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Freckles on G2F characters?

kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,057
edited December 1969 in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

...recently purchased Belle 6 and discovered she makes the best basis for building one of my major characters. The only issue I am running into is that the character in question is a typical freckled redhead. I have Skin Builder Pro but it has no Freckle overlay option. I also have Zev0's Skin Overlay tool but only the Gen4 version.

As Belle (like so many of the Gen6 characters) has her own custom UV map, if I change the UV set to V4 her base skin map nothing lines up so I am unable to use the Overlay tool. Skin Builder Pro is based on the V5 UV which is shared by both Genesis and G2F and works with Gen6 characters (I created a new skin for Giselle with it) but again, there is no freckle or blemish option.

Is there some other type of workaround short of modifying the actual skin maps by hand in a 2D application and saving them as a separate preset?

Comments

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,244
    edited February 2015

    The best way I've found is to use a Geometry Shell, but I did have to use Photoshop in the process. However, after I was done, I could use the geometry shell materials on any character texture with no additional work. This is the gist of what I did:

    Open the selected V4 overlay PNG file, e.g. V4F FrecklesCLeast.png file, in Photoshop.
    Create a new layer beneath the overlay file and fill it with black.
    Change the overlay file layer to black and white
    Save the file as a JPEG file and name it something like freckles least mask.

    Back in DAZ Studio, load Belle 6
    Create a geometry shell of Belle 6
    Set geometry shell mesh offset to 0 (or a very small number to counteract displacement or normals on the character texture)
    Turn off the visibility of all geometry shell surfaces except the face (in parameters tab)
    In the surfaces tab, change the geometry shell UV to Victoria 4
    Load the original V4 freckles overlay file in the geometry shell face diffuse map
    Set diffuse color to 255 202 115 and strength 100%
    Load your saved mask file into the opacity strength map of the geometry shell face
    Set opacity strength to 50%
    With the geometry shell selected, save a materials preset, checking only the face

    Load any texture you want onto Belle 6, including makeup, etc. You can change to your hearts desire, and the geometry shell freckles will stay there and don't have to be redone like the LIE overlays would.

    In this image, I changed to Aiko 6 texture after performing the steps above.

    I probably forgot some important step, so if you try it and have trouble, let me know what trouble you had and I'll see if I can figure out what I left out. Maybe someone will come along with a better solution. You might be able to use map transfer, but that is a hassle, too.

    Belle_6_with_Aiko_skin_and_freckles_overlay.jpg
    1236 x 1600 - 902K
    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,244
    edited February 2015

    Use the same saved geometry shell material setting on men, too. This is Hector skin. I set the geometry mesh offset to 0.02 in this one to get the freckles to show well. The geometry shell is great, because it doesn't have to use the same UV as the character's texture.

    Hector_with_V4_freckles_GEO_shell.jpg
    1236 x 1600 - 672K
    Post edited by barbult on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,057
    edited December 1969

    ...never thought about geometry shell. I've used a shell to fix distortion issues with long skirts (using the G2F MFD as the shell and setting the dress/skirt to collide with it), however, I now have Sickle Yield's dress smoothing tool.

    What I do not understand is why I first need to create a mask of the overlay file though (I also don't have PS). I do not need to do this if the character's UV is set to V4,so as long as that's the same for the shell couldn't I just use the Skin Overlay tool on the shell itself?

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,244
    edited December 1969

    The overlay tool uses LIE and seems to require texture maps in the channels before it will work. I was not able to get the script to apply the overlays to a blank geometry shell. When I loaded the overlay png file manually into the diffuse map, the transparency of the png didn't work. That is why I created the mask file. I just figured this out by experimenting. There might be much better ways of doing this. You probably don't need Photoshop. Other editors would probably work.

  • Zev0Zev0 Posts: 7,089
    edited February 2015

    Thanks for posting your work aroung barbult. I too just started messing around with Geoshells. Although I normally just do all editing in photoshop, nice to see alternative methods.

    Post edited by Zev0 on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,057
    edited December 1969

    ...my question is then how do the Wound Effect Geometry shells that are currently in the store work then?

    Not at all experienced at creating and applying things like layer masks. There has to be another way.

    Maybe there needs to be a Skin Builder Pro add on for such features.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,244
    edited December 1969

    I am astounded at the flexibility of the geometry shell. I can use the horizontal and vertical tiling and offset to move the freckles/moles around on the face. I can apply morphs to my character and the geometry shell follows the shape.

    Here on this version of Greta (uses some Growing Up Youth morphs), I used the V4F MolesMoreC.png and moved the moles to where I wanted them. I can't move individual moles this way, but I can more the group. I used the mask I made in the displacement channel, too, to give the moles some depth.

    I also used a different teeth texture on the teeth surface of the geometry shell with partial opacity to tone down the discolored teeth of the Greta texture. I even used a different UV with the teeth surface than the face surface.

    Zev0, I think the overlays look even better with this geometry shell method than with the LIE method. Maybe a product update would sell well. I see other new geometry shell products in the store, although I haven't purchased any of them to try. This breathes new life into your great but aging product. And you don't have to try to keep up with the gazillion new UVs that DAZ keeps spitting out. And no need for complex script interfaces that don't fit on some small screens. Win, Win, Win.

    Wow, I love geometry shell! :-) I think I'll submit a ticket to DAZ to sing their praises. I bet that would be refreshing among all my bug complaints! %-P

    Greta_younger_geometry_shell_moles.jpg
    1236 x 1600 - 1M
  • EnchantedPixieEnchantedPixie Posts: 475
    edited December 1969

    Skin Builder Pro cannot be used in Merchant projects , just an FYI.

  • MelanieLMelanieL Posts: 7,384
    edited December 1969

    Wow, that Greta-based character looks great, barbult. Thanks for giving me some great ideas to try out... :-)

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,244
    edited December 1969

    Thanks, MelanieL. Try it, you'll like it! Here I did that Greta character with two geometry shells. One for moles (returned to their default location) and one for the freckles. I like it even better.

    Greta_younger_geometry_shell_moles_and_freckles.jpg
    1236 x 1600 - 1M
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,057
    edited February 2015

    Enchanted Pixie said:
    Skin Builder Pro cannot be used in Merchant projects , just an FYI.

    ...for myself, that is not a concern as I am not a content creator. . I just like the simplicity, versatility, and flexibility.without having to mess around in a 2D programme modifying existing skin maps, creating masks etc.

    So much nicer, especially on the bank account as I don't have to buy a bunch of different characters to get the skin textures I need (and deal with ll the UV craziness).

    Below is Giselle 6 on which I used Skin Builder Pro to create one of the characters for my story..

    myste_test.png
    900 x 900 - 488K
    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,244
    edited December 1969

    That skin looks very nice. I especially like the light green eyebrows to coordinate with her hair.

    Sorry for sort of hijacking your thread. I thought by keeping it active, maybe someone else would stop by with a solution that didn't require a 2D editor.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,057
    edited December 1969

    ...thank you for the comment.

    Yes, this is what I love about SBP. So simple to get the results I want. I don't usually purchase character morphs unless 1; they include additional custom morphs/shapes not available with the base figure (which was more important in the Gen 4 days), or 2; it includes skin maps that I need or like. As I mentioned though, that can get pretty expensive especially when on a tight budget such as I am on. For example, there is a nice skin resource set available for Belle, however, I didn't purchase it as I can pretty much dial up any of those skin textures with SBP which can include SSS as well.

    I find Tools like The Skin Builder Pro, the various merchant morph resource packs, the Growing Up Morphs, Skin Overlay, Fabricator, and various shader resource packs to be not only money saving, but they also offer an incredibly wide array of options to choose from to add a more personal touch to my work.

  • DkgooseDkgoose Posts: 1,451
    edited December 1969

    Does the skin overlay merchant resources have the same files as the normal one to do what barbult explained? I'm not a merchant but I wouldn't mind buying it to have to files accessible to add to the geoshell

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