Where are M4's eyebrows?

cobusp

M4 imported perfectly from Poser 2012 into Carrara with textures and working morph dials, but:

the character mesh does not have geometry for the eyebrows. I noticed in the UV mapping tab that the mesh associated with the Eyebrows shading doman is just basically a flat, separate "plate" on top of the head's mesh –. Nothing at all looking like eyebrow geometry. So, despite having nice eyebrows in the textures or even alpha map, nothings stands out  as it should! This is  different from the previous Millennium figures which had proper geometries for eyebrows.

I also havent noticed any morph dials to make the eyebrows stand out.

Please, can someone enlighten me?

Tks

 

 

Mistara

i dont recall any character texture for M4 making use of the eyebrow plate.  is always transparent,

Richard Haseltine

Victoria 4 was originally released without brows, and there was much complaining. Daz added the "eyebrow plate" in the first service release, doing it that way so existing morphs weren't broken, and Michael 4 had the equivalent from the outset. Unfortunately very few people used it (and as you say it is a single flat layer, not a layered mesh that could work like transmapped hair).

cobusp

Mistara said:

i dont recall any character texture for M4 making use of the eyebrow plate.  is always transparent,

No I was just referring to the main head texture map.

cobusp

Richard Haseltine said:

Victoria 4 was originally released without brows, and there was much complaining. Daz added the "eyebrow plate" in the first service release, doing it that way so existing morphs weren't broken, and Michael 4 had the equivalent from the outset. Unfortunately very few people used it (and as you say it is a single flat layer, not a layered mesh that could work like transmapped hair).

Well, thanks for the info, Richard. I'm amazed that Daz, after having created such as fine upgrdae, they took one step backward in this regard? For close-ups, a texture alone simply is not sufficient for convincing realism!

cobusp

Perhaps I should try to create a separate bump map for , or even create a displacement map!

Mistara

in carrara, you have a hair tool iption 

there's also a few fibre mesh brows out there as an option

 

Diomede

You could create another map using the 3D paint tool.  Just be sure not to write over a map that you want to preserve.  For example, you could create an opacity map for the eyebrows by selecting the M4 model, clicking 3D Paint from the top menu,select just the face shader domain to paint on, and using a flat black background (remove face map first) and paint white thin lines where you want the brows.  Or, you could stamp some eyerows on with the stamp tool.  Then use a multichannel mixer to combine your M4 face map with your brow map, or apply a map that you stamped brows on.  Or, use an image editor like Photoshop.

cobusp

Thank you al, yes that is the route I will have to take then.

SileneUK

I use Obsidian Dawn's Photoshop eyebrows. They are very good!  In PS you have to tinker around to get a colour that works and the size/shape. I have to combine some and go for the courser ones, then 'pluck' them to the shape I want. Working in layers gives good results for me.  If you go to her home page, and then the FAQ, you will find they work in GIMP as well from what I understand.    Silene

http://www.obsidiandawn.com/tag/people

 

cobusp

Mistara said:

in carrara, you have a hair tool iption 

there's also a few fibre mesh brows out there as an option

 

Fibre mesh? Haven't heard of the term yet. Where can I fi d that?

3DAGE

HI cobusp :)

Fibre mesh is a tool in Z-brush ,. which creates hair strands made of mesh which can be brushed and cut, much like hair in carrara or any other programs.

as the name suggests it's a mesh, so it can be exported as an object and used in other programs as a static object, like a beard.

 

Philemo has done  plugin for carrara which allows you to create poly hairs from Carrara hair,. you should check that out.

 

but,. for eybrows I'd just use a Normal map,.

Most of the figures for M4/V4 have the eyebrow on the texture with the head,. so they also come with bump, highlight and sometimes normal maps

Obviously, if you want to add carrara hair to that Bump or Normal effect, then you can,.

Many of the shaders which carrara imports when you load a figure,. have maps missing , or no values set ,. it's important to check the shaders for a figure after you load a skin,. just to make sure that the Bump maps  or Highlight maps have been loaded and are set at a usable value.

Hope it helps :)

cobusp

Thank you 3DAge, it certainly helps! A Normal map sounds like the easiest route to take.