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No hair should be an option, if I want my lady to go full brazilian. There are other products available to overlay different styles and amounts of hair.
Ok, understood. There was also a request for no brows. Fortunately, I put these things on separate layers when I made the source PSDs. So I will make both things happen with an update.
As mentioned by Parris with a different link, I had already done one G2F with Macro. I used the tan option, so this one is not. I changed gals and this is Silje, and I also tried a bit stronger lights to see how much detail remained. I really like under the eyes, those lines add some nice realism, and of course the neck lines and pores do also.
The lip color is mine, I used nude to experiment with darkening it in Surface. Not in love with the contrast around the outer rim and the middle of the lip, I would blend that, but didn't want to soften the line details of the lips as that's what some of you are trying to see (what the product does.) So didn't do the postwork that I normally would do, only a little bit.
Really having fun with this product. The pores and the itty bitty eyebrow hair show great attention to detail. You rocked it Parris! (Even moreso when Genesis works.)
And LOVE the eyes- so beautiful! All the options are dazzling for those.
EDIT: Large render, be sure to CLICK to enlarge, CLICK AGAIN. When shrunk, it also darkened it a bit.
Two things...that close and you really notice the sharp bends in the hair. I've been using Subdivision and smoothing on a lot hair and it helps get rid of those sharp bends.
And the lips have a bit of a too sharp a transition.
Novica,
Thank you for all your compliments. You made me think of another tip related to your render. This might not work as expected if you are using texture maps other than mine for the lips but you could always make your own lip mask in that case.
If you look at the "Lips" surface after applying one of my presets, you should see a mask applied to Spec / Alt Mix Strength (100%), giving you a realistic transition for specular settings between skin and lip instead of the sharp fake looking transition that is typically created when the surface boundary between Lips and Face is used for the lip outline instead. So the tip is that you should always have the same Specular Strength and Glossiness for the Lips surface as the Face. Then if you want to gloss up or down on the lips only, change the settings for Alt Spec Strength and/or Alt Spec Glossiness and your lip edge will remain natural and believable.
I used the non SSS version and this image (800x1000) took only 1 minute and 30 seconds to render on my over 3-year-old I5. 2 Dist lights (on spec only) and UE2. Lights at quite low levels. Her eyes looked good but my point here wasn't to show them---I wanted her in sunglasses.
Very nice! Concerning light levels: you can turn down your fill (UE2 in this case) or turn it off. Because the default shader still accounts for SSS in a different way and it sets Gamma Correction on for just these shaders. Both GC and SSS ad light, color, and detail to shadows, so that means you don't need much fill to fake bounced light.
Also, if you want stronger shadows and more contrast or perception of depth, try setting your key light stronger (even 100% or more might not be too bright). MacroSkin shaders observe Conservation of Energy, which means you can get bright daylight specular highlights that don't burn out and take over your render. GC also prevents those ugly specular halos!
Agreed about the lips. (Thanks for the tips Parris!) The hair isn't a concern, I know how to do smoothing if I want to do that. It was used so she wouldn't be bald, nothing more.
Thanks and for the info. I tell ya, I hate those specular halos. I think there will still be a challenge for balance in images beyond portraits though. We'll see though it will be fun experimenting.
[btw, I replaced the above image with one with a higher shadow sample and posted before mentioning]
That is looking very good! Nice work on the shadows.
If you mean my MacroSkin Shaders might not match other elements in your scene that don't use Gamma Correction, there are several options.
1). You can turn on Gamma Correction in Render Settings and set Gamma to 2.2, and GC will shut off in the MacroSkin shaders (so GC doesn't happen twice). But then you may need to set the Image Gamma to 2.2 in the Image Editor of Color parameters (diffuse and possibly mapped reflection) for some of your other scene surfaces if things don't look right in your render.
2). You can leave Render GC off and use AoA's Ambient Light to target more bounce light to other surfaces that don't have GC.
3). You can turn down Gamma Correction (or off entirely) in MacroSkin shaders, if you want them to behave more like the other surfaces in your scene.
More options may be coming. I'm going to see what DAZ thinks about me making some clone shaders to add GC support to common shaders like DS Default, etc. Then you could select all of one type of shader that you have in a given scene and just apply the preset. That would be much faster and easier than going through the image settings for each surface.
Let me know if any of the options I presented need more explanation.
That is looking very good! Nice work on the shadows.
If you mean my MacroSkin Shaders might not match other elements in your scene that don't use Gamma Correction, there are several options.
1). You can turn on Gamma Correction in Render Settings and set Gamma to 2.2, and GC will shut off in the MacroSkin shaders (so GC doesn't happen twice). But then you may need to set the Image Gamma to 2.2 in the Image Editor of Color parameters (diffuse and possibly mapped reflection) for some of your other scene surfaces if things don't look right in your render.
2). You can leave Render GC off and use AoA's Ambient Light to target more bounce light to other surfaces that don't have GC.
3). You can turn down Gamma Correction (or off entirely) in MacroSkin shaders, if you want them to behave more like the other surfaces in your scene.
More options may be coming. I'm going to see what DAZ thinks about me making some clone shaders to add GC support to common shaders like DS Default, etc. Then you could select all of one type of shader that you have in a given scene and just apply the preset. That would be much faster and easier than going through the image settings for each surface.
Let me know if any of the options I presented need more explanation.
Those are terrific suggestions. Thanks!
Does Macro Skin have subsurface color maps that are different from diffuse maps?
I think I will purchase this product based on stuff I'm seeing here, especially about using it in Iray. Will a G2M version be coming? Has anyone tried a G2M render using the normal maps? I assume it would look "off".
Some tweaking in Octane...
Peter.
When I switched out the Macro Skin diffuse map with a different one (also V5 UV) then I got a visible line where the torso meets the limbs. When I then turn down "Shadow Mix Strength" the line disappears. Any insight on why this could happen and how to work around this?
Edit: To add, the numerical values of shoulder versus torso are absolutely identical - other than maps of course.
I have been playing a little bit with this product, the level of detail is amazing, the only thing I'd like to see in an update is bump/normal maps with no eyebrows.
Parris, do you plan to update it any time soon?
I thought I'd share a test render. Very impressed with the product and I'll play with adding LIE layers later for tan lines etc. I have been playing recently with using geometry shells for body hair which gives you the option to switch things on or off or change base textures.
http://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/65794/
Looks great and will try to get it but are there any other skin tones in the work like this? Or even a male version with different skin tones? I prefer my characters to be diverse as possible.
I have rendered http://www.daz3d.com/greta-the-old-hag-for-genesis-2-female
with the Macro Skin preset 02A Macro Skin SSS Tan All
Light setup from http://www.daz3d.com/beautiful-bends-for-genesis-2-female-s
with reduced MainDiffuseLight intensity to 75%
Daz Studio Rendering Time: 2 hours 7 minutes 46 seconds
Are there any possibility to avoid such oily/wet look especially on the face?
I have tried many different light setups and different presets of Macro Skin,
but always get such oily/wet look.
Thanks for any help.
I also attach my render settings.
I will look into this and definitely fix if it is broken. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Ok, here's some quick responses to this issue and other questions, asked since. Support for Genesis is broken and it's my fault. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience and am working on the fix now. With this update, I will also be adding no-brows and no-pubic-hair options.
Also, if MacroSkin is looking shinier than you like, try reducing Specular Strength and/or Glossiness (parameters in the Surfaces tab). I hope that helps.
I will look into this and definitely fix if it is broken. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Ok, here's some quick responses to this issue and other questions, asked since. Support for Genesis is broken and it's my fault. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience and am working on the fix now. With this update, I will also be adding no-brows and no-pubic-hair options.
Also, if MacroSkin is looking shinier than you like, try reducing Specular Strength and/or Glossiness (parameters in the Surfaces tab). I hope that helps.
OMG! Good news. Thx.
Ok, here's some quick responses to this issue and other questions, asked since. Support for Genesis is broken and it's my fault. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience and am working on the fix now. With this update, I will also be adding no-brows and no-pubic-hair options.
Also, if MacroSkin is looking shinier than you like, try reducing Specular Strength and/or Glossiness (parameters in the Surfaces tab). I hope that helps.
OMG! Good news. Thx.
You're Welcome. I submitted the update yesterday. I'll let you know when DAZ makes it live. Thanks for your patience. :)
Are you at all planning on doing one for the Genesis 2 males? Pretty please?
I take it as a very nice compliment that you are asking, and I am considering it.
Normally "yes" would be an easy answer because it makes sense. But to be honest, there are some deterrents for me at the moment. An important part of MacroSkin is Gamma Correction and it brings with it a lot of confusion and dissension. I kind of knew that going in, but did it anyway because I know it's good and I knew I could make it easier for folks and I didn't want another decade to go by with most DS users being unfamiliar with it. But right now, the friction is taking a bit of a toll on me. The other thing is that marketing doesn't understand GC and they don't see the value in it, so getting them to promote it is like pulling teeth. Still I am very pleased that many folks are liking this and discovering it's strengths once they get more familiar with it.
Er, sorry if that was more answer than you bargained for. :) Hey, on a more positive note, Genesis support will be working with the coming update, and with the no makeup and no brow options you should be able to do something fairly "manish" without much effort.
I completely understand. I'm creating content for another company and DREAD the release of any of it for fear of the "constructive criticism" lol Would be nice to have a skin set for the males that matches what you've accomplished here with this set.
I take it as a very nice compliment that you are asking, and I am considering it.
Normally "yes" would be an easy answer because it makes sense. But to be honest, there are some deterrents for me at the moment. An important part of MacroSkin is Gamma Correction and it brings with it a lot of confusion and dissension. I kind of knew that going in, but did it anyway because I know it's good and I knew I could make it easier for folks and I didn't want another decade to go by with most DS users being unfamiliar with it. But right now, the friction is taking a bit of a toll on me. The other thing is that marketing doesn't understand GC and they don't see the value in it, so getting them to promote it is like pulling teeth. Still I am very pleased that many folks are liking this and discovering it's strengths once they get more familiar with it.
Er, sorry if that was more answer than you bargained for. :) Hey, on a more positive note, Genesis support will be working with the coming update, and with the no makeup and no brow options you should be able to do something fairly "manish" without much effort.
Don't let the GC stuff get you down...
Question about macroskin.. can you use it with other textures or is it centered around the provided skin texture?
You can definitely use other textures with the MacroSkin shaders. To get the best results though, you should mimic the way that MacroSkin surface presets are setup by loading your custom Diffuse and SSS Color texture maps into the correct Surface parameters (see image).
You can definitely use other textures with the MacroSkin shaders. To get the best results though, you should mimic the way that MacroSkin surface presets are setup by loading your custom Diffuse and SSS Color texture maps into the correct Surface parameters (see image).
Nice..ok
Females are definitely not my forte... but I think she's quite pretty.
Given that the definition of forte is "a thing at which someone excels", I would have to disagree with you.:) I would say you are very good at this, even if it is not what you typically do. She is very pretty, and so different from my renders of MacroSkin. I'm very pleased to see your own originality coming through, because my hope is that people will easily be able to bend MacroSkin to their will and get lasting use out of it.
Great Job! Thank you for sharing.
Much thanks to all who have shared their beautiful and original renders. Also, I'm not loosing sight of the fact that I did not start this thread. Thank you, mtl1.