Thanks.

Thanks. I'll give it a try. I looked up some of the things you mentioned. It's interesting that an equation can be made to predict the path of photons the eye would encounter in an area, to create realistic light and shadows. Would you recommend some books, or websites I could learn more about raytracing, ambient occlusion, and sub-surface scattering from? I only have a rudimentary idea of how they work, but would like to know enough to be able to work with them without guess work.

I wish they would make something to simulate cloth too.

Would it be possible to fix Carrara's rendering engine, so it could do these layers, or do you think I'd be better off making several passes/renders of the model (using different materials an light settings), and compositing them? It's more work, but I don't mind.

Is what's pictured in the closeup supposed to be dirt, or a mole?

I'll have to try that. I just completed modeling , rigging, and texturing a  character using  Silo, hexagon, Carrara, and Photoshop. It takes more time to make your own things, but I like it; there is always something new to learn.

Darn. I don't have maya either, but a friend does. I really like the way it does sss. Maybe version Carrara 6 will be better. I wonder if it's possible to fake the look?

It's a realistic SSS skin shader that comes with Maya.

Silo by Nevercenter.

You can also paint droplets of water on the texture map in photoshop.

That happens sometimes if you don't save the file with a name. It will save the file as untitled.png, even though it's really a jpeg file. Open one of the files you saved in the past using something like ifranvirew. It will prompt you to allow it to correct the naming mistake.

Your ISP has a record of every place you go. You would have to destroy that evidence too.The DoD, FBI, police, etc., can get a warrant for this information; for your computer, etc., and reconstruct where you have been, and what you have done.
Hopefully you aren't doing anything that should require them to investigate you. If you feel you need to destroy such information, it's a pretty good sign that you shouldn't be engaging in  such behavior. 

Are the deformers poser magnets, or D|S deformers, and did you check to see if you installed the D|S, or Poser version of the product? It sounds like you accidentally installed the poser version.

I recently began working on a what I would consider a medium-sized scene using and Silo, Z-Brush, Photoshop, and Carrara Studio. I built and textured everything in the scene, including the male and female characters. It's taken three months to complete it, render it, and do the postwork.
If I spent as much time on a single render using poser I'm sure the results could be as good, or better.

When I was small I created many things with legos, and erector sets which I alone had imagined. I built these things because I was young, and it pleased me. I don't feel they were any less genuine because I didn't create the plastic or steel that went into producing them. I don't feel that the paintings I've done in my lifetime are any less genuine because I didn't collect the ingrediants that went into the paint, or the paper. I don't imagine a sculptor feels his work to be less valid because he didn't make the marble he brought to life, and I'm quite sure the animators at Pixar don't feel their work isn't as good as the amateur who makes all his own models, as hey haven't the time,  the making of the models is the modelers job, the rigging the riggers, etc*.* I don't see the logic behind their argument. Perhaps they are Nihilists.