John Bigboote Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Recently, I was befuddled trying to get eye-highlights to show up consistently. Naturally, I played with my eye geometry's specular settings... adjusted lights etc but I was never really happy with getting a consistent highlite in the eye... essential to giving the 'spark' that helps make the eye look glossy, alive, vital, sharp... etcetera. Since my initial effort was to make an illustration, I automatically thought- 'oh, just add it later in Photoshop.' But when I considered animating the scene I decided I needed an 'always on' solution, so I modeled it as a simple lathed circle with 100% ambiance. SO- I simply made geometry that would guarantee the highlites 'ever-presence' and weighted it to the eye's bone with a mix to the head bone so that it would not fully track with the eye. This is a cartoony 'cheat' or 'trick' that I would recommend in a lot of scenarios- but not all. Additionally, I could add poses that would make this circular hilite bigger/smaller or more transparent... Here are links to see this trick in action on my Trinquette pinup challenge entry: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=360...e=1&theater And links to the 2 animations: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largento Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Here's a neat piece that explains why that eye highlight appears in the first place. It's because there's a bump over the cornea. If you model that, it's likely you can get the highlight you want. To get around the ugly bump visible on large eyes, they suggest using a bump map. Article here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largento Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Just gave it a shot. Made a simple eye with a dome over the cornea. The dome was set to 90% transparency and the specularity was set at size: 20% and intensity: 200%. And it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 but doesn't your method need a light on the eyes all the time to create the reflection, Mark? Matt's method will keep that highlight lit regardless. Unless I'm not understanding your setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted May 15, 2013 Author Share Posted May 15, 2013 Another thing to consider when using anything transparent WITH FastAO(cpu gpu) the AO will honor the transparent geometry as non-transparent... so the result would be that you would lose detail and color in the cornea area of the eye. I had a transparent sphere around the eye with full specularity on it... it looked great until I started using Jenpy's FastAO products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largento Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 I wasn't discounting Matt's method, Gerry. Just found it interesting to find the reason why we have that highlight. For The Wannabe Pirates, I just made the highlight part of the eye decal. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted May 15, 2013 Author Share Posted May 15, 2013 Another 'trick'... and a GOOD one as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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