So i have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to deal with  stepping down, fading out, feathering, whatever you want to call it - the shader of a given material zone. So that it blend into the neighboring zone.
For instance, G2 figures have the predetermined material group called "lips"...this can be replaced by one's own defined material group, but it's neither here nor there, I have this problem with the transition from one material group to another. It would be nice if in the illustration above,  the color math and the spec math could be told how to step down as you approach the edge of the material zone, so the blend is softer... I tried to mess around with a BLENDER node and also an EDGE BLEND (?) node,  I have not gotten into any kind of DISSOLVE node ( if there is one)  but I just think that the hard jump at the edge of this "lip" zone is too much....if I could roll the spec and the color back as you reach the edge where "lips" meets "head"  I would be a happy young fellow.
I bet it's probably a very common node that I don't know about - can anyone help? (click to enlarge)
Thanks

I have used a couple nodes and a mask with a slightly feathered edge . It overlays the lip color onto the face_skin material. Its a blender node with a image map for the mask .

Actually, those lips look more authentic than what you think.  I've seen lots of girls with a sharp edge definition like that.
DPH

Best place to do that I've found is in a paint prog. It's better to swap a face than lips.. This way you avoid the edge blend problems. I take lip masks supplied with texture kits and clone them back onto  the face texture. Then rename and load/ save them in the materialroom..

But why clone them back on the face texture? If you have the mask, use it in the material room directly. With the mask, you can create an infinite number of lip effects and colors that are perfectly and smoothly blended into the face.

There is no node that let's you detect that you're at the edge of a material zone. That would be a very useful node, but alas we don't have it.

The Edge_Blend node isn't about zone edges, it's about edges as viewed by an observer such as the camera. It differentiates between what faces the camera and what doesn't.

The Blender node is all that is needed, as long as you have the mask to drive the transition. Drawing the mask is hard for some people (like me) but once it is drawn (or purchased) you need never mess with it again, nor do you need to alter existing textures.

Oh one more point. This point is crucial to avoid failure. Quite a few Poser users fail to understand this point even though it is fairly simple. Ready?

You must apply your blended skin/lip shader to the lips AND THE FACE.

corollary:

If you want realistic lip blending, you'd do better if you didn't have a separate lip zone at all. It just confuses the issue, because if your lip mask goes outside the lip zone even a tiny bit, and you do not apply the lip/skin/blender shader to the face, then you end up with a hard edge all over again.

Attached Link: Page 22 of Antonia thread - shows lip mask

The skin and lips here are 100% procedural. No texture maps used at all. The only map is the lip mask map, which is just a white lip shape to drive the shader to do different stuff on the lips. The fact that Antonia has a lip material zone is irrelevent and unhelpful - it just means I have to set up the shader on multiple zones instead of just one. Fortunately, VSS automates that for me.

If you make the lip mask a bit blurry then it can be sharpened in the material room with nodes, which is nice because you get an adjustable edge from a single mask. Also, the transition area can do more than just blend. You can get a lip "liner" effect, where a distinctive line is drawn around the edges of the lips as is done with real-life makeup. Note that this edge is still soft, much softer than the hard edges produced by a material zone transition.

BB said:
*You must apply your blended skin/lip shader to the lips AND THE FACE.

*HEAD is a GC shader  with blinn and i slightly tweaked the alt diffuse shade to make the skin kinda peachy.

LIPS is the same shader, but that alt diffuse color tweak is more towards  the color red.
perhaps this is causing part of that hard edge change over........

another thing - I am not so good yet at this whole Shader nodes thing,  can someone show me  a shot of the node chain for when a mask is put in .

Thanks

*But why clone them back on the face texture? If you have the mask, use it in the material room directly. With the mask, you can create an infinite number of lip effects and colors that are perfectly and smoothly blended into the face.

I personally wish that eyesocket, lacrimal, nostrils, and lastly lips were not separate material zones. Alas they are for now. So I put color directly where I want it. Or "smear" it beyond the lip edge barrier. Especially when modified in Zbrush. Not for everyone,, this is crystal clear.

Here is a display of using a blend node and a mask to apply makeup to the face. Its easy enough to do but you need to figure out where in a material to insert the node if its a complex shader.

In this case theres some nodes attached to alternate diffuse so I have left those alone. The face image map feeds into the top of the blender node. The second value is the color , or it can have an image map attached for things like tattoos. The mask image feeds into the blend value.

As you can see the mask has a soft edge so it  fades into the surrounding skin. You have to create your own masks in a paint ptogram and its done on the uv map template for the face. [ I dont paint stuff so I cant say more than that] 

For the lips you would maybe mask the lip material and not go outside it, or color the lips and mask the face_skin material to blend it in. The same mask will work in both materials.

I have painted in the new connections in yellow to make them clearer, the red line is the original connection of the face image to the diffuse channel.

left click on the diffuse  channel end and select disconnect if you dont use the material room much.  click and drag to connect the new nodes .

• the mask has a v offset because it is for V3 and I am using it on V4 so the lineup needed adjusting.  The mask is from A_  Ria character that was in the store here.
   
  This is a way to add tattoos, scars , makeup, bloodstained mouth for vampires etc , without doing it in postwork. The blend nodes can be stacked to add more layers if you get the order of them correct. It needs to be rendered to see it.

Actually, those lips look more authentic than what you think.  I've seen lots of girls with a sharp edge definition like that.
DPH

DPH
I think you might be hanging out with the right type of girls ......  ; -)

BB you are wise my great leader.......

Thanks for the angle on this Markschum - I am going to look into it after my niece's birthday party   >:- (