mcjTeleBlender:Daz Studio scenes/animations w/Blender's Cycles Engine

ajd_at_072df9a27d · December 2014

For Users Blender 2.72(previous versions)

There is an issue of Blender, Objs exporting files in the grouping of Vertices (Polygroups)

Solution:
Fix for Bug exporter Obj for Group Vertex. (PolyGroups)

https://developer.blender.org/T31839
https://developer.blender.org/file/data/jcsyqsfld3ujaoejoev7/PHID-FILE-mkaiaqxkxmkcrcocweii/export_obj.polygroups.patch

Now with this correction, with Blender you can use Decimate to reduce Figures (DAz or Poser)without losing vertex groups or materials, simple and easy.
Also for dynamic clothes, props, etc.

greg017 · December 2014

Don't worry about the "use_ambient_occlusion" I set this up in my base file that I use when importing, that way I can just have a different startup file for each scene style I wish to use.
I am on an apple and the Auto render stuff doesn't work.
My work around for this is simple.
I add it here in case someone else want's a simple way on OSX.
I created a basic blend file.
Set all the render options I want.
Opened the text editor in blender.
added this code

filename = "/Users/myusername/Blends/exported_python_file.py"
exec(compile(open(filename).read(), filename, 'exec'))

The filename is the absolute path where the obj is written to with the extension 'obj' replaced with 'py'
then save that blend.
I just run the export.
open that blend file
click [Run Script]
wait a bit until the script is finished
Then either tweak the blend or just hit the [Render] button.
If I want to keep the blend then I simply save it with a different name and keep the startup blend clean.

Thanks Greg

mCasual · December 2014

ajd_at said:
Thanks Casual
But the name change would be too great in the script, in order to have so appName two Blender and do not share the same address(path...blender.exe) in regedit. I guess mcj blendbot 2 and 3 are not compatible.

in a next version i may make TB2 and TB3 use different registry settings
you could get this by simply changing the line in TB2 that reads

var appName = "mcjTeleBlender";

with

var appName = "mcjTeleBlender2";

-----

you'll have to try but i did make special efforts to maintain backward/forward compatibility

i think BlendBot 3 may work with TB2

and BlendBot 2 may work with TB3 ( maybe in that case TB3's "TB2 Legacy Mats" option needs to be turned on )

ajd_at_072df9a27d · December 2014

Thanks, This excellent.

BlendBot for TB2 and TB3 - OK

regards

DM3D · December 2014

Casual,

I downloaded the latest BlendBot for mcjTeleBlender3 and am having a problem with materials. I am using the latest iteration of Blender. The materials are not being loaded. It appears that the path to the textures/maps may be off.

It might be helpful to know that I use a "sceneblend" file for lights setup and general configuration that is in a different location than my materials and the exported OBJ file.

I replaced the new BlendBot files with the old ones and everything works again.

mCasual · December 2014

dcmphoto said:
Casual,
I downloaded the latest BlendBot for mcjTeleBlender3 and am having a problem with materials. I am using the latest iteration of Blender. The materials are not being loaded. It appears that the path to the textures/maps may be off.
It might be helpful to know that I use a "sceneblend" file for lights setup and general configuration that is in a different location than my materials and the exported OBJ file.
I replaced the new BlendBot files with the old ones and everything works again.

in the new BlendBot i turned the "search for images " option of the obj loader Off
because searching for images was taking too much time

but you could turn it back on by opening mcjBlendBot in a text editor like notepad or wordpad
and finding the 2 lines of code that mention "use_image_search"
then change their setting from False to True ( note that it's True with a capital T )

 if bMdd:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_split_objects= False,use_split_groups= False,use_image_search=False)
 else:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_image_search=False)

becomes

 if bMdd:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_split_objects= False,use_split_groups= False,use_image_search=True)
 else:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_image_search=True)

Next time i modify mcjTeleBlender, i'll add the image search option

HellKorea · December 2014

hello.. casual...

when using Tb3.. uberEnvironment2 exported a point light...
so it will be not export like arealight blocker..

thanks.

DM3D · December 2014

Casual said:
dcmphoto said:
Casual,
I downloaded the latest BlendBot for mcjTeleBlender3 and am having a problem with materials. I am using the latest iteration of Blender. The materials are not being loaded. It appears that the path to the textures/maps may be off.
It might be helpful to know that I use a "sceneblend" file for lights setup and general configuration that is in a different location than my materials and the exported OBJ file.
I replaced the new BlendBot files with the old ones and everything works again.

in the new BlendBot i turned the "search for images " option of the obj loader Off
because searching for images was taking too much time

but you could turn it back on by opening mcjBlendBot in a text editor like notepad or wordpad
and finding the 2 lines of code that mention "use_image_search"
then change their setting from False to True ( note that it's True with a capital T )

 if bMdd:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_split_objects= False,use_split_groups= False,use_image_search=False)
 else:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_image_search=False)

becomes

 if bMdd:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_split_objects= False,use_split_groups= False,use_image_search=True)
 else:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_image_search=True)

Next time i modify mcjTeleBlender, i'll add the image search option

THANK YOU!

justin28 · January 2015

Hi Casual,

I'm having problems importing animations.

To begin, I tried to export a full animation with textures.
Only frame 1 seems to be imported into Blender, I created another scene quickly with no materials and one simple animation.
Blender again only reads frame 1-- the import does not show any animation in Blender.

Also, I'm on a PC and Blender is not automatically launched, though I have its location set in the exporter settings.
I have to manually open the scene via the python script.
Using Daz Studio Pro 4.7, Blender 2.72b.

The DAZ exporter is apparently working; I can load each frame's OBJ manually, and they appear to be the correct frames.
Blender seems to be not loading the consecutive frames, and is not automatically launching.

Any suggestions ?

mCasual · January 2015

teleblender doesn't really export animated scenes

when you click mcjTeleblender 's "Export animation" button

mcjTeleblender exports one obj file per animation frame ( and one .mtl file )

it also creates 1 python file and 1 .bat file

so for example, you would get myscene.bat, myscene.py myscene1.obj....... myscene99.obj and myscene1.mtl ... myscene99.mtl

when all goes well, you launch the rendering process by Running myscene.bat file

myscene.bat is supposed to launch Blender ( a non-visible Blender )
and command that blender to load the first .obj frame-scene
and render it to an image file,
the location and name of which you specified in mcjTeleBlender

then it repeats this process for all the frame/scene/obj

then you use a video editor to convert the images into a video

---

maybe this spring summer i'll post a script and/or application to transfer ( not-too-complex) animated daz scenes to Blender

---

also down the road i think there are ways, using the FBX or Collada format, to export animated/animatable figures
and one could use the services offered by mcjTeleBlender to take care of the materials setup

---

i'll do a test animation render right now to see if i broke the animation render system it in the last update

so far it seems to still work fine !

yes it worked i rendered a 50-frames animation ( 25 shown below as an animated gif )

justin28 · January 2015

Thank you for clearing this up so quickly !

wolf359 · January 2015

Hi Casual, First of all thanks for this script.

I just recently "sidegraded" from OSX to Windows 7
and upgraded from DS 2.3 to 4.7 pro
and of course installed the latest blender.

I can now render my Daz/Poser content in an unbiased engine that looks better
than MY Vray for C4D, engine............... many thanks!!!.

One question on animation.

Since Blender has an add-on that import MDD (point Cache Data)
and DAZ Animate2 can Export animated figure point cache Data

I decided to use your script and try to apply some animated point cache Data from DS AniMate2.
to the Teleblend figure in blender.

Well it loads the point cache Data but horribly Distorts the Figure as soon as I scrub the timeline in blender.

I imagine this is an import Scale issue???

I know a user ,over on the C4D forums, who is rendering animations of the genesis figure
imported obj file in C4D, using the Exported MDD Data from Animate2 so theoretically this should
work in blender.

Any Suggestions??

mCasual · January 2015

wolf359 said:

.......
Blender ... MDD (point Cache Data)

AniMate2.

Blender's OBJ importer has an option to "preserve the vertex order
and it's crucial that this option is ON
the MDD file itself is a long series of vertex displacements
so if the mdd says "move vertex 1234 by 1 inch"
then the blender-imported obj vertex number 1234
must be the same vertex 1234 that Animate was seeing when it created the MDD file

last time i looked into that , mcjTeleBlender cant really be used to do that vertex-order-preserving import
( because ... i think ... mcjTeleBlender/Blendbot welds some vertices when it applies smoothing )

not too long ago i wrote a PC-Win utility to convert a series of OBJs into an mdd
but i didn't complete it enough to distribute
When i get to this, i also will make mcjTeleblender more friendly for the MDDs

in the meantime, you could use mcjTeleBlender to export your scene

, this at least creates the Blender-cycles materials

then, export the .obj (unless Animate does it for you?) in a manner that does not modify the vertex order

( avoid welds and removal of unused vertices )

then in Blender's cycles-ready scene, "manually" import that .obj, and remember to set the "preserve vertex order" option ON

that object wont have the nice cycles-materials

but you can apply the materials from the rest of the scene to it !

-------------
that's an mdd animation in Blender

ajd_at_072df9a27d · January 2015

For import mdd in Blender change code in mcjBlendBot


if bMdd:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_split_objects= False,use_split_groups= False,use_image_search=False)
 else:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_image_search=False)


if bMdd:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_split_objects= False,use_split_groups= False,use_image_search=False)
 else:
  io_scene_obj.import_obj.load(bpy.ops,bpy.context,objFile,global_matrix=gm,use_split_objects= False,use_split_groups= False,use_image_search=False)

1.- export sequence objs TeleBlender animation.
2.- Convert Sequence objs with utility
3.- export with Teleblender current frame
4.- Add modifier blender Mesh Cache for object created

http://www.sharecg.com/v/79127/gallery/10/Software-and-Tools/Utility-For-Convert-Sequence-Objs-To-Mdd-V1.0

work fine with mdd animate DAZ
_____________

with 6 Keyframe (Frame master) you can do animations.
otherwise unmodified code mcjBlendBot for KeyFrames

Frame 1
Export with Teleblender current frame.
Save scene Blender myanimation.blend

Frame 15
Export with Teleblender current frame.
Export obj in blender with option keep order vertex or export mdd (only frame)
....
Frame 30
Export with Teleblender current frame.
Export obj in blender with option keep order vertex or export mdd (only frame)

For myanimation.blend add Modifiers . for example 2 modifier

Timeline Blender
Frame 0 all Modifiers influence Zero(add keyframe i)
Frame 15 modifier1 change influence to 1
Frame 30 modifier2 change influence to 1

Note: All object same order vertex. Not work with mdd of animate DaZ.

Is great mdd for animations in blender,

wolf359 · January 2015

OK thanks guys
not a show "stopper"
I was just curious.
I have other options for flickerless GI rendering of Daz content
in my seat of Maxon Cinema4Dover on my Mac

But I do love cycles with HDRI for stills

johann.hesters_2e9dd0ece9 · January 2015

I would like to ask if mcjTeleblender also exports the bones.
In Blender, I do not see them. I hope that this is not only due to my Blender-newbiness.

mCasual · January 2015

johann.hesters said:
I would like to ask if mcjTeleblender also exports the bones.
In Blender, I do not see them. I hope that this is not only due to my Blender-newbiness.

unfortunately teleblender only exports static meshes

so you can not pose them in Blender

i didnt look into this a lot, but there's a possibility to export fully rigged figures from daz studio to blender
by using the FBX or the Collada format
you would not get the benefit of teleblender's materials

except if you
1 - exported the scene using teleblender ( which would created the nice cycles-compatible materials
2 - imported the rigged figure ( using the fbx or collada format ( the figures would probably not have usable materials )
3 - copied one by one the materials from the teleblender figure to the fbx-collada figure
4 - deleted the teleblender figure

for animations, teleblender exports 1 static mesh per animation frame, then you use a "batch" file to render each scene/frame

there's also a way to export animated meshes (no rig though ) using the MDD format, this was discussed in the preceding forum thread page

johann.hesters_2e9dd0ece9 · January 2015

Thank you for your reply.

Can you tell me why mcjTeleblender does not support bones?

As a newbie I would say "Can you not just export the armature as well?" :-)
But I guess there are a lot of problems with it that I just do not see.

mCasual · January 2015

johann.hesters said:
Thank you for your reply.
Can you tell me why mcjTeleblender does not support bones?

As a newbie I would say "Can you not just export the armature as well?" :-)
But I guess there are a lot of problems with it that I just do not see.

my main concern was to render DS scenes using Blender-cycles

someday i'll probably put the time needed to transfer the poser-type of rig into a blender-type of rig
there's not just joints and bones involved, there's bend and twist spheres of influence
and there's morphs

but maybe my job will be simplified if i can find existing solutions ( like FBX/Collada export/import )

johann.hesters_2e9dd0ece9 · January 2015

Is there anything I can do to make you do it?
I am currently using Mixamo for rigging, and it is really expensive and does not include facial bones.

Some people on forums said that DAZ models rig poorly, but I haven't been able to test that yet.
But my layman opinion would be that if models rig fine in DAZ, they would rig fine in other softwares, too.

mCasual · January 2015

johann.hesters said:
Is there anything I can do to make you do it?
I am currently using Mixamo for rigging, and it is really expensive and does not include facial bones.
Some people on forums said that DAZ models rig poorly, but I haven't been able to test that yet.
But my layman opinion would be that if models rig fine in DAZ, they would rig fine in other softwares, too.

if you look over here
https://maddieman.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/exporting-daz-studio-4-figures-to-blender/
and here
http://www.readbag.com/art-tech-it-html-tutorial-export-daz3d-to-blender-2-5

they show how to use the DAE/Collada format to get a rigged victoria 4 into Blender
i think i did try this method and it worked
note that Daz Studio's newer figures - the Genesis figures use a different rigging system
and will possibly not go well

also, most facial poses depend on morphs, not bones
and i dont know if collada will let you transfer those

---

to get the surfaces/materials/textures you will have to "manually" rebuild them in blender
or copy them from a static version of the figure exported using mcjTeleBlender

jpb06t · January 2015

Slight problem: when you go the Collade way you get the materials set up for Blender Internal, not for Cycles. Even the OBJ import/export is solidly stuck into the pre-Cycles era.

mCasual · January 2015

latego said:
Slight problem: when you go the Collade way you get the materials set up for Blender Internal, not for Cycles. Even the OBJ import/export is solidly stuck into the pre-Cycles era.

in the meantime one could

1 export the figure in collada format
2 export the static scene, including the figure mesh, using mcjTeleblender
3 in blender's cycles-ready scene, import the collada figure
4 copy the materials from the teleblender-imported-figure-mesh, to the collada-imported figure

this spring when i have time i'll probably add to teleblender what is needed to make all of this a 1 click operation

Isazforms · February 2015

Maybe a stupid question, The scripts sends lights too? I try but only cameras and objs are sent to blender. And I have materials issues. The materials doesnt show correctly.

mCasual · February 2015

corona_del_sol said:
Maybe a stupid question, The scripts sends lights too? I try but only cameras and objs are sent to blender. And I have materials issues. The materials doesnt show correctly.

normally it sends the lights if the "Export Lights" option is turned on in mcjTeleBlender's Auxiliary tab

i dont know if that's what you do, but importing the .obj files created by mcjTeleBlender
using Blender's Import menus will definitely not include lights and the materials will not be
adjusted for Cycles rendering

the lights and materials are normally usable when you use mcjTeleBlender's "Export/Open Current Frame" button

the standard Daz Studio lights are usually exported without issues
but some non-standard lights may not get exported or be exported as point lights

normally the "lights extras" option should be ON
( when this is Off, the lights are all exported as point lights ... if i remember well )

----

i almost always use mcjTeleBlender for Cycles rendering
if the render mode is not "Cycles" there's probably many things that dont work ... maybe including lights

bill.isaacs_288dab056d · February 2015

I'm stuck installing....
Daz Studio 4.7 does not, that I've seen, contain a "Content" folder. Where then am I supposed to extract the mcjTeleblender files?

mCasual · February 2015

bill.isaacs said:
I'm stuck installing....
Daz Studio 4.7 does not, that I've seen, contain a "Content" folder. Where then am I supposed to extract the mcjTeleblender files?

on windows7 typical Daz Studio folders look like

C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library

C:\Users\YOURNAMEHERE\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library

C:\Users\YOURNAMEHERE\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio4\My Library

a typical Daz content folder contains folders like : Data, People, Runtime, Scripts

X3D · February 2015

Hello Casual.. Fantastic script.. just tried version 3 but all textures are pink? so going back to version 2 unless you can enlighten me? Thanks Graeme

mCasual · February 2015

DecadentUK said:
Hello Casual.. Fantastic script.. just tried version 3 but all textures are pink? so going back to version 2 unless you can enlighten me? Thanks Graeme

maybe there's a pink tint on a surface channel like specular or ambient ... in Daz Studio's surfaces tab

if you dont get the pink effect in version 2 and you get it in version 3 .... for now i cant think of a reason

for example: sometimes the textures applied to a surface in Daz Studio is texture.png, but the Daz Studio exporter will "tell" Blender that the texture file is texture.jpg ! so blender wont find the texture and the surface in blender will look magenta ( as a way to show that the texture image was not found )

for cases like that, you can turn ON the mcjTeleBlender option "collect maps" option, this will force the Daz Studio exporter to create texture.jpg version and place it in a folder named Maps, and Blender will find it

but normally that problem will exist in version 2 and version 3

X3D · February 2015

Thanks for the quick reply Casual.. I shall experiment further, I did notice that after deleting version 2 and replacing with version 3 in both Daz Studio & Blender that the save paths for Blender.exe + blend/obj/image files were still present, from previous version, are these paths saved somewhere? If so I may need to delete them?

Maps were collected so its slightly confusing..

Version 2 does everything perfectly though. Thankyou again for this great script.

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mcjTeleBlender:Daz Studio scenes/animations w/Blender's Cycles Engine

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