Realistic Eye Lashes and Eye Brows

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Realistic Eye Lashes and Eye Brows

Postby brkurt » Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:20 pm

Hello everyone.

This tutorial has several functions. First it is a detailed set of instructions for creating highly realistic eye lashes and eye brows using the standard MH objects. You will see why it is best that eyelashes and eyebrows are separate objects; actually for this level of texture work, it is a necessity.

I'm going to use Blender 2.74, Inkscape 0.48, Gimp 2.8 and Yafaray 0.1.1.5. The goal is to create the lashes and brows with vector graphics, and only use raster graphics for the final rendering stages. This approach is quite painstaking--no apologies here--but I believe it is the most professional way to solve the problem of 'hairs and shadows'.

So, here is the first file, a Scalable Vector Graphics file. I've only completed (roughly) the first layer of top eyelashes, and I will be continually updating this file.

http://www.geekopolis.ca/svg/ginaCaranoEyeLashes3.svg

Here is the first screen capture:

Image

and the second, the work area:

Image

I had some serious headaches getting this to work, until I discovered the source of the problem, which has to do with how Blender/Python manages its interior object database. You have to create a new material for the eyelash or eyebrow mesh; only that will get the whole process to work. After that, the settings are simple: render using transparent shadows; diffuse texture must use alpha; the matte texture (the inverted-color png) must use a transparency setting of -1.0 .
Last edited by brkurt on Thu Jun 04, 2015 5:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
brkurt
 
Posts: 1100
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Re: Realistic Eye Lashes and Eye Brows

Postby brkurt » Thu Jun 04, 2015 5:26 pm

It is a good idea to use a flat or curved plane behind the eyelashes, and eyebrows, so as to simplify the trouble-shooting process.

Note that Yafaray calculates for soft shadows by default.

For this example, I'm using separated polygons for the eyelashes (in Inkscape terms: pencil + gradients) and overlapping polygons for the eyebrows.

This leads to interesting possibilities for feathers and scales!

Image

If there is a demand, I'll add a library of Brazilians for the cognoscenti.... ;)
brkurt
 
Posts: 1100
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:49 pm

Re: Realistic Eye Lashes and Eye Brows

Postby brkurt » Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:33 pm

Here we go...nearly done. I'm having a bit of trouble with purple shadows; that appears to be something associated with using a point light source.
I've partially corrected it with a mesh light.

This model is usable now. You can download it from: http://www.geekopolis.ca/blender/yafarayTutorial1_274.blend

I'll update it with better UV mapping over the next few days.

Image
brkurt
 
Posts: 1100
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:49 pm


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