LUXUS skin setting / Tutorial

First off, I am no expert when it comes to Luxus/luxrender let alone 3D rendering (in fact I have no formal training in 3D and I have taught myself everything I know). I have searched all over different forums for information and this is what I have done to get the look that I am after. You will have to do VARIOUS trial and error test to get what you like.

*Now before I start this Tutorial I want to preface that I will assume you know the basics of Luxus and materials and how to use the copy function.*

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1) I have a simple setup with G2F as my subject. The skin I am using is FWSA-Stacia.

2) As you can see I have set up a Distant Light for my IBL as well as simulated a China Ball light, roughly 18", with it parented to a camera for easy positioning.

Now here is where get to the meat and potatoes.

3) If you look closely you should be able to see the nice glossiness to the skin that doesn't make it overly wet and/or oily. This is what I have struggled with ever since I started working with Luxus, getting my specular settings to my liking.

4) If you are trying to render skin in a somewhat realistic fashion, you are more than likely going to use the Glossy Translucent material. I usually copy over the Diffuse, Specular, and Bump when I convert to Lux materials and adjust from there. 
    Most articles and forums (including the LuxRender wiki) say that you need to put a Index of Refeaction of around 1.44 for human skin. (www.luxrender.net/wiki/LuxRend…)

    However, that causes a very matte look (www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthrea…). It looks good but not to my taste.
    
    Recently I read through this forum topic (www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthrea…) and discovered something amazing. SpericLabs (the creator behind Luxus) states that one should only use the Volumes IOR and leave the specular IOR alone. Or atleast thats how I interpreted it. Now I do not use volume as I know nothing about how to use it, therefore I leave it off and just use the absorption of the material.

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    For the settings I like to set my Diffuse to a 95% white and transmission to a 50% grey. Specular color is usually just the copied over color but Stacia's spec maps are interesting and I needed to replace them, a 50% grey was used. NO Index of Refraction was used and I shant be using them for skin in the future. Standard roughness for skin is about 0.20, less for more mirror like, more for matte. The Absorption color and setting depend on the characters skin color and brightness, but since we are trying to simulate the tissues and blood under the skin a shade of blue is usually what is used.


I hope this atleast helps someone in the struggle of skin settings for Luxus. I will need to perfect this setup myself as I have just started using it and I am in the same boat as many of you. Let me know if you have any questions and I will try my best to help.


***UPDATE***