I realize this thread is not about a shader. Perhaps one should introduce that topic in a separate thread. However, my main objective for learning how to use VSS is for the ability to manage the skin shader of my choosing (I say that deliberately) via this elegant tool.

VSS hasn't worked too well for me, I'll have to say, probably because I fiddle around too much with the shaders on the character and not making changes in the template and refreshing as you designed it to do, but that refreshing doesn't seem to happen consistently anyway (mostly because of node-names), but that's really a whole 'nuther topic.

What I'd like to discuss is the shader. I am absolutely rapt with it, Bill! And no, not the VSS_Template_Skin_PR3_WIP.mt5... that one is amazing, but unsuitable for what I'm try to do, at least, from what I've been able to discern. That unsuitability most certainly hinges on the fact that I can't get my head around it, so it's not the fault of the shader, but my comprehension limitations.

But, I've been playing with the original shader you sent with the first VSS, and my-oh-my, how nice is this! It adds subtle texture and colour to my underlying textureMap.

Oh dear, did I say textureMap? As in, Make-Up? You may recall in another thread I was asking about the 3Delight render thingie and Daz Studio and all that. We Poser content developers try to cater to the Daz user as well as the Poser user. So, one of my objectives is to get my pointy-little head around one of your more basic shaders in order to try to recreate an analogous shader in Eilir for the Daz users.

So, I fiddled and arranged your shader so it kinda started to make sense, kinda:

Changed one or two settings... like the simple color node: took it from RGB 189.219.219 to 233.243.243.

A lot of blah-blah to ask a simple question, Bill: in that shader, the Blender node controls how much of the shader vs how much of the underlying textureMap has precedence, right? As you can see, I set the Belnding value from 1.0000 to .50000 and went from:

to

Um, no, this may not have been in your original idea, but I feel I'm getting a superior image to what I was getting without that shader without blowing my textureMap completely out of the water.

Opinions? Be as harsh as you want.

I feel in this way, i can satisfy my Poser customers and (IF - massive *IF) I can emulate your shader in Eilir then also Daz users will have a better image to render.

Ready to duck and hide....

Monterey/Mint21.x/Win10 - Blender3.x - PP11.3(cm) - Musescore3.6.2

Wir sind gewohnt, daß die Menschen verhöhnen was sie nicht verstehen
[it is clear that humans have contempt for that which they do not understand] 

Metaphor of Chooks