So, I was cruising artwork from my favorite artists, and one of them did a portrait of David3 with EZ skin nodes.  Link below.

So real!  :D

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2348846

I have to say how blown away I am by EZskin each time I use it.  Amazing! 

Yep, hard to believe it's free, isn't it? ;) Snarly does good, thoughtful work. Listens to suggestions, tries to implement what he can...that's why his scripts are so useful ;). Laurie

To be fair, EZSkin doesn't make anything look good.

Bagginsbill's shaders make things look good :-)

EZSkin just saves you time and headaches!

Quote - To be fair, EZSkin doesn't make anything look good.

Bagginsbill's shaders make things look good :-)

EZSkin just saves you time and headaches!

Well, speaking as a user, I sooo appreciate the ease of application that you've given us. :) 

Also, I keep meaning to use your snow script, but I get sidetracked.  Maybe soon, it's hot here, a snow picture would be just the thing.

Delaney

Well, I realize BB shaders do look good. I appreciate that he takes the time to try and teach us dummies how to use the material room...lol. But, we can appreciate you both at the same time :P If it weren't for EZSkin I'd be in a bind: I can't make a skin shader if ya held a gun to my head :P. Laurie

I can still remember adding a brown tint to the skin to *try *make it look good. EZSkin is so much better. Thank you Snarly and BB...

Those all look very good, Hborre.  I'm a big fan of the V4 Dwarf - that would make a cool character I'm thinking.  Could see her in armor with an axe!

Have you tried using an emitter for the lighting? Turns out real nice ;). You have to turn the specular on the skin WAY down (I turn mine down to about .15-.25) because it really brings out the specular, but overall the lighting is superior to anything Poser's standard lights can do ;). Laurie

Is there a link to the EZ Skin? 

EZSkin

Laurie

I liked trying different things with shaders after reading BB's tuts and using his shader prop.

Now I use EZSkin and play around with the settings...so much easier and I still get the great skin from BB's shaders. :)

Try changing the skin texture color using the HSV.  Fantastic looking Orcs and Drows.

Quote - Try changing the skin texture color using the HSV.  Fantastic looking Orcs and Drows.

I'm going to have to do this.. been awhile since I've done a drow.

I still find making a sufficiently dark skinned drow quite challenging.  It seems the scatter effect is hard to distinguish as the colour gets closer to black as are a lot of the details in the shape of the character

Quote - > Quote - Try changing the skin texture color using the HSV.  Fantastic looking Orcs and Drows.

 

I'm going to have to do this.. been awhile since I've done a drow.

The shader is set up to use the color map data to control specularity. This is the result of there being a lot of hair on the skin maps, particularly eyebrow hair.

This means the luminance of the color map also affects the luminance of the specular, and not because we want it this way, but because this is Poser and people have only one good map - the color map. Hardly anybody has or uses a specular map.

So - when you HSV the color map down to a dark color, the specularity drops. You have to increase it to compensate.

Again - this is a not a natural relationship that is intrinsic to rendering skin. It's because of how the shader is wired.

Specular highlights reveal shape and so when they are suppressed, we lose a sense of the shape.

As for the scatter, I don't know what to tell you. When skin is darker, it means, by definition, that scatter is attenuated.

Some really cool looking images in there!! VEry nice topic :)

I say that EZSkin was the answer to our skin-shader needs.  My first Antonia test render I did since my 6 month MIA with Poser.  I like the new version so far - and I love the way you can enhance/customize/change it to suit your needs.  I appreciate Snarlybriggly and BB for making this.

BTW, great renders, hborre.

Hi guys.

The code for EZSkin v2 is essentially complete and is now in the final stages of beta testing.

There is no documentation yet, but I shall be producing a user guide within the next couple of weeks, ready for the offical release.

However, I've had several requests from people who don't care about the documentation and just want to have a go with it. I'm not sure that's wise, given the amount of new features in EZSkin 2, but I've posted the beta script to my forum anyway.

If you want to try it out then you can grab it at:
EZSkin v2.0.0 Release Candidate 2

Wow, would I like to try this version out.  Thanks.  I see alot of potential.

I'll give it a try in a bit but I love what I see listed in new features. :)

I tried this with Antonia Standard and WM, I get the same message that it is an unsupported figure.

And I did import the cnfg file that has all the figures listed in it. So I guess I'll wait for the full release and documentation...lol.

[click for full]

with regard to bb and snarly, these are my discovered new rules for 'realism.'

1. Fresnel in the SSS, high specular settings if you will be rendering ManyBounces.

2. ommitters, not poserlights

3. render settings: many bounces, many non-ommitting curved objects to bounce off of, high pixel count, low shading. Allow hours for render.

notes: head morph by Blackhearted; skin maps Lana from Daz; nightgown carib98; hair Jai

::::: Opera :::::

I find, when using EMITTERS that I have to turn the specular on the skin way down to keep it from looking like the figure just walked out of a sauna ;).

Laurie

yes, but the more bounces, the less the glimmer. I am rendering with 10 raytrace bounces and found that if specular is low-ish, the skin looks too dry. That having been said, in the above render she is still a little glossy, if not sauna-glossy; I'll leave it up to the viewer's imagination what she was doing to make her skin glow.

::: og :::

It'd be really cool to have some great new images for the forthcoming user guide.

All contributions willingly accepted :-)

Hmmm, I just made a EZSkin (figured out how to use this new one) for one of my textures, maybe I can do a render with it.

What size you want?

Here is what he looks like...

BTW. This is AM with my own custom face morph made to resemble my son David who died in 08.

Did you use any special texture file for Apollo, BluEcho?

Yes, one I created from photos from 3d.sk.

I'm still playing with the settings and lighting to get a better render.