Daz Cow Share and Learn Thread

LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
edited January 2017 in New Users

Hey..

I have been playing with one of my christmas freebies the Daz Cow. This poor little critter needs a lot of help. LOL

I noticed she does not have uvmaps, needs some morphs, and some tweaking like posture, etc. Having been around dairy and beef cows all my life this poor thing does not really resemble said 'ideal' cow conformation.

I have worked on her posture and did some other tweaking. I saved her 'new' standing pose and the "physical" tweaking as a 'shaping' preset. Edit: I need to read up again on that preset it did not take. Good thing I saved her as a scene and the pose preset.

First question... I have acess to hexagon, blender, and carrara to help with morphs and possibly reshaping. I have done some reading on importing/exporting obj files. Does anyone know of any good tutorials on this kind of thing.

Second question...uvmaps. She has texture map, but it is really not the greatest. Does she have one I don't know about or do I need to attempt to create my own some how. I thought Daz possibly had that capability. It's been a while since I read that info.

Feedback would be great!

Thanks for the help and direction. :)

Edit: updated and fixed typos, etc.

Update: I was thinking about this thread and changed the thread name. People are welcome to share renders, tips, poses, texture maps or whatever of the cow they have at this point. I know some have shared what they could find out there in 3D land.

Post edited by Liana on
«1345

Comments

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    Here is what I have done just in daz so far. The cow on the right is daz's as is 'out of the box' and mine with changes is on the left.

     

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/uploads/FileUpload/c4/13ab2340f2ef56102d81d8057351a6.png

    Daz Cow.png
    993 x 794 - 247K
    Post edited by Liana on
  • FeralFeyFeralFey Posts: 3,888

    Hi Liana!

    Good on you to try and tackle the Daz Cow! I'd be interested to see what you come up with. :)

    Making morphs in Hex is really easy. Export the Cow obj from DS (either as a stand alone, or via the Hexagon Bridge). Import Cow obj into Hex. Move the polygons to your liking. (Important! Do not move any of the groups from the initial import of the Cow obj. Regrouping and moving the order of things in the hierarchy screen will change the vertices order and then the morph will not work.). Export the morph from Hexagon as an obj (name it whatever you want.). Go back into DS and import the newly made morph via the Morph Loader Pro (the icon on the right hand side of the screen, as you're looking at it, the one that looks like a swollen bicep muscle with a "P" on it. It will walk to you through the process in the popup screen but basically click on "Choose Morph Files" and navigate to your obj file's location. It will appear in the field below. Highlight the name so that you can rename it appropriately (something like "Jersey" without any extensions). Go to "Property Group" and right click on it to bring up another pop up and select "Create". Name your property group Morph/Actor/Shape (this is so that your morph will show up in the appropriate space in the parameter's tab. Using the default "Morph Loader" option will add a "Morph Loader" section in the parameters tab, which, frankly, is OK, but not professional standard.) You don't need to do anything else so click OK.) Now in the scene tab, click on the Cow and you should see your new morph in the parameter's tab. Check the dial to make sure it looks like you want (this is where you'll see if there are any issues with the vertices getting screwed up, even if the vertices numbers match when you imported it via Morph Loader Pro (MLP)) and then you'll probably want to zero out the minimum threshhold in the parameter dial settings. Save the new morph as a Morph Asset (bottom of the drop down menu under Save As, located under the Support Asset section. Add all the information in the field and click all the areas where your morph should appear. It should be located on the body root and you'll see your morph name there. Make sure it is selected and nothing else. And click "Accept" and now your morph will automatically load every time you load your cow into the scene.

    That's just a basic run down of the steps you'll need to take to get your morph into the Daz Cow. There are, of course, other, more complicated steps to do other things, but this should get you started.

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    @FeralFey Thanks I hope I have not bitten off more than I can chew. I am quit new at Daz, but this cow is just not right. lol :) I do want to figure out how to get my hands on a uvmap or some how get hers recreated.

    Ooo..thanks that is a start. :) I have not tried to morph anything before. I wonder if I can make horns most dairy cattle do have horns they are just removed at an early age. A lot of beef are 'polled' or hornless. She has more of a beef cow profile. Other things like posture, udder shape, etc. It would be fun to recreate her and since she is an obj file I think it can be done. Would I get into trouble for upgrading her? All these questions. :)

    I have been doing some reading and doodling with her at the moment all in Daz. I have this much so far. This Shape/pose is saved a pose preset at this point. If there is something I should be doing different as in saving her modified shape, etc. Let me know.

    Edit/Add: I made a few more 'physical' changes in daz. I have added the different views. Lots of adjustments on the legs, feet, head, neck, width front and back, lenghtened out her body a bit, and made some adjustments that I could with her udder.

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/uploads/FileUpload/e3/750348290d33d5a03ddf8503c50be7.png

    Daz Cow side.png
    993 x 794 - 185K
    Daz Cow front.png
    993 x 794 - 146K
    Daz Cow back.png
    993 x 794 - 102K
    Post edited by Liana on
  • FeralFeyFeralFey Posts: 3,888

    Great start Liana! I've often thought that the cow needed some upgrading. I would love to see it brought into the "Genesis" realm of rigging, but that's probably not something you're ready or willing to tackle just yet. :) 

    For horns, this is really easy to do. Actually, you have two options before you. Both require you to model a set of horns. Option one is to just make the horns a parentable prop. This is really, really easy. Actually, this is the easiest and less complicated route to take. Model the horns in place in Hex (or whatever modeller of your choice), export from Hex and import into DS. Parent to the cow's head. Save as a Figure/Prop asset. Fill in the pop up screen and save (or click accept. I can't remember right now.) 

    Option two is to make the horns a geograft extension of the Cow. But as I say this, I'm not sure if it'll work since the Cow isn't rigged like the Genesis line of models are. I'll have to look into that to be certain. So ignore option two for now. Lol.

    While there might not be a UV map included with the Cow...it's easy to back engineer one from the existing texture map. Just go to the Textures folder and find it. Open it in your painting program of choice and then just paint your new texture over it. Remember to save it as something else, and probably put it in a texture folder under your own name.

    The other way of getting the UV map is while it's in Hexagon, go to the UV map section and viola'! There it is. Click on the camera icon and you'll save out the UV map. A word of caution here, though. When you "export" the UV map from Hex (saving it as I just mentioned) and bring it into Photoshop or whatever paint program, it will be smaller than it should be. Meaning the map doesn't actually extend as far as it should and you'll wind up with seams all over the place. I recommend downloading UV Mapper Classic. It's free and it will give you a properly proportioned UV map.

    As for getting into trouble for upgrading her - no, not necessarily. What you're creating is a character for Daz's Cow, and is perfectly within the realm of OK-ness. What isn't OK is distributing the original Cow along with your character, as Daz owns the copyright on that. Does that make sense? 

    I'm happy to help. We all started at some point and I had lots of PAs who helped me learn the ropes. While I specialize with poses, I do know my way around modeling, rigging, and texturing. So I'm at your dispense. 

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017
    FeralFey said:

    Great start Liana! I've often thought that the cow needed some upgrading. I would love to see it brought into the "Genesis" realm of rigging, but that's probably not something you're ready or willing to tackle just yet. :) 

    For horns, this is really easy to do. Actually, you have two options before you. Both require you to model a set of horns. Option one is to just make the horns a parentable prop. This is really, really easy. Actually, this is the easiest and less complicated route to take. Model the horns in place in Hex (or whatever modeller of your choice), export from Hex and import into DS. Parent to the cow's head. Save as a Figure/Prop asset. Fill in the pop up screen and save (or click accept. I can't remember right now.) 

    Option two is to make the horns a geograft extension of the Cow. But as I say this, I'm not sure if it'll work since the Cow isn't rigged like the Genesis line of models are. I'll have to look into that to be certain. So ignore option two for now. Lol.

    While there might not be a UV map included with the Cow...it's easy to back engineer one from the existing texture map. Just go to the Textures folder and find it. Open it in your painting program of choice and then just paint your new texture over it. Remember to save it as something else, and probably put it in a texture folder under your own name.

    The other way of getting the UV map is while it's in Hexagon, go to the UV map section and viola'! There it is. Click on the camera icon and you'll save out the UV map. A word of caution here, though. When you "export" the UV map from Hex (saving it as I just mentioned) and bring it into Photoshop or whatever paint program, it will be smaller than it should be. Meaning the map doesn't actually extend as far as it should and you'll wind up with seams all over the place. I recommend downloading UV Mapper Classic. It's free and it will give you a properly proportioned UV map.

    As for getting into trouble for upgrading her - no, not necessarily. What you're creating is a character for Daz's Cow, and is perfectly within the realm of OK-ness. What isn't OK is distributing the original Cow along with your character, as Daz owns the copyright on that. Does that make sense? 

    I'm happy to help. We all started at some point and I had lots of PAs who helped me learn the ropes. While I specialize with poses, I do know my way around modeling, rigging, and texturing. So I'm at your dispense. 

    Thanks! I have been doodling and searching. I got an email message, so I had to check. hehe

    I was thinking of the modeling part. I never thought of making it an 'accessory' so to speak. Genesis rigging? I have a whole lot to learn. I hope you don't mind your brain being picked. devil  I will read and watch whatever is neccessary to learn prior to brain picking. LOL I was looking in folders for texture and uvmaps. One folder was named Zygote that must have been the original creator. I am surprised no one wanted to tackle this one. I suppose how many people really like cows. blush geograft is like morphing the horns on in Daz? Like if we wanted smaller horns, curved horns, etc? Just asking questions.

    I did get to view the uvmap in Daz. I had to apply her texture map and then highlight the surfaces. I have not found how to snatch the bugger yet. LOL I will attach a snap shot for what I found.

    I thought about painting over, but the map for the nose is all wrong and so I need the darn uvmap so it can be painted properly. Actually, the nose, the hooves, the dew claws, and the eyes are kind of weird too. All of those should have been uvmapped differently for daz and the surfaces tab from what I am learning. One of my hurdles in 3D modeling is uvmapping. I never seem to get the maps like I want. I am maybe too fussy. lol I have mostly worked in Blender at this point (free), but need more practice. I have hexagon, but need to watch a whole load of videos on it to get the hang of it. I have Carrara because i got the whole pro for a nice price. I have not even cracked it open yet too busy trying to learn Daz quirks.  I am guessing remapping is out of the question?? Just thinking. :)

    As for tackling and learning sometimes I jump in the deep end and then say "oh cow poo!". haha Sometimes I learn the best that way too. Soooo.... Suggestions are fine by me and it will make me search and read up them.

    I think I am getting this whole "character" thing figured out, so yea makes sense don't share original cow. :)

    Add: I am not able to execute uv mapper classic my norton snaps it up and gets rid of it. I will see what I can do in Blender with the uvmap. LOL

    dazcowuvmap_pic.png
    1920 x 1080 - 376K
    Post edited by Liana on
  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035

    Here is a front picture of some of my 'real cows' from about 2005 and a few other pics. I thought I would add them for entertainment for the cow lovers here in Daz. :)

    Hiefers 2005.JPG
    1115 x 854 - 228K
    babies in straw1.JPG
    849 x 600 - 158K
    yearling Heifers 2007.JPG
    2597 x 1162 - 599K
    Mommas2013.JPG
    700 x 564 - 158K
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,709

    there is another free skin for her.

    by Emporer Ken but I cannot find it at the moment Googling

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035

    there is another free skin for her.

    by Emporer Ken but I cannot find it at the moment Googling

    Oh cool. It will be neat if you find it.

    I have been just doodling with her in hexagon while learning it at the same time.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,709

    sadly I think he has pulled it

    you could try contacting him on the empken.com site

  • Roman_K2Roman_K2 Posts: 1,195
    FeralFey said:

    Making morphs in Hex is really easy.

    Ha ha ha ha ha, that's funny. And here I am, silly me, sweating it out trying to fix the hinges on my primitive cube. I didn't know it was easy!

    -----

    Ahem... sort of related... is it just me or does the DAZ bull not have cloven hoofs? Also (if I ever figure out how to make hair) a big thing for me will be to give the bull a proper tail... looks like the cow could use one too.

    Anyway, big user-generated improvements on the cow seems like. I wonder if you could post a "cow upgrade kit". wink 

    its_sooooooooo_easy_(not).jpg
    762 x 490 - 25K
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,709

    I found this one

    http://minerva2001.deviantart.com/art/Hereford-Daz-Cow-124715913

    maybe make your own in Gimp or Photoshop from morguefile images etc?

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,709

    http://www.daz3d.com/noggin-s-cow

    is a better looking cow

  • Roman_K2Roman_K2 Posts: 1,195

    That's really cool!  I only have the horse, the barn and the pig IIRC but I will keep these "fourth party" accessories in mind

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    I have not looked at the bull real close. I don't have him, but I think my partner does. Hair would be good. :) Once it get it all figured out and the cow fixed up properly I will post an upgrade. I just have her saved as a scene and a pose preset at this point. It might be a while though. hahaha

    Roman_K2 said:
    FeralFey said:

    Making morphs in Hex is really easy.

    Ha ha ha ha ha, that's funny. And here I am, silly me, sweating it out trying to fix the hinges on my primitive cube. I didn't know it was easy!

    -----

    Ahem... sort of related... is it just me or does the DAZ bull not have cloven hoofs? Also (if I ever figure out how to make hair) a big thing for me will be to give the bull a proper tail... looks like the cow could use one too.

    Anyway, big user-generated improvements on the cow seems like. I wonder if you could post a "cow upgrade kit". wink 

     

    Post edited by Liana on
  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    http://www.daz3d.com/noggin-s-cow

    is a better looking cow

    Like all the cows on Daz seem pretty scary. I have even looked for some others offsite. She is improving. I am still doing most adjustments in Daz, but I have been working with her in Hexagon. I am learning more about hexagon than getting the cow done at this point. LOL

    Post edited by Liana on
  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    Roman_K2 said:

    That's really cool!  I only have the horse, the barn and the pig IIRC but I will keep these "fourth party" accessories in mind

    The herford is not bad will try it out on the cow. Thanks for finding it. The eyes are a kind of funky in their uvmapping. I did figure out the hooves are uvmapped separately so that helps. Still making adjustments will add pics as I go along. :)

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035

    These seem really good will try them out. I would still like to get my hands on the uvmap. :)

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    Just some more adjustments in Daz as I learn hexagon. I seem to find things in hexagon and then go back into Daz and make corrections. I bring her back into hexagon to doodle with.

    Just some updated photos. :)

    Are there bone architecture in hexagon like other modeling programs? Just wondering because I have to go back into daz to make leg type adjustments. Thanks! :)

    Daz Cow side.png
    993 x 794 - 309K
    Daz Cow back.png
    993 x 794 - 158K
    Daz Cow front.png
    993 x 794 - 206K
    Post edited by Liana on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,709
    edited January 2017

    I exported one from UUW3D if its any help

    cow.jpg
    1024 x 1024 - 450K
    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035

    I exported one from UWW3D if its any help

    Oh that is great!! Thanks ! :) *jumps up and down*

    I was just going to add some pics of the textures you found. :)

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    Freebie textures for the Daz cow thanks to the3Ddigit. :)

    I did not do anything fancy with the textures. I just plopped them in the appropiate places on the surface tab and rendered. I just wanted to see how they looked and how much stretch is in the uv mapping. :)

    DAZ fresian cow.png
    993 x 794 - 332K
    DAZ hereford.png
    993 x 794 - 289K
    DAZ red fresian cow.png
    993 x 794 - 345K
    Post edited by Liana on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,709
    edited January 2017

    chase up Ken Gilliland empken.com cow if you can. its quite nice but the PDF readme expicitly states not redistributable so only he can give you it

    he is at Hivewire, I cannot give any actual links on this forum I am afraid.

    but you should be able to contact him at either site

     

    also I found another cow

    http://www.morphography.uk.vu/dlscott.html#Cow

    no idea what its like 

    from this list of resources

    https://poserdazfreebies.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    chase up Ken Gilliland empken.com cow if you can. its quite nice but the PDF readme expicitly states not redistributable so only he can give you it

    he is at Hivewire, I cannot give any actual links on this forum I am afraid.

    but you should be able to contact him at either site

     

    also I found another cow

    http://www.morphography.uk.vu/dlscott.html#Cow

    no idea what its like 

    from this list of resources

    https://poserdazfreebies.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

    Oh...I am familiar with Hivewire. I bookmarked the last link and saved the other cow. I will take a look at her. Thanks! :)

    I think I am heading off to bed Bessie has tired me out. haha

    I am going to keep working on Bessie though. It's a good way for me to learn a bit more about creating 'characters'.

    Post edited by Liana on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,709

    iray render of Ken's cow texture

    the last free cow pretty blocky but its rigged at least too.

    cow empken.jpg
    3840 x 2160 - 5M
  • FeralFeyFeralFey Posts: 3,888

    Yeah, contact Ken. Tell him FeralFey says "hi". I haven't spoken to him much since he left for Hivewire. I met him once. He's a great guy and he does quality work. I'm sure that he will be willing to help you out.

  • FeralFeyFeralFey Posts: 3,888
    Roman_K2 said:
    FeralFey said:

    Ha ha ha ha ha, that's funny. And here I am, silly me, sweating it out trying to fix the hinges on my primitive cube. I didn't know it was easy!

    OK, yeah, so I didn't mean to imply that it was EASY making the morphs IN Hexagon (although some morphs are easier than others). Haha. I meant to say that it's pretty easy moving the morphs in and out of Hex to DS.

    Hexagon has it's peculiarities for certain, and it should never be spoken in the same sentence as "easy". (Although there are some programs that are much, much more difficult to work with than Hex.) And while I have Zbrush and Modo, I find that I still run to Hex whenever I need something quick. Guess I've learned to deal with its idiocyncracies over the years and I just take it for granted that other people have as well.

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    edited January 2017

    I had a crash course in Hexagon last night with Bessie. I think just about any modeling program, except maybe sketch-up( it has its limitations and cost) is difficult to learn. I have even forgotten enough in Blender I need to go back and refresh my memory a bit. I did wander to the Hexagon forum and found some tutorials I am going to take a look at that today.The price is right for Hexagon one reason people migrate to it. I know I did. :)

    @FeralFey that genesis rigging you talked about. I have not done any rigging at this point, well maybe a little bit in Blender if it has to do with bones and attachments, etc. Is that within Daz by chance? I ran across something while reading and searching is why I am asking. I do need to read some more about morphing, get that in my head, and on paper for easy reference.

    I did learn something about the Daz Cow last night and will look into that some more today after I do a few things.

    Thanks for the help and conversation so far on the cow. :)

    Add: FeralFey..I finally looked at your catalog. I am familiar with your poses. :)

    Post edited by Liana on
  • LlynaraLlynara Posts: 4,770

    I love that you're improving the cow! The DAZ farm animals definitely need some upgrades!

  • LianaLiana Posts: 1,035
    Llynara said:

    I love that you're improving the cow! The DAZ farm animals definitely need some upgrades!

    Thanks Llynara. I am going to try anyways. It is a learning process as I go. I think I will gain a whole lot of knowledge in the process even if it takes me what seems like forever to finish. :)

    I just got in from feeding my own cows well, young hiefers and bulls. Tomorrow will be feeding day for the Cows. :)

    So, more fun with the cow. This part I just don't get. A person loads up the cow and she looks all wonky and has bad joints, but if you put her in a zero pose position she looks half way normal with the exception of the tail. Only reason why I even figured that out silly me was I opened her obj file from hexagon instead from Daz with the bridge. Her uvmap shows her in zero position, duh on my part. :)

    She still needs some work on head, legs, along the spine, and fix the udder up a bit but not as bad as I had originally thought.

    My question is would it be better to work on her improvements modeling, possible morphs, maybe rigging if needed or wanted, etc in Hexagon or Carrara? Either one I have a bit of a learning curve to begin with.

    Some pictures of the cow at zero position and her default daz load position.

     

    Daz Cow_01.png
    993 x 794 - 216K
    Daz Cow_side02.png
    993 x 794 - 148K
    Daz Cow_back02.png
    993 x 794 - 105K
Sign In or Register to comment.