Re:A sneak peek at MetaHuman Creator
by Budabellly on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @05:30PM
(#26095699)
I would say that modeling teeth with geometry is very easy. The material, lighting, and rendering is the challenge, especially when you consider all of the occlusion (and hard/soft body dynamics) from your lips that is inevitable with teeth.
Some form of subsurface scattering[1] is a must, and not easily done in games/apps because you can't really "bake" it like you do for most other textures to run performantly.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsurface_scattering#:~:text=....
Re:A sneak peek at MetaHuman Creator
by kleer001 on Wednesday February 10, 2021 @06:43PM
(#26096392)
(20 years vfx experience, me)
Subsurface scattering is the correct answer. It's a very small area and a very expensive calculation.
Teeth are translucent and the coloured lighting on them changes rapidly.
My guess is that teeth haven't been that interesting to date and that the modellers don't have access to hundreds of reference pictures / geometries of teeth for their modelling. As opposed to reference images of skin textures, etc. Tongues are probably the same. In fact I don't think I have ever created a render of a figure with their tongue out.
Once they take the time, the teeth should be easy to improve.
[0] https://www.daz3d.com/technology/