[NSFW] STEP Female Body Replacer

[Aiyen]

Sadly for skyrim then normal objects you only have single channel specular maps (The alpha channel of the normal map). The specular color etc. is determined by the mesh settings, and can only be a single color with a single level of glossiness. However skin is a different beast since you have an entire texture worth of channels to play with hence you can do things with skin textures that you cannot do with any others. 

 

But yes, a good specular and normal map is in many ways more vital for the overall look then the diffuse texture. 

[TechAngel85]

I've been playing around for a bit. I've reduced the specular maps on the body and hands by 25% and by 50% on the face/neck to provide a more natural glow/shine in the sunlight (not fully tested in all lighting yet). I've also re-toned the lips to have a more natural look when viewed without makeup. The original lips looked a bit too much like makeup. Now they're far more natural. Consequently, the various lip shades also look better as well with the new tone. I'd like to do the same around the eyes; however, my skill level isn't there yet.

 

Here is a pic of the face so far:

I turned the spotlight off for this shot so this is the game's actual evening lighting (about 5PM). Using Vividian Vanilla ENB.

[EssArrBee]

Doesn't ENB have SSS? That makes the look of skin much more natural. Gives it a bit of transparency. Not sure if that will translate to the vanilla game.

[Aiyen]

As long as ENB is on and SSS is enabled it will work. In general it will help provide the skin with the "red" tones that it needs to look natural. 

 

So far it is looking good.... I wont notice the stretching of details going on on the arms yet, and the general blur going on in the torso.  ;) 

[TechAngel85]

As long as ENB is on and SSS is enabled it will work. In general it will help provide the skin with the "red" tones that it needs to look natural.  So far it is looking good.... I wont notice the stretching of details going on on the arms yet, and the general blur going on in the torso.  ;)

Yeah...I've been playing with the body. It's not exactly great. In fact, it's not that good at all. It almost needs a new texture as it really looks like WindsongHS wasn't finished with it. There's a lot of stuff going on with it that just doesn't need to be there. The level of detail just isn't on par with the face. The arms and torso are terrible and because they're terrible they're making the normals for the muscle tone not behave correctly and look bad as well. If you open the texture up in photoshop, she actually looks pregnant with where the shadowing is going on! I haven't found a solution yet. The face is looking great, but going to have to see what can be done with the body.

[Aiyen]

Welcome to the world of texturing... where it is easy to spot the bad things, but hard to get the idea for the solution! :) 

 

Lucky for you there are .... TONS of videos on how to do skin textures. Just expand your searches into modeling as well since they also tend to texture their bodies and faces. While most of them do have advanced programs that really help streamline the work flow then most of the basic principles can be carried over into photoshop. 

 

I know I learned a lot form just hearing people talk about how they work. And there are many more modeling then texturing tutorials around. Also you do not need to search specifically for skyrim, since you have access to pretty much everything on the character models/skin textures. 

[TechAngel85]

And here's the progress:

Full Size: https://i.imgur.com/74HNGUW.jpg
(ignore the hands/wrists...had the wrong file loaded)

So far...

• Body and hands specular maps reduced by 25%
• Face specular map reduced by 50%
• Fixed muscle tones not working
• Shadowing and stretching mostly fixed on stomach area by merging assets (it's great to have full permission to use these assets!)

Next up is fixing the shoulder and thigh areas and updating the body specular map since the body texture has changed.

 

EDIT:

I've done enough work on this already that it could almost be considered an entirely new mod.

[Shadriss]

Looking very nice, Tech. Looking forward to seeing this finished.

 

I do wonder though... and I understand you are treading water in the realm of new skills here... if you can lighten up the lower shadow on the upper set of her 'six-pack'? It's quite deeper than the others, and because the shadow between those two muscles is so light, it gives that area the look of a plate almost. I think I mentioned this before earlier in the discussion, but since we (you) are working on a comprehensive fix anyway...

 

If not, no biggie. Not like I have the women run around in their underwear anyhow.

[Aiyen]

Guess getting out into the sun really helped the girl get that tan she always wanted! 

 

I would take a look at the navel as well as the other stuff... it really does look off to me. 

Still quite a few tone issues on the body, but that might get sorted out with a new specular. 

 

Other then that then I would need some more up close and personal shots to really be nitpicky about it. 

[EssArrBee]

The enb makes her skin a little too translucent. That or she was in the summer set isles getting a tan.

[TechAngel85]

Looking very nice, Tech. Looking forward to seeing this finished.

 

I do wonder though... and I understand you are treading water in the realm of new skills here... if you can lighten up the lower shadow on the upper set of her 'six-pack'? It's quite deeper than the others, and because the shadow between those two muscles is so light, it gives that area the look of a plate almost. I think I mentioned this before earlier in the discussion, but since we (you) are working on a comprehensive fix anyway...

 

If not, no biggie. Not like I have the women run around in their underwear anyhow.

That is just the normal I picked from the installer I made. There are 6 different options to choose from with varying muscle tone so those will not be edited. I am looking to add one more to the mix, if I hear back from the author will permission to do so.

 

Guess getting out into the sun really helped the girl get that tan she always wanted! 

 

I would take a look at the navel as well as the other stuff... it really does look off to me. 

Still quite a few tone issues on the body, but that might get sorted out with a new specular. 

 

Other then that then I would need some more up close and personal shots to really be nitpicky about it. 

The navel has been pulled straight from Mature Skin. I didn't like the navel on WindsongHS's texture which was essentially vanilla so I blended Mature's Skin into the texture and corrected the color so it would match. Before doing this the girl looked like she was 2-3 months pregnant. It's far better than it was at least.

 

Yes, I'm considering making a new specular map for each tone available instead of a 'universal' one. I'm thinking that would provide the best look for each option.

 

I'll post the new FOMOD when the textures are more ready. This was just an update of how it was going. I'll continue to post a few as I get things done.

 

The enb makes her skin a little too translucent. That or she was in the summer set isles getting a tan.

Translucent??? Not sure what you're meaning here. Translucence implies transparency of which she is clearly not. I'm just using the default settings from that ENB. As for the ENB in general, it's the one I've advocating for STEP. It's really quite perfect for us.

[EssArrBee]

Actually, she is not transparent, but her skin is. SSS is the effect of semi-translucent skin and blood shows through as light reflects over it. She looks kinda red because of that. 

[Aiyen]

Well it really depends on the diffuse. Since vanilla does not have proper SSS implemented then it never looks quite so "red/tan". However due to the color of skin then when you apply SSS on top then it becomes more red/brown since the pixels gets amplified by the effect. I have had great success by adjusting the saturation of the diffuse by tiny amounts to help compensate. Ofc. one can also alter the SSS values which might be easier. 

 

Overall if we end up advocating an ENB I do think we should have a specific set of SSS, and Water values since those do depend on which textures you use, and cannot be universally good... only universally decent. 

[Roberbond]

Not adding a replacer that requires also replacing the armor.

are there any compatibility issues when replacing the armor meshes? the file is less than 100 mb.

[TechAngel85]

Actually, she is not transparent, but her skin is. SSS is the effect of semi-translucent skin and blood shows through as light reflects over it. She looks kinda red because of that. 

Well it really depends on the diffuse. Since vanilla does not have proper SSS implemented then it never looks quite so "red/tan". However due to the color of skin then when you apply SSS on top then it becomes more red/brown since the pixels gets amplified by the effect. I have had great success by adjusting the saturation of the diffuse by tiny amounts to help compensate. Ofc. one can also alter the SSS values which might be easier. 

 

Overall if we end up advocating an ENB I do think we should have a specific set of SSS, and Water values since those do depend on which textures you use, and cannot be universally good... only universally decent. 

Though it is a bit higher in the red spectrum (only know this due to having to tweak the color when merging), it doesn't appear that red on my monitor. It's more of a sunkissed look that too red. The only way to combat this would be to have two versions; one for vanilla and one for ENB. Because tweaking it too much away from what it is now would cause vanilla to be "ghost-like" and too white. Tweaking the SSS might be a better option; however, I do want to keep the ENB tweaks to a minimum if we decided to implement one. That is just for user friendliness purposes.

 

are there any compatibility issues when replacing the armor meshes? the file is less than 100 mb.

We have several armor replacement mods in STEP now that would have to be compatible. It's just not something we'll be doing. If you're keeping up with this thread, you can I'm making good progress on a custom solution that works with vanilla.

 

One another note:

The specular maps look much better when made from the normal that defines the muscle tone so it looks like I'll be making one for each. This will take some time as much of it has to be edited by hand. The first one took me at least 2 hrs before it was final. I'm just doing this all with Photoshop.