Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
That was one speedy update to be sure. Thank you :)
Ok, now for the next update I want..................................... LOL
thanks for the update Diva!!
The update for the new Altern8 settings is now live. You should be able to download it in whichever your prefered method is and the added settings should be there along with a new ReadMe (Special thanks to Llynara for formatting the new ReadMe and adding visual aids - the ReadMe looks great, Llynara, thank you so much!)
The ReadMe should be with your download but you can also download it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4jxh3k6cwv11mke/51921_Altern8 Readme.pdf?dl=0
The included new presets are:
10 New SSS Tint colors (for support of a wider range of skin tones, including darker skins, as well as options for warmer skins)
3 New Translucency Colors (for the reasons listed above)
4 New Transmitted Measurement Distance settings (for instances when the settings react to different skins creating a "red nose" effect - the lower Transmitted Measurement Distance settings will help with that).
1 New "Nails - No Color" setting
Thank you again to everyone who's purchased Altern8. Your support is very much appreciated! I hope you guys enjoy the new settings.
Happy Rendering!
Thanks a lot for the update, Diva.
It will extend already awesome package.
Thanks for the update. Good work on this system.
Thanks for the update and the readme is so nice too
Same lighting, I loaded Altern8 after i rendered the image without it, so I didn’t move the camera at all, I like the Altern8 added better though I need to try divas tip though on the eyes :)
You're welcome, guys! :) Feel free to post more renders and formulas! I love seeing what you guys come up with! :)
This one is right out of iRay with no touchup. Used Aiko 8 no maps as base...after that no clue. Clicked and tweaked until I felt pretty good about it.
Awww She's cute! Great smile! :)
Thank you for sharing your render with us!
Here’s some fast renders, same lighting same camera view just added Alternate and used the eye corrections. I like how it lightens the makeup and even kinda looks like there’s makeup caked on the skin :)
Oh my gosh! That's so creepy! Thank you for THAT nightmare fuel! lol Seriously though- very cool and scary renders! :)
Lol sorry, I love the extra realism it gives the character though :)
Snagging this my next paycheck! This looks amazing!
Hi, @Divamakeup. I'm a little confused about the 'Maps' settings. What's their purpose? If I load Victoria 8 figure, she'll have all her maps by default. So are the 'Maps' settings for Vicky 8 identical to the 'No Maps' settings in this case? So is 'Maps' just a quick way of returning to Victoria 8 maps if you accidentially switched to Charlotte 8 or something like that? I feel like I'm missing something in my understanding. :)
I waited until the update came through before testing properly. I have to say, I really like this product. Having no idea what I'm doing as far as skin is concerned, the click buttons used in conjunction with the Aux Viewport is brilliant. Also the render time for the Altern8 images below is just over half the time to get to the same stage as the original base test image.
This is my first attempt, so probably way off what can really be achieved with practice. I've already set up a notebook to record the recipes from this thread
- particuarly those of @DivaMakeup and @Llynara.
This is HP Kinsley, a recent purchase I made through the Platinum Club.
1. Base test image - Kinsley 'out fo the box'.
2. Altern8 Test 1
3. Alternate 8 Test 2
These were all rendered with HDR A from Altern8
@Mollytabby That's lovely! Thank you so much for showing your renders and formulas! :)
I think I like the last one the best. Maybe a bit more of a warmer SSS Tint color or a higher translucency strength? These look really pretty! Nicely done!
i haven't had a chance to do any dazzing since altern8 was released, but today i did. and what larks! i even had an *updated* version to play with.
one hour later: wow.
great work, @Divamakeup. i've only just said hello to it (my first render with it is still running), but it's clearly a wonderful tool, and a very friendly one. the experience and thought you've put into it really show. (though 'shine' might be a better word.) so congratulations, and thank you.
:)
j
I prefer the third one too. I think I was a little tentative with my choice of settings. Given how simple it is to use, I should have gone wild, lol. It's more of a confidence and experience thing. The more I use it, the less tentatative I think I'll become.
Thank you so much for a wonderful product, I can see me using it a lot. It's amazing the difference the eye settings alone make.
So some of the settings make dark skin rather light... which is actually cool, because it gives you some cool other options.
I'm glad to hear that you like Altern8! Thank you so much for your sweet comment, too! That put a big smile on my face!
No need to feel tentative. :) If you go nuts with it you can end up with some cool looks - but if you end up with something funny and weird you can always just reload the character's base textures again and start over. Feel free to experement. :)
Thank you for purchasing it! I really apprecite it! :) I'm really glad to hear that you enjoy the product.
Yeah, several of the presets are my attempt at combating the "orange" that some of the characters have to their skin. So the aim was to lighten that to more of a peachy and less orange - so many of the presets will lighten skin, though that can usually be remedied with the adjustment settings. :)
If all else fails (or if you want something "quick and dirty" lol) one can always select the skin in the surfaces tab and add a very light gray to the "Base Color". That will darken the skin. I recommend the adjustment settings though, as adding color to that "Base Color" spot can also effect the apperance of the translucency strength - so you'd then usually need to also adjust the Translucency Weight and/or the Transmitted Measurement Distance. It's often easier to test the different SSS Tint colors and find one that darkens the skin to your liking. :)
How does this compare to N.G.S. Angenesis 2? I've been salivating over the "coming soon" N.G.S. 3, but that's been in the pipeline for a looong time.
For me it's not about comparing them, even though they seemingly do the same thing on the surface (pun intended), they do it in different ways. The clue is in the name - this is an ALTERNate way. The word I'm using here is wrong but Altern8 seems 'subtler' to me but it all depends what settings you apply to the figure. NGS2 can make quite drastic alterations which then need toning back, this one not so much. Either way the end result is still dependant on other factors (like lighting) but that's always going to be the case, even with NGS3.
Ultimately, it comes down to the exact look you are trying to achieve. Sometimes that means using NGS2, sometimes it means using Altern8 and sometimes it means using both. I've had notable success applying NGS2 and then applying these shaders on top. If you only have one you'll never
It's an excellent package and well worth a purchase IMO, plus it's incredibly easy to use which is always a bonus.
My analysis:
NGS Anagennesis 2 does some funky very different stuff to create an effect that often looks really awesome. But sometimes not. (That is, a basic color driven PBR Weighted thing)
Altern8, on the other hand, is a more familiar approach but finding and presenting a lot of good settings to create skin effects people often want. Sometimes that works for people.
I find both approaches cool in different ways, and like a lot of similar things I think the best workflow is to treat these as good starting points to tweak further to your specific desires. They are timesaving and idea having tools.
The biggest advantage that NGS2 has is that it works with just about everything since it uses the diffuse maps for most of it's tricks. Old painted textures for Aiko 3? The Genesis Gorilla? The old DAZ Dinosaurs? They all look pretty good if you use the shader version of NGS2 on them. On the other hand, the biggest disadvantage that NGS2 has is that, quite often, the end result can look very different from the original character.
Altern8 is a lot more consistant in the reults that you get back, but the detail has to be there in the maps to begin with. It's most notable issue is that it tends to go very cool, as opposed to NGS2, which tends to go red. Putting them on top of each other does lead to some interesting results, which are completely different depending on which process you apply first.
I was initially very excited about NGS3, but the in-progess posts on DevArt have increasingly looked less skin-like to my eye and more like a very well colored wax figure in the closeups.
My thoughts also.
I really like Anagenessis 2 - I think it's a great product! I like it on creature skins and sometimes older skins. However for human skin (and I'm 100% biased since it's my product lol) but I prefer the look of Altern8 for human skin.
Here's a side by side of Anegenessis 2 and Altern8 - everything is the same, lighting, render settings, etc. The only difference is one has Anagenessis 2 applied the other has Altern8 applied. The first one is Anagenessis 2 the second one is Altern8.
I think both look good (just my opinion) but I think that Altern8 brings out more of the skins' details (as well as providing a LOT more adjustment options). I also like the eyes for Altern8 a lot more -as I think they look a bit more "alive". Again, these things are subject to personal tastes and preferences so I recommend trying them both (if you're able to) and using the one you prefer. You might find that you like using Altern8 for some characters and Anegessis for others (or even, as some suggested) mixing the two. :)
Finally got around to taking these shaders out for a spin and... I am impressed! The amount of options these shaders provide to tweak the skin makes it worth every penny! I had always used and loved NGS' skin results, but I gotta say I'm loving the combination of both these shaders and NGS! I'm probably going to be using these for every render moving forward, that's how impressed I am!
Here's some comparison renders (same light; though the eyes materials are from macro eyes):
And here's a version with some postwork to enchance the sharpness and color correct the final result: