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G3M has seams and discoloration

Janus3003Janus3003 Posts: 56
edited August 2019 in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

I've used the skin from https://www.daz3d.com/ethan-for-lucian-7 for almost three years now, but today I started having trouble with it. There's a seam running around the head and arms, basically splitting the skin in half from head to toe. Other G3M skins work fine, including those using the same Base Male UV template. I've tried removing and reinstalling the product, updating my video drivers, restarting Daz, and restarting my computer, but I'm not having any luck. 

I've attached a screenshot of what's going on. Any advice? Thanks!

 

EDIT

I did some more digging and found that https://www.daz3d.com/corbin-for-lucian-7, another Lucian 7 character, has the same problem. However, Lucian 7 and Oscar for Lucian 7 work fine.

ethan skin.jpg
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Post edited by Janus3003 on

Comments

  • scorpioscorpio Posts: 8,479

    Just a possibility but that looks as if it may possibly be a shadow, have you tried rendering with different lights.

  • Janus3003Janus3003 Posts: 56

    It's not a shadow. I've tried different HDRs from different angles, and the same problem is there.

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 11,830
    edited August 2019

    The surface settings don't seem to be the same on all the surfaces. Is that the character out of the box?

    edit: also, is that a render or taken from the preview?

    Post edited by Leana on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,836

    Did you recently update Daz Studio to a new version? 4.11 perhaps? I had problems with some of that vendors skins in 4.11. I submited a help request, but never got a product update. I don't own the skin you are using.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,836
    edited August 2019

    Isaac and Corbin were the ones that I reported in December 2018, when 4.11 was still Beta:

    "Today I tried to render two Genesis 3 Males (both created by Silver) in DS 4.11.0.236. Neither character rendered correctly. Both render correctly in DS 4.10. The two characters I tried were Isaac for Darius 7 and Corbin for Lucian 7. The problem has something to do with normal maps. If I turn Normal Maps OFF, the character renders without the abnormalities, but of course I lose the normal map details."

    (Silver = Jessaii)

    Post edited by barbult on
  • Janus3003Janus3003 Posts: 56
    edited August 2019
    Leana said:

    The surface settings don't seem to be the same on all the surfaces. Is that the character out of the box?

    edit: also, is that a render or taken from the preview?

    Yep, it's out of the box. It also happens when all the surface settings are the same. I first noticed the problem with a custom character I've used for a long time, who uses the skin with Anagenessis. Also, it's a screenshot of the preview. I'll try an actual render when I get home later today.

     

    barbult said:

    Did you recently update Daz Studio to a new version? 4.11 perhaps? I had problems with some of that vendors skins in 4.11. I submited a help request, but never got a product update. I don't own the skin you are using.

     

    barbult said:

    Isaac and Corbin were the ones that I reported in December 2018, when 4.11 was still Beta:

    "Today I tried to render two Genesis 3 Males (both created by Silver) in DS 4.11.0.236. Neither character rendered correctly. Both render correctly in DS 4.10. The two characters I tried were Isaac for Darius 7 and Corbin for Lucian 7. The problem has something to do with normal maps. If I turn Normal Maps OFF, the character renders without the abnormalities, but of course I lose the normal map details."

    (Silver = Jessaii)

    You know, that might be it. I'm on 4.11. I just checked my DeviantArt gallery, and it looks like I haven't rendered a character with this skin since the update.

    I'll try turning the Normal Maps off and see what happens. Maybe do some digging and compare the maps to characters that still work. In the meantime, I've submitted a ticket for help, and if I get a solution, I'll post it here. okay, I just read in Daz's automatic tech support response that they don't want you to share results because it can make things confusing for everyone.

    Thanks for the help, everyone.

    Post edited by Janus3003 on
  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,551

    Hm-m, same here, on both Corbin and Ethan. Now you're making me want to go check all the other characters.

    Also get some visible banding in some areas, even with Render SubD at 3, Normals ON, but not with Normals OFF.

    (e.g., shoulder meets arm)

     

    Corbin_NormalsOn.png
    800 x 600 - 756K
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,836
    Please submit a help request. Maybe something will be done if more people report that they are affected by this.
  • Janus3003Janus3003 Posts: 56

    So, I messed around a bit with the normal maps, and I found something weird. Copying the normal maps with a new name and then using the copies fixes the problem. I have no idea why. I've only tested it on Ethan, but I assume it works on Corbin as well. Computers are really strange sometimes.

    I also found Jessaii's Facebook page through Renderosity and sent a message about it there.

    ethan skin 2.jpg
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  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,551

    That's strange, but the effect is so subtle, how can you really tell if it's actually being used? Whatever, we'll see how it turns out.

    Found a couple more with the same problem with the Normals channel: Isaac for Darius 7 and Derek for Darius 7. I checked other products I have from the same PA (and collaborators) and no others have this problem, either Genesis 3 or Genesis 8, and seems to be limited to a certain date range on the men's Genesis 3 characters.

  • Janus3003Janus3003 Posts: 56

    I got a response from Jessaii/Silver, who checked with other PAs and thinks the problem may be "a wrong gamma setting on one of the normal maps." Hopefully we'll see a proper fix soon.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,836
    Janus3003 said:

    I got a response from Jessaii/Silver, who checked with other PAs and thinks the problem may be "a wrong gamma setting on one of the normal maps." Hopefully we'll see a proper fix soon.

    Great! Thanks for contacting her. I had sent her a PM at Daz (and got a response from her that she was busy with Christmas stuff) back in December. Maybe she forgot about it at that time. Maybe with your reminder now, it will get fixed.

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,551

    Ah-h, that does it. I recalled reading about Gamma Correction... the correct way? and set the image's Gamma Correction to 1.0, and all is good. Not the render Gamma, but the image itself. Go to the Surfaces tab and expand the (Genesis 3 Male) Surfaces group. Select, in turn, any surface with a Normal map and click on the file icon on the controller. Go to the top of the drop-down list and select Image Editor and set Image Gamma to 1.0. You can save the final result as a new Hierachical Material preset. I believe the image gamma is a setting that is saved in the material preset, not the image itself.

  • Janus3003Janus3003 Posts: 56
    NorthOf45 said:

    Ah-h, that does it. I recalled reading about Gamma Correction... the correct way? and set the image's Gamma Correction to 1.0, and all is good. Not the render Gamma, but the image itself. Go to the Surfaces tab and expand the (Genesis 3 Male) Surfaces group. Select, in turn, any surface with a Normal map and click on the file icon on the controller. Go to the top of the drop-down list and select Image Editor and set Image Gamma to 1.0. You can save the final result as a new Hierachical Material preset. I believe the image gamma is a setting that is saved in the material preset, not the image itself.

    Nice catch! I compared the out-of-the-box skin to my fix with the copied normals, and sure enough, changing the file automatically set the Gamma to 1.0. 

    Thanks!

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