Alexandre is one of the new DAZ Studio 3 characters which "fits" like a second skin over the M4 base model. There are loads of characters to literally flop on over the Michael 4 base -- and what this does is save you a tremendous amount of work in creating the characters yourself. Using the Morphs++ you can make your own, but it takes a lot of skill and quite a bit of time, so it's really nice (understatement) when you meet a character that's really nice, versatile, attractive, "right out of the box."
The Alexandre character is good to go with just a bit of work in setting up the hairstyle you want, and the eye color, and setting the costume (or lack of it) for the effect you want. These characters are created by "mapping" or "imaging" a real human, head to toe. The model who was mapped for Alexandre had a beautiful skin tone ... he might have been Italian or a Spaniard. The finished face has high cheekbones, full lips and "long" eyes which have an Old World grace if you stand the character in an Italian sidewalk cafe (above), and a sultry allure, if you turn him into a beachboy! (You saw the shell necklace in yesterday's renders -- I put it on one of my own characters, an older guy, a fisherman hunk from Queensland!)
The character comes compete with the shell necklace that's common in Hawaii, plus a wrist cuff watch, plus a simple hairstyle. I switched out the hair for Mario's Hair (from Neftis), to get a real lush, Italian or Spanish look ... very European. The Alexandre eyes are very nice ... the whites are nice and light, and the colors very true, so there's no need
There's just a couple of things you need to know when loading and working with Alexandre. You might need to set the Light Model to "matte" rather than "skin," to prevent white spots in the way the skin fits M4. (Same is true for the M4 Elite texture Lee, which you'l soon be seeing -- this is no reflection on Alexandre, just an observation and a bit of advice.) Also, take care when setting up the lights -- those high cheekbones can be a challenge to light! A good idea is to set an extra point light to fill them in a bit...
The Alexandre character looks great head to foot. There's a genital map supplied, so you don't have to improvise (which is always a bit iffy ... no two human skin tones are ever alike, and you tend to be able to see a "tide mark" where two maps were taped together!This character also takes a "Hugh Jackman" style physique very nicely, and he ages beautifully -- not with the "aged" plugin!!! Do this work yourself, to create the 36-year old, so that 36 looks just as beautiful as 24, which you see here:
Jade's verdict: highly recommended! I'm giving five out of five on this one -- and it's terrific value, also, at about $17. Click the image below to see it at full size -- I uploaded it at 1:1 so you can see the details clearly...
(Incidentally, if you found this model review helpful, you can help me too. Click on the DAZ banner in the left column, and it sets a 30-day cookie. Then, when you do your DAZ 3D shopping in that that, a few percent of your purchases come this way to support the blog -- not to mention the artist. Thanks!)
Jade, 13 February
