Geoshell and L.I.E.

cclesue

[Geoshell and L.I.E.] Is there a difference and if so what.

Chezjuan

There is a difference. A geoshell is basically a second "skin" that is slightly offset from the character. Individual areas of the geoshell can be turned on and off, and items on the shell can be moved around using geometry settings. I am probably missing a lot of other geoshell features in my description because I don't use them a lot.

L.I.E. edits a single texture, and lets you add other images as layers and move them around on that particular texture. So if you add a tattoo to a torso, you can move it on the torso, but you have to do it in the Layered Image Editor. I believe that DAZ Studio then saves the layered image as a temporary item and applies it as the texture for rendering. I find L.I.E. slow sometimes, and it messes things up occasionally when I try to scale the layers.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are both better than editing textures if you want to do things like add tattoos, etc.

duckbomb

Chezjuan said:

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are both better than editing textures if you want to do things like add tattoos, etc.

Are they better than editing the textures of you just want to add something like a tattoo?

I'm not being combative, I genuinely want to know why.  I typically edit the textures and add any tattoos or blemishes/scars I want and then save it out so that my characters retain their consistency.  If, for some reason, it's better to try a different solution then it's worth giving it a shot.

 

Sevrin

Chezjuan said:

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are both better than editing textures if you want to do things like add tattoos, etc.

Like meshes and textures, they are different things and can be used at the same time, so it's not a matter of to choosing one over the other.

Xen2k

duckbomb said:

Chezjuan said:

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are both better than editing textures if you want to do things like add tattoos, etc.

Are they better than editing the textures of you just want to add something like a tattoo?

I'm not being combative, I genuinely want to know why.  I typically edit the textures and add any tattoos or blemishes/scars I want and then save it out so that my characters retain their consistency.  If, for some reason, it's better to try a different solution then it's worth giving it a shot.

 

L.I.E. and Geoshells have the advantage that you could apply the tattoo on any other texture within a few seconds.

The disadvantage; initial setup of L.I.E. or Geoshells for a certain effect probably takes much more time.

 

Advantage of Geoshells over L.I.E.:

- they are a bit easier to remove if needed and seem to load more quickly.

- it is possible to change the opacity value. For tattoos this is probably not relevant but for something like dirt effects this can be very helpful.

 

Advantage of L.I.E. over Geoshells:

- the effect is applied into the texture. Geoshells need to be slightly offset from the figure. (If the offset value is too low you will see poke-throughs. If it's too high the effect will look like hovering over the figure from certain angles. This also might be relevant when clothes get involved.)

 

Chezjuan

duckbomb said:

Chezjuan said:

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are both better than editing textures if you want to do things like add tattoos, etc.

Are they better than editing the textures of you just want to add something like a tattoo?

I'm not being combative, I genuinely want to know why.  I typically edit the textures and add any tattoos or blemishes/scars I want and then save it out so that my characters retain their consistency.  If, for some reason, it's better to try a different solution then it's worth giving it a shot.

 

It depends on what you want to do. I've edited textures where something is going to be used on the same character a lot. If it's a one-off I'll use L.I.E. or geoshell depending on what I want to do. Also, though I haven't done it myself, you can save Geoshells and L.I.E so that the item can be quickly applied to other characters without having to edit their textures. Many of the tattoo sets in the store are either L.I.E or Geoshell.

 

duckbomb

Chezjuan said:

duckbomb said:

Chezjuan said:

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are both better than editing textures if you want to do things like add tattoos, etc.

Are they better than editing the textures of you just want to add something like a tattoo?

I'm not being combative, I genuinely want to know why.  I typically edit the textures and add any tattoos or blemishes/scars I want and then save it out so that my characters retain their consistency.  If, for some reason, it's better to try a different solution then it's worth giving it a shot.

 

It depends on what you want to do. I've edited textures where something is going to be used on the same character a lot. If it's a one-off I'll use L.I.E. or geoshell depending on what I want to do. Also, though I haven't done it myself, you can save Geoshells and L.I.E so that the item can be quickly applied to other characters without having to edit their textures. Many of the tattoo sets in the store are either L.I.E or Geoshell.

 

Ah that makes sense!  I suppose saving something like that and applying a geo she'll or LIE would be simpler than keeping track of all of the varied "skin files".  I can certainly see the benefit there.

I appreciate the response!