Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 7
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Did I miss a discussion in the forums anywhere about Age of Armour? There's not been any new products. I just realized it while going through my props. Wonderful vendor!
I haven't seen any discussion.
Just to forewarn you the Bachelor's Bedroom has walls you can't hide. You can load the furniture separately but I found the squeeze impossible with my camera. I then tried to remove tthe roof with the geometry editing tool but sadly I was unsuccessful. I'm disappointed. But as it was a trigger item for a sale, I can't return it. Just fyi.
There was some mention of him being ill - especially when the partly broken Cameras products and a request to fix them are coming up.
If you don't like it (and I wouldn't, with that setup) then I'd ask support to let you substitute in another product that was in the same sale, and make up the difference. Thanks for letting us know!
I need some explanations- as I'm not technical at all, and keep forgetting things anyway, doing textures has me a bit confused with a certain product. If you have it, would appreciate some input. For those of you who don't, I'll show you what I already did, in combination with another product, so you can see if you like it enough to purchase it while still in the discounted PA stores. (Yesterday you would have gotten an additional 10% off for the Labor Day sale, but I didn't work on it until after midnight (DAZ time) last night so it would still be too late.) Still a nice deal if purchasing with a qualifying product (new, recently new)
Background: a 10 foot primative plane with the Brick Collection Merchant Resource PBR Textures, same vendor. I darkened the Diffuse.
Okay, so I am trying the Grass Collection Merchant Resource PBR Textures which is a png images product. My first problem was they were located in the General section of the Content Library- the ReadMe has the File Location to find out where the files are. But they don't do anything when I click on them.
Here's what I tried: I did the right click on the folder, Browse to File Location, and did Copy, but in Surfaces, it wouldn't let me paste in the Diffuse or anywhere else. So basically these files are sitting there in General and doing what? (Other than sticking out their tongues and going na-nana-na-na)
So I made my own folder and put them in there, because when I go to Surfaces, it's a heckuva lot faster to just click on MY folder and select the image for Diffuse (or wherever.) But is this how it has to be done?
Second question- what does ALBEDO (all caps) mean? What's it do, where does it go?
Third question- what are each of these and do you have to use (or should you use) all of them for each render?
ALBEDO AO DIFF(guessing Diffuse?) DISP (displacement?) NORM SPEC (guessing Specular?)
The ReadMe has no information so I'm puzzled.
I do like what I've done, just not sure how much better it could be done, or how. What I did: I combined this product with the Grasslands Foliage Volume 6 for the weeds along the wall. The main addition was Grassy Grounds Megapack which is my all time favorite grass product. I Iray Uber Based the grass, then put the ALBEDO png image in the Diffuse for it so it would have the same texture as the ground plane which has the Grassland Foliage png put on it. (You go to Create>Primate>Plane and do about 10 feet for a background plane or ground plane with a character (full length) in front of it. Then in Diffuse, you add that Grasslands Foliage png image. That is why having your own folder makes it fast to get to.) I didn't think I needed an image in the Bump as the grass was standing out nicely anyway. But if I did, which one of those above would I use, the DISP? (Displacement?)
I used the vertical and horizontal tiles to change the ground plane grass from Grasslands Foliage (I used 1.72 and 1.50)
So basically, how are you supposed to really use the product/ find the files and apply them, and what goes where?
EDIT: These products have been featured before, not linking again. Character is Zoe, Galene Hair, Adventure Girl Outfit, and Amazon Queen Poses for Olympia 7.
@Novica I've only gotten one of that particular vendor's packages to experiment with and it wasn't either of the ones you got. I got the hedges one. I would assume, though, from what I read on the product page, you should just be able to put the provided images in their proper slots in the surface tab. Albedo is how much light is hitting the surface so I'm assuming that might have to do with translucency, but I've never seen that term before from any vendor so I have no idea how close I am to what that actually does.
I tend to use those two packs that you used for grass. I love the Grassy Megapack and I have seriously large collection of @ItsTraveler's weeds, grasses and other plants. They work very well in Iray and I haven't had any problems using them, even the billboards. I have to admit that I do like geometry for things like that, but sometimes, with big scenes, a girl just has to cut back and save some memory resources.
I'll try to look at the one Hedge pack that I got and see what I can figure out and let you know if I encounter any problems. I would think most of the sets are set up to be used in similar ways.
Thanks! I had more of them in my cart but am seriously cutting back on spending- the roof ones look interesting, with the right camera angle, you could create your own building for a background with the stone or wood ones, add a window from another set, and top it off with a roof! (Well, I think it would work...)
EDIT: I have most of Traveler's too, when they went on sale for a dollar or two, scooped them up. I go to Content Library > Products and everything relating to those are in the Grass alphabetical section by the Grass Megapack. Makes it easy to surf through all those since they're there together.
The iSource textures are meant to be used by texture artists to create their own materials from the images provided. Just like buying any tiling "fabric" texture. You're responsible for applying it to the object and making the actual MATs (setting up the materials in the surfaces tab, creating the presets, etc. using the images included in the package). They're not meant to be able to double click and apply straight out of the box.
An Albedo map is like a diffuse map except it's had all directional lighting information (which is usually included in a regular diffuse map) removed. It's like a light independent texture map. They're used for physically based render engines. Mec4D has some excellent technical explanations of PBR in her material threads if you dig through them.
For Albedo, see above. AO = ambient occlusion map. DIFF = regular diffuse (with directional lighting information included) map (this is what most people thing of as a normal texture map). DISP = displacement. NORM = normal map. SPEC = specularity map. Each of those terms can be looked up independently in either the forums or with Google. :)
It's just like making your own clothing textures. You need to plug each map into the appropriate node in the surfaces tab and change the settings accordingly. Diffuse maps in combination with the displacement / normal and specularity maps are most often used for regualr 3DL materials. Throw in the albedo map and it's generally an Iray material. You can use them to texture whatever you'd like within the bounds of the original license for the images. But you're responsible for putting the images where they need to go for each object you want to use the textures on.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation! The last part is especially helpful- appreciate you very much!
Aww, going back through thread 1 for a few minutes, and there was a link to a thread where two deceased forum members were helping out. Wancow and Jaderail answered a backdrop question. I had forgotten about this! Here's the thing- if you use a backdrop in Environment, it will NOT zoom in the viewport. Ever experience that? Or where you would like to rotate the character using the viewport cube, and have the backdrop go with it?
Solution: create a primitive plane and position it, and in its Surface diffuse, put your image. Now in the viewport, whenever you zoom out or rotate your figure using the viewport cube, the "backdrop" moves too. Here's the thread/posts. I know I knew this, just out of habit, I usually go the backdrop route. I HATE it when I forget to do something that I already know!
I'm happy that the previous threads have hidden gems of wisdom from folks who are no longer with us. It's nice they can continue to contribute through the tutorials posted throughout the various threads in Commons, New Users, Art Studio, and other sections. The past couple months, my previous six threads have 26,000 new views (no posts, they are closed) and I'm pleased people are still finding them useful. (Total views/posts as of today, about 415,000)
EDIT: I did my background primitive plane about 9 feet. Worked well.
Well, interesting. I've logged in and logged out, just to be sure. And some of the new items that you could get 2 for 50% (and now it's only 45%) were still available at 50% when two are put in the cart, and you can't get to them from the promo page, they weren't there as of a few minutes ago, I triple checked. Logged in, logged out, unchecked Hide What I Own (and I didn't own them) The Wet Bundle and the Boyfriend T Shirt aren't on that page and when both went in the cart (making the required 2 products for the 50%, which is now only 45%) they came up at 50% off. There may be more promo items missing, didn't look.
Are you seeing those two items on the promo page? (And I'm talking the linked page where you go see more items.) Not in the scrolling, either.
"all directional lighting information (which is usually included in a regular diffuse map) removed" also there is no ambient occlusion. This is why procedurally made maps are much better, i'e; Filter Forge, Substance Designer etc. You can take a normal diffuse map in to Photoshop and reduce the effect of AO and directional lighting as I have done this myself.
They seem to have lost the "6th September" New releases in the "Still New" Sction, but they still work
Playing with the So Wet Bundle. Will post here as I experiment. First, we'll start with a default of P3D Angel. I'm not going to do any postwork (saturation, midtones, highlights, etc) You simply double click to apply the effect, the mouth, eyes, etc are not affected so you do NOT go into Surfaces. Your character should have the Iray Uber Material already applied.
These will show you the default "one click" results. Anyone can get these looks without doing a thing.
The second one is the default "Tan Only." (one click, bingo.) Third is the one click Wet and Tan 1. Fourth is one click Wet and Tan 2. Notice it is a bit flatter.
Next is the one click Wet Only 1. (still one click) and the second is the one click Wet Only 2. So when you open this product, you will see all of these icons in the opening shot, and they are all one click solutions.
I picked up the bundle - had a quick play with the wet tanned skins and the drips and drops. I really like them, need to play a bit more tho, fiddle with settings etc. You can see on her shoulders that I need to play a bit more with the drips as they look like they are coming off the shoulder. There was a bit of happy accident with her bikini bottoms - if you look closely at the top of the bottoms, it looks like they are bit wet too and sticking to the skin. Render time wasn't too bad either.
Looks like fun
I haven't gotten that far yet! Love the lighting on yours too! Show more if you get a chance.
I can't read the popup that explains a section of this product, how do I hide my bottom taskbar? The vendor at least went out of their way to explain things, so can't complain.
Found it, in case you too have problems reading the long popup if you have Windows 10
Complete the given below directions to enable or disable auto-hide taskbar feature in Windows 10. Step 1: Right-click on the taskbar, click Properties to open Taskbarand Start Menu Properties dialog. Step 2: Here, under the Taskbar tab, check the option titled Auto-hide the taskbar and then click Apply button.
Right-click on the taskbar > Propertied > Auto-Hide the taskbar
I picked up the tanned skins product. I confess I didn't particularly care for the results on the men. My skin turned out quite orange, like there was too much SSS added. I like yours far better.
It says turn thin film OFF if too saturated but that would get more red according to other notes, so I'm confused. Did you have it off or on? Default is On.
So, using the Tan Only, let's check the 01 series and the A01, A02, etc WITH and WITHOUT the thin film on. First is A01 on, second is off.
Third is A02 on, fourth is off.
Fifth is A03 on, sixth is off.
And so it goes. Showing you the first four.
Which version of DazStudio?
There was an Iray Version change between DS4.8 and 4.9 which effected the orange color ...
I use 4.9
Well, here's the one I was piddling with. No fancy lighting, just the default, same as used in the test squares above. I'll have to explore further, but while I like the Drips and Drops for Genesis 3 Female, I would prefer more irregular runs on the chest. There are three runs that look almost identical in the middle of the chest, and water can curve as it meanders along skin. It's easy to touch up and change (just make some circular indentations on the side) and otherwise, the product is fun and easy to use. The first one is out of the box, the second one is with tweaks. I will tell you my settings but these are for Angel and your mileage will vary with other characters.
Wet Tan 2>Under the Wet Tab, use B05 HDR> Increase top coat one time (one click.) Under the Tan section, I used A03.
For the Drips product, I used Dripping Drops Multi ALL (multi lets you change the materials separately, in small groups. So I changed the face but not the arms)
Add Drops at tip 5.8% Dripping drop size -90.7 Thick/thin -89.7
So my first one is with the default settings, the second is with my settings above, the third is with my settings and postwork on the face to make it irregular, and to soften the white streak under the arm and on the forehead. (Sorry, the first one's original size isn't going to enlarge much. The other two are bigger. I basically took the streaks out of the face and made it more subtle.) CLICK ON THE LAST TWO TO ENLARGE, AND CLICK AGAIN.
One other thing, as I am exploring- do go into Surfaces (once you have selected the drip section, such as the face) and you can do the materials for EVERY SINGLE DROP if you have selected the multi option. Really cool. TIP: Be sure to select the Surface tool, so when you select a drop, it will be highlighted in yellow.
The challenge I see with many drip products is that it doesn't look like water but white fluid drippng on the character. That's okay if your character is taking a bubble bath, but water shouldn't be opaque and white unless she bathes in milk.
Yeah, I spent most the night/this morning trying a dark skinned character (might as well make it really tough) and still experimenting. I hate the milk look. I think Ron's Brushes might be easier to apply frankly, until one gets the hang of it.
You do a great job with the tanned product. Far better than I have. Yours looks great and not like a bad spray tan job like mine do.
I tried it with gen 3 base male and it was a disaster. Also Owen looked bright orange. He is rather fair-skinned though so maybe my selections of skins or that the product is more suited to female characters. I never did get the wet skin for men my previous water purchase go look good. So I haven't had much luck with the skin overlay products in general.
I think the milk look is a bit you know....
Thanks for reviewing this, but it all looks so fake. Glad you reviewed it so I won't waste my money on it. The wet skins look like plastic dolls and the tans don't look realistic at all. When someone tans, thinner skinner tends to burn more, so noses, cheekbones, and areas exposes to more sun like shoulders should have different tones than thicker areas like the torso. You can't just apply an orange wash to everything and call it a tan. Its just completely unrealistic looking.