Texturing + shader help needed !!

wolfonthehorizon

hey guys im trying to create a realistic SSS effect in UDK while also trying to paint a realistic character, my UDK and texturing knowledge for that matter is very limited and i just feel stuck in a rut at the moment seeking some advice . heres where im at so far...

wpild like this effect



but this is my character in game





this is my texture and my SSS texture





this is my setup



im trying to base it of this but i cant find information explaining how to achieve this



just need some help and advice thanks

Mossbros

You may want to look into adding detail, using anatomically correct human features, using textures to make your maps look realistic and following a pipeline that other artists use.

To be honest with you, unless you plan on botching real-time SSS you really need to re-evaluate how or what you are using.

slosh

yea, before you move into low poly and a game engine, I think you should focus on sculpting proper anatomy. Unless that looks correct, your game model is going to look wrong.

wolfonthehorizon

this was my high poly,



and this is the low

wolfonthehorizon

i completely understand about correct anatomy that is something im still working on , but as a test piece im just looking at trying to get a good result, and my high poly isnt translating very well to my low

SveinY

Dude I would recommend you scrap this model and start all over. Get the anatomy right then move on and making cloth, hair and the rest. But this is just my 2 cent tho.

LSheridan

You should look into improving your painting skills as well. Your texture is pretty rough and the shading applied is hurting it more than the anatomy.

Odow

What they are trying to tell you is really simple.

When you make a cake, do you start by decorating it even if the cake isn't fully cooked ? Nope
You wait for it to be fully cook, if you burn it, you redo one, untrill you got a nice smooth cake, then you do the frosting, and that will taste good, nothing is worse then a bad-taste frosting.

When you find a recipe to a frosting you like, you frost the cake, and you rage, because the cake crumble, your frosting method isn't the best, you go on internet, search some help and tips from advance Cakemaster and you end up with smoothing that look nice, at least better then you first try, but it's okay for now.

THEN you start decorating it. Even if you master every single decoration technique, it will never look good on a non enough cooked cake either will it taste better because of the decoration.

Now enough with the cake i'm hungry !

The main problem is the face, which can be easily fixed (not to perfection but it would already look better). eyes are way too narrow and near each other, scale them and move them. Same for the mouth, scale it larger. Translate a bit down the nose and the mouth. It will not be the best anatomical model ever, but it will change thing a lot.

wolfonthehorizon

haha really loved the cake example , this is just one of those projects/ models that will be a stepping stone for a better project, so yeah the anatomy isnt perfect i know that , but its still a challenge to try and make it look half decent anyway despite the flaws, im not looking for a portfolio piece, this is just a learning curve , trust me i would love to live in ZBrush for the next 5 years mastering every tip and trick, im just taking it upon myself to dabble with the less known, which in this case is texturing/shader work in UDK, i get what what your all saying but what would really help me the most is someone explaining what this means !!

NomadSoul2501

Well, from what I see you are not replicating this setup in your graph.
I haven't played with characters or sss but why don't you mirror this setup in your graph and then start toying with each variable to see what it does?

If you don't know what those big rectangles are, they are just constant 4s (press 4 on your keyboard and left click) that where converted to parameters by right clicking on them and choosing (convert to parameter) this enables them to be accessed at runtime and from material instances.

wolfonthehorizon

hey i attempted to re create the shader and got this result



personally i think its an improvement

stevston89

It doesn't matter how much you tweak the shader the model and textures don't look good. I really would recommend scraping this piece. There isn't much more you can get out of it at this point. You will learn a lot more starting over and getting it correct anatomically before moving to textures.

A few notes about texturing: Never use black to paint in shadows. When painting an area you want to be darker always use a dark color. Skin you should be using a red. Same thing for brighter areas. I generally try a pink or yellow for highlights on skin. Though with current shaders and tech you really don't want to be painting that much lighting into your textures anyways.

Sorry to be harsh, but you are continuing work on something that can't be improved that much. Go back to the sculpting phase and don't move to textures until it looks good. Also use a ton of reference for the anatomy. There are a ton of anatomical issues with your model currently and it looks like you didn't use enough good reference.

wolfonthehorizon

unfortunately I cant just scrap it yet, its for a uni assignment so I need to evaluate and critique it , all your comments will aid in this , for the time being i will try and fix its problems to the best i can before moving on, i have and still am learning alot so i do appreciate people taking the time to offer their critique and tips
thanks

Odow

Yeah, the huge problem is that you use black for your skin shader, it will never look good that way. No one as black under their skin. It makes everything look very dirty.

Strider007

Aside from the obvious issues with the underlying character sculpt which many have commented on and before you even start really playing with the shader and getting a good SSS result you need to further work on your character's texture..

It's lacking detail as it seems you've just used a soft brush in Photoshop and blocked in some tones and whacked a bit of noise over it. Also it seems you've decided to paint in dark areas of the character which would have come natural with an applied AO map baked from the high poly. Instead these darkened areas come off as very harsh and dirty.

I'd suggest doing some more reference research and examining skin too..Your textures don't seem to present any indication off pores, stubble, wrinkles etc.. Again a better initial sculpt could have provided some of these details but they can be applied in the texture phase. Use Photo referencing if need be and manipulate and blend them into the texture.

I'm no character Artist but just google "Character face texture" and you'll see multiple examples of the sort of detail you should be aiming for with your texture. Its not going to mask a lot of your initial issues with your sculpt but at least you'd have improved on your texturing skills.

wolfonthehorizon

still trying to improve my texture skills, and added abit of detail to the normal map

stevston89

You really really need to make your painted in shadows more saturated. You skin is too desaturated overall. Take a look at this image it might help. Though I warn you future skin textures will not have any painted in lighting.

wolfonthehorizon

i need to get that yellow to red to blue tones going down the face aswell you think ?