Hello, I am working on a texture set and I was wondering how important variations are for people and how many. Say for V3. Does she really need 47 shades of makeup or is a really good base and a couple shades of make up okay? I just know I rarely use anything other than the natural map and if I do it is a fairly simple makeup treatment. And for male figures .. Is it best to have the 47 beard and hair variations or is a couple okay. I know the files size goes way up too when you try to do so many variations. What is really expected and desired? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I don't use make up and rarely use beards on my characters and if I needed to and didn't have them I would make them up myself (no pun). I don't like having beards embedded in the texture. even stubble. and that's my light-hearted opinion

A few choice ones are good. Like you said, the file sizes can go thru the roof if you have too many choices ;o) Laurie

Best of the bunch. I like it when I have natural textures, no makeup and no beard or face hair, so I can do what I want with the texture. However if there are some really fine choices in the pack, I'll use ummm just please don't flood. pick the best and include those. my 2 cents

I like packages with LOTS of make-up. (not 47 LOL maybe 10) But it does make the package seem a better deal if you have variation. And I also think more girls than guys buy these packages anyway...its just fun to play with make-up. :o)

IMHO :)

Heh..not implying that guys dont like make-up too ooops hehe but yeah lots O make-up :-D

One texture map that's natural - no makeup at all, is a must for me. Anything else is a bonus, but I already have so many textures with makeup, I can mix and match that part. If I'm looking at a male texture, I want one that's clean shaven. If there's a full beard texture as well, that's great. I can play with Photoshop and composite to get mustaches, goatees, etc. Newer users would probably look for every possible variety, but most quickly learn to go for quality over quantity. What I really want is more ethnic variety. There's over 1 billion Chinese people (let alone the rest of Asia) but almost 0 Asian textures for women, let alone men. There's a little variety now with African textures, but I almost never buy Caucasian textures any more. There's a ton of them out as is. Maybe I'm weird (well, okay, I'm definitely weird) but I'll pay good money for a realistic, natural texture even if there's nothing else in the pack. Cheers!

I would rather have changes in beard from full to absoultely none on males. A couple of eye colors-- I use auxilary eye props so not really necessary. For women. Only do 3 or 4 makeups if you're good at it. Usually a goth makeup works for a lot of costumes maybe with a red alternate lipstick--most often I use no makeup textures or the palest or the darkest -- silver or black. I do like some changes of eye color and skin tins are nice too-- but pubic hair/no pubic hair is of no concern to me, either works. And the Less tattoos the better-- I'm tattooed out. What I really am looking for is a good texture. Byte Me Ok's textures are always in my cart the day they come out and she does not include much more than one or two makeups if that. Emily

I always look for a- A) Natural texture for females B) A clean shaven texture for males After that a few make-up options/ 5 o'clock shadow/mustache/beard/goates options really seal the deal. :) Mix and matchable stuff is even better. You know, lipsticks alone, eyeshadows alone, eyeliners alone, eyelashes/eyebrows that change colors...

I'm not so interested in the numbers, or the variation, but if something is different from the rest. No more stinking goatee textures! There's dozens with varying degrees of quality. However, there are very few variations in body hair texture. No treasure trails on men, very few dark detailed photorealistic textures. I've seen no photorealistice high res pale blond textures for men, and d*mn few for women. Makeup is iffy too. Well done stuff is great, but often makeup packages are almost clown makeup. 2 variations of a good well applied makeup is tons better than 47 of the same old, not detailed crap.

Stick to the basics with a couple of variations. Put the 47 makeups, etc. in a seperate package for those that want them. No pubes please - stick 'em on a layer that can be added if desired. It's a lot harder to remove than to add. Props are more flexible and give better results IMO.

Me? I hardly ever load the makeups and/or nail colors myself. I would rather they were a freebie when the original texture set was purchased. As for eye colors...... I don't use the reg. eyes anyway. I usually use the DNA Eyez so they are a moot point for me also. And lets talk tatoos................. I know a lot of people like them but me, I don't care for them. What I would lik eto see are more "rough" looking textures. Not everyone that walks this world is perfect.

Variations are great if they are really different - two identical large texture maps are a waste if the only difference is little tattoo on one. Why not include 'extras' like tats and makeups as wee jpgs which the buyer can layer in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro to make a new texture if they want it. Much, much more versatile, smaller file and fun! I also second the ethnicity cry - where are all the great black, oriental and south-asian skins? I would love a really great Indian skin and an aboriginal one would be fantastic! Come on, not everyone in this wonderful, diverse world of ours is a pale skinned blonde!

Female: The base texture should either be no-makeup or very naturalistic makeup. Textures which only come with heavy makeup on the face are frustrating. They disallow versatility. Having 3-5 makeup options can be nice, but because makeup can be applied by mixing textures or blending in a paint app, the most important thing is a relatively plain base. Nails? Don't care. Easy to color in the Materials Editor or to paint in Photoshop if need be. Male: I agree about "too many goatees," even though I think they look good on a guy. If you have a good beard product (esp. DAZ' MilBeard) you can always add that yourself. Again, the main texture should be relatively plain. Eyes: Unless the texture artist is confident that their eyes are of very high quality, I don't care about having several color options. I tend to use my favorite eyes (from textures by StefyZZ, Mint, and quim2001) on all my characters, rather than the undetailed ones that come with some otherwise fine textures. I also agree with what Crescent said about ethnic diversity. That goes for morphs as well as textures. I'm happy with good African textures I have, but would also like to see more good Asian and Latino/a textures.

Just a few Different Ethnicities (I have come to the conclusion that we are in desperate need of male ethnic textures) Midori- www.zs3d.com Kelma/Suelma- zs3d.com Darsha- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=20773 Daryl- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=11633&ViewImage=2#Image Kendra - http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=6449 Alexis- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=13523 Moana- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=19073 Yuan- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=16953 Khadijah - http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=19630 Tawnie- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=16820 Charley- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=18685 Sheldon- http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=14396

I agree, Caly, but there are some good ones out there already. A few I can think of are: Afro: African Textures for Mike at DAZ (aka "Brown Sugar,") and The Brotherhood by evodes (Rosity) Latin: Paco, Guillem, and Jose Cortes by quim2001 (Rosity) Asian: Polynesian Man by quim2001 (Rosity,) Asian Man (DAZ) Zeta Reticulan: Gray Alien by sixus1 (DAZ)

I agree with all of the above,a good basic texture, is what I go for. You can leave off the tan lines too. I like textures that will work with vicky and the MM kids.

good base and a couple shades of make up are fine with me and I too agree about leaving off the tan lines....if you want to give her a tan then give her one while she's naked....

Personally, I hate millions of makeup options cluttering things up. I'm happy with one natural tex and one (or maybe 2) makeup ones. Personally I like the tan lines and think they make things look more realistic, but what would be much nicer than all the makeup/beard variations would be a tan-line/no tan-line option.

For males I like a variety - clean shaven - plus different lengths of beard growth and style. As for females - I like a natural look, with 2 or 3 variations in eye colors and several lip colors ladynimue

yes - I like a natural and some well done makeup textures that match the skin. what I don't want is makeup, tattoos or anything else you yourself wouldn't wear. A little class goes a long way!

Definitely the natural look. I almost never use the makeup options. As for male textures, there's very little in the very young adult male (mid- to late-teen) who hasn't grown a full beard yet. Since I own the Millennium Beard, I can add that if I want it. A clean-shaven young man, or even some older men with character lines (subtle wrinkles) would be nice. And more for the Mil kids. Melanie

Okay ... pretty much where I was going but was just making sure since I have seen a number of things with makeup makeup and more makeup (47 was a blatant exaggeration). The textures I am working on are for a black male and female texture and I am setting it up for a wide variation of skin tones etc and didn't want to do so many makeup/beard options that it becomes silly. Thanks for the feedback .. trying to finalize the textures today.

Now thats something that is thin on the ground around here ! I've got the afro american Steph texture from Daz and a freebie for Mike and haven't loved the few others I've seen . I hope you are doing a REALLY dark texture option too - Look forward to seeing it what you are doing. On top of the basic textures I would wish for 2 or3 strong lipstick colors and a couple of goatee/ beard options and perhaps options between no hair and a super short hair map ; )

Oh, I'd love to see some good, super dark skin textures! I don't know their ancestry, but I've seen a few Black people with skin so dark it had a blueish cast instead of red. (They probably thought I was some sort of bigot because I kept staring at them out the corner of my eye because the underlying colors in their skin were really entrancing.)

for the makeup, one or two really good neutral make up sets are great. subtle tones and good eye liner are a must. for the guys one clean shaven, one with the starting to grow look and perhaps a goatee or full line jaw. it doesnt have to have a bazillion as those working with mike usually get a morphing beard or goatee sooner or later. the total fantasy makeup is good for "charecters". but all in all for 85%{ that is a guesstimate} of renders most use a "natural" or "neutral" make up feel personally I would prefer a tone of make up with rosen lips and one darker perhaps with gloss. the eye make up eye liner is impareative. either a smokey slightly soften"smudged" look or nice dark kohl look that rings the eyes cleanly. eye shadow tones of chestnut and beige. tones of smokey grey and taupe. then darkening to same tones but deeper more intense but subtley done around the eye line and the crease. this gives depth with out the 80 rocker look. they also allow for giving the features depth and definition with out altering the perception of the features.

ack also the colors used on african american skin are usually different the caucasian. they have a tendency to have a clean base tones. nothing murky or greyed{such as mauves or lavenders} as they tend to look ashy on african american skin.

Think I am doing soemthing that should suit most people and is also adaptable for other purposes :) There will be some make options I don't have but I am trying to make it as wide ranged as I can without making it huge. Thanks again fro the feedback.

I personally like a lot of makeup options and tattooes as well, but a nice clean of makeup face when you come down to it is just perfect. It would be be nice to see more ethic choices that is for sure. One texture that is a favorite is zs3d.com's Suelma, just gorgeous. :)

I usually avoid overkill on teh female figures, and only have a few options here and there depending on the render. /P

"Makeup? whazzat?" Makeup is what me and my girlfriend used to do untill we brokeup... Seriously, I agree with Penguinisto, I like the natural looks most (especially in real life - hate waiting on a beautiful woman who thinks she has to 'make herself that way') But in Poser, I guess it really depends on the charater. Again I like the al-natural look but with goths or speacial charaters, a good Green-Blue-Black-Purple-Silver; depending on what she is going to wear (or not wear ;)

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