Nope, sorry dudes ... as much as I like Iray, I have to admit that some of the old Generation 4 skinmaps just don't look that good in it. They actually do look better in a rayrace. So I went back and too another shot at this, as a raytrace --
-- okay, so back to square one, and we'll just raytace this character, who's wearing the ATLAS skinmap. It just much better, even though it's not trying to be photoreal. Now, I was looking around on forums and so on last night, to see if other people have the same problems, and/or if anyone is still using the Generation 4 figures -- and it turns out, people are. The truth is, we all spent so much money between 2009 and 2016, buying Generation 4 assets, we're disinclined to retire them, (though I imagine DAZ would dearly love us to bin the lot and start again; and then do it again, in two years' time! Yeeeeah). And I followed a tip, and found this:
Okay, it's twenty bucks, but if this would perform as it promises, and bring the old Generation 4 skinmaps up to Iray standard -- well, now. I have to admit, I'm sorely tempted. Because when you compare the old tech with the new ... well, one of the things the old DAZ renders never had benefit of was SSS, or subsurface scattering, that "velvet" appearance of skin, which one gets automatically in Iray, and which I understand Poser was doing, with its built-in Firefly engine, as long ago as 2008. In fact, way back when, Poser aficionados used to criticise Studio powerfully, for 3Delight's inability to provide SSS. (Not that the full pro version of 3Delight wouldn't have offered it, mind you; there was a time the pro version of the render engine cost upwards of $1,300 -- then along come LuxRender: cat among the pigeons, all change!) So, I'm wondering, should I get this?
Before spend twenty bucks on something that's going to be essentially invisible (especially when it works well!), I'll have a fiddle around with the skinmaps and see if I can wrangle some magic; but I have a strong intuition I'll be buying the Iray Converter for Generation 4 ... probably when Dave and get back from our week on the Limestone Coast. Truth is, if I buy the converter now, I'll hardly have a chance to play with it for 2-3 weeks. So ... patience, grasshopper!
Last thing for now ... this is nice --
-- and in a stroke, it demonstrates what I was saying a moment ago about the "velvet" quality you expect of skinmaps where SSS is available. Hmmm.
