My finger is hovering over the "Purchase" button!  I have V3, and I'm very happy with her, but V4 seems more capable, and the complete package is so nicely priced.  Someone please help me!  I don't know what I should do.  Christamas is right around the corner, and every penny is important now, so I want to make informed decisions, and avoid buyers remorse.  Does anyone have V4?  Is she THAT much better?  Please help me...

Attached Link: V4 - Early review

I think I'm going to resist and wait...

Check out this review of V4 by bluecity for a comparison.

Hope this helps.

I said this over at runtimedDNA Poser6 forum, and I'll say it again here: 
My pocket money can only support one female - Sydney or V4, not both.
I'll have to see which has more interesting extension-expansion support.
It's like deciding which girl to marry !

The deals on the bundle are going till after christmas I believe so she'll still be there.  I've been saving what small amount I can set aside hoping for holiday sales, but I'm sorely tempted myself to spend it all on the bundle because I think that is ultimatly the best deal to go for if you can afford it.

Basicly if you plan to stay on top of new products and outfits particullarly from DAZ but also I suspect from venders on alot of sites, it's probably better to get her now while she's on sale then later.

I think it's fair to say that if you look at what happened when V3 came out in terms of V2 and for that matter V1 one V2 came out and so on there's a fair amount of evidence that says that gradually the shift will come towards V4 compatible products replacing the current focus of V3 ones.

Now having said that, I'd also point out there are so many V3 products out there I'd like to have I could probably spend a great deal of time on just those and I personally as I imagion many people do already have a pretty good V3 orientated liberary both in terms of commercial and also free products.

The new improvements on the V4 model look great, but certianly if one choose too one could get along with V3 for quite awhile yet.

With the variety of V4 packages being offered however, and the fact that most vendors like to stay on the for-front of compatibility over the next year or so you'll probably begin to see more and more V4 products and fewer and fewer new V3 ones.

So for artists/consumers it's not going to be just a question of just getting V4 for the improvements offered to her mesh and so on, but also for continuing to have a base figure that is going to be compatible with new product lines.

Certianly this won't be a overnight shift, but is kinda inevitable.  In short if and when you can afford it, I'd say it's a healthy investment.  Also from what I hear the V4 base mesh is being offered free to Platnum Club members (lucky stiffs) over the weekend and many of those are people who also design products both at DAZ and here, so many will have it at their fingertips to start in right away designing new products for it.  And the V3 base mesh is no longer going to be available free to new customers (although the version that comes with the base content for DAZ studio is still apart of the free content package).

Don't know if any of this helps and depending on what you're going for it can be a sizable investment, so certianly give it some thought.  It'll still be there tommorow at the same prices. I plan to at least sleep on it first although if I was a PC member I'd probably have already downloaded the base mesh and bought the companion packages. Goodluck! ^^

someones complaining about missing morphs in the poser forum. might be worth waiting and checking it out before you buy

billy

Honestly - I'd Wait...

While there are some improvements, (mesh distribution, joints and texture resolution), there are also a number features that seem to be missing. There was a huge advantage from V2 to V3 - the same can't be said for V4.

For starters, V3 (and the V3 morphs pack) had a virtual plethora of morphs to work with. V4, on the other hand, has been seriously scaled back. She lacks all muscularity and ethnicity morphs as well as many nose and lip morphs. Also missing are all the lip phonemes.

For some reason, beyond my grasp, Daz has disabled the ability to scale body-parts. With traditional characters you could scale any body-part in (x,y,z): this feature is missing in V4.

Daz should have taken the time to gather more feedback from the community - as it stands V4 feels very much like an unfinished product. 

I use DAZ characters on a daily basis and I've actually asked for a refund for V4...a first for me.

Wow!  That certianly gives one pause, and I did look at the list of morphs for V4 before my previous posts.  I don't understand though, if I read the list of morphs correctly arent there a varietly of morphs like "fitness" and "athletic" for example?

There does, admitidly, not seem to be all the creative options in terms of type of morph as with V3 but it appears that is going to be made for in different character packs (I'm just speculating) but there was at least one pack out there with a non-white ethnicity.

My guess is that the reason alot of the morphs for ethnicity, basic aliens and creatures, etc. are all missing is because DAZ either plans to offer a morph expansion kit at some point, or perhaps they figure that people will be more inclined towards buying different characters in order to get more options.

I'm not saying the V4 model has everything I'd have liked to have seen in a model, and yes the scaled back list of morphs did look a bit dispointing,  but I still think that in general V4 is going to be replacing V3 on alot of things.  So any features of the V4 are again added bonuses, but having at least a baseline V4 model for upcoming product compatibilty may prove essential.

I can't thank you all enough for the responses, they were very helpful.  CrimsonDesire has a point in that, V4 will be leading the pack soon, and she will be available at the introductory price until Dec 31.  I'm sure to get a little cash for Christmas so this is where I'll spend some of it.  GreyPixel, Infinity10, CrimsonDesire, Billy423uk, and Omadar, your reviews and insights have all been taken into account!  Please accept my appreciation for taking the time to reply, and my warmest wishes for a happy holiday/merry Christmas!

And a Merry Christmas to you! I'm waiting till after Christmas as well, I think (although I may break down if I think I can still afford it).  While I'm not advanced enough to use many of the main feautures people are complaining about I do use some of them, and I'm intrested to hear how more advanced users are feeling after playing with her a bit.  Also how DAZ plans to address some of the issues, if at all.

I'm also taking a look at different V4 renders to see how she looks in action and what more advanced and creative artists then me are able to do with her which is quite inspiring.

And of course she is only a few days old, so as much as I'd like to try her out for myself, hearing what everyone else thinks is the next best thing and I'm picking up some good tips on how to use her.

Additionally there are already several V4 freebies at Renderousity, and I imagin over at DAZ as well (haven't checked today yet).  So we'll see what happens ^^

I'm seeing here - and also at DAZ - a fair bit of misunderstanding and frustration from folk who haven't yet absorbed the subtleties and new ways of doing things. Frankly, after spending a weekend with V4, a lot of it is misplaced and even misleading. Its a new tech, its a new figure, and its a learning curve folks. :)

 V4 handles certain morphs and transformations in an amazing new way. Muscularity is one of them: rather than hundred of individual tweaks, you utilise two basic full body morphs. More morphs are coming: I've seen shots of an amazing aliens/monsters/animal heads pack, I'm treading water waiting for the International morphs, and phonemes/Mimic tie-ins are surely on their way. There may well be ways of accessing the individual muscle morphs, or morph pack add ons. We're all experimenting like crazy, and waitng for DAZ to return from their weekend.

Lets give DAZ a chance to launch the basics before making rash statements: the basic V4 was only released on Friday.

Me, I bought the Pro Pack V4 immediately, and both my partner and I think she is an amazing, versatile and much improved figure. Better Emotions, transmorphs, the fixed arms and shoulders, the versatility, the crosstalk magnetised clothing conforms, the low/high rez capability that will be unleashed with DS 1.5... just incredible. We're still learning the power of the transmorphs, unlocking more of  the hidden gems (check the morph range in the chest for some full body capabilities), the correct way to work clothes etc.

But yes, there is still much stuff to come that we all have to see before making a final assessment. Like decent clothes. :)

I'm sure there will be a stream of new products, freebies, tuts and fixes over the next few weeks.I'm in love already, but there is certainly some wisdom in waiting till the full morph and clothing range is released (either for sale or as freebies), the tuts and fix-its are up and the PAs have released the necessary updates, hair fixes etc. And given us product. Lots of product.  :)

Having said all that, I have to add that the price is absolutely amazing!

Cheers

John

I'm sorry...I couldn't resist. Went over to Daz and got V4 today and she is fantastic!

:wub::wub::wub:

Same here. Just had to get her. :biggrin:

Must say I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far.

TOO Funny!  Nysalor is a fine salesman, and very wise.  I had made up my mind this weekend, and will purchase V4 tonight.  I am going for the "complete" package though, because I haven't been THAT good this year :)

I would wait, I tried her but ended up using a refund.  She seems to me less realistic than V3!  There is also another issue that should be adressed, it may seem slight but...

The skin is fantastic, the morphoforms are good but they forgot to texture or do something with her teeth!  So you have this realistic skin, nice sized head and hands but when you open her mouth she looks like she has plastic dentures!

   Sure, you can fix that in post, but if your fixing that in post you could just as easily fix the skin negating the need for the hi-res skin which is her hot selling point!

The package itself isn't a must have, the hair has nothing in the way of "blowing in the wind morphs" so it just sits there.  Awful souls contributions are great as always but until we get a normal clothes pack or at least the body suit this character has very limited uses.

The eyes are nice,but a little to bright which i saw someone else refer to as corpse eyes, this too can be fixed in post, but again...why bother upgrading right now if you still have to do that?  
    Pricing is competitve, but you take a chance jumping in this early because you have many content makers very happy with v3 and seem hesitant to upgrade at the moment especially near christmas..

For my uses, I guess I dont find her at this time as realistic as hyped which led to my passing on her for now, though with add-ons im sure she will be the "Bee's knees"

Well i have V4 downloaded but my main problem is this. Being on a very tight budget and limited to what i can get for her it will be a while before i use her. So here is what i am thinking, after all the money i spent on clothing and other things for V3 is it worth me spending more money on V4 gear or will i be able to use things i got for V3 on her. If not well i think i may stick with v3 even though i like the look of v4.

> Quote - Well i have V4 downloaded but my main problem is this. Being on a very tight budget and limited to what i can get for her it will be a while before i use her. So here is what i am thinking, after all the money i spent on clothing and other things for V3 is it worth me spending more money on V4 gear or will i be able to use things i got for V3 on her. If not well i think i may stick with v3 even though i like the look of v4.

You can use the V4 to V3 figure that comes with the Morphs pack to create figures that have V4 head and textures but take V3 clothes. Here's a sample using our friend the MFD.

Obviously, if you're on a budget it's gonna depend on what the community offers. I take heart to see some V4 freebies here already, and some nice cheap dresses over at PoserPros. I suspect we'll  all see a lot of product in the next month or so, which will help everyone to make up their minds.

Cheers

Pip

Hi folks

Quote - they forgot to texture or do something with her teeth!  So you have this realistic skin, nice sized head and hands but when you open her mouth she looks like she has plastic dentures!

I've had no experience of this particular problem. What MATs are you using? Could you post a render? Remember that there are seperate DS and Poser MATs!

Quote - The eyes are nice,but a little to bright which i saw someone else refer to as corpse eyes

V4 uses a three layered texture mapping for the eyes. Its easy to fix once you understand what's going on. I've wriiten an exploratory  tut on V4 eyes at

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=51042

Like any powerful new tech, there's a bit of a learning curve. :)

Cheers

John

gee for the price you pay for her you would think they would get everything working on her before putting her on the market..

I have V4 now!  I purchased the "complete" package like I wanted, and haven't nearly enough time to play.  This weekend perhaps, but what I have seen, I like!  You all have been very helpful.  I am now leaving this thread, and wish each and every one of you a safe, and happy 2007.

V4 is on the left.

V3 and her morphs still make her more versatile than V4 and her morph package. Without additional morphs V3's head morphs are far better than V4. 22 racial character morphs to V4's 10 character presets. The question becomes why do we need to be so greedy that we can't offer more complete models without having to deal with all-parts-sold-separately? V4 may be a better looking better working model overall but without a lot of morph add-ons (mostly for the head) V3 is still more versatile. 

I'm very happy with V4's body morphs, but not so much with her head. I think that's probably my only issue though. I love the muscularity and the way the morphs are connected, but there's something very unrealistic about her face that I can't put my finger on.

I'm willing to wait on more morphs to come along, but mostly right now I'm just taking advantage of the sales.