Thanks! I'll do that.

 Hehe the master is back so you're in good hands :)   VSS has drastically changed how I use Poser and I´m sure you'll enjoy using it. Good luck.

@ bagginsbill:  I've been toying with the idea of doing a tutorial on VSS.  I'd like to do a PDF that covers everything some setting it up to using the designer to create custom VSS props.  I have way to much time on my hands and it might teach me a thing or two.  Thoughts?

So if you're going to use VSS, you don't need to bother with the simple shader I gave you, although you could use it if you wanted. VSS already has a more powerful shader with lots of options and easy to use controls.

But it doesn't seem you're using it correctly. But I'm not sure - you showed multiple things that seemed inconsistent. The first image you posted today, the green one, doesn't look like a VSS shader nor like the simple shader I gave you. But you said you used the "default" VSS shader. I don't think so.

In the next post (6:59 pm) you showed a screen shot of the PR1 Template Skin shader.

In the next you said "This is what I got after Synchronizing" showing 2_SkinTorso. Nope. If you had Synchronized, that complicated Spaghetti from Template Skin would have been in 2_SkinTorso. Instead, you showed the simple shader I gave you yesterday. You must have loaded that by hand, since you didn't load it into Template_Skin.

Anyway, let's forget the simple shader for the moment, since the VSS PR3 NO AO skin shader offers so much more.

Quote -  Hehe the master is back so you're in good hands :)   VSS has drastically changed how I use Poser and I´m sure you'll enjoy using it. Good luck.

@ bagginsbill:  I've been toying with the idea of doing a tutorial on VSS.  I'd like to do a PDF that covers everything some setting it up to using the designer to create custom VSS props.  I have way to much time on my hands and it might teach me a thing or two.  Thoughts?

Sure. I've been wanting to do a video, but haven't got round to it.

Hmm. Maybe I'll record and upload a video. Hang on. Might take me a few.

Meanwhile, JJ, when you click Synchronize, you should be getting a Python script window saying what VSS is doing. Do you get that? There have been cases where people thought it was running but it didn't run at all. The output window will tell the story.

I can say for sure the 1st image was done using VSS1 generic prop.
If it wasn't, with such a low light my model would have been dark brown like it was yesterday.

I am now experimenting with VSS3:
Not exactly sure of what I am doing (for that I would need an intensive theory course and also to buy me a brain...)
But I m messing around with what you call shader tree - although it still doesnt look like yours:
as you can see I still can't link DIFFUSE COLOR to COLOR MAP, BUMP to BUMP MAP, DIFFUSE VALUE to ALT SPEC, etc
 

PS I do get the script listing all the body parts and saying syncro has been done.

Quote -  Hehe the master is back so you're in good hands :)   VSS has drastically changed how I use Poser and I´m sure you'll enjoy using it. Good luck.

Indeed, I realise i couldn't be in better hands.
Yesterday, I hardly knew what a python script was...
("What a difference a say makes, 24 little hours" la la la)

To connect the color_map to the Diffuse_color, left click on the male end of the node's plug and drag a connection to the female end of the plugh on your posersurface.

Quote - > Quote -  Hehe the master is back so you're in good hands :)   VSS has drastically changed how I use Poser and I´m sure you'll enjoy using it. Good luck.

Indeed, I realise i couldn't be in better hands.
Yesterday, I hardly knew what a python script was...
("What a difference a say makes, 24 little hours" la la la)

Hehe 24 hour wakes!  I've had quite a few of those as well ;)  VSS will teach you a lot about the material room as well and you can find quite a few threads around here with techniques by bagginsbill that will teach you a lot too.

Thanks to your explainations I was able to connect DIFF VAL to ALT SPEC
But I can't find the color map though
So many things to learn,,,

Quote - > Quote - > Quote -  Hehe the master is back so you're in good hands :)   VSS has drastically changed how I use Poser and I´m sure you'll enjoy using it. Good luck.

Indeed, I realise i couldn't be in better hands.
Yesterday, I hardly knew what a python script was...
("What a difference a say makes, 24 little hours" la la la)

Hehe 24 hour wakes!  I've had quite a few of those as well ;)  VSS will teach you a lot about the material room as well and you can find quite a few threads around here with techniques by bagginsbill that will teach you a lot too.

If I don't die of exhaustion before! (wink)
It's now 2 am so it's closer to 40 hours...

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - > Quote -  Hehe the master is back so you're in good hands :)   VSS has drastically changed how I use Poser and I´m sure you'll enjoy using it. Good luck.

Indeed, I realise i couldn't be in better hands.
Yesterday, I hardly knew what a python script was...
("What a difference a say makes, 24 little hours" la la la)

Hehe 24 hour wakes!  I've had quite a few of those as well ;)  VSS will teach you a lot about the material room as well and you can find quite a few threads around here with techniques by bagginsbill that will teach you a lot too.

If I don't die of exhaustion before! (wink)
It's now 2 am so it's closer to 40 hours...

Okay I haven't done 40 hours since I finished the game Mafia ;)  Hope your supply of coffee is good :) It's 2 am here too by the way.

Your last screenshot shows your changing the preview material.  That won't do anything when you hit synchronize.  Select the Template Skin from the material list and do your changes there.

 Don't put any image maps on the VSS prop though.  Change image maps on the figure it self.  Hope I'm not overloading your brain with this :)  I think bagginsbill is cooking up a video for you so that should explain all in more detail.   Feel free to ask questions in the mean time though.  I'll help as I can also.

The color_map is the same as an image_map, just differently named. 

And as a side note, Vestmann is correct about the VSSProp.  Do not attempt to add any texture maps to the prop itself.  The script is written in such a way that it will overwrite and incorporate and shader nodes connect to the posersurface node.  So, if your original model has 1 texture map connected to Diffuse_color, when you synchronize VSS, the model's original connection will be overwritten and the texture map will be assimilated into the VSS shader pipeline.

Edit: I agree with Vestmann, the VSSProp manual should be rewritten to reflect the current node arrangement, the newer albino skin VSS, and demo how to construct a VSSProp for props and hair. 

Yes, I think I need a rest :
I used the skin template with VSS1, preview with VSS3.
I not doing anything good any longer...
So I'll try your tips tomorrow.

Still I have a few questions:
Are you in Great Britain? (don't answer if you feel that's too personal)
What's the MAFIA game? Where can I check it?
Also, what are your favorite female models? Why?
(tryin to make a Poser harem...but they are so many of them don't know which one to chose) 

Quote - Yes, I think I need a rest :
I used the skin template with VSS1, preview with VSS3.
I not doing anything good any longer...
So I'll try your tips tomorrow.

Still I have a few questions:
Are you in Great Britain? (don't answer if you feel that's too personal)
What's the MAFIA game? Where can I check it?

No, I'm in Iceland.  Nothing personal about that ;)
Mafia is an old PC game.  It was one of the first that a truly gripping story line along with an open world to drive and shoot in.  Don't know if it's in stores today. You can see the intro from it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKsaJe2zKSo&

They are currently developing Mafia II  It's website is here:

http://www.mafia2game.com/

Now get some rest before your head explodes haha!

Quote - > Quote - Yes, I think I need a rest :

I used the skin template with VSS1, preview with VSS3.
I not doing anything good any longer...
So I'll try your tips tomorrow.

Still I have a few questions:
Are you in Great Britain? (don't answer if you feel that's too personal)
What's the MAFIA game? Where can I check it?

No, I'm in Iceland.  Nothing personal about that ;)
Mafia is an old PC game.  It was one of the first that a truly gripping story line along with an open world to drive and shoot in.  Don't know if it's in stores today. You can see the intro from it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKsaJe2zKSo&

They are currently developing Mafia II  It's website is here:

http://www.mafia2game.com/

Now get some rest before your head explodes haha!

 
Iceland, wow, that's quite exotic!
Stunning  Mafia trailer despite the low res vid.  Great cam movements.
But I'll wait until tomorrow to visit the site so I can better appreciate it.
Take care

Rats. I tried several free screen capture utilities. Only one I found had a convenient ability to show full screen or zoom in on a smaller area and track my mouse - utipu. Unfortunately, although the capture looks good, the audio falls behind the video each time I render. I played with it for an hour adjusting things and could not get it to work right. In the last video I tried, the video was 30 seconds behind the audio.

So - does anybody know a good free screen capture movie maker that can track my mouse zoomed in, or show full screen dynamically using a hot key to switch that produces FLV files?

Pssst, (whispering) BB offer them a free autographed copy of your book.  That will make them come out of the woodwork!

Quote - Rats. I tried several free screen capture utilities. Only one I found had a convenient ability to show full screen or zoom in on a smaller area and track my mouse - utipu. Unfortunately, although the capture looks good, the audio falls behind the video each time I render. I played with it for an hour adjusting things and could not get it to work right. In the last video I tried, the video was 30 seconds behind the audio.

So - does anybody know a good free screen capture movie maker that can track my mouse zoomed in, or show full screen dynamically using a hot key to switch that produces FLV files?

I have FASTSTONE SC, it's very basic and doesn't do any of that.
But if it's only a problem of resyncronising the audio, it should be easy to do using WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER.
Do you want me to have a try at it?

 You can edit your VSS prop to apply to any figure you want but first you need to take time to understand how VSS operates.  It's real simple once you get it.

Select your VSS prop and go into the material room.  In the material list you'll see two materials called Apply Rules and Shader Rules.  

Apply Rules controls which figures or props VSS will be applied to.  Bagginsbill set it up so it would apply to every figure in the scene but you can change that.

Shader Rules controls which material zone on your figure gets changed by VSS's materials.  I'm having difficulty wording this in a good way.   Take a look at the Shader Rules for a minute and look at how the nodes are connected.  For example, There is a node called skin that's connected to a Copy Template Skin node.  That means that if your figure has a material zone with 'skin' in it's name it will be changed by the Template Skin material on the VSS prop.

 With me so far?

You can change all this with the Designer script that's included in the VSS panel.  Let me know if you want to have a go at it.

Hi Vestmann
Im with you all the way but can't find the VSS control panel.

 It's the one in you last screenshot, the python script panel...

 I´m writing instructions on how to change this.  give me 5 minutes... :)

Thanks a lot.
And I thought I knew how to use POSER because I could dress up a model, pose it or make a little anim...How wrong!

  Okay here are the steps to changing VSS so it only applies to the figure you want:

1.  Select the VSS Prop and go into the material room.  Make sure you also have the Python script panel.  If you can't see the panel go into Window - Python Scripts.  I´m assuming you have VSS loaded and you can see these three buttons; Synchronize, Render and Designer.

2. Select Apply Rules from the material list.  Delete the two rule nodes that are there.

3. Hit Designer from the python scripts panel.  You'll get a new set of buttons.  Hit Add a Rule Node.

4. VSS now asks to choose a new rule.   Hit the arrow beside None and from the drop down list select other - type it in.

5. Now enter the name of your figure in the empty box and hit OK.  You should now have a new rule.

That's it.  In your case you have two Victorias, one name Victoria4 and one called Victoria4 1 so you can enter Victoria4 in the box.   You can also give one of your figures more specific name by changing name of it Body in the Properties panel.

Let me know how this goes.

Great! That should be simple enough for me.
I'll experiment and tell you how it goes
Thanks, that's very nice of you

 No problem.  When you've got this under control. You should take a look at the PM nodes in the Template Skin material.  

OK, PM nodes: gamma, bump, shine...
I can see them alright, they look oh so very pretty ! (only joking...)
May I ask you how you guys learn about all this?
Because it doesn't look that user friendly to me.
Do you just experiment?

 Glad it worked!  Now go and play with the PM nodes in the Template Skin material on the VSS prop.  You're using Poser Pro so if you're rendering with Gamma Correction your first job should be to adjust PM:Gamma to 1.   Remember to always hit Synchronize after you've made changes to the control prop.

Quote - OK, PM nodes: gamma, bump, shine...
I can see them alright, they look oh so very pretty ! (only joking...)
May I ask you how you guys learn about all this?
Because it doesn't look that user friendly to me.
Do you just experiment?

Yes, experiment and as you've seen bagginsbill is very generous with his help.   A simple question to bagginsbill can open your eyes to a whole new level of using Poser ;)   I can give some pointers on the PM nodes if you want...

Quote - > Quote - OK, PM nodes: gamma, bump, shine...

I can see them alright, they look oh so very pretty ! (only joking...)
May I ask you how you guys learn about all this?
Because it doesn't look that user friendly to me.
Do you just experiment?

Yes, experiment and as you've seen bagginsbill is very generous with his help.   A simple question to bagginsbill can open your eyes to a whole new level of using Poser ;)   I can give some pointers on the PM nodes if you want...

Oh yes, I fully realise how you guys are friendly and helpful.
And i know guys like me can be tiresome.
So when you've had enough, just ignore, i'll understand.

Yes that Gamma value is correct. 
Ok here are the PM nodes.  Now I'm no expert on these but I'll explain the ones I use the most.

PM: Color Tint
Pretty self explanatory.  You can use to give the your skin a tint of color (duh:)  Just be aware that this will darken the skin.  You can use PM:boost to counteract that.

PM:Bump
Adjusts bump strength.  This will vary greatly depending on the bump maps you have on your figure.  Sometimes the bump on the lips is way too strong while the rest of materials are ok.  I usually correct by going into the lip material on the figure or create Template Lips material on the VSS prop.

PM:Shine, PM: Shine Spread and PM: Shine Level.
Ahh these are my favorite and I know bagginsbill is pretty proud of this little invention.  This controls specularity in a masterful way.  When you adjust PM:shine you affect both the spread and value of specularity.  For example, if you increase the Shine value to 1 you'll get a stronger and narrower specularity.   So if you want to adjust specularity, first adjust PM:Shine.   If you then want adjust the level or spread separately you use PM:Shine Spread and PM:Shine Level.

PM: Diffuse Reflectivity
Controls the Diffuse value.  I lower this when rendering with IDL but you probably don't need to worry about it.  Feel free to experiment with it though.

PM:SSS, SSS Color and SSS Falloff
Subsurface Scattering. Actually this is fake SSS.  I sometimes change this to a blue color to make the skin colder.  To be honest I don't use this much and I usually keep this low since I always use IDL now.  Experiment ;)

PM:Boost
This boosts the effect of VSS.  This can be good when you add a color tint to your skin as it lightens it.  This will also affect specularity so might need adjust the Shine value when you change this.

To get a sweaty/wet skin try a PM:Shine value of 1 and a PM:Bump value of maybe 0.05 - 0.08.  Make sure your using Inches.

This is sort of an aside, but it's a good tip for speeding up your workflow.

There's no need to wait for good quality renders when testing out skin shaders and lighting like this. You can turn down the render settings to make them fairly quick, and back up again when you get to fine tuning the details. Save yourself some render Presets so you don't have to change every setting. I have 7 presets that work well for me, as shown in the screenshot. I select one of these and make any fine adjustments if necessary.

Could you show us the render settings you are using for testing, and we can make suggestions how to make it quicker for you? It's easier than listing all the possible things you could change, without knowing what settings you are currently using.

Also, what size are you doing your test renders? Selecting Half render size reduces render time to around one quarter of the full size render.

Ah... I never use the Auto settings screen.

To begin with, I would suggest you switch to the Manual Settings screen and import the above Auto settings. Then reduce Irradiance caching to 20 or less and increase the Min shading rate to 2 or more, and bucket size to 32, or 64 if your PC will take it. This should make your test renders quicker, but you should still be able to see what's happening with your changes to lighting and shaders.

Once you've set the aspect ratio and full size of your render, there's no need to change dimensions for the test renders... you can just select Half size, or use the "Fit in preview window" option, if your Preview window is a reasonable size. 

The dpi setting is irrelevant, by the way. It makes no difference at all to the render.

BTW, Vestmann you forgot to mention that the other templates in VSSProp has gamma correction settings but the nodes are not as obvious as the skin template.

Quote - BTW, Vestmann you forgot to mention that the other templates in VSSProp has gamma correction settings but the nodes are not as obvious as the skin template.

Naughty naughty, Vestmann! (wink)

Thanks, my friend.
I'll try with this setting and see if it reduces render time.
Don't ask me why but bucket size is only a problem for high quality renders, especially with
the HDRI option on.

Quote - BTW, Vestmann you forgot to mention that the other templates in VSSProp has gamma correction settings but the nodes are not as obvious as the skin template.

I guess my use of VSS is only skin deep ;)  I don't even know where to adjust gamma for the other materials and I haven't found a reason to since my characters look good without further gamma corrections.

 Thanks! That good to know.

The others have no formal complicated node structures. Template Innermouth could be substituted with Template Skin nodes for bump and extra texture enhancement.