I posted a message below but I don''t think I expressed myself properly so I am trying again. In order to make photorealistic character skins, where would one start? Does anyone have any ideas on how to design photorealistic character skins? I would really appreciate any ideas on how to go about doing this.

arent photorealistic skins ones that are created from actual pics?

I''m not quite sure how to do it, I''ve never really tried it myself, but I would either use real photos. Otherwise, from my experience, I would do them with paintshop or photoshop, starting with a skin color, and darkening parts of it, applying some noise, blurring, etc...
But I''m not sure it would really look photorealistic; realistic, but maybe no more...

bye
tib

One method is to use a clone brush from a photo. It''s quick and crude.

Another way is to do it yourself. There is a good tutorial at Computer Arts Online titled _Creating Organic Surfaces_ by Bill Fleming. The tutorial focuses on making a single leaf, but the techniques would work just as well for human skin.

Link: Creating Organic Surfaces

The short version: Lotsa layers, use dodge/burn/lighten/darken rather than flat painting, add plenty of noise and''damage''.


Some thoughts for humans (might not apply to critters):
You might research a little biology on skin coloration.

Don''t forget freckles, veins, tan lines, wrinkles, body hair, etc

Some folks have gotten good eyeball textures from Zbrush (I saw a tutorial somewhere on the net). It could be adapted to other 3d proggys.

HTH,
JSwing