I never use those pores either.

Yup, I really like the skin with those settings (no gloss for me, I'm not really a fan of shiny skin unless there is water or sweat). It brings out the imperfections and little wrinkles if the diffuse map is done decently. Thank you, Y-Phil!~

Nice 

I have been experimenting with ambient occlusion since the P13 RGBColor ramp node was introduced into the material room. It makes a huge difference when exaggerating additional shadows into crevices and into areas where objects meet. Vary the settings and colors, and you can create dirt and grunge on the surface.

This is a procedural bone texture in Poser 13.

That's great! When you're happy with it, can you share your method please?

Indeed, it would be cool to learn how, because the result is awesome.

Before I post the actual procedural bone shader, I will show you the ambient occlusion shader node setup for your material. I recreated the shader from Blender tutorials with Cycle nodes recently introduced into Poser; otherwise, it would be almost impossible to reproduce. Below is the setup:

This arrangement is becoming part of my standard setup for all my shader reconstructions. It is self-explanatory, but if you have questions, please ask.

This is the bone shader I created:

The Diffuse node that is part of the AO setup has a dark brown color chip to simulate dirt in cracks & crevices, as well as the deep recesses of the object. The Ambient Occlusion node Distance channel is set high to capture more shadow detail away from the surface, almost simulating a remnant of skin tissue. Its color chip was set to green to also enhance details, but any color would do. Throughout the shader, the RGBRamps control the intensities and details from their associated texture nodes.

Wow... thank you hborre. This skull has never looked so cool

Cool!!

This is the bone shader I created:

The Diffuse node that is part of the AO setup has a dark brown color chip to simulate dirt in cracks & crevices, as well as the deep recesses of the object. The Ambient Occlusion node Distance channel is set high to capture more shadow detail away from the surface, almost simulating a remnant of skin tissue. Its color chip was set to green to also enhance details, but any color would do. Throughout the shader, the RGBRamps control the intensities and details from their associated texture nodes.

Wow... thank you hborre. This skull has never looked so cool

I'm loving it 

I have been experimenting with ambient occlusion in P13, rendering with the Superfly engine and using Cycles to enhance the shader textures. With the addition of the RGBRamp node, the process has become easier to apply to all different types of textures. The images below illustrate how adding AO makes the render appear more realistic with shadows filling in the corners, crevices, and between closely placed objects that are lacking with multiple lights and HDR lighting. This is perhaps the most annoying thing I see in many gallery renders: characters floating above the ground.

No ambient occlusion

With Ambient Occlusion

I have also worked out creating a master dial in the Parameters panel to switch AO on and off for multiple material zones. It's more work to animate all the necessary dials, but it saves work switching between the Pose and Material Room.

I have been experimenting with ambient occlusion in P13, rendering with the Superfly engine and using Cycles to enhance the shader textures. With the addition of the RGBRamp node, the process has become easier to apply to all different types of textures. The images below illustrate how adding AO makes the render appear more realistic with shadows filling in the corners, crevices, and between closely placed objects that are lacking with multiple lights and HDR lighting. This is perhaps the most annoying thing I see in many gallery renders: characters floating above the ground.

I know what you mean.  I once teased a friend, saying that his ninjas were so stealthy, they didn't even cast a shadow.  Beautiful work!

I have also worked out creating a master dial in the Parameters panel to switch AO on and off for multiple material zones. It's more work to animate all the necessary dials, but it saves work switching between the Pose and Material Room.

                                                                                                                            

 

I have been experimenting with ambient occlusion in P13, rendering with the Superfly engine and using Cycles to enhance the shader textures. With the addition of the RGBRamp node, the process has become easier to apply to all different types of textures. The images below illustrate how adding AO makes the render appear more realistic with shadows filling in the corners, crevices, and between closely placed objects that are lacking with multiple lights and HDR lighting. This is perhaps the most annoying thing I see in many gallery renders: characters floating above the ground.

Impressive, wow.

Before I post the actual procedural bone shader, I will show you the ambient occlusion shader node setup for your material. I recreated the shader from Blender tutorials with Cycle nodes recently introduced into Poser; otherwise, it would be almost impossible to reproduce. Below is the setup:

This arrangement is becoming part of my standard setup for all my shader reconstructions. It is self-explanatory, but if you have questions, please ask.

Yes, but by adding the Diffuse node, you can connect grunge maps to that chip, as well as changing the color of the occlusion. For example, you have a figure covered in mud; change the chip color to brown, or whatever color the mud is. That occlusion will no longer be black.  If you look closely at my skull render, the occlusion is dark brown with the deepest recesses of the model shadowed in black, where light is not entering, but the shallow areas show brown.

Thanks for clarifying that. I can see how that would be useful, and also when the extra nodes could be safely omitted.

I've recently completed this rendered scene with props obtained from RenderHub and Poly Haven. The morphing skull is from DAZ. PBR textures were used throughout all the items, which includes ambient occlusion that I have been experimenting with for some time. I used Poser's Superfly Paramount lights, which I converted to Blackbody, 4100 degrees Kelvin.

Just... magic! 

I've recently completed this rendered scene with props obtained from RenderHub and Poly Haven. The morphing skull is from DAZ. PBR textures were used throughout all the items, which includes ambient occlusion that I have been experimenting with for some time. I used Poser's Superfly Paramount lights, which I converted to Blackbody, 4100 degrees Kelvin.

I had to try it myself.

Now to populate it. And maybe fix the leaves in the one tree so they don't look like they're glowing

Looks good, so far.

So here it is with some people.

Cool

RedPhantom 

It looks cool, indeed.
And for the leaves, a few year ago, Caisson published a thread concerning the PrincipledBSDF node.
And here https://www.renderosity.com/forums/comments/4405027/permalink hs starts with the flowers, the leaves, and the trunk.
Just in case.

I must say that the use of the Ambient Occlusion node leaves me speechless.
I'm still experimenting but I'm finding the result surprisingly interesting:

With the AO node on the skin on the left, without on the right:

Ignore the material of the dress: I shouldn't have changed it for the comparison 

Yep, it makes a huge difference, in my opinion. Recently, I have been creating PBR textures from free sites, and I have included ambient occlusion in all the materials.

Stupid question (you should have gotten used to it by now from me): is the AO a layer you add, or not? If not, how do you attach to your materials you already have?

This is the image I posted above. The basic Cycles node arrangement is highlighted within the yellow box.

The PrincipledBsdf node is the most convenient way to set up using Cycles, although the conventional Cycles without it still works fine. This is a set of additional nodes to introduce ambient occlusion, not a separate layer. I copied this straight from Blender and reproduced it in Poser. If you only use Cycles without the PoserSurface or PhysicalSurface nodes present and connected to an image map, the preview will appear black because of the ambient occlusion node. It will render fine in Superfly. I introduced an on/off switch in one of my setups, but it didn't affect the preview display; everything remained black. My suggestion: set up your scene without ambient occlusion connected, then activate it afterwards. Otherwise, keep the PoserSurface root node with an image map connected in the materials and activate the Cycles Superfly root when ready to render. If you have any questions or problems, let me know.

I'm sorry to be so dense. I still don't understand where to put the actual ahader/ material I already have say, for a table or a platform. Whete are all these nodes you show above go?

Are you familiar with Cycles in Poser? I can upload a simplified Material Room screencap later today as an example of what is necessary and how to arrange the nodes.

I am barely fluent in Physical Surface, but I'm trying and willing to learn. I can't think I am the only one. Much appreciated. 

I get it. It has taken me countless Blender YouTube tutorials to understand the Cycles node structure and arrangements so that I may apply it to Poser. The PhysicalSurface node is just a better replacement for the PoserSurface node, except it is simplified and better suited to handle both Firefly and Superfly render engines. You would be better off using the PhysicalSurface root for everything; however, there is no convenient way to convert them automatically from the PoserSurface node. Honestly, the original PoserSurface node has outlived its purpose; it is time for individuals to gravitate to the PhysicalSurface node, which is better suited for physically based rendering.

Before I post a mini-tutorial on Cycles AO, I am running some tests with the PhysicalSurface and Cycles Ambient Occlusion nodes to verify their functionality in Superfly. This puzzled me for some time, but I think I am having some success with the outcomes. I'll be posting in a few.

For demonstration purposes, I will be posting a series of images that will include Superfly renders and their corresponding material room node arrangements. I will cover all three root nodes, PoserSurface, PhysicalSurface, and Cycles nodes, although the PoserSurface node is not well suited for Superfly rendering. The model I am using is a table from DM's Dark Shrine set, and I added an HSV node to brighten the textures.

Superfly render, without AO, traditional arrangement.

Material Room

Excuse the change in render images, I needed to reboot Poser. Now, I elected not to post ambient occlusion with the PoserSurface node because it is misbehaving and refuses to work with Superfly. The images below show Superfly renders with the PhysicalSurface root node without AO.

Material Room

The next set of images demonstrates ambient occlusion with the PhysicalSurface root node. Observe, there is texture surface and shadow darkening, which is why I applied an HSV node to elevate texture brightness. Please note the point where the table intersects the ground plane, deeper shadows, simulating the area light doesn't reach. If you increase the Distance dial on the AO node, you should be able to extend the shadows.

Also note, any changes applied to the table were also applied to the ground plane.

Cycles, PrincipledBDSF node, no AO.

Cycles with ambient occlusion

Side-by-side comparison of untextured models                                       

Interesting, thank you hborre.

Fascinating! May I ask you what is your scene setup? Background, lights etc? Have you tested it with different backgrounds and lights?  I can see how it helps with the Physical Surface with a simple object where there is only two, maybe two materials but for an end user it is just way too much work without some sort of automated application for the AO setup.

I wish there were a way to automate the entire process to add the nodes to all content within a scene, but alas! Although it is time-consuming, I tend to work on my sets a piece at a time, saving each one after completion as a partial scene and then importing them back into Poser for the final render. It helps to save chunks of nodes in the Materials tab for easy application and build on those with the different texture maps. Everything becomes routine after that.

Since I only render in Superfly and use PBR/procedural textures, I've modified all my lighting to use the Blackbody node. By adjusting the Kelvin temperature on that node, I can simulate any natural lighting condition.

In testing the ambient occlusion node with the PhysicalSurface node, I found that there are limitations to the effect. I can't make the shadows grow beyond a certain, and trying to use the RGBramp node with it is next to impossible. There are some problems with the RGBramp node, which I reported to tech support. Under certain conditions, the color slider would shift randomly for no apparent reason. More annoying.

Below are 2 images I created. The first is the original render, the second is the enhancement with AO introduced to all the content in the scene.

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This is a WIP. The FBX model was obtained from CGAxis.com, imported into Poser 13, and converted to an OBJ, welding all the separate parts into one file. This is a Cycles/Superfly render with all original textures optimized for PBR. Two Blackbody lights illuminate the stage. Again, this is a WIP with more content to be added later.

Wow... and Wow 

I found some untextured free models at Renderhub and I decided to download a few of them to test my hand at PBR texturing in Poser. The image below is an FBX model imported into Poser and using the grouping tool, I applied procedural textures and rendered it in Superfly. I will be converting it into a prop for Poser. Next, I need to amass a vast collection of architectural PBR textures and accessories to customize the models.

That looks very good