What should you concentrate on the most when changing a characters age?

Toobis

This could probably apply to any art medium but what would you consider to be the most important things to adjust on any generation figure when it comes to wanting them to look older or younger than the character actually starts out looking? I ask because I find myself age adjusting a G8F character for example who is 19 years old but I want to make her look more around thirty. I tweak all sorts of dials for her but it seems I can never quite get it right or seemingly even close sometimes. Its apparently not as easy as it should be at least not for me. So when you age adjust any character in daz what do you generally focus on changing with them the most to be the most effective in your goal?

background

For 19 to 30 I would think about what makes a character look old, and then apply a small percentage of that change.

Maybe the nose and ears are a little larger, the jaw a bit stronger. If you have nomal maps, maybe start to add some minor skin folds around the eyes.

A lot would depend on the kind of life the 30 year old has led. If they are a heavy smoker or drinker that might start showing in the face. If they have been working hard for the last ten years they might look tired. If they have had a lot of hard times they might develop a sort of permanent frown.

Disciple

I needed to age Millarose, on a different time scale, admittedly.  Zev0's Auto Life morphs were a good start (though the age presets were more extreme than I expected, and her skull became reshaped in ways I had to counteract).  I also mixed in morphs, bump and normal maps from Mabel 8 and Edie 8.

If I find time, I'll try to alter her diffuse color with small blemishes and discolorations from sun exposure.  That might be a useful approach for you, more sun damage to the skin, increasing the fine wrinkles, and a maturing hair style.  Apparel says a lot about age and about the character's place in time.  Hope this helps.

[Edited for images.]

Hallelujah!
Disciple

memcneil70

Also pay attention to the hands. I am 73 but by my mid-40s I noticed my hands, especially my left which was exposed more to the sun due to my driving an hour commute each way to my retirement job, was starting to look thin and dried out. Now it has this crepe-paper-like look and wrinkles are thin and run the width of the back of my hands. I also have arthritis and my knuckles are swollen on different fingers, depending on how much I used them throughout my life. And my veins swell up and are noticeable. 

And I am not someone who has run around sunbathing as I found when I was 22 that I could get very burned very fast and get migraines from too much sun exposure. So I have avoided pools, beaches and those activities where folks are expected to strip down. (Blackened, crispy, bubbly skin is a turn-off.) But any scar or mark I received through my life seems to be more dark now. Those 'aging' dark spots that come and go are a fun thing too. I also bruise easily now. An accidental bump on the arm against a door handle will have a new bruise in a day. Or leaning over a group of things to turn off surge protectors to shut off power to computers for an electric company power saving day, brought a group of new bruises where I didn't even know I had smacked into.

I also wear glasses and I find I squint more often because I can't get prescriptions to adjust for my needs anymore. So a new pair can go out of focus pretty fast.

I joked with my hairdresser yesterday that each time I see her that my hair is whiter. But it is true. I wear it short because I have no patience with messing with it and when eyelids are droopy, hair or fuzz sticks into them and drives me crazy. Especially when the cats keep rubbing their heads into mine. They do make sure everything is covered in fur if possible.

If your character is an athletic, she may have perfect posture. But otherwise, look for rounded shoulders, curved or slumped back, or slight limping or dragging of a foot. That might happen if a medical condition happened or a stroke and recovery wasn't fully followed or completed. Fraility creeps up gradually. Jar openers are my friend. I can't close my right hand to even open a new bottle of milk or a jar. We have a multitude in our kitchen for various purposes. I have a twisted spine and finally bought hiking/walking sticks to help me go for long walks. Just have to get my nerve up.

These are just a few of the things I can think of.

Well one more. Older women have a tendency to keep wearing the makeup and hairstyles that were popular when they were in their teens/20s. As more women went into the workforce, they kept up with the styles, but there are still a group that cling to those outdated looks.

Mary

kpr

There's a massive amount of info online (easy search --> aging from 20 to 30). Almost all of it (unsurprisingly?) is female-based and mostly concerning "what you can do about it" (!) <-- you will get see lots of comparative photos etc.

20 to 30 is a 50% change, but probably not too pronounced given "a life led trying to minimise damage!". I did make a similar attempt (to show "mid 40s") and the base Daz-character I used, linked in the used-products section, is I think a good example of a "non-20 year old" (what you might think about when attempting "aging"). There's also lots of Daz-Helper-Tools that emulate similar effects.

nonesuch00

20 to 30: either noticably fatter with no apparent aging, just weight gain OR their face is thinner under the cheekbones, so they loose the baby fat in their faces, but not much else. It's often cued more by hair style and clothing in the old days, but that's not done muh any more in these days of throwaway stretch fast fashion. It's kind of anyone's guess with fashion nowadays, as I see people older than me with Koolaid Coloured Fashion Dyed Hair.

Older:

labrial folds, crow's feet, jowls, and a "saggier body skin" (hard to describe) , even when they've managed to stay their same weight.

Cartoons often don't go beyond changing the hair to white or grey, but sometimes add labial folds and a bit of crow's feet.