Human Skin WIPs and Tips (Everyone feel free to post your own skin WIPS here too)

[Facial Deluxe]

Yo Leigh,

IMHO :

Interesting. yep the bump is very strong. The veins are too rough, perhaps a little blur for them will help (perhaps it's my lcd monitor, but they appear a lil' too purple).
I think you use a lil' specs on the skin, did you try replacing it for some reflections? with an hdr env, could look greater.
I would then vary the reflection (slightly) on veins/wrinkles and buttons (which are my favorite). Same thing for the mouth, if you want it too look more wet...
I wonder if irises are not too small (not sure).
I would recommend to work also the lighting, I thik it's pure white at the moment, perhaps explore something more real, mixing 2 or 3 areas with soft tints.
SSS, G2 style, could be a way (perhaps later in the wip). Or a camera incidence Translucency to make the light turn.
Hey wanna see the ears !!

[Facial Deluxe]

Allowing myself to polute you with a test I did for ears
http://mapage.noos.fr/olivier.jeannel/head4.jpg
Gradient Weightmap on luminous channel.

[leigh]

Thanks for the feedback Facial :thumbsup:

I'll work on all those points you mentioned :) Thanks!

Those ears look fantastic! You are using G2, aren't you? Dammit I really need to get that plugin too :p
Right now, my guys ears are just kinda plain, but I will do something cool with them soon :)

I actually meant to mention that this guy is supposed to be middle aged, hence the very spotted and slightly ages skin. He reminds me of someone, but I can't think who :surprised

Here are a few updates - just been tweaking some things here and there (particularly the bump map). Also added a gloss map, and added more spec and a bit of gloss to the forehead, as the skin is pulled tighter there, and is often therefore shinier...

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/oldman_02.jpg

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/oldman_04.jpg

I'll try out the stuff you suggested, and post an update a little later :thumbsup:

[twinkletoes]

hey leigh,

any chance you could "show us your maps":applause:

p.s. thanks for the quick response to my questions the other day:thumbsup:

[Facial Deluxe]

Yep using G2, but for the ears trick, I'm not sure G2 has something to do. I'm telling you, weightmap+luminous is good fake :)
Love those wrinkles under the eyes (poor guy, must have suffer).
Brows are superbs, painted aren't they ? eye brows are little all in the same direction.
Love the buttons on the chin.
Perhaps post a wire too, not sure of what's bump and what's mesh... And of course the textures...

[Ayreon]

Hey Leigh,

Great work. I do think that the bumpmap is a little bit rough, like the pores in the tip of the nose. If your going for a middle aged man, you should losen the skin a bit.
Oh, I don't mean to hijack your thread, but here's an example I did a few months back. It's a slightly older man. Here I've used G2 for the skin, but I only have the demo version. What I did was open the example scenes that contained the female head, and copied g2 settings, imported my own model in the scene and gave it the G2 setting. That way you can render your own model with G2 setting, you can't change the settings themselfs, but it give's some interesting results I think. Maybe you could give that a try?
Hoping to see an update soon! Good luck!

Ayreon

[Nemoid]

U really are the texture goddess!!:applause:

IMVHO : there is too much bump , very sharp, and veins at the side of the head, next to eyes are too much bumped.

eyesockets are a bit too red. a sick person can have them like that. but a normal person, don't. also the bump at the bottom of eyesocket is too much, or better, seems not to follow the right shape in some way.
in his chin i don't like these orange spots.

i like very much the personal look u gave to the texture as well as the model, so i think u will have no problem when the WIP is finished.
did u use SSS or its only texture?

[yog]

My main overall impression of the colour map is that it is way over saturated and the colours are too contrasty where they meet.

I think cranking up the subtlety setting might be in order. Reminds me more of a game character or theatrical make-up where you need to convey features from a distance.

It looks like you've just started on the bump map, but you might also want to give that a whack with the sbtlety stick as well :wip:

[Infinity3d4life]

NO suggestions for ya Leigh ( because i suck at texturing ), but rather just a little question.. I have just started to try to paint my human head textures, and i'm having BIG trouble painting things like the eyebrows, pores, and stubble.. I have a little Wacom tablet that i could use if i had to do all of that by hand, but i was wondering if there was any specific filters that you use in photoshop that give you a basis in which to start?? the eyebrows and little stubble are giving me fits...:surprised

[Emmanuel]

Hi, Leigh: sorry, but it looks unrealistic, both the model AND the texture.The colours look wrong, the lighting looks not so good and the model
has a few issues like the strange forehead, the too large eyes...
The colour map looks strange around the eyes, like he was in a boxing ring or something.
The bump must be much smoother than this, the pores and freckles are way too strong still.Overall it looks like a bad B-movie rubber mask, there is still no life or character in it.
The lower part of the model is fine, but the upper part isn't quite there yet, the ears look good, though but need a more reddish tone and probably a stronger spec/gloss map.
Looking forward to the next version !

[Zarathustra]

THANK YOU, Leigh, for starting this. I tried to rescue that other thread at the end, but too little too late.
How are you mapping? (UV, Cyl, Sphere, etc.)
When you do a gloss map, is it detailed like a spec or bump or more general like an alpha map? I'm guessing the latter, right?

FD, please explain the gradient on luminous. I recently tried something similiar on the translucency channel but I think yours is better.

This is great! This is the thread I wanted
:applause:

[kurv]

As always Leigh, simply amazing. I think it looks very realistic.

Keep it coming :) :thumbsup:

[Facial Deluxe]

Originally posted by Zarathustra
THANK YOU, Leigh, for starting this. I tried to rescue that other thread at the end, but too little too late.
How are you mapping? (UV, Cyl, Sphere, etc.)
When you do a gloss map, is it detailed like a spec or bump or more general like an alpha map? I'm guessing the latter, right?

FD, please explain the gradient on luminous. I recently tried something similiar on the translucency channel but I think yours is better.

This is great! This is the thread I wanted
:applause:
Well I can't check it right now 'cause it's rendering heavy scene at the moment but for an ear, select point around the edge of the ear (where light is supposed to diffuse) create a New Weightmap(Ears_weight), make adjustements to have a soft weight.
Then in Layout, Surface editor, Luminous Channel, Gradient weightmap (select your Ears_weight) set it to 100% at 100% and 0% at 0% and -100%. Tweak a bit and there you are.

[hrgiger]

I agree about the bump being a bit strong, even for a gruff looking guy. The skin also looks quite dry. I also agree about the colors being a bit saturated in areas. I think the magic lies in the subtleties.
Could we see the bump map or the color map Leigh? Perhaps it would be easier to see what could use improvement.
If I was to guess about the bump, I would say that maybe there's a bit too much contrast. It gives the appearence that the skin is quite rough. It might do to add another layer with some softly blended grays to soften the overall texture.

[Zarathustra]

OK. That's what I did, FD, but in Translucency instead of Luminous. I'll give it a go.

[policarpo]

Originally posted by Facial Deluxe
Well I can't check it right now 'cause it's rendering heavy scene at the moment but for an ear, select point around the edge of the ear (where light is supposed to diffuse) create a New Weightmap(Ears_weight), make adjustements to have a soft weight.
Then in Layout, Surface editor, Luminous Channel, Gradient weightmap (select your Ears_weight) set it to 100% at 100% and 0% at 0% and -100%. Tweak a bit and there you are.

Hey everyone...what happens if you stick a Surface Thickness gradient on top of a Weight Map gradient in the Luminosity Channel?

I get a crash in Layout every single time...

the Surface thickness goes from 0 to 100% with a distance of 1m.:annoyed:

[Zarathustra]

What version are you using? I haven't upped to 7.5c yet.

[Facial Deluxe]

Dunno' I'm still on 7.5 too

[policarpo]

7.5c.

i think my configs are shot...the Surface Thickness crashes layout everytime.

maybe i need to reboot.:annoyed:

[MrWyatt]

Here is my contribution. Did this one year ago as my first head ever. textures extracted from about 8 photographs. didn´t really finish it though. the bumpmap wasn´t finished either.

me (http://virtual-wyatt.tripod.com/index/gallery/gui_a.jpg)

[Facial Deluxe]

Here's another old sample I did while ago. There is a little translucidty on the ears (no luminous) with a huge spot behind the head...http://forums.newtek.com/discus/messages/2/15120.jpg

[ub52]

Originally posted by policarpo
7.5c.

i think my configs are shot...the Surface Thickness crashes layout everytime.

maybe i need to reboot.:annoyed:
Just a thought. Didn't Proton say you had to turn on raytrace transparency in the render options panel. I know you were using surface thickness in the luminosity channel, but it may just be a bug.

-ub52

[policarpo]

Originally posted by ub52
Just a thought. Didn't Proton say you had to turn on raytrace transparency in the render options panel. I know you were using surface thickness in the luminosity channel, but it may just be a bug.

-ub52

Doh....that's right...thanks. :D

[digones]

Hi everybody,

I can't figure out how Strike make his skins... any idea?


an example:



http://perso.wanadoo.fr/designpicture/walldemon001.jpg



see ya,

[Zarathustra]

Hey, check this out. It's REALLY nice:

http://vbulletin.newtek.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=33022#post33022

[Facial Deluxe]

It's on the front page of cgtalk:rolleyes:

[Remi]

Hey Leigh....I would say the bump is just a little strong...the colors are good though....and I think if you gave him some funky hair he'd look alot like christopher walkins....IMO....good job though Viggo lova:thumbsup:

[Zarathustra]

I rarely go to the frontpage of CGTalk, Facial. I just come right here.
It was new for me. :shrug:

[leigh]

Wooohoooo! Good to see this thread is being constructive - thanks for the tips everyone - I'm busy trying out everyones suggestions, this is a really fun WIP :D

And to EVERYBODY - feel free to post your skin WIPs here too, I want this to be a really constructive thread for everyone to share ideas and work, so let's all become experts at skin texturing and shading! :thumbsup:

Update from me coming soon...

[Jake]

Here's something I'm working on at the moment.

[Zarathustra]

Jake, I think you're putting the wagon before the horse. There are some issues with your model that you should address before texturing. Your texturing is off to a good start, though.

[Geta-Ve]

well... first off i want to say that the problem with photorealistic textures is......that there isnt any problem.......we can make photorealistic TEXTURES already.....the problem lies with the model and the render options (add in all those smart words...and advanced words that i have no clue about)

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS in ANY and EVERY model i have ever scene with relistic textures i can ALWAYS tell a fake by the nose.... no one can ever get the nose right..it is always too smooth.....to round.....to perfect.... just look at any model that has photorealism to it and look at the nose........ you see it dont you?

i think that we have mastered everything except the nose..... lol.. like ears we can do those with that translucency thingy mabober... the hair, no problem there, eyes as easy as 1, 2, see, forhead and cheeks...come on we accomplished that years ago...... but the nose................ALWAYS too smooth....always too fake.......the textures can be as perfect as it gets......but the nose always makes it fake.......i dont know why........i personally think that we have all over looked it...?


also i have a question, wouldnt it be possible to take a bump map of a face head or whatever and basically boolean it into an actual model to create the actual bumps? i dont really know what im talking about....but it just seems like a good idea right now.....

anyhoo those are my thoughts....... great model/textures leigh..

[hrgiger]

Originally posted by Geta-Ve


also i have a question, wouldnt it be possible to take a bump map of a face head or whatever and basically boolean it into an actual model to create the actual bumps? i dont really know what im talking about....but it just seems like a good idea right now.....



THat would create an impossible mesh to work with. It would be hard to read not to mention edit. Plus, there would be a lot of smoothing issues cuz as everyone knows, booleans are far from perfect. Besides, you generally will never be close enough to a face to see a profile of a skin pore, so bump maps are the best answer.

And as a sidenote...

Did you guys(and girl) know that they didn't use SSS on the final fantasy characters? I know everyone disagrees on the impact of FF for CG photoreal humans but I just thought it was fascinating that they reached the level they did and did not use SSS. Apparently, the techniques for SSS were started after the final look of the characters had been established and Square was too far into it to change up.

[Mwai Kasamale]

Trying To cheat SSS No textures yet only a vague spec map
a work in progress as always. Trying to cheat G2

http://benkas.homestead.com/files/Skin_Shading_Test2.jpg
http://benkas.homestead.com/files/Skin_Shading_Test4.jpg
http://benkas.homestead.com/files/Face.jpg
http://benkas.homestead.com/files/Face2.jpg

[ambassador]

Heres some stuff I was experimenting with about 5 months ago. These are created as "shading" models, with a focus on shading, no textures applyed other than a low level procedural in the specualar to break it up. I use these as starting presets when creating skin, and then paint all the maps for whatever model I apply it to. 1 light no radiosity:wip:

http://www.firedragon.com/~lwg3d/pix/2003/05/22-625523.jpg

[ivo D]

cool thread.. im going to do skin to myserlf.. ill post it here when i get to it ;)

[leigh]

Wooohooo, good to see this thread working nicely :D

Lots of good comments coming, and some really interesting points. Geta-Ve - heheh it's true what you say about noses, that's really funny! I never really thought about it, but you are kinda right LOL
Although maybe it's just because even in real life, noses are really funny looking things if you think about them.

Guys, when you post something that looks really cool, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give a litte background to how you made it - that's the point of this thread :)

Jake - apart from what Zarathustra said about your model needing a little work, I think your colour map is off to a nice start, but there are some weird issues with your textures overall - it might be your spec map - it's causing your colour map to become very overblown and desaturated too... The lighting is also a wee bit bright, in my opinion. Perhaps lowering the intensity of the lighting could improve it. Your colour map also needs some saturation adjustments here and there.

digones - I know that Strike tends to use mostly procedurals, but that looks like some handpainted maps there, because of the slight stretching. I'll drop him a line and get him to contribute to this thread ;)

Mwai Kasamale - I really like the way the forehead of that guy looks in the third pic - it has such a nice redness to it. Did you use the same settings in all the renders?

ambassador - now those look really interesting! Did you use any special plugins for that???

Anyway, just for the hell of it (and I guess this one has been a long time coming hehehe), I decided to finally make Viggo Mortensen in 3D!! :D
Here is what I have so far...

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_01.jpg

Only a few hours work so far (modelling included). Some things worth mentioning:

- the funny little line above his lip is a scar that he has. Once I have a spec map, this should be a little more obvious.

- I know the lips look a little tarty hehehe. I'm fixing that so he won't look quite so much like a hooker.

- I'm going to be doing him up like Aragorn, so I will be adding long hair, and the rest of the body at some point too.

I'll post an update of the other character I am working on (the one I posted earlier in this thread) soon as well....

And everyone - keep those WIPs coming :wip:

[ivo D]

my wip will come.. but.. leigh could you get some screens on here.. of your material.. editor.. with some explanations about what kindah maps you need for realistic skin..

difuse.. bump , spec, and fallof.. or not? and wher to put it etc.. im a noob in texturing heads.. :P

[Zarathustra]

Guys, when you post something that looks really cool, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give a litte background to how you made it - that's the point of this thread

<ahem> Miss van der Byl, where's your info? I posed a question earlier and now ivo, too.

I'll have some stuff in a few days - gotta show various places where you can take a pulse for a video. I'm trying to make the guy pretty real, but he won't be photoreal. Render times are kinda rough, so far.

[digones]

Originally posted by Leigh

digones - I know that Strike tends to use mostly procedurals, but that looks like some handpainted maps there, because of the slight stretching. I'll drop him a line and get him to contribute to this thread ;)



Excellent! :thumbsup:

I think Strike's Skins are awesome! (did you know if he uses G2 or just fake SSS?


sorry for my english...


thanks!

[ivo D]

what is g2 if i me ask? and if it is good.. wher can i get it ? of topic i know.. but its for skin right?

[leigh]

<ahem> Miss van der Byl, where's your info? I posed a question earlier and now ivo, too.

Hehehe, I said post info if you post something "really cool" LOL
I'll post my image maps when they are done :)
The only sad thing is that I am going to have to watermark my image maps this time - and I suggest everyone else do the same if they post images maps, as I had some textures stolen recently :annoyed:

So rest assured, I will be posting the textures as soon as they are done ;)

[leigh]

Ivo D - G2 is a plugin for surfaces and lighting for LW. It's made by Worley (the people who make Sasquatch).
It gives you (among other things) sub surface scattering for your surfaces, which is really great for skin, and other translucent surfaces :)

[Facial Deluxe]

Originally posted by Leigh
The only sad thing is that I am going to have to watermark my image maps this time - and I suggest everyone else do the same if they post images maps, as I had some textures stolen recently :annoyed:

So rest assured, I will be posting the textures as soon as they are done ;)
Who's the bastard ?

[leigh]

Oh, some guy. He even posted the images here on CG Talk :annoyed: I'd rather not talk about it though, as the matter has since kinda been cleared up and I don't want to haul the skeletons out of the closet again...

But I sure learned a lesson.

[Labuzz]

My WIP, maybe to much of specular and the SSS isn't very obvious. There some color and contrast manipulation in Photoshop. 2 lights in the scene: area and point light.
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/borhan.berthet/head.jpg

[digones]

hi leigh... I know this is a realistic "HUMAN" skin thread..... ut can you help me with ?this (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64069) (realistic SNAIL skin! hehe)


thanks!



:thumbsup:



BTW... excellent WIP, Labuzz!!

[leigh]

Oh man, Labuzz, that is COOL :D
What a great character! And your textures so far are great :thumbsup: The lips and the cheek closest to the camera look particularly good :)

[Facial Deluxe]

Excellent Labuzz !!!

[leigh]

Well, Viggo is coming along quite well... Been making some modelling adjustments. Been so absorbed in this WIP that I haven't had time to get any more renders of the other one...

I seriously need to get some hair on him soon... this bald head is starting to bug me :p

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_02.jpg

The antialiasing here is quite low, and I rendered it on a dark backfround, hence the dark outline on the one side of the face...

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_03.jpg

[Facial Deluxe]

I like the overal feeling of the skin, knowing of course it is still a wip and that you're going to make it evolve.
I find the mesh a bit sharp, but could be the style.
Other than that, IMHO, it is time to work on some lighting and find a less virtual background.
Why Viggo, what does he have that I don't ?

[Jake]

Zarathustra--

Jake, I think you're putting the wagon before the horse. There are some issues with your model that you should address before texturing. Your texturing is off to a good start, though.


Thanks for the reply. Can you elaborate on these issues?
I haven't done the inside of the mouth yet, the eyebrows are not done, and I still need to do the eyelashes. Was there something else that struck you?

I got a little bored with modeling, so I started working on some textures. Unless I'm working under a deadline or something I generally don't worry about any wagon/horse issue. Sometimes, I'll go back and change my geometry based on how things look textured.

Leigh--

I'll tinker with the lights. If I'm reading you correctly--you think the colors are undersaturated? I mean apart from the light quality. Thanks for starting the thread.

[leigh]

you think the colors are undersaturated?

Yeah, overall the face looks undersaturated, in my opinion. However, within the colour map itself, there seems to be some perculiarity with the saturation - some parts seem a little too saturated, while others are less :surprised

[Facial Deluxe]

Originally posted by Jake

I got a little bored with modeling, so I started working on some textures. Unless I'm working under a deadline or something I generally don't worry about any wagon/horse issue. Sometimes, I'll go back and change my geometry based on how things look textured.



I understand you, oh yeah. But the only problem is that if you start working with UV, it becomes a mess each time you'll add/delete geometry....

[leigh]

Posm posted a link to this tutorial (http://www.androidblues.com/shadetut.html) in the texturing forum, and even though it's for Maya, it's a really interesting read :)

I recommend checking it out!

Originally posted by Facial Deluxe[/i]
I like the overal feeling of the skin, knowing of course it is still a wip and that you're going to make it evolve.
I find the mesh a bit sharp, but could be the style.
Other than that, IMHO, it is time to work on some lighting and find a less virtual background.
Why Viggo, what does he have that I don't ?

Thanks for the comments :)
Yep, the model is kinda sharp in places - but believe it or not, this guys face has some really sharp angles :D
I don't want to concern myself toooo much with a background just yet - I'm rather going to concentrate on the model for now. When it's done, I'll make a nice LOTR style environment for him :D

[leigh]

Another update on my Viggo Mortensen model...

I've started adding some spec to it :)
Also added some Sas fur for the beard.

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_04.jpg

And...

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_05.jpg

Will add some more details to the textures - veins, etc once I have had some sleep :)

[EDIT]

Added some more tonal detail to the colour map.

I also used the BRDF shader in this render, with the spec colour set to blue. It softens the skin really nicely, but the only problem is that it then cancels out the spec map I painted. Once I have had some sleep, I am going to experiment with rendering out seperate passes, and colouring the spec like that...

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_06.jpg

[Mangled Poly]

Originally posted by digones
Hi everybody,

I can't figure out how Strike make his skins... any idea?


an example:



http://perso.wanadoo.fr/designpicture/walldemon001.jpg



see ya,

i could be talking out of my ass here but this looks like its baked.. meaning he applied the base textures then added the procederials and shading, radiosity, all that stuff to achieve this final result but then that is only a guess.

[Facial Deluxe]

Worked on this tonight :
http://mapage.noos.fr/olivier.jeannel/head6.jpg
There are some stretching aroud the cheeks, and bumpmap+refmap are the same as colormap.
3 Areas ,Tiny G2, HDR texture environment, no radiosity.
Around 1mn15s on dual xeon 2.6Ghz:p

[Nemoid]

Hey Leigh!!
i like so much the Viggo WIP:drool:
(Even if i like women )

very good! why don't u use it for the skin WIP??
its surely a better model than the one u started this thread.

[Facial Deluxe]

Reducing the distortion a bit, but it's quite hard. First symetry doesn't work in uv unless you move the UV of -50% so that the U axis is at 0, (but you have to change your map then(Map to -50% too))
And, unless I'm wrong, there is no Smooth function directly appliable to UV. Any infos someone ?

http://mapage.noos.fr/olivier.jeannel/head9.jpg

[wgreenlee1]

Oh.....Thats looking really good Facial D!!

A tad too much spectacular,makes him look really greasey...but you are on the right track with this one.
:thumbsup:

[Facial Deluxe]

Yep yep, I'm just tooo fond of HDR reflection, 'cause there is no specs or gloss. But you'r right I should lower that a bit:)

[wgreenlee1]

Maybe add some area of influence with gradients or something just to calm them a bit...but very excellent stuff.
Leigh is gonna freak when she see it!:)

[Facial Deluxe]

---> re edited it, see pic above, I've updated.:p

[wgreenlee1]

Oh man...you cant get no more perfect on that one.
Very cool!



Ok,this is frontpage stuff here folks!
Proton,MikeRB get this up on the frontpage!Pronto!:thumbsup:

[dobermunk]

Without having a uv endomorph ala meni there is no direct smooth that I know of. :-(

I end up tweaking by hand. A smooth UVs brush would be very cool.

[Labuzz]

Newtek must fix the UV distortion problem ( Smooth interpolation of UV in subpatch ). A smooth Brush ( à la Artisan) would be welcome for uvs too. I havn't used UV for my wip head just projection. Maybe you should try the UV to Morphmap script with a projection ( there's some info on this script on the Newtek forum)

Nice work Facial. The spec pass is a little bit strange especially in the front region. There's to much of refle in the eyes ( window shape) for me.

[Facial Deluxe]

I have no idea of the script you mentionned. I did generate a smooth Morph to apply my uv, but no script.
Problem is once you're done, you're done. No way to smooth back unless point by point.

Yep, the ugly white spots on the front are in fact the colormap (photos) original (real) reflections. I didn't manage to get rid of all of them. Hopefully the photograph I'm working with will next time turn around the model (instead of asking the model to turn) so that the light will be homogenic on both front and side view :)

[Nemoid]

Originally posted by Labuzz
Newtek must fix the UV distortion problem ( Smooth interpolation of UV in subpatch ). A smooth Brush ( à la Artisan) would be welcome for uvs too. I havn't used UV for my wip head just projection. Maybe you should try the UV to Morphmap script with a projection ( there's some info on this script on the Newtek forum)

Nice work Facial. The spec pass is a little bit strange especially in the front region. There's to much of refle in the eyes ( window shape) for me.

a friend of mine used the smooth tool with the airbrush in an endomorph of his model to solve this kinda problem. then unwrapped and made the UV. its not a "regular" method, but i think it works!!

[Nemoid]

Facial D your work ROOOCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he also has a great personality as a character.:beer:


:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Facial Deluxe]

Thanx a lot Nemoïd:) I've updated the previous pic (again) I partly got rid of the ugly spec on the front area, also following Labuzz advice I lowered the ref on the eyes too, I think it's better.

[Chewey]

Originally posted by Facial Deluxe
Thanx a lot Nemoïd:) I've updated the previous pic (again) I partly got rid of the ugly spec on the front area, also following Labuzz advice I lowered the ref on the eyes too, I think it's better.

Looks pretty good but the spec is too high especially on the nose unless you intended his skin to appear greasy. The reflection on the eyes need to be fixed as it appears to be too large and postioned odd. The eyelids interior region would benefit from a tinge of pink instead of the dark color that currently appears a bit like eye liner makeup.

[dobermunk]

He looks sweaty.
I suspect he's kicking the ol' pigskin around ;-)

[Facial Deluxe]

Hi chewey, thanx for the advice :) I'll post sample of the photos I used, man his skin is really wet, might be the heat of spotlight or something else (like intensive smoker-skin). The black around the eyes, guess what? he had some make-up ! true ! In fact I used 2 sets (front+side) of 2 characters (the make up one is a punk (truth)(at least his hairs)),
I'll try to remove it if possible, although it gives an intense look IMHO.

Dobermunk u guessed :)

[Zarathustra]

Is this thread "realistic human skin" or "realistic human heads"?

Here's a reminder that human skin exists in other places, too:

image01 (http://magicanimation.com/EMS_MA/images/RadialArtery01.jpg)
image02 (http://magicanimation.com/EMS_MA/images/RadialArtery02.jpg)

I put links because I don't know how to show more then 1 image in a post. They're from the video I mentioned earlier about pulses.

With photos as a base, I painted my maps. I'm chomping at the bit to texture up the head I made for this series for my own usage after seeing Gerard's head AND the MASSIVE progress FacialDeluxe made with his head since that initial post a week or so ago.
Oh yeah, I have G2 (sorry, folks). There are 6 area lights. I'm a boob with lighting, so that's probably too many (Left, Right, Front, Back, Ground and Sky).

[Facial Deluxe]

:eek: You did put veins and bones inside the arm ?? Crazy! result is huge !!!

Quickly experimenting expression:
http://mapage.noos.fr/olivier.jeannel/head8.jpg
Time for me to leave this for a lil' moment, got to work (you know the serious one)

[ivo D]

oke..all you advanced people/one offtopic question here srry..
caus you all know the answer ,and read it to i hope:)

i have a head to.. and want to unwrap..

i use max

i have relaxed the ears..relaxed the nose.. than cylindre uvw map.. unwrap.. etc.. but still.. it stretches at some parts..and i just cant get it out.. :(..

so how do you guys do it?

could i detach the side of the head.. relax it till its flat..and do the same with top back and front?

and than ad a planar map and unwrap.. will that work.. ?

and than put it on the copyd mode.. with planner.. or cyl? i dont know:*(

plz give me a hand out

[Facial Deluxe]

Don't know how Max works, but with LW you create a cylindrical UV of "relaxed" (very smooth endomorph) version of the head. And you're done. There are mostly always point to tweak at sensible area, no magic recipe in fact.

[ivo D]

thanks.. yea.. ill just relax the whole head.. little.. shitty do..to define wher what is than.. but it will be oke..thanks:D..

ps: kindah weird its lightwave here..but half is max user on this thread.. maybe we should let this post be moved to texturing

[Nemoid]

Originally posted by Facial Deluxe
Thanx a lot Nemoïd:) I've updated the previous pic (again) I partly got rid of the ugly spec on the front area, also following Labuzz advice I lowered the ref on the eyes too, I think it's better.

Better! better!:bounce: :bounce:

Lil' old classic illustrator trick: to fit the eye reflections, put the refexion near to the pupil.(not the iris) wich have to be quite black,so that there is a little contrast between the two colors. the refex must only partially cover the pupil. got it? hope this can help u.
also, i'b make iris general color darker than u made. maybe also i'd make a different color, perhaps green or blue-green to give something strange to his eyes. try it!

using quite complenmentary colors gives always interesting results.:thumbsup:

[Grub]

Fab texturing there Leigh, and Mr.Mortensen is developing well.:thumbsup:
Also, thanks for that tip Facial Deluxe, on the weight maps for the ears.:)

Here's a link to a cool example of fake sss in action without any plugins, you can download an example file to play with too...

http://www.presetcentral.com/forums/4/443/index.html

[leigh]

Facial - that is looking totally sweeeeet!! :love:
I really love the skin quality you've got - although it's kinda sweaty looking, it really has substance - good job :thumbsup:
The only problem with it now is that the hair area looks the same, when it shouldn't. But I am sure you'll fix that soon enough. Great work!! :D

Grub - thanks! :D I'm seriously low on sleep right now (only had 4 hours sleep last night), so I need to catch some more Zzzz before updating him ;)

[Grugi]

great work from everybody :thumbsup:

maybe I will post my own the next days!

[leigh]

Cool Grugi, looking forward to seeing it :)

Here is a small Viggo update from me - still using the BRDF shader to create blue tinting to the specularity. I've also done some very slight Colour Balance adjustments in Photoshop to these renders.

It's really weird texturing a specific persons face - Viggo, for some reason, has no blemishes on his face whatsoever, and it's really bizarre having such perfect skin in my textures - I usually add lots of little spots and things :p

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_07.jpg

[oxyg3n]

Hello Leigh,

Could you please elaborate for me on how you use the brdf shader on the skin. I have yet to use it but was under the impression it was good for giving the illusion of thick varnishes on surfaces like wood.

Thanks for you time,

[leigh]

Hi oxyg3n :)

Yeah, the BRDF shader is usually for surfaces with multiple specularity layers, such as lacquered surfaces as you mentioned.
However, in this case I am using it purely to colour my specularity, because you can set the colour of the specular highlights in the shader. If LightWave had specular colouring, I'd use that, but since it doesn't, I am using the shader to do that.
So all I have done is open the shader, and set the specularity to blue :)

[Facial Deluxe]

Yo Nemoid,
I will try the reflection you said, didn't know about that one, thanx for the info:thumbsup:
About the eye color, I had that idea too, I should give it a try ASAP.

Hey Leigh,
Thanx a ot for your kind words :)
Much better, I like the subtil veins, are there some under the eyes ? I thin k I see some.
About the skin of Vigo, I think there must be som blemishes, but as it is cinema or photos, he might have some make up or something. I would feel free to add some subtil buttons and others...
Beware of BRDF, it's known for incompatiblity issues with transparency things (SSS maybe), I would recommand Taron's Hotspotter, could send u if u wish.
If mine is really wet, yours could be a little more wet(nose, eyes, cheeks), I would suggest some reflection (perhaps with HDR) they give good results.

About my head, Yeah the hairs are mapped, don't know if I'll go for some Sas, a bit tricky and heavy to animate. Perhaps a cool cap will do it (lazy lazy)

[wgreenlee1]

Originally posted by Leigh
Hi oxyg3n :)

Yeah, the BRDF shader is usually for surfaces with multiple specularity layers, such as lacquered surfaces as you mentioned.
However, in this case I am using it purely to colour my specularity, because you can set the colour of the specular highlights in the shader. If LightWave had specular colouring, I'd use that, but since it doesn't, I am using the shader to do that.
So all I have done is open the shader, and set the specularity to blue :)



You might try a color gradient over the top of your UVs also...
You can do it pretty easily with spherical textures...
You can get as glossy or as much falloff as you wish...usually based on light incedenses...since spec is usually due to light sources anyway...

Just another way of doing it...

I might be thinking of something differant also...:thumbsup:



http://64.176.179.124/spec.jpg


This is with no spec what so ever.....just color channels....

[Nemoid]

Originally posted by Facial Deluxe
Yo Nemoid,
I will try the reflection you said, didn't know about that one, thanx for the info:thumbsup:
About the eye color, I had that idea too, I should give it a try ASAP.


i'm happy you liked my tip.

about the color, its a matter of trying if it fits with your image. since i noticed it was really astonishing but a bit "milk&coffee" general color, i think that a more goldish or slight blue-green iris color should fit and break the whole image appearence giving to it that bit of weirdness it needs to make people's jaws fall down.!!!!!!!!!!!!! :drool:

[ivo D]

well ill join in with texturing.. just started.. just DIFFUSE ONLY
no bump or anything.. still have to do lots of work to the difuse so.. and the skin is to dark.. have to adjust contrast and so on.. and remove the brows.. and do the ears and neck.. forhead more etc.. but well its my first:D

[leigh]

That's a good start, Ivo D :thumbsup:

Apart from it being a little too dark though, it's also a little too red/orange to me :) So you might want to make some adjustment layers (if you're using Photoshop) and adjust the hue :)

Nice model too, by the way - it's cool to see a slightly more unusual looking character, apart from the sleek, slender, plain faces we tend to see all the time on forums :)
Looking forward to seeing how your textures progress :bounce:

[ivo D]

well eej its mee :) wmehehe.. im not quit normall ..whehehehehe:bounce: :buttrock: :rolleyes:

but yea ill adjust the color.. dont have to make an extra layer for that do.. i dont know the the keys exactly.. but ill name them tomorrow.. its quit easy.. i guess hehe ;)

glad you like it..its my first..believe it or not

[leigh]

Thanks for the suggestions for my Viggo WIP guys :thumbsup:
Wgreenlee1 - I'll give that a whirl asap ;)

Facial - I took your advice and added some reflection mapping with an HDR environment - what a difference it makes! Wow :D
It really brings out the skin texture on the speccy parts - the nose and the forehead particularly.
And yeah, I think I will add some blemishes to his face like you said. You're probably right about makeup and stuff - I bet he has at least one or two spots on that gorgeous face ;)

Very cool, I'm really happy with my progress so far... I've been making more tweaks to the model again - notably the area under his lower lip. I've bulged that area out a little more, and brough his beard right up to just under his lip, just like the real thing ;)
I'm still trying to get the nose 100% perfect - Viggo has a really weird nose :surprised

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_08.jpg

Next up I want to do some translucency for the ears... And then to solve his hair, which I have started modelling.

[Julez4001]

Originally posted by Leigh
Hi oxyg3n :)

Yeah, the BRDF shader is usually for surfaces with multiple specularity layers, such as lacquered surfaces as you mentioned.
However, in this case I am using it purely to colour my specularity, because you can set the colour of the specular highlights in the shader. If LightWave had specular colouring, I'd use that, but since it doesn't, I am using the shader to do that.
So all I have done is open the shader, and set the specularity to blue :)


Leigh...why don'y u get Taron's Hotspotter plugin for coloring spec.

[ambassador]

I find that if I block out viggos eyes with my finger the skin looks better, I suggest you work on the eyes some more or white them out untill your skin is finished because thats what people focus on at first, so they need to look more convincing than they are now.:wip:

[Tstokes]

Here is the Inside LW 6 Cover girl I rendered and softened in photoshop.

Tom

[samartin]

That is v. nice indeed TSTOKES, maybe a bit too specular around the eyes but v. nice...

[leigh]

That's a great render, Tstokes :thumbsup:
I personally like the specularity around the eyes - I think it adds nicely to the realism.

Leigh...why don'y u get Taron's Hotspotter plugin for coloring spec.

I have Hotspotter, but I actually have got better results with the BRDF shader :shrug:

Okay, I worked on Viggo's eyes a little, added more reflection to them... does this make them come more alive? :)

I forgot to switch on some of the bump maps layers when I saved the bump map out for this render :rolleyes: So that's why the veins and things are missing... I'm rendering another one now.

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_09.jpg

[oxyg3n]

His eyes look much better now. Also, it looks like his eye lids might be to red/pink along the edges. On my monitor it looks like he has alergies and was rubbing them alot or was smoking some of the hobbits leaf.

Is the reflection in his eyes an that of an image or are you using area lights?

[ivo D]

leigh: ..yes ther i stil lsomething with your eyes.. have a good look.....

see it... i do... it has something strange but you dont know what?

well it is the iris etc in the eyes.. your mesh goes to far to the back.. i can like see how the mesh goes inword o the center of the eye.. yes it has to give a look of depth but not so much..

you can take a look at the max forum ther is an eye thread ull see it right away.. its being read often now..

it will increase your skin quali.. lots ;)

[mercuryrex]

Leigh

Your Viggo model is really starting to come along now.

The eyes look better, and since you used a reflection map, it toned down the harsh sheen it had to some extent.

But if you don't mind, I'll add a criticism if it's okay.

You suggested to another poster that his skin tones on his model looked a bit too orangey,..but I feel that your Viggo model also suffers from a too orangey look.

If you scroll up and down between your own Viggo, and the Inside Lightwave 6 head, you'll know what I mean.
It may be that Viggo's colours are maybe a tad vivid...The Lightwave 6 head's colours look more subdued and natural.
I think that the colour of Viggo's lips is definitely too vivid.

Leigh, you improved really well with your fake SSS effects,..why don't you put those fake SSS gradients on to Viggo to see how it turns out? It might look pretty good.


I've got to say that the Lightwave 6 model is a beautiful render. It's very good especially as the bumpmaps are hardly visible, yet it still has quite real skin.
It might not quite be photoreal,..but it has some sense of reality about it.

[Facial Deluxe]

Testing testing...
http://mapage.noos.fr/olivier.jeannel/head10.jpg

[ivo D]

make it more grey:).. the eye.. the left one..than its good.. and now it has a dark edge around it.. you could make that more subtile..and thanits good.. i think.. difuse texture wise..the rest is up to you.. hdri works great

have a look at the max.. eye forum

[Chewey]

@Facial Deluxe, Maybe you need to put a fly on his nose in that shot on the left?
;)

I think it might look interesting if you lowered the ambient light so your shadows would have a bit more contrast in certain areas. i.e inside nostrils and under the chin. Also his eyebrows are curving down the sides a bit too much maybe? The eyes also appear to have too much glow and spec.

hth

[ivo D]

well i made a little update.. made the skin collor correct.. and so on..added a little bump..stil have to bump and spec te lips and the rest.. no specular yet..tearduts will be done soon to.. some dri skin ther and faloff i think.. pff ill see, new to this

*low quali jpg 20 k mz now:(*

[DarkLight]

I just want to say this thread is fantatic. I'm picking up a lot of tips here :)

I would like to see some of the texture maps that are being used here.

Leigh,

When you release your book, are you going to be providing example models/textures that illustrate each chapter in the book?

[leigh]

Originally posted by DarkLight
Leigh,

When you release your book, are you going to be providing example models/textures that illustrate each chapter in the book?

Of course! :D

ivo D - that's coming along nicely :thumbsup:
Now get some blue tones in there ;)

[KenM]

I'd been using these to build up a procedural foundation. My idea is to do a head wrap bitmap texture, and separate UV maps/closeup layered bitmaps for the eyes and mouth:

[ambassador]

Here is a more recent "shading model" than the ones on the third page. Those other two were internally lit with an area light, and both use the bdrf shader. This shading model uses g2 and is externally lit unlike the others, no radiosity. the only map I left on the model was the bump.:wip:

http://www.firedragon.com/~lwg3d/GD/2003/05/26-935463.jpg

[ivo D]

lol,funny head:D

but leigh.. : why blue light ?.. i have never seen someones face emitting blue light.. only with soem tl lights. or xeon light.. not soemones head.. or skin i mean.. hhmm weird..

i dont get that...

[dobermunk]

Here's my go - no maps yet, just procedurals.
Taking the G2 route.

[ivo D]

..ther is so much bump in ther dobermunk..
but well i saw your other work.. think you know :)..

[dobermunk]

:p
Right now I'm happy I even got that far.

:annoyed:
wurk

[ivo D]

aah srry :(..

*hug* ?..
well here is mine again to.. eyes..kindah wrong dont know what yet.. just tweakin.. and tryig a little..

added some spec to the skin..and another bump.. combination of 2 bump maps now.. one overal.. and one for just the plane skin..very soft

lol..and im crying.. :P.. lol.. caus i hate those eyes..gr have to fix them :) now still have to figure out how to get hdri in that skin.. to work along with the specular

[Zarathustra]

Ok, I took some "me" time and started texturing my model a bit better. Still have to texture the ear and add a lot of stuff, but he's on his way.

[Chewey]

I've gone back to an old unfinished head project and thanks to this thread I've decided to have a go at texturing it just for fun. This guy is intended to be a bronze statue of a 4 eyed japanese warrior god. Hence the funny helmet hair which will obviously get a new lease on life as I progress onward with this. (something about that helmet reminds me of Spaceballs, hmm...)

So here's the starting point with base colors and geometry for now.

[Zarathustra]

I made some test shots with Monte Carlo:

Monte Carlo (http://magicanimation.com/test/MC-Head-&-Eyes.jpg)

So far I haven't used photos. I'm trying to make him "from scratch".

[Facial Deluxe]

Originally posted by Zarathustra
I made some test shots with Monte Carlo:

Monte Carlo (http://magicanimation.com/test/MC-Head-&-Eyes.jpg)

So far I haven't used photos. I'm trying to make him "from scratch".
Quite impressive for a no photo mapping :thumbsup:

Hehehe that's cool everybody is posting his head :) We're on for a looong thread :)

[ivo D]

im in love with your bump ;)

[free]

i have modeling some faces but still dont know how to textur them
i want to learn how to texture faces
are there any tut for photoshop or some other programs how to do that
and are there any tut how to put them on the object
pls help me

[spinpatrol]

i c dead people

[rolhionjs]

This thread is great ! :)

Leigh : Fabulous work on texturing ! :beer:

I'm constantly working on skin settings, and i still didn't find my own way.. I mean the way i need to reach.

Anyway, i'm working on a wip actually, and this thread is fitting exactly :)

Here's my start for the head i have made sometimes ago, but i'm modifying to obtain a new character, and a skin training as well.

It's far to be perfect, and especially on modeling, but i'm working... i'm working... :wip:

http://www.designpicture.com/images3Dversion/malehead01.jpg

[leigh]

Hey Strike - great WIP :applause: That's a cool model! :D Looking forward to seeing what you do with it... I really like the eyes so far.

Now to catch up with the rest of this thread from the past day and a bit...

[digones]

Hey, Strike! you're the guy I was looking for.... tell us about your technique, please!



PS: You should post your maps >> H E R E << (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65338) ;)



..... regards from brazil

[leigh]

Woooohoooo! Update time!!

Okay I know the hair looks REALLY CRAP, but it was a quick 5 minute Photoshop job, just to check that I am on the right track, and I must say that I am VERY happy with the likeness! :D
I still have some minor issues to work out on the nose, and the lips and the eyes (which are a little too reflective I think), but other than that, I just need to figure out a way to make the hair just like this... I am going to have to model it, but it's going to be a real bitch...

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_11.jpg

[digones]

I like it! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Chewey]

Looking better and better Leigh!:thumbsup:

btw, have you plans on creating the rest of his lower body?
:eek:

[leigh]

Thanks guys :D

Yeah Chewey - I am going to model the entire character! I have to create him in his full glory, hehehehe.

[leigh]

Here is another view with the ultra-crappy Photoshop hair..

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_12.jpg

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering - the beard looks different now because I actually added it to the texture maps. I am still obviously using some saslite on it as well, but I added beard to the painted textures so that I could control the thickness of his beard, as it is pretty uneven :)

[Angelus26]

Looking very nice, viggo looks way better with long hair and the beard than without.

[Dancing Monkey]

Leigh ROCKS!

[leigh]

Thanks a lot, glad you guys like it! :D Here is a quick little comp I did just for fun:

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_13.jpg

Hehehe I really need to make some proper hair now :p That Photoshop hair looks really cack! :wip:

[dark_lotus]

Leigh - THE NOSE THE NOSE, it stinks (sorry i couldn't help it)

The top of the nose looks really awekward, but the entire thing is very cool. I can only begin to imagine what your going to do to the poor guy when you rig him *shudders*.

Heh!:p :D

[Jake]

Leigh--

It's looking really great! I'm happy for you:airguitar .

Did you use saslite or geometry for the eyelashes?

[Viper]

Whoa! That look incredible! Very nice stuff :)

I think there only a couple of things that could be tweked in the geometry....more importantly the nose. I think it could use a better attention on that part... It's too thin perhaps?

Anyway, keep up the good work :)

[mercuryrex]

Leigh

I thought you'd missed my post with my suggestions..Obviously you hadn't, as the skin is no longer orangey and looks close to perfect colourwise. The lips look much better too.

Much more natural...it's improved quite dramatically.

Really nice looking picture there Leigh...Look forward to see how far you go with it.:)

[ivo D]

damn leigh your lucky.. , you can get away with making planes.. and ad texture.. blaarg.. ill have to make allmost little spicky hair.. dont know how to do it yet..but cant modell it i guess..

but.. how do you ad the blue light on the char?.. caus ill try it to..

[akademus]

great work so far. Maybe little fixes on eyebrowses, they are kinda thin for a male, like a new beard. He defintly has life in it.

so far so great

akademus

[rolhionjs]

Wow ! Leigh : fantastic work ! The beard is really looking awesome ! Saslite is definitly ruling !!
The composite shot looks totally realistic ! Now work on the hairs and my god you'll have a master piece ! Great great great !!!!!!!! :beer: :buttrock:

digones : hehe :) About technics i used : I create my maps under photoshop. Nothing special to say about except i use a 1600x1600 Uvs (bigger is crushing my PC because of memory), and i paint pixel by pixel on it, using in some part real pictures of my own skin, and then using the stamp to duplicate some parts of the skin. The main thing on my rendering is lightening : i use a skydome (blue color with 100% luminosity, and 100% diffuse) and one area light on the right side (red color) and then activate radiosity. I have then my actual render, but it's far to be perfect. About sharing my maps : hmmm... i'll see what i can do ;)

[Turri]

My Head WIP:

For the Skin i used G2 Shader

http://www.turrican.gamevoice.de/galerie/3d/kopfneuneu.jpg

The Textures are handpaint in Photoshop.

Comments pls

[JONO]

hey, just saw this thread now.

its great.much better than when you made my face back in the day.
i guess when you are in love with the person you are modeling it works better.

haha time for me to model janet weiss
cheers leigh

[wgreenlee1]

Originally posted by Leigh
Thanks a lot, glad you guys like it! :D Here is a quick little comp I did just for fun:

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_13.jpg

Hehehe I really need to make some proper hair now :p That Photoshop hair looks really cack! :wip:


:thumbsup:even with the photoshop hair! :thumbsup:

[free]

i want to learn how to texture faces
are there any tut for photoshop or some other programs how to do that
and are there any tut how to put them on the object
pls help me
pls help me
pls help me
pls help me

[Facial Deluxe]

Leigh, that is excellent :) Love the hair too

[rolhionjs]

always working on mine :

http://www.designpicture.com/images3Dversion/malehead02.jpg

[Facial Deluxe]

Nice, love the vein.:)

[rolhionjs]

compositing render, and bleaching the image under photoshop :

http://www.designpicture.com/images3Dversion/malehead03.jpg

but i can't find the right settings to obtain the artquantic look...

[wgreenlee1]

WOW!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS SO FREAK'N COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Facial Deluxe]

No time to seriously rework it, I changed the colors, could you guys tell me what you think of it ? http://mapage.noos.fr/olivier.jeannel/head12.jpg

[ambassador]

facial, nice "skin shading", it feels like skin ;) . leighs and strikes still look like painted plastic in the "shading area":wip:

[rolhionjs]

Hey nice colors ! Very nice render :) Or post prod ?

Here is mine again :

I used saslite for the hairs, but i think i need to work again...

http://www.designpicture.com/images3Dversion/malehead04.jpg

[Facial Deluxe]

Hey thanx both you :)

Well it's composited in photoshop, blur on ears and back head + overlay + color adjustement.
If the skin itself is not too bad, I think I totally missed the modeling. It's too "action joe" face. I did it with no ref, that's where I failed. Next time I should use photos as ref to have something convincing...

[leigh]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I'll have an update later :)

Originally posted by Ambassador
leighs and strikes still look like painted plastic in the "shading area"

I blame it on my lack of G2 :cry: hehehehe... Yeah I need to figure out some way to give the skin more depth... still playing around with gradients and stuff.

OMG Facial - that is looking INCREDIBLE :applause: He is sooo scary too :eek: Totally awesome work :thumbsup:

Strike - oh man, this thread has gotten sooo much cooler since you joined in :D That is looking totally cool too! I love that vein - it's modelled, isn't it? Great great great work as usual! The only crits I can make is to comment on the (somewhat stretched looking) pores in the bump map :insane: That comp is great!

Turri - you need to paint your textures with a little more thought and care - right now it looks a little rushed (sorry if it isn't). Try spending a little more time building up your tones, and giving more thought to the placement of tonal changes - right now, those reddish smears across his cheeks and under his eyes just don't look quite right. And the stubble also looks a little smeary and rushed. But it's a decent start.

[leigh]

Just a quick update from my side again, highlighting my main problematic areas at the moment (damn that nose!!!)...

I've figured out exactly what the problem with the nose is, it's top is too narrow and pinched, and the nostrils need to be softer along the edges...

Going to fix up the face for once and for all and then start on that hair...

I added a photo of him for comparison, so that you can see exactly where those problem areas are :)
I think my one looks a little too happy as well - Aragorn should ideally always look a little worried hehehehe.

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_14.jpg

[oxyg3n]

@Leigh - Eversince you added the hair I can see the resemblance much better. I cant wait to see what your fixes to the nose will do to it. Also, it looks like the shading under his eyes is off. Maybe it is the model and it is picking up light where it shouldnt.

oh, when you refer to shading, are you talking about the lighting on the model of the texture? Sorry for the dumb question:)


@facialdeluxe - The thing that bothers me the most is not you skin but the model. Something with the eyes look off, like they arnt in the skull deep enough or maybe they are to slanted or something. THey are kinda creepy!

Well, everyone keep up the work, soon Ill start texturing my character and then Ill post his texturing results here.

Maybe someone can answer a question for me.

I have been told that you should be completely done with the modelling before you start to texture. Well, what if you think you are done, but then decide to improve upon a section. Can you still add/remove geometry? How far can you go?

I am asking this cause I have never textureed a character before and I keep seeing things in the model that I want to improve or change and I never feel like it will be finished. I am anxious to take a stab at texturing him.

[ivo D]

looking great..!!!

but yes the nose is to narrow..at the top also..and the eyes are kindah close together.. and they have to much of a curve.. his eyes are allmost straight. :rolleyes:

[Julez4001]

Yeah the eyes are little closer than the picture....
Sucks cause it may screw up your texture maps if you didn't use uvmap....:thumbsdow

[akademus]

root of the nose should be litlle wider and probably more flat, that should give an impression of more distance between eyes and i believe that nostrills don't correctly conect to a face, they are just more curved on a photo. This is definitly model problem.

Left iris (on the image) isn't round enaugh, i don't know did you do this for a purpose, but it's very unlikely a human iris. Upper eyelashes should be darker, lower lighter. This will contrast eyes more. Lower lash skin should have minor difference compared to eyeball.

Here is a good example:

http://www.firedragon.com/~lwg3d/wip/2003/03/09-240357.jpg

These are just details, overall model-texture is great

cheers,

akademus

[rolhionjs]

Hey Thanks alot Leigh ! :)

Well about the shader, i was wondering, and did different tests...

Can you tell me about the one you like, and what i have to improve.

Choose one, two, three or four :)

http://www.designpicture.com/images3Dversion/malehead05.jpg

[oxyg3n]

I like no 1 the best. I dont have any ideas at the moment though for improving it, except that you are missing the vien that is in the forehead in no2 and I like it. Can you put it back?

[leigh]

I also like Number 1 the most, although they are all cool in their own ways... I agree though that you should put that vein back into the first one though :)

[rolhionjs]

didn't forgot it... just the lightning is doing that on this one... :shrug:

[Julez4001]

Originally posted by Facial Deluxe
No time to seriously rework it, I changed the colors, could you guys tell me what you think of it ? http://mapage.noos.fr/olivier.jeannel/head12.jpg

FD..I think it has too much spec on the yes and reflection too....
tone it down. Also Try modeling a few brow displacements..his forehead just too smooth to the eye sockets. A little cheekbones would help too..its something to casta small shadow..face is just too smooth.

[ambassador]

Originally posted by oxyg3n
[B
oh, when you refer to shading, are you talking about the lighting on the model of the texture? Sorry for the dumb question:)
[/B]

mainly the surface attributes, not the maps though, such as the amount of spec, gloss, translucency, reflection, ect, the actual shading taking place, how the light effects the surface.:wip:

[rolhionjs]

ok I go for this one : a mix between the number one and 3

http://www.designpicture.com/images3Dversion/malehead06.jpg

[Feanoro]

Hey all,

Heres mine so far, needs alot.
What do you suggest texture wise?

Also, what is SSS? and how does one use it?

Cheers

[ivo D]

oke.. im stuck with my skin.. could you help out anyone..its here.. srry for the link.. but dont have time to post it again..

:(..im not a lightwave user but..well .. nobody is answering in the other forums grr

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=615094#post615094

[wgreenlee1]

Well,I'm no expert by far...but you realy need you lights working with you for transluscents to work well.
Thats my experience,others may differ...

[JONO]

hey leigh, i was looking at your last post. brilliant work.
you said your one was too smiley, you are right but it not really the mouth its his eyes.your eyes get too thin toward the outside.only slightly but it make him a bit girly gigly.

ps, did you touch up the beard thickness areas in photoshop cause i dont remember being able to use density maps in sas-LITE

[Facial Deluxe]

Oxygen ad Julez,
Thanx for the input, I agree the modeling sucks. I think I should or start another or modify this one on real photos references.

[leigh]

Feanoro - it's a decent enough start, but you need to pay a little more attention to your colours - they are looking a little odd. Right now it looks a little too much like a clay sculpture. You need a lot more variation as well, colourwise.
What is causing the blotchiness in your renders?? Is it low quality radiosity? :surprised

Oh, and SSS is sub surface scattering. In short, it's the phenonemon that we see in translucent substances where light is absorbed, some of it is reflected back, while some of it is scattered within the surface, causing it to become almost lit from the inside. That is why skin can appear to almost glow. You need special shaders (G2, Ogo Hikari) to simulate it in LightWave.

Jono - hey skank! (I must get my sister to phone you, she's being a poes...) But yeah, with Saslite you can't alter the density (which sucks), that is why I added the beard to the texture. In fact, there is hardly any sas hair on there - it's only there so that the edges will appear hairy, when in fact the majority of the beard is actually pure texturing ;)
And yep, you're soooo right about the eyes! I'll fix those now.
By the way, when are you coming to visit :cry:
Hehehe we watched that episode of League Of Gentlemen the other day - the one that you had on DVD - we'll have no trouble here! I thought of you :p

[digones]

Originally posted by .::STRIKE::.
digones : hehe :) About technics i used : I create my maps under photoshop. Nothing special to say about except i use a 1600x1600 Uvs (bigger is crushing my PC because of memory), and i paint pixel by pixel on it, using in some part real pictures of my own skin, and then using the stamp to duplicate some parts of the skin. The main thing on my rendering is lightening : i use a skydome (blue color with 100% luminosity, and 100% diffuse) and one area light on the right side (red color) and then activate radiosity. I have then my actual render, but it's far to be perfect. About sharing my maps : hmmm... i'll see what i can do ;)

Thank you VERY much, Strike! That's exacly what I was looking for! :beer:

PS: sorry my delay! hehehe :)


keep up the good work!

[Nightwing]

Wow what inspirational (and educational) work from all of you! This thread has showed me what can be done, but more importantly, how far behind my own stuff is....gotta keep working :)

I'd post my own WIP head but it's still rather poor, so I'm working to get it to a better level for now....

Originally posted by Leigh
Jono - hey skank! (I must get my sister to phone you, she's being a poes...)

Damn can we say that? haha! I wanted to call someone that on the boards just last week but figured it'd get blocked, silly me :)

By the way Leigh, Facial and Strike....really awesome stuff you're posting here.

[rolhionjs]

Well this time testing some shaders to simulate subsurface scattering. I used weight maps on my translucency channel to keep some transparency on some areas like ears, nose, lips.

I used an old model without textures for this render (don't have the last one at my job, and did this one during my pause) and i think i'm gonna keep those settings for my main character.

http://www.designpicture.com/images3Dversion/malehead07.jpg

Well, i'll see about it in one week after my holidays :)
I'm gonna bronze on some mediterranean beach for somedays :)
Keep doing great works guys and girl ;)

See you all soon :)

[ivo D]

STRIKE: .. that is way to much translucency.. i think
the lips allmost have non just a little..

try and test it.. let someone stand in front of a desk-lamp with his head from the side.. ,it aint much.. its just the nose etc.. and the ears,, but dont forget.. its allmost only the ears.. wher really light passes through..when you see someone.and that even aint always the case

[leigh]

In the interests of contributing something that actually demonstrates the purpose of this thread (ie learning how to texture skin), I have decided to show the colour map from Viggos head that I have done so far.

Sorry about the naff watermark, but I am a little possessive of this texture right now - as selfish as it sounds, I am kinda protective of some of my textures :hmm:

However, I hope that showing this will be of some help to some of you :)

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_skin_head_col.jpg

Obviously this is just the colour map at this stage of the process, and will still undergo some changes.
This is using a cylindrical UV map that I edited - I eliminated pretty much all of the stretching on the face and sides of the head. The very top of the head and parts of the neck still have a bit of stretching problems, but since they will not be visible when the character is finished, I didn't bother to fix those.

You'll notice that the colour is quite bright and saturated - remember that on my actual model, I have lowered the diffusion down a fair bit, so that it doesn't look so saturated in the render.

I really hope that this is of some help to those of you who are wondering how to go about creating your colour maps - as you can see the kind of tonal variations that I have created :)

With the exception of the hair at the top of the head, this texture is entirely handpainted with a Wacom.
The beard I made using some custom brushes I made in Photoshop. Custom brushes rock :xtreme:

[policarpo]

where is my clone and healing tool. :twisted:


thanks Leigh! I want a signed copy dammit!:buttrock:

[digones]

awesome leigh!


that's what I was talking about on that old thread...


:thumbsup:

[leigh]

Glad you liked it guys :D
I'll post a new one when I have an update ;)

[leigh]

Hmmm... no updates from anyone else? :cry: Come on guys!!

Well, I've spent the last few days trying out different hair modelling and texturing methods - what a horrible task it has been! I've tried out sooooo many ways now, and none of the "usual" ways worked – they just lacked volume, and looked cack when rendered.

So I've opted instead to just model loads of hair tendrils :D
The poly count is getting a little crazy, but hey, those tendrils sure look fine :cool:

Obviously still needs some more tweaking - I want to add more tendrils along the edges, so the hair is a little boofy. I also want to make the bangs on the side a little more wavy. Also need to actually make a texture for it, once I am happy with the modelling itself.

Been making some changes to the textures as well, and also minor modelling changes. I've changed the eyes a bit, and also the nose. Still not 100% happy with the nose... but it will get there eventually.

As for the textures, I added some gray into the beard, and also more minor tonal variations to the skin itself, especially around the eyes. Did some more tweaking of the UV map, as the area under his chin was a little messed up - now its fixed (although you can't really see it in the render).

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_16.jpg

Well, I’m going to keep at this one, and hopefully post another update soon :wip:

Hoping to see some more updates from the rest of you too…

[hrgiger]

I'm working on something now...

Don't have Sasquatch Leigh?;)

[leigh]

Nope, no Sasquatch :) Those American prices really cripple those of us living in third world continents, and since it's never been a major necessity for me, I've never saved up for it :)
I'll probably save for it and buy it later this year though. Along with G2.

At any rate, modelling Aragorns hair actually probably gives me far greater control than twiddling with plugin settings and such. This way I can make it exactly how I want it.

Looking forward to seeing your WIP :D

[Mattoo]

Actually if you had the patience to model that hair by hand as it is then you'll be right at home with Sasquatch. It's quite depressing how manual the creation of hair for sasquatch is - that's why everyone's been waiting so long for Hairspray.

To get realistic hair with Sas requires such a dense supply of guide splines to get decent accuracy you feel like you might as well just render out the damn splines :scream:

I also hope to supply a pic or 2 to this thread in a day or so.... just need to find some free CPU cycles to render with.

[Mike RB]

shave can export poly hair. Doing what you did there but a lot messier would be very easy with shave.... (and the hair comes UV'd).

Mike

[Mike RB]

http://www3.telus.net/paratrooper/shavepolyhair.jpg

it can export multiple copies that are randomly generated from that same style, so that in layout you can load 3 or 4 of these and set them all to 33 or 25% transparent and actually get it looking like real hair...

Mike

[wgreenlee1]

Originally posted by Leigh
Hmmm... no updates from anyone else? :cry: Come on guys!!

Well, I've spent the last few days trying out different hair modelling and texturing methods - what a horrible task it has been! I've tried out sooooo many ways now, and none of the "usual" ways worked – they just lacked volume, and looked cack when rendered.

So I've opted instead to just model loads of hair tendrils :D
The poly count is getting a little crazy, but hey, those tendrils sure look fine :cool:

Obviously still needs some more tweaking - I want to add more tendrils along the edges, so the hair is a little boofy. I also want to make the bangs on the side a little more wavy. Also need to actually make a texture for it, once I am happy with the modelling itself.

Been making some changes to the textures as well, and also minor modelling changes. I've changed the eyes a bit, and also the nose. Still not 100% happy with the nose... but it will get there eventually.

As for the textures, I added some gray into the beard, and also more minor tonal variations to the skin itself, especially around the eyes. Did some more tweaking of the UV map, as the area under his chin was a little messed up - now its fixed (although you can't really see it in the render).

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_16.jpg

Well, I’m going to keep at this one, and hopefully post another update soon :wip:

Hoping to see some more updates from the rest of you too…



Give'm a tail Leigh!:thumbsup:

http://www.slaptogether.com/1024Braid.jpg

[Mike RB]

http://www3.telus.net/paratrooper/shavepolyhair2.jpg
thats with 3 objects, 1200 stands each all at 33% transparency..

Mike

[hrgiger]

Originally posted by Mattoo
Actually if you had the patience to model that hair by hand as it is then you'll be right at home with Sasquatch. It's quite depressing how manual the creation of hair for sasquatch is - that's why everyone's been waiting so long for Hairspray.

To get realistic hair with Sas requires such a dense supply of guide splines to get decent accuracy you feel like you might as well just render out the damn splines :scream:



Actually, it's not that hard to get good results with Sasquatch. If you can copy and paste a spline, then the rest is easy. You can get away with not having that dense of guides to get the look you're going for. Certainly easier then modeling the hair like Leigh is doing and certainly less resource intensive.

I sold my Shave to get Sasquatch and have never looked back. Personally, I think that I'd rather model my own guide hairs in Sas then go through the exporting an .obj file, combing and grooming the hairs in Shave and then importing it back into Lightwave. Besides, the fur mode of Sas (as opposed to the long hair mode we are talking now) and it's smart combing feature is worth it alone.

The only thing bad I can say about Sas is that long hair dynamics aren't easy as you have to rely on MD or some other method of animating the hair and usually the results are pretty piss poor. I'm hoping there's improvements in that area for Sas2.

Anyway, not trying to start an argument or anything. Sas and Shave are both great programs in their own right. The fact that Joe Alter wrote the program himself is worthy of much respect.

[hrgiger]

By the way, how are you guys posting such large and high quality pictures? Whenever I try to post pictures on CGTALK it always tells me that my file size is too big no matter how much I shrink it and compress it in PS.:annoyed:

[Mike RB]

we are linking them off web sites.

[wgreenlee1]

Originally posted by hrgiger
By the way, how are you guys posting such large and high quality pictures? Whenever I try to post pictures on CGTALK it always tells me that my file size is too big no matter how much I shrink it and compress it in PS.:annoyed:


Get a webhost.
Nowadays they are dirt cheap.
I saw one he other day for like 1gig storage,10gigs of traffic for $9 a month,prepaid by the year but still dirt cheap.

[Chewey]

They use links to their images instead of
attaching the image files to the post.
For example this pic is hosted on an aol account space.

http://members.aol.com/mothra321/Girl3.jpg

use the IMG button when creating a post message and insert the http:/ etc. address for the image you desire to have shown within your message.

[oxyg3n]

Hello Chewy,

I am using aol also. How do I load images so that I can link them here. I was looking at the "my hompage" thing last night but it said I could only have images of 30k or something like that.

Thanks

[oxyg3n]

Hello All,

I have a question for you. First off let me tell you that I have only recently began to play with uv's. I have been spending all my time learning how to model and rig my characters. So, now I know nothing about texturing and thought it was time to learn this aspect of CG.

I am starting to texture a character of mine and I am going to start with his face so that I can show the wip of his skin here.

His face does not have a line of symetry down the middle (i have used a morph to get the uv of his face, but would like the uv to be symetrical.) If I use the knife tool to cut a line down the middle of the uv and then mirror it to make it symetrical, will this cause the uv to have any peculiar problems or issues? Is this a proper way of doing this?

Thanks all for your advice.

[wgreenlee1]

Make a copy then try it....


What do you have to lose?

Many things have been discovered by the mere attempt at an idea.

But I think if you alter the UV mesh that the UVs will not like it....because they base themselves on the original mesh...but try it and see.

[JacquesD]

Originally posted by Mike RB

it can export multiple copies that are randomly generated from that same style, so that in layout you can load 3 or 4 of these and set them all to 33 or 25% transparent and actually get it looking like real hair...

Mike

Interesting... can you basically explain how you do that?

Thanks.

[Dipesh (India)]

Here is the oldman i m painting textures for..

still paintint the color map...


http://www.geocities.com/deepeshsaraf/3dipesh.txt

[CLAW]

Leigh,

How do you create your unwraps so well? Is it UV coordinates? Or is it Unwrap.p that makes the job?

[Grugi]

Originally posted by Leigh
... ...


Been making some changes to the textures as well, and also minor modelling changes. I've changed the eyes a bit, and also the nose. Still not 100% happy with the nose... but it will get there eventually. ...



I don´t think your hair looks too bad at the moment. Once it is textured, I think it´ll looks great :drool:

What i´m not understand, you´d said a lot of times to not begin on the textures until the modelling is 100% completed.

If you make some changes ( add or remove polys) in the geometrie (after you uv-mapped), would it not "destroy" your uvmap?!

[Mike RB]

the riper:

Shave works on the idea of guide hairs. It creates the render hairs from the guide hairs useually when it renders. For polygon hair that looks good you can ask shave to export out as many versions of render hairs as you want from a single set of guide hairs, they will all be slightly different but in the same style. If you export out 5 sets of them add them all to layout and set them each to 20% opaque, what happens is that where they line up they build back up to 100%, where they dont and only a single strand is visible you get hair that is 20% visible, which looks wispy and thin.

Mike

[Mike RB]

better example:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66386

[Mattoo]

Ok here goes. I've been using an old head model I did yonks ago to test out G2. There's no texture maps used here (appart from the lips and eyes) - so I don't get carried away tweaking that instead of G2. Plus I'm a firm believer that skin colour is mostly based off of things like SSS in reality rather than actual surface colour.
Apologies for the hair, after a fierce battle with Sas's long hair guides I caved in and stuck on some fur. It's a bit "Something About Mary" but I'll live with it.

Still very much in heavy tweak mode......:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/matthew.p3/Test_side-v1.9.jpg

[Chewey]

Originally posted by oxyg3n
Hello Chewy,

I am using aol also. How do I load images so that I can link them here. I was looking at the "my hompage" thing last night but it said I could only have images of 30k or something like that.

Thanks

You upload your images to your ftp space. Input ftp into the keyword and follow the link called "My FTP Space" and select the next link n the marqueee that's titled "See My FTP Space".

You use the somewhat clumsy row of command buttons to place images and files to the whopping 2 meg of space that aol allows for each of your aol email names.

[JacquesD]

Thanks for the info Mike... I got it now!

[ivo D]

mattoo..you are right.. skin is just one colour..

the translucency makes it colour different ways.. but wel all fake it. and use translucency for some other parts.. well most of us do..

i think its caus many dont know it.. or its kindah difficult balancing the sss on th whole head just the right way..but well.. if i looks good its oke.. :)


your plane skin looks good do.. nisely done.. you could make the hair a little trinity style;) :p

[Mwai Kasamale]

3 Lights 2 area Diffuse 1 Point Spec
Been playing around with a Skin system without plugz that reacts to other Lights in the scene and at different colou temperatures
A work in progress.
http://benkas.homestead.com/files/SSS1.jpg
http://benkas.homestead.com/files/SSS3.jpg
http://benkas.homestead.com/files/SSS3.jpg
http://benkas.homestead.com/files/SSS4.jpg

[Nightwing]

Here's my current WIP.

I know there are some issues with the mouth (it's an achilles heel for me, no idea why). I've repainted the skin twice (3 versions in total) because my aim here is to create a skin that is interesting to look at. Still not sure if I am succeeding or not.

This version is painted at 2048x2048, no photographic material used, but I did use a wide variety of reference photographs for ideas.

He's half human, half fiend, so I wanted the skin to be recognisable but subtly different.

Some info on my setup: 3 spots (key, fill and support), radiosity and using the beach probe in the image world option.

Anyway comments/suggestions are welcome, still beating away :wip:

http://196.14.184.200/terry/current_front_colour.jpg

[wgreenlee1]

Nightwing...
Without seeing other views,it seems as though his mouth it protruding outword(-X).
Maybe if just moved it back a little then smoothed the lower lip so it melded with the chin that might help.




On another subject of all this talk of sub~surface~scattering,I've been doing some observing lately and I must tell you I have not seen much (SSS) as it pertains to humans.

Could it be that it just looks cool to 3D artists and we feel it must be included?

The only time when I really see it is when the sun is directly behind someones ears which happens how many times?
Or perhaps a flashlight is under someones hand.

Now my cat(Alex) is white and his ears are really thin as are cats and he has very little hair around the edges of his ears and other than when the sun is directly hitting them i do not see that much SSS.
I suppose I could shine a flashlight directly behind them to test but something tells me he would rip my face off,bless his furry little heart.LOL!

Does anyone else have feelings about the over~use of SSS?
Maybe its just getting the hint of SSS to the exacting point to where its almost unnoticable but just enough so it makes the model look very real?

[tpe]

Oooh this looks fun can i play too?

nothing special about the texture, just colour, spec and bump maps mixed with some turbulence procedurals of two sizes in each channel

http://www.hairy-cockroach-fairy.co.uk/~tpe/eye3.jpg

Still a WIP but should be finished soon, then on to the nose lol

tpe

[Mattoo]

Hey that looks cool tpe! Just kinda looks wierd - as if too much makeup has been applied, almost looks rocky.

Really nice eye though.

[wgreenlee1]

Originally posted by Mattoo
Hey that looks cool tpe! Just kinda looks wierd - as if too much makeup has been applied, almost looks rocky.

Really nice eye though.

Mattoo,on your website I'm getting red X's on that life study...I guess its that on you showed above there.
Do you have any more renders or wires?
Looking good

[tpe]

Mattoo thanks, i think thats because i used area lights without aa and low quality, i hope it will go when its rendered a bit better, er i hope ;). Just tryed your site too, only getting Xs for the femal wip, the rest is just excelent :-o
tpe

[Mattoo]

I really like the detail in the texture map - interesting approach, detail out texture painting.
I've had to stop using area lights when using G2. Apparently there's a few bugs associated with Lw that makes them very hard to predict. Back to ye olde' spinning spotlights for me.

Yeah, the reason for the missing images on the site is because I'm too lazy to get some renders up of half finished stuff. It's amazing the rest of it is up there.
The head above is seperate from the female body study. But then I'm building the body multi purpose so that it should fit all my heads (and future heads :D) since they are all created from the same simple base head - if you get me....

When I get back home (I'm at work) it should have rendered a new and improved head with less crapy lighting.
This skin shading thing has really gotten to me - something I need to prove to myself I can do.

[ChrisNix]

here' my first attempt to to a "realistic" human head. i'm quite new to painting my own uv-maps, and i had big problems with tightening the seams as you can see... i will keep working on this...

http://mitglied.lycos.de/stylessteph/new_head_3.jpg

http://mitglied.lycos.de/stylessteph/new_head_5.jpg

[leigh]

Wow, this thread is getting monstrous :D

Let me quickly respond to some questions I was asked before moving onto crits...

Originally posted by CLAW
Leigh,

How do you create your unwraps so well? Is it UV coordinates? Or is it Unwrap.p that makes the job?

I use LightWaves native UV tools :) It's all in the editing. For this head I simply used a cylindrical unwrap on the Y axis, with the heda rotated 90 degrees so that the seam would run down the back. You don't actually have to rotate the head because you can move the seam while editing, but doing it before the unwrap just does save you an extra minute or so :)

Originally posted by Grugi
What i´m not understand, you´d said a lot of times to not begin on the textures until the modelling is 100% completed.
If you make some changes ( add or remove polys) in the geometrie (after you uv-mapped), would it not "destroy" your uvmap?!

I'm not adding or removing any polys, I am just moving them around. It's pretty safe :)

And now onto comments...

Ivo D - skin does tend to pick up most of its tones from its environment, and lighting and such, however, there is also pigmentation in the skin itself, and this isn't a perfect solid colour. Yeah, the variations are very subtle, but let's not also forget about blemishes and such that certainly do affect it. And of course, as with everything in texturing, of course we have to cheat it anyway :D

Mwai Kasamale - those look really interesting - could you tell us more about those?

Nightwing - nice to see you here! Your character is coming along really well!
Crits:

The skin looks too hard, almost like stone. Try adding some gradients along the edges to soften it a little, and vary the spec map a little more.
Also make sure that the spec on the tattoos is higher, because tattoos are actually scars with pigments in them. The lines of tattoo ink also become slightly raised.
Add some more gloss the the lip area.
The colour is perhaps a teeny bit saturated, but this can be very subjective.
Keep us posted with your progress!

tpe - looking nice, but that silvery look is a bit weird. Your bump map might be a tiny bit too intense as well. And the reflection in the eyes is strange.

ChrisNix - welcome! :thumbsup:
Looking good so far, but you need to soften the edges of that 9 o'clock shadow! The eyebrows also look a bit strange. The bump map seems a bit strong, and the skin overall looks a little powdery. Perhaps adding some spec to it will help :)

[leigh]

Hehehe I forgot to post my own update :p

Firstly, I'd like to say a big thank you to Mike RB for helping me out with the hair :D Big up!! :thumbsup:

And here is a quick render... still need to sort out the textures for the hair, of course, but here are the strands at the moment.

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_17.jpg

And here is my current colour map for his face (sorry again for the nasty watermarking) :

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_skin_head_02.jpg

[Wesball]

guys... please get rid of the grain. :annoyed:

All these images look so dirty you can't judge how good they are. You shouldn't use grain to cover something that looks too synthetic- it doesn't work.

Don't get me wrong, grain is great when you are matching something that was filmed, but even actual filmed images have an extremely tiny grain structure... especially nowadays with the very sharp film stocks.

... anyway.... sorry if I offended anyone, just ranting.

:hmm:

[RichSuchy]

Leigh,

It looks pretty decent over all. You can tell who it is.

Heres some things that I noticed though that may help you take it a little bit further

I'd re-examine the slope of the sides of the nose, It appears the eyes are set too deep, and the texture on the bottom lip looks like its got a raised scar outlining it rather than a smooth blending into the face... especially toward the outside edges. The color maps seems a little over saturated in general. I dont see a hairline. And the crease in the chin is innaturally sharp.

Again. Its good work. These comments are all about small adjustments to bring it that much closer to real.

Originally posted by Leigh
Hehehe I forgot to post my own update :p

Firstly, I'd like to say a big thank you to Mike RB for helping me out with the hair :D Big up!! :thumbsup:

And here is a quick render... still need to sort out the textures for the hair, of course, but here are the strands at the moment.

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_17.jpg

And here is my current colour map for his face (sorry again for the nasty watermarking) :

http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/images/aragorn_skin_head_02.jpg

[Nightwing]

Hiya

Originally posted by Wgreenlee1
Without seeing other views,it seems as though his mouth it protruding outword(-X).
Maybe if just moved it back a little then smoothed the lower lip so it melded with the chin that might help.

Cheers Wgreenlee, I'll have a look at adjusting the mouth geometry and see how it works out.

Originally posted by Leigh
The skin looks too hard, almost like stone. Try adding some gradients along the edges to soften it a little, and vary the spec map a little more.
Also make sure that the spec on the tattoos is higher, because tattoos are actually scars with pigments in them. The lines of tattoo ink also become slightly raised.
Add some more gloss the the lip area.
The colour is perhaps a teeny bit saturated, but this can be very subjective.
Keep us posted with your progress!


Thanks :)

By that you mean falloff gradients in colour and diffuse channels as extra layers? I'll give that a try. You're right about the tattoo...still working out how to balance the lighting with the spec map, and therin lies the problem because I need to establish a benchmark in my brain, still so much to learn :)

I will definitely post the progress.

Edit: forgot to mention, Viggo is looking great :) Tpe, love your eye....

[JDaniel]

Wow! Lots of great head images and techniques. I'm glad you restarted this Leigh. I used the same approach as you did also. I'm not working on a human now, but here's a few I did last year before I joined CGTalk. I used a key and fill light w/bg radiosity 150% 3x9. Keep 'um coming.
http://jackydaniel.com/images/crew_film.jpg

[roomieunhappy]

Hello this is my first real attempt at a decent face texture...looking for any help you pro's can offer...It's very appreciated!!!

http://stu.aii.edu/~amb382/clownface.jpg

Bump

http://stu.aii.edu/~amb382/ClownFaceUV%20bumptest%20copy2.jpg

Color

http://stu.aii.edu/~amb382/ClownFaceUV%20copy.jpg

Thanks again!

[DADDYGOODY]

Hi There I was wondering how everybody except me seems to be able to get there pepoles face heads ears mouths hair eyes ect to be so realistic. Can Anybody Show me how. Because newteks support wont tell me how it is done because they are not for technique support!!!! 4321@jefflilly.com

[UserDelta]

hm... technique support! thats a fantastic idea.

[DADDYGOODY]

Please Dont Joke Around I am Very Serious I need to know how to do a realistic looking male. Also I need To Know how to do eyes for my person!

[UserDelta]

whos kidding around. im seriouse too. i think thats a great idea.

[leigh]

DADDYGOODY, you can't really just be shown how to texture, it's something that requires a lot of effort on your own part ;)

[DADDYGOODY]

Okay What ever it is point me in that direction. I mean where did you learn to do it everybody starts some ware.

[Remi]

It's called practice practice practice....I don't think Leigh achieved all of her blissful skills in texturing by reading a book and then she just painted a kick ass texture....it takes time and know how and learning from past mistakes and learning from trial and error....of course reading about the techs of it all is important too...but get yourself a tablet and open photoshop(or whatever program you're comfortable with) and start painting...learn some color theory...and practice...that's the most important....now get going:)

[DADDYGOODY]

I have photoshop and I am very good at using the program infact I am one of the first to make killer chrome styles. I can build almost anything in photoshop 7.0 but I cant figure out how to do a skin texture does anybody eles now how to. also I would like to know what a Bumb texture means. and one last thing can I use saslite in lightwave to do the hair that is under the skin like in some of the photos on this fourm.!!!!!:bounce:

[akademus]

infact I am one of the first to make killer chrome styles

also I would like to know what a Bumb texture means

Bump texture is usually grayscale map wich ads a ... oh... well... bumps over a surface wich is aplied to. You can see how it works in roomieunhappy's images on this tread.

Suggestion: maybe you shold read some basic texturing tutorials before you start doing killer stuff. There some on newtek site, i think Leigh has few good ones over there:)

akademus

[DADDYGOODY]

I have been looking for a really long time but I have had no success finding any skin making tutorials for photoshop. Doesnt anybody have one for free that I could have!!!!

[CLAW]

Leigh, Like your photoshop paint-work. I am just curious, where have you learnt this, maybe there are some great tutorials that I missed?:D

[Delucubus]

DADDYGOODY - Observation! Someone or some tutorial isn't just going to show you how to make good skin. Take the time to get some reference photos of people's faces and observe how light effects the shadows and highlights. Look at the imperfections, freckles, lines, everything. Observing real life will be the key to making good textures.

edit - (maybe a little too blunt at first)

There are good tutorials out there, don't get me wrong, there's also a lot of good information about how skin reacts to light, etc... (i don't have any on me now, i can find them when I get home). But I think the key is observation, a tutorial can tell you a lot about how to do something but i don't think that until you observe it will you be able to correctly reproduce it.

- just my thoughts -

[leigh]

DADDYGOODY I - since you do not know anything at all about texturing, I doubt that doing some skin painting tutorial is really going to teach you much. Simply following step by step instructions with very little explanation and understanding of what you are doing really teaches you very little.

My advice to you would be to do some research into texturing theory, and from then on PRACTISE. Once you have a good solid understanding of the fundamentals of texturing theory, then no surface, whether its skin, metal, wood, or whatever is a problem, since you can tackle anything. Trust me, it's true.

Texturing is not just about knowing how to use Photoshop, it's about knowing how different colours and details react to CG lighting inside 3D packages, and from there knowing how to create the necessary maps.

No offense, but making chrome in Photoshop and making chrome for a 3D environment are really rather different. Of course good painting skills within any painting package are great because you have a good mastery of creating details, but it's going to get you nowhere if you don't understand the fundamental theories behind the different attributes that make up a complete surface.

Creating human skin, just like any other surface, is not simply a matter of painting a couple of nice little colours and slapping it onto a model, as I am sure you have discovered. You need to dig a lot deeper than that, and I think the reason why you are not grasping this is because you do not quite realise everything that is involved in the process of creating textures for 3D models. The fact that you don't even know what a bump map is means that you seriously need to pick up your LW manual and do some reading in the chapter 31.

CLAW - I learnt texturing over a period of a few years where I read as much on the subject that I could find, and then just sat and practised and practised and practised. I actually didn't learn texturing from doing ANY tutorials - I learnt solely by reading technical articles, and becoming comfortable with texturing theory. This is why when I teach texturing, I always teach theory first. I truly believe that once you really know how everything works, then you can create absolutely anything you want to :)

[Remi]

Cheers to Leigh....the goddess of texturing...I'm sure i've read nearly as much about the subject as you and I tell you what I still find my texturing sub par.....even though my characters don't call for any extensive textures....you also forgot to mention that some people are just naturals at it and have an eye for it...it's a fact no matter how knowledgable you are about something it still won't compete with someone who has just raw talent...IMHO....but still I think knowing color theory and texture theory are very important...:thumbsup: :applause:

[freerider]

I may be way off but here but Daddygoody, it sounds as if you have perhaps a limited understanding of basic art skills. Personally I belive the classic theories that apllies to painting is where you should start. It will teach you a lot about color and how real world objects interact with light.
As far as painting skin goes I like Ron Lemens tutorials on skin tones. You can find links to them on www.gfxartist.com.

Making skin textures for 3d is different But a good grasp of painting theory will help. I think Leighs point is a good one, there are no short cuts to this. It takes study and practice.

[CLAW]

This topic is really interesting! I think I am going to try making some photo-real skin my self actually.

As far as I know, the mix between a good color, bump, reflection map and a nice light-set makes the best result. Or am I wrong?

I tried to make some realistic heads some years ago, however they came out pretty plastic, and didn't have that right touch to it that real photos have. So I am wondering, maybe a good start would be to actually study old paint and photo techniques, and then try to bring them into CG for best result?

I guess everything have to be perfect, materials, lightning and models to fool our eyes:curious:

[RichSuchy]

Originally posted by CLAW
This topic is really interesting! I think I am going to try making some photo-real skin my self actually.

As far as I know, the mix between a good color, bump, reflection map and a nice light-set makes the best result. Or am I wrong?

I tried to make some realistic heads some years ago, however they came out pretty plastic, and didn't have that right touch to it that real photos have. So I am wondering, maybe a good start would be to actually study old paint and photo techniques, and then try to bring them into CG for best result?

I guess everything have to be perfect, materials, lightning and models to fool our eyes:curious:

you can make up for allot with very careful lighting, however, to really make a reusable solution you will want to do some things with ramps and facing ratios that control specular, difuse and color based on light facing ratio and camera faceing ratio. (in lightwave. angles of incidence). this leaves basic reflected light temperatures from overcomplicating your light scene on a per character basis.

[Zarathustra]

I haven't been able to update this guy in a couple of weeks due to "real work" but I want to share for a few reasons.
1) I think it's possible to paint the textures as opossed to using photos. I'm not sure what a skin painting tut will really do for you. Painting comes down to observing and applying. This thread helps in things like how a map is applied, which channel(s), lighting configs, etc. How to paint is a personal journey.
2) It shows an attempt at getting the ear tranlucency right by using a weight map. I think the same has to be done at the tip of the nose.
Damn, when I started writing I had a third, but now I forget. :shrug:
http://www.magicanimation.com/test/MC-Head-&-Eyes.jpg

I did up the spec and start making hair, but I didn't save any shots. The Ear isn't really textured yet, either, beyond the translucency map. Eyelids bother me, too. Oh well...

[CLAW]

Zarathustra, I don't like the model, but the color and lightning of the head is pretty nice!!:buttrock:

Also, maybe the ears tranlucency are quite to strong, looks more like plastic than human-skin.

[Zarathustra]

I have issues with the model as well. Thanks. That damn upper lip....

The ear was just a test. Of course it's over the top. Just wanted to see if it would work. Easy, now, to reign it in.

Thanks for the good words.

[freerider]

1) I think it's possible to paint the textures as opossed to using photos. I'm not sure what a skin painting tut will really do for you. Painting comes down to observing and applying. This thread helps in things like how a map is applied, which channel(s), lighting configs, etc. How to paint is a personal journey.

Are you refering to my recommendation of Ron Lemens articles ?
While I agree painting is a personal thing, art is not created in a vacum. Inspiration and the guidence of others is at least to me helpful. Ron Lemen is a talented artist and I have found his articles on skin tone to be valuable.

But as you said this thread is not about painting, and if I strayed to off topic, then I appologise.

[Zarathustra]

I was just posting what I felt after skimming over the last few pages of the thread. No specific references intended. I'm an old school painter, that's all.

[JonasNoell]

Cmon Leigh, admit it! You were only able to do this freakin' amazing skin by following my skin tut, huh? :beer:
Just kiddin' :D

[CLAW]

cANt,

Where is your tutorial?, really want to read it!

[DADDYGOODY]

Lookm what someone on the lwg3d.org fourm showed me how to do its the best looking realistic skin Ive ever seen.http://lwg3d.250free.com/newshader.jpg

[Zarathustra]

uh...ok. How about a link to the thread?

[DADDYGOODY]

Well this is not my skin shader but its the best free one Ive ever seen. Here is the link to the maker of this surface. you will also need a couple of other things he tells you all about it on his site under tutorial.
http://www.richardnsmith.com/

[Zarathustra]

Oh, right. That link was on Flay. He's a very personable guy, too.
The Oren-Nayer plug is PC only.

As for his model, he used the shader as a base and then layered on UV detail maps.