These two images have exactly the same lighting set up and use the same render settings. The only differences is the textures used and the material set up. This first is the standard James Hi-res material with a single IBL AO light with a single specular only light matched to the IBL lightmap image

The second uses exactly the same lighting, but with a fairly basic skin shader set up and a slightly modified base texture.

So the lighting which is too flat for the first image is now slightly too blown out for the second, but actually hasn't changed. It's going to take a while matching lighting set ups to texture set ups but I believe the possiblities are now as good as any 3d package (though not quite as simple to use as some) :-)

this is my image from my gallery using a single IBL AO light and 1 infinite light. not-too-complex shader setup, I think it worked out very well!

That's a very nice render, Templar. What's the node setup look like?

Nalif, she is drop dead gorgeous and you are asking about nodes!!!! You really should get out more. :))

Incidentally what is the node set up? ;)

here is the node setup for nova above!

Hmm...I've always been picky about using the extra diffuse and specular nodes in any other socket besides the alternate_diffuse and alternate_specular sockets. I was under the impression that plugged into any other node, they would render improperly. On another note, I was always under the impression that the nodes found under the "diffuse" and "specular" cascading menus could be plugged directly into their respective sockets. However, I've been finding that they don't look right, and if I first plug in a "diffuse" node into the socket, and then plug in said node setup, it seems to render correctly.....What's the proper use of on nodes such as "skin" and "fastscatter" and the like?