Getting on the 9 train, or not

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Comments

  • TorquinoxTorquinox Posts: 3,333

    I notice pores, weird skin wrinkles, biological structural oddities. It's interesting to me but not what I'd call aesthetically beautiful.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,011

    Note that you can easily just turn down bump or normal details.

  • Oso3D said:

    Note that you can easily just turn down bump or normal details.

    That is easy but you then realize that you quite liked the effect in some areas (like the lips) and not so much in others... so now you are talking masks (i guess) or making multiple renders to blend elsewhere... just wish a little more artistry or finesse was applied in the original creations.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,011

    There is, but the issue being discussed is individual preferences about features.

    If you don't like realistic pores it's not a lack of finesse that the figure has them.

  • FSMCDesignsFSMCDesigns Posts: 12,755

    MelissaGT said:

    But not everyone wears thirteen layers of makeup. I don't. I do my brows, some eyeliner, and maybe some finishing powder on my t-zone to keep the shinies away. That's it. I'd like to think the whole thirteen layers of makeup thing is reserved for instagram models, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just that I live on the east coast and I don't see many women walking around doing their daily living behind a virtual mask they need to scrape off with a spoon. 

    So it would make sense to me for character skins to drop out of the box makeup free. Show me that real skin! Then if a user so prefers, they can cake on the makeup as thick as they want. V9 even has makeup that does that. It was sold separately, but it's out there. The full-face makeup presets reduce the look of the pores. I think there should be an option for those who want the full monty makeup-wise...and also a clean face for those who don't. 

    Valid point. I am in Dallas and see model type women with heavy makeup often in every day life, but I agree, a character from a PA should be focused on pure quality skin as a base first and foremost. 

     

    SolitarySandpiper said:

    Oso3D said:

    Note that you can easily just turn down bump or normal details.

    That is easy but you then realize that you quite liked the effect in some areas (like the lips) and not so much in others... so now you are talking masks (i guess) or making multiple renders to blend elsewhere... just wish a little more artistry or finesse was applied in the original creations.

    The issue here is that users NEED to take some of the responsibility on creation. A PA can't cater to everyone's needs and wants. That is what your image editor is for. I edit nearly every characters skin I purchase to fit my needs (darker/lighter, more or less details, stronger normal maps, lip detail, smaller areolas, etc).

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,219
    edited December 2022

    wolf359 said:

    WendyLuvsCatz said:

    I finally got on the train financially buying Bone Minion Gen 4 otherwise so far been using free resources and methods 

    again it's a tool for utilizing content I have though

    I haven't bought anything G9 bespoke

    Does bone minion copy animated poses?

    I did have issues with saved ones due to how DAZ studio handles rotations, aniblocks would probably work better as baking to the timeline adds all the keyframes  needed to stop the constant 360 spins

    that said there is also some free conversion scripts in another thread I have not tried 

    https://www.facebook.com/1653360584/videos/498756282062101/ what happens with a saved animated pose

    after deleting Y rotations on hip still has sudden moves where spins were

     

    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • Unless it get's something I really want probably not and I'm not going for realism or anything so I'm good.

  • Oso3D said:

    There is, but the issue being discussed is individual preferences about features.

    If you don't like realistic pores it's not a lack of finesse that the figure has them.

    No, i like realistic pores i just wish artists would take care in their implementation.

    Also i'm fully aware of what was being discussed ....are my individual preferences about features not valid?

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,011

    That's a very confusing response.

    My comment is 'someone who doesn't care for something doesn't mean the artist lacks finesse in including it.'

    That... doesn't invalidate your preferences, it's just clarifying that it's not a failure of execution but in providing what you individually want. I hope the difference between those two ideas is clear.

     

  • Oso3D said:

    That's a very confusing response.

    My comment is 'someone who doesn't care for something doesn't mean the artist lacks finesse in including it.'

    That... doesn't invalidate your preferences, it's just clarifying that it's not a failure of execution but in providing what you individually want. I hope the difference between those two ideas is clear.

     

    No wonder you get confused... lol.

    i was clearly talking about the lack of finesse in creating it!... not the lack of finesse in including it (seriously, what does that even mean?)

     

  • SolitarySandpiperSolitarySandpiper Posts: 566
    edited December 2022

    this is what i'm talking about... 

    Defend this if you like... but i think we should expect to see a bit more refinement, not just the facility to tone it down globally.

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  • CHWTCHWT Posts: 1,179

    this is what i'm talking about... 

    Defend this if you like... but i think we should expect to see a bit more refinement, not just the facility to tone it down globally.

    It's kind of okay for Josie as she is not created for realism anyway, but the skin looks like applied a random noise map, which I agree a tiny bit more effort could be put into it.
  • chevybabe25chevybabe25 Posts: 1,256

    "Toning it down" would require an image editing software such as photishop.  Open the the offending normal map, and with the eye dropper tool, sample the background purple color.  Create a new layer, and with a soft brush paint over the areas that you either want softened or gone. You can resave the map out as ia jpeg as is or save out just the top layer in png fo be applied as a LIE.

    Art is subjective as is texture work. IMO these are being done in the right manner, with sculpted pores and textures. Google "face cartography" and you will also see that for the most part, the Daz artists are spot on with their interpretations. That said, Im also not a fan of Josie's normals.

    The biggest problem is that portrait artists need the finer detail with less strength, vs someone who does full body shots. There isn't a one size fits all, yet, Daz has given all the ingredients to make it work for most.  To get the most out of what is provided, you have to move beyond "plug and play" and learn to make stuff your own.
     

  • HylasHylas Posts: 4,988

    Yeah, that doesn't look great. The cheeks are fine, the forehead and area around the eyes look wrong.

  • Realistc pores is not dependend on G9 only. You can easily apply 8k maps to any figure in oorder to have realistic pores.

  • PetraPetra Posts: 1,154

    I am well and truly on the G9 train and now with Pixie 9 I LOVE it even more but, I never had so many tickets to tech support as I have with the new G9 generation.

     

  • chevybabe25 said:

    "Toning it down" would require an image editing software such as photishop.  Open the the offending normal map, and with the eye dropper tool, sample the background purple color.  Create a new layer, and with a soft brush paint over the areas that you either want softened or gone. You can resave the map out as ia jpeg as is or save out just the top layer in png fo be applied as a LIE.

    Art is subjective as is texture work. IMO these are being done in the right manner, with sculpted pores and textures. Google "face cartography" and you will also see that for the most part, the Daz artists are spot on with their interpretations. That said, Im also not a fan of Josie's normals.

    The biggest problem is that portrait artists need the finer detail with less strength, vs someone who does full body shots. There isn't a one size fits all, yet, Daz has given all the ingredients to make it work for most.  To get the most out of what is provided, you have to move beyond "plug and play" and learn to make stuff your own.
     

    That is such a helpful reply... Thank you.

  • WonderlandWonderland Posts: 6,880
    edited December 2022

    SolitarySandpiper said:

    this is what i'm talking about... 


     

     

    Defend this if you like... but i think we should expect to see a bit more refinement, not just the facility to tone it down globally.

    I like her skin. This is Josie's skin on a mixed character. It's my fault with the morph that the mouth looks weird, not the makeup. (I think. I didn't notice how weird the mouth looked until after I rendered. I'm assuming it's the morph, not the makeup.) Anyway, I think any stronger details would look fake and her skin looks just right for my purposes. It might be your lighting that makes the skin look plastery. I did do some minor tweaking of lighting in Snapseed on my iPad but that's it. The skin is way more detailed than most magazine photos.
     


     


     

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  • GordigGordig Posts: 10,056

    I think the problem with Josie's skin in that promo isn't the detail, but the lack of specularity.

  • CHWTCHWT Posts: 1,179
    Gordig said:

    I think the problem with Josie's skin in that promo isn't the detail, but the lack of specularity.

    This is something that runs in the 8.1/9 family. Some might think that I'm wrong but I always add a top coat with low weight and top coat layering mode in fresnel to add a bit of life, in case the character's skin does not have a top coat.
  • After playing with it for a bit, I have to say I don't like the introduction of the proportional scaling at all. It makes matching a head from a character with the body from another an absolute pain, and it never looks right. Trying to make a matching body from base with a custom head? Fuhgeddaboudit. I really hope PAs will use this as little as possible.

  • vrba79vrba79 Posts: 1,398

    If you're gonna make a toony character, give them toony skin. Case in point: G9 Toon Heroes.

  • PetraPetra Posts: 1,154
    edited December 2022

    I think light can make a HUGE difference on skin and the details.

    Here is a portrait of Josie that I made today and the skin looks nothing like the product Promos.

     

     

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  •  Unfortunately, Daz is quite notorious with their inhouse promotional renders.

     

    They... Don't always look best.

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,212

    Hylas said:

    Yeah, that doesn't look great. The cheeks are fine, the forehead and area around the eyes look wrong.

    Agreed.  The forehead is one of the smoother areas of the face esp for younger folks.  This almost looks like fine grain sandpaper.  Not appealing in the least!  

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,908

    SolitarySandpiper said:

    this is what i'm talking about... 

    Defend this if you like... but i think we should expect to see a bit more refinement, not just the facility to tone it down globally.

    I guess it would depend on what you really dislike about the image or the character in general.  While Victoria and Michael are more realistic in their design, Josie is a bit more stylized then realistic.  Thorne characters, male and female both, have always been a stylized design.

     

    A few things to consider with that image:

    1.  The JPEG compression on that image is not that great.  I am not sure how the system here is set up, but I have noticed that even my own product promos are not the same quality as they were when I submitted them.

    2.  I know that Josie loads with the 8k detail normal maps applied.  However, It is possible that promo artist forgot a key step before rendering and that would be to make sure their Iray advanced setting for image compression is set to 8192 or above to ensure the 8k maps are not compressed by Iray when they are rendered.  I keep making this mistake as my default for image comression is 4096, a 4k map, because up until now, we haven't had 8k maps with characters.

    3.  If the Pixel Filter is set to a soft setting, then that too will affect the appearnce of the details.  I find that the Pixel Filter "Triangle" gives crisper images then "Gaussian".  I often use a radius value of 0.5 - 0.8

    4.  And then there is the lighting, perhaps different lighting would have helped show the details better.

  • TorquinoxTorquinox Posts: 3,333

    It sounds like G9 is fiddly and a lot can go wrong.

  • Petra said:

    I think light can make a HUGE difference on skin and the details.

    Here is a portrait of Josie that I made today and the skin looks nothing like the product Promos.

     

     

    Lovely portrait!

     

  • I will confess I am still awaiting a G9 'Must Have' Character or piece of clothing, and so far they've not dropped for me. It's disappointing in a way, though not for my wallet, but that's another story. I have V9 because, she's V9 (rather in the way someone with young kids must have Disney films because they're Disney). But G9 character number 2 is elusive for me. Just don't seem to have that je-ne-sait-quoi that makes a 'must have' character for me. To be honest, I have bought more G3 characters since this thread started than I have G8.  Not quite sure what that says about G8 characters, either.

    Regards,

    Richard.

     

  • caravellecaravelle Posts: 2,456

    carlosgimpera said:

    Petra said:

    I think light can make a HUGE difference on skin and the details.

    Here is a portrait of Josie that I made today and the skin looks nothing like the product Promos.

     

     

    Lovely portrait!

    Yes, incredibly lovely! 

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