The single most useful feature needed in the next Daz Studio
father1776
Posts: 982
I have finally discovered what Daz Studio is missing and it would be
relatively easy to add and would be a game changer.
I relized what it was while shopping for 3D cad mice/mouse. I asked myself "why
do I need a $150+ mouse to control camera view while using the mouse for other work ?
I can get a programable multi axis joy stick for $30
Duh !
What the next Daz Studio needs is the ability to set 'custom' hotkeys for any regularaly used
function using any recognized input. WORKS LIKE THIS - I want a programable joystick hat
switch to control camera pan, go to camera pan icon, grab PROGRAM from a short drop down menu.
(menu would have 'Program' , Default, Clear ) then it will say 'left pan' - you push the hat switch left, then it will say
right pan....an so on.
almost all functions controlled with a slider or tool should be customizable.
Do this ... you can use ANY input tool of choice to speed up your work flow...ANY.
Game Changer
Technically easy to add on next version.
Please do this.
Thank You
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Comments
I dont know if this has been done with a game controler like a joystick / gamepad allready and if you can control the Viewport Navigation with it.
I will stick to my mouse for 3D Viewport Navigation.
But there are plugins developed:
You can also download the free program AutoHotkey and remap the desiered joystick controller axis to the default or customized shortcut key(s) combination for default 3D Viewport navigation like Orbit/Pan ect. Dont ask me how the script would look like - ugly I guess - the scripting language that is used isnt that easy to learn - but there is a forum also to help you with writing scripts to remap keys and whatnot.
See my thread How to Customize Daz Studio - to speed up Workflow!? for changing Mouse Button Modifiers to something simple like Alt+leftMouseButton for Orbit with the mouse somewhere over the viewport. You can have any combination of Alt / Ctrl / Shift + LeftMB / MidMB / RightMB.
But I understand that it would be great to have something like an universal Plugin for custom input devices. With a pane where you can choose some of the Actions including Viewport Navigation from DazStudio - then press a Teach / Program button and turn the controler dial of a midi controler or a button or axis of a joystick / gamepad to map that Action to the last used input device - user input.
[EDIT]: I can imagin it would be a dream come thrue for many of us if this universal Plugin for custom input devices would also support settings for tablet devices like some Wacom Stylus or Bamboo tablet. These are the input devices that professional artists are using (I also got myself a cheap one - costs me $80). With this you should also be able to paint with the Node Weight Map Brush in "Pressure Senitive Mode" - if you kow what I mean.
I mean just every input-device with a System driver that is defined as a HID : Human Inferface Device(wiki-link) like its also called on Windows systems and most likely is connected to a USB port should be supported.
Built in Iray Graphic Memory tab. Built in Move object to targeted surface. Built in Heavy duty Animation controls. These are scripts and plugins but they break everytime Daz updates its software.
you can customise hotkeys depends if it sees your controller
I would give up all these innovations for just one: save Perspective View position to the file.
I have lost count of the number of times I have carefully set up the camera angles I want in Perspective View, forgotten to create a camera, saved and closed the scene, and then re-opened it to find Perspective View now points in some random new direction.
Close behind this ... actually, well ahead of this ... would be having 'Undo' enabled for the camera movement shortcuts. There are various keys on the keyboard which, typed without any modifier, will change your camera transforms. They do not support Undo, so if you hit one of those keys by mistake then you have to put your camera back where it was manually. OK, not a problem you say. It's just one key. How big a change can it make?
Right, but now combine that with the fact that field focus in Studio is squirrelly. So you may, for example, be trying to search for a shaping parameter in the parameters list, and you think the search field has focus because you clicked on it. But in fact -- for reasons best known to DAZ -- it doesn't have focus at all, so when you type, say, 'fitness', Studio reads each character as an instruction to the camera, and sends your field of view off on a jolly little random walk through coordinate space. And then you can't undo it because Undo isn't supported.
Install Steam. I believe it has options to allow a controller to work in programs.
I can understand that part of what keeps DS free is outsourcing the funcionality to the community devs (KeyMate, etc) but there needs to be some sort of "hand-off" or "hand-over" when/if one of those community devs dies so the plugin can be updated (if there's not already such a plan in place).
While not so much a program include, but more of a policy change: texture templates with everything, no exceptions. If it has a UV map, it must have a template. Also, Script source so users can edit as needed, or add functionality/change certain parameters to work with their Runtimes. Case in point, the V4 to G2F Animation Converter looks for "Victoria 4.2", but the loader names it "victoria 4.2". That capital letter means everything. The script fails if it's not a capital V. By the same token, the G2F figure must be named Genesis 2 Female, not Victoria 6, Lilith 6, Mei Lin, Aiko 6, etc. Changing this in the script so it reads the base figure instead of display name would make it faster.
@ Silver Dolphin
Do I hear a frustration from your side? At least not every plugin / script gets useless with a new minor DatStupido version update.
BTW what do you mean with: Built in Move object to targeted surface?
@ th3Digit
I think with changing Mouse Button Modifiers in the Customize dialogue you are restricted to have a combination of Alt / Ctrl / Shift + LeftMB / MidMB / RightMB.
I dont have my old pamepad available right now - can anyone check this please?
Workaround AutoHotkey you can use this to simulate / remap default Keyboard+Mouse inputs with a game controller. But this is just a suggestion.
@ bytescapes
1. Perspective View: You should learn how to use the Perspective View to your advantage.
Yes it dosnt get saved with the scene file nor could you undo changes but this is a good thing - maybe you want to see your undo actions Ctrl+Z only on the scene items and maybe from a different Perspective View angle. But yea it also took awhile for me untill I learned that.
My advice - once you have your perfect Perspective View angle of the scene - just cerate a new Camera (shortcut: Alt+C+C) - in the Create New Camera dialogue click the button "Show Options" and choose "Copy Active View: <Perspective View>"
I trick my self more often when I look through a camera and I forget that fact and then I make changes to the scene elements and the camera perspective. Maybe I undo some by hitting Ctrl+Z a few times - and then I realize that the camera perspective changes in between gets undone.
But there is a workaround for this: simply select the camera(s) go to the Parameters tab - change to Edit-Mode - select all tansformation Properties at once (select top one then shift select bottom) - then right-click and choose Lock Selected Properties - Done.
With this the camera(s) can no longer being moved or rotated by the user - but can still be rotated by the Point At property if you set some target and you move this.
[EDIT]: setup Camera Focus with the Point At Property set to a Null target
If you still want to have a remote control of the camera rotation - that is targeting some focus node in the scene - create a Null object and set this as the target of the cameras Point At Property. Now you can move or "reParent" the Null object to some scene node to change the camera focus (with this snap to Parent method = reParent with toggle Action "Parent Items In Place" set to off).
The Point At Property is a quiet useful function in DazStudio and adds a realy great automation - unfortunatly its sad how poor this function is implemented - it seems like they have never touched this part of the sourcecode for years now. I mean its not guaranteed that it will update dynamicly with every change you make in the scene - I often have to move the target again to force it to update so the camera will keep tracking the target that it should "Point At" - it just fails to do that - every now and then.
Also even if it has a boolean switch value on the Property to turn it on/off you cant animate that - I could imagin to have a floating point value for the Point At Property where you can fade in and out this behaviour in an animation - like with every other Property slider in DazStudio this would be a game changer for shure.
Also be prepared for many program crashes with using Point At especialy if you change the target node whether it should be to some other Node or None.
Its so crappy that I avoid to use it if I can - the Point At Property function needs an UPDATE for shure.
But its possible to use it - see what I mean here:
Precise Eye - Point At Null-Target / LookAt-PoseControl with EyeTarget / FieldOfView & Direction OBJ Comment by Syrus83227_202e840f4e October 2015
2. toggle Keyboard Navigation
Yea I know this is annoying and this buged me every now and then - most times when I try to type something into the Parameters or the Scene Text-Filter-Box (to do a search) but my mouse cursor gets slightly of this text box and then Keyboard Navigation on the letters QEWASDIKJLUO will move whatever View you have selected in the Viewport like the Perspective View or the Camera - not if you locked it though.
But you can do something about this switch off this damn Keyboard Navigation by default - go to Main Menu Window>Workspace>Customize then scroll down the Actions list on the left and you should see "View Control" if you open this you can see the default "Keyboard Navigation" toggle shortcut that I cant remember because I set mine to Shift+K. You can also drag and drop this toggle Action from the left side to the right side into some Toolbar to have its toggle status visible on screen.
Oh damn sorry to the OP I got a bit off topic - what is this thread about again - oh right you wanted to complain about all features that DazStudio is lacking of...right?
The perspective view not saving, animating, or being added to the undo stack is by design - as Syrus83227_202e840f4e notes recording its chnages adds to confusion when undoing other chnages. If you want to use a camera, so that changes are logged, Edit>Prefrences>Scene tab and check Create a "Default Camera".
I've UPDATED my previous post:
[EDIT]: setup Camera Focus with the Point At Property set to a Null target
I've UPDATED my firts post
[EDIT]: universal custom input device Plugin HID : Human Inferface Device(wiki-link)
I can absolutely understand why perspective view isn’t part of “undo,” but why it isn’t saved is more mysterious. Ditto “Top View, etc) Makes it harder to resume your workflow when you have to restart Daz after it throws a hissy fit. (Yes, I know I could use a camera for my “look at things from different angles” work, but isn’t this what perspective view is supposed to be used for?
)
@ rames44
Well this is the Perspective View and its intended to do what it does by design - and resets itself to some default perspective everytime we open up a scene - and for my opinion its good as it is.
If they add the current positon / rotation of the Perspective View to be saved in the Scene file - I would bet we will see allot of threads with the content that will read something like this:
"I have reinstalled DazStudio now for the 4th time and downgraded to a pevious version - but still if I open my last saved Scene I see nothing on the Viewport - I dont understand why is this happening?"
Yes because you may accidentialy turned the Perspective View to be way off the 3D world center - and now it is pointing to nothing at the edge of this 3D space.
No I dont want this to happen.
Maybe a compromise would be to add the last used Camera selected for the Viewport - if there is one in the Scene - to be the first Perspective to see and it gets selected by default in the "View Selection Menu" of the Viewport if you open up your Scene - just as I think of this - it would be easy to be realized with a simple script that searches for some scene node called "Camera 1" and selects it in the View Selection Menu if it whas selected as you saved your Scene.
The first thing I do every time when I open some of my DazStudio Scenes is - I select something with my mouse in the Viewport and the root node of this item maybe a figure gets selected - I click a second time on a bodypart and this sub-node gets selected - and then I press Ctrl+F = Frame Selection with only my left hand because my right hand stays on the mouse. This works also in the Ortocraphic views like Top Bottom Left Right to get the focus of the Perspective View to the current selection and the type of what is selected depends on the Viewport Tool you are currently using.
Then while working on something in focus of the Perspective View I constantly press Alt+leftMouseButton to Orbit around my current selection [Edit]: and Alt+rightMouseButton to Pan. (these are my simplyfied Custom Mouse Button Modifier Keys) With using Pan to change the Perspective in Viewport you set an offset to the initialy Frame Selection focus point of the Perspective view and to possition the Camera with only using the MouseButtonModifiers is not that easy - especialy if you just create a default camera that has nothing in focus.
Workaround: I can just repeat myself to say - if you want to have a more flexible global focus point also called pivot or rotation point (Im not shure if there is a common term) of the Perspective View or the Camera - create a Null Object as a focus or global anchor point in this 3Dspace.
Side Info: Actualy there are two different methods to reposission the Perspective to the selection beside of Frame Selection Ctrl+F there is also a action called Aim at Selection Ctrl+Shift+A. I just recently found out the difference of these two actions. The Aim at Selection Action does the same as the Point At Property but just once not continiously.
Try this got to Window>Workspace>Customize scroll the left side Actions list down to the bottom open View Control and change the default Keyboard Shortcut for Frameselection to Shift+F and Aim at selection to Shift+A I just dont have to bend my left hand that much with these - you can customize this as you need by right-click the desired Action from the list and choose "Change Keyboard Shortcut" from the menu.
The new shortcuts may be conflicting with others - but if you dont know what this other shortcut is used for by default you be save to change that because you never used that default shortcut anyway.
Constantly Orbit & Pan around the selection in Perspective View - this is like a sculptor walking around his sculpur with a hammer and a chisel in his hands to look at his creation from all sides and to work on it here and there if he thinks its necessary. If I dont get what I want with my last attempt I press Ctrl+Z or Ctr+Y to see the difference from diffrent angles and I press this allot - all with my left hand on the keyboard - to do it better next time - its a constantly forth and back until I'm satified with the result.
It is something I dont think of anymore - I do it automatically - it's like sitting behind the steering wheel of my car - I grab the key and start the engine. I have to make sure that I press the clutch with my left feet and engage a gear with my right hand. I would never think of complaining to the manufacturer why I have to do all this before I can drive my car - even I have payed allot of money for it.
I've UPDATED my previous post:
[Edit]: and Alt+rightMouseButton to Pan.
as a photographer.. I walk around until I find the right perspective then take out the camera and shoot... (but with daz I don't have to take out the camera in perspective mode (and that's the rub.. if I don't have to do it .. I don't always remember
using the perspective view to get to where I want...is moving my head as it were .. is more logical then moving my arm 20 feet to the left of the right or up to set the view...
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any way... as for saving camera views and or perspective view...
it's called a dialogue box with the save command .. would you like to save this scene with the current view as the default
would you like to save a preview that's large enough to see in windows ... and allow saving preferences to be set for all future saves...
that let's us all save to our own standards....
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and just in passing ... Boolean operations would be nice. for some reason Hexagon or Carrera and I don't sync well.
The program I use I just import select Boolean click A click B and done... the other programs seem to bury it a little deeper and more complexly.
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And can I assign keys...
I don't know what control G does but it isn't grouping... and when I do choose to group stuff ... can the cursor go into the box for entering the name so I can just start typing...
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Don't Panic just run around in circles and tag Jack or Richard...
as for the attached pic.. most of you may be sane enough not have several thousand scene files.. but with an image that windows can put at large size it's much easier to figure out (bad pun) what we did in a scene...
You can use the Viewport navigation Action: Rotate for that just change the keyboard shortcut to something that you are comfortable with. And yes this is a more human like point of view - like turning your head - and then use Aim At instead of Frame Selection - and its even more like allways turn your head untill the scene selection is in focus of the view.
This is all a matter of taste - as I started with 3D I was more comfortable with concentrating on learning how to Orbit & Pan and allways having the imaginary focus in mind that has actually no visible representation on screen.
This is why we have so much controlls how to manipulate the angle and the possition of the view.
This would require that DazStudio becomes more like a full featured Geometry Editor because the Geometry topology needs to be heavily modified - on the other hand Blender does Booleans and other operations quiet well and its all based on adding a new modifier of various types to the objects modifier stack.
And remember Boolean Operations on Geometry objects can have various results. Its not done with: "select Boolean click A click B and done".
You have to choose what you want to keep after the operation. Whatever it should be: the remaining part of object A or object B or even maybe just the intersection part of A & B or maybe all parts. Maybe this is the point where it gets complex with the settings in the various programs.
I've UPDATED my thread How to Customize Daz Studio with:
Viewport Navigation Guide + My custom Mouse Button Modifiers
see my post @ How do you switch between orbit and pan in the perspective cam?
Also after a Google search on Daz Studio Keyboard Navigation I found this keyboard & mouse picture that leads me to the new Features of DS 4.7. So now we know this feature was fist introdiuced with the DS update v4.7.0.12.
[*1] gamepad There they mention a gamepad.
Still it would be a big fun to have a way to navigate through the DazStudio 3D space with a gamecontroler in First Person Shooter - or Fly - Mode.
But this looks interesting: Home » Public » Software » Daz Studio » v4.x » Reference Guide » Scripting » API Reference » Object Index » DzViewportMgr
Maybe someone can write a Daz Studio script with that.
But I didnt invest time anymore in this Autohotkey script since I got issues to remap and switch back to default key bindings with this strage scripting syntax. Did anyone tryed this?
I've also added this Keyboard Navigation toggle Action to my toolbar to see if it is on or off.
@DrNewcenstein
Did you try to use steam with a game controller for Daz Studio?