Do you like Poser figures to have a lot of material zones or as few as possible?
andolaurina
Posts: 667
I'm just curious to know if people prefer:
(1) a lot of material zones in a human Poser figure (let's assume realistic not cartoon)
OR
(2) as few as possible (for possibly faster render times)?
Or
(3) some other option? ;-)
What material zones do you like to see?
[NOTE: If you already commented over at Renderosity, please let's give some peeps here a chance to comment first. Thx. :) ]
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Comments
I prefer as few as possible. Makes things a LOT easier when doing my own textures. The more material zones, the more of a headache it is to texture it myself regardless if it's a figure like your talking about or clothing, could be anything. The fewer the better.
It depends on the figure or outfit.
The more mat zones you have then the more creative freedom is available. At the same time though, there is a point when it is too much. But it does depend on the item.
Do more material zones increase render times (assuming they use the same texture files)?
Outfits/clothing I do like lots, especially when there are belts, clips and many other attached things... That way you can turn stuff invisible If you dont want that particular extra on the clothing.
Props, Again I do like lots of material zones, but moderation is the key (Just like clothing) If there are extras on the prop, they should have individual material zones.
Characters/People - Opposite... I like as few as possible, largely because I like to add details, and lots of people like to create tattoos and body art.
In addition to my comment... I DO PREFER an item to try to fit as much of the textures in minimal amount of texture jpg's as long as it doesn't degrade the resolution of the textures to fit them all in.
Good input! Yeah, I was talking about human figures.
Do any of you ever use material zones with procedural shaders? For example, do you ever make a bodysuit of sorts by applying a material to different body parts? Here, I'm referring to something similar to what DAZ did in the Generation 3 figures? Remember the wetsuit/body suit/glove/leggings options for Aiko 3 and the other figures? Like that.
Redacted
Sure do! I do this kind of stuff all the time. Usually in limited quantities. Like, maybe I like a certain clothing item but it has no legs to cover the figure. So, I use a shader on the legs. Perhaps my figure needs the appearance of gloves, I give them a shader to make it look like he/she has gloves.
Now that SSS is coming more and more often, it's getting harder and harder to achieve the exact look I want.
Gen4 and Genesis have a decent amount of zones. The only thing I ever do sometimes with the base figures is use the PGE to split the eye zones up so I can use different settings for the left and right eye (e.g., to make one of them a cyborg eye).
As far as clothing goes, more zones are better, so long as they're not overdone. Anything on your clothing that is distinct in the geometry (e.g., buttons, buckles, straps, trims, gems, etc) should be their own mat zones to facilitate shader usage. I use LuxRender to render all my scenes, and I often spend a lot of time using the PGE to break up materials that should have been separate to begin with in order to apply things like Lux's native metal or glass shaders (e.g., for gems) to things, or to convert things into emitters for glow effects (such as in Sector 15 Security Detail).
On the whole, I find most clothing lacking in material zones. Many environment props are even worse offenders.
I like as many as possible.
I'm a Carrara user and I often swap out whatever shaders I can with Carrara ones.
The more zones I have, the more options I have.
I like zones that follow logical patterns. I will select a shader over a texture if I'm given a choice... every time. On non-clothing items, I don't see any sense in zones that don't follow a joint/muscle/anatomy "seam."
Also, I'll use the PGE to resurface an item. One of the most irritating thing to me is polygons that are "blendered." Blender has a nasty habit of making topo that leaves rough, irregular, edges. If I can't make nice clean surface edges, the item is toast.
Kendall
Yes... Any clothing article that has separate fabric or colors would Ideally a separate material zone :cheese:
I like to render in straight B&W, so the fewer the better :P
Of course, why didn't I think of that LOL - I guess It doesn't matter to you Haha!
Yes... Any clothing article that has separate fabric or colors would Ideally a separate material zone :cheese:
Sorry, I meant *second skin* bodysuits [using only the base figure; no separate clothing] using procedurals or textures to make it look like clothing.
By the way, since I didn't see an answer to the question (I admittedly just skimmed over the thread, and so apologize in advance if someone has already answered this), as long as they use the name maps, more material zones do NOT slow down rendering.
No one had answered that. Thanks for pitching that in, Valandar. What if the maps are the same but different material room settings? E.g. an iris that has one set of settings and a sclera that has another?
Thanks for all of your thoughts! This is interesting.
Yeah, I've done that a decent amount-it's a useful option in cases where a cool outfit has a racier skirt or skimpier top than I care for. (I'm
Yeah, I've done that a decent amount-it's a useful option in cases where a cool outfit has a racier skirt or skimpier top than I care for. (I'm
Hey, I do that too! It's makes semi-ridiculous battle and fantasy wear more plausible and G-rated. lol :)