Rectro

Yea I was very tempted on that offer, but I dont buy on impulse, I normaly sit on a purchase for a while to see if I realy need somthing, or just want it, and it came to me that I was facinated it the idea over the need, so am waiting for what I do need, After Effects CS6 , and Mari on a decent sale. Dan

Just to happens that Affinity Photo and all their apps have 20% off so Il put it here. https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/ Dan

Very strange, hard to work out if its lagit, or how buying from there works? Dan

I have no doubt they will get there going by their legacy products I own. They know how to make software user friendly, I wish they had kept going on with Movie Plus and Web plus, iv not found as easy to use apps out there. Dan

Thanks for your input. Il check out Photoline. Funny enough iv latched onto Natron this week as I was looking to composite some animation image sequences, and had enough of trying to do it in a image stack in Photoshop. Only issue Im having with Natron is trying to find how to composite a beauty pass from vray layers, Im not familiar with Nuke, but it seems close by all accounts. Thanks, Dan

In Photoshop I use Puppet warp much in the same way as Mari Warp, to manipulate textures that are to be projected onto either UV template, or in Mari case onto the 3d model via a texture bake. With Mari warp its rather special in that the mesh resolution is built around a selection of choice, and the mesh cage resolution can be taken up or down at will without loosing any previous deformation. It seems to be much less destructive retaining a good registration from the original details which is much harder to get in Photoshop. Iv havent use the camera deformer much in C4D but dont think it works on 2D textures before they are placed on the geometry? Dan

For general editing there are a few nice programs out there, but Im talking about compositing multi passes, stacking up filters, masks, adjustment layers, using patch tool, Dodge, Burn, Pupet Warp, extracting high pass data, as well as general colour grading, and levelling work. Iv not done much in animation but know AE deals with multipass layers, not sure about hitfilm, Vegus? Dan

Last time I looked for an alternative years ago there was nothing, gimp as a general editor was fine but I use specific tools not just for post work but for patching down textures overlaying Uv templates. I cant afford Mari so Photoshop was my go to app for high quality textures, Il see how well patching down a 16k xyz image works, and if that does the same job Il get it. Iv been looking for an Adobe Production Bundle of CS6 second hand as I wanted AE, but iv not found a lagit one on Ebay yet, all liquidated software with no licence ownership. Dan

Hey guys. Iv been running into compositing issues as of recent due to 32bit workflows and Photoshop CS5 not being full 32bit editing. I was forced to look out there to see if there was any alternative, and while I ignored this software in the past I had another look at Serifs Affinity Photo. After a few hours I came to realise that its much closer to Photoshop than I had thought only its allows fully 32bit editing. I own all Serif legacy products, so Im very happy to see them produce this software. So far iv been able to do everything I would normally do in Photoshop. Iv still got some testing to do but so far so good. Im compositing many Vray multiplass layers and doing some creative post work with them. I wondered what you use for compositing stills, and would you consider a alternative to the industry leading Photoshop leaving a subscription for a one off fee of £48?

XYZ textures 50% off https://texturing.xyz

MARI indie 3.0 steam 60% off £45 http://store.steampowered.com/app/433930/MARI_indie_30/ Dan

I dI'd some tests and found no difference between r18 and r19. Dan

Hmm. I didnt notice that, worth a look into. Dan

There is no update to SSS in R19, I dont think its been touched much if any since its been added. Dan

Thanks, Never used bendy ones before, so that makes sence, nice video as it explains how its made. Dan

Cool project. I am a little perplexed, how come you managed to get so many bones in the legs and arms, there is no settings for the character tool? Dan

Hi thought id post this. Nice to see C4D getting some attention for Character Animation once in a while. http://www.cgsociety.org/news/article/3646/brazil-based-petit-fabrik-explains-how-they-used-c4d-to-animate-the-david-and-goliath-story Dan

I like to have the choice of a perpetual licence, but Houdini FX is the only version that matches Indie, and the cost is like 4.5k and 2.5k to upgrade. Now the upgrade on sidefx site says Upgrade "Plan" what does this mean, if you dont keeping paying out 2.5k every year your licence is no longer upgradable? Now if you could do what you can with MODO and upgrade when ever you wish, leave it a few years between then 2.5k every few years is worth it, but if not then its surely aimed at large studios? If this is the case then I guess the Indie is the only version most freelancers can afford, yet never own. While Houdini certainly shows some great features, ease of use for a Artist is what frees a artist creativity and feel Houdini is something a user either clicks with or fights againts, just as much as I like MODOs far superior modelling tools, I feel more creative inside C4D limited tools. Easy of use, stability, good UI, and high quality training material will keep a artist using what they know within reason despite some limitations. I say use what tools you can afford, and what you feel works for the type of artist you are, and get good at what you do. Dan

Basicly yes. If you make your base layer as Dot Gain 20, Grey scale, 16 bit, and fill the background RGB 149,149,149. Use the Circle selection with a feather according to the size your copying. Copy a consistent area and paste it into that doc. In Zbrush set the Mid value to 50 and use the Rectagle Drag and your sorted. Dan

You can always make your own alphas from the full face textures you have, depends how accurate you want them and if your character is going to be bald when its done. The Alpha pack still only contains the same areas as the full face, only not all levels of detail are seperate. Dan

I purchased both the full head textures, and the Alphas. There are 7 heads in that pack and could be used with any sculpting app, You could even use these as patches to lay down and clone in Photoshop, but I sculpt directly on the mesh with them in Zbrush. https://texturing.xyz/products/alphaskinface-01 Dan

Nice work. For my last project I used XYZ full face textures directly on the Uv template within Photoshop, I then imported my displacement map and combined the two, I use overlay for all maps. Anyway, so far its the best detail iv had. The XYZ comes with 3 types of details as you mentioned, I worked on all 3 at the same time, combined them on export along with displacement map. Dan

Hey! Super work, you got them eyes right on. Dan

Thanks Rodrigo, I will check it out. Be cool to see what animations and rigging you have done, a area I aspire to get good at one day, I just make the characters, and do a little rigging here n there. Please still around and share your knowledge. Dan

The other methods have already been covered to fake GI, but as for External render engines, If your doing Architectural renders, Vray is very fast with low noise, and offers a fair amount of render nodes for a single licence. Dan