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O.k. I'll switch off 2 of the lights and leave the key and backlight.
What is the flashlight?
one of the free HDRi maps following pearbears link....
The one i test is difficult and needs camera parameter knowhow.... here a render...
To make this image perfect i would add a golden reflector from the left side and use maybe even the flash on the camera... however talking about light and object and background exposure and how to control it - IS a complete other topic/thread...
that's why i look for additional free maps which just work out of the box and DAZ standard camera values. Actually just for this thread examples (not for myself) - and for starters which dont have camera knowhow .... the commercial shop bundle which pearbear recommened seems to be great for those with pocketmoney
@Gr00vus ....Flashlight is my method to simulate a, well flash which sits right on the camera..
i use this method to test Glossines against reference photos ...
A spotligth - 5k, 15 - 30k lumen right on the camera position.... pointing on her nose .... camera 1 meter away..
( because lumen are measured 1m -> m2.... a flash has about 150k - 500k lumen for 1/1250 second.... that's about 15 - 30k lumen usable range with 1/128, F8 and iso 100-200)
A flash is also often used to balance the foreground with the background at the day... (see my example above... a background which is to bright between the trees... i had to close the shutter (because i want use F2.8 and DOF and ISO is down to 100 allready)... that's why she is a bit to dark in her face... and here i would use the flash with a diffusor).... bbla bla bla... that's stuff for another thread
Ah, I see. In the U.S. a flashlight generally means something like this:
So I got a little confused - I was going to search the Studio UI for one of those. I think these are called a torch in other locales.
Anyway, I understand what you mean now - you're emulating a camera flash bulb. I'll throw that in the mix once I get the basics down.
Thanks again, I hope I can get my materials close to what you other guys have achieved in this thread.
mcj1016 offers a huge listing of sites with free HDRi's, and HDRMAPS a tutorial about how to tweak a HDRi adding direct light in Photoshop to improve mid and low quality ones.
Arnold C. yes... he did a great job collecting all this resources - But well.... after downloading many - and always ending in tweaking camera values massively - i ask for some easy to handle HDRi s - without any tweaking and a lot of fiddling .- maps which work over a large part of the image using iso 100 aka standard camera - same as Pixars HDRi does
.. well it seems nobody has some free ones and tested for exposure (here) right now
Andy, FWIW ISO 100 is no longer "standard" for cameras. Looks like 200 is becoming the default low value. More and more cameras are pretty noise free up to 3200 with many examples beyond that.
@fastbike... yes... but thats just because cameras (cheaper DSLR and compact) are build consumerfriendly and more automatic)...some professional DSLR go now also down to ISO 80 or 50 ... if you work with expensive glas F1.2, 1.4 1.8 fix lenses - you go crazy without iso100 or lower - i mean... a 2k lense and then a dark toned density filter just to use a wide aperture and a normal shutter time?
...
Consumer Cameras are limited to about five stops - this is independent from ISO - that's the low cost chip - that's why they start with ISO 200 - to come up to ISO 3200.
Anyway - when i talk about "standard camera" in this thread i mean DAZ standard values - which are: ISO100 - 128 - F8.... or the exposure value
--------------
my uploaded examples show the difference between lenses, a 50mm and a 105mm,,,
Booketh is way easier to find with the 50mm (sweet F-stop) - then change to the 105 - because distortion is better (more charming) with 105 (see the cheek line)...
This are the same render settings (also same DOF) - i had only changed the lense - and focal distance (camera distance to the object) to have a similar frame.
@AndyGrimm
I'll make a deal. Let's forget my previous comment about standard camera since it's clear that you were discussing Studio, and you won't lecture me about a subject (photography) that I've been doing for 40 years.
We shouold probably be clear that these comments are about Studio's camera because it really deosn't act like a real camera and lens. Particularly w/ respect to focal distance and FOV. The DOF's are also closer to macro focal distances than real ones.
@fastbike1..ahh yes, now i remember - did not recognize you - i am sorry
.,,s
.
I hoped it IS clear that my example above is about DAZ studio and why a 105mm is better for portraits and skin tests - they are not directed to you nor to your post - (thats why there is a line above the text... just a HDRI example (free) which i used to test my skinsetting switching focal lenghts to figure out if this affect skintonemapping
@Arnold C. ... i had the time to check out the tutorial link you recommended.... great tip... thx. http://hdrmaps.com/blog/tweaking-hdri-in-photoshop/
Now i try to understand how HDRi SCALE works in Daz... is there a recommended process how to figure out the numbers? .... trial and error takes a lot of my time... many maps seems to work with factor 8-9.. others not..
Meanwhile i had worked on manipulating Bump and Glossi maps the easy way.. will post some results soon.... a complex glossy map did not bring me the expected results... i do now a mix between flattening the bump on nose and ellbows (skin parts which are mostly stretched (movement - bones))... and glossy-map. A very primitive painting (masking) on critical parts such as the upper lip - nose gap,...
Example - PBRSpecular/Glossiness Shader: , flattened bump on nose tip - mapped glossiness. - the difference to the reference photo is now mainly geometry (cheeks, other nosetype)....
Andy, this might help.
http://docs.daz3d.com/lib/exe/fetch.php/public/read_me/index/21981/21981_quick-start-guide-to-the-iray-dome-and-the-use-of-hdris.pdf
@Fishtales .. thank you - this is a good basic explanation how to use HDRi and Dome.. but what is missed is the adivce about the scale of the dome - i try to find the number without or lowest perspective distortion using the dome for sky and ground..... is this always a trial and error process.. or is there a formula or other ways to find this value? .... i dont know why but many ( i think those maps made for Vray) working best somehwere with 8 or 9.. others work with 1.. some with 4 - 5.. ? i am just confused... and try to understand ,,,,
O.k. so I'm back with my next iteration of effort. Here's where I'm at right now, these are all the same skin shaders, just different lighting:
forward spotlight at an angle to the right of the model
spotlight directly in front of the model (Andy's "flashlight")
The pixar campus hdri:
Settings (for the face, they're basically the same for all the skin except the hands which I'm still messing around with the normal map strength):
Thoughts, criticisms, suggestions? Too much glossiness? Too much bump/normal?
I think I need some help on the eyes, they don't seem quite right to me. I have the cornea correction dialed all the way up, and also an iris correction morph dialed in. I'm not happy with the eye highlights in the image where the spotlight is directly in front.
AndyGrimm
I knew I had something bookmarked about the Environment settings, I have just found it
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/interface/panes/render_settings/engine/nvidia_iray/environment/start#environment_map
Another couple of links I have that might be useful.
http://www.migenius.com/doc/realityserver/latest/resources/general/iray/manual/index.html#/concept/environment_function.html
http://www.irayrender.com/fileadmin/filemount/editor/PDF/iray_String_Options_24.pdf
@Gr00vus ....
Way better now - now it's is also about taste... if you try to do the same as i am trying (close to photorealism and natural skin whitout makeup.) then: you need to fine adjust the bump and glossiness better.
using PBRSpecular/Glossy... we dont have Glossy Roughness... and the bump must be as real as possible.... you adjust bump and glossiness till you have a bright "ROUND" highlight on the nose tip.... here you can finetweak your settings - you will end with a to much sweety looking skin - that's because the bump map is just a copy from the diffuse texture and while you want much bump on forehead and under the eyes... it is to strong on the nose...
The correction is easy... load the bump map in photoshop... and use the "erase tool with a color of 128, 128, 128 and a opacity of about 30% and "flatten" the nose TIP... a grey 128/128/128 = zero bump... you want still a little bit .... that's why you use opacity on the erase tool.... Give it a try.. your glossiness control will extrem improve that way.
You have a bump AND a normal map... without looking on the maps .. i cant say if they really differ from each other... if you decide to work on the bump map.. you can use your normal map with a lower value then the bump (or use just ONE map...(likely the skin pores "bump" information is in both maps!)
But you are close to what is possible whitout working on maps allready...
Glossy: You use also Top Coat... i dont use it... the values which you have in Base Glossiness simulate the final gloss of a natural skin allready... and here for me comes top coat into play.... if i want let's say simulate make up over natural skin - then i will use top coat.... but i need then a COMPLETE other bump map for this - one with a fine 1 pixel "powder" noise....
Eyes - looks as you have reflection (Glossy) on the iris.. remove it and it should look ok, And as a sidenote: you can use basecolor rgb values to darken or even change the iris color to your liking.
@Fishtales thx for the links.. so if i try to make sense from all the infos - it IS a trial and error process to find a working Dome scale and it depends mostly on dome width and dome depth ... and the objects which must be correct (without distortion).... takes a while for each map... and what works on one point in x, y... does not necessarily working looking in another direction.
Andy
In my experience, yes. Every scene and every HDRI is different. The dome can be resized although, as far as I can make out, it doesn't affect the image on it. The light from the image can be increased or decreased as can where the brightest pixels are used from, something to do with Azimuth and Polar pixels
All I know is that you can balance the light by moving the sliders and the resulting light changes. You can also move the origin of the dome without moving it which also moves the light i.e. a figure in the centre with light from the rear and moving the dome origin in the z plane moves the light either forward so that it brightens the front or back so that the front is in more shadow. X and Y also do the same. You can also have light reflect off the ground by changing its grey value.
after two weeks skin fiddling - > i start to HATE her face
image two
and my conclusion for this week: caucasians are difficult 
image 1... my current skin texture process and shader settings together with one using MEC4d's way..... in difficult COLD diffuse light...(really hard to make a model looking "real" here...
Both have advantages and disadvantages .. both work well..also together..
My highlight of the current skin fiddling week was doing a search for "nude in the snow" on google
@Fishtales - "The dome can be resized although, as far as I can make out, it doesn't affect the image on it".....
it does... that's why i started to ask... to see what i mean you must look on the edge from the ground to backdrop.... there is ugly perspective distortion usally... the scale and width parameter changes this... most maps work best with a scale around 8- 9... daz says 10 (i saw that later follwing your link)... and i just ask me even more WHY 10.. or where is the logical connection /formula) to widht and objects on the map...scale "warps" content on the map somehow.
However- it seems that only trial and error is the way.. for each field of view .. and scale 9 (daz says 10) is a good starting point (why they dont set it default`then? )
There are a few ways, I've found, to deal with that.
The first was to change to Finite Sphere without ground. At least that works with the Yosemite HDRI which I just tried.
Change the ground texture scale. I had to put it up to 1000 to get the Yosemite HDRI to look right.
From memory I believe that the 100 is the Nvidia scale which is a meter and the 10 brings it down to DAZ size which is cm.
So, I think I'm approaching the point of dimished returns with the tweaking. Despite IRAY being a PBR, it seems one material setting does not really suit all lighting mechanisms/set ups. But this one is as close as I've come so far. The adjustments I've made since my previous post which I'm sticking with:
1) I upped the bump strength on the head, ears, face, lips and nostrils to 3.5
2) I set the normal map to 0 for everything from the neck down. A future adjustment may be to decrease the normal map for the top coat in the same areas. There's still a weirdness with the palm of the hand in the hdri image that I think may be comming from that.
Maybe I'll work on adjusting the bump maps as @AndyGrimm suggested to make the nose highlights smoother, but I'm finding his results from that looking a bit more plasticy than I'd like so far.
Front Spotlight:
The Pixar Campus HDRI:
The Face/Head/Ears/Lips/Nostrils settings:
All other skin parts settings:
I like the depth these are giving to the skin. I may need to adjust the bump/normal strength depending on the lighting and distance from the camera.
Now it's time to tackle the eyes...
well plasticy-like
... i upload some flashed "noses" to show - that's how we look - plasticy like 
..... you wont have shine on the nose in most HDRi's later...without "overdoing" it.. like it is in nature ... specially if you dont mask other parts and need to turn down the whole glossiness instead...
- using flattened bump on nose... and glossi map... far from perfect but way better then with orginal bump map and without glossymap.... even contrast gets better with maps.. skindetails are sharper to see. (dont understand fully why yet.. it seems that having a map in glossiness changes contrast to the good side).
But as said - it is also about taste...
I think your example looks good now - the rest.. fine tuning. (brows should be masked too).
The uploaded render shows the absolut same settings as above in my flashlight example with the plasticy like nose in hdri light
@Fishtales
That IS the Answer - kiss and love and hug
Calm yourself, I'm a happily married man
Glad I could help
After reading the announcement for DAZ Studio 4.9 I started fiddling again and noticed a significantly different handling of SSS when translucency is >0 and set to Scatter And Transmit. It doesn't necessarily turn the skin red anymore (so diffuse maps can be used in the translucency color channel (like with my skin setup for instance) to mask out painted on details like hair, brows or moles) and skin tone now can be balanced out a lot better with the SSS Reflectance Tint. Result is a totally different (and IMO a way better), totally variable skin outcome with a lot more visible details.
Disadvantage is that such settings for DS 4.9 don't look good in DS 4.8, what is a nightmare especially for content providers like me. Isn't it nice to be in these transition times?!
@jepegraphics Thanks for the info - is 4.9 available allready?...
As a first beta version, I think it will take still a bit of time for the first general release.
Yea, when the community settles down a bit more and they can tweak things to finalize all this "connect" stuff ... looking forward to the release. Asked Spooky about release date but he ignored that as he probably doesn't know yet. I feel for you Jens. I'm sure being in the middle of content creation and having all this happen must make the hairs on the back of your neck go up a bit! Isn't tech fun??
Yeah, so totally!
On the other side, I shouldn't be worried too much, as it looks DAZ was not that good yet explaining the changings related to all the "connect" stuff and my skin settings are also not affected - but they can be changed to the new settings with a few (3 to be exact) mousclicks only. Let's see if anyone asks at all!