Thanks guys. I hate to hijack my own thread, but here I go, haha.
Yeah I specifically built the alien head to work with the new SSS and 3DPainter at the time. I love 3DPainter and SSS . With the SSS it's all about getting you lighting right. But basically I use the same setting for SSS all the time 6, 4, 2 and 100% (I used 5, 4, 2 for the troll head on the last page). Then I use a 3-point lighting with a stong backlight tinted red to really show off the SSS. I also use AO, Either Global Color or IBL. Global I usually set at 35%, 100%.
The alien was really fun adding all that displacement in 3DPainter. Once you have your UVs set well in A:M it's a breeze. I still use Photoshop for some details though.
Here's a link to my September 2008 win in the Image Contest using the alien: http://www.hash.com/stills/displayimage.ph...&fullsize=1 the thing is I was going to make this Image better when my pc totally died on me. I lost most of the files for this project when that happened. I also lost all my files, including pictures, from the October Entry for the Mascot Image Contest *sigh*.
Thanks again.