Transferring characters between generations?

Matt_Castle

I know that GenX is a thing, but I also know that the author passed on (in the metaphorical sense), so it's both not going to get any update to G8, and is unlikely to get an appreciable discount any time soon, so I've been messing around with SickleYield's guide:
https://www.deviantart.com/sickleyield/journal/Tutorial-Transferring-Character-Morphs-G1G2G3G8-409437916

I've had success when it comes to transferring G3 morphs to G8, and can now successfully use shaping and posing morphs that I originally bought for G3 on G8 characters.
However, any attempt to transfer morphs between generations with more different body shapes have been various degrees of "not what I want". I've got a few more stylised characters from the G1 and G2 generations that I'd like to have working in G8 if possible; I've got characters such as Kimberly and a customised mix of Girl 6 and Ysabeau that I really like, but if possible I'd like to enjoy the much larger asset collections (and the improved tools) I have for G8.
Unfortunately, my attempts to transfer these characters to the newer base seem to transfer just a "delta" of the morph rather than an "absolute", so the characters also acquire all the differences between the base shapes, which isn't what I want.

If I want the transferred character to be as close as possible to the original body shape, what method should I be using? (Or is this simply not possible within Daz itself? If necessary, I am pretty competent with Blender modelling, but while I've certainly transferred Daz assets into Blender, I don't entirely understand the process for going the other way.)

EDIT: Shoot, I was sure I'd posted this in the Daz Studio Discussion section. If a mod needs to move it, I apologise.

Rod Wise Driggo

Hi, do some forum searches. There shall be a lot of stuff to find regarding transferring morphs through the various generations. GenX is definitely your tool for transferring morphs from V4 up to Gen3. From there you need to use what you find about the script from Redz. I've used this a long time ago to copy over a lot of Gen3-morphs. Don't know whether it still works. Also there are tools by Cayman to use textures of older generations on the newer ones. So if it is not only about morphs you might take a look there too. 

WendyLuvsCatz

you really need to create full body morphs of your original characters using base obj exports and morphloader  on their original figures ie Genesis 1&2 first then genX those to 3 and use RedZ method to get to 8

using adjust rigging to figure shape ERC freeze on the first step may be necessary too.

Matt_Castle

To be more specific - I do not (currently) want to use GenX. I am asking if there is any manual method for doing so.

I don't have enough characters prior to Generation 7 that it's worth buying all necessary GenX items at full price (and because the author is no longer with us, the next sale will only be when Daz next decides to do a store-wide sale), but there are a few characters that I would like to have updated sooner rather than later and which I am prepared to do manually. (And which, as a reasonably competent Blender user, it's not entirely unreasonable to assume is a task that could be within my existing skill set).

nicstt

I believe there is a thread somewhere.

What I do, from G3 to G8, is to create an obj of G8 at base resolution; I then fit it to the g3. After this dial in the G3 morph you want, and export the G8 obj, and then load into morph loader pro. Just make sure you use base geometry for exports and objects.

I've used the same process for G2 to G8, that took more work and some tweakage.

In all cases, I recommend using, Adjust Rigging to Shape, and ERC Freeze.

Just note that only the G8 object being exported should be visible, as whatever is visible gets exported; another reason dialling it in might be more successful.

Sometimes it can be easier (but more time-consuming) to just adjust the dials to get the shape you want.

... And a further note, you will need to adjust G8's pose to fit G3; or vice-versa, I suppose.

Oh, and dial in the base shape from the target shape (G2, G3); have that dialled in on G8 when importing into morph loader, you'll just need to reverse deformations in morph loader.

Another edit:

The more extreme the shape, the less successful it will be due to missing corrective morphs.