Getting Started.

paul_wigmore13

So I am very new to this 3d stuff and only got this a few days ago, I would appreciate some advice. I'm looking to do female and male muscle pin-ups, and I want to have some options regarding the face, hair, body type and morphing muscular bodies. My main area is the detail specifically the face and body (things like eyes, nose, mouth, ears, boobs and the legs and bottom. Also veins, muscle definition, skin tones and poses). I've looked at different packages in the shop, but I really don't know what things would help me, for example I looked at the vascularity HD for genesis 3 female, drop wet hair for genesis 3 female and the 200 plus head and face morphs for genesis 3 females. Obviously I want to spend my money wisely as this is just a spare time hobby. So I was just wondering if anyone could give me a few helpful tips and advice on things to buy to get me started. Thanks.

franktuttle

I'm newby myself, so take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt. Two grains, Heck, the whole shaker.

But as a newcomer, I've had good results by first watching all the tutorials and then studying the store. I decided I'd start with Genesis 3 figures (the newest ones in the Genesis series). I got a Victoria 7, and then a Finley character for the Victoria. 

Then I set about getting accessories and clothes for her, and learning to fit them, pose her, etc.

There is a learning curve. Pick a body, and then grab a single compatible outfit, plus accessories, and use those items to learn the basics. You can use a built-in body morph on the Genesis 3 Victoria to give her varying degrees of muscle build. 

But the real trick, it seems to me, lies in lighting the scene, and aiming the camera. That's what I'm spending my time on now. There's a lot to learn, but it's fun to do.

Good luck with it! There are a lot of knowledgeable people around here to help.

barbult

@franktuttle has given you some good advice. Before you spend a lot of money, spend some time working with the free Daz Studio program and some of the free content, like the Genesis 3 (or 2 or even original Genesis) Starter Essentials packages. Consider joining the Platinum Club Plus once you are sure you will like this hobby and will want to purchase from the store regularly. PC+ members get discounts on Daz Originals products and weekly and monthly free products. If you buy regularly, you can save more than the cost of membership.

So, let's suppose that you choose to concentrate on Genesis 3. The first purchase should probably be the Head and Body morphs for Genesis 3. Those morphs give you a lot of basic shaping options and are required for some other products that you may want to purchase in the store. PC+ members get 30% off on these products, because the vendor is listed as Daz Originals:

http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-3-female-head-morphs
http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-3-male-head-morphs-22924
http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-3-female-body-morphs
http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-3-male-body-morphs

I have the 200 Plus - Head & Face Morphs for Genesis 3 Female(s) and it is an excellent product, too. You might also be interested in products by Zev0. He makes excellent products character shaping.

If you've been looking at the store, you will see that there are always sales going on. Use your wishlist to keep track of things you would like to buy, and whenever possible, wait for a sale! Even the PC+ membership goes on sale from time to time.

paul_wigmore13

Thanks for the advice guys. I've spent some time working on the Genesis 3 model and occassionally Genesis 2 model, but obviously there's only so much you can do for free. I'm definately liking what I'm seeing, this is a new hobby for sure. But as I say what I like is detail, things like, Lips, ears, mouth, hair, skin tone, morphing, hands. Being able to do things like lip colour, nail colour, hair colour, tanning, eye colour all things like that, as well as tweeking those things in question. The products you've mentioned although seem very good for the technical detail, don't seem to have colour themes with them like lip colour and hair colour etc.

http://www.daz3d.com/drop-wet-hair-for-genesis-3-female-s

https://www.daz3d.com/200-plus-head-face-morphs-for-genesis-3-female-s

http://www.daz3d.com/genesis-3-female-body-morphs

These are the ones I like the look of for starters (Thanks barbult for your suggestion of the body morphs). But those anyone know of really good products with regards to Lip colour, Nail colour, Eye colour, Skin tones and Hair colour?. Again thanks to everyone for there input and advice, it's greatly appreciated.

paul_wigmore13

Sorry for the double post, but I've made a huge mistake. Early I was messing around and now my main screen has gone blank and will no longer show anything, even if I load a new picture nothing appears. Does anybody know what I've done?.

Richard Haseltine

paul_wigmore13 said:

Sorry for the double post, but I've made a huge mistake. Early I was messing around and now my main screen has gone blank and will no longer show anything, even if I load a new picture nothing appears. Does anybody know what I've done?.

Does it still say Viewport on a tab above the area in which you expect to see the scene? If not you've probably closed the Viewport tab - you can reopen it, and dock it if desired, from Window>Panes (Tabs) or you can simply go to Window>Workspace>Select Layout and reload your layout (or try one of the others).

paul_wigmore13

Richard Haseltine said:

paul_wigmore13 said:

Sorry for the double post, but I've made a huge mistake. Early I was messing around and now my main screen has gone blank and will no longer show anything, even if I load a new picture nothing appears. Does anybody know what I've done?.

Does it still say Viewport on a tab above the area in which you expect to see the scene? If not you've probably closed the Viewport tab - you can reopen it, and dock it if desired, from Window>Panes (Tabs) or you can simply go to Window>Workspace>Select Layout and reload your layout (or try one of the others).

It's ok thanks man, all fixed. Don't know what I done, the joys of being a noob.

 

barbult

Lip colour, Nail colour, Eye colour, Skin tones and Hair colour are "Materials" and generally come with character and hair products, or as add-ons to individual products. For example:

• Your free Genesis 3 Starter Essentials comes with Armani Hair (male) and Toulouse Hair (female). Each of those include multiple hair color materials for that hair. Those hair color materials work only with the designated hair model. Each hair model you buy in the store will generally come with 4 or more colors for it.
• Each character that you buy usually comes with one skin material. They generally have several eye colors and some have nail colors. You have to look at the product description and promo images to see what is included. The skin from one character can be applied to a different character of the same gender and generation. For example, you can apply Eva 7's skin to Bethany 7. There are a few products that supply only nail colors or only makeup options, but they are few and far between.
• When you purchase a clothing item, it generally comes with 1-4 different color schemes. There is very often a separate product that you can purchase to add additional material choices. Be aware that the product with extra material cannot be used without the corresponding clothing model.

Now that we have discussed "Materials", it is time to differentiate between "Materials" and "Shader Presets". Materials apply only to the model they were designed for. Shaders can be applied to any surface of any model. Materials for a character my include a "face" with lips, eyebrows, cheeks, etc.. A shader preset is generally an overall color or texture that applies uniformly to the entire surface. Applying a shader preset to the face of Genesis 3 will make the face all one color or texture, instead of looking like a "face". Shader presets are useful on clothing to change the look. For example, apply a plaid shader preset to the sleeves of a blouse to change the look. OK, I know, its all very confusing. In time you will get better understanding of these things. For now, just be aware that there is a difference in how they are used, so when you shop, you are aware that they are different.

There is an excellent Iray hair shader preset product that I can recommend, based on personal experience. That is UHT2: Ultimate Color. Since it is a shader preset product, you can use it to change the hair color of any hair product. This means that you probably can buy fewer hair color add ons for the hair products you buy. It is driven by Daz Studio scripts to make it pretty easy to use once you've read the manual and watched some of the excellent video tutorials for it.

There is also an excellent set of Iray products made by V3Digitimes for changing the look of skin. I can recommend these from personal experience, too. There is one for each generation of characters. For Genesis 3 it is Iray Smart Converter and Advanced Skin Managers for Genesis 3. These do not change the texture of the skin, but just the color, translucency, bump, etc. This family of products can convert a non-Iray skin to Iray with stunning results, which is important for the older characters like Genesis 2, Genesis, and Victoria and Michael 4. You need to purchase the corresponding Iray skin converter for each of the generations that you want to use. V3Digitimes also sells products for tanned and wet skin, but I haven't tried those.

If you want to change the color of fingernails to a simple color, rather than pattern, you can do that easily and for free. Select your character in the Scene pane and then go to the Surfaces pane. Select the fingernails surface and change the base color. Or apply one of the car paint shaders that came free in the Daz Studio Default Resources for a shiny look.

Well, I apologize for overwhelming you with words!

 

IceDragonArt

Also AllenArt on Sharecg.com has free nail polish shaders for Gen3F among other things....

For skins, you can make your own for Gen2Females with Zevo's skin builder-they are currently working on a version for Gen3F, its not out yet though but you will want to keep that one in mind as its an invaluable resource and does basic makeup as well.