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Iris, Lacrimals, Pupils
Color - multiply Texture Map (valerie-eyes-02) times color white
Alpha - None
Highlight - None
Shininess - value 100%
Bump - load bump map valerie-eyes-b.jpg
Reflection - None
Transparency - None
Refraction - None
Glow = None
Next I took care of the eyelash shading domain.
Color - black
Alpha - load texture map valerie-eyelashes.jpg
Highlight - None
Shininess - None
Bump - None
Reflection - None
Transparency - None
Refraction - None
Glow = None
The teeth, gums, tongue, and inner mouth share a uvmap.
Color - Texture Map valerie-teeth.jpg
Alpha - None
Highlight - 4
Shininess - value = 5
Bump - texture map valerie-teeth.jpg (top level bump intensity 15
Reflection - None
Transparency - None
Refraction - None
Glow = None
Subsurface Scattering = None
Translucency - None
I left the lips for last in part because a decision has to be made n whether to apply lipstick, makeup, and what color to pick for the irises. The Valerie character comes with two head (face) shininess maps and two head bump maps in which the primary difference seems to be the lips. The character also comes with a base skin tne and 12 different maps for different makep styles. There are 9 different maps for different iris colors. So, for this I will apply lipstick and makeup and change the default eye color.. That will mean changing some maps that have already been loaded. I decided on lighter colored eyes, a makeup with blue eeshadow, and reddish lipstick.
The eyes were easy, just a matter of loading another texture map in the color channel of the iris shading domain. Note, that because we used a multiply, you can adjust the iris color from the map if you want by putting a color in te second multiply channel. Similarly, changing the makeup was just a matter of going to the face shading domain and changing the texture map in the color channel from the base valerie-head.jpg to one of the makeup maps, which in this case I chose valerie-MU-03.jpg.
For the lips, I also chose the same makeup map, valerie-MU-03.jpb. In the bump channel, I set a multiply and chose the second bump map, valerie-head-B-02.jpg. For the highlight channel, I set a multiply and chose the second head S file, valerie-head-S-02.jpg.
Here is a test render.
That test render is just a start. You could go back and tweak the bump intensities, or the multipliers for the shininess maps, or add tiny cellular procedural shaders in the mixers to break up the skin, or adjust the undertone color of the subsurface scattering, or....
Whenever you are satisfied with your shader, save it to your shader browser. Open the browser tray (bottom handle), navigate to the shader tab, pick a folder, and click and drag from the multicolored sphere at the top of the shader doman list to the browser folder. Pick a name for future use.
Now, I can start a fresh empty scene.
Load a new Valerie figure from the content browser.
Highlight the actor level.
Click and drag my saved shader from the shader browser to the multicolored globe at the top of the shader tab.
The optimized shaders for all of the shading domains are applied with one click.
Still with the actor level selected, I can go to the parameters tab, search for "valerie" and then zero out the morphs to return to thebase G2F shape.
I can then dial any shape morphs, such as Victoria 6, and adjust the G2F.
Here is G2F with the Valerie character skin maps and the Victoria 6 morphs.
I am renaming the thread from
First Steps - Setting up a sample scene in Carrara with plant, terrain, sky and hair
to
First steps - a place for Diomede to post screenshots on whatever
It may seem like I am repeating myself, but I do want to emphasize that people seeking photo-realism will want to adjust these shader settings and scene lighting significantly. To see what Carrara can do in the right hands, check out what Magaremento posts in the general render thread. And, check out PhilW's tutorial that focuses on realism in Carrara.
Speaking of the right hands, here is Dartanbeck on shaders for Genesis and Genesis 2. Great job, Dart! One note on persnal preference, I think it is always good practice when saving a preset for future use to always set up a multiply by white or a mixer with the blender turned black for any channel that uses a texture map, even if the texture map is currently going to be used unaltered. The reason is for ease of adjustment when it is loaded in the future. Again, just personal preference.
Here is Dart with much wisdon, especially using a glass crystal shader preset for the cornea! Should have thoughtof that.
I actually haven't tried the Crystal Glass shader. I use "Clear" ;)
Thanks for the kind words, my friend!
And now for something completely different. Here is my attempt to do post work. Beware, I don't know what I am doing. I put together a render for the feebie challenge. You have to use a least 10 freebies from around the web and you can only use a maximum of 3 purchased items. Here is my base render.
I also used the multipass render option. It is in the render room under the output tab.
So, in addition to the actual render, Carrara spit out some additional passes based on the options I chose.
So I used the multipasses to help me select image elements in Photoshop and try to add some motion blur to the flying children and hawk. I also blurred the background a little. I really don't know what I am doing, so I'd be grateful for any suggestions on how to make the most of the information that comes from the render passes.
Very cool, Sir!
Here is a little bit of silliness - Vicky in a Temple with a Sword - and Jack Pumpkin is scared as hell. LOL
Vicky is wearing a combination of the VAL Helen and the Tanya outfits, both for V4 and converted for use with G2F using the Studio transfer utility. The G2F is 1/3 V4, 1/3 V5 and 1/3 V6. The set is DM's circle of light, which is washing out the scene as if I had ambient too high. Suggestions for the lighting most welcome. Vicky's hair is Carrara dynamic and I think it is worth posting the workflow.
So, I made a custom hair cap for G2F using the vertex modeler. I have it saved to my browser for generic use. I loaded it in my scene parented to the G2F head. Note that the G2F is the Alani character for which I had saved a Carrara-optimized shader.
Dragging a hair icon from the top menu to the hair cap in the lower right will open the hair modeling room. For my custom hair cap, I prefer that the hair placement be geometry based (you will see why in a second) and that the hair density be guide based. Not sure that is best. Invite suggestions.
The hair modelng room opens and you can see my cutom hair cap mesh. I have the hair cap divided into regions that have separate material zones. The reason is that you can select by material zone, which is very handy. Notice that the mesh allows for a part down the middle, or parts on either side, or isolating the bangs.
Hold the control key and drag to change the size of the selection tool if you want to select by hand. I selected the middle part and then used inverse to select everything else. I selected so that the part was only 1 row of polygons wide. The portions that are selected have turned green.
Next, I want to add guide hairs close to the part on both the left and the right. I used the top menu to choose the add guide hair tool. The default hairs appear before I can do anything else.
Before continuing, I want to get rid of the generated hairs and leave only the guide hairs. To do that, I go to the "general" tab on the right. I uncheck "show in 3D view." While there, I also prefer to reduce the hair size from large to medium. The brown hairs disappear, leaving just the blue guide hairs. I also increase the segment count for the hairs and the guide hairs. More segments allow for additional points along the hair for the strand to bend. If there are only the four default segments, then the hair can only bend in 4 places, which will look absurd.
Using the "add guide hairs tool" from the top menu, I then zoom closer to the hair cap and add guide hairs close to either side of the middle part.
Once I think I have enough guide hairs, I click the "brush" tool from the top menu.
Going to the "tool" tab from the right side menu, there is a place to adjust the "point" along the hair that the brush tool will affect. Select where you want to brush the hair then use the brush tool to click and drag the available points to brush the guide hairs. Brush, adjust point selection, brush again, and continue until you get a general style that you like. I like to start by selecting point close to the head and brushing the hair away from the middle part (or wherever I want to part the hair). That is probably inefficient so I invite hair experts to chime in.
Even though this doesn't look promising right now, I want to see my progress thus far. I go to the "general" tab on the right, and check "show in 3d view" again. The brown hairs appear. Now, the default is only 5,000 hairs so I am not expecting it to look too good. Just want to see. I return to the asemble room and take a look. Um, it is a start.
Some more work to do.
So, I return to the hair room, uncheck "show in 3D view" and continue using the brush tool to get a general shape. One very important thing to do is to enable interpolated grouping of the hairs. You do that in the general tab near the bottom of the menu. The box is unchecked by default. It really should be checked by default. Another very important tool is the "push" tool. On the top menu, the "push" tool allows you to have Carrara push all of the hairs outside the hair cap, or whatever surface you are growing hairs on.
Eventually, I was able to use the brush to make a better hair style. Still not what I will want as a final, but much better than many prop hairs.
At this point, I usually save the base hair to my browser so I can use it as a start for some future G2F project.
Next, I wanted to change the color of the hair.
NOTICE - I have unchecked the visibility for the hair cap itself!
I select the hair and go to the texture room to take a look at the shader tree. There are slots for the hair root and tip. In this case, I want hair with a red tinge. I happen to have a hair merchant resource that has hair tiles for different colors. I loaded a red hair tile in the color channel for the root and the tip.
After a few other edits, here is a test render of the G2F face and hair.