Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
For me, FWIW, I ended up going with G9 because I like my characters as FT2 -> G9 better than I liked them as FT -> G8/G8.1, particularly female characters. I see some of the shortcomings regarding bends, but for my purposes, it was a tradeoff I was willing to make.
@Gordig
My mistake. I never noticed any G8.1 Daz core figures with 8k maps. If those existed, then my mistake... but I didn't really invest much in the 8.1 either, because they have different UV layout also.
To your second point, even if geometry changes, it's still perfectly possible to use the same UV layout. I mean we are talking about human figures. They usually have 1 head, 2 arms and legs and a torso. Even if the new figure had double the vertices of the old one, it's still possible to set edges of UV layout to follow old UV edges, especially if you are creating the base figure from ground up.
And for the third comment, you are probably right. I liked some of the changes, but not enough to warrant to build my library again. Why I say that, is that I usually render images with many figures, and that's why I usually use the same bump, normal, etc. maps on multiple figures, and only change diffuse maps. If figures use different UV they all need their own maps, and then my GPU can't render it anymore. I'm sure it makes very little difference if somebody just renders single figures, but in case of .multiple figure renders, current tehcnology limits (GPU memory) the use of many different generations in one render.
This is how I fit clothes, hairs etc. across all generations.
Follow one of the tutorials out there for transferring characters between generations to transfer your character to the generation of the item you'd like to use. Or use ManFriday's converter.
Have both your original character and your transferred character in your scene.
Fit the clothes, hair etc. to the transferred character.
Hide the transferred character completely.
Unhide the item you want displayed on your original character.
Done.
If you want to get fancy, you can also do stuff to transfer the item and save it out as a preset for the original character generation. Steps vary, but hairs with a skullcap are particularly good for this.
And there are a few other tricks you can use the intermediate steps for if you manually transfer the character. (The converters tend to delete these when they're done).
That's possible IF you set out to create the same topology again, in which case why bother to create a new figure at all? G3, G8 and G8.1 were all basically the same mesh with minor differences (eyelashes separated from the mesh from G3 to G8, torso surface split into head and body from G8 to G8.1), To create a new Genesis figure with matching UVs, Daz would have had to just continue to iterate on the G3 platform, and I can certainly understand them not wanting to do that. They tried something new with G9, some people love it, some people don't, just like with any previous generation of figures.
I think those who've invested in G9 would flip out if we got a new figure already. And since we're told that G9 is selling well, that would be quite a few people.
...the only G9 characters I have been purchasing are the "non human" ones for that very reason. I have all the G9 "basics" content needed (which I got at excellent sale prices), so I'm good to go.
I've not been all that impressed with the "human" characters over G3 - G8.1. The only other G9 item that interests me is hair content as I can always manually parent it (I've been doing so since the A3/Gen4 days).
It opens the jaw.
G9 skin is the closest to realistic Daz has ever gotten. G8.1 was getting close, though I still don't have a G9 Core Figure white girl without bags under her eyes (other than Victoria, but I don't want freckles).
I just want to say thank you to whoever made G9 mesh. As a 3d modeler and sculptor I know how hard it is to make a mesh suitable for morphing, sculpting, animation and texturing.
Before I was often using a custom mesh (very similar to G9 actually!) because I had too many problems with G8 (polygon stretching, bad UVs, bad material groups, HD sculpting problems) and when G9 came out I was very happy because I could finally use a Genesis figure.
There are thing I would change too though, a simple edge loop for nipples and navel to get more details in those areas, and maybe it would be better to separate the male and female figure, I think the unimesh may be the cause of the bad bending most people have.
But seeing all these criticisms (some very ridiculous!) for such a good job it's just not fair.
For me this is the best Genesis figure and I can see how much effort they made to make this mesh, so THANK YOU!
Ready or not, thanks to this morning's grab bag, previous freebies, and other buy-ins, looks like I've finally boarded the train - Can't pretend otherwise. I have none of the add-ons I thought I needed, and yet I'm going to give it a spin.
The thing that keeps me ffrom fully embracing G9 is the how the mesh is mush denser in the W shape under, between and outside the breasts than on the rest of the torso.
Most male characters just have a flattened breast look that is odd, or a very defined heavy pecs.
It's greatly lessened on Wagner 9. It seems to me that the overall pec area geometry was scaled so the difference in the grid size compared to the W wasn't as great when I look at someone like Michael 9.
There are third party fixes. I've no idea if they're any good.
Third party add on should be alternatives, not fixes.
Agreed. Even so, third party alternatives have often been fixes for problems with the figures - as true for V4 as for G9. It's unfortunate.
With respect to all the apparent issues with G9, all 3D human figures - all 3D figures - are a compromise. It's an assembly of a thousand design decisions set against inherent technological limitations to produce a desired outcome, and there are always problems. Those problems seem to get ironed out over time. Some figures have more time in the market than others and receive more extensive adjustment. If G9 has a run as long as G8's, we should see some improvements either from Daz or from 3rd parties. Based on what @CHWT showed above, perhaps some of those improvements are already happening.
True. Some exceptions, but female figures seem to get all the best updates, upgrades, enhancements and fixes - Preferential treatment, for sure.
Thanks to third party add-ons, I have started buying, and enjoying G9s. I agree that DAZ should've been able to come up with these fixes and issued them as updates. The way I see it, my investment in these fixes is quite small when spread out over so many figures, and they've allowed me to enjoy the new characters.
These are addons or alternatives, theya re not fixing soemthing objectively broken even if theya re, for some, necessary.
I think there is evidence of things that are objectively broken, anatomically wrong in this thread. >_> It's disingenuous to handwave the issues away.
Put another way, if everyone agreed with Richard's statement, those 3rd party products would not exist - There would be no need and no one would feel the urge to buy them.
That is the fallacy of the excluded middle - if some people think these are fixes for broken aspects of the base then everyone must, if some people think they are a matter of taste then they cannot be wanted by anyone.
No. If the figure was as perfect as you claim it to be, then products like https://www.daz3d.com/natural-movements-pack-for-genesis-9 and https://www.daz3d.com/ultimate-natural-bend-morphs-for-genesis-9-female-base would not exist as everyone would already be satisfied with the way the figure bends. As it is, as I wrote above, there are problems with figures of every generation, largely due to technological limitations. Some people will be bothered by these problems more than others. Some will not do work that exposes the flaws or they will be satisfied with the figure as it is - different creative goals and all that. Certainly, the people who made these products and who make other fixer products saw a need and filled it. I think it's good that the products exist. Yet, Some people are unsatisfied even with these fixes, so no pleasing everyone. And that's all I'll say about it.
Frankly, I doubt any of this discussion will make any difference for products like https://www.daz3d.com/dragonhide-pcs-for-genesis-9-bundle or https://www.daz3d.com/exo-raptor-hd-for-genesis-9 . Yet they are products that entertain me greatly.
I am not understanding the problem you see with the mesh, and I am sincerely curious.
As a character maker, we modify the shape to what looks natural (to us), so whatever topology is on the figure, we can sculpt into any shape we want. The look of the base shape does not really play into it at all in any way.
If you are saying that the characters we make are all "flawed" because of this, I would be very surprised, because we all sculpt them to our own likes and looks, so there really should be no single defining characteristic of flaws.
The base is not flawed on its own, it is designed to be flexible enough to handle both male and female shapes, and does that remarkably well (since I often make both male and female morphs). So I am surprised to see people believe there is a flaw.