Hi guys

I have returned to using Poser after a few years off and bought PP2014

One of the things I used to like using to improve my renders was a plugin called "Real Skin Shader" which added SSS, freckles etc to the characters.

It also if I remember rightly sorted the lighting out for best effect once you had selected the main light.

Is this still the way to go is there something else I can use to automate this process for all people characters.

I have been seeing this octane app being mentioned but when I look on the Daz site it appears you have to have a custom one for each character?

Also are there any light sets you would recommend for the best realism.

Poser includes actual SubSurface Scatter nodes which are better than the faked Fast Scatter node that used to be the only option. You can find them in the Advanced Material Tab by going New Node>Lighting>Special and choosing one of three options: Subsurface Skin (not to be confused with the skin node), Scatter, or Custom Scatter.  You can then manually set up your skin shader.

Alternatively, you can also just open up the script fly out on the right in the Advanced Material Tab and hit the button Add Skin Subsurface Scattering.

Or if you're a fan of procedural skin you can try EZSkin or EZMat (thread at top of forum) by Snarlygribbly.

These shaders should just work with whatever lights you have. However, if your goal is to show light passing through the subject, you should place the strongest light on the opposite side of the part of the figure facing the camera.

Real Skin Shader is a relic of the past, no longer a usable product with the current Poser versions.  It was entirely based on optimizing lighting conditions to get the best result.  With Bagginsbill's VSS Prop, all that had changed.  Now we have Snarlygribby's EZSkin which uses real SSS and is not light depend.  That python script can be found here: 

http://www.snarlygribbly.org/3d/forum/

And the best thing, it is free.  Also pick up EZMat available there and at RDNA.  Also free.

Light sets are also becoming a thing of the past.  We now have IBL, and IDL.  Heck, we can now illuminate a scene with props rather than actual lights.

You really have a lot to catch up and actually unlearn and relearn.

 A lot of users, including me, use Ezskin 2 by SnarlyGribbly available at his web site or RDNA and the good news it is free.  It will apply SSS to the skin material and you have control over lots of other attributes.  It does not affect lighting but as lighting has changed so much over the last few versions of Poser most older scripts will be of little use.

Best advice I can give on lighting is have a good read of the forum as there is a lot of good info here and not every one uses light sets but build their own lights to suit their needs.  Also, if you are using gamma correction you will need less lights and probably need reduce the strength so once again a lot of old light sets will be of limited use.

Edit - sorry cross post with both Tenyon and hborre.  I agree there is a lot to learn and the advice they have given is a great starting point. 

Thanks guys.

I see I am a little out of date LOL.

I do at least now know what direction to move in on the path of getting caught up.

Much appreciated.

Martyn

Real Skin Shader is a relic of the past, no longer a usable product with the current Poser versions. 

Actually, I use both the old V4 Shader and the RealShader updated for P2012 with no problem at all. I use them for quick renders. The only issue might be some artificial AO that's not necessary, so I manually adjust it. They are both updated to work with Poser's latest Python calls, IIRC. I am terribad with EZSKIN. :) I can only rarely get it to work to yield a render that's only slightly better than skin that looks like bakelight... But, I don't render much and, when I do, it's just so I can see whatever it is that I just modeled and how it looks. I should probably work more with it, just to see how amazing it is.

 #marvlin - welcome back then. Next to a massive functional change in the Poser program itself, there has been a serious shift in support as well. Smith Micro has issued a bunch of video tuts (on Youtube too), and Rendo itself has started a series of video tuts as well, by Mark Bremmer. These may give you some headstart.

For more advanced stuff, like details on materials, details on dynamic cloth & hair, and details on camera / light / rendering & post, you're welcome on my Missing Manuals site (and of course, there are other valuable sites as well).

In this Poser forum itself, it pays off to stroll around and look for discussions and posts by Bagginsbill. 

have fun. 

Thanks aRtBee.

I've been doing just that actually reference the Youtube videos but will definitely be checking out Bagginsbill's stuff and of course yours.

Been messing with the fitting room today with mixed success LOL