To merchants who make character textures:

Please include versions of the irises and pupils without the built-in specular highlights and reflections. Use spec and reflect maps instead if you must, but make it an option.
Pupils shouldn't have a texture anyway, since a pupil is only a hole, an opening, like an empty doorway.

You've got your Vicky in some nice medieval temple somewhere, but by the eye reflections it's clear she's standing in someone's great room, the sun shining brightly through the sliding glass door, a picture of grandma on the mantle, and the neighbor's Coldwell Banker Realty sign out front.

You make the textures, let us handle the spec and reflection. OK?

sticks hand up
Seconded. :O)

Quote - To merchants who make character textures:

Please include versions of the irises and pupils without the built-in specular highlights and reflections. Use spec and reflect maps instead if you must, but make it an option.
Pupils shouldn't have a texture anyway, since a pupil is only a hole, an opening, like an empty doorway.

You've got your Vicky in some nice medieval temple somewhere, but by the eye reflections it's clear she's standing in someone's great room, the sun shining brightly through the sliding glass door, a picture of grandma on the mantle, and the neighbor's Coldwell Banker Realty sign out front.

You make the textures, let us handle the spec and reflection. OK?

I never put any highlights on mine, cause I'd rather use a sphere map for reflections ;o). If I do add reflection maps, it's always something you can remove with a pose (as I should be).

Laurie

You'd be in the minority, Laurie, and I would expect nothing less from you than to do it correctly. :-)

i agree with Mike. how many times i had to paint them out.

those are not the 90's anymore. whats next .......baked shadows?

Oooh yeah - add another vote for this.  And while we are about it, can you peeps please not put so many specular highlights on your lips ? plays hell in Vue trying to get rid of 'em

ooh, ooh... and highlights on transmapped hair textures. I so don't get on with those.

And shading to accentuate breast shape (sort of baked shadows).

Ummm, what are we saying here? Remove everything except the diffuse colour from **all **diffuse colour maps? Would that be going too far?

Quote -
Ummm, what are we saying here? Remove everything except the diffuse colour from **all **diffuse colour maps? Would that be going too far?

I don't think it would be going too far. The people I know who take photos to use as textures in their professional 3D work (not for Poser) do their best to Photoshop out any lighting by-products, and let the 3D app handle everything else.

Of course, most Poser users want that one-click solution, but they could still have that if the surfaces were getting their spec and reflect and whatever else from maps applied elsewhere, in other channels.
The textures themselves should be as clean and lighting-neutral as possible.

Similarly, merchants need to start learning to not set the diffuse channels to 100%.
80% is more like it.
I've seen at least one mat set that had the diffuse up to 200%, to compensate for other settings on the texture channels... for skin.