Blender 3.2. I'm trying to model this character without using sculpt mode. The hair, ears, arms, and legs are all individual objects. The pink color is the same material on each object. I have also tried using the data transfer modifier method described here. My settings are identical to the settings in that link. This has worked before, but isn't working with this model. I'm not sure if I am missing a step or have incorrectly applied a setting. Boolean modifiers create a huge mess of vertices and creates different problems. I don't know exactly how to phrase this question, but I am looking for a way to create the illusion that all of the individual pieces are a single object so that the materials don't show the obvious seams where the meshes intersect.
I've toggled off shadows on the lamp object, it produces cleaner gradients. When shadows are toggled on, the shadows obscure some of the lighting issues, but on the parts that aren't obscured the lighting issue is still noticeable.
I have some images which show the issue; I can provide more information if that would help solve my issue.
The images below:
For the side by side comparison, on the left are combined pieces remeshed in sculpt mode. On the right are the individual parts still separated. I want to make the version on the right look like the version on the left. My computer doesn't handle high-poly sculpts very well, so I would like to avoid using that method.
The top view with the arms spread out is the default position (I hid the hair curl so it didn't obstruct the view).
The top view with the arms out front shows the problem. There's only one point lamp and it's in front of the character. Light looks like it's coming from the sides. It's much brighter than the surrounding parts of the arm, and the gradient is very rough.
