Macro Skin... anyone tried it yet?
mtl1
Posts: 1,507
An interesting product popped up today: Macro Skin by Parris. My current system is incapacitated right now, so has anyone tried any test renders with this product yet? :)
Having bought a couple of skin products in the past, I'm quite curious as to how well this product performs -- especially in non-3Delight applications such as Iray and Reality.
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You do know that shaders designed for one render engine won't automatically work the same for another, I hope? 3Delight, Iray and Reality all have entirely different shader language, and MacroSkin was designed for 3Delight. If you are just wondering if the texture maps (diffuse, normal, bump, SSS, etc.) will work well with other systems, then yes I think you will be very pleased. But I am very biased.
Might be worth it just for more skin maps.
I'm a sucker for bump/displacement skin maps. ;)
Oh yes, sorry. I was referring to this point, yes :)
I'm a sucker for bump/displacement skin maps. ;)
Same here. My wallet is already crying from March, but... skin maps :D
Hmmm... might interest you to know that body and limb normal maps are 8K. That might be a first for a DAZ product. Let me know if I can answer any specific questions or if you need to see some aspect not demonstrated on the store page.
Oh nice! I was just thinking, the other day, that I'd like to see higher resolution maps.
And once nice thing I've found with translucence maps is that, assuming UV map is compatible, you can use Iray optimized translucence maps and then everything else from something else.
(I think Iray optimized maps are Vic5)
Unfortunately, happen to be in a vacation-induced money doldrums which made me miss most of the March sales (sob). But I think this is on my list...
Also, for future reference, I'd love to see some maps in future where eyebrows are on a separate layer... just saying. ;)
Hi Parris, can you tell me what lighting and settings you used in your promo pics? I'm having to re-adjust my custom light set-up for this skin as it looks way too bright and flat. I'm using a daz distant light and uber environment with settings designed for non-SSS skin presets.
Do you mean for use with the Layered Image Editor? The eyebrows are on separate layers in my PSD source files. They had to be in order to get the normal/bump detail right. So I think I can fairly easily work that into an update.
Alken, yes I think I can help you. Gamma Correction needs less light (30% less or more as a rough estimate). If you use a basic light setup like I do, you have a key, rim, and fill. The fill might be uber environment or it might be AoA Ambient or something else. Try turning the fill way down, like 20% intensity. If you want to know my exact settings, pic a promo on the store page and I will share the details with you.
Do you mean for use with the Layered Image Editor? The eyebrows are on separate layers in my PSD source files. They had to be in order to get the normal/bump detail right. So I think I can fairly easily work that into an update.
If you do I'll add this to the No-Eyebrows Face Textures List -- thx! :coolsmile:
Parris: yes, LIE.
I have Skin Builder and, among other things, it lets me add eyebrows separately from skin. Which means if I have some other eyebrow-less face, I could easily add eyebrows...
Also good for changing eyebrow color and similar.
Alken, yes I think I can help you. Gamma Correction needs less light (30% less or more as a rough estimate). If you use a basic light setup like I do, you have a key, rim, and fill. The fill might be uber environment or it might be AoA Ambient or something else. Try turning the fill way down, like 20% intensity. If you want to know my exact settings, pic a promo on the store page and I will share the details with you.
Thanks, that works beautifully. Love this new skin.
I bought the product and although I haven't had the time to do much with it yet, I'm really liking the results so far. I was wondering if there will be an equivalent for the males, as the girls are now seeking fellas who share their lighting requirements :)
At least short term, assuming you have the right widgets to UV map it, you could use the skins on guys... :)
Thanks. I was thinking of investigating that as soon as I get two spare minutes to string together. I don't think I've ever known a month as chaotic as this one :)
Heh!
I'm not sure if G2M can use V5 right out of the box, but there's a 'UV map converter' thingie somewhere that can add maps to a model, so long as you have Victoria 5. I think that's how it works.
Surfaces tab > Display Options Button (upper left above Surfaces tab) > Map Transfer... But that might be a little weird gender wise and not yield great results considering. You might get more use out of the MacroSkin Shaders instead. You could load G2F into the scene, apply a Macroskin preset, and load a surface into Shader Mixer. Next you would load G2M, select the same surface on him and then click "Apply" from Shader Mixer to load the MacroSkin Shader onto G2M. Finally, you could then load some male maps into surface parameters, being sure to select the right UVs. Seems like a bit of work, but you could then get some pretty good results I would think (utilizing the shader's unique strengths for your male figure).
I don't have your product YET... but will experiment once I do. :)
As for the uv thing... let me see if I can find the link, someone turned me on to a UV map applier script that works great.
Ah, here it is: http://www.sharecg.com/v/73633/view/21/DAZ-Studio/UVSetterGen2-Revised
So long as you actually have the model with a given UV set, it will apply it to your Gen2 figures -- I can apply Victoria 5 or 6 to my Genesis 2 Male, no problem, and it looks pretty much identical (at least with some basic tests).
Ah, thanks for getting that link... it's one of my freebies, and I know I need to update it with a few more new uv sets. I think I will wait a bit, though, in case there are more to add to it.
Great skin and I like it very much. Below is http://www.daz3d.com/sase-kennedy-for-victoria-6
with the Macro Skin applied.
... and with different lights
Surfaces tab > Display Options Button (upper left above Surfaces tab) > Map Transfer... But that might be a little weird gender wise and not yield great results considering. You might get more use out of the MacroSkin Shaders instead. You could load G2F into the scene, apply a Macroskin preset, and load a surface into Shader Mixer. Next you would load G2M, select the same surface on him and then click "Apply" from Shader Mixer to load the MacroSkin Shader onto G2M. Finally, you could then load some male maps into surface parameters, being sure to select the right UVs. Seems like a bit of work, but you could then get some pretty good results I would think (utilizing the shader's unique strengths for your male figure).
It does seem like a bit of an effort, especially since the main attraction of the product for me is the fast render time and the prospect of speeding up my workflow. Do you have any plans to create a male version?
Dclane: use the script.
At that point, all you have to do is:
Create G2F and G2M
Apply skins to G2F, click surfaces, select 'surfaces,' right click copy
Select surfaces on G2M, paste
Run V5 script.
Change UV map to Victoria 5
You can do all that in maybe a minute or two, easy peasy
G2M and G2F can use each other's UV maps without any action by the user. Just apply the skin directly from your content library (it won't show up in smart content) and it should work just fine.
No offense, but I'm not particularly impressed with the promo pics (beyond the level of bump and normal detail that is). Most of the skins either look too monotone or there is too much variation. Also, every single one has a pretty high specularity which is fine for oily and/or sweaty skin, but... otherwise it doesn't look quite realistic.
It looks like... hmm, in some of your renders, sorta like these gals have skin made out of some foam-plastic like skin for ultra-realistic human robots.
Also, the bump/normal mapping is exaggerated (settings a bit too high) in the images-- this is a very common artist's mistake when using photo references (certainly I'm guilty of it, too, hoo boy-- you scrutinize the image for details and then make them a bit too vivid in the drawing/painting/texture/whatever-- the medium where it's most noticeable by far is still-life sketches. this is also half the reason why tattoos of facial portraits usually suck so terribly, LOL) IMO it should be toned down just a tiny bit in the promos-- just a tiny bit-- face isn't bad, but the stomach area and lips are a little too bumpy to me. I am absolutely certain that it's a result of the settings and not at all from your maps.
The point I'm making (other than the skin color variation problems) is that it would help if you included a bit more variation in the promo images-- ones like you have that really showcase the bump and normal maps & oily skin, but also ones with more realistic levels of bump/normal and less oily skin. Artini's renders actually look more realistic to me except for the face (I can't explain it... it looks a tad to flat and monotone-ish... his second render where she looks old doesn't seem to have this problem) Just saying (it's only intended as constructive criticism)
Edit: The carousel preview looks perfect, however..
Hi, all.
I don't seem to be able to apply the product to Genesis or V5. (It's called "Macro Skin for Genesis and Genesis 2 Female(s)".)
Do I need something else?
Cheers,
Tim.
How have I missed this collection of scripts for so long? The K4 to G2 script we were generously given in December was by far my favourite of the PA giveaways, so I'm sitting here feeling slightly like all my Christmases have come at once now. Thank you, and thank you too, Slosh :)
I've just been using it on G2, but I just had a quick go with Genesis for you and it wouldn't work for me either. Not much help, but at least you know it isn't just you :)
According to all the lotion ads, silky skin is something for a lady to strive for, and I like the look because it adds depth to the skins. I think people looking for 100% realism in 3D art will always be disappointed. Photography is probably a better outlet those folks.
Thanks, for the comments. I have not even noticed, that she looks old on the second render, but you're right.
For the records, it was exactly the same scene only rendered with 2 different light sets.
On the first one, lights came from http://www.daz3d.com/photo-studio-point-and-shoot-2
but the second render was made with light setup from http://www.daz3d.com/i13-expose-pin-up-set