[Released] Altern8 - Skin Shader System for Genesis 8 [Commercial]

3Diva

@Llynara Thank you so much for the amazing help you gave to adaptable999~! That was really awesome of you and you went ABOVE AND BEYOND! You're awesome, my friend! 

 

3Diva

I've seen a couple people asking for a Read Me, but I'm not sure what I would put in it other than "Load Your Character and try the different settings until you find a look you like". hehe But I'll see if I can do a Read Me to add to the new settings that I'm sending off to Daz in a couple hours. I'll mention that gens need to be selected in both the Scene tab and the Surfaces tab to apply the shaders.  Or maybe add a TIP file saying that in the gens folder. 

ChadCrypto

Here is Eris For G8F using Wet Geo Shell from the Babydoll Dress from Linday.

Altern8 settings Charlotte 8 No Maps and I can't remember the luce tint I used. I was random clicking.

I like the skin color of her legs.  

 

 

 

adaptable999_9a674f75bb

Thanks for your support. I have been tinkering with it for a while and tweeking the settings can make you crazy. One tip I used could help someone else. Its a bit of work but I made several consecutive renders changing one thing or another minimizing each one instead of saving it. Then you can roll across each one in your taskbar and quickly see which one you like the best. As long as you remember the order and settings.

Llynara

Altern8 on Dash for Michael 7

Test of new Altern8 gen shaders on Dash for Michael. His skin was very flat with defaults and the eye reflections were strange. Both are richer and more interesting with Altern8 shaders. This is the censored version. Hopefully you can see that the seam transition is very good. You can view the full version on my DA page. As usual, click for bigger and more detail, same lighting and rendering used, Fabiana Energy Flow. Because he is so dark, this image is better viewed full screen.

Defaults: 

 

Alternate Monique 8 Presets: 

Recipe used: 

• Monique 8 character and gen presets
• Altern8 Eye Socket Shader
• Sclera .25
• Skin Shine Low (Lip shine also low)
• SSS Tint K (New) 
• Translucency Strength E (.55)
• Translucency Color H

You can easily lighten or darken his skin by changing the translucency strength. 

Mod Edit :- Please take note of this thread     https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/3279/acceptable-ways-of-handling-nudity#latest

Llynara

Ok, you can see these on my Deviant Art page. I didn't think the censored version would be an issue. Was trying to show the seams without violating TOS.

Llynara

@chadcrypto She looks great!

@adaptable If you are able to use Iray Preview mode, you can run through the different presets very fast. It's kind of fun to try them out and see what looks best. The hardest part is remembering what you did. When you get it how you like it, just save as a material preset so you can use it again. 

@divamakeup You are very welcome, my friend! 

adaptable999_9a674f75bb

Thanks for a great product divamakeup, truly the eyes are the biggest improvement for me and bring a character to life. Llynara, my preview mode is not that fast or high quality and also you can't remember what the last looked like. the way I described all of the say active view renders which don't take too long sit in your task bar it you just minimize each then you can easily run back and forth with your mouse on the taskbar and it will temporarily show each one enabling you to go back and forth quite quickly to see what looks better.

3Diva

adaptable999_9a674f75bb said:

Thanks for a great product divamakeup, truly the eyes are the biggest improvement for me and bring a character to life.

Thank you, adaptable999! :) 

I'm glad you got the gens shaders figured out and am really glad you like the product! I'll be adding a ReadMe with the upcoming update for the product (as well as some new settings) that hopefully will help! :)

Llynara

P3D Chandra with Altern8 Shader Settings

This one is on my DeviantArt page because it's a nude and we're testing the gen shaders.  I also put her default "before" render in the comments. I will put all the tests into their own folder/gallery over there. 

Interesting test of G3F gens and the Altern8 shaders here. I have not done many nudes of G3F. I was surprised when someone told me the gens aren't UV mapped and some have seams. The male gens don't have that issue. So I did a test render of P3D Chandra and the gens she comes with. They are good, but they have seams around the entire area (posted in comments below). Apparently Cayman has a freebie at Rendo to take care of this. What's interesting is I found I did not need these when using the Altern8 shaders, at least in this case. The shaders cover the seams beautifully! 

In this recipe, I made her a little darker than her defaults. You can lighten or darken her easily by changing the Translucency Strength. Also, don't be shy about playing with Translucency Color and SSS Tint. She looks very good with many of the different presets. Have fun! 

Recipe: 

• Monique 8 Character and Gen Presets
• Lip Shine High
• Translucency Strength E (.55)
• Translucency Color H
• Transmitted Measurement Distance .25

FSMCDesigns

Divamakeup said:

I've seen a couple people asking for a Read Me, but I'm not sure what I would put in it other than "Load Your Character and try the different settings until you find a look you like". hehe But I'll see if I can do a Read Me to add to the new settings that I'm sending off to Daz in a couple hours. I'll mention that gens need to be selected in both the Scene tab and the Surfaces tab to apply the shaders.  Or maybe add a TIP file saying that in the gens folder. 

LOL, that is pretty much what I would put in a readme, if I ever did or read one, LOL

FSMCDesigns

ChadCrypto said:

Here is Eris For G8F using Wet Geo Shell from the Babydoll Dress from Linday.

Altern8 settings Charlotte 8 No Maps and I can't remember the luce tint I used. I was random clicking.

I like the skin color of her legs.  

 

 

 

Nice image! I like her legs also. Off to check out the character

ArielRGH

Llynara said:

Looks like the issue is the same as above with Imani- changing the translucency color (with a preset) reveals seams between the torso and the limbs. I am not sure why. None of the other characters I've tested (and I've tested quite a few now) have had this issue. Something about these two skins are different, but I don't know what.

Here's Pei with her defaults: 

I'm actually seeing a slight seam even on the defaults. I did this one before any other shaders were applied. Maybe there's an update I didn't apply.

Here she is with Altern8: 

Recipe: 

• Karyssa 8 No Maps
• Altern8 Eye Socket
• Sclera .25
• SSS Skin Tint A
• Transmitted Measurement Distance .25

Once again, darkening the translucency color seems to fix it.

 

She could be tweaked some more, but here she is with the darkened translucency color and no seams: 

 

You've solved it for me, Llynara! Thank you very much! :hugs:

Llynara

@arielRGH You are very welcome! That was an interesting puzzle to solve! 

sandmanmax

Divamakeup said:

I posted this in the thread on The Commons but I thought I'd post it here as well in case people are following this thread and not the one in The Commons.

I've been hearing you guys' feedback and as stated here and here, I'll be updating the product with some additional presets. :) 

Some of the skins are reacting to some of the presets with a "red-nose" effect, so there are presets to fix that (thank you Llynara for the great suggestion!). 

There have been some asking for warmer tones as well as more settings for darker skins. There are now 10 new SSS Tint colors, and 3 new Translucency colors that will work well with both warming skin tones and helping to enhance dark skins. Additionally, there will be 2 more skin shine settings - one for those who want nearly no shine, and one to turn shine off all together. 

I actually like the red nose. On fair skins, it seems very natural. But having an option to turn it down or off will be great. I can't wait to try this. How will the new presets be made available? Just download again and reinstall?

Llynara

It'll be under "Product Updates" in the DIM

FSMCDesigns

Llynara said:

It'll be under "Product Updates" in the DIM

What's DIM?

So the update is live?

Llynara

Not yet, Diva submitted it last night. 

DIM= DAZ Install Manager

FSMCDesigns

Llynara said:

Not yet, Diva submitted it last night. 

DIM= DAZ Install Manager

I was being sarcastic since I never use DIM, LOL

Thanks for the info, can't wait to try the update out.

shaneseymourstudio

FSMCDesigns said:

Llynara said:

Not yet, Diva submitted it last night. 

DIM= DAZ Install Manager

I was being sarcastic since I never use DIM, LOL

Thanks for the info, can't wait to try the update out.

Is the update available to download without dim from product page once live?

nicstt

Divamakeup said:

I've seen a couple people asking for a Read Me, but I'm not sure what I would put in it other than "Load Your Character and try the different settings until you find a look you like". hehe But I'll see if I can do a Read Me to add to the new settings that I'm sending off to Daz in a couple hours. I'll mention that gens need to be selected in both the Scene tab and the Surfaces tab to apply the shaders.  Or maybe add a TIP file saying that in the gens folder. 

Yeh, that is pretty much it.

Still figuring out stuff; it isn't a one click solution, perhaps making that clear would help. :)

... But it doesn't take more than half a dozen max to get something interesting, even if it isn't what one is after.

marble

Divamakeup said:

I've seen a couple people asking for a Read Me, but I'm not sure what I would put in it other than "Load Your Character and try the different settings until you find a look you like". hehe But I'll see if I can do a Read Me to add to the new settings that I'm sending off to Daz in a couple hours. I'll mention that gens need to be selected in both the Scene tab and the Surfaces tab to apply the shaders.  Or maybe add a TIP file saying that in the gens folder. 

I think I was one of those asking for a ReadMe but now that I have played with the product I'm not sure that you could fill more than a paragraph - it is pretty straightforward and the fun comes with experimenting. I still don't understand what all of the settings in the Surfaces Pane do and I probably never will but for those like me, this product is a shortcut to achieving the results you want without having to understand all those settings. The best thing for me is it eliminates the "Trump Effect" - that sort of plastic orange tinge that some of the commercial skins seem to have. 

By the way, I don't have any G8 character so I'd recommend it for G3 even though all the reference characters are G8. Just use th "No Maps" version.

By the way again ... I have some characters who's eyebrows disappear after using Altern8. I suspect they are characters with LIE brows but I'll check on that. 

Llynara

@marble- Try using the diffuse preset. Some of the newer ones use diffuse makeup and brows

3Diva

sandman_max said:

Divamakeup said:

I posted this in the thread on The Commons but I thought I'd post it here as well in case people are following this thread and not the one in The Commons.

I've been hearing you guys' feedback and as stated here and here, I'll be updating the product with some additional presets. :) 

Some of the skins are reacting to some of the presets with a "red-nose" effect, so there are presets to fix that (thank you Llynara for the great suggestion!). 

There have been some asking for warmer tones as well as more settings for darker skins. There are now 10 new SSS Tint colors, and 3 new Translucency colors that will work well with both warming skin tones and helping to enhance dark skins. Additionally, there will be 2 more skin shine settings - one for those who want nearly no shine, and one to turn shine off all together. 

I actually like the red nose. On fair skins, it seems very natural. But having an option to turn it down or off will be great. I can't wait to try this. How will the new presets be made available? Just download again and reinstall?

The updates are in the final QA right now. I'm not sure how much longer it will be (it looks like it's moving pretty fast and they're working hard to get it out quickly). I'll let you guys know when the update is live. After it's updated you should be able to download the product the normal way you download a product. The fastest way will likely be through DIM which should just install the new settings instead of reinstalling the entire product again. 

3Diva

shaneseymourstudio said:

FSMCDesigns said:

Llynara said:

Not yet, Diva submitted it last night. 

DIM= DAZ Install Manager

I was being sarcastic since I never use DIM, LOL

Thanks for the info, can't wait to try the update out.

 

Is the update available to download without dim from product page once live?

Once the changes are live the manual download version should also have the new settings included. The fastest way to update it will probably be through DIM, but if you prefer manual download that should work and include the new settings as well.

I'll post here and let you guys know when the changes are live. 

3Diva

marble said:

Divamakeup said:

I've seen a couple people asking for a Read Me, but I'm not sure what I would put in it other than "Load Your Character and try the different settings until you find a look you like". hehe But I'll see if I can do a Read Me to add to the new settings that I'm sending off to Daz in a couple hours. I'll mention that gens need to be selected in both the Scene tab and the Surfaces tab to apply the shaders.  Or maybe add a TIP file saying that in the gens folder. 

I think I was one of those asking for a ReadMe but now that I have played with the product I'm not sure that you could fill more than a paragraph - it is pretty straightforward and the fun comes with experimenting. I still don't understand what all of the settings in the Surfaces Pane do and I probably never will but for those like me, this product is a shortcut to achieving the results you want without having to understand all those settings. The best thing for me is it eliminates the "Trump Effect" - that sort of plastic orange tinge that some of the commercial skins seem to have. 

By the way, I don't have any G8 character so I'd recommend it for G3 even though all the reference characters are G8. Just use th "No Maps" version.

By the way again ... I have some characters who's eyebrows disappear after using Altern8. I suspect they are characters with LIE brows but I'll check on that. 

hahah I'm glad you find the product straightforward and fun to use! That makes me happy to hear! I find the settings fun to play with too and experimenting to see what different looks I can come up with with different settings combinations - because many characters and texture maps are made so differently from each other and different PAs create different maps and mat settings it's really fun to see what the different settings do with different PA's products. 

The "No Maps" options shouldn't clear any LIE settings (I've tried it with several LIE products and Altern8 works well with the ones I've tried). If the eyebrows have disappeared it's likely, as Llynara said, a Diffuse Overlay. In which case use the "Diffuse Overlay - A Face" or "Diffuse Overlay - B Face" setting and that should bring the brows back. If it's not a Diffuse Overlay and it still disappears, let me know.

marble

Divamakeup said:

marble said:

Divamakeup said:

I've seen a couple people asking for a Read Me, but I'm not sure what I would put in it other than "Load Your Character and try the different settings until you find a look you like". hehe But I'll see if I can do a Read Me to add to the new settings that I'm sending off to Daz in a couple hours. I'll mention that gens need to be selected in both the Scene tab and the Surfaces tab to apply the shaders.  Or maybe add a TIP file saying that in the gens folder. 

I think I was one of those asking for a ReadMe but now that I have played with the product I'm not sure that you could fill more than a paragraph - it is pretty straightforward and the fun comes with experimenting. I still don't understand what all of the settings in the Surfaces Pane do and I probably never will but for those like me, this product is a shortcut to achieving the results you want without having to understand all those settings. The best thing for me is it eliminates the "Trump Effect" - that sort of plastic orange tinge that some of the commercial skins seem to have. 

By the way, I don't have any G8 character so I'd recommend it for G3 even though all the reference characters are G8. Just use th "No Maps" version.

By the way again ... I have some characters who's eyebrows disappear after using Altern8. I suspect they are characters with LIE brows but I'll check on that. 

hahah I'm glad you find the product straightforward and fun to use! That makes me happy to hear! I find the settings fun to play with too and experimenting to see what different looks I can come up with with different settings combinations - because many characters and texture maps are made so differently from each other and different PAs create different maps and mat settings it's really fun to see what the different settings do with different PA's products. 

The "No Maps" options shouldn't clear any LIE settings (I've tried it with several LIE products and Altern8 works well with the ones I've tried). If the eyebrows have disappeared it's likely, as Llynara said, a Diffuse Overlay. In which case use the "Diffuse Overlay - A Face" or "Diffuse Overlay - B Face" setting and that should bring the brows back. If it's not a Diffuse Overlay and it still disappears, let me know.

Thanks - I'll give it a try when I get a chance. Would the Diffuse Overlay then cause a white face? I get those often.

3Diva

marble said:

Divamakeup said:

marble said:

Divamakeup said:

I've seen a couple people asking for a Read Me, but I'm not sure what I would put in it other than "Load Your Character and try the different settings until you find a look you like". hehe But I'll see if I can do a Read Me to add to the new settings that I'm sending off to Daz in a couple hours. I'll mention that gens need to be selected in both the Scene tab and the Surfaces tab to apply the shaders.  Or maybe add a TIP file saying that in the gens folder. 

I think I was one of those asking for a ReadMe but now that I have played with the product I'm not sure that you could fill more than a paragraph - it is pretty straightforward and the fun comes with experimenting. I still don't understand what all of the settings in the Surfaces Pane do and I probably never will but for those like me, this product is a shortcut to achieving the results you want without having to understand all those settings. The best thing for me is it eliminates the "Trump Effect" - that sort of plastic orange tinge that some of the commercial skins seem to have. 

By the way, I don't have any G8 character so I'd recommend it for G3 even though all the reference characters are G8. Just use th "No Maps" version.

By the way again ... I have some characters who's eyebrows disappear after using Altern8. I suspect they are characters with LIE brows but I'll check on that. 

hahah I'm glad you find the product straightforward and fun to use! That makes me happy to hear! I find the settings fun to play with too and experimenting to see what different looks I can come up with with different settings combinations - because many characters and texture maps are made so differently from each other and different PAs create different maps and mat settings it's really fun to see what the different settings do with different PA's products. 

The "No Maps" options shouldn't clear any LIE settings (I've tried it with several LIE products and Altern8 works well with the ones I've tried). If the eyebrows have disappeared it's likely, as Llynara said, a Diffuse Overlay. In which case use the "Diffuse Overlay - A Face" or "Diffuse Overlay - B Face" setting and that should bring the brows back. If it's not a Diffuse Overlay and it still disappears, let me know.

Thanks - I'll give it a try when I get a chance. Would the Diffuse Overlay then cause a white face? I get those often.

Yeah. :) Many of the Daz Original "Official 8" characters use Diffuse Overlay. So a couple of the presets include support for the Diffuse Overlay settings. It's easy to turn it off though with the "Diffuse Overlay - !!Off" setting (red icon). 

ArielRGH

Woohoo! Update for Altern8 is already in DIM!

No new presets for characters (I somehow got the idea that that was what we were getting), but now there are SSS Tints all the way to the O, and a new category of presets for Transmitted Measurement Settings, to address the red nose issues.

Playing with them as of right now.

Llynara

Wow, that was fast! Don't forget to check out the new Read Me