EZSkin is a free Python script to convert texture sets to an SSS shader-based version. It works with many figures.

It is available as part of the Antonia Christmas Giveaway party, and also as a direct download

I'm looking forward to trying this later today... from the User Guide it sounds pretty good!

Thanks!

Many thanks! :biggrin:

Thank you. 

Thank you and Merry Christmas! :)

THANKS!

Thanks, Snarlygribbly. Works great.

Do you plan to add additional supported figures, or possibly a way for the user to do so?

Quote - ... or possibly a way for the user to do so?

Which would be easy if the source was available (seems strange to licence it via new BSD but not include the source).

Hi,

thanks a lot for this convenient script! I feel that I will use it a lot. Now there should be no more excuse to create renders with bad skin shaders.

I'm curious about the "avoid nose reflection" option. How would you exclude single objects (or even part of an object, as the nose is often not a separate body part)from reflection? I briefly looked at the generated mc6's with / without this option ticked, but could not relate any difference to a nose specific setting.

Best regards,

     Michael

(playing a bit more with it)

I have a funny effect. I'm using EZskin on the "William" texture set (http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/william-for-m4/68080), and depending on the starting shader settings (packaged pz2 which installs plain maps for diffuse and bump) and a manually implemented SSS version with one of the shaders posted at RDNA, I get different results despite same EZskin settings.

The most obvious difference to me is the treatment of the bump map (my setting was "prefer bump map" in both cases.

When I start from the plain pz2 file which comes with the package, the bump map is plugged into "gradient bump" and the procedural bump into "bump".

When I start with the SSS shader, the bump map is plugged into the blender node which goes into the regular "bump" channel.

Best regards,

    Michael 

Thanks so so much this is amazing!  Hey is there a thread or gallery where people can post there renders with this program to show some of the work its producing ? Would love to check that out =-)

I'm posting the results I got:

First a render of the William texture with my own attempts of an SSS shader - you see it is a bit pale and waxy.

The highlights look much more realisitic and the skin is less waxy.

now the result when I run EZSkin on the plain texture maps (the setting which came with the original distribution). I expected the same result, but it looks a lot different.

Nice i like the second render!

Wow, this is very generous. Thanks, Snarly.

Quote - Thanks, Snarlygribbly. Works great.

Do you plan to add additional supported figures, or possibly a way for the user to do so?

Included in the package is a 'figure_mats.py' script. If you run that against an unsupported figure and send the output to me then I can add support for the figure.

Quote - When I start from the plain pz2 file which comes with the package, the bump map is plugged into "gradient bump" and the procedural bump into "bump".

EZSkin doesn't support gradient bump yet. I'll make sure it does in the next update.

Quote - > Quote - ... or possibly a way for the user to do so?

Which would be easy if the source was available (seems strange to licence it via new BSD but not include the source).

I agree, it is strange. It's a long story though, but the gist of it is that Mrs. Snarly wanted me to sell it, I wanted to give it away for free.

The compromise was to give this version away for free and let people share it, sell it or do whatever they might want to do with it, but for me to retain the option to make a commercial version in the future.

I'm not really interested in making a commercial version so in all likelihood I'll release the source code at some point, perhaps after Mrs. Snarly has seen her Christmas present :-)

Quote - I'm curious about the "avoid nose reflection" option. How would you exclude single objects (or even part of an object, as the nose is often not a separate body part)from reflection? I briefly looked at the generated mc6's with / without this option ticked, but could not relate any difference to a nose specific setting.

Well spotted!

Some background: EZSkin is a generic solution designed to work with a wide range of figures so I've had to make some compromises which I wouldn't need to make if it was designed to work with a specific figure.

One of these compromises was where to put the eye reflections. I decided to put them on the cornea material as most figures didn't have the 'eyetrans' material that our beloved DAZ gen 4 figures do.

The cornea, though, is often very rounded and the sides pick up the reflection of the nose! This doesn't seem to happen when the reflections are on the eyetrans material, presumably because it is somewhat flatter.

Anyway, what EZSkin does if the 'Avoid nose' option is ticked is to change the 'Ray bias' value of the reflection so that ignores anything within a few inches. That avoids the eyes reflecting their own facial features but still allows them to reflect everything else.

So you're right - it's not just the nose, but that happens to be the only facial feature that typically gets reflected in the cornea.

Hi,

thanks a lot, yes, this explanation is plausible!

Best regards,

   Michael 

Thanks very, very much... most useful!

Quote - I'm not really interested in making a commercial version so in all likelihood I'll release the source code at some point, perhaps after Mrs. Snarly has seen her Christmas present :-)

You crack me up :biggrin:

I use some old figures and some modified ones, and I'd like to use it on them, thanks a log for the this great tool.

Hiro 3 not supported???

Yep, another Snarly masterpiece! Love it!  :o)

Love this its the best. Quick question. I have applyed the ezskin on my figure. Now if i import the figure into a new scene do i have to re-do the ezskin? or is it still loded onto the figure?

Thanks and really this is the best!

You have to redo it*, but you can save the settings and reload them so that you don't have to remember all the choices you made.

And thank you :-)

• unless you saved the figure as a PZ3 scene file and are importing it from that, in which case it should retain all the materials.

Just a question to 'Snarlygribbly' (man! that's a name and a half... LOL)... has version 1.5 been released yet, I saw an image in the gallery using your script and they said it was with version 1.5... or does the link above take you to the latest version?

It's a most perfect add-on for any skin. Thanks so much! 

Attached Link: https://market.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2841702&page=6

Quote - Just a question to 'Snarlygribbly' (man! that's a name and a half... LOL)... has version 1.5 been released yet, I saw an image in the gallery using your script and they said it was with version 1.5... or does the link above take you to the latest version?

It's a most perfect add-on for any skin. Thanks so much! 

The link above will always get you the latest official version, which is currently v1.6

Thanks Snarlygribbly... I just couldn't see the wood for the trees!

First let me thank you for this generous release.

If there a way to just tinker with it on simple prop?

I imported a simple mesh, popped it into the setup room and back again so poser thought it was a figure, but the script erors on it.

I suppose I could load a supported figure, copy the material from it, and then paste it on the simple prop, bu tI figured there might be a way to test it out on things like the geometric props PPro 2012 comes with easily.

EDIT: It appears I'm having some problem running the script here. I'm getting this error message when I try to run it:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "L:Poser developmentEZSkinEZSkin.py", line 1773, in
  File "L:Poser developmentEZSkinEZSkin.py", line 281, in init
  File "L:Poser developmentEZSkinEZSkin.py", line 308, in UpdateLibrary
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:3DPoser Pro 2012RuntimePythonposerScriptsScriptsMenu/ezskin.xml'

I'll search here and see if I can find a solution. (I tried it on James casual.)

Hi Garee.

I've posted an update to fix this:

http://snarlygribbly.org/misc/ezskin/EZSkin.pyc

That's just the actual script file (v1.6.1) so that you don't have to download the whole package.

EZSkin has an internal database of figueres, with a mapping from each of the figure's material zones to one of EZSkin's built-in shaders. You can add to the database by adding figures and mapping info to the ezskin.xml file.

So, you could create a figure (as you did) and then add it to the XML file. EZSkin should then run successfully on it. The full download package includes an example XML file to get you started.

thanks for the fix, snarly. i'd just run into the same missing xml today but figured it was just me being thick. runs fine now.

Awesome! I thought it was me being stupid.

Just a quick note to say thanks for the wonderful script. It's a great contribution to the community, and helping to breathe new life in many Daz and Poser figures. I'm having a lot of fun exploring the script's capabilities.  

Here's a link to render and acknowledgement I posted earlier today.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2290171

Cheers!

Thanks Acue! It's very rewarding for me to see the script being used to good effect.

Also, let's not forget the contribution made by Bagginsbill, whose shader is at the heart of EZSkin.

I tried to use this but it keeps telling me I don't have a figure selected, even though I have selected the figure (Victoria 4) . It's the only thing in the scene, no clothes, hair, etc.

The ezskin.xml just has an entry for "@DAZGEN3", I tried adding one for "@Victoria4" but same error.  Can someone let me know if I need to do anything else? thanks

Snarly a quick question. The figure im using the ezskin on has a pale almost white skin texture. But after i apply the ezskin and render she comes out more "normal" skin color looking. Is there a setting that is doing this or could it just be my lighting?

Thanks this is a great script =-)

Quote - I tried to use this but it keeps telling me I don't have a figure selected, even though I have selected the figure (Victoria 4) . It's the only thing in the scene, no clothes, hair, etc.

The ezskin.xml just has an entry for "@DAZGEN3", I tried adding one for "@Victoria4" but same error.  Can someone let me know if I need to do anything else? thanks

I have to admit I'm at a loss as to why this is happening. I've tried to replicate your problem and not been able to. Victoria 4 was the very first figure to be supported by EZSkin and doesn't need an entry in the ezskin.xml file.

I really don't know what to suggest. Perhaps a screenshot of the preview room showing Victoria 4 selected and EZSkin's error message would give me a clue, because at the moment I cannot think of any reason for EZSkin to fail to recognise the selected figure!

Sorry :-(

Quote - Snarly a quick question. The figure im using the ezskin on has a pale almost white skin texture. But after i apply the ezskin and render she comes out more "normal" skin color looking. Is there a setting that is doing this or could it just be my lighting?

 

Thanks this is a great script =-)

It seems to me that all skin textures are a little more saturated after applying SSS (at least, with this particular SSS shader). It's probable that it is more noticeable on a pale skin though.

I'd suggest using the HSV control on the advanced page to compensate.

Because I've seen this under varying lighting conditions I suspect it's not your lighting that's doing it.

Hi Snarlygribbly,

thanks for the reply.  Here is a screenshot of the error:

Also, I tried it again but with just the v4.2++ base model and it worked ok. So I think it probably has something to with this v4 model (its a v4 with RM Elaine morphs/mats applied)

Ah, but this is a very different error message, so it all starts to make sense now!

There is a big difference between not having a figure selected ("it keeps telling me I don't have a figure selected", you said) and having an unsupported figure selected :-)

With the EZSkin distribution was a script called 'figure_mats.py'. Select your rogue Victoria figure and run that script and let me see the out put (post here or email to the address in the EZSkin licence file).

With that information I'll be able to tell you how to add support for the Elaine character.

oh ok, sorry about that. I misread the error. Anyways here is the output from running the script. So I need to add an entry to the xml file? what would I put for the @ name? thanks

Figure name: Victoria4
Object file: blMilWom_v4.obj

'Class' : {
"1_EyeSocket" : "ignore",  "1_Eyebrow" : "ignore",  "1_Lip" : "ignore",  "1_Nostril" : "ignore",  "1_SkinFace" : "ignore",  "2_Nipple" : "ignore",  "2_SkinHead" : "ignore",  "2_SkinHip" : "ignore",  "2_SkinNeck" : "ignore",  "2_SkinTorso" : "ignore",  "3_Fingernail" : "ignore",  "3_SkinArm" : "ignore",  "3_SkinFoot" : "ignore",  "3_SkinForearm" : "ignore",  "3_SkinHand" : "ignore",  "3_SkinLeg" : "ignore",  "3_Toenail" : "ignore",  "4_Gums" : "ignore",  "4_InnerMouth" : "ignore",  "4_Teeth" : "ignore",  "4_Tongue" : "ignore",  "5_Cornea" : "ignore",  "5_Iris" : "ignore",  "5_Lacrimal" : "ignore",  "5_Pupil" : "ignore",  "5_Sclera" : "ignore",  "6_Eyelash" : "ignore",  "7_EyeSurface" : "ignore",  "7_Tear" : "ignore",  "Preview" : "ignore",  }

The numbers off the material zones seem to be the culprit.  Snarly, is it possible to use * to recognize any different extensions before and after the proper material zones designations? For example:skinface

Attached Link: EZSkin 1.6.2 (script only)

Rather than have you edit the XML file, I've updated EZSkin to support the version of V4 that you're using. That way anybody else experiencing the same issue can download the new version too.

You can either download the whole EZSkin package again (same link as before) or just download the updated script file from the attached link.

Hi Snarlygribbly,

thanks for the update and the fix. I just tested it and it works very nicely.  The render output after using this script is amazing. Thanks again, this script is awesome!