Just while we're on the subject of games, I really shouldn't have bought Call Of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360, this is so addictive online!! Mind you, it does help to pass the time while waiting for a render.

 

jhustead - Thanks for those kind words, very appreciated.

I'm hoping to create some more soon, V3NG has definitely inspired me to be more creative.

I've just checked out the finished article in the gallery. Great stuff!!

As EricJ says, AO is the way to go as well, I use it in all my renders.

I've briefly set up an example of the different morphs you can achieve with V3NG over V3. The main improvement for me is the pelvic area, you can raise or lower her hips, even the crotch area. I find this good for two reasons, 1: your figure can look more realistic as women have different proportinate levels of leg/hip height to torso length, 2: If you do raise the hip area it gives the appearance of the woman having longer legs, so no more having to stretch the legs & having the props no longer fit properly.  The example here shows V3NG with a raised pelvic area. You might find the changes subtle at first, but they are significant, especially if you were to refine it even more.

If you look closely you'll see that the V3NG has much better realism in the waist/hip/thigh area, if you want the hourglass figure the curves are much better. I tended to find with V3 that the hips tended to jut out wrongly if you went too far with them.

I've also shown here V3NG with a 'V' torso, this is good for pin-ups or if you added weight here & around the waist for the more wholesome woman. I've pulled the breasts down here, without the natural dial, to start the chest area off with a good base for more realsim.

Apparently, & strangely, there are no new calf morphs, unless I've missed them. I was OK with the originals so to me personally it may not be a big issue.

When I delve into this more I intend to create a more rounded woman & also the perfect hourglass.

A further note, you can also add the full morphs from V3 to V3NG so you have the full compliment.

anonymous1 -  I think you will need to change your shadow settings, this can really give the appearance of the feet being on the ground.

I always change my bucket size depending on what I have in my scene. If there are lots of  figures, props etc, I will lower the buckets. Render time is slower but it's worth it if you want the render to be completed without any problem message coming up that you need to change render settings etc.

Click on 'Figure' on the top menu bar & then from the drop down menu click on 'Drop to floor'.

Sometimes after you've changed the pose you may have to manually make changes to get it just right.

Re ethnic variations with the V3 figure, recently I created an African woman, OK she's a sort of fantasy type but I think she looks African which was my aim. Alot of work went into her but I feel the end result was worth it. Shamara is here if you want to see an example:

http://excalibur.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1281102

http://excalibur.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1279812

I'm thinking about creating maybe a Japanese girl in the future (beyond the normal morph of the Japanese dials), maybe the extra morphs from the V3NG girl will help me.

thefixer - Nice tip about the odd number for the pixel samples, I'm starting to increase this number with my renders, I'll keep in mind what you said.

belalarue - Thanks for your comments, I intend to do some more work with V3NG later.

If I get time later on today I'll try & post some of the differences between the two packages, with picture samples if I can.  From what I've meddled with so far, you can do more realistic work with the thighs & hips, I've yet to really delve into the calf work, I'll see what I can do.

Acadia, you won't really need raytracing on for the hair as you don't see any benefits ( I think) plus it will make your render times alot quicker if you turn it off for this.

Well, I decided to buy the V3 New Generation 2005 (Version 2) from Daz & create something with these new morphs.  I've got to say they are brilliant, I now have more versatility with the face & body. I wanted to create a character with the Tailgunner outfit, with these new morphs I could have my woman with fuller thighs while keeping her waist & hips just right. I also had more options when it came to doing the eyes & the mouth, I'm really pleased with these morphs. The hourglass figure should be easier to accomplish now, the waist & hip area is great to work with, I aim to do more work here.

If anyone fancies a look at what I've done so far you can check out a couple of renders here:

http://excalibur.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1280954

http://excalibur.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1280958

You might find it in your Figures folder, that's where mine was placed.

Yes Acadia, very good portrait lights, would love to use these! I particulary like the light on the hand & how it falls off into shadow.