New Genus heads are out - what do you think?

[Janet Voxel]

26 minutes ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

Lelutka's animations do this too, quite annoying!

You know, I never noticed that until today!

[Ceka Cianci]

9 hours ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

I'm usually one keen to try out updates and new things but the way Genus abandoned their product last time just made me angry... it's not a great way to treat people and to come out with an update that would be genuinely hard for me to use even if I was so inclined (skin market has moved on, EvoX compatibility is basically a requirement at this point imo) means I'm definitely not rushing to see if they've fixed the myriad of issues that made people abandon Genus as much as Genus abandoned them.

It's a shame, clearly a talented creator and her heads are unique looking so they should be able to come out with something that stands a chance of bringing a challenge to Lelutka but I feel they've made the task a whole lot harder for themselves.

 

I'm not sure they had a lot of choice to hold off on the updates that we are getting now.. I know they were slow coming before, but then got  interrupted by the Ukraine war going on..

Once the war broke out and finding out the creator was from there, I didn't expect  these updates until all that was over, if it ever will be..

I believe before that  they had  a baby which more than likely dove into any SL related time..

I think it's just the one creator and hardly any staff other than moderators in the group and discord or what ever they have..

I don't think it was a flat out abandoning, but more not able to get to  them..

[CalypsoJewel]

7 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I think this is very much a "YMMV" thing.

I've had very few issues with my old Genus heads. I worked out how to get rid of the eye problem literally years ago, and I don't use the animations because I find nearly all facial animations in SL (I'm talking about Genus, Catwa, LeLutka, and the ones in my Vista AO) too fast and fidgety. The neck thing was seldom an issue for me, except occasionally under certain EEPs on my Legacy.

And I like the look of Genus, better than I like LeLutka. There are things I wish I could fix about it, most notably bulgy high foreheards, but It's just a nicer look -- for me. I tried converting to LeLutka about a year ago, when it really seemed as though there was never going to be a Genus update, and, although they are indisputably nice heads, I could never get the look I wanted from any of them (I demo'ed about a dozen, and own about 6 LeLutka women's heads). They're fine for photograph alts, but they weren't me. (And I hate the mouths.)

The length of wait for an update is a thing, I guess, although I know that there are also RL issues (the DMCA, a child, I think, and the creators are based in Russia?). And it's not like the old Legacy, which was left almost literally broken by their disappearance.

If you like the look of Genus, you'll like this update. If you prefer LeLutka -- and it appears a LOT of people do -- then this is all irrelevant anyway.

It is good that there continue to be other options available in SL than just LeLutka, because monopolies aren't a good thing, ever. Genus isn't going to dethrone LeLutka, but this update should keep them viable for a while to come -- and everyone, even if you don't like or trust Genus, should applaud that, because we have got dangerously near the point where there is only one really viable mesh head available, and one that uses a proprietary UV system.

Choice is always good.

I never had any of the issues others had with my Genus heads, but I also never used(or tried to use) the animation HUD. I also like the overall look of them much more than Lelutka, but the lack of updates and the fact that many creators moved away from them just made me move back to Lelutka. Basically similar to Belleza.
Options are indeed very good, and I suppose I can't honestly say i'll never pick one up on my now main avatar, but i'm in no hurry. There are other things i'm more interested in spending my limited Linden on.

[Stephanie Misfit]

Has anyone made any 4k skins yet? Nothing is loading in their discord channel for me.

[Persephone Emerald]

Naria has a review of the updated Genus head and HUD here.

[Marianne Little]

I have been looking for a replacement for Lel Lake for a while. I have been in their store and taking home demos.

All faces after Lake has been too rounded and baby'ish. I know I can make the head longer, but the nose does not respond well. I want a bit longer nose like Lake has.

I have a ton of EvoX makeup, and I can't use it on Genus. I have, however, been looking at the Genus Strong head that isn't free. It appear to have a longer nose and less baby look.

Changing from LeLutka would be like earth shaking for me. I was Simone until Lake. I am still hoping that LeLutka makes a head I like.

Why do I want to change from Lake, if I love it? When the eyes close, the eyelids are not so pretty and the nostrils/lower nose can't I get right.

I took a quick glance at the male heads. They look very good, even if it is hard to tell without skins on, only the grey head. I might... might get one of those if it is a super sale. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Marianne Little

[EmmaAsht0n]

2 hours ago, Stephanie Misfit said:

Has anyone made any 4k skins yet? Nothing is loading in their discord channel for me.

I think Tres Beau has made 3 for the new heads and they are in the Genus store. There's also a free skin as a group gift there which I think is also compatible with 4K but don't quote me on this. 🙂 And I think I saw a group notice from Tutti Belli about some 4K skin or make-up for the new heads.

[Dorientje Woller]

Test Classic Face W002 V2.0:
Don't mind the wonky eye ... emotion animation was activated.

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Dorientje Woller

[Kylie Jaxxon]

6 hours ago, Stephanie Misfit said:

Has anyone made any 4k skins yet? Nothing is loading in their discord channel for me.

I thought I read somewhere, that for the 4K skins, you go to Velour

[Dorientje Woller]

6 minutes ago, Kylie Jaxxon said:

I thought I read somewhere, that for the 4K skins, you go to Velour

The included skin hud has Velour tones. A bit the same route that Catwa has taken with their newest HD Pro heads, included skins there are also in Velour tones.

[AmeliaJ08]

12 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

I'm not sure they had a lot of choice to hold off on the updates that we are getting now.. I know they were slow coming before, but then got  interrupted by the Ukraine war going on..

Once the war broke out and finding out the creator was from there, I didn't expect  these updates until all that was over, if it ever will be..

I believe before that  they had  a baby which more than likely dove into any SL related time..

I think it's just the one creator and hardly any staff other than moderators in the group and discord or what ever they have..

I don't think it was a flat out abandoning, but more not able to get to  them..

The product was released broken and long before the Ukraine war. I've no doubt they've had a lot on their plate but the bad treatment started long before all of that.

 

[Jenna Huntsman]

50 minutes ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

The product was released broken and long before the Ukraine war. I've no doubt they've had a lot on their plate but the bad treatment started long before all of that.

 

This. The Ukraine war would only have an effect from 2022 onwards, which doesn't excuse the product being abandoned for 2 years prior.

[Dorientje Woller]

4 hours ago, Jenna Huntsman said:

This. The Ukraine war would only have an effect from 2022 onwards, which doesn't excuse the product being abandoned for 2 years prior.

Birth of her kid, Covid-19, the DMCA complaint she got from SOMEBODY (edited). And you think Genus is the only one who is lacking in their updates? If I recall, we are waiting already 3 years for the Era 2 update of the LAQ heads, of which even the current line is no longer supported. Or yes, LOGO who is started with the release of updates, whilst working between health issues. Meaning, most of us don't know what's going on behind the scenes, in real life with these creators and if they work on their own, some understanding is required to why certain aspects in SL can have a wrench into the cog. Just like you don't have to expect a fluent service from Doux - Etre at the moment, coz their creator is recovering from a stroke.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Dorientje Woller

[Persephone Emerald]

10 minutes ago, Dorientje Woller said:

Birth of her kid, Covid-19, the DMCA complaint she got from the GenesisLab Heads (of which I haven't seen anything yet since the start of that war). And you think Genus is the only one who is lacking in their updates? If I recall, we are waiting already 3 years for the Era 2 update of the LAQ heads, of which even the current line is no longer supported. Or yes, LOGO who is started with the release of updates, whilst working between health issues. Meaning, most of us don't know what's going on behind the scenes, in real life with these creators and if they work on their own, some understanding is required to why certain aspects in SL can have a wrench into the cog. Just like you don't have to expect a fluent service from Doux - Etre at the moment, coz their creator is recovering from a stroke.

GenesisLab said in statement that they were not the source of the DMCA complaint against Genus.

[Janet Voxel]

I had a feeling it was going to turn into this…

 

[colleen Criss]

On 8/20/2023 at 6:51 PM, Stephanie Misfit said:

I got a delivery of some of the heads I had purchased, but not all. There is a lot in the package and I am working my way through it. Not sure I will use these as I am happy with my current look. What do others think? Want to post pictures for us?

 

[Dorientje Woller]

Test of the Classic Face W002 V2 with the included skin hub and brows and stuffies:

[Ceka Cianci]

5 hours ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

The product was released broken and long before the Ukraine war. I've no doubt they've had a lot on their plate but the bad treatment started long before all of that.

 

Which release,beta? Or are you meanibg after beta?

[colleen Criss]

Seriously! Avatars are real people with lives . NONE of them owe any of us anything . We could all die tomorrow and how important would a damn update be then. Put on your rl thinking caps people . Jesus.

[AmeliaJ08]

2 hours ago, Dorientje Woller said:

Birth of her kid, Covid-19, the DMCA complaint she got from the GenesisLab Heads (of which I haven't seen anything yet since the start of that war). And you think Genus is the only one who is lacking in their updates? If I recall, we are waiting already 3 years for the Era 2 update of the LAQ heads, of which even the current line is no longer supported. Or yes, LOGO who is started with the release of updates, whilst working between health issues. Meaning, most of us don't know what's going on behind the scenes, in real life with these creators and if they work on their own, some understanding is required to why certain aspects in SL can have a wrench into the cog. Just like you don't have to expect a fluent service from Doux - Etre at the moment, coz their creator is recovering from a stroke.

 

I think it's important to note that Genus heads were released with significant, product-breaking bugs that were not fixed until this update in 2023 (apparently, I haven't tested them to confirm).

Yes, lots has happened. Yes, life got in the way. Yes, events entirely out of the owners control have very obviously made this a difficult product for her to support. Does that excuse it? no, they charged $20+ for their product that they knew to be buggy since 2018/2019. I hope they have a better approach to it now because up until now Genus has been very poor at looking after their customers and we shouldn't just shrug when that happens. This isn't some hobby product being given away for free/nearly free, they charged real money for it. They are a business that even promised support.

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by AmeliaJ08

[AmeliaJ08]

47 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Which release,beta? Or are you meanibg after beta?

After. Their release versions were just as buggy as the betas and up until this update contained significant, product-breaking bugs that required you to disable features and use third party tools to fix.

[Trinity Blakewell]

Getting back to discussion of the heads themselves...

This is just my first impression with the Babyface update and YMMV. I will be testing the original head next.

While there are a number of things I like about Lelutka heads, there are some things that over time I've become frustrated about. And considering that everything I've used over the last few years, with the exception of the AK Pride Head, has been Lelutka, I can really see some significant differences now between Genus and Lelutka.

The biggest issue I have with Lelutka heads is that they are really small out of the box,, unless your avi is also very petite. My avi is the equivalent of about 6 ft to 6ft 2 in, and I find that to get close to normal human proportions I have to stretch and enlarge the Lelutka heads a lot. On the other hand, right out of the box, the new Babyface was almost normal proportions. Certainly much closer than Lelutka.

The other big issue I have with the Lelutka heads is the hollowness under the cheekbones. I have about 7 Lelutka EvoX heads and I'm pretty sure all of them have this issue to varying degrees. I've tried adjusting all the possibly relevant sliders to get a softer face shape (jowls, face shape, cheekbones, jaw height, etc) and still have those doggone hollows.  Babyface doesn't have them.

My first new Babyface shape below:



The main negative I see right now with the included skins....I really don't like those brows. They're really heavy. I think...because it's got a HW sign on it...one of the new Tres Beau skins for Genus 4K may be on sale next weekend. It's full price right now. If that's the case, I will be snatching that up in several shades.

However...including some default skins in Velour tones...that's a big win in my opinion. I don't know why they didn't include Rose Kiss since that is one of the most popular shades, and I'm sure that some folks would have liked to see a wider range of Velour tones. And some folks would rather have seen other brands' tones.

I've been inspired to start making shapes again.  I discovered that Ipanema (the shinny Velour skin) is available for Erika. I've not tried out the Erika Zero/Zero+ body yet even though I have them in my inventory, so I bought a couple of shades there today. I don't like Ipanema as much as the other two skin types, but I remember there is a add on that can make it a little more matte...so I'll be checking to see if it works on different bodies.

Since I'll automatically get the LauraX upgrade, I'll buy at least a couple of shades in that body type as well (it will only be available in the Picasso line, I think). I'll likely do shapes for Legacy, LauraX, Erika, and maybe Jamie body with both EvoX and Genus 4K heads.

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Trinity Blakewell

[Trinity Blakewell]

Just thought of another difference between the two head brands...Lelutka eyes are typically slanted upward at the outside and downward at the inside. No amount of tweaking the eye shape or the brow shape significantly changes that. Babyface has straighter eyes.

[Marianne Little]

In Naria Panthar's video, she says something I am not sure I understand. She says the new skins are "4K" and I got the impression that skin creators must work with 4 parts. "They will need four parts". And put them together so they meet.

She mention it from 40:00 and before that she toggles 4K on and off several times and say the difference is not that noticeable. You who got 4K skins, do you see a difference? It is a free group gift skin in the Genus store, I assume it is a 4K skin. I have to wait until my free heads is updated.

Isn't that going to make more work for the creators? LeLutka EvoX is using one texture, and has only moved out the ears on a separate layer. But who knows what creators do, maybe we will see a ton of 4K skins and makeups as it went with LeLutka.

There are very few hairbases included, only in dark brown? And as appliers, so it is alpha clashing. The hairbases should be on a tattoo layer too. Since BoM is what most are wearing these days.

My alts does not have much makeups and skins for EvoX, so it is no big problem to go back to Genus for them.

 

 

[Lysistrata Szapira]

From the chatter I've heard about the updates, the eyes are still wonky and apparently the store's idea of a solution is to wear unrigged eyes.

Nope!  Fix your eyes. Why would I pay money to have eyes that don't work properly? that's like buying a brand new 2024 car and the manufacturer tells you to just buy aftermarket headlights because the original headlines are facing at the wrong angle. 

No excuses. They've had years (before COVID and the war) to fix the eyes. They promised they were working on the eyes. Then they just told us to buy that eye override and disappeared.  They lied.  I don't do business with companies that outright lie, either in SL or in RL.