I am working on a M4 character set with one facial, two body morphs.  SSS skin and a possible non-SSS skin option for those that do not have Poser 9 and above.  The veins I have changed up since these renders to smooth out certain overly veined areas; test renders, gotta love'em. XD

I am tweaking the base SSS at the moment and have a few pics.  I am open to all crits and ideas- his other options will include tats and gothic/cyber make up options for those of us that don't have enough of those men to match the women out there. ;)

A quick test of the mouth textures with his head visible and using IDL with the SSS.  Next, I'm testing out the Sunlight set from RDNA to see how his textures react to different lighting.

Nice looking character so far!

i like his face :)

eyebrow color options would be nice.  i only have a couple blond eyebroe chars for my mike.

Thank you both!

I was thinking of the eyebrow idea- haven't figured out a good way to do that yet, but I will keep that as one of my "to try" lists. ;)

Here he is in the Sunlight light rig.  IBL, Environsphere and one Infinite as the Sun with the SSS settings.

Same light rig- updated vein settings.

Nice work.

Thank you very much!

The nails have been re-worked..a lot.  They are about half way there, but I think I'm done for the day.

I love the face

Thank you!

Playing with ink ideas- very basic and nothing other than black and white right now.  They won't be all together when I'm done- I'm thinking geometrics for one option, and either traditional or decorative for the second.  First test render.

Hands are awesome. The face seems somewhat plastic. LOVE the shapes and effects you have going on here!

Thank you.  He's not so "Plastique" with expressions.  ;)  I hope, anyway.  I'll update again soon, but for today- I'mma out.  

Really nice work! Especially for those who really like the perfect sultry bad boy. I particularly like the profile.

I would want to masculinize him a bit --  more texture on the skin, eyebrows less manicured, stubble, less refined features, some asymmetry in the face.  

Your character would be a very good starting point for what I'd want to do to him. I'm definitely not suggesting you change that perfection you've got. Sometimes absolute perfection is what an image wants, and it's very popular in the market. Plus it's much harder to idealize a morph that has realistic flaws than to introduce those flaws into one that is perfect. So I think you should keep the morph pretty much as he is. Though some bump for skin texture would be essential, I think. Also, even if he's smoothly shaved, he needs subtle evidence of facial hair. I think this could be achieved with just very delicate shading and bump, rather than actually pasting on stubble. But I'm not sure. He's more like an idealized painting than a real human -- and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, just judging from the galleries, I think it's what most buyers really want.

As for tattoos, I'd say, go full romantic goth -- you've got a great start with the shoulder tat. Whether you intended it or not, the guy IS a vampire.

Edit: Oh, and the idea of gothic-cyber... cool. Actually combining both concepts sounds very intriguing. 

Thank you, very much.

The asymmetry is something, if added, is always done last when I work on a character.  The second head morph, once I get it finished, will have subtle flaws here and there to oppose this facial morph. ;)  

The bump on him is fairly light, yes.  I may add that stubble (I was contemplating that myself earlier in the process) for a second mat option- this way there is an option.  I like options.  lol  The tats will be more: I want a full set of the cyber-goth/geometric and one with a more "romantic" decorative and a way to mix both if wanted.  It's easy to do if you separate the leg/arm/body tats into options.  I've done it for myself, doing it here is not a big deal.  They are just slapped on for now- I'm working on ideas and placements.  Once I settle on where and how they'll look, I'll work the textures into the skin a bit more (seemingly) realistic.  It's good I have photos of real ink to go off of.  XD  Love tat shops.

Vampire, he can be. ;)

The "plastic" look to which I referred was the lack of texture on the face. Mori covered all of my bases. :)

Gotchya.  XD

There seems to be a luminous Glow to the whites of the eyes&teeth

 (particularly the IBL renders)

Heya Wolf.

No glow, not even ambient on the whites of his eyes.  For the Sclera, there is only one map and a scatter on the alternate diffuse.  

There is a black ambient to the whites of the teeth in the set-up I have so far.  Other than that, it's all in how the node set up is.

I like him but if I were to buy him I would like a facial scar option with maybe displacement or a scar morph, and also an older face ie head and face wrinkles (mild). of course we all have different requirements for a character.

Love Esther

Ps very good work so far.

I have a way to alter the color of the brow using the upper brow.  I will PM you on Monday with the details if you are interested.

I have a few minutes ... let me just give you the step-by-step quickly for lightening (or changing the color to anything at will) the brow.

1. open face map in Photoshop (Paintshop Pro, Gimp ...)
2. Duplicate map
3. De-saturate color
4. Raise the contrast
5. White out all but brows
6. Invert to make a transparency map
7. Save for Web as brow transparency
8. open advance material room in Poser
9. Choose "eyebrow" from your character
10. add node to transparency, 2d, image map and brow you saved.
11. Turn GC to .5
12. Change color as desired from diffuse color.

Bonus: change the displacement map in the brow to bring out the 3d of the brow.

I hope this helps.  Ask questions as I didn't add any samples in my step-by-step cuz this is quick so I can make an appointment. :)

Boni

P.S. You may want to add a slight tint to the sclera, cream or even grey-blue to tone it down ... very slight.  Again, add bump and even a little reflectivity.  Just a suggestion.

Sorry for not responding sooner- work has had me run ragged.

Thank you for the tips on the brow!  I'll see what I can do on that and post results.

As for the sclera, I'll see how the tint on the diffuse will work- I do not add bump or reflectivity to the sclera since the eye surface covers it completely.  The reflective nature of that coupled with the sclera makes it over done, and using a bump on it when there is the surface covering it seems moot?  I'll play, though, and see how things work.  

Thank you again!

I added a slight color node (a warm peach) to the diffuse and another (cool gray) to the alt. diffuse for a blend.  The effect is 

subtle, but I can see what you are saying.  Thank you again, Boni.  There is the bump map in the sclera as well, but it

is obviously too low to make a difference. I'll keep playing with this until I get something that can be usable before I try

that brow trick. ;)  I also have an idea for a scar, which I will work on after the brow.

The tats are still in piddling mode, but they have been in the process now for a week.  I've changed up those and am still working

on the decision of which to use.

And the same while changing out the IBL with using IDL/matching environsphere map.

Just started to work on the ol' Glasgow Smile.  Using photos as references- just working on placement then will be Really be working on the disp. and bump maps.

Looking really good!  I like the soft edge you added to the iris, that is a hard thing to do. :)

Thank you.   That render has no GC to it, that may be why it's softened.  Hm.  XD

Another angle of the smile.

aaand just started the stubble option.  Like, two hours ago.  I will have a mix of the stubble and scars as an end result.

SSS/IDL- been using the light rig for a while now.  Gonna switch to another and see how that looks.  No GC.

The SSS pass after the IDL pass.  Shows the disp/bump maps. 

The render in !13's Freedom IDL set.  Which...I adore.  Seriously.  Very low render settings, and am rendering another brighter version.

(Just noticed today- May have to re-work the spec map  or get rid of it and use the specular node system a bit more - except for the scar. )

Brighter IDL version.

Just got to this and it's the end of the day for me ... I just wanted to say, this is coming along fantastic! I would love to text this character! 

Not trying to be too critical but just some issues I've noticed, if you don't mind.

There is a small dot towards the top of his eyebrow directly above the pupil on both sides. Looks like a speck of sand stuck in the hair. Is in every image so not sure if you've noticed it. Stands out to me tho.

The lacrimals seem very purple when they should be more pink. Maybe this is a lighting issue. 

Also, the creases and texture of the skin of the bottom lid don't seem to line up very well with the contours of the model. It's the darker thinner areas near the lacrimals and corner of the eye that seem to start too far down the curve of the eye lid. The one crease in particular feels very unnatural, like it should start closer to the corner of the eye but instead starts about a quarter into the curve of the lid instead. 

Are you intending to do any JCM or weightmap work on the thighs, knees and shoulders? 

Overall, nice work. Skin texturing id definitely a chore. 

;) Thank you, Boni!

AS- I don't mind, I appreciate.  

Great eye- I didn't see those specks at all, evidently I need to clean my monitor?  Thank you for that- they are now fixed. 

The Lac's...yeah.  I've re-colored them from the original a bit, but they are far from where they should be.  As it is, he looks a tad bit diseased with the purplish look to them.  I may use another MR to fix this, or simply make my own before the base skin texture (over all) is complete.

...I hadn't noticed the creases under the eyes, being so concerned on the shader nodes, lighting tests, tats, stubble, etc.  Good catch.  I will work on those (on diffuse and bump maps) to see if I can correct the issue.  

I haven't tried JCM or WM work before.  Hm.  That may be a challenge I can step up too, but probably not until I get more time or at least finish this product to put into the vendor room.  I'd hate to really screw that up when I am just starting out as a vendor.  lol

Thank you again, really.  (Updated renders- specks on eyebrows fixed, working on getting the MR's to match, and a new eye option)

Spamming now, I think. lol  Checking under the jawline.  Last one for a few until I work more kinks out.   I'll need to work it further outward, I think, to get to the corners of the jawline itself.  Other than that I think I like the placement and how it's progressed so far.

I really like this character ... I look forward to seeing more of your progress.

Very nice work Darwin. 

Wasn't trying to be too critical. I like his nose. 

Are you working on a dev rig of M4, or the main production rig? 

I ask because the bends in his hips and knees are crimped unnaturally, so maybe your morph is too extreme for default M4. 

That's why I asked about the jcm's. If his shape is vastly different than default shape, then jcm's are usually required to make corrections. 

M4 does need a good weightmapping, but so far no one has taken the time to do so.

Thank you, Boni.  I'll keep updating as I can. ;)

Thank you AS.  You know, I don't know honestly which would be better suited to a package sort of thing for a vendor?  I do know about the crimping issue at the hip and knee,  and if I can get to the jcm's or weight maps I'll have to do some research on how to do that properly.  Then those (weight maps) would be only for Poser, and the jcm's could work in both Studio and Poser? 

Hm.

I was experimenting with the pose you have in the full body shot on the previous page and determined that it is likely due to how you have the hip positioned, that is causing so much distortion at the thigh. Rotating the hip on the -X axis a bit (about 10 degrees) helps to remove that distortion, at least with M4 in his default shape, as it requires less bending of the thigh to get to the sitting pose and keeps the pelvis in a more natural position (i think). But this might depend on whether or not you have done any custom sculpting on the body or if you're just using the morphs++ (or one of the other stock daz morph sets).

Apologies for the crappy lighting. 

Hm, I'll try that out.

He uses the ++, Elite, and Enhanced morph sets for the complete morph.  I'll see if changing the hip angle helps in that crimping, or if it's the morph itself.

I've done some trolling for jcm's and wm tutorials- so that can be an option if I can get it right.

Working on rendering another test for maori tats on his arms at the moment, and no apologies needed.  lol  Sometimes crappy lighting is all that's needed to show an idea.

A slightly different pose (from that set) with some shifting of the x and z axis on the hip and a few other changes...and the tats.

Yeah, may have to see about that creasing.  No matter how I worked the pelvis/hip, it was there or got worse.  Hm.

I decided to actually render him out and post process this one as an actual portrait.

Seems I do have tuts on jcm's-so that may just be an option.

Update:

Lacs are updated.

Added warmth layers around certain areas of his body/face.  Eyes, ears, neck, lips- to help add a bit of color depth to the texture.

Updated eye surfaces and bump for the scleras.  I had them inverted.  I re-inverted and worked on them.

No, no, no. I do NOT need another sexy hunk in my runtime. Oh, who am I kidding? And how soon can you take my money? ;-)

Very good eye texture, as a duddi ng almost vendor myself I am very interested in your progress. As for the crimp, OK at your settings on the hip crest, might help.

He needs some chest fur and treasure trail options. 

Just sayin...

Thanks Boni!  And Byrdie...well.  Hopefully soon(ish).  ;)

Yeah, that is actually one of the projects I'm working on- getting both of those, AS.  lol  Smooth and hair.  Gotta have both.

Time for bed- started the process of body hair and more color variations to his skin texture.  Just a start, but I like it so far even if there's much more work to do.  I have a good basis to finish off this, the stubble, and finalize the ink.  Then it will be back to the scars and a possible second, older head morph. ;)  OH- and another eye update.

Your progress on this M4 character is fascinating. I have dabbled in character creation myself and can appreciate the extensive work & work hours involved. His scar options, along with tattoo and Gothic makeup options, all sound very cool indeed. Very nice to see a male character being developed; there are not enough out there, in my opinion. Superb work.

Thank you very much Xydren.

I've been playing with the make up/contact ideas.  Here is one make up, two contacts renders.  Still in the working stages, of course.