Looking for a diffuse texture reference

Steve Schulze

I've been working on an African female character in ZBrush but have kind of run out of my sphere of knowledge when it comes to laying down the diffuse texture for the skin. The darker complexion is proving to be a little tricky. I've got loads of of photographic reference but what would be really handy would be to see examples of how people have tackled this in the past - seeing the diffuse detail without specular or translucent detail interfering.

It didn't find any good examples on a cursory search of a few forums. Basically, if you've got a next-gen typed diffuse texture for a character with a very dark complexion I'd be most appreciative if you'd be willing to show me.


As you can see I'm off to... well, some kind of start.

Mark Dygert

Wow cool model but pretty dark. Are you working off any ref or just playing it loose?
Can you use colored spec? What about skin shaders?

Ref:
http://www.lifeinbiglondon.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/bigstockphoto_African-american_Woman_smiles_6317087.jpg
http://blog.bioethics.net/african_woman_liberia.jpg

Makeup tips are often a wealth of knowledge about skin and what colors to lay down:
http://makeup.lovetoknow.com/Makeup_That_Makes_Dark_Skin_Glow

Eric Chadwick

You can't get any more awesome than this.

Seriously though, simply get good high-res photo reference and break it down from there. 3d.sk is a good place to start.

Steve Schulze

Wow cool model but pretty dark. Are you working off any ref or just playing it loose?
Can you use colored spec? What about skin shaders?

Yeah, I think my Cintiq might need some adjustment. I'm just painting the diffuse in ZBrush at this point, but I'll throw down a spec map once I've got that sorted. I'm using one main reference that I nabbed from 3d.sk though have adjusted it a bit for my own tastes.

Thanks for the links.

disanski

The hair looks great btw