INFINITE
01-28-2010, 02:55 PM
http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/setup-02.jpg
(I posted this over at the Newtek forums but thought it might be useful here as well. I'm crap at explaining things and my grammar sucks but bare with me) Original - http://www.newtek.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105896
I'm not sure if this has been posted before or even talked about. I just wanted to share my findings with Simple Skin, from using for over 3 years I have to say it is one of the most amazing Shaders on the market (this is also possible with Fast Skin)
Simple Skin is very powerful indeed, it closely matches Mental Rays more advanced skin shader if used correctly. I came across a neat trick a few days ago with using a Thickness Gradient in a Node Scalar plugged into a multiplier Node (set to 0.001+) hooked into the Distance setting of Simpleskin. This allows for a more accurate calculation of skin depth and how far light should be absorbed into the Skin, more intelligently than relying on 2D image maps (based on real world dimensions)
Without it you can of course control the depth amount of Epidermis and Subdermis light absorption but it is just an overall figure. Many times I have personally had issues with ears on characters when just using an overall figure, you get clipping and bad dark areas, as the shader can't tell by itself how far it should stop absorbing light in, if it is close to the back surface of the skin, like the thin flap of an ear.
Normally about 2mm for Epi and about 5mm for Sub is a good base setting.
http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/ss-01.jpg
To overcome this you can use various image maps on their own or using the scalar node to input them but this isn't really a volumetric type calculated way of doing things. Using a thickness gradient 0-100% based on incremental distances 0mm - 5mm+ you can define how much light should be absorbed at those distances.
You can also plug one of these thickness gradients into the color slots of the Sub or EPi Colour channels! a great way to find out what is going on with your skin, depth wise and also gives a cool way to colour at different depth ranges.
http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/test-thickness-sml.jpg (http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/test-thickness.jpg) (the artifacts in these FPRIME renders are from displacement issues)
You can also slip in an image map in the Scalar layer above the Gradient map to insert in some depth veins!
Over all, inserting in a thickness node helps you over come any clipping issues or over sampling SSS depth in areas you don't want and just generally much more automated control over what's going on - giving you more freedom to create.
http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/shad-test-01.jpg
I hope this helps someone. Anyone have any more cool tips on this matter?
(I posted this over at the Newtek forums but thought it might be useful here as well. I'm crap at explaining things and my grammar sucks but bare with me) Original - http://www.newtek.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105896
I'm not sure if this has been posted before or even talked about. I just wanted to share my findings with Simple Skin, from using for over 3 years I have to say it is one of the most amazing Shaders on the market (this is also possible with Fast Skin)
Simple Skin is very powerful indeed, it closely matches Mental Rays more advanced skin shader if used correctly. I came across a neat trick a few days ago with using a Thickness Gradient in a Node Scalar plugged into a multiplier Node (set to 0.001+) hooked into the Distance setting of Simpleskin. This allows for a more accurate calculation of skin depth and how far light should be absorbed into the Skin, more intelligently than relying on 2D image maps (based on real world dimensions)
Without it you can of course control the depth amount of Epidermis and Subdermis light absorption but it is just an overall figure. Many times I have personally had issues with ears on characters when just using an overall figure, you get clipping and bad dark areas, as the shader can't tell by itself how far it should stop absorbing light in, if it is close to the back surface of the skin, like the thin flap of an ear.
Normally about 2mm for Epi and about 5mm for Sub is a good base setting.
http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/ss-01.jpg
To overcome this you can use various image maps on their own or using the scalar node to input them but this isn't really a volumetric type calculated way of doing things. Using a thickness gradient 0-100% based on incremental distances 0mm - 5mm+ you can define how much light should be absorbed at those distances.
You can also plug one of these thickness gradients into the color slots of the Sub or EPi Colour channels! a great way to find out what is going on with your skin, depth wise and also gives a cool way to colour at different depth ranges.
http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/test-thickness-sml.jpg (http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/test-thickness.jpg) (the artifacts in these FPRIME renders are from displacement issues)
You can also slip in an image map in the Scalar layer above the Gradient map to insert in some depth veins!
Over all, inserting in a thickness node helps you over come any clipping issues or over sampling SSS depth in areas you don't want and just generally much more automated control over what's going on - giving you more freedom to create.
http://www.ir-ltd.net/uploads/shad-test-01.jpg
I hope this helps someone. Anyone have any more cool tips on this matter?