Let's Solve The Noodle Neck Issue

Daniel A Roberts

Team,

I enjoy the modeling for the entire line of Genesis, but one area that has been contantly ignored unless an artist makes and sells a mod to fix it, ones I 'do' buy, is for the neck structure.  Gen 3 and 8 (and 8.1) has a buyable fix, and I was hoping that Gen 9 would have been made smarter, but nope, Daz still ignored a major part of the human anatomy, thereby making photoreal renders nearly impossible if their heads are leaning, turned, twisting or otherwise not looking ahead nearly straight.  

They have a noodle neck issue.  Primarily, the absence of the sternocleidmastoid muscle when their head is turned, leaning back or twisted.  What is this muscle?

• Sternocleidomastoid: One of the largest muscles in the neck, helping you move your head, extend your neck and control your temporomandibular joint (in the jaw). It begins just behind your ear and stretches to your collarbone.

You can see it in the mapping of the neck, especially if they are looking straight or slightly turning their head without moving the neck too much.  But looking fully right or left, up or down, or side to side, it blends into noodleness and looks quite unnatural.  

I'll attach a few examples captured from Daz's own product pages of Gen 9 models as an example.  As of right now, I won't purchase any Gen 9 models or products until somebody offers the fix for this neck muscle issue, as being photorealistic in different poses is important to action scenes.  If Daz would properly do it by default, I could buy and use these models right away.  

 

pixelquack

Fair point. Could be solved with a morph that comes on when the neck moves.

rcourtri_789f4b1c6b

I was hoping joints and other flexible anatomy (like the neck) would be improved in Genesis 9.  The neck and the upper arms have been the worst areas, with problems of unnatural torsion and "noodle" or "hose"  effects--by which I mean it's readily apparent that the simulated anatomy is simply a hollow tube with neither a skeleton nor muscles inside--But I'm also seeing renders with joint bend problems like I haven't seen since Generation 4 figures in areas like the wrists and knees.  The results I'm seeing in renders suggest that Genesis 9 is either a step backwards in anatomical realism in posing the figure, or it's more difficult or counterintuitive for Daz users to pose the figure without generating unnatural/unrealistic poses, and so we're seeing some easily avoided or corrected mistakes that aren't a sign of bad design decisions.

I'm not sure if the issue is the developers not wanting to put in the development time, or the desire to have Genesis bases be transformable into critters with different anatomical structures (e.g. bipedal frogs or lobster people), or the increased system resoures needed to simulate a proper skeleton and muscles (leading to performance issues).  The third issue (increased complexity of the figure for limited benefits) is worth some thought and debate.  

 

caravelle

@Daniel A Roberts : Agreed!