There's competition with Chey ,Ford ,Mopar & PC, Mac & C4D ,LW ,Max & Lamborghini ,Ferrari.
Even ZBrush has to competes with 3DCoat n Mudd now.

Even thou Vicky is queen of Poser & D/S Studio ,
guess Poser & D/S Studio compete in a odd kinda way.

For 14 years thru a civil war and all Vicky has ruled.
The only serious competition Vicky has is Vicky her self.
Can't think of any other business that's not had any competition for 14 years.
That has to break all the business laws of odds.

Don't know what kind of Magic DAZ has.
I just know I want that Magic.

Be nice if they sold ,That Magic in there store.

“Just a note that G4 is not a standalone figure. Nor are the characters that Johnny Ragtop mentioned. But the line gets a little blurry with things that are radically reworked, like Anastasia. True, she is not a standalone figure, but so altered that it would be really misleading to say "Alyson 2.

It’s hard to tell the players without a scorecard; imagine the poor new user. Lyrra did a very useful history of the DAZ figures. It seems to me that there are (at least) three levels in the hierarchy. The original Stephanie would be called a ‘figure,’ but she was created from the Michael mesh. Then there probably a few ‘characters’ created using the Stephanie figure. Wash, rinse, repeat for the Millennium Girls created from Vickie’s mesh. My understanding is that Generation 3 used the same concept, (working from a single base mesh) to create the figures Michael 3, Victoria 3, Aiko 3 et al. Then, we have Generation 4, where the ‘figures’ are ‘morphs’, e.g. The Girl 4 is a morph of Victoria 4. I’m assuming that there was a single Generation 4 Unimesh base? *

*So leaving aside Genesis, we have ‘figures’ that are created from base meshes and we have ‘figures’ that are morphs of figures created from base meshes. Another thread at DAZ regarding Stephanie says that: 

“She was sized and shaped (by default) exactly like Victoria 2, and could wear the same clothes. But they had made her by reshaping Michael 2's mesh . So like him she had the right mesh in the right places for bulking up muscles … .”

I’m not sure I understand the difference between morphing (V4 to G4), and reshaping (M1/2 to Stephanie). Is the base mesh of relevance to anyone except those creating content – or even to them)? What is the functional definition of a ‘standalone’ figure? I know that’s perhaps less relevant, given the array of conversion and transfer utilities. It would be interesting to see an up to date compatibility grid of what can work with what, including notes for how the utilities fit in, e.g. X will work on Y and it will work on Z if you use utility _ (ran out of letters ÷).”

*------ *

RK - Heck, Elizabeth's been on the throne longer than that. A Queen has no competition :-)

Quote - She can be used by the "Load, Conform, Make Art" crowd, but her potential isn't truly released until you add a few python scripts to your copy of Poser 9/2012 (I love the PoserPython ecosystem.)

Which ones?  I bought Michelle during the RDNA sale but have not used her yet.

The bolded line is partly why M4WM will probably never happen. Male figures have always gotten the lower priority, so even when M4WM was being worked on, I doubted that it would see the light of day. And I doubt even then no one will ever take it up, but no need for me repeating it. ;) I see no value in having it weightmapped if it's not going to be properly supported.

And I'm not worried, because I have M5. I think a lot of people misunderstand the reasons behind weightmapping figures. Sure it's to help bending, but it's actual value is to help the morphs in a figure. That way you can throw a custom morph at it and the mesh doesn't serious deform. There's different reasons behind weightmapping males and female characters; women, you may want to do all the poses, but the guys have much more detailed bodies and sizes, so that's where the weightmapping has it's value and M4WM would most likely fall flat. I couldn't do this shape for M4 (or even M4WM) without having the morph added to any piece of clothing I wanted to use... and forget asking vendors to add certain male morphs to clothing... that is when you can find clothing for them.

Quote - ...I couldn't do this shape for M4 (or even M4WM) without having the morph added to any piece of clothing I wanted to use... and forget asking vendors to add certain male morphs to clothing... that is when you can find clothing for them.

Sure you could.  Use dynamic clothes.  They look much more realistic, and better than the suction clothes of any autofit anyway.  :tongue1:

W-mapping has its advantages but also LOTS of disadvantages.

W-Mapped figures can not have Smart props with "Inherit bends from parent checked ON", as the W-Map data does not get transferred to the Smart Prop.

Smart props with inherit bends from parent checked ON, only work on conventionally rigged figures.

Better to stop W-Mapping figures untill this gets solved and a new standard can be put in operation.

Quote - > Quote - ...I couldn't do this shape for M4 (or even M4WM) without having the morph added to any piece of clothing I wanted to use... and forget asking vendors to add certain male morphs to clothing... that is when you can find clothing for them.

Sure you could.  Use dynamic clothes.  They look much more realistic, and better than the suction clothes of any autofit anyway.  :tongue1:

Generally dynamic garments are pretty plain and lack details like buttons, buckles, etc... so it's really depending on textures to make it look good... and it's easy to get around autofit with using the transfer tool. (though it's not generally a problem with men's outfits since there's no boobs to stretch them out)

lmckenzie :

Can't say a lot about V1,V2 days wasn't around much.
Same concept applys for Generation 3 as Generation 4

Generation 4 ,One unimesh mesh
Even thou M4,V4,A4,S4 etc etc had the same unimesh mesh.
They where section off differently.
So V4,A4 was the same unimesh but different characters.
V4's cloths did not work for A4.

Not sure about this but V4,A4 rigs was probably a bit different also.

DAZ went all out for Generation 5 "Genesis" thou.
They all have the same sections n rigs so cloths work for all.

Quote - > Quote - She can be used by the "Load, Conform, Make Art" crowd, but her potential isn't truly released until you add a few python scripts to your copy of Poser 9/2012 (I love the PoserPython ecosystem.)

Which ones?  I bought Michelle during the RDNA sale but have not used her yet.

 

The scripts that I use are:

Convert Hair to your niche figures with Hair Control System by Netherworks Studio - faster than hand tweeking any hair you want to use. (base program is free - modules are $8 - 10 dollars):

http://www.runtimedna.com/Hair-Conversion-System-2012-core.html

Add morphs to either clothing you have bought or clothing you have converted:

Clothing Morph Kit for Michelle - netherworks has a series of these for other figures ($14.95)

http://www.runtimedna.com/Clothing-MorphKit-for-Michelle.html

or

 Wardrobe Wizard.  Plug-ins ($8 or so) here:

http://istore.mikrotec.com/philc/index1.html?page=catalog&category=a&vid=2080245373&oldvid=2143420604

Make your Poser skins more realistic with:

EZ-Skin2 (free): http://www.runtimedna.com/EZSkin-2.html

All of snarlygribbly's scripts can be found here (lots of good stuff):

http://snarlygribbly.org/3d/forum/

Since I use Poser 2012, I am updating and reorganizing my runtimes - this is a very useful script (also by netherworks)

Batch Material Convert - converts pz2 mat files to MC6 files - I converted my V4 clothes folder (43Gb) in less than 60 seconds - materials in the materials folder, poses in the pose folder (as they should be)

http://www.contentparadise.com/productDetails.aspx?id=19651

There are a number of stand-alone products I have found useful: Another way to convert clothing - Xdresser -  for items that WW has problems with.  Modules are $9.95 or 4 for $30 - they do have sales from time to time. (Windows Only - doesn't run well under a VM or WINE in OSX):

http://www.evilinnocence.com/crossdresser

Or you could use Morphing Clothescto put morphs in clothing - runs fine in a VM or WINE ($22.00): http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/morphing-clothes/64629

Or you could use Morph Manager (Free - windows only - will run under WINE):

http://www.morphography.uk.vu/dlutility.html

Thanks!  I already have Wardrobe Wizard and a boatload of licenses.  Honestly, I don't see lack of clothing or fitting clothes to morphed figures as a problem any more, as long as there's WW support.

I already use EZ Skin as well.  Hair is so easy to convert I never buy morphs or hair fits to do it. 

Batch Material Convert sounds interesting.  I'll have to check it out.

Quote - What is the functional definition of a ‘standalone’ figure?

I'd say the definition of a standalone figure would be that you can use the figure without needing to have any other figure on your system.

Coldrake

Forgot to say V4,M4,A4 ,etc etc had different UVMaps also.

But M3,V3 & M4,V4 was stand alone meshes.
The rest where morphs with original uuvmaps n rigs I guess.

Genesis is just a new beat all together .
At first was a bit difficult to wrap my head around the concept.
Never seen any thing like Genesis before.
Genesis base mesh is just a blob of polygons,rigs,UVmap.etc etc
So M5,V5,A5 etc etc is just a morph.that all use the same polygons,rigs,UVmap.etc etc
So I guess you could call Genesis a stand alone mesh.With a lot of tricks n morphs ?

I get why DAZ makes a one size fits all.
But they could have never made Genesis with out making the software to go with it.
Being that I don't code anything more difficult then "Hello World".
All my characters are stand alone meshes.monster mesh ,male mesh
,some thing that kinda looks like a female.
All have there own topology.

Quote - > Quote - What is the functional definition of a ‘standalone’ figure?

I'd say the definition of a standalone figure would be that you can use the figure without needing to have any other figure on your system.

Coldrake

Or any other software on your system?

I dunno... I think perhaps the definition can easily become morphed any which way here...?

Just depends, as always, on your individual viewpoint...

I suspect a lot of people would probably happily consider Anastasia or GND4, or V5 or M5, standalone figures... based on their personal bias towards using them? Although by that definition they're not, of course...

...and no figure is really functionally standalone anyway. They all depend on the respective software to exist.

;)

"Oh, a wise-guy, eh?  Nyuk!  Nyuk!  Nyuk!"  ;-)

Sincerely,

Bill

Quote - Generally dynamic garments are pretty plain and lack details like buttons, buckles, etc... so it's really depending on textures to make it look good... and it's easy to get around autofit with using the transfer tool. (though it's not generally a problem with men's outfits since there's no boobs to stretch them out)

Generally, generalizations are wrong, because they're opinon only.  For my male figures, they're going to be fully dressed anyhow, and for the character, the M4 Cowboy gives me the look I want.  Female figures, I use dresses, there are a lot available for V4, remembering I use Poserworld mostly. 

I have V4 WM, and so far, no problems with the clothing, which is again, dynamic.  To say M4 WM will never be finished, and not be one of the team doing it, Hmm.  There is doubt in my mind if you know of where you speak.  My guess is no.  AFAIK, it's intended to be a freebie, I could be wrong, and if it was released as a commercial, I would definitely pay for it. 

Let's not be slamming someone's project when you do not have a viable alternative, as none exist.

Doric

Quote - > Quote - Generally dynamic garments are pretty plain and lack details like buttons, buckles, etc... so it's really depending on textures to make it look good... and it's easy to get around autofit with using the transfer tool. (though it's not generally a problem with men's outfits since there's no boobs to stretch them out)

Generally, generalizations are wrong, because they're opinon only.  For my male figures, they're going to be fully dressed anyhow, and for the character, the M4 Cowboy gives me the look I want.  Female figures, I use dresses, there are a lot available for V4, remembering I use Poserworld mostly. 

I have V4 WM, and so far, no problems with the clothing, which is again, dynamic.  To say M4 WM will never be finished, and not be one of the team doing it, Hmm.  There is doubt in my mind if you know of where you speak.  My guess is no.  AFAIK, it's intended to be a freebie, I could be wrong, and if it was released as a commercial, I would definitely pay for it. 

Let's not be slamming someone's project when you do not have a viable alternative, as none exist.

Doric

Then by all means let me help you out, because it's always important to know a little bit before you speak:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2843300&page=18

Quote - M4-WM was shelved because some of the key people involved with Poser Place encountered real-world problems and had to pull back.  M4, or any existing figure, could be weight-mapped by anyone out there with the skills to do so.  The Outfitter provides the basic tools for clothing conversion of an M4-WM, should it be created, so the same basic support available to V4-WM would be there right away.  No one has jumped at the idea, though.  :unsure: Possibly there just aren't that many people with the patience and skills for such a project.  I have discovered that I definitely lack both, in varying degrees, myself.  :lol:

It's not wholly inconceivable that the PP team could reassemble and resume work, but so far there is no indication that it could happen any time soon.

Sounds pretty dead to me. And this was after the long silence on the status of the project and the site outages.

Quote - > Quote - It's not wholly inconceivable that the PP team could reassemble and resume work, but so far there is no indication that it could happen any time soon.

 

Sounds pretty dead to me. And this was after the long silence on the status of the project and the site outages.

Where does it say it's dead and locked?  I see that last part saying there's the possibility, not that there is none.  If it happens, then there's the possibility for vendors to continue making things for the gen 4 figures, and the likelyhood they'll still sell.  I've developed several characters around several figures, I can't say I have one real favorite, I like V4 for some, M4 for a couple.  Anastasia and Antonia, Tyler and James have their places.  I doubt I'm much different from anyone else.  There may be a couple in my runtimes I don't use, that doesn't mean I'm going to delete them.

Doric.

Quote - > Quote - Haha! Genesis?

He he... not Genesis, no... that is standalone Plushie figure Lulubelle, by LittleFox ;)

With some BB shaders applied.

The carpet-effect fleece is the BBCandyPaint shader, with added displacement...

The bending of these figures would really benefit from weight mapping I think... quite serious there. I think weight mapping lends itself to toon figures nicely, from what I've seen.

I suspect Teyon would back me up there...

I have uped your back. 

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - It's not wholly inconceivable that the PP team could reassemble and resume work, but so far there is no indication that it could happen any time soon.

 

Sounds pretty dead to me. And this was after the long silence on the status of the project and the site outages.

Where does it say it's dead and locked?  I see that last part saying there's the possibility, not that there is none.  If it happens, then there's the possibility for vendors to continue making things for the gen 4 figures, and the likelyhood they'll still sell.  I've developed several characters around several figures, I can't say I have one real favorite, I like V4 for some, M4 for a couple.  Anastasia and Antonia, Tyler and James have their places.  I doubt I'm much different from anyone else.  There may be a couple in my runtimes I don't use, that doesn't mean I'm going to delete them.

Doric.

You're talking about two different things. While gen 4 items should still be made, the tone of that post should be read sound like that's it's less likely to happen as the more time passes.  But the fact that a weightmapped M4 will probably not happen unless someone capable of weightmapping and re-rigging, and adding the proper JCMs to M4 steps up to take over the project, that shouldn't keep you from continuing from using the regular figures.

And why are we still arguing this? Make a new thread for chrissakes. It's gonna go NOWHERE and drag the rest of the thread down in the process.

You have no interest on investment in it MaleMedia, so I don't see why you're going on and on about it other than to irk people.

Laurie

I like Parris Bots ,There cool.

All my figures are based on DAZ' 3rd generation content.

It has the most detailed mesh topolgy, the most sensible mapping and the cr2's aren't cluttered with Studio only stuff.

It responds well to weightmapping and morphing and with my "hybrid" high-res body/lo-res head version I think I found the perfect balance between great mesh detail and little system overhead.

I'd say whoever wants to create a successful Poser figure should copy that mesh as closely as (legally) possible. 

;-)

Shameless copy of Rikishi with my own head sculpt and my version of a (non-tooned) teenboy.

-----IMAGE DELETED------

Character appears underage and nude.

Works of course well for your generic "pretty girl",too.

;-)

One advantage of W-Mapping is to get rid of JCM's, magnets, hidden bones and other pollution.

With correct W-Mapping you do not need those.

Joepublic beat me to it.

@ LaurieA
Do not get upset.
Male_M3dia is a DAZ attitude guy, venting in the wrong forum.
Put it under : Freedom of speech. :-)

Quote - And why are we still arguing this? Make a new thread for chrissakes. It's gonna go NOWHERE and drag the rest of the thread down in the process.

You have no interest on investment in it MaleMedia, so I don't see why you're going on and on about it other than to irk people.

Laurie

Sorry to drag it, but yannow nothing irking about smelling the coffee and seeing the forest for the trees... carry on. ;)

Sigh, if only one person here had an attitude problem, world peace would be upon us. We all have our schtick but seriously it's always the same 3-4 that have an obsession with pushing each other to new heights of pre-teen idiocy over the same damned thing - that would have died by now otherwise.

"JoePublic, your figures are great. I assume you can't distribute them? I really enjoyed seeing them the first time, and the second … and the 100th Anniversaryedition was cool too. Could you do one with Fonzie jumping a shark?"

You assume I'm posting just for the handfull of permanent forum dwellers.

But who I actually try to reach is the "silent majority" of drive-by readers because they are ultimately the ones who decide what kind of figures we will have in future versions of Poser.

I'm just trying to set a benchmark so people can see what a Poser figure is capeable of with some extra work. I think among a myriad of identical looking default Vickie and Mike renders people should be able to endure the few demo pics I'm posting then and now. :-)

As for distribution, they would need multiple encoding and if I'd give them away I'd become immensly popular with lots of fanboys/girls begging for more and if I sell them I'd have to spend my time making them fool-proof, testing, and being friendly to customers and giving constant tech-support.

And I think my life is more enjoyable being unpopular and working on my figures only when I feel like it.

;-)

JoePublic, you were too quick for me. I’d deleted my comment, deciding it was too snarky, but you read it in the interval. Thanks for taking it with more good humor than some might have. I can understand the challenges of sharing your work – which I do find quite interesting). OTOH, I’m not sure how effective the demonstration factor is in the long run vis a vis the future of Poser figures. The vast majority don’t have the talent or inclination to duplicate it, and will use what is provided. Unless you or someone else actually provide something then IMO, the effect will be nil – especially if you’re going in a different direction from the trend.

Some things, like Koz’s transmapped hair, probably would have been taken up by someone else and succeeded even if he had only published images and described the technique. I think that there though, the innovation was clear and compelling enough to even the most novice Poser user. While I do think that your figures have some clear advantages, I’m not sure they’re obvious enough to have that kind of effect. Who knows – as long as you enjoy the work, it’s all good.

I like Joepublic showing off.
When you invest that amount of time to morph a mesh, you deserve the respect to show.
Certainly with the good results he's getting.
Joe's faces/figures are all completely different from the mesh he started with.

On onother tread the question was more or less; Why are all V4 faces the same?

There are 2 sorts of Poser users;

• Those who buy morph packs, and all end up spinning the same dials, getting more or less the same results.
• And those who take the mesh out and morph it.

My respect goes to the second population. The Joe's in the public.
The Joe's show what can be done with a mesh, if you are willing to invest the time.
There should be more Joe's.
And I am sure they are out there.

Happy Posering.

Cookie!  I forgot about Cookie  :)

Quote - As for distribution, they would need multiple encoding and if I'd give them away I'd become immensly popular with lots of fanboys/girls begging for more and if I sell them I'd have to spend my time making them fool-proof, testing, and being friendly to customers and giving constant tech-support.

You hit the nail on the head. Once you do one thing, people want more.

The biggest pain is when people want you do do more for free, and don't offer to help at all. All they do is complain because you have a real life with other priorities. Anyone that has Poser Pro can weight map a character, but very few people in the community actually worked together to make it happen to a character. Once they do, people just want more....

On another note, the same script used to convert V4 to V4WM can be used on any Poser character. The script support file can be setup to only strip out what needs to go, and only insert what needs inserted/changed in the modified cr2.

Quote - One advantage of W-Mapping is to get rid of JCM's, magnets, hidden bones and other pollution.

With correct W-Mapping you do not need those.

What you said is not entirely true.

Topology can make adding bones a requirement. And since a weight map can only move vertices on one axis, JCMs can be used on certain joints. You are better off using bones than JCMs, simply because any Poser user can convert the clothing to work with it. JCMs require another program outside of Poser to insert the JCMs into the clothing.

That was why V4WM does not have any JCMs added to it and uses bones to correct the thigh bend. So any Poser user can use it.

Adding bones can drastically reduce the size of a CR2 as well. For instance you can bone rig a face using sphere zones/capsules and eliminate a huge amount of morph data in the process. Morphs are what makes a CR2 huge, not bone and/or magnet information.

"Adding bones can drastically reduce the size of a CR2 as well. For instance you can bone rig a face using sphere zones/capsules and eliminate a huge amount of morph data in the process. Morphs are what makes a CR2 huge, not bone and/or magnet information. "

Correct;
That is why I morph the mesh outside of Poser and rename the object file.
Make a lean and clean new CR2 to point to the externally morphed mesh that still has the same size as the original one. :-)

That way I do not have to load extra morphs, and drastically reduce CR2 size. :-)

That may work for you and me, but it wont work for the average Poser user that wants "X" character weight mapped.

Joe, is there ANY way you could be convinced to share your weight-mapped figures?  Maybe offered as-is, no support?  I suspect others here would step up to answer the inevitable newbie questions. 

I agree with lmckenzie - demonstrations alone ain't gonna do squat. 

IMO, a lot of the heavy lifting has already been done.  Namely, that script.

I think the uncertainty around the M4WM project is a big reason it hasn't happened.  We don't want several different versions of M4WM; we want one version, for the sake of support.  And as long as M4WM from the same people who gave us V4WM remains a possibility, others will be reluctant to step in. 

Going with the Gen3 characters might be a way around that.  I kind of like them better, anyway.  David's been my favorite since he debuted.

Options, options, options. :-)

W-Mapping does give better bending, but at the cost that you loose the ability to use Smart props with inherit bends from parent on them. (And I make tons of those)

Tea?
With milk or sugar??
Unfortunately : Milk AND sugar together is not possible :-(

That being said:

Yes there are people around that want "X" or "Y" figure W-Mapped.

But do they know or see the backside of W-Mapping????

For shoes, clothings, and other support items. You can make them :

• conforming
• dynamic
• smart propped with inherit bends ON ==>> Those do not work at all on a W-Mapped figure.

Well, they better do, 'cause I definitely won't. ;-)

Ok, I just spent an hour of my incredebly busy schedule to clean up and RTE-encode DEMO-cr2s of my weightmapped David and V3.  :-)

They are alpha-stage, subject to sudden unpredictable change, most likely to contain bugs, unfinished and positively un-supported on any planet of the known Multiverse.

So you have been warned.

Use them anyway you see fit, but my intention is for someone to improve them, test them and "properly" redistribute them.

Just mention me in the readme and don't take any money for them.

They are RTE encoded using RTEncoderPY-win-1.0.0. and the newest David and V3 objects I could find.

"Standard" RTE-encoder can't encode for free so if RTEncoderPY doesn't run on your machine or your David and Vicky objects are too old, I can't help you.

And yes, I DO mean that I won't give any support and will not do any "follow ups".

So, if someone still wants 'em, send me a sitemail and I give you the link.

:-)

Joe,

I wouldn't do that if I were you unless you got permission from DAZ. RTE encoding the cr2 (and especially objs) doesn't get you around the EULA for distributing their work. That's why the V4WM was distributed the way it was.

Joe, you would be far better off setting them up to use the script that Cage wrote for distribution.

It was made, just as Male_M3dia said, to get around the EULA issues.

"...RTE encoding the cr2 (and especially objs) doesn't get you around the EULA for distributing their work."

Of course it does.

That's the whole point of RTE-encoding:To be able to distribute content you couldn't distribute otherwise.

There are several RTE-encoded freebies based on V3 and V2 as well as forsale items based on other DAZ meshes items still around.

The problem is just that it adds a layer of complexity many unexperienced users can't handle, that's why V4WM was weightmapped from scratch and only the raw mapping distributed via script.

But I really don't care either way and I definitely won't jump through any hoops just to distribute my work for free.

Offer rescinded.

Please move on citizen, nothing to see here.

Guess no good deed goes unpunished.

"Joe, you would be far better off setting them up to use the script that Cage wrote for distribution."

Sorry. Too much work.

And I intentionally used the original falloff zones and joint centers as a starting point to keep clothing compatibility without the need for a conversion script.

Quote - And why are we still arguing this? Make a new thread for chrissakes. It's gonna go NOWHERE and drag the rest of the thread down in the process.

You have no interest on investment in it MaleMedia, so I don't see why you're going on and on about it other than to irk people.

Laurie

Laurie,

Male3dia is a genesis vendor over at DAZ - he does appear to make the best non-caucasians I have seen for genesis. 

You can always count on him to show up on these types of threads to disrupt them

His goal isnt' to irk people, he is trying to drum up business.  Irking people is a bonus.

And I think we can just drop this whole particular sub topic of thread posts.

Laurie

Sigh.  Guess it's just Tyler for weight-mapped males, at least for the moment.

I wish there were more morphs for him.  Like the kind RDNA and Capsces have for other figures.  I like the face and body Blackhearted made for him, but more variety would be great.

JoePublic, I really enjoy your morph experiments but I also want to be able to put clothes on my figures and that seems to be where your experiment falls short. At least from what I have done in the past.

I was just kidding about it being Genesis- :-)

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - Haha! Genesis?

He he... not Genesis, no... that is standalone Plushie figure Lulubelle, by LittleFox ;)

With some BB shaders applied.

The carpet-effect fleece is the BBCandyPaint shader, with added displacement...

The bending of these figures would really benefit from weight mapping I think... quite serious there. I think weight mapping lends itself to toon figures nicely, from what I've seen.

I suspect Teyon would back me up there...

 

I have uped your back. 

I've been reading here and realized I did make a mistake. I guess if you want to be honest I'd have to say my favorite FIGURES atm are Alyson2 and Ryan2. It's true that ANastasia, Shae, REALCandy, and Tyler are all end characters... Something I tend to forget as I like to make clothing for thier body types rather than for the base figures and try to add morphs, I just really think that the differences are such that it's easier to fit the topo of the characters than put in the extra work to make morphs from the base.

Still the simple fact that you can make Characters that lok like those shows the usability of Alyson2 and Ryan2. The problem is that no one has made morph sets for them equal to V4's Morph++ and Elite morphs. This means that the Characters for those FIGURES have to be made independantly rather than by twisting dials on premade morph packs. There IS an advantage to this BTW. For years I've heard how much most of the character sets tend to have a simulair look, probably because no matter how many combinations of dials they all have the same base.

That also has it's negatives, clothing tends to need to be custom made to fit, you can;t just add the morphs and super conform. Also it is harder to make independant morphs from the ground up.

I guess the biggest difference, to me, between the poser figures and the DAZ figures including Genesis, is that DAZ has/had a team of modellers that created the morph packages for their figures that allow so many people to make characters for them (and made DAZ money since many of those morph packs are sold as add ons for more money than the Figures themselves!), while SM included a minimum of morphs in their figures and no one has really picked up the job of making additional morphs to compeat with the DAZ packs. SMs modelling team is smaller than DAZ's was before Genesis (I've heard that that internal team is smaller now but I don;t know that for a fact). It'll be interesting to see how it works out in the future if that's the case since it would seem that both companies will be on a more even footing in centering on the Programing aspect rather than the content side... I don;t know.

Sorry for the ramblings, but this is something I've been thinking about for a while...

What you said. I am pleased that it has not (completely) turned into a V4 vs. Genesis thread.There really are other great figures out there-that I am spending too little time exploring. I've already spent hundreds on Genesis related content- only to find it gets bogged down when too many morphs are "Active." If I can figure out how to spawn a character in Daz-THEN bring it in as a single active FBM....After all the V5 FBM by itself does not take much time at all to cloth and transfer morphs to the clothing.

Male3D (He who ONLY renders males)- Phantom (Diogenes) has a male character he made himself that looks very impressive- I can't remember the name-someone else here likely will. My male renders are usually fully armored or robed-so the fine muscle details don't matter to me-but all that looked quite realistic with Diogenes figure. Of course Genesis can look pretty convincing as a male-so you may have no interest.

Quote - Sigh, if only one person here had an attitude problem, world peace would be upon us. We all have our schtick but seriously it's always the same 3-4 that have an obsession with pushing each other to new heights of pre-teen idiocy over the same damned thing - that would have died by now otherwise.