the right shader settings for teeth

Sertorial

using the DAZ default shader, can anyone recommend some settings for teeth?

Sertorial

um...anyone?

Jaderail

I'm not going to be any help. I use texture maps not shaders for my figures. I understand what you wish to do but I have no info on how to do it. Sorry.

Scott Livingston

Can I ask (just out of curiosity) why you specifically want to use the DAZ Default Shader? Any of the shaders that support subsurface scattering (HSS, UberSurface, UberSurface2, pwSurface2, or the new Age of Armour shaders) should allow for more realistic teeth.

This thread contains some information pertaining to UberSurface settings for teeth, as well as discussion of applying these same settings to the default shader, for the sake of faster renders: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/7689/

Sertorial

Jaderail said:

I'm not going to be any help. I use texture maps not shaders for my figures. I understand what you wish to do but I have no info on how to do it. Sorry.

surely texture maps and shaders are not alternatives? You still need a shader whatever, right? Texture maps are used in certain channels of the shader (such as diffuse colour, bump etc). So you need both, as far as I understand things.

Can I ask (just out of curiosity) why you specifically want to use the DAZ Default Shader?

Fair question. I do use übersurface for skin. I guess I was just wanting to keep things simple (US is so damn complex) and thought it would be easier to use the default shader for teeth as I am really only needing specular and glossiness (to get them looking suitably shiny). There must be a simple set of Default Shader settings that would produce a god result, surely, without having to go all the way to übersurface?

Scott Livingston

Whenever I've played around with teeth settings (not too often), I've used either UberSurface or HSS.

I found a thread in the forumarchive that may be helpful: http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=24055

It's old...Victoria 3 era...so old that I think it predates all the more advanced shaders. A few people shared their teeth settings in the thread. Links to the images are broken, but you can view the images by pasting the URL (the part that starts with postimages and ends with .jpg or whatever the file type is) after: http://forumarchive.daz3d.com in your browser address bar.

Sertorial

Scott-Livingston said:

Whenever I've played around with teeth settings (not too often), I've used either UberSurface or HSS.

I found a thread in the forumarchive that may be helpful: http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=24055

It's old...Victoria 3 era...so old that I think it predates all the more advanced shaders. A few people shared their teeth settings in the thread. Links to the images are broken, but you can view the images by pasting the URL (the part that starts with postimages and ends with .jpg or whatever the file type is) after: http://forumarchive.daz3d.com in your browser address bar.

I found some settings in there, but I can't get the images to display.

When people talk about using maps for stuff, I often wonder where they get them? Unless a prop/figure comes with its own maps, how can you make them? Like a reflection map or a transparency map or something? Do they just use a texture map that's been reduced to greyscale? (because maps have to look like the object your using them on, right? I mean like the bump map for a face, looks like a black and white version of the texture map)

Scott Livingston

My previous post mentioned how to get the images to display, but in case it wasn't clear...using the example of the first image posted to that thread (post #7), it would be:

http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/ + postimages/origimage_1_359324.jpg = http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/postimages/origimage_1_359324.jpg

Scott Livingston

Sertorial said:

When people talk about using maps for stuff, I often wonder where they get them? Unless a prop/figure comes with its own maps, how can you make them? Like a reflection map or a transparency map or something? Do they just use a texture map that's been reduced to greyscale? (because maps have to look like the object your using them on, right? I mean like the bump map for a face, looks like a black and white version of the texture map)

There's an excellent post here from Totte about how to apply a bump map to something that doesn't have one (you don't even have to change it to grayscale, though "real" bump maps are--keep in mind that light colors equate to the raised bumps and dark colors become dips in the surface, so if the diffuse texture has color variation that doesn't coincide with where the bumps should be, for best results you may need to make some changes in an image editor).

Here's another good tutorial on the subject.

More generally, people do anything from mix and matching maps (take one character's skin, another's eye textures, and a third character's teeth, for example) to making their own from templates and/or merchant resources. All depends on the situation and on your skills and patience.

I like your new avatar, by the way.

Sertorial

Scott-Livingston said:

My previous post mentioned how to get the images to display, but in case it wasn't clear...using the example of the first image posted to that thread (post #7), it would be:

http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/ + postimages/origimage_1_359324.jpg = http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/postimages/origimage_1_359324.jpg

yes, I thought I was following your instructions. Obviously not. They seem to be ok now

There's an excellent post here from Totte about how to apply a bump map to something that doesn't have one (you don't even have to change it to grayscale, though "real" bump maps are--keep in mind that light colors equate to the raised bumps and dark colors become dips in the surface, so if the diffuse texture has color variation that doesn't coincide with where the bumps should be, for best results you may need to make some changes in an image editor).

Here's another good tutorial on the subject.

More generally, people do anything from mix and matching maps (take one character's skin, another's eye textures, and a third character's teeth, for example) to making their own from templates and/or merchant resources. All depends on the situation and on your skills and patience.

thanks for this. :)

Jaderail

I follow a New User that does some good stuff. Here read this and see if it helps you any. The bottom part of this post shows what Novica did.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/19756/P420/#349568

Sertorial

Jaderail said:

I follow a New User that does some good stuff. Here read this and see if it helps you any. The bottom part of this post shows what Novica did.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/19756/P420/#349568

awesome! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

(btw - your new avatar is cool too!)