Well, Hash fixed a standing issue that was keeping my big project back in version 12. So since I can't really thank them enough I figured I would post a hair of the great improvements I'm now able to bring into the project as I migrate to V14. Probably very stupid really to be playing with my main project model at this point but I guess (alot of the animation has been roughed in already) I'm just a sucker.

You simply can't pass up features that add things like this to your characters. I've been going back making improvements to his mesh among other things this includes the addition SSS which I've FINALLY gotten to work and boy, it works like a charm. It's a bit subtle, but provides a nice soft feel that I like. Here's the difference. I just hope SSS works ok with netrender, and that it won't come back to bite me.

Click to view attachment

I'm also really playing with the idea of using the displacement in V14 to get some nice sandy footprints happening.

For those of you not familiar with the project I've got a couple stills in the gallery at these links.

http://www.hash.com/stills/displayimage.php?pos=-1352

http://www.hash.com/stills/displayimage.php?pos=-1359



So thank you to Hash! great work guys!

-Ethan

These links come up "No Image to display"

weird, They were working here...., i've changed them I think they should work now?

Cool character. I really like the blue rimlight along his head- how did you achieve that? The links you gave reported 'No Images'...

Thanks, John, as for the rimlight, it's pretty much just a bright blue light at a good angle. The SSS catches it nicely!

-Ethan

Nice work
The SSS really adds a nice touch of softness to take it away from the harsh edges that a typical 3d render has.
I look forward to seeing this in motion.

(show of ignorance) SSS? Clue me in. I hadn't run across this one.

SSS = Sub-Surface Scattering. A very fancy feature that gives you the illusion of soft light penetrating and reflecing the edges of your character's skin. The best illustration of that is in Ratatouille where Remy's ears look like real cartlage where some light penetrates them. They also soften any sharp light reflections to give you a very pleasant and professional look.

Is SSS available in v13 or new in 14? It would help my current project out.

It's a feature that was added to V14.

-Ethan

Oh, right, duh. If I'd been thinking...

How does S^3 affect render times?

Depending on your scene, but if you got one character which is in the middle of the screen quite large, than it takes 1.5 to 2x of the renderingtime.
SSS simulates light which hits a surface and just doesnt end there but penetrates several layers of the surface too.
This can be seen at candles, skin, etc. Some of the photons goes in the surface, some is absorbated at the first "layer".

*Fuchur*

I'm having trouble detecting what all changed in regards to the version 12 - 14 upgrade. The lighting has changed so it's hard to check the differences, but the specular highlight on his eye is now spread way out, and I can't detect any subsurface scattering at all... are you sure you had sss on?

very neat link images though. That would be awesome to see the hd movie of that animation

Perhaps what your detecting as a lighting/ambience change actually is the SSS?

Your right Dan, the lighting has also changed between the versions but only in two respects. One the angle is more face on and the specular highlight is softer/dimmer in the eye. That's all that has changed in regard to the lighting. So the rest of the resulting "softness" is all from the SSS.

Wasn't trying to be misleading in that. I mention in the original post that I've made numerous changes and improvement. So yes it's not a direct SSS only change comparison of two images. However the improvement made by SSS is pretty apparent to me.

-Ethan

Here is another still with the updated character!

Click to view attachment

I am looking for these new features and is there a tutorial somewhere?