Question About Layered Images

DDCreate

I have never worked with any layered images before but there are quite a few products here that I would like to use in my renders. Tattoo's and the like. There is a new product out that could also come in handy but I'm not sure if I should buy it because I have no experiance with this kind of thing. So as someone that has never used layered images or the LIE (and don't even know where it is) what sort of thing should I know about how it actually functions in Daz Studio? This product in particular is the one I am unsure about using.

http://www.daz3d.com/dirty-feet-for-genesis-3-female

I guess my main question is, when I purchase this and download it, how do I use it?

SimonJM

Presets such as this are very simple to use.  You use them just like you'd use a 'regukar' texture: select the figure and double-click the preset you'd like to add.  What it does is to add a layer on top of the existing texture (so be sure to add all the textures you want to the figure first!).  It then creates a temporary file (called d???? where the ?s are numbers) in the folder defined as the DS temporary folder.  As they go into this temp folder they get lost when you shut down DS, but have no fear the act the LIE preset has been added is saved with your sceen and it will be re-applied when you re-load the scene later.  This can take a little while to do and someone (very likely Draagon Storm) has written a script that will save the applied textures as a fixed preset so the load times are normal.  You can apply multiple LIE presets (so multiple tattoos, for example), even to the same part of the body.

DDCreate

Okay I think I followed most of that. And the parts I didn't I'm sure I'll understand once I am using it. But just to make sure I have it right

Purchase Product, Locate it in my Daz Library, select the character I want to apply it to and click on the product (in the same was as I apply makeup or nail polish) and the prodcut itself will know where to populate on the character (i.e. the feet in this cae)? I guess I was nervous because I see the phrase Layered Image Editor a lot and thought I would be the one editing the layers and placing them on the figure. Seemed like something a little out of my league. But if the product is aware of what to apply in what location, that sort of takes the work out of it for me which is great! And I don't have to be scared of getting the tattoo's either! Am I understanding this right?

BeeMKay

You can also very easily add your own tatoos or whatever using the LIE. Simply create a jpg, open the LIE in the base colour, add a new layer and then add the image to the layer. You can move around the image on the skin texture until it's in the position you want. Then use multiply blend for merging everything. You can also control the opacity. In this example, the wings are acually two separate images put in using the LIE and then the opacity is set to 20%.

I also was very apprehensive of LIE first, but once I experimented a bit with it, I found it really easy to use.

 

SimonJM

Yes, seem to have grasped the basics nicely!

LIE is, of course, able to do a bit more, but with Presets such as this (and tattoos you can buy) the system knows where to slap 'em :)  Some items (such as the Gore and Grime shaders that use LIE) require you to have the desired surface(s) selected before applying.  You can use LIE to load your own images as overlays, but there are some niggles such as they do not wrap round or over the seams of a UV map texture zone and they can only be rotated in whole 90 degree increments.  But those minor niggles aside you can do an awful lot with them!

DDCreate

Great! Thank you both! One day I'll try to find the LIE tool and play with it but I guess for now, I'll keep my training wheels on with presets :P

sriesch

To find it, with the surface selection tool active click on a surface then in the Surface pane, click on the icon (or blank dropdown arrow) in front of the "diffuse color" parameter, then select "Layered Image Editor".