I've noticed that there is always a crazy number of files in my "Lost and Found" in the Content Library and Smart Content categories. I hear that the staff at DAZ are always updating or working on updating content tags, but stuff is still going uncategorized and loitering unfound in my database.

Maybe we could help. If users are involved in product improvement, might it be helpful if they open their databases to DAZ so they can import any custom tags for any Studio products that have gone untagged? I'd be willing to hand over some of my database information and if any other Studio users can use it to categorize their assets, more power to them. If enough of us got together for that, the collaborative effort could cut months off the staff's work.

What says the community?

After importing metadata, have you then gone to Products > Available?

 i did log in through daz studio and i reimported the metadata like you mentioned earlier and they still didn't show up. i suppose you are not talk about that? if not what are you suggesting?

The Premier shapes are available only through Daz Connect (log in through Daz Studio, Update metadata, download through the Install pane or one of the views showing all/uninstalled products).

Ran a few initial tests with the Beta, so far so good. I can still load an audio file and hear it, apply lip synching to a character, render out a .mov file and import that into  video software with the audio track intact. Excellent. None of the functionality I need has been lost (so far).
I could sure use bigger text, though. That's wearing a little thin...

DazToUnity Bridge

A modernized fork of the Daz3D DazToUnity Bridge, updated for Unity 6 and all three render pipelines — HDRP, URP, and Built-in.

Based on the original work by Daz 3D. This fork focuses on Unity 6 compatibility, runtime render pipeline detection, UPM packaging, and a unified uDTU shader family for all pipelines.

1. What's Different in This Fork

This fork modernizes the original DazToUnity Bridge with a focus on clean, forward-compatible code:

Unity 6 compatibility

• Replaced deprecated FindObjectsOfType with FindObjectsByType
• Switched to EditorSceneManager for scene operations
• Removed Unity 2019 dead code paths
• Added safety around AvatarSetupTool

Runtime render pipeline detection

• New RenderPipelineHelper replaces all #if USING_HDRP / URP / BUILTIN preprocessor directives
• Pipeline detection is cached at runtime via GraphicsSettings.currentRenderPipeline
• Shader names are runtime properties, not compile-time constants

UPM package structure

• Installable via Unity Package Manager from a git URL — no file copying needed
• Proper Runtime and Editor assembly definitions
• SimpleJSON vendor dependency isolated with autoReferenced: false

Unified uDTU shader family for all pipelines

• HDRP and URP: existing Shader Graph shaders (Hair, Metallic, Specular, SSS, Transparent)
• Built-in RP: new ShaderLab surface shaders matching the same property interface
• All three pipelines use the same material conversion path — no legacy fallback

2. How to Install

Daz Studio Plugin

1. Go to the Releases page
2. Download dzunitybridge.dll
3. Copy the DLL into your Daz Studio plugins folder:
   C:\Daz 3D\Applications\64-bit\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins\
4. Restart Daz Studio
5. Verify: File → Send To → Daz To Unity appears in the menu

Unity Plugin — Option A: UPM / Unity Package Manager (Recommended, Unity 2022.3+)

The cleanest install. No files are copied into your Assets folder.

From Unity:

1. Open your project
2. Go to Window → Package Manager
3. Click + → Add package from git URL...
4. Paste: https://github.com/Knuffelpanda/DazToUnity.git?path=UnityPlugin
5. Click Add

Or edit Packages/manifest.json directly:

"com.daz3d.daz-to-unity": "https://github.com/Knuffelpanda/DazToUnity.git?path=UnityPlugin";

From Daz Studio (automatic):

1. Open File → Send To → Daz To Unity
2. Enable Advanced Settings
3. Select UPM Package (Unity 2022.3+) from the dropdown
4. Click Install Plugin and select your Unity project root
5. Switch to Unity — the Package Manager resolves the package automatically

Unity Plugin — Option B: .unitypackage (Classic, Unity 2019–2021)

1. Open your Unity project and leave it running
2. In Daz Studio: File → Send To → Daz To Unity
3. Enable Advanced Settings
4. Select your Unity version and render pipeline from the dropdown
5. Click Install Plugin and select your Unity project root
6. A Unity Import Package dialog should appear — click Import
7. If it doesn't appear automatically, go to Assets/Daz3D/Support/ and double-click the matching package:
   • DazToUnity HDRP.unitypackage
   • DazToUnity URP.unitypackage
   • DazToUnity Standard Shader.unitypackage
8. For HDRP: add the Daz diffusion profile to your HDRP asset's diffusion profile list (Project Settings → HDRP Default Settings)

3. How to Use

1. Open Daz Studio and add a Figure or Prop to your scene
2. Select the top node of your Figure or Prop in the Scene pane
3. Go to File → Send To → Daz To Unity
4. Select the Asset Folder for your Unity project
5. Choose the Asset Type:
   • Skeletal Mesh — for rigged figures
   • Animation — for animation clips
   • Static Mesh — for props and environments
6. Optionally enable Morphs or Subdivision levels via the checkboxes
7. Click Accept and wait for the confirmation dialog before switching to Unity

Unity will automatically import the FBX and .dtu file, apply materials, and set up the prefab.

4. How to Build

Requirements: Daz Studio 4.5+ SDK · Qt 4.8.1 · Autodesk FBX SDK 2020+ · Pixar OpenSubdiv · CMake 3.4+ · Visual Studio 2017+

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Knuffelpanda/DazToUnity.git
cmake -B build \
  -DDAZ_SDK_DIR=<path> \
  -DFBX_SDK_DIR=<path> \
  -DOPENSUBDIV_DIR=<path>
cmake --build build --config Release

The build output is dzunitybridge.dll (Windows) or dzunitybridge.dylib (macOS).
Set -DDAZ_STUDIO_EXE_DIR=<path> to auto-deploy the plugin to your Daz Studio plugins folder after build.

5. How to Test

Unit tests (Windows, C++):

• Build in Debug mode with /EHa (C++ exceptions with SEH) enabled
• In Daz Studio, load Test/UnitTests/RunUnitTests.dsa
• Set sIncludePath and sOutputPath on lines 4–5, then run
• Click through any dialog prompts that appear — they are part of the tests

Automated test cases (Daz Script):

• In Daz Studio, load Test/TestCases/test_runner.dsa
• Set sIncludePath on line 4, then run
• Results are written to Test/Reports/ as JSON and TXT

Manual QA:

• See Test/QA Manual Test Cases.md for 16 test scenarios

6. How to Develop

C++ plugin (DazStudioPlugin/):

• DzUnityAction — triggers the export workflow via File → Send To → Daz To Unity
• DzUnityDialog — export configuration UI
• The DzUnityNS namespace prevents collisions when multiple bridge plugins are loaded simultaneously
• Uses CPP_PLUGIN_DEFINITION() instead of DZ_PLUGIN_DEFINITION to enable C++ class export across the bridge library boundary

C# Unity plugin (UnityPlugin/):

• Daz3DDTUImporter — ScriptedImporter for .dtu files, drives the entire import pipeline
• DTUConverter — material and shader assignment
• RenderPipelineHelper — cached runtime pipeline detection, single source of truth for all pipeline branching
• DetectRenderPipeline — manages scripting defines for backwards compatibility

Modifying shaders:

• HDRP/URP shaders are Shader Graph assets in UnityPlugin/Shaders/uDTU/
• Built-in shaders are ShaderLab files in the same folder (uDTU BuiltIn.*.shader)
• All shaders share the same _-prefixed property names so DTUConverter works identically across pipelines

Updating the .unitypackage files:

• Make changes inside Unity
• Export a new .unitypackage from Unity
• Replace the matching file in DazStudioPlugin/Resources/

OK, if you don't have a back up and didn't export user-data then you won't be able to get your own scenes and presets added back to the database, and content installed through Daz  Studio (Daz Connect) will have to be reinstalled (though if the daz Connect Data Directory is the same then it should not need to actually download then files) but if you do a reset on the database then reimport metadata for manual and DIM/Daz Central installations. I would use Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings to set a new location for the Content Cluster, so that you don't lost the database in case the issue is something else, then from the Content Library pane option menu open Content DB Maintenance, check Reimport Metadata, and in the dialogue that opens check the master checkbox to seelct and repimport all the product data that DS could find.

 

Dareshiranu said:

lilweep said:

CGTrader is generally fine.  You will find a lot of people selling stolen assets or scamming people with AI generated meshes, so just have some modicum of intelligence and situational awareness.

All the problems around "conversion" and "importing" are usually quite trivial to resolve unless it is some extremely complicated asset (like an environment with hundreds of parts) or something rigged.

E.g., above they claim fbx is difficult to import into Daz.  No, you import into Blender and export it out again as obj. This is not a concern.

What is an AI generated mesh? I understand the words, but I don't quite get how an AI engine would generate a mesh particularly or how it would differ from any other mesh in an identifiable way. But that might be my ignorance of the nuances of AI showing. 

Broadly speaking, I use AI for some things. I find it useful for scraping information so long as I don't always rely upon it as the sole source of information, it does provide reasonably good overviews on topics and can assist in digging down into a topic. I've used generative AI for very specific purposes and dabbled in local models to a thus far limited extent. I understand the concept of "vibe coding" and I have a friend who is and has been a project manager at Google, and elsewhere for years and understand pretty well the utility (or limited utility) of AI for programming - though it can apparently be useful for documentation as I understand it. I've heard about the use of AI for generating 3D models, I was just looking for something a little more tangible than vague warnings. Some people have a natural antipathy toward AI, while others are drawn toward it with an equally strong reaction. I just look upon it as a tool that's still in flux and hoped to hear something solid. What is the scam, exactly? Can you define it? I'm not trying to argue here, I would just like to know, in your opinion, what the issue is with greater specificity. 

Eyeballs don't really fit well with some character morphs... that's why content creators have to fix the auto-generated head morphs on the eyeballs ~~

If you know some external software like Blender, you can easily fix the issue by exporting figure + eyeballs to Blender, make the eyeballs fit well then import them to update the head morph of eyeballs in DS....

or you can refer to this free way : https://www.renderhub.com/rendorgal/et-morphs That freebie and tutorial are not for G9, but the process works for G9. After clearing the delta morph, you need to manually tweak  / rig eyeballs instead.

Dareshiranu said:

lilweep said:

CGTrader is generally fine.  You will find a lot of people selling stolen assets or scamming people with AI generated meshes, so just have some modicum of intelligence and situational awareness.

All the problems around "conversion" and "importing" are usually quite trivial to resolve unless it is some extremely complicated asset (like an environment with hundreds of parts) or something rigged.

E.g., above they claim fbx is difficult to import into Daz.  No, you import into Blender and export it out again as obj. This is not a concern.

What is an AI generated mesh? I understand the words, but I don't quite get how an AI engine would generate a mesh particularly or how it would differ from any other mesh in an identifiable way. But that might be my ignorance of the nuances of AI showing. 

It's mesh generated with a AI app and not the usual 3D app like Max, Maya or Zbrush. Some top AI tools used are MeshyAI, Kaedim, Luma AI, etc

lilweep said:

CGTrader is generally fine.  You will find a lot of people selling stolen assets or scamming people with AI generated meshes, so just have some modicum of intelligence and situational awareness.

All the problems around "conversion" and "importing" are usually quite trivial to resolve unless it is some extremely complicated asset (like an environment with hundreds of parts) or something rigged.

E.g., above they claim fbx is difficult to import into Daz.  No, you import into Blender and export it out again as obj. This is not a concern.

What is an AI generated mesh? I understand the words, but I don't quite get how an AI engine would generate a mesh particularly or how it would differ from any other mesh in an identifiable way. But that might be my ignorance of the nuances of AI showing. 

Hey everyone, 
 

I have been using Daz3d for about a month now and have run into my first major issue.
Tonight a lightning storm passed over my house so I quickly decided to save my scene and shut down my pc.

After the storm passed I opened up Daz and opened my scene, only to be met with this Error message. 
After doing some research online I have seen some forums mentioning that this is likely due to a corrupted file from exiting Daz during a save, crashing during a save, etc etc.
I am 99% sure I waited for daz to finish saving before closing the program and shutting down but I cant be 100% sure due to the quick panic from the thunderstorm.

I cant find any temp file auto saves or anything that could possibly roll back the scene.

I use the Daz 2025 (6.25) Public Build to utilize my 50 series gfx card and thought It may be a compatibility issue with an asset thats throwing the error, but even trying to open the scene with Daz 4.24 throws the same error.
I can open all my other scenes with 2025 and 4.24 with no problems, its just specifically this scene that is erroring.

Here is the error Log ↓

2026-02-19 03:11:27.429 [INFO] :: *** Scene Cleared ***

2026-02-19 03:11:27.439 [INFO] :: Prepare asset load (open): /Scenes/LiesaSchool.duf

2026-02-19 03:11:27.439 [INFO] :: Locking viewport redraw...

2026-02-19 03:11:27.439 [INFO] :: Viewport redraw locked.

2026-02-19 03:11:27.453 [VERBOSE] :: Native format content directories: 2

2026-02-19 03:11:27.453 [VERBOSE] :: Poser format content directories: 2

2026-02-19 03:11:27.453 [VERBOSE] :: Other import format content directories: 0

2026-02-19 03:11:27.453 [INFO] :: Begin asset load (open): /Scenes/LiesaSchool.duf

2026-02-19 03:11:29.047 [INFO] :: Json Parser (6318237,28): Unexpected end of file in object.

2026-02-19 03:11:29.069 [WARNING] :: Error loading asset: C:/Users/Eric_/Documents/DAZ 3D/Studio/My Library/Scenes/LiesaSchool.duf

Operation failed

2026-02-19 03:11:29.077 [INFO] :: Unlocking viewport redraw...

2026-02-19 03:11:29.077 [INFO] :: Viewport redraw unlocked.

Does anybody have any knowledge on salvaging this scene or is it corrupted real good.
Cheers

Griffin Avid said:

I buy a lot from there (among other sites). 

1) Check the format (not everything FBX will import into Daz)

2) Double check whether or not it has UVs (Think outer skin) and Textures. Many items will have materials created by the rendering engine and not have actual textures you can use.

3) Quality Control is hit or miss. Some items will be "game-ready" and work just fine. Others will NOT be optimized and freeze your machine. (look for reviews). Some DO NOT look good close up.

4) Sort by price both ways- so you can see the full range. Some 4-dollar items will work better than the 50-dollar items.

5) Beware of items from video games, Manga, anime and such. There's tons of products based on established IPs. Always google the name and read the description very carefully.

6) Organize your purchases from the start. I save all files in a folder with the exact name of the item and save copies of the promo art in the folder itself and the general directory.

7) Characters/figures are NOT RIGGED for daz Studio. So they will not move or take poses. What I have done- is broken a product up into peices and glued them into place on top of a Daz figure as a workaround.

8) Once you import, you'll need to check the scale. Sometimes you can't see the item because it is so small, other times you can't see an imported item because it's so big. Either re-import or adjust scale yourself.

9) You may need to go to the surfaces tab and adjust opacity for some imports.

10) For items that do work and have doors, latches and any kind of mobility, you may be able to use Blender to Export the items in pieces and use a Null (to attach items and control their centerpoints) to make them swivel, turn, open and close as you see fit.

An excellent checklist and list of potential pitfalls - and it's fairly universal in that some of that applies to other sites that sell 3D assets. Thank you, Griffin Avid!

Going through those install instructions and I do see that chatterbox uses pillow (later renamed to just PIL) and possibly configparser (I saw pycparser in that tutorial which may be the an older version of configparser)

So that would explain the issues.

Doing some research on ignoring import if any version of a module exists now.

Hopefully the versions of those modules you have will work with the original PIL code I had and I can just do a switch to run a different line of code depending on the pillow version.

The thing is that even though it is said that DS can import separate items, for me this is not happening. As shown in the attachment, I have all settings checked. Is this option app specific maybe? I mean, I'm sure it works with Blender just fine, but as advised, I'm using SketchUp and with that, it doesn't work for sure.

CGTrader is generally fine.  You will find a lot of people selling stolen assets or scamming people with AI generated meshes, so just have some modicum of intelligence and situational awareness.

All the problems around "conversion" and "importing" are usually quite trivial to resolve unless it is some extremely complicated asset (like an environment with hundreds of parts) or something rigged.

E.g., above they claim fbx is difficult to import into Daz.  No, you import into Blender and export it out again as obj. This is not a concern.

hjake said:

Griffin Avid said:

I buy a lot from there (among other sites). 

1) Check the format (not everything FBX will import into Daz)

....

10) For items that do work and have doors, latches and any kind of mobility, you may be able to use Blender to Export the items in pieces and use a Null (to attach items and control their centerpoints) to make them swivel, turn, open and close as you see fit.

 

That is an excellent checklist. 

Daz Studio can now import separate objects via OBJ, if the Read Objects option is selected, and has always been able to import groups.

Griffin Avid said:

I buy a lot from there (among other sites). 

1) Check the format (not everything FBX will import into Daz)

....

10) For items that do work and have doors, latches and any kind of mobility, you may be able to use Blender to Export the items in pieces and use a Null (to attach items and control their centerpoints) to make them swivel, turn, open and close as you see fit.

That is an excellent checklist. 

Elor said:

Richard Haseltine said:

[...] in the log-in dialogue you must check Update Metadata or you can use the same command in the Connect menu [...]

I suppose it means it will remove all the fixes I made on metadata for products from the Daz store?

It should not remove "user metadata" that you created yourself, only update the "vendor metadata"

Richard Haseltine said:

[...] in the log-in dialogue you must check Update Metadata or you can use the same command in the Connect menu [...]

I suppose it means it will remove all the fixes I made on metadata for products from the Daz store?