Good skin shader for DAZ 4.5
Indigone
Posts: 86
I haven't seemed to be able to get the results I would like in Studio 4.5 with HSS or USS2, especially with regard to SSS. I was hoping I could get some references on vendors or artists that have been able to nail it. For reference only, not to start a which-is-better war, I do like what Poser can do with the use of EZ Skin. I just can't seem to replicate the look in DAZ.
Who do you think does the best job at skin in Studio? Please feel free to refer products, vendors, or even share a render here.
Indi.
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this character has my latest set SSS shader set.
http://www.sharecg.com/v/67136/view/21/DAZ-Studio/WC-Johanna-for-Genesis-(DS-4.5)
for the Human Surface Shader (HSS) these instructions got me heading in the right direction
https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/entries/20658113-How-to-use-the-Elite-Human-Surface-Shaders
and here is OmniFreakers page with information on the HSS
http://www.omnifreaker.com/index.php?title=HumanSurface
Ahh, realistic skin. That's the jewel of the 3D world, and perhaps one of the trickiest things to master. The sad truth is that there is no one setting to rule them all. It will differ entirely depending on your lighting setup and your character textures. I've been throwing every setting under the sun at my work trying to get something that sticks, but to this day I've still never gotten a genuinely realistic character.
My best results so far involves using Luxrenders SSS volumes, but assuming you're looking for a 3Delight method, US2 is really your best shot. Use of velvet will give the skin a slight fuzz to simulate small hairs, and the subsurface settings will allow you to tweak to your hearts content. However, as for actual recommended values all I can say is trial and error.
No disrespect to any of the fantastic artists here, because I've seen some amazing works, but very few of us can recreate human skin realistically in Daz Studio yet. I know it's possible to do but no one ever said it would be simple.
thesea posted two images using skin SSS in DS, and details on his setup, over at Rendo. The link is to the second in the series which is exceptionally well done, and clearly shows that DS is capable of excellent SSS results. I haven't had time to try it yet, but will as soon as I get a chance.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2408276.
Thank you all for the responses. This is really what I consider a beautiful render, so thank you for referring it. Shoulda figured it would be TheSea. :)
Will post renders soon, thank you!!
Indi.
I've been told that the best way to do skin (as well as using US2 shader) is to use a specular map, but a) not all skins have these, b) I am not sure if you put this in the specular strength channel or the specular color channel.
What I really want is that nice waxy/translucent look that Poser users seem to be able to get. Does anyone know if that's possible with Daz/3Delight? And if so, how?
My solution?
Ask a fellow artist who handles skin well and learn together by trial and error. A model to be followed for me is Laticis.
couple of questions about this beautiful render.
1) what is meant by the cylinder? Is the figure placed within a cylinder to bounce the light around? (I didn't know biased render engines could do bouncing?)
2) what does setting the UE2 colour to black do? I would imagine that this is the same as switching the light off, no?
couple of questions about this beautiful render.
1) what is meant by the cylinder? Is the figure placed within a cylinder to bounce the light around? (I didn't know biased render engines could do bouncing?)
2) what does setting the UE2 colour to black do? I would imagine that this is the same as switching the light off, no?
For the first question, yes, the cylinder "encloses" the light, making the indirect lighting actually work like it should, and making it more efficient. I would guess he used a DS primitive cylinder, and gave it a scale of -1, which effectively flips the normals (you could also make a cylinder in a modeling application like Hexagon, and reverse the normals before exporting .obj and importing into DS).
I'm not sure why he set the UE2 color to black. I never got around to trying this. But I am working on a render right now to see if I'm getting close to the look you want with Age of Armour's SubSurface Base Shader (AoA SSS), but it will be a few hours before it's done.
Ah yes ....Lacticis - the grand master would be an excellent source ;-P
I haven't gotten the amount of translucency in the ears that you see in many Poser images, or in the image by TheSea, But I might be getting close the that waxy look your after. This image was done using the AoA Subsurface Shader Base. This is my first real attempt with the AoA SSS shader, so I'm sure this could be improved.
I used a light setup very similar to what Slide3D shows in this youtube video (proper lighting is very important).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6lyEVOHjN0
After applying the shader, I didn't change a whole lot from the default settings. Some of the key settings are:
1) All displacement settings are changed to 0.
2) Subsurface - On (move slider to 1).
3) Subsurface Strength - 75%
4) SS Material - Custom (default)
5) Shading Rate - 1
6) Shading Scale - 0.10
7) Specular 2 color (light pink/tan) for this image it was set to 152, 136, 128
8) Specular 2 Strength 10%
9) Pre SSS - Post SSS set to Post SSS (1). To get less skin detail, and a more waxy appearance like a lot of the Poser renders, you may want to leave this setting at Pre SSS
10) Subsurface Color - set to 144, 103, 86 but this is highly dependent on your texture set, some experimentation may be needed
Hope this helps, it should at least give you a starting point.
Many thanks for this. i am going to give it a try.
You don't mention specular 1. Mine is black by default, (so no specular 1)
Unfortunately, the youtube video is too low resolution for me to be able to see what light settings are being used (even at the 720p!). It looks like UE2 and a couple of distant lights. Could you perhaps just summarise the settings for me? Thanks
Many thanks for this. i am going to give it a try.
You don't mention specular 1. Mine is black by default, (so no specular 1)
Unfortunately, the youtube video is too low resolution for me to be able to see what light settings are being used (even at the 720p!). It looks like UE2 and a couple of distant lights. Could you perhaps just summarise the settings for me? Thanks
Your right, load UE2, then add a couple of distant lights. The settings for the lights in my render are attached.
Sadly, until this moment all we can do is trial and error.
Every texture map have their own distinc setting of SSS.
Mostly depend on how good is the lighting setup.