Using Duplicate Figures To Simulate A Bodysuit Or Outer Skin

Author: pazzazzu

Tools Needed

* DAZ Studio

Start a new scene, don't change anything. You can always merge what you make into something else later on. Load your Figure. Change the Name to Inner [Whatever]. This will be the character or figure. I have chosen V3 (Free from DAZ). I called her 'Inner Girl'. Using the Scene Tab, click twice (with a pause between clicks) on the name of the character to change the name.

Load the same Figure again. This must be the exact same figure as above, no new morphs or whatever. Change the Name of this second figure to Outer [Whatever]. I called her/it 'Outer Girl'. This will be the outer skin.

Zero Figure Pose for each figure using the arrow to the upper right on the Parameters menu to access the Sub Menu (Red Circle on Picture). First use the Scene tab to select a figure such as “Inner Girl”. Then select the Parameters tab. Using the arrow mentioned above, select Zero, then Zero Figure Pose. Use this procedure to Zero both figures.

Fit the Outer figure to the Inner figure by choosing the Fit To on the parameter menu for the outer figure (Blue Oval on picture).

OPTIONAL: assign a MAT texture to the Inner figure however you want. This way it has skin color. I am using Teresa Texture from DAZ. Make SURE that you only apply a MAT pose, and not any INJ poses or morphs.

On the Surfaces Menu for the Inner figure assign a completely black JPG file as a map to the Displacement channel of all the material zones of the Inner Figure (Red circle). You will need to make this file with a separate application.

Change the Displacement % to 200%. You can play with this % later. Leave the other numbers +0.1 and -0.1 alone. The Blue area indicates how you can make this greater than 200%; caution should be exercised if this is done since fingers get really thin when you do this.

Make this Displacement assignment for all the Material zones of the neck and lower. You should leave the head alone; that can always be reduced by a slight percentage later if needed. When you do it to the head, strange things happen'… You will need to pick and choose amoung the tree entries to accomplish this objective. Avoid “gum”, “nostril”, etc.

Apply textures, bump, displacement, specular, transparency, ambient, and diffuse to the Outer Figure as you want. I used a very nice sci-fi bodysuit texture from mattymanx. Feel free to use a MAT pose to accomplish this. However, make sure that the displacement of the outer figure is never negative; it should never be inward. The best way to accomplish this is to leave the settings alone, and only use maps that are 50% gray and lighter. That way all the polygons are pushed out, not in. If you push it in, then they may hit the Inner figure.

Set the opacity of all the areas that you don't want the Outer figure to cover to 0%. That way they will not obstruct the view of the Inner figure below. I have done this for all the zones above the neck (eyes, head, teeth, etc). Set the opacity for the other areas to whatever you want. I have used an Opacity map as well for the non-head areas.

Now the view on the screen will be weird because the displacement maps are not represented. Don't worry-they will look good when you render

Pose the Inner figure

Add lights and Render. Feel free to mess around with the amount of displacement of the Inner Figure for a tighter or looser fit. If you look at the picture, you see a faint aura around the edge-that is the space between the outfit and the character.

You can play with morphs, but use morphs equally amounts in both figures or you will have 'poke through'.

You can move the Outer Outfit outward using a white displacement map in the same way that the Inner Character was moved inward. I have done this (200% using a white jpg image) for the final picture.