DAZ Skins and textures

bggoetz

Hi all,

Stupid question time again. I've recently gotten into creating characters and buildings from scratch. Its going well, except for one thing.

I can't figure a way to get any skin or textures on them. I try (Just a scin that came with Daz) and goofy things happen. (Please see photo, Adjusted for nudity, below) - I don't know what I am doing wrong but wondering if anyone could give me a bit of advise.

Also, is there a good book out there someplace that would help with DAZ as I go, so I don't have to be annoying everyone here? I've looked buy I can find little.

Thanks to all.

felis

The textures you are using, must match the surfaces and their UV layouts.

How have you made your character?

claystoneham35070822

Well, for starters, it looks to me like you're trying to use a Genesis 2 skin on a Genesis 8 figure.

That's not going to work. They have different topologies, i.e. they're built different, with different UV sets.

There are two ways I go about making this work legally and morally, and which one you choose depends on whether you have more money than time or more time than money.

1. If you have more money than time:
Buy these:
https://www.daz3d.com/legacy-uvs-for-genesis-8-genesis-2-female
https://www.daz3d.com/legacy-uvs-for-genesis-8-genesis-2-male-michael-5-and-michael-6
Or search online for "Cayman Studios Legacy UVs" for the whole crop of them on the DAZ Store.
Alternatively or additionaly, to make unique Genesis 8 Female Skins, buy this:
https://www.daz3d.com/skin-builder-8-for-genesis-8-females

2. If you have more time than money:
a) Select Genesis 8 figure
b) In the Parameters Tab, find "Clones" Under "Hidden." You might have to click on the hamburger tab at the top, then navigate to "Preferences," and then turn on "Show Hidden Properties" first if you don't see "Hidden" or "Clones" under "Hidden" in the Parameters Tab.
c) Find the Genesis 2 Female or Genesis 2 Male Clone and dial it up to 100 percent. If you can't, click on the Gear icon next to "Genesis 2 Female," select "Parameter Settings," and make sure the "Min" is set to 0 (zero) percent and the "Max" is set to 100 percent. Sometimes in the past, the Max for the Clones would be set to 0 percent, causing the clone to not be usable. This is the usual fix for that.
d) Pose the Genesis 8 figure with these pose settings:
    Left Collar: Twist = 0, Front to back = 0, Bend = 3.5
    Left Shoulder Bend: Front to back = 0, Bend = 43.0, Twist = 0
    Left Forearm Bend: Bend = 12.0, Twist = 0
    Left Hand: Twist = -4.0, Side-Side = -13.5, Bend = -1.0
    Left Thumb 1: Twist = 0, Bend = 2.5, Up-Down = 0
    Left Thigh Bend: Side-Side = -6.0, Bend = 0
e) With Genesis 8 Female still selected, click the Hamburger icon in the Parameters Tab, select "Symmetry," and enter the following settings:
    Nodes = "Root"
    Propogation = "Recursive"
    Direction = "Left to Right"
    Trunk Nodes = "Mirror Across Y Axis"
    Under Transforms: Rotations, turn on "X Axis," "Y Axis," and "Z Axis"
    Click "Accept"
f) Hide the Genesis 2 Figure by clicking on the Eye icon next to the Genesis 2 figure in the Scene Tab.
g) Delete the Genesis 8 Eyelashes if using G8.0, or delete the Eyelashes and the Tear if using G8.1.
h) With the genesis 8 and geneses 2 figures in Base Resolution, export the Genesis 8 figure as posed as an OBJ.
i) Hide Genesis 8 and Show Genesis 2
j) Export Genesis 2 in Base Resolution as an OBJ
k) Open Blender 3.x or later (I'm using Blender 4.2.10)
l) Delete all the default objects. We don't need them for this.
m) Import Both the Genesis 2 OBJ and the Genesis 8 OBJ into Blender (you can Ctrl-Select them both at the same time)
n) Select the Genesis 8 figure posed as Genesis 2
o) You wil likely need to go into Sculpt Mode and adjust the fingers and thumb of Genesis 8 to more closely match the Genesis 2 figure. It's no big deal to do so. I used the "Elastic Deform" tool with X-axis Symmetry turned on to do it in 5 minutes.
p) Go to the "Modifiers" tab (The wrench), Click "Add Modifier," Click on "Search," type in "Shrink," and then find and select the "Shrinkwrap" Modifier.
q) In the Shrinkwrap Modifier Settings, I used:
    Wrap Method: Nearest Surface Point
    Snap Mode: Outside Surface
    Target: the Genesis 2 OBJ
    Offset: 0.35 meters
r) Click on the dropdown menu of the Shrinkwrap Modifier settings, and then click "Apply."
s) Now, go to Render Properties, which is the icon that looks like a monitor.
t) Go to the Surfaces Tab, which looks like a red globe with no poles.
u) Change all of the Surfaces to "UDIM Tiles" by going to each one at a time, clicking on the dropdown of "Base Color," and changing "Single Image" to "UDIM Tiles." For G8, you wil need to do this for each of 16 surfaces.
v) Go to the "Render" tab, which looks like a monitor.
u) Scroll down to the "Bake" Tab and open the dropdown menu
v) Change the following settings:
    Bake Type: Diffuse
    Contributions: Turn on "Color" only
    Selected to Active = On
    Target: Image Textures, Clear Textures = Off
w) Click on the Genesis 2 OBJ first, and then CTRL+Click the Genesis 8 figure now shaped like Genesis 2
x) Click "Bake" and see what happens. NOTE: depending on your hardware, this might take a while. It took my hardware about 15 minutes or so to bake 4 or 5 4K-res textures, but I have an Nvidia Geforce RTX 4060 with 8GB of VRAM and 32 GB of regular RAM with an i7 10-core processor as my hardware. Take a bathroom break, get something to eat and/or drink, do whatever, and then come back when it's finished.
y) If the textures are satisfactory, meaning they require little to no touchups (they shouldn't need it if you followed the instructions as listed), then switch to the UV Editing tab and then click Image > Save All Images, or else bring up each image texture and then click on Image > Save As and name and save each texture image wherever you'll easily find them.
z) Go back to Daz Studio, Select Genesis 8 figure, go to the "Surfaces" tab, and apply each base color image you just baked with Blender to Genesis 8 figure. Save as a new Materiels file, so you can apply them with a double-click from now on.

NOTE: the instructions I just laid out are how I go about transferring Genesis 2 skins to Genesis 8. This is the second option if you're low on money, as Blender, all versions, are free.
NOTE: For quick and easy PBR textures to go with your newly baked color textures, I use PixPlant 5, which isn't free, but is fast and easy and another tool to add.uniqueness to your skins.

bggoetz

Thank you for your replies.

To Felis, Yes I have made half a dozen characters. I've gotten each to about the phase in the picture, then.......... So I deleted and started over, infinitum.

To claystoneham35070822 I will copy your instructions and take them as I go. It nice when you know what you're doing. Special thanks.

 

claystoneham35070822

Edit: I forgot to tell you that when you go to the "Render" Tab, change the Render Mode from "EEVEE" to "Cycles" before you do the Baking of the texture. My fault.