primorge posted at 5:19 AM Mon, 22 August 2022 - #4443122

I see. Yes. My method would require quite a bit of extra adjustment morphs to work with expressions. Obviously with just one eye placed in the forehead these adjustment morphs would be easier to create. 4 small ones very close to the eyebrows would be tough, if not impossible. However, I've just looked at Rachnera and the eyes in fact aren't very close to her eyebrows, this could be done with the method I've shown earlier. The very high row of eyes would be tricky because of so few polys, typically in this area on Poser figures, especially ones that are designed for subdivision, for the blinks. It would require subdivision morphs. Rachnera is a toon, which makes it less than ideal to shoehorn such a thing onto a more standard figures anatomy...

Thoughts on the appliance method

Which figure are you making the eye appliance for? I'm pretty decent at retopo... I could maybe help in some way. Not that I'm saying that I could do this for you, that's more work than I have time for with my own personal things, but I have a pretty decent idea of what to expect through the process...

Let's just assume that in order for it to be redistributable, which it probably doesn't need to be but for the sake of example, the brow would need to be retopologized, uv mapped, textured and ideally have some morphs. You would also need some eye models. It would also require a transmap mask that blends the edges of the appliance to the underlying topology. Hopefully in a convincingly seamless manner, which is a big hopefully considering expressions and contemporary rendering methods that can produce artifacts with such a blend with such an appliance under the stresses of expressions (a bit of conjecture here, but better to err on the side of caution)...

My point is, the thing you describe is quite a bit of work even for someone who is practiced with such things... and there will be pitfalls to expect. 

Not saying it's impossible, because it's not, but requires a bit of work. Could I do it as it looks in the picture above? Yes. Thereabouts. It would be some work. Can I help you to do it as it looks in the picture above? Yes. But only in advice, sorry there but I have work and a more than full art making schedule on top. How set are you on this idea? And why does it need to blink if it's just for your own use and not being animated?

It's being made for V4, since that's the main figure I use, especially with all the content I have for her.  And while Rachnera's eyes are further up in the anime, I have to put mine closer to the main eyes due to the hairline I have with the character being a bit lower than Ranch's.  That's where I am running into the problem more. I would appreciate any help I can get, but seriously if I can get something universal that I can use to do other things on other figures (like the idea of a 'prosthetic' eye I can attach to a figure) that is something I would pay money for, since there are other ideas rattling around in my head.

As for the blinking, well, each of the characters I make I use in my art, and are part of a shared narrative world, which I am working to make into a story series, so being able to make multiple renders with various expressions is important. I have a whole library of characters with bios and whole backstories and personalities, so I want to be able to make them able to look like they are real.