Just to update the situation I am in at this time:

I went to DAZ 3D to purchase the Supersuit. After going through all the steps to add a new card for payment, I get the "Transaction Denied" message. I know the money is on the card, (a prepaid Visa), but when I went to see what my balance is, it is showing a negative amount. Currently I am trying to get this problem resolved. This is yet another hoop I have to jump through, which I think should not be happening. There is something bogus going on; and you can bet when I get it fixed, I will no longer be purchasing or reloading any prepaid cards at the store chain I got this one from.

At least for now I cannot get the Supersuit yet. This is frustrating to say the least. I am so anxious to dig into the product and see what I can do with it. Hopefully my problem will be resolved within a few days, and I'll be able to go ahead and buy it.

Wish me luck!

Agent 0013.

@ tparo: Thanks for the help offer. I''ll probably need it as it's a new product and getting familiar with it will most likely be a bit of a pain. I think it will be worth it all in the end. 

I'm a bit jealous that you have the bundle. I cannot get it because my funds are well below the cost. So I have to buy the basic package and get the add ons when my funds will allow. Of course by then maybe Ill know my way around the suit. I plan to find 3rd party products for the Supersuit in the meantime. ShareCG has some already from what I have seen. I'm sure there are some available here at Renderosity too.

**Just to inform everybody I am posting what is included with the basic package: **

What's Included & Features - Basic Suit (.DSF)

• • 29 Adjustment Morphs
• Supersuit (.DSF)
• • 5 Full Body Controls
• 24 Head and Face Controls
• 39 Upper Body Controls
• 29 Lower Body Controls
• 28 Adjustment Morphs
• Supersuit Presets: (.DSA)
• • 10 Full Character Presets:
• • 2 Fantasy
• 2 Sci-Fi
• 6 SuperHero
• 79 Shape Presets:
• • 8 Basic
• 2 Fantasy
• 1 Sci-Fi
• 5 Superhero
• 5 Full Body
• 17 Head and Face
• 21 lower Body
• 20 Upper Body
• 46 Material Presets
• • 2 Fantasy
• 2 Sci-Fi
• 6 Superhero
• 36 Visibility Presets by Khory
• Genesis Presets: (.DSA)
• • 9 Visibility Presets
• 53 Shader Presets: (.DSA)
• • 19 Shader Presets by RL
• 24 Shader Presets by Fisty
• 10 Shader Presets by LaFille
• 14 Presets for Creating Your Own Thumbnails
• Textures Include:
• • 72 Assorted Maps up to 2000 x 2000

• Characters Included:
• • Fantasy
• • Adventurer
• Crusader
• Hero - Captain Champion
• Champ Jr.
• Powerslide
• Ranger - Camo
• Stinger
• Sci-Fi
• • Cyborg Surge
• Cyborg

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

I checked out some reviews and so far they have been pretty positive. I also looked in on the threads over at the DAZ 3D forums. I noted that one of them is from one of the members of Renderosity. This person is not happy with the product. Most of the other people posting are not saying much about it that is negative. I think it boils down to what each artist is looking for, and how they like to do their work. No one product can meet everyone's requirements, but it can meet the requirements of many.

I understand if it is not quite what you want, PickledPapaya. For me, a person who is not looking for any special look for my characters, it might be perfect. I am an artist who likes to create my own looks and styles. I don't want to create generic versions of characters like Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and the Hulk. I want my characters to be unique unto themselves. Many of my characters would not be super at all, no powers or special abilities, no special training; just characters that fit into the graphic tales I am writing. I'm not saying that you should reconsider. If it does not meet your requirements, you must do what you need to do. I wish you the best in all of your endeavors.

At any rate, based on what I have read online concerning the product, I am going to go for it. I will begin with the basic package only for now, as I have limited funds that prevent me from acquiring any of the add on packages. Even so, I have learned that the shaders that come with it are not all that can be used with it. Other shaders can be used that are from other sources. Likewise, the Supersuit shaders can be used with unrelated products. This to me is a plus which I did not expect.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

Quote - > Quote - @ kimbersue: Could you post an image of your Supersuit setting in a scene you create? I'm sure everybody here would love to see it. It has been at least two months since the Genesis Supersuit was released, and I have yet to see anything that has been done with it other than the Promo videos. As I cannot yet afford to get it, I at least am chomping at the bits to see some artwork that is using it.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

Hi, I have given up on the supersuit and daz. I've moved to Poser and Marvelous Designer. So I don't have anything to share.  :)

 

Not being disrespectful, but I'm sorry to hear that. I don't have the funding for applications like Poser. If I did, you can bet I would have it. As it goes for now, I am sticking with DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro, and Daz Studio 3 Advanced. My DS3 version is 32 bit and it is seldom used unless there is something I need to export that works better than the DS4.5 version.

I wish you well in all of your endeavors which ever application you use.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

**@ tparo: **All three of these are fantastic. Thanks for posting them. My favorite from these three is the third one. She looks like a cold one. Very well done! ;-)

@ kimbersue: Could you post an image of your Supersuit setting in a scene you create? I'm sure everybody here would love to see it. It has been at least two months since the Genesis Supersuit was released, and I have yet to see anything that has been done with it other than the Promo videos. As I cannot yet afford to get it, I at least am chomping at the bits to see some artwork that is using it.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

Thanks to you and the others many times over.

Here is a model I did using my "Mat Zone Creation" Method. I exported it into Bryce, where I assigned materials and textures, created the back drop, and rendered the scene. It is my Zephyr Class Star Scout. This one does not have text decals.

Let me know what you think, everyone.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

I only split it up if I want to import it into an application like Bryce. I found that some materials from other programs don't load into Bryce properly. When I create split up models it is so that I can use the materials I have made myself in Bryce. That application does not have a UV mapping feature, and only recognizes certain ones from certain other programs. I don't know why that is, but it is what I have experienced. So to get around the problem I came up with making the model in a split up form and exporting it without materials applied. I always join all the split off parts back into the main model before exporting it, but the exporter still recognizes them as separate parts, just like I want them. Not saying your suggestion isn't good. I use it too when I am modeling and creating my scene in Blender alone. But hey, it's about what works best for each of us, right? That is what makes us unique unto ourselves. It is good to have a network of friends that can help each other with advice and how to. Still, when the work is done, the artist uses the best of what he or she has knowledge of. At least that is how I work.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

**@ Heddheld: **Method 1 was my first idea, and like first ideas it undoubtably has flaws. I think perhaps Blender's ability to eliminate duplicate verts might help in that method, but there would probably still be other things that needed to be corrected.

Method 2: I suspected that you probably would like this one more. I have been using it for other purposes, such as creating material zones for my vehicle models and the like. It  makes it easier to create a paint scheme for the model. I'm sure you know that I use Blender as my main modeler, and I export those models to other applications such as Bryce. Because of the way I create my material zones in Blender, When the model is imported into another application, it becomes a simple task to assign materials and textures to each zone. This is because each material zone is its own object. I have folks like you to thank for helping me figure out how to do this. It has allowed me to come up with an alternative to the UV map way of  doing things; although I am still working at doing it that way as well.

As for creating things such as trees, chainmail, and so forth; I think it will be a while before I can get the hang of it. My last attempt, (a simple sphere made of chainmail) was nothing short of a big disaster. It did not look anything like what I wanted. I think that either I missed a step or two, or something was left out of the tutorial I was following that should have been in it, (it was a video tutorial). That is why I like document style tutorials rather than videos. I know that you do as well.

Anyway, thank you for confirming my thoughts on the second method idea.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

Concerning the modeling of trees: It appears that this process is a somewhat complex one requiring several steps and operations. It also appears that the realism is dependent upon how many leaf textures can be used in the process.

Now before I make the suggestions I have in mind, I need everyone to understand that I have no experience with this at all. These are things that I thought of as I read the last few posts in this thread, so my ideas may not have any merit. Anyway the following are a few suggestions I came up with.

Suggestion 1. Create a simple tree model with few branches. Duplicate this tree several times. Change the branch positions on many of the duplicates. Give one tree a small amount of leaves distributed sparsely among the branches with one leaf texture assigned. Do the same for the duplicates but change the leaf positions and assign a different leaf texture for each one. Bring all of the different trees together in the center of the modeling grid in the 3D view window. Join them to make a single group. I don't know if this would work, but it seems like a logical approach to reach the goal of realism. Of course there would most likely be the need to ensure that certain parts of each tree do not overlap, (you wouldn't want the final result to have oversized or weirdly shaped branches, etc.).

Suggestion 2. Once you have created your tree but before doing the leaves, divide the branches up by means of selecting series of verts, hitting [P], then choosing selected in the dropdown menu. (This will effectively make separate objects each time you do this.) You only want to do this where you plan to "grow leaves", and each branch should be divided into several sections. You can make individual sections of every branch together into one separated object, (a process I call "Mat Zone Creation"). Now go to Object mode [Tab] and select one of the new separated objects. Return to Edit mode [Tab]. You should now have a series of branch sections from all branches of the tree in vertex mode. Assuming you have already modeled your leaves with separate leaf textures, use the method that grows a leaf for each vertex of the currently selected object. Now go to Object mode again and select another of the separated objects. Return to Edit mode, and repeat the leaf growing process, but assigning a leaf with a different texture from the first. Repeat this process for each of the remaining separated objects, making sure you are using a different leaf texture for each one until you have done all of the ones you want. Finally, return to Object mode, select all objects (excluding the camera and the lamp), and then Join them together into one group. You should now have a tree that has leaves with several different textures. I don't know if this will work, but if my way of "Mat Zone Creation" works for the models I create (in which I create paint schemes for my models), I don't see why it wouldn't work for this purpose as well.

As I say, I have virtually no experience with creating trees in Blender. The above are just some suggestions that I thought of that may or may not work. If anybody tries them, let us know the results here in this thread. It would also be nice to see a render if one of my suggestions works. I am not as advanced in my skills as others in the use of Blender, so it will be some time before I can do certain operations that would be required for success in creating a fair looking tree. I am still studying the process that converts verts into objects such as leaves.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

@ prixat So FBX is not supported in Blender. That is unfortunate indeed. It seems the conflict will continue for the foreseeable future. I suppose I'll have to create my models in Blender without rigging, export as a .obj file, and import it into DAZ Studio and rig it there. I just need to find a tutorial that will teach me how to rig a model in DS4.5 Pro.

And the search goes on. :-(

@ prixat So what about the Y axis orientation differences between Blender and DAZ Studio? Has that problem be solved yet? My reason for asking is that so far I am unable to get things to work right with the rigging because the Y axis is not representative of the same direction in the two applications. Y is vertical in one, while it is on a horizontal orientation in the other. This causes the rigging to act in unwanted ways when I import a rigged Collada file from Blender into DAZ Studio. If the FBX format works better, I will start using it instead.

**@ prixat **I don't know anything about FBX. The only Export/Import formats I have used are Wavefront .obj, .3ds, Collada, .mat, and certain image formats for textures and backgrounds. 

If I may ask, what is C4D? I'm unfamiliar with that term.

Rigging remains a problem for me between Blender and DAZ Studio. I have not yet tried exporting a Collada file from the latest Blender build to DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro, so I cannot give an opinion or report concerning how well or if it works.

**@ **johnfairbanks I totally agree. I myself have learned quite a lot here.

I suggest you check out the tutorials as well. You can find some good information there, which covers a large variety of "how to" stuff.

Just go to the Homepage here at Renderosity, click on Tutorials at the top of the page, and then click on the software name for the application you want tutorials for. Once you are in that section, click on a tutorial title that you think would help you.

Admittedly some of the tutorials are hard to follow, but there are a lot that are easy to follow. 

Since tparo says that it will work, I would advise you to take the word of the more experienced artist. Like I said, my experience is somewhat limited. tparo obviously** **knows more about the software than I do. I have only been doing 3D art for about a year. I only posted my comment because of my own experiences using the auto fit feature of DS4, which has not worked all that well for me. I think what would be nice is to find a tutorial that tells how to use the feature for this purpose and how to do the smoothing. I have seen a few video tutorials that handle smoothing but they turned out to be hard to follow for various reasons. This is why I prefer document style tutorials.

As for shoes and long skirts, tparo is absolutely correct. Even shoes and long skirts from the DAZ store made for generation 4 figures have that problem. I wound up having to make the Genesis figure's feet invisible to make the shoes look right, and if the shoe was open toe, low uppers, or sandals, even the zero opacity setting won't work. Fortunately, there are several 3rd party shoe products available for the Genesis figure.