Updating my characters to Genesis 8.1 (Patreon)

Recently, DAZ Studio released a next-gen version of their Genesis 8 character platform which I use for all of my characters. (Called Genesis 8.1 now)  

This new version introduces a lot of interested features that help to add more realism to characters and all their features. Read more here: https://blog.daz3d.com/genesis-8-1/  

While some of these new features only apply to characters made directly on Genesis 8.1 or their other platform Victoria 8.1, it's not hard to convert my existing Genesis 8 models to 8.1 and apply some of the features on my now outdated models.

I spent half the day today to study what's new and how to apply these features to my existing models and started with Annie. Now the changes are subtle but can still add quite some realism that you might notice subconsciously.  

If you have a closer look at the pictures of Annie, you might notice greater detail and better shading in the eyes, a generally more natural looking skin and vellus hair which adds a new dimension to the usually so smooth and 2D face textures. 

Vellus hair is a feature I really like as every human (most notable on women given they don't grow as much body- or facial hair) has them to some extend and adding them on 3D figures brings them one step closer to photo realism. Vellus hair is not only added on the face but also on the stomach and back.  

The most notable and my favorite feature however is an overhaul on facial expressions. Expressions in software are being made by using sliders that each move one part of the face and combining them together to get one expression.

All these sliders have been redone for Genesis 8.1 models and you have much better and diverse control over facial features, giving tons of new options on how to make the characters express their emotions. It's just a quick example but in the pic with Leah you can see the difference on how I would have made a smile look on Genesis 8 on the left and how it looks on 8.1. It looks much more natural/legitimate and less awkward now.  

This is because the sliders now not only move the facial feature you have selected but also affect the surrounding features slightly to simulate skin tension, which gives expressions a far more natural look.  

Overall I'm very happy about this update even if converting all my models will take some time :D The first album in which I will use the Genesis 8.1 versions of my models will be the one after Alana's but you'll get to see some of them in action already in future social media postings!

However, I don't want you to think that this will have a huge impact on how my future albums will look because it really won't as these changes are very subtle, but as I always try to archive the most realism in my pictures, it makes me as a creator and nerd for those things really happy :D

Edit: Added another eye picture with custom iris textures. The eyes in the first two pictures showcase the standard eye model and textures but besides simple color changes they have no variation in patterns. So all girls would end up with the same eyes with slightly different colors which would be kinda weird. So I need to use different iris textures and replace them with the new genesis 8.1 eye standard iris so that I can have more variation so the girls are unique - so the last pic shows Annies final eyes!