How to offset character shells?

eroguysensei

I have a character that has two separate shells applied to it, one making the character dirty from mud and the other wet from water. These two shells are in conflict with one another fighting over the same space. I know how to go to surfaces and offset one of the two items so they no longer clash with one another, but the problem is that when I try to offset or scale, both of the items move together as one item, thus making it impossible to offset them separately. How can I fix this issue so that I can offset correctly and thus use multiple shells on one character?

felis

When you say 'surfaces' I assume you mean parameters.

If you change the offset of one shell, to e.g. 0.2 cm, are you then saying that the other shell gets changed to the same value? Shells should be fully independant of each other, at least to my knowledge.

IceCrMn

Are the shells parented to each other to the character?

If parented to each other then yes,both will change when you adjust one.

If parented to the character separately then you should be able to adjust offset separately of each one

 

So,,,

Select character

Apply shell number 1

Select Character again (sometimes the new shell gets auto selected so need to make sure you've got the character and not the first shell selected)

Apply shell number 2

Now you should be able to adjust the offsets separately.

eroguysensei

felis said:

When you say 'surfaces' I assume you mean parameters.

If you change the offset of one shell, to e.g. 0.2 cm, are you then saying that the other shell gets changed to the same value? Shells should be fully independant of each other, at least to my knowledge.

 

Yes, I mean parameters, sorry about the confusion. There is an offset for surfaces and parameters. Both of them have the same problem. And also yes, when I change the shell to e.g. 0.2cm, the other shell gets changed to the same value. Well kinda. Its value does not change but it moves just the same.

I know that Shells should be fully independent of one another, but that is exactly my issue here because in my case, they are not, for some reason.

eroguysensei

IceCrMn said:

Are the shells parented to each other to the character?

If parented to each other then yes,both will change when you adjust one.

If parented to the character separately then you should be able to adjust offset separately of each one

 

So,,,

Select character

Apply shell number 1

Select Character again (sometimes the new shell gets auto selected so need to make sure you've got the character and not the first shell selected)

Apply shell number 2

Now you should be able to adjust the offsets separately.

 

I am aware of this technicality. No, my shells are not parented to each other, not even by mistake. They are parented to the character. I even tried to unparent one of the shells just to be sure but my problem remains the same, unfortunately.

crosswind

Better post a screenshot which may show the 'culprit'... It seemed that none of us in here ever experienced such an issue, as it doesn't make sense unless you selected both of the shells with Consolidate Properties - On... even if you Parented the shells from one another, that won't result in the issue either...

IceCrMn

Can you please tell us what you are using to make the mud shell and wet shell? If it's a store product we can look to see how they are making the mud parts.

If one of the shells is using displacement maps it might cause this.

If the mud shell is using displacement to make the mud clumps on the skin then it is probably making it extend past the wet shell.

 

I'm thinking it might be easier to make the skin surface wet and just add 1 mud shell instead.

Adding a top coat with low roughness ( 0.1 very wet - .48 damp) to the mud shell also if you want a "wet" type mud.

Can also place normal or bump maps in the top coat channel to add more realistic texture to the mud wetness. Just reuse the same bump and displacement maps that came with the mud.

 

I'm just guessing at what effect you want. Any info you can share will help.

eroguysensei

Sorry about the late reply. I would like to let you all know that I have fixed my issue. It's really not something I can explain easily for someone else with the same issue but what I did was use a custom script that automatically layers the shells correctly so they don't stand in the same space with one another. It's called "Shell Fix" and can be applied to a selected shell that needs to be fixed. I cannot provide a name nor a link to this product since its source is from a site aimed at adults only and I don't know how Daz feels about these things even if to help a fellow member of the Daz community. However, a little bit of googling around should eventually lead you to the right place, I believe.

crosswind

Okay... Meipe's script just automatically set Opacity of "conflict surfaces" to 0, so your issue did not come from shells themselves but some GeoGraft(s), i.e. GP or sth.  We did not thought of that as you did not mention a graft in your scene... and actully you can manually set Opacity of relevant surfaces to 0 as well... Besides, you may test -: if you delete all grafts in the scene, there won't be any issue from the shells as long as they have proper offset values.