tigeranne | So, uh... Guess what I've been playing around with for the past two weeks? (Reply)

...instead of playing Sims. :C The following entry is extra-curricular reading, entirely optional.

Arch-nemesises(?) Victoria (4.2) and Genesis 1 ("Lana" is apparently the name of the default character) have had to work together. They got to go to the beach, where Victoria borrow-stole one of Lana's dresses, because her own luggage hadn't arrived yet.

All the backgrounds you see in these pictures are Iray projections. They don't show up in the viewport as you set up the scene at all. (Or maybe you can set them to visible, I'm still a nooob.)

The Genesis 1 figure morphs into several different characters, and so Lana's younger sister Aubrey came on the trip with them. She's too short in this picture, BTW.

Victoria and Genesis 1 can swap textures. :) I thought it would be fun to see what they'd look like if I put the exact same stuff on them (Lana's default texture, Victoria's bikini, Genesis 2's "Tolouse" hair and a lipstick from a custom set). Lo and behold... they're twins! The main difference is that Vickie seems to be a bit taller and more amazonesque, and also a bit leaner, while Genesis 1 is a little smaller, slighter and less curvy. Lana looks taller here, because I fudged the perspective. That's Vickie to the left. The hair doesn't fit her perfectly. It wasn't obvious in the viewport (where hair looks kind of crappy), but it rendered with a hole in it. Poor Vickie. She has some better hairs now. :) You can also see that Lana doesn't quite fill out the bikini top. It hovers a bit above her chest, and the ring deforms slightly.

Genesis 8 (left) and 3 are identical twins for real. They can also share textures, it seems, because in this picture they're both wearing the G3 default "Jeane" skin. That dress may hit the bin, because it looks like latex. Eww.

I downloaded a free character for Genesis 2 from the Daz site. The body-morphs don't work, because they require some stuff I don't have, but hey. It's a free face and skin!

(The character is "Vianne" for "Victoria 6." Yeah, there are morphs for changing the Genesis bases into the likeness of Victoria. And then there are morphs to put new faces on the "Victoria" body. File sharing is a huge issue in the 3d community, I've already discovered. Through discussions, I mean. I still don't pirate. And unlike in the Sims community, it really is illegal to share this stuff if it's still for sale.)

Sometimes, it's like characters tell their own story. I've "discovered" that Vickie and Lana are cousins, who have been mutually jealous of each other since Lana "came of age." Lana was the family's new hot-shot for a while, before she was surpassed by Genesis 2 "Bree." Now Vickie's still doing her thing, while Lana's had her 15 minutes in the spotlight. It stings, man!

(Victoria's on the right, with the lighter brown hair. They're all wearing skins I've gotten free from Renderosity, by user "Syltermermaid." Her skins are very high quality. The hair is a discontinued model, given to me by a good friend who shan't be named. Dresses are freebies by WilmaP's Creations. There's a lot of talent and generosity in this community, as well.)

It can be a bit tricky to get the lighting right. Here's Victoria as "Tanith," I think it was, and she looks a bit like a Disney princess doll of a young Elizabeth Taylor.

I think I got it sort of right in this one. Um yeah, the make-up doesn't really compliment her bikini. I was only testing, so I didn't bother to dress her. That, and I wanted to see how the skin-texture looked in that light.

Trying on this rather striking summer dress, that's a freebie from a professional artist. (EvilInnocent, I think.) There's a whole trend of wild colours, bright florals and a general boho-vibe among the stuff being sold at the moment. It's a refreshing change from all the high-fantasy stuff and sci-fi cyborg latex sexiness that's been all the rage for as long as I've been interested in (looking at) 3d art.

Closer up, you can see that this dress actually has a cloth texture. :O Vickie's been morphed into a character called "Megan," who I also found on Renderosity.

Young Aubrey is a very forth-coming character, who seems to tell a lot about herself. She loves posing and pretending that she's a model or an actor, or maybe a singer. Anyway, she wants to be notable. Sadly, she's growing up all too slowly for her own liking.

I almost get the feeling that Aubrey is a somewhat lonely and melancholy child, and that she pretends she isn't all that "innocent," as a way of seeming more grown-up. And yeah, there totally are pines with giant needles in the woods outside her home. It's not the perspective that's off. O.o

Her best friend is Tora, who's even more awkward than herself. Tora is built like a rugby player, has already started growing breasts, and has the face of a six-year-old at 12. (I scaled down an elf-warrior. This kid has abs!)

And now... for some renders that came out a bit fail:

Ooops, backlit! I kind of like it, though. It looks like one of those not-so-spectacular family pictures taken on a weekend trip.

Genesis 8 and 3 (Hailey and Jeane) hang out with the newly arrived Victoria. Because Vickie's luggage didn't come with the same train as her, and had to be re-directed, she had to borrow one of Hailey's skirts for the day. It didn't fit, at all. Also, hooray for the awkward poses, all around.

Okay, that's better. Vickie's still sitting uncomfortably, because she's afraid of wood-ticks attaching themselves to her exposed bum.

Either too bright, or too dark. I need more practice at lights.

You just know there's a selfie-stick out of view.

Whose lipstick did you steal?

Sometimes, clothes have an opinion of their own.

With some kind help from

sammyfrog, I managed to trick the skirt into looking half-way decent.

...from the front.

One more of my little tweenager.

And here's that one again, with a better background. :) Jeane-genie is hovering.

I haven't forgotten my Sims, and the Missing Years is coming. Check in a couple of days! :D