Character Texturing - Page 5 - Simply Maya User Community

# 61 13-07-2006 , 06:47 AM

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Really nice going man!! Great work, not too sure about the tattoo but thats just my preference LOL!

Great work Jay

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# 62 13-07-2006 , 06:57 AM

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Thanks Guys

gster: never trust a woman with a tattoo!! LOL

LOZ: Yeah thats not right, I know what you mean tho...LOL

Jay

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# 63 13-07-2006 , 12:03 PM

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hey J, nice work.

I read through most of the thread, and was wondering what you might know about SSS.

I just finished modelling Kurt's Orc Head and decided to make my own skin texture. And then embarked on creating a human looking skin. I spent a few days using maya rendering, and then began surfing the net for information on MR rendering. I wanted to get that great look from using FG, Caustics, and Global Illumination. But I didn't have even the slightest clue how to set-up to acheive proper results.

While trying to figure this out I came across information on Sub Surface Scattering and acheiving realistic human skin. I then created a sss_fast_skin shader, tweaked the settings based on the information I had gathered, but wasn't getting the results I wanted.

After more searching and testing, I finally got somewhere. But I was having major problems with my bump map. Days went by and I finally found information regarding properly adding a bump map.

I think you have done an excellent job painting with your texture. And I realize that is most of whats needed for creating a really good skin. But the combo of painting and sss would be the best.

Sooo. . .I noticed in your thread here, you mentioned most people just use the default settings (I know why they do after going thru all this), and I am just wondering if you have any tips you can lend using sss. I have a personal project to do and really want realistic skin for the characters. Much thanks in advance.

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# 64 13-07-2006 , 12:56 PM

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looking great jay ...or should i use your mysterious code name from long ago ...hehhe

as far as women with tat's I agree dont trust them lol

love how realistic she is looking by the way I never did see in the thread if she had a name ? sorry weird like that

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# 65 13-07-2006 , 02:05 PM

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Thanks Guys

Anm8tor, I'll drop a line later as Im at work right now

mmoore: hehe yeah that name still exists on other forums...

_Jay

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# 66 13-07-2006 , 02:31 PM

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Hey Jay, can you explain something to me...

How did you go about separating the UVs on the fingernails? I have a model that I tried to UV out, and paint in PS, but the fingernails were all messed up.

Would it be possible to see your UV layout?

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# 67 13-07-2006 , 04:10 PM

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its a good start.

you have to give it more tones than this. especially the face. i would give it a cooler tone,
the hands right now look like a single color with no details.
maybe this style fits the look you are trying to acheive.
waiting to see the final version.
keep going.

Image dump

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# 68 13-07-2006 , 07:12 PM

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Thanks for the comments

Vlad: Well, possibly. Definately not going for a 'style'. Looking at my own hands, Im not a sun lover for sure, but being of an 'average' white skinned dude the tones of my hands are pretty much as this, infact these have more color believe me, once the renders are done with the bump and a little 'xtra' it will all be good. Maybe its the GL throwing you off, dunno, it looks fine here on the actual render and texture (4096k)

esion: The nail uvs arent separate, all part of the fingers, heres the uv

user added image

Anm8or:The orc job was yours I remember it. Aah the old SSS dilema. First of all disregard any MR or SSS shaders right now, primarily you really need a good basic understanding of light set ups, ie the good ol' trusty 3 light set up: Key Light , Back Light and a Fill light. This set up along with some good light placement and good texturing will hold you in steadfast especially if you are having trouble as you say you are, jumping to MR regardless of its 'Greatness' is not the answer. Have a look around at alot of MR renders, whats the first thing you notice? I'll tell you - dull overcast, blue hazy days!! Thats pretty much the standard of the majority of MR gimmick lovers, theres no basic grounding in shading or lighting. Good models and textures have been ruined in some cases. What they need is a good contrast, look at all the coolest renders out there, tons of contrast, and very striking.

I did a 3 light set up a few months back on a Character model at work, set the shadows to 'soft' raytraced, First question was wow, what settings in MR did you use? My answer was: it was done in Maya Software, no MR, with a blinn shader and maps on the color, bump, diffuse, spec ecc and spec roll off and also refelected color channels, so I didnt need MR and still fooled the audience.

Needless to say MR is very cool once you grasp it, as are the SSS shaders.

My advice would be to either go away and buy Jeremy Birns book on digital lighting and rendering, its excellent and covers the basics through to advanced and/or buy the Mental Ray dvd from Digital Tutors which again is outstanding, as it teaches you the basics of MR and again to advanced features.

But above all this look around you generally at everything from plastics to skin and take note of how they work. It takes a while for stuff to sink in and also takes alot of practice, Im completely self taught, Ive no college training at all or university, though it may have been easier theres no easy way except stick with it and suck up all the info you can. Oh and if you get really stuck just ask...

Best
Jay

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# 69 13-07-2006 , 07:21 PM

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Hmm, well thats exactly what my finger nail UV looks like too...any suggestions on how to paint them as well as you did? Mine ended up splurging over onto the fingertip a little, and it just never looked good...thanks for the pic though.

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# 70 13-07-2006 , 07:28 PM

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Esion

Does the uv resemble the actual models' edge flow? Remember its not always the tidiest uv that make the difference, its the way its created in 3d space that will define the result as well, if the edges are real close together on the model then then they must resemble that in 2d uv space in order to achieve a nice result. The uv must pretty much match the model basically except its flat of course.

Im using BIG textures so my uvs are blown up to 4096 in PS as well

Dont forget you can always move the uvs after to get the paint to fit. Theres no set rule that you cant tweak after. Sometimes you may need to, it can happen...

Cheers
Jay

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# 71 13-07-2006 , 11:19 PM

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hey j. . .thx for the reply. i would love to see a frame of the piece you are referencing regarding Maya Rendering.

I agree with you about MR. It is a bit over used improperly. Like you I am all self taught. I have been in film and video for a very long time (longer then I am gonna admit!). I also have 2 kids that I most likely will be putting thru college, one of em for film or games, so going to school myself is not an option. So I listen and watch and try new things. I get discouraged often. But perseverence is an awesome trait I continue to hone.

so...what types of lights are you using. In a studio, if I was going to light a human I would start with a typical 3 point setup. But Maya is a bit different then a studio (mostly the instant results a studio provides), and so I am not always certain which light I should be using. I started with spots, then directional, and now MR area lights. Do I add falloff, or change penumbra. While I can decide what I like, just because I like it does not mean it is the correct way.

also, the maps you are using. does that become just a trial and error? or typically, do you know what each map should look like? to me your hands look good as far as color. But it needs bumps and speculars and . . . also how much does the texture size matter or is it really determined by the final output. . .for instance if I am creating for video, a 2k map should be fine?

sorry about another long reply. . .but the information I get off forums is usually as good as anywhere. So talking with knowledgeable friendly people is a great pleasure.

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# 72 13-07-2006 , 11:24 PM

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mmoore: hehe yeah that name still exists on other forums...

Originally Posted by

ummm, i only realised a few weeks ago that people were using mmoore than one name..??? not sure what to make of it, good cop bad cop??

anyway, after, three restarts trying to reply to this thread im short of words, (and having just completely reinstalling it AGAIN this week), except to put my two cents worth in to say she is beautiful and an excellant piece of art.

do you animate as well as you model and texture, should people specialise with maya ?? maya is a bit of a beauty and the beast and im starting to think if i ever am going to texture like this i would need to focus primarily on that.

hand painted in photoshop, how long did that take over all, from head to toe and all.

i just got a second hand quadro 4 but havent put it in yet, i think radeon has been the problem, always 'your video card' errors.

(might change my name.. user added image

but you'd still know from the accent user added image

when you say /big' textures, what does that mean, resolution or file size?? or what? :blush:

take it easy and life will be easy

Last edited by mirek03; 13-07-2006 at 11:28 PM.

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# 73 14-07-2006 , 01:37 AM

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All right Jay, I figured out my problem...when I unwrapped my UVs, I didnt unwrap parts of the finger tips under the nail, so hence when I paint them it paints the tip of the figure...thanks for the help...

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# 74 14-07-2006 , 06:43 AM

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Anm8or

Usually I use Spotlights, as a film unit or studio would. Falloff is good though not always, its dependant on the situation as is penumbra. A directional light is merely a representation of the Sun, I find alot of people use more than one of these and thats really not what its for.

A good light to to use is the Volume light as you can light interiors with one very nicely and achieve a nice intensity falloff by just scaling the light, giving that darker look in the corners of a room as in real life situations.

Mirek, I do a bit of everything though I love to really build, texture, rig and pose the characters, Im no animator for sure, but if the occasion calls for it...

As for texture sizes, depending on what I need to see or the audience, they'll range from 512 thru to 4096dpi, so small textures to very big ones. Usually the big textures end up at 27meg once finished, bumps and spec always a bit smaller as they get converted to greyscale images but again depending on the detail needed they'll either be 8 or 16 bit, and sometimes the color maps will be 32bit if I need to include alphas.

Hope this helps

Jay

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# 75 17-07-2006 , 03:53 PM

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Jay, fantastic work, and really appreciate the time you take to explain things. My question for you is how did you do the eyebrows? are they painted? or did you use fur/hair? I have been playing with fur for the eyebrows, mapping boldness, polar, and custom equilizer attributes, but while not too bad they don't look nearly as good as yours. I was thinking to attach the fur to hair to make the fur on the edges move towards the middle of the eyebrow and thus appear more realistic.

I did take note of the eye lash tutorial you referenced and will be using that technique on my own human model. But i would certainly appreciate some hints on the eyebrow.

Thanks again!

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