Can anyone recommend a good African American texture for V3(or for any other model)? I've purchased two for V3 so far, and they're not what I hoped for. One has a bad case of seams and is simply a poor quality texture and the other renders with splotches and long lines on the limbs. Postwork didn't cure either.

The only fantastic African American texture that I've purchased so far was Jimmy by Dalinise for the Mil Baby.

well my kadijah & portia set has both a very pale skinned character and an african american texture for v3. also, TamelaJ's Soledad is amazing. :)

Here are two really nice ones.

http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=25726

http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=38242

EDIT: http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=16820

Message edited on: 08/10/2005 22:48

You can always adjust the color balances on textures you do like in your photo app and save as a new file.

Thanks for recommendation, Shaybear. They are very nice textures. I saw another of yours that I really liked--Trystyn. I'm going to have to get her soon. :-)

yeah trystyn is one of my best sellers :) thank you for the compliment :)

Thanks, Acadia. I believe I actually have Camille but haven't tried her yet. :-)

Fls13, Great idea, and one I should try. I'm new to all of this so I haven't attempted changing the colors of textures yet. I have a beautiful Native American Texture "Witchita" for V3 (from Poser-Corner.de)--the best looking texture that I've rendered so far. It comes out so perfect, and, now that you mention it, perhaps I'll see if I can darken it. Thanks for the suggestion. :-)

Adjusting the color in Photoshop or using those "tone" MATs that come with V3's texture pack don't produce realistic results, IME. Dark-skinned people aren't just Photoshop-adjusted light-skinned people.

Unfortunately, a lot of the African American textures sold are just Caucasian textures darkened in Photoshop. You can usually see this on the hands and feet. Dark-skinned people have pale palms and soles, but many of the African textures sold have palms and soles as dark as the rest of the skin. It's gotten to the point that I don't buy dark-skinned textures unless the promo images show the palms and soles, so I can see if they got it right.

Thanks for sharing, Randy. These are things that I'll watch for as I search for textures. I had noticed that a lot of dark skin textures seemed to be of poor quality, and I've wondered if it's more difficult to create a dark skin texture. :-)

Attached Link: Click here

is that what you looking for? the quality is 100% for sure! Cath

Oh, my. That looks wonderful.

Unfortunately, I don't use M2 any more. But if you made a unimesh version, I would buy it in an instant!

Thank you :) yes uni-mesh version is also in production , also real black female character for Victoria3 all from photo references of African people. I think next week the unimesh M3 and V3 versions are ready in the store.. Cath

Hi Cath, Bacardi looks awesome. You mentioned in the Product Announcement forum that you used ZBrush. Did you make the texture completely in ZBrush, or did you also use reference Photos? Either way, the texs you make are breathtaking in the amount of detail and crispness to them. -The Starkdog

Hi Starkdog,thank you very much.... no I don't used ZBrush for this texture I use sometimes only for my characters and morphs, but textures are done using Deeppaint3D... everything in projection mode and layers , very slow production, I paint very much on the textures but the final effect you can't recognise what was photo and what is painting. I use 6000x6000 resolution layers ( 120-200MB per layer)first for the most important parts of the skin, then later I project the layers into the model 360 degrees and I get the photo effect on the textures this way......... see the fragment of the body.... it looks like photo but only nipples was used from photo and the rest just painted ;) I use my new technique to allow me create so much details and I don't have to worry about the seams anymore because everything is covered exactly. Cath p.S you can see in the example that the skin looks like painting, because it is so big image, when is projected to the color textures it looks just the same way as photo.. and that is big secret about :)

You can mask off the palms and adjust them separately. And it's not just darkening the skin, but adjusting the rgb channels individually. It can be done if you take your time. Another point, lots of "black" people are lighter skinned than "white" people, so it all depends on what your goal is.

"black" is such an inadequate label. I live in the UK; we get a different mix, perhaps, to what's visible in the USA. Not just Africa but India. There are some pretty dark-skinned people coming from Southern India. Anyway, I tried to have a look at the soles of my feet (and fell over). I'm definitely white, and I don't think there are many "white" textures that get feet and palms right.

I've never understood the terms "White" or "Black" when it comes to people's skin colour. The above image depicts "white" and "black", and I certainly have never encountered a single person that matched those colours. I can see "Light", "Dark", "Tan", "Brown", "Olive". I can see "Caucasean"... But as for terms "African American"? I work with people who are more pale than I am, and they were born in Africa, and so were their parents. I see on the shopping channel here that they refer to "Black" Women as "Women of Colour", when they are selling hair products or cosmetics or hair products for darker skinned people. I think we should stop labeling people and just state the colour of skin we are seeking to find, be it golden, beige, sunburned, or whatever....

Well political correctness Aside. one should consider that no matter how good a "black" texture may be,

It will still look completely BOGUS when simply applied
to a nordic featured "unimess" Clone.

I believe there is a good variety of textures for "black
people" available in the poser market
(with the notable exception of those for light skinned black people like myself)

but realistic and convincing ethnic morphs are another matter entirely.

Message edited on: 08/11/2005 04:53

Ah wolf359 I see you like Blinn Blinn ;) I have many friends that are :black:, they always say about them self as a : black: they never use , "Dark", "Tan", "Brown", "Olive" I am white sister for them and still I have black curly hair and Olive brown skin... no matter what the color of the skin, the palms and the soles will be always without the pigment. Don't forget about the correct color of the tongue! lol muhahahahahah

Cath, that's great news about the unimesh versions. From the promo pics you posted, yours are the best dark skin textures I have ever seen. I have some of the free textures you made for older figures, and based on the quality of those, I won't hesitate to buy your new ones.

What else are you working on? I sure wouldn't complain if you made some medium-dark textures, as might be suitable for lighter-skinned blacks, Latinos, Asians, or Polynesians. :-)

Morphs, of course, are another matter entirely. I think the unimesh figures have the best African morphs available, particularly the International Beauties package. The problem is that the other head morphs really need to be re-done to work with an ethnic morph. All the expression morphs, etc. This is not just a unimesh problem; it applies to all Poser figures. Morph the head too much, and the other head morphs won't work well.

IMO, this is a niche wide open for someone. I would pay for head morph packs designed to work with the DAZ ethnic morphs. So you could give more individuality to the faces, and give them expressions without the weird and unnatural results you now get. The unimesh figures are ideal for this, because you could load only the morphs you need.

Novelist, my Kanika for V3 is pretty realistic and yep, the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are definitely not the same color as the rest of her and she's on sale right now too :) You can see the palms and a little bit of the soles in the promo images and she has been pretty popular :) I'm working on an older African American woman at the moment who will be part of my Older Woman series and she should be available in a couple of weeks with any luck. Catharina, your work is just beautiful too.

I just saw TamelaJ's "Rahiti" in the store. Very nice-looking. The hair looks great - done with displacement, if I read the description correctly.

Kym, I love your characters, too. I will probably be going broke this month, since you put your whole store on sale. :-)

LOL Randy I thought it was about time. I haven't had a sale in ages and I'm glad ya like my stuff.

Attached Link: http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=27340

Take a look to Adro by 3Dream. Its fantastic and hyper real. http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=27340

May I applaud how civilized this discussion has been? As a black poser user, I appreciate that people want a variety of skin tones and ethnic features for their models. I like Will for example from Daz3d as well as Shandy and their International Beauties as well as many of the Handspring Studio textures. As for the semantics, personally, I am not so fond of the descriptives such as tan (varies for me depending on whether I've been in the sun or not), golden or chocolate (i'm not a watchband or a candy bar, thank you); I personally like African American and Black as long as people remember that we are talking about a complex ethnic and cultural complex. I work with someone who is Irish who describes himself as "green''; frankly, he looks pink to me...

This is a render of Shakina by Neomea. The palms of the hands and bottoms of the feet are very much lighter in tone.

Thank you Randy and KymJ :) I work on many textures now but first on Sunday Bacardi as first... My List is long but I tell you, it is wonderful to get work on textures again for the poser characters, I was working for the last 3 months on many sets on the same time so now you can expect more finished works... also something for A.Maximus in the best quality I can. nemesis10 , I like the way you reply... you are more that right..... No Candy Shops this time. and when I use :BLACK: it mean for me complex ethnic and cultural complex...and not the color self Cath

The real problem I have isn't with the skin tones it's with the lack of hair models for African characters (not "African-American" because an awful lot of people of African descent do not live in the U.S.). Most hair models I've seen are best for a Nordic Naked Vicky in a Temple with a Sword and not the Nubian Naked Vicky in a Temple with a Sword.

You're right on that one. And what there is can be still an American style. There's nothing wrong with that, but it limits things. Doesn't anybody reach National Geographic any more?

Oh boy! do I agree with that. Finding the right hair for characters of African descent is not easy especially if they're older. I have used the Roman Curly hair which is pretty good but its use is a little restricted because not all people have jet black hair either and try as I might, I cannot change the color of it :(...which in fairness may well be me and not the hair LOL. If anyone has ever changed the color of it, I would love to know how. I guess asking the creator would be too easy LOL.

Attached Link: http://www.runtimedna.com/catalog.ez?ShowProduct=EV%2D050

There is an African hair prop over at Runtime DNA called Alicia Stylez. Very flexible with a lot of morphs. Designed for V3 but fits SP, M3 and David. There's also a texture pack here at R'Osity.

Attached Link: http://www.planit3d.com/source/poser/slinger5.html

I'll toss my hat into the ring... She may not be exactly what you're looking for, and she's not in the same league as Cath's work but she's a freebie.

ah thank you for that...that looks pretty good. I'll grab it.

Attached Link: http://www.runtimedna.com/catalog.ez?ShowProduct=SR%2D013&cart_id=511126

RDNA also has the Shahara texture set.

One reason I like Rahiti is the hair, which is part of the texture.

I like the Alicia hair at RDNA. DAZ also has a style called Alicia. It's a cornrow style by Vairesh. DAZ also has a male style called "Denzel Hair."

There are several dreadlock styles in the MP. And Neftis (I think) made a nice short braided style that's suitable for men. Unfortunately, I don't think she sells it any more. It really looked great.

Here's a render of "Camielle, for Victoria 3 from DAZ3D, by Jennifer R Morris Johannes." It is sold here at Renderosity and includes morph, textures and light set.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=702380&Start=37&Artist=SamTherapy&ByArtist=Yes

Bob Marley was not African American Marcus Garvey was not African American Ras Tafari was not African American Linval Douglas is not African American. This link takes you to a straightforward porttrait of a gent by Ilona and Lluque, rendered by YT. He is not African American, either.

Wow, Cath. That's great! Looks so real! I'll certainly have to get that one soon. I do have M2. :-)

KymJ, Nice texture. I put her in my wishlist. :-)

Sam I'd love to see that image but it gets about a quarter loaded and it dies on me :( Any ideas ? hmmmm

Thanks, Slinger. She's great. I'll give her a try. :-)

My pleasure novelist999. I'm pleased you like her. :)

Hi novelist999, I'm a bit late, you might already have made your choice :) But I have a ethnic character too: Hoygnia. I've included a picture... She has definetely no seams ;) Pic is slightly postworked, hair on her head (top) is included).

WOW, that last one is just gorgeous!! Can you do one for the boys too Fenrissa?? (love the handle name! Female version of Fenris?) Richard ;-)~

Hi Richard! Thank you for the compliment! Yep, Fenrissa is my interpretation of a female Fenris ;) And I want to do somewhen in the future a male ethnic texture, but right now, there are a lot of different projects! But thank you for suggesting! Fen