V4 to G3F skin converter released by Blacksmith 3D
Havos
Posts: 5,576
in The Commons
I just got the notification of this in my email box. I have no idea how well it works, but looks like a method of moving V4 skins to G3F that is somewhat easier than the Blender route described in another thread.
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Interesting. I know they have the Texture Transformer that does this for GF2 and Dawn, but never gave it much notice since there are products in the DAZ store that do this for probably less money. Makes me wonder if I should invest in this or wait, hmmm.
I am thinking the same. I have pretty much zero interest in Dawn and Dusk, but now they support Genesis 3, that makes it much more interesting.
I took a look at the ads ... it's an add-on mind you it's not expensive. One has to have one of two other products ... which are really on sale if one is a member.
Since the process doesn't really require Blender...any program that can do that type of texture baking is usable. So it's probably some variation of the baking process. Blacksmith3D was one of the other programs capable of doing it manually.
wishlisted for now as not a member and cannot use Genesis 3 in Carrara yet either but may be handy one day
Thanks for the heads up! Downloading my purchase now and will give it a test run shortly and post a conversion sample. I'm not sure which V4 texture, but I'm open to any suggestions if I have it.
Well, I tried it and it does a really nice job in my opinion.
You have to apply the desired textures to V4, then export the CR2 and in Blacksmith´s texture transfer you select that CR2 and the output path. It takes seconds to creates the maps and even the preset to apply them.
You have to set the prefix, because leaving the default one results in the thing doing nothing and freezing. It lets you select 1000, 2000 or 4000 maps in png or jpg.
Minor stretchs here and there, but I came to expect it with an outomatic conversion. Not really that noticeable, mostly around the back seam using a tattoo/scars/dirt texture which makes them a lot more obvious to be fair.
I preffer DAZ Studio native solutions, but all in all, pretty cool.
Anything by Thorne or Rebelmommy would get my vote
Thanks for posting Hellboy! I'm wrapped up on a sewing project so I'll play with it later.
Are the path options improved? When I first got the program it was set up by default really weird putting the pose maps in the Runtime > Pose folder rather than the People > folder. Hated that, had to change all the internally written paths to get it set up correctly.
The example you posted, Hellboy, looks really good. I did notice in the promos at 'Rosity that the eyes looked a bit off. Are you noticing any weirdness with the eye maps?
Actually, yes. The eyes get a white border, they look pretty weird in the viewport. Seems like they render fine do far, maybe its an opacity issue. But yes, there is somethinh weird about them.
it asks me where do I want everything, I just select the desired place.
So there is still a manual component involved?
Two things I've noticed with the manual method that greatly improve the results...match input/output image resolution exactly...if the input is 1024 x 1024...make the output that, too. Don't do any scaling with the conversion process...and by exact I mean exact...even bumping up from 1000 x 1000 to 1024 can start to degrade the conversion. The closer to the default UV layout the 'from' model is the 'better' the conversion...so just use the materials, don't do any of the morphs associated with the skins. If there is any sliding/stretching done by a morph, that will end up baked into the conversion.
Both of those are most likely applicable to this automated method, too.
Another thing I've noticed with the manual process that will probably carry over...makeup that replaces the whole face. especially lipstick, converts better than just ones that replace a part...like just the lips. Whole maps convert better than partials.
Thanks for confirming that Hellboy. Glad the program asks now where you want the files to go. That's an improvement.
Yes, there is a manual process. For instance, you would need to apply each makeup variant to V4 and save a CR2 for each. It doesnt convert all maps in a folder at once, just whats saved in the CR2. Probably applying a no maps shader to the rest of the body would prevent it to create the whole set again just for each little variant.
So...other than using Blacksmith's paint/baking routines and the initial prep work being done with the add-on (no need to prep a 'to' mesh)...there isn't really all that much different than the manual method?
I hope they make a plug-in for m4 to G3M. I could convert M4 textures to V4, then convert V4 to G3M and use the G3 UV swap product from the store, but if I can save the extra steps and money I will.
I would be surprised if they did not bring out extra plug ins, and not just M4, I suspect we could also see plug ins for Base Genesis, Base G2F/G2M and maybe V5/V6/M5/M6 as well
Yea, I really wish they would have a batch operation option for makeups, tattoo's and other body mods. That was a big turn off for me to go through that set up every time. Hope the team is trying to figure that out for a future update....
I purchased the product today, too - and i can confirm: It works rather fine.
I think many Genesis 3 users desperately waited for a chance to get older characters into the new generation. It was possible already (even not too easy...) to transform the morphs, but for the textures the verdict was so far "impossible" - or nearly impossible, because there is that rather horrible "baking" procedure via Blender.
It seems for me using the converter there is a slight sharpness loss compared with the original textures but this can be tweaked in Photoshop. Of course one have to do additional tweaks if the MAT should be used in IRAY renders but that's another story and there are some products here in the DAZ store which are helpful. And of course it's a certain "investment" because you need the TT program or Blacksmith 3D. I even purchased the "big" program because when I had a look on the trial version and the tutorials I saw a new chance to get a photo reference into a 3D texture... An unsolved task so far for me for many years...
There's a manual method?
Yes, there's a tutorial to convert the textures to G3F with Blender: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/59665/tutorial-converting-textures-from-gen2-to-gen3/p1
I would be interested to know from those that have tried both methods (ie: Texture Transformer or using Blender), which requires the least amount of manual work.
I'd suggest any of the old v4 elite textures, they still hold up super well.
and even as someone who does the blender thing, this is still awesome, sounds a lot more automated
Well it sounds like it converts multiple maps i.e. the specular and bump at the same time as the diffuse, so thats probably nice. it also sounds like its easy to batch save the textures and pick the location where they're saved. But m guess is when it gets down to it it still uses the same projection baking mechanism the way blender does, its just more stremlined here for the user.
Have you tried loading up the materials with all the maps? (for instance stick one of the makeups in the face's ambient etc.) it wouldn't create the meterials for you, but given that it transforms the bump and spec at the same time as the diffuse it should convert any other maps hanging ouy
Wow. Awesome. May have to pick this up.
I have not used Blender for this, just Meshlab and ZBrush (and not a DAZ figure, just a personal scan). I did tried Blender for this, but it was just too convulted.
This is by far easier and faster than what I`ve done before. Other than applying the textures and exporting the CR2 there is`nt much more you have to do.
Mybe PNG would improve quality, I don`t know how much quality is compressed by the generated JPGs, but I don`t notice a difference so far.
Blender initially requires quite a bit of prep work setting up the from/to models...most of which is collapsing the individual materials into 4 to 7 map based 'textures'. But once that initial prep work is done, it's just a matter of loading and then 'baking'.
It took me about an hour to export and set up the textures in Blender for Genesis and G2F, today (but I've done it before, so it was quicker than the first time through...probably took about 2 and half hours that first time)...I was doing a test on baking V4 to V6 textures with this method, so I had to set up a couple of new meshes. But once that initial setup is done, then you just need to load in the texture maps you want to convert...and if you save a blend file of everything set up, with no loaded maps (just the blank ones that will become the 'baked' ones) it goes pretty quickly from that point...takes me about 20 minis to load and bake a set.
From Hellboy's description, it looks like you need to load V4, load the preset, adjust anything you don't want...export a cr2. Then load that in TT or Blacksmith and bake...not sure how long that process takes. My guess is that the actual baking process will be about the same....so on my system it would probalby be similar to the time the actual baking takes in Blender (about 10 to 15 mins depending on image resolution).
So other than the initial setup....which is the main time component in Blender (but only needs to be done once) they are about the same, except the TT/B3D add-on has already done that time consuming setup work.
As a side note...Blacksmith3d, at least the trial version, always seemed a bit slower on my system, so timings for me may not be a good benchmark. I don't have the current trial (or full version for that matter), so I can't do any more recent timing tests.
You don`t load anything in Blacksmith, you just define the path where the CR2 is. The baking process of a full set at 4000 pixels, icluding bump and specular, etc is of, dunno, around 40 seconds.
I would stick with a free alternative even if it involves more effort, but I already had Blacksmith, and the addon is pretty cheap.
So it will load the cr2 on its own...that's good.
I just baked the bump maps for the set I was working on earlier...it took about 5 minutes to load the originals and bake them out. I'm guessing because they are smaller image files (greyscale) that there was less involved, because they baked a lot quicker than the color maps did.
Advantage to B3D if you don't have to load anything and it will do all of them at once. Because you can only bake one set at a time...color, bump, etc in Blender, so you need to go back and reload each set and do a separate bake operation.
I'm finding that the V4 to V6 operation is very close and there is not a lot of misalignment/stretching...my next step is to take those and see which set comes out nicer...the V6 set or baking the G3F set straight from the V4 set (already have those meshes set up...so it's load and bake). I may do that later tonight...
I'm still guessing that it would take the 5 to 15 mins to bake them with B3D, on my system, that it does to bake them with Blender...just from my previous experiance wiht B3D on here.
My head is still spinning on how I got there, but I'm very happy with my first effort at converting a male texture to Genesis 3 Male. Here is Bjorn for M6 on M7 HD with the assistance of DS Map Transfer, Texture Transformer, Genesis 3 UV Swap and JM HumanShader Iray.
I just bought it. It works there are some issues. 1 Fingernails need to be fixed in Photoshop. 2 Eyelashes also need to be done in Photoshop. 3 Nose cavity needs work. 4 Eye whites need to be redone by hand. The great thing is this is fixable. It is better than starting from scratch. The other thing is if you own Blacksmith program you can do all of these things in the main program in 3D on Genesis 3. Just export the Genesis 3 female in obj form with these new textures applied and edit them.