still Genesis1. This is the first time I looked at the HD expansions for Genesis2.
If it is not UV dependend, why is there a distortion on Lilith6 philtrum and her ear? Shouldn´t the V6 HD Morphs work fine on any Genesis2 Female?
I would understand this if we were talking about extrem different shapes, but Lilith/Victoria and Michael/Jayden?
Sorry, if I don´t get it. But my main figure is still Genesis1. This is the first time I looked at the HD expansions for Genesis2.
If it is not UV dependend, why is there a distortion on Lilith6 philtrum and her ear? Shouldn´t the V6 HD Morphs work fine on any Genesis2 Female?
I would understand this if we were talking about extrem different shapes, but Lilith/Victoria and Michael/Jayden?
The HD morphs are not directly dependent on the UV-map, but the relation between the HD morph and the base mesh is analogous to the relation between the UV-map and the base mesh. So, for example, a change to the displacement map on the V6 UV will effect the Lilith shape in the same way that a morph of V6 will effect the Lilith shape, i.e. oddly.
I agree with Cayman's last post, although bringing UVs into the discussion at all may be confusing things.
Basically, the closer your character is to the "base" character the morphs were designed for, the better the HD morphs will look when applied to that character. The more different the characters' morphs are, the worse the HD morphs will look when applied to that character.
Edited to add: like any morph, HD morphs can be dialed, so you don't need to use them at full strength. Sometimes HD morphs that look wrong at full strength might work better at a lower strength.
Thank you very much Cayman!
I actually think Jayden's hands do look better with Mike's HD on - first, even teenagers can have very rough hands if they prefer an active lifestyle, and then, with a more diffuse lighting and more SSS, it all won't even look that rough.
Because of the Skin Textures I will purchase the V6 HD Add-On anyway. That a alone is a great bargain with the current sale discount.
Lets see if the V6 HD Morph is also useful to me.
Thank you all for your replies! :)