there are alot of ways, and the skin modifier if far from perfect, it does not fold and such.
so, if you was to animate a ballerina, how would you put skin on the person?
cloth simulation? skin modifier? importing from another program? add-on?
please state the reason of your choice,
i would like to know, as i am planning to animate a person while pursuing photo-realism
I’m not sure what all this talk of the skin modifier is about. The skin modifier has nothing whatsoever to do with realistic human skin; it is merely a tool for setting out base shapes without regard for topology, usually for the purpose of high-polygon sculpting.
Generally for realistic animation you need a model with good topology of an appropriate level of detail, a well made armature perhaps with a few extra volume control bones for cleaner deformation and possibly some corrective shape keys on the mesh. For realistic subtle jiggling of flesh the muscle simulator may be appropriate, or you may be able to accomplish what you need with some shape keys and gentle softbody simulation in some strategic parts of the mesh. How much of these more subtle flesh representation techniques are necessary depends on how close the shot will be, your level of skill as an animator (all the jiggle in the world won’t help a stiff and doll-like animation to look realistic), and the amount of time and computing power you can devote to the tweaking and correcting of long simulations.
In any case the skin modifier has nothing to do with it, except maybe as a very first step in laying out a disposable base mesh for sculpting before retopology.
“Putting skin on a person” is an odd way to look at this process anyway. You should be modeling nothing but the skin, though perhaps if you use the muscle simulator you will eventually create some major landmark muscles beneath it. There is no “putting skin on a person” step in modeling. In fact it’s more the opposite; as you model the skin you need to always keep in mind the muscle and bone structure beneath it so the model curves and the topology deforms well in the right places.
Realistic deformation is in my estimation about 75% mesh topology, 20% armature construction, and 5% subtler corrections like shape keys and softbody simulation. There is no silver bullet modifier that will make your model realistic. That last 5% can be what brings you out of the uncanny valley into greater realism, but you can’t even get to the uncanny valley in the first place without the rest.
are there any tutorials out there? and i never thought of the skin juggle, but i was thinking more of folding skins (idk why)
If you’re just talking about regular folding like the wrinkles you get around joints that’s pretty much just a matter of good topology and maybe a bit of extra texturing. Blender Cookie has some tutorials on human body topology but honestly there are countless tutorials and examples of good topology out there, not just for Blender. The same geometry rules apply in every 3D program, not just Blender.
Also, be careful about shooting at china-doll targets like: “photo realism.™” There’s actually nothing “real” at all about a photo. The exposure, setting, lighting, and so-forth in a photograph are all contrived to suit the purposes of the picture being shot. And the same ought to be true of your character, its skin, rigging and so-forth. You’re not doing them “just to do them.” You’re doing everything to further a stated purpose.
Work out, ahead of time and in grueling detail, exactly where and how your model will be seen, what clothes / armor / bra :rolleyes: etc it will be wearing, and so on. Where the camera will be, the lighting and so forth. Assess what is the least that you must do in order to satisfy the requirements of the shot, or of the show. And, work both ends against the middle: if a change in the shot would reduce the requirements for the modeling and so-forth, and the show won’t suffer for it, then chalk it up as “a creative decision.” There was a reason why the “Western town” movie-sets had no buildings constructed behind the front-doors.
Most of all, you need a character who can plausibly act, or pose, and a fantastic setting/story with which to do it in. If you can do that, then only the folks here at BA will (in a very friendly way) kibbutz about what you might have done instead.