Genesis eyes in Carrara

cobusp

Genesis 1-2 Eye shaders usually don't translate well in Carrara -- I usually have to manually fix the shaders (don't laugh, I'm usually 2-3 generations of Daz figures behind due to budgeting constraints). 

However, I cannot get the eyes to show specularity and reflections, no matter what I try! Can somebody please give advice on how to get the eyesrealistic?

Bunyip02

For Genesis 1 I use Actual Eyes 3 - https://www.daz3d.com/actual-eyes-3

For Genesis 2 I use Actual Eyes 4 - https://www.daz3d.com/actual-eyes-4

Actual Eyes 3 are dse files so it's a manual load of the files

File Locations Actual Eye 3

Shader setup reflections Actual Eyes 3

Render Genesis 1 with eye reflections

Actual Eyes 4 are duf files but I have had trouble with them, so it's manual load again

File locations Actual Eyes 4

Shader setup reflections Actual Eyes 4

Render Genesis 2 with eye reflections

 

UnifiedBrain

There are different ways to do reflections - including getting specific eye products - but this method works the quickest for me.

For G2, there is an eye reflection shader.  It is about the 2nd one down in the shader room.  Use the wizard to change the top multichannel shader on it to a standard Carrara glass shader, and also apply an appropriate HDR from within the scene tab in the assembly room.  Or you can use a glowing object not seen by the camera.

For G1, the corneas tend to load with the alpha channel turned off.  Turn it back on, and change the cornea multichannel shader to glass, the same as above.  Also apply the HDR or glowing object in the scene.

Diomede

UnifiedBrain said:

...

For G1, the corneas tend to load with the alpha channel turned off.  Turn it back on, and change the cornea color shader to glass, the same as above.  Also apply the HDR or glowing object in the scene.

Wow, either I never knew about the G1 alpha channel issue, or I forgot it long ago.  I wonder if this is among the reasons I tended to prefer G2 if I was using Daz figures in Carrara.  Thanks.

WendyLuvsCatz

I just use the DP shaders Ringo Monfort created and swap maps if other PA characters with the same UV

UnifiedBrain

Diomede said:

UnifiedBrain said:

...

For G1, the corneas tend to load with the alpha channel turned off.  Turn it back on, and change the cornea color shader to glass, the same as above.  Also apply the HDR or glowing object in the scene.

Wow, either I never knew about the G1 alpha channel issue, or I forgot it long ago.  I wonder if this is among the reasons I tended to prefer G2 if I was using Daz figures in Carrara.  Thanks.

You probably did notice it.  The cornea shader shows up as blank in the shader room, so it is pretty obvious that something is going on.

Of course, turning the cornea to glass is a compromise in Genesis 1.  It would be better to have a full eye covering reflection shader, like other generations have.  PhilW addresses the issue with this product.

I edited my previous post.  I said to change the color channel to glass.  No, it is the top multichannel shader that has to be changed.

It is never easy to give complete advice. :)

Jonstark

Shape of the eye can also affect results.  I don't remember if it was a normal morph or an add-on I purchased, but I make sure the Cornea bulge morph is at maximum (makes the cornea more convex, which makes it catch the lights better, also amps up the vividness of the Iris because of the slight magnification effect that goes along with the refraction of the cornea.  I also make the Iris flat, using the Iris depth morph (both the AoA toon shader kit and the Eyeris product from DimensionTheory come with Iris depth morphs).

  

Even if you don't have these morphs, you could theoretically use Carrara to create them. If you're using real light interactions, they will definitely help.

On the other hand, you could use something like PhilW's Bright Eyes to simply put a glow map in the glow channel, that gives very crisp fake specular effect.  The drawback is that the glowing 'glint' is part of the eye texture, and moves with the eye, so it doesn't work as great in animations.  But for still images it looks pretty good. Bright Eyes for Carrara | Daz 3D

 

Here's the shader setup I use currently for cornea, iris, and sclera:

First here's the cornea:

 

Next, here's the Iris:

(all the texture maps are for the standard eye texture map that comes with the character)

 

And here's the sclera:

 

You might notice I don't have reflections enabled.  Sometimes I do use reflection, but I find that just the highlight is usually sufficient for most of my needs.  Reflections will slightly slow your render time (not a biggie) but also stop some of the light from getting through to your iris, which has the net effect of darkening the iris.  But in certain circumstances, I also enable reflection (in the cornea).

 

The eyes will only react though to a light source that is visibly reflected in the eyes.  There's a little cheat you can do to keep the 'glint' in the eyes all the time, which is to put in a light with a low brightness (say 10%) which is parented to the Genesis and has a point-at modifier so that it's always pointing at the head.  

You also might want to check out this thread:  Eye Caramba for V4 and M4 - Daz 3D Forums   Yes it's specifically targeting V4/M4, but some of the tips are very useful on Genesis too.

cobusp

Thank you, everyone, for your valuable contributions! I will definitely make use of them.

cobusp

Thank you, everyone, for your valuable contributions! I will definitely make use of them.

Dartanbeck

Jonstark said:

On the other hand, you could use something like PhilW's Bright Eyes to simply put a glow map in the glow channel, that gives very crisp fake specular effect.  The drawback is that the glowing 'glint' is part of the eye texture, and moves with the eye, so it doesn't work as great in animations.  But for still images it looks pretty good. Bright Eyes for Carrara | Daz 3D

Eye Surface for Genesis includes Bright Eyes for Carrara and the main Bright Eyes productr for free. Before finding this, I was using EYEdeas 3+ by Arki (as props parented to the hidden Genesis eyes)

 

Genesis is the only generation of Daz figure which lacks that additional layer - a layer that makes all the difference in the world, so Daz corrected that for every generation since.

Here's a quote from Eye Surface store page

 

When Genesis was launched, it offered untold flexibility in many areas, but one area that was missing from previous generation figures was the Eye Surface, which allowed special effects to be applied across the whole eye, especially to provide reflections and reflection maps.

 

It was so useful that it was re-introduced on the Genesis 2 figures, now called EyeReflection. Which left Genesis as the only figure without this useful extra eye surface.

 

Enter "Eye Surface for Genesis" which adds this feature in the same way as adding clothing, but fitted to the eye! And it follows Genesis shape morphs incredibly well, even for large eyed characters such as Aiko 3. I have included an Offset parameter in case an extreme morph produces any poke through with the underlying eye model.

 

As a bonus, I have included my Bright Eyes Bundle so that you can add 55 preset eye reflections in DAZ Studio, Poser and Carrara! But you are not restricted to this, you can add your own surfaces and shaders to use the Eye Surface for real reflections or use the EyeSurface shaders from Victoria 4 or Michael 4 products, etc.

 

Get Eye Surface for Genesis - and add a twinkle to Genesis's eyes!

Here's the figure of EYEdeas 3+

 

 

 

Dartanbeck

The lack of that extra layer of mesh really is a major drawback. There are ways (as seen above) to get by, but being able to have a nice watery layer over the eyes is a downfall.

EYEdeas 3+ is for V4 and M4 and, for them we can just add them as a conforming pair or individually, like adding clothes. 

For other generations, however, we need to load in each eye, center the hotpoint, and parent them to the original eyes. They're fantastic eye figures.

 

They come with their original UV Mapping and there is a plethora of decent maps within just a few addon packs - and the product itself has quite a bit. 

They also come with the same figures that have been remapped for V4 and M4 eye maps, opening up the entire gambit of options for generation 4, which is massive!!!

 

I use mine with Sureality Eyes maps and I've even used them on Genesis 9, which is a bit more tricky with their crazy eye origin locations. But these look fantasic as we can even add shaders to the lens and eye interior and more. 

Dartanbeck

Rosie 5 with EYEdeas 3+, Millennium Teeth (for V3/M3) and Carrara dynamic Hair