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The problem is that out of the can, it's prebuilt to work incorrectly. Setting ID numbers by hand to prevent crosstalk? Lengthening render times when there's little to no gain at all in detail, at anything like an appreciable distance? Adding bizarre glows to the edges of shapes in low light or backlit conditions? Moire patterns in surfaces that can't be eliminated except by disabling SSS? How exactly do these represent enhancements to the user experience?
I'm going to have to disagree having done hundreds if not thousands of renders (nor am I alone by any stretch) with characters that are set up using the AoA. Rather they are set up for nearer images for the most part. I had very little issue with it really. And of course the ubershader and the SSS shader both include SSS and do not have that issue at all ever.
It's not 'prebuilt to work incorrectly'...it's more that there is little to no coordination between the multitude of vendors making the presets. Two vendors working on their own can end up with the same ID values and for them it will cause no problems at all. But if I get both products and load them...well, I could have a problem, because both IDs will be the same. Nothing is broken...
Glows at edges, etc are also not 'broken'...just an indicator that the settings are not what is needed for the conditions it's being used in.
Face it...presets are not a 'make art' button. They are nice if you are using them in the same/similar conditions they are created in...but if not then all they are is a starting point.
Also knowing when using the advanced features or not to use them is something that can only be gained through experience. A hint...no, they are not always needed.
All of this isn't to say that there aren't better/faster ways of doing skin settings (there are)...these two, Ubersurface and AoA, are just the two that are currently available...and are widespread enough to actually have presets made for them. It wasn't all that long ago that it was rare to find a character set, in the store WITH an ubersurface preset (the AoA shader wasn't around yet) and it was well over a year after the AoA shader hit the store that presets for it started showin up.
Size of the rendered image also plays it part. If I remember correctly, bigger the image - higher shading rate number you can get a way with. If your rendered image was 88 x 314 as the one you posted, you would probably need way lower shading rate than 0,1.
You can try my skin shader @ ShareCG. Tell me if that fixes it.
http://www.sharecg.com/v/84549/view/21/DAZ-Studio/3Delight-SSS-Human-Shader
Also, thats my 420 post... woot! =D
Yes, you've already stated your disagreement with my opinion upthread earlier. Thanks for sharing it a seocnd time, though.
The source of the problem (SSS vs. vendors) is somewhat secondary to the reality of the user experience, which is, in fact, suboptimal.
I'd be more open to the lack-of-coordination argument if I had not been subjected to identical ID numbers when using SSS-enabled models released by the same vendor, all of which were using duplicate ID's. Vendors are so uncoordinated that they can't even corred that problem in their own product line? Perhaps different vendors would improve the situation, or Daz enforcing stricter standards — but in any case, the failure is not on my end.
More odious is the fact that Daz appears to be so enamored of SSS that it is virtually impossible to purchase any G2 or G3 models that do not use it. As has been mentioned — and not just by me — SSS is not necessarily an ideal or even desirable option in many cases. It simply should not be this hard to avoid it if I jolly well want to.
I believe I mentioned earlier that I understand this. What I have been asserting, and this is a valid assertion, is that SSS is too bloody hard to work with in many cases for the results it produces, and the fact that documentation for it is miserable, particularly when it comes to troubleshooting, is a direct cause of discussions like this in the forums. None of this may be laid at the feet of the user. The user is not responsible for half-cocked coding, and the user is not responsible for shoddy documentation.
I know! So why are they rammed down our throats? Why is it impossible to avoid having those features on by default, and why is it so difficult to disable those features with relative ease?
Aha, thanks for the link! And congrassulations on the post number. :D
"I know! So why are they rammed down our throats? Why is it impossible to avoid having those features on by default, and why is it so difficult to disable those features with relative ease?"
Why did they use the AoA? Because it gave the most realistic skin textures available at the time (now we have Iray) and because customers wanted and expected it. For a while characters had both a version with an older/less advanced shader and the AoA but it was pretty clear what customers wanted and expected as far as character settings went. If you want one of the less advanced shaders simply select the surfaces you want to change and hold down the ctrl button while you apply the ubersurface or default shaders that are included as part of studio. If however you insist on using the AoA and want to make more automated changes you might want this: http://www.daz3d.com/subsurface-toolbox. I think though you, will be happier if you simply shift the surfaces to a shader with less advanced surfaces.
'I think though you, will be happier if you simply shift the surfaces to a shader with less advanced surfaces.'
Indeed. This is what I've been doing with renders where detail is not particularly crucial. I'll consider the Subsurface Toolbox; thanks for pointing it out.
I had this same problem a few years back when I was still using 3DL to render [now using Reality to Lux]. Are you using the UberE to light the scene? I wish I could remember but I think the shading rate for the UberE has to be fiddled with when you are doing smaller renders or figure/s that have SSS and are at a distance.
Does anyone else remember this?
Oh, that's interesting; I don't believe I was using an uber anything, but I'll keep an eye out for it in the future.
Then it just might be the Shadow Bias of the light you are using. Try setting it higher. I think the default Daz Studio lights are set at 1.0.