Genesis 8.1 Female Thoughts (Patreon)

Daz, the developers of the 3D software I use to create most of my renders, unveiled their newest model generation, Genesis 8.1, earlier this week. I had some time to play with it and even got one of my characters converted over. Here are my initial impressions.

First, this new generation has an emphasis on photorealism, and that is fantastic. One of the specific Genesis 8.1 models, Victoria 8.1, looks incredible. Here are a couple of renders with just that model.

You'll immediately notice the detail on the skin. It's amazing! Daz finally supports the fine micro details in skin that Blender and other 3D software has supported for a couple of years. That, and the new expression control system, seem to be the big additions here.

Now, Daz is providing the base Genesis 8.1 female model for free (no male models for this generation - yet!). And while that is nice, the Victoria 8.1 model you have to purchase really shows the power. That model gives you a new skin shader that you can use anywhere that unlocks a lot of new options, including the micro details. 

You can use your old skins on this model, with the caveat that you'll need to change the UV mapping as Daz has also changed the UV maps for Genesis 8.1. Other assets that were made for Genesis 8 work just fine on the new models. The one thing that doesn't work is expressions. Since there is that new expression control system, just about every Genesis 8 expression preset and slider I've tested do not work. However, Daz has released new expression packs specifically for Genesis 8.1 this week, and I'm sure that will continue. Of course, that means you have to get out your wallet.

In my opinion, this is a nice leap here. Daz is preserving most compatibility, so you won't need to rebuy or convert clothes, hair, and other assets. Poses work just fine too. But you really won't notice the benefits unless you purchase the Victoria 8.1 model, and spend some time working on converting your existing characters. Getting those micro details makes a huge difference, but if you don't have experience doing that, it will take some time.

I used the Victoria 8.1 skin as my guide, since it is so well done, and then changed out the image maps for my own models maps where I needed to. I kept some of the Victoria 8.1 maps as many were new and I needed them to get the new features. It was a process, but once I've got down pretty well. New conversions are just taking me an hour or so (compared to over half a day the first time I did it).

If you're doing your own 3D art in Daz, are you planning on trying out the new model?