Shader character or no shader character?

WillowRaven

I know this is a super-novice question coming from someone who's been using Daz professionally for 3+ years, but I'm curious, when applying a mat to a character, which mat is better, the one listed 'shader' or the ones not?

FSMCDesigns

Depends on the renderer and what shaders it supports. I use Lux and Octane, so DS shaders are of not use to me. Technically the ones with special shaders are supposed to be better than none shader versions.

mjc1016

For which character/base figure...

If I'm remembering correctly, most of those listed as 'Shader' are 'optimized for Poser' settings...

WillowRaven

FSMCDesigns said:

Depends on the renderer and what shaders it supports. I use Lux and Octane, so DS shaders are of not use to me. Technically the ones with special shaders are supposed to be better than none shader versions.

OK. I only use the renderer that comes with Daz (ultra lazy ... lol). So I should use the shader one when it's an option?

WillowRaven

mjc1016 said:

For which character/base figure...

If I'm remembering correctly, most of those listed as 'Shader' are 'optimized for Poser' settings...

OK ... so maybe not ... lol

Richard Haseltine

You may get two different sets of materials for DS, one perhaps using the default shader and one using HSS or uberSurface, but they will usually be labelled to indicate precisely which shader they use. If they are in the Poser format library then they are probably Poser-only different (especially if they don't both have the scroll icon at top-left of the thumbnail, indicating a DS script that will run when applied).

Mattymanx

What character is it and what re the options?

Herald of Fire

It's important to point out here that both of the options will be 'shaders', since the term shader refers to a set of instructions which tells the computer how to deal with the surface. Some of these will use the Daz default shader, others may use UberSurface or AoA subsurface shaders. In general you want to use shaders optimised for Daz Studio, and avoid Poser ones where possible. However, if you apply a Poser material, it will simply use the Daz Default material shader and apply the basic settings such as textures, bump and specular maps.

They may need some tweaking to look their best.

Takeo.Kensei

There is something to take into account is that a lot of people, including some PA who confound Shader and Shader Preset

WillowRaven

Yep ... I knew I shouldn't have asked ... lol.

kyoto kid

HeraldOfFire said:

It's important to point out here that both of the options will be 'shaders', since the term shader refers to a set of instructions which tells the computer how to deal with the surface. Some of these will use the Daz default shader, others may use UberSurface or AoA subsurface shaders. In general you want to use shaders optimised for Daz Studio, and avoid Poser ones where possible. However, if you apply a Poser material, it will simply use the Daz Default material shader and apply the basic settings such as textures, bump and specular maps.

They may need some tweaking to look their best.

...that depends. Older content often included separate Daz and Poser Shader files. For example Stonemason's Village Courtyard has a completely separate set of shaders for both Daz and Poser. There is a difference in the appearance of the stone, brick, and especially the water between the two shader formats when rendered in 3Delight. I'll post an example later as I have some errands to run.

All "Daz specific" shaders will be found in the root My Library/Daz Studio/Content folder, not the Poser files Runtime one.