Help... a few "basic" things
I'm trying to get into using DAZ for some imagery, and am running into some of the same challenges I remember from way back when I tried this before.
First - regarding figures - I'm guessing that for the most realistic stuff, we should use Genesis 9. Not sure though, but if so... these questions apply to G9, male and female.
So, the main questions:
1) Is there some tool that lets us choose base facial expressions & then modify from there? Trying to make sense of the many, many sliders without finding any like "smile" is kinda rough.
2) Same thing for poses, sort of - is there a tool that lets us choose basic poses as starting points?
3) Clothing... Mostly I need everyday people, and simply cannot find much in terms of standard clothes, and would really like to avoid buying piece-by-piece. Are there some basic sets to get started?
3a) Does the clothing allow us to easily change colors?
4) I only see one hairstyle that seems to be free for G9. Is this right? If so, yikes, but also, like clothing, are there some good starter sets that allow some variation for typical, average hair styles?
TIA.
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I only work with Genesis 8.1; I think much of what I say can be extrapolated to Genesis 9 but take everything I say with a grain of salt
The expressions can be found by selecting the figure, going to the Posing tab, and then Pose Control -> Head -> Expressions
The G8.1 base figure comes with very few expressions to get you started, more have to be bought.
It looks like G9 base figure comes with no expressions
Poses are found in your Content Library at People -> Genesis 9 -> Poses
(I don't use Smart Content but it will probably be something similar there)
It looks like Genesis 9 comes with a few poses to get you started.
Genesis 8 had sets like this, this, and this; don't know if there's G9 equivalents, or how well auto-fit works for these.
It depends. A lot of clothing has colour baked into its textures, so changing it requires you to do some work.
XTreme Reshade may be useful.
Here are some hairs that have some versatility to them, but ultimately I think you will have to buy a variety of hair products. There's no real way around it for technical reasons, and also this is how DAZ makes its money. All my examples are for G8/G3, and some require dForce.
https://www.daz3d.com/matilda-hair-for-genesis-8-females
https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-togatta-hair-for-genesis-8
https://www.daz3d.com/bang-bob-hair-with-dforce-for-genesis-8-females
https://www.daz3d.com/classic-side-part-hair-for-genesis-3-and-8
https://www.daz3d.com/mrl-buzz-cut-hair-stubble-and-scars-for-genesis-8-and-genesis-3-male
https://www.daz3d.com/warrior-wet-hair-for-genesis-3-male-s
Good luck!
Hi there & welcome!
Newer isn't always better; always keep in mind that there's also a sales model involved. IMO an honest one, but even so... it's still a sales model.
Also... the quality of your renders doesn't necessarily depend on the figures you use, but rather on how you use them. For example... as outdated as it may be I still use Genesis (the very first generation?) quite often in my renders and it doesn't result in lesser quality. Maybe food for thought?
Your best bet are still the sliders though. As Hylas mentioned you may have some luck with pre-installed poses but I'm afraid that Daz are kinda pushing their G9 "Essential extras" products. For example you can purchase a collection of G9 expressions which would allow you to do what you're after.
Still... with all due respect to Daz3D but ... I can't help wonder if using Genesis 8 / 8.1 might not be a better pick for all this. There are a ton of so called "morphs" available (these are those sliders you mentioned?) that also provide expression controls. For example, when I select the head of a G8.1 figure I immediately can access: "Pose controls => Head => Expressions (8.1)" which give me sliders such as "Afraid", "Angry", "Frown" and so on. Set the slider to 100% and you got the starting position you were after. Unfortunately I have no idea how I gained all those morphs, they did come from Daz3D themselves though.
That would be the poses preset. Select the Genesis figure in your scene and then check your smart contents pane, the poses section in specific. Basically you can expand "Poses" and then check what you want to use: by region (like the head, or arms, hands, etc.) or by function (standing, lying, running, etc.). I prefer using smart contents for this myself because it's a lot quicker to find.
That's a tough question because it also depends on what you're looking for. Generally speaking... yah, you're looking at purchasing as well; however keep in mind that there are also plenty of "freebie sites" available which often provide some very decent items too. Still... you may not get around purchasing at least some sets.
This is why bundles can sometimes be a good pick, they give you a bit of everything; a figure (for example) but also several pieces of clothing.
Depends on the clothing. Some clothes also provide texture settings (you can find these under the "Materials" header in your smart contents pane) but... it depends. There are also authors which sell these separately: so you can purchase some clothing with a few presets, and then they sell a different texture set collection for even more color variations...
Now, I realize you're new and I don't want to overwhelm you but... you could consider purchasing a tool which can help you create textures of your own. A very commonly used tool for this is Adobe's Substance Painter. The Adobe website only provides this on a subscription basis but ... if you search Steam out of all places (yes: Steam is a gaming website) then you may end up surprised because Adobe also sells 'Painter' there for a fixed price ("perpetual license": purchase once, use as long as you'd like).
Of course you'd need to learn how to use all that but I can honestly say that once you get your fingers behind all that then you'll never bother with any texture packs ever again. At least that's how I fared ;)
You got that right: that can also become an expensive purchase. Always check what options a hair piece gives you; many provide morphs which will allow you to apply differences in its appearance which can help you keep up the appearance that someone has a different hairstyle while in fact you're using the same thing.
But yes... this can become a bit expensive.
Fortunately... assets are generally speaking backwards compatible (though context applies). Even so... assets for older generations of Genesis can usually be applied to newer ones as well. Maybe you recall me mentioning Genesis (1st gen) earlier? I have a lot of clothing for that, which I sporadically also use with Genesis 8. Though in all fairness: sometimes I do need to do a bit of editing myself (Blender can be a good alternative for that, if you have the patience to learn how to use it... still: it's a free tool and pretty good).
Yah, hope this can also give you some impressions. This can be an expensive hobby to get started with but at the same time also very rewarding (IMO of course).
If you are just starting out, I'd suggest you start with Genesis 8.
It has a massive library of supported content. Everything from characters, clothing, poses, morphs, expression, animations.
Everybody gets a lot of downloadable content with the free Daz Studio Download.
Grab the Genesis 8 starter essentials packages.
There are 3 additional products that are extremely helpful and are Daz Originals, and usually go on sale for very reasonable prices. These are the female ones. There are 3 male ones. These three packs add the functionality that helps you make more unique characters. Body morphs affect the body, head morph focus on the face. (chin, nose, mouth , eyes, brows) And the expressions pack includes default expression like happy, sad, angry, contempt. It will get you started.
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-female-body-morphs
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-female-expressions
https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-female-head-morphs
You may also create subtle ‘expressions’ by opening or closing the eyes and mouth slightly. Select the head and under "Posing" go down to the controls; find the section for eyes, the brows, and separately, the mouth. (The ‘Lower jaw’ also has a control in the Scene tab: Scene > Figure > Hip > Pelvis etc. and continue on down to Upper Chest > Neck segments > Head > Lower jaw)
It's important to consider swivelling the head and neck controls to accentuate where the figure is looking. Or isn't looking!
Save your work as you go along with serial file names eg. G8M scene 1, G8M scene 1 face modified 1a, 1b, 1c, and “G8M scene 1 face modified d-ii eyes shifted a bit” etc. Or just number the files and describe each one in a separate Notepad file.
I'm of two minds re: keeping notes in a scene file, like on a plane object placed beside the main elements in the scene.