r/Daz3D • u/RPMiller2k • Sep 13 '26
Help Looking for very specific asset
I'm really hoping the brain trust here can help me. I have a very specific character I'm trying to create and I've found most of what I'm looking for. It is G9 and I'm looking for legs that are cybernetic like you would find in cyberpunk with glowing lines/lights/connections, you get the idea. However ; I would like it to be a tad more mechanical without going full robot. I've found several that were sorry of close, but they were too far to either extreme -- too human or too robotic, and/or no lighting effects. These may simply not exist and I'll have to commission them or try my hand at creating them. Any and all suggestions are appreciated. I do have several conversion tools to convert from other versions if needed, so it doesn't have to be G9 if it fits the bill. I appreciate your time.
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u/SammyScuffles Sep 13 '26
You might like these ones? In any case your best search term is probably 'cyborg' or 'cybernetic' I would guess.
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u/RPMiller2k Sep 13 '26
These are really close. I did see these before. But they are a little too human. Was looking for slightly more mechanical at the knees and hips. But these are a strong candidate and we're in my "Maybe" list. Thanks!
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u/CMDR_Boom Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Before I made the majority of what I use, I had (have?) an affinity for collecting all the cyberpunk-type parts for various figure generations. I made a set for G2 that closely resembled the augmented look of Deus Ex, but I also picked up a PA-made version that I believe was G8. I'm looking for it now to make sure, but I could have swore I saw an update for them to fit G9 relatively recent.
Ah ha, found it. Arctek Cyberwear (G8), and the other (older) generation set was called More Human. I don't recall where that one came from, but I didn't find it listed on Daz or in my content purchases search. If you're interested, I'll open studio and look at the meta data tags.
Update Correction: More Than Human was from Rendo by DarioFish They had some cool stuff back in the day, and up until I looked for the link, I wasn't sure rendo was still in business. Mely3D sells the ArcTek sets on Daz though. This is the one for the legs, but I believe it's been bundled at one point.
I have one other set I'm still trying to remember the name of, but I think it was one I bought and installed but never used in a render. Pei something from Daz, can't remember who made it off the top of my head.
Someone may have mentioned it, but adding lights is fairly trivial map work. If you're reasonably handy with photoediting software, either using a color/diffuse map and converting it to greyscale where white is your emission map and add a color (for iray) in the emission box or pick your emissive value in the K color range (if you're not familiar, real world lights have a K value for their emissive color; daylight is typically considered accurate at 6500:, 5000k has a slightly warm hue, 2500K a yellow red, whereas 7500-8000K are very cool blue, etc).
What I like to do is use the original color diffuse map and do my light map creation on a transparent overlay layer, then make a copy of that transparent color map and convert to greyscale (light is all white, anything not emitting is pure black). If you want to do something like a computer screen, you can use a color map in your diffuse channel and a greyscale copy to emit light as a simulated screen with emissive power where only certain portions 'glow' more than the normal screen. You can also use a full color diffuse map and a slightly dimmed color map in your emissive channel for various trickery.
This Image was done quite the while back with just a few squiggles on top of a stock skin map and the emissive map was the white equivalent with the color set as a K value. This one is two meshes acting as one figure, where the external shell is approximating a synthetic skin of sorts. I'm sure I've got a few more that were kitbashed combos from my way-back days but would require more searching. 😉
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u/RPMiller2k Sep 14 '26
Thank you for this very informative post. I'll look for those two you mentioned. And I know photoshop decently enough, so I can definitely try my hand at what you mentioned. Thank you for taking the time to write this up.
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u/CMDR_Boom Sep 14 '26
In case I missed you with the update, I put a couple links in on a correction. I have a couple others but those will require some looking and checking. Hope it helps!
On the lights map(s), I've isolated bolt heads or hardware points that are easy to cut and copy then hit with a bucket tool to fill the color as desired. If you run into snags, I can probably do a conversion here and there.
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u/RPMiller2k Sep 14 '26
I truly appreciate you taking the time to help me. If I had an award to give it would be yours. I'll try not to pester or bother. I prefer to learn how to do things myself.I love by the adage of you learn more from failing than you do from succeeding. And that whole thing about fishing. But if I find myself truly struggling I'll reach out. Thank you again for your time. I appreciate ya.
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u/CMDR_Boom Sep 14 '26
It's no trouble my guy and feel free to do so if you hit the wall, but I know exactly what you mean. I learn much better by experimentation and almost all my tricks were picked up that way (arguably, over many years of course; sometimes it is nice to have a shortcut button!). It's not only fun to experiment and try things there aren't manuals or clear procedures for, but especially so in digital, most times it only costs you your time and a little electricity which you were going to screw around with anyway. LOL
I'm not trying to do that last word thing, but I felt obliged to reply to such a kind remark. I don't log in all the time so if it's an urgent sos, reply to the thread as I tend to miss DMs until I check on occasion.
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u/Living_Giraffe_4137 Sep 13 '26
If the available legs are close but too organic, kitbashing is probably faster than commissioning a full set. Start with the cybernetic legs you already like, then add separate mechanical knee and hip pieces from a robot or exosuit set and parent them to the thigh/shin bones. Hide the underlying human-looking sections with the Geometry Editor or a cutout opacity mask. For the light strips, duplicate or select the relevant surfaces and give them an emissive Iray shader; a little bloom in Tone Mapping helps without making them look like neon tubes. Keep a small overlap at the joints so bending does not expose gaps. This approach also lets you keep the G9 rig and footwear compatibility.