It's a Stretch

First off: the uncensored version of a commissioned picture I posted at Deviant Art featuring Midnight Avenger, Duster, and Whirlwind all performing (more or less) a sexy stretch. The sneauxflakes at D.A. get very upset when reminded that women have vaginas. Which is strange, I mean I assume they all came out of one.

Now another adults-only image, this one another additional image for my graphic novel Once Bitten featuring Duster and Dracula. Still available for purchase, check this blog entry for more details.

Yes, it's a very hot comic. You should check it out if you haven't yet!

(On a side-note, I checked the journal entry right before this one and saw I'd stated that I could pose not-safe-for-DA material at Tumblr. Well I think we all know that's no longer true! As I noted at DA, I removed my Tumblr account right after their anti-adult announcement. As my mom used to say, don't stay where you're not welcome. Oh well, I wasn't that active at Tumblr anyway. Someone said it was a good place to pick up more commissioners, but as far as I can tell I didn't get a single one interested. I suspect I only had followers there who already watch me at DA.) 

I also recently installed a new set of High Dynamic Range images (HDRis) called "Old Stone Pack". I usually use digital sets in my images and relegate HDRis to providing ambient light or a skydome, but sometimes when the images are of exceptionally high quality and work well with digital figures I use them to provide the complete environment. I'll probably do that with this set, which lends itself to fantasy settings.

Now for some costume tests, but with a difference, as I thought I'd cover a few technical details as well.

Most of you might know (though only fellow Daz Studio artists will care) that I still use Genesis 2 figures. (Daz has long since graduated from there to Genesis 3 and more recently G8.) That's not as challenging as it sounds. In fact I think a lot of Poser artists can relate; many of them use older versions of that application, which also means they're restricted from using new features and content, or so I gather—but many of them still produce exceptional work. At any rate, there's lots of clothing outfits available for Genesis 2, and you can make Genesis 3 clothing props fit G2 by making a pretty easy modification inside Daz Studio (details HERE).

However, Daz didn't really seem to get into the Iray render engine in a big way until right around the time Genesis 3 came out. As a result, very few Genesis 2 outfits have any Iray settings. Sometimes that's not a big deal, but sometimes it is. For example, check out the outfit below, called Blackout:

Form-wise it's pretty sexy, but in terms of colour and texture it's pretty blah. So I applied some Iray latex shaders to it. (Shaders, for those of you not familiar with them, change the surface of any digital object in Daz Studio to which they're applied. They don't just change colours; a shader can provide all sorts of other effects such as reflectivity, metallic flakes, sub-surface scattering (especially useful for realistic-looking skin), and even texture by adding "bumps" and "displacement" to make the surface look more three-dimensional.)

You can see what a difference the shaders make. They make the clothing prop more interesting not just by changing the colour, but by making it look more realistic and varied. The lighting highlights also help emphasize the underlying (sexy) shape of the figure.

Here's another example, another sexy outfit for Genesis 2 Females called "Uncaged". This is the default version. Look how the parts that are supposed to be metal look like plastic. Ugh!

So here's how it looks with some Iray leather and metal shaders applied:

A world of difference. However those "chains" aren't exactly realistic-looking. Unlike some other clothing props this one doesn't contain morphs to specifically correct that, unfortunately; it seems designed for one size of bosom only. Fortunately the chains are a separate surface, which means their opacity can be set to 0%, making them disappear.

However, not all Genesis 2 clothing needs this sort of an Iray update. Here's another outfit, called Super Dress and Leggings, which looks pretty good with the default shaders applied.

The reason for the "super" appellation for this dress is because it has not just a bunch of different shaders, it has all sorts of settings to modify its style. You change the neckline, remove the sleeves, shorten the skirt... you can even change it into a shirt/skirt combo if you want.





















Unfortunately the belt buckle for the skirt gets distorted, but no clothing prop is perfect.

Finally, here's two more older outfits that look fine without needing an Iray update. Here's Candy/Duster in a sexy little number called "Limitless", and an outfit descriptively named "Vinyl Jumpsuit" (which is actually for the first generation of Genesis) that could either be a 70s throwback or a retro-future costume.





















...and that's it for this blog update. Thanks for dropping by!