Superhero Mask Keeps Distorting
draine761_c7a1098aa1
Posts: 93
in New Users
Hiya. Every time I put a mask on the head of a figure, I run into the same problem. When I direct the character's eyes downward, the material at the top of the eyeholes on the mask will stretch downward along with the eyes. Is there a method of keeping this from happening? Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Was the mask made for the figure ot has it been converted (or manaully rigged from a base mesh)? It sounds as if the eye bones are weighted to affect the mask, or as if the morphs on the eyes are being projected into the mask.
Hi, Richard. This particular mask was bought as part of an outfit to fit Genesis 3 characters, but it's not the first mask to do this to me. I have the same problem with goggles, by the way. I've tried different masks on different characters, but I always get this weird "pulling the top of the eyeholes down" effect when I move the characters eyes down (independently or as part of a facial expression). Thanks for responding.
You may need to edit the weight maps. Select the goggles - do they have bones for the eyes?
Sorry, had to do some work. I'm sure I'll betray my technical inexperience if I ask by "bones" do you mean the hierarchy of body parts that expands from the the mask itself? If so, then yes, it does. If not then I'll need more specifics. This, then, is the downside to "learning by doing", instead of using documentation.
Yes, that is what I meant. OK, try this
After that go back to the wearer and move its eyes - does the distortion stop (or at least reduce0 on the left eye?
I clicked the Node Weight Map Brush, I selected the left eye of the mask in the Scene pane, and I brought up the Tool Settings pane, but I'm not sure about there being any maps in the bottom panel in the Weight Maps tab. The drop down line says Unused Maps: General, but beneath the line that says Map and Property there is nothing. I didn't see Geometry Selection in the Tool Settings pane (if that's where I should be seeing it). I do appreciate your patience.
Well, if there's no map listed that isn't the issue - though for possible future use, the Geometry Selection and Weight Editing menus come from right-clicking in the Viewport with the tool active.
The next possibility is that it's a morph. with a freshly loaded mask and the eyes zeroed (so that there are no geenrated morphs to confuse the issue) open the Parameters pane option menu (the lined button in the top corner or right-click the tab) and enable Show Hidden Properties 9if it isn't already). Select the mask and look at Currently used - it should probably be empty. Now pose one eye, sufficiently that the mask distorts, and look at Currently Used for the mask again - are there now some properties listed?
Oookay. I dunno how much this will impact our discussion, but I've been misspeaking about what causes the distortion of the mask. It doesn't happen when I move the EYES downward, it happens when I CLOSE the eyes. It pulls the top material of the mask's eyeholes closed like a second set of eyelids. The more I close them, the more the distortion. I apologize for screwing that up, but it's been one of those weeks. So should I be running these corrective experiments upon a different body part on the figure?
Right, that's morph projection. Find the slider for the actual morph on the base figure (at a guess there will be three sliders - one to close both eyes, and oen for each eye separately - most likely only the two separate eye sldiers are morphs; you can check by right-clicking in the parameters pane to put it in Edit Mode, which you will need later, and looking to ss if there is a P or an M next to the slider, on the left - you want the Ms). Once you know which morphs are needed click the gear icon on their slider, select Parameter Settings, and copy the name (not the Label) to a text file.
Now, after making sure the morphs on the figure are zero, select the mask. Go to Edit>Figure>Clear Generated Morphs. This should give us a blank slate. Put the Parameters pane in Edit mode (if it isn't) via the right-click menu. Now right-click>Create New Property, paste the name of one of the eey close morphs into its name, and check Hidden -you can leave everything else at default since this isn't actually going to be doing anything.
Once you have the new properties on the mask, try closing the figure's eyes again - does the distortion come back? if not, hooray!, and we can now save those "do-nothing" morphs that stop DS from creating new morphs of its own. With the mask selected File>Save As>Support Assets>Morph Asset and select your two new properties; if the mask was installed with Connect (that is, through Smart Content or the Install Pane) then look at the top of the options dialogue, where it will list the content directory used, and make sure it isn't the Connect directory - the default pick for saving would be the Docuemnts/Daz 3D/Studio/My Library directory, or whatever you use for your own saves.
Well, I tried that, but unfortunately it didn't work. The one thing that was off as I followed your instructions is that when I was checking the sliders for "P" or "M", they were all labeled "A". Hmm.
On the plus side, I did what I always do to make things work in Daz. I tried stuff. I selected the mask and set it to "Fit To: None" and parented to the figure's head. The distortion when closing the eyes seems to be gone, now. I wish I could chalk it up to my innate genius, but really my life only works in general because I flail around until I fall backasswards into an acceptable result. I'm going to hope this outcome is not a fluke. Now the figure will probably break wind and turn lavender when I raise its arm above the waist because of my "fix".
I can't thank you enough for offering expertise and advice, however. If nothing else, I learned how to do some things I hadn't known about just from your instructions. "Parameters edit mode? What's he...? Ohhhhhhh. Neat!" Having someone willing to take the time with novices (especially in the absence of a "For Dummies" book) is so invaluable. Merci.
You're welcome.
Yes, setting an item as if it was a parented prop rather than a fitted figure will stop the morph (and bone) following - obviously it works best if the item is in contact with only one bone on the figure (as with this mask, or hair in many cases).
Select the joint editor tool
Select the super hero mask
Find the bones for the eyes and delete them
:)
Although there are apparently eye bones, they seem not to be weighted - and it turns out it's a morph, not the eye movements, that are causing the issue (well, unless it's a figure with bones for the eyelids).
I know I solved a problem similar to that once by deleting the unneeded bones. Not sure if it was caused by a rigging transfer or a fit-to though.