Character skin textures & M4/V4 to G2

BradCarsten

Hi everyone.

I bought Evie for Genesis 2 female and cant believe the difference it makes to add a good skin texture to the model.
Now I'm trying to do the same things for genesis 2 males and have a few questions.

1) There don't seem to be all that many males model/textures for genesis 2 males, (excl. Michael 6 based) and the ones that there are aren't really the look I'm going for. Is it possible to morph one of those shapes (change the shape of the face) and still keep the texture in tact?

2) can you buy high def textures on their own, ( I haven't seen any) or do you have to buy the whole George/john/harry figure bundles with their morphs and skin textures?

3) I like some of the Michael 4 characters, and I love the fact that you can get them for a steal on the current weekend specials, but everything I own so far is genesis 2 based including the clothes, so I don't really want to start collecting everything again for M4. I have since discovered the following tools, but don't really understand which is the best tool to use in order to use the M4 based figures and textures on Genesis 2, if that's even possible, (baring in mind that all I want is the guys face shape and texture. I'll use the genesis 2 poses and clothes etc after that.)

3.1- https://www.daz3d.com/v4-and-m4-shapes-for-genesis

3.2 - http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/victoria-4-for-genesis-2-female

3.3 - http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-generation-x2

And Do I need the original Michael 4 base to get these to work, or can I just buy the character I want and use him.

Thanks

404nicg

I just made my transition from Genesis to Genesis 2 so I'm new to the whole backwards compatibility thing as well but let me help you.

If you just want to use the TEXTURES from Michael 4 characters on your Genesis 2 Male characters all you need is this product here:

http://www.daz3d.com/michael-4-for-genesis-2-male

It comes with the UV set which allows the Genesis 2 male characters to map michael 4 textures correctly. In addition it comes with the M4 shape for improved auto fitting capability if you want to use clothes designed for M4 on the genesis 2 male. But let me answer each one of your questions though

1. The textures will always fit no matter the morph if you have the correct UV set applied. The textures are extremely flexible in that regard.

2. I don't really see just TEXTURES on sale by themselves individually too often. Most of the time it is like you said the characters but not necessarily bundles. You can buy just the character set without the bundles. However I should note that back in the V4/M4 days DAZ did have their Elite Skin photo realism series which were focused around textures. You could check those out if you're willing to get the products required to get V4/M4 textures working on G2F/G2M . I just got a couple the other day since they were on sale and they are top notch.

3.1 since you're on Genesis 2 you have no use for this product, as it is for the previous generation of genesis

3.2 this is the victoria 4 version of the m4 for genesis 2 product I linked you to earlier in the post. The same features except the female version (v4 textures on g2f/improved autofit capability)

3.3 you would get this if you want to use M4/V4 morphs and characters on Genesis 2. In order for it to work you would still have to own the V4 and M4 base shape as well as any morphs that the particular characters that you are converting used.

Hope i helped let me know if you have anymore questions

BradCarsten

Thanks so much for the detailed response- that's unbelievably helpful.

404nicg said:

However I should note that back in the V4/M4 days DAZ did have their Elite Skin photo realism series which were focused around textures. You could check those out if you're willing to get the products required to get V4/M4 textures working on G2F/G2M . I just got a couple the other day since they were on sale and they are top notch.

Yes I've probably loaded and unloaded those into my shopping cart at least half a dozen times- they look fantastic. Do they still stack up to some of the newer models, or is it better to just stick to G2 and M6?

404nicg said:

3.1 since you’re on Genesis 2 you have no use for this product, as it is for the previous generation of genesis

I've heard it's not too hard to convert G1 textures to G2- (but this is all still new to me,) so I thought I may be able to use this to convert from M4/V4 to Gen1, and then save the textures to G2. Is this worth looking into, seeing as how that plugin is on sale, or am I looking for problems? I suppose the morphs will be a bit more of a problem right?

3.3 you would get this if you want to use M4/V4 morphs and characters on Genesis 2. In order for it to work you would still have to own the V4 and M4 base shape as well as any morphs that the particular characters that you are converting used.

Sorry, just to clarify- if I wanted my G2 to look like this guy, and use his texture - http://www.daz3d.com/m4-elite-texture-stratton - then the first plugin http://www.daz3d.com/michael-4-for-genesis-2-male wont work? I have to instead get http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-generation-x2- is that correct? Sorry I'm just trying to understand this line from the Michael 4 for Genesis 2 Male page-
The Michael 4 UV set will allow you to use your favorite textures, and the included Michael 4 shape, with separate head and body morphs, and will allow you to add some familiar variety to your Genesis 2 men

I hoped that meant I could use the shape as well as the texture of whatever model I buy.

Thanks once again for your help.

404nicg

bradrg said:

Thanks so much for the detailed response- that's unbelievably helpful.

404nicg said:

However I should note that back in the V4/M4 days DAZ did have their Elite Skin photo realism series which were focused around textures. You could check those out if you're willing to get the products required to get V4/M4 textures working on G2F/G2M . I just got a couple the other day since they were on sale and they are top notch.

Yes I've probably loaded and unloaded those into my shopping cart at least half a dozen times- they look fantastic. Do they still stack up to some of the newer models, or is it better to just stick to G2 and M6?

404nicg said:

3.1 since you’re on Genesis 2 you have no use for this product, as it is for the previous generation of genesis

I've heard it's not too hard to convert G1 textures to G2- (but this is all still new to me,) so I thought I may be able to use this to convert from M4/V4 to Gen1, and then save the textures to G2. Is this worth looking into, seeing as how that plugin is on sale, or am I looking for problems? I suppose the morphs will be a bit more of a problem right?

3.3 you would get this if you want to use M4/V4 morphs and characters on Genesis 2. In order for it to work you would still have to own the V4 and M4 base shape as well as any morphs that the particular characters that you are converting used.

Sorry, just to clarify- if I wanted my G2 to look like this guy, and use his texture - http://www.daz3d.com/m4-elite-texture-stratton - then the first plugin http://www.daz3d.com/michael-4-for-genesis-2-male wont work? I have to instead get http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-generation-x2- is that correct? Sorry I'm just trying to understand this line from the Michael 4 for Genesis 2 Male page-
The Michael 4 UV set will allow you to use your favorite textures, and the included Michael 4 shape, with separate head and body morphs, and will allow you to add some familiar variety to your Genesis 2 men

I hoped that meant I could use the shape as well as the texture of whatever model I buy.

Thanks once again for your help.

Yeah the Elite textures and many other textures that were made for v4/m4 are absolutely on par with some of the newer ones that come out today. The two I got were Marie and Maya and they're both great; extremely realistic.

G1 by default uses the V4/M4 UV, so you can use any v4/m4 texture on Genesis 1 characters out-the-box with no extra plugins needed. That being the case, buying the M4 and V4 shapes for Genesis as a way to get v4 textures on your G2 characters would be redundant.

However, Genesis 2 doesn't come with v4/M4 UVs included so that's where

http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/victoria-4-for-genesis-2-female

and

http://www.daz3d.com/michael-4-for-genesis-2-male

come in. They come with the UVs for v4 and m4 respectively which will allow you to use the textures on your G2 characters.

(side note: UV is basically the instructions to tell your texture/material how it should fit onto the character. Without the proper, UV the texture won't work)

Once you have those products, using m4/v4 textures on your g2 characters is pretty simple/painless.

So regarding your question about the m4-elite texture-stratton all you would need is the michael 4 for genesis 2 male product to use his texture on genesis 2. You should only get the genx2 plugin with the genesis 2 add on if you have a lot of v4/m4 characters/shapes/morphs that you want to use on the genesis 2 figure. If that's the case you're also going to want to buy the Michael 4 base and the V4.2 base and the v4.2 morphs ++ and m4 morphs ++ , since a lot of the characters that you would buy will require them.

Keep in mind that the elite texture stratton is JUST the texture/material . It doesn't come with the particular morphs and shapes to get your character to look exactly as he did in the promo images.

And regarding the line from the Michael 4 for Genesis 2 Male page:

That's referring to the fact that it will give your g2m characters the ability to morph to the michael 4 base shape . This is only useful if, like I said, you intend on buying the genx2 plugin to have access to the Michael 4 characters on G2M.

Hope I made sense!

BradCarsten

Thanks you once again for the detailed response- that makes perfect sense. Sounds like the michael-4-for-genesis-2-male is the way to go then.
On a side note, I didn't realize that the elite texture stratton is just the texture/material. That's good to know.

Slosh

bradrg said:

Thanks you once again for the detailed response- that makes perfect sense. Sounds like the michael-4-for-genesis-2-male is the way to go then.
On a side note, I didn't realize that the elite texture stratton is just the texture/material. That's good to know.

All of the Elite textures for M4 do actually include face morphs. They are located in the Poser files section of your content library, but to transfer those face shapes to Genesis 2, you will need the GenX2 plugin.

I am the creator of the M4 for G2M product. With it, you can use any M4 textures, clothing, and hair on G2M... As for special face or body morphs that come with M4 characters you might purchase, you will need GenX2. I hope this clears things up for you.

The V4 for Genesis 2 Female product does the exact same thing for the females.

404nicg

Slosh said:

bradrg said:

Thanks you once again for the detailed response- that makes perfect sense. Sounds like the michael-4-for-genesis-2-male is the way to go then.
On a side note, I didn't realize that the elite texture stratton is just the texture/material. That's good to know.

All of the Elite textures for M4 do actually include face morphs. They are located in the Poser files section of your content library, but to transfer those face shapes to Genesis 2, you will need the GenX2 plugin.

I am the creator of the M4 for G2M product. With it, you can use any M4 textures, clothing, and hair on G2M... As for special face or body morphs that come with M4 characters you might purchase, you will need GenX2. I hope this clears things up for you.

The V4 for Genesis 2 Female product does the exact same thing for the females.

Oh my mistake then, it didn't list a morph under the included features on the product page

BradCarsten

Slosh said:

All of the Elite textures for M4 do actually include face morphs. They are located in the Poser files section of your content library, but to transfer those face shapes to Genesis 2, you will need the GenX2 plugin.

I am the creator of the M4 for G2M product. With it, you can use any M4 textures, clothing, and hair on G2M... As for special face or body morphs that come with M4 characters you might purchase, you will need GenX2. I hope this clears things up for you.

The V4 for Genesis 2 Female product does the exact same thing for the females.

Thanks for the info- that's extremely helpful.
Nice product by the way. This is definitely something I am looking to add to my library. Very handy.

Slosh

Thank you :) It is essential to anyone with a large M4 library that wants to use the items with Genesis 2. There are always other ways to get the textures and clothing onto G2M, but they are long, involved processes that are not worth it after 2 or 3 times. If you have a decent sized M4 and V4 library, you definitely want to invest in this product and/or the V4 equivalent.

Vhardamis

Something else to consider. Gen6 (Genesis 2) will only work with .duf file formats and a lot of the M4/V4 stuff is in poser file format. You can convert textures one of 2 ways from the Gen 4s to the Gen 6s. You either have to load your M4(gen4) onto the Gen5 b(Genesis 1) base and save as a .duf file THEN you can load it on Gen6 (Genesis 2) or you can go with the batch convertor.

The only real difference is the ease of use depending no how many M4/V4 textures you own. If you're only grabbing a couple at a time the twice conversion is fine so long as you're converting as you go.But if you end up with a ton of stuff from the sales these might be worth looking into.

http://www.daz3d.com/m4-skins-batch-converter-to-genesis-2-male-s
and
http://www.daz3d.com/v4-skins-batch-converter-to-genesis-2-female-s

Slosh

Vhardamis said:

Something else to consider. Gen6 (Genesis 2) will only work with .duf file formats and a lot of the M4/V4 stuff is in poser file format. You can convert textures one of 2 ways from the Gen 4s to the Gen 6s. You either have to load your M4(gen4) onto the Gen5 b(Genesis 1) base and save as a .duf file THEN you can load it on Gen6 (Genesis 2) or you can go with the batch convertor.

The only real difference is the ease of use depending no how many M4/V4 textures you own. If you're only grabbing a couple at a time the twice conversion is fine so long as you're converting as you go.But if you end up with a ton of stuff from the sales these might be worth looking into.

http://www.daz3d.com/m4-skins-batch-converter-to-genesis-2-male-s
and
http://www.daz3d.com/v4-skins-batch-converter-to-genesis-2-female-s

What you said is mostly right... the only difference is you can load the M4/V4 texture onto M4 or V4, you don't have to put it on Genesis. In fact, it's better in my opinion because M4/V4 have the same eye reflection surface that Genesis 2 has. Load the texture on M4/V4, then save as a Material Preset (.duf). It will now work on Genesis 2 AND Genesis 1. The Batch Converter is great because it will convert all of your M4/V4 skins to the Genesis 2 Male or Female UVs.

Then there is also M4/V4 Skins Autoconverters, which basically let you skip the process of applying the skins to M4/V4 or Genesis. You click the script preset and it asks you to find the texture you want to convert from older formats to the .duf format. Navigate through your content folder and choose the .png icon that represents your texture and the script will do the renaming and apply it to Genesis 2. You would then need to save the converted texture .duf for later use.

manekiNeko

sorry for reviving such an old thread.. but..

i bought http://www.daz3d.com/michael-4-for-genesis-2-male, and i'm happy with it, trying out stuff manually thru G1 - i still think i'll get the batch converter soon tho.

but i realized i have some great (mostly freebie) skins for V4, with scales or tattoos etc that i liked to use on G1, and that i'd love to use on G2M too (out of topic but i'd like to do it for G3M too!). and of course, my duf mat preset on G1 with the V4 skin = V4 UV doesn't work on G2M...
now my addon M4 for G2M is no use since my start base is V4. and i suppose buying V4 for G2F doesn't make much sense either since 1) it probably won't work, 2) i basically never draw females so i have no use for it otherwise.

- i do have a M4 with V4 UV i "made" with some tutorial, and the V4 M4-mapped coming with Vittorio - ofc both are no help either. -

how can i proceed to get my V4 skins on G2M and maybe G3M?

Richard Haseltine

As I recall both Genesis 2 figures have the same mesh, so the Victoria 4 UV set for Genesis 2 Female should work. I can't, however, recall if it will just call the UV set from the Genesis 2 Female Data folder or if it has to be manually copied over to the Genesis 2 Male folder in Data.

vwrangler

Richard Haseltine said:

As I recall both Genesis 2 figures have the same mesh, so the Victoria 4 UV set for Genesis 2 Female should work. I can't, however, recall if it will just call the UV set from the Genesis 2 Female Data folder or if it has to be manually copied over to the Genesis 2 Male folder in Data.

The UV file has to be manually copied over. Studio doesn't read across genders that way.

Slosh has a freebie at ShareCG to make it work automatically: http://www.sharecg.com/v/73633/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/UVSetterGen2-Revised-10-2014

 

manekiNeko

vwrangler said:

Richard Haseltine said:

As I recall both Genesis 2 figures have the same mesh, so the Victoria 4 UV set for Genesis 2 Female should work. I can't, however, recall if it will just call the UV set from the Genesis 2 Female Data folder or if it has to be manually copied over to the Genesis 2 Male folder in Data.

The UV file has to be manually copied over. Studio doesn't read across genders that way.

Slosh has a freebie at ShareCG to make it work automatically: http://www.sharecg.com/v/73633/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/UVSetterGen2-Revised-10-2014

 

hurray! Slosh's awesome preset pack freebie did the trick! my G2M figure is now proudly featuring Logan's shape AND the "Angel" V4 free skin by Ravensdream! so glad it worked! (without having to buy V4 for G2F, which i wouldn't have used, leaving $$ for a more useful item).

thanks Richard & vwrangler for the great help! and happy holidays :)

maikdecker

manekiNeko said:

without having to buy V4 for G2F

Right now V4 is available in a free bundle -> https://www.daz3d.com/dark-ops-ready-to-render-bundle

Just in case You want to add her to Your repertoire.