richardandtracy said:

I can understand the desire to keep it all in DS, but background scenery is fairly hard. FlowScape is excellent in the way it can paint the scenery. Worldmaker is similar to DS in the use of library items being dropped in, but they go where the cursor drops the stuff instead of world 0,0,0 which makes it faster than DS but slower than FlowScape.

The thing against UltraScenery is the lack of painting the scenery. Now, if we could get DS to use something like UE5 as one of the renderers for real time display & huge polygon capability, FlowScape like painting of assets across the scene and iRay rendering for the final render, then I think I'd be in heaven.

Regards,

Richard.

 

again I suggest just use Unreal Engine

• free
• has painting of foliage and any other static mesh (you can add simple wind shaders to leaves)
• can import your DAZ people and things, there is a bridge
• lots of free stuff every month
• Megascans 

I'm always on a search for programs that will enable nice scenery to be created, and recently came across a relatively new scenery creation program on 'Steam' called WorldMaker.

It's a somewhat like FlowScape, being based on one of the big game engines (in this case it's Unreal Engine 5 as opposed to Unity for FlowScape) and allows snapshots of a minimally animated scene, with just the rendering produced by the engine.

I've tried it and found it to be less easy to use than FlowScape as you can't paint scener in quite the same way, but it does have limited quality characters built in, which is an advance, and they can be posed to a limited degree or have one of a large number of ani-blocks applied. 

The similar sunlight & weather options exist as with FlowScape.

All in-all not bad for background scenes - especially as the default render is rather better than with FlowScape.

Price, not huge, £7.19, say $9.50-ish. It's supposed to come with 1200 bits of content in various categories, from skyscrapers to trees, grasses and Saxon houses. I suspect it's all freebie UE5 content available for most purposes.

There is supposed to be FBX import (no export except 2D screen shots) but on my PC, just pressing the button crashes the program. It may be developed a bit, who knows. 

Might be worth trying out.

Regards,

Richard.

Whiskeyjack said:

I have quite a lot of duplicate products listed in DIM; one duplicate has "DS" at the end of the product name, and the other duplicate has "PS" at the end of the product name (and also has no MetaData).

As I understand it, the products with "DS" at the end are the versions for Daz Studio, and the ones with "PS" at the end are the versions for Poser.
However, these “PS” duplicates always end up appearing in my Daz content libraries, but they never have a thumbnail and never include any content. They just clog up my content libraries in Daz with a bunch of empty directories and non-existent products. And uninstalling them via DIM doesn’t remove them from the Daz content libraries.

When I'm installing products that include duplicate versions for Poser, is there a way to tell DIM to ignore the Poser versions, and only install the Daz versions? And preferably not even show them in the “Ready to Download” tab at all?

You can uncheck the Poser options in the DIM Download Filters on the Ready to Download tab.

I have quite a lot of duplicate products listed in DIM; one duplicate has "DS" at the end of the product name, and the other duplicate has "PS" at the end of the product name (and also has no MetaData).

As I understand it, the products with "DS" at the end are the versions for Daz Studio, and the ones with "PS" at the end are the versions for Poser.
However, these “PS” duplicates always end up appearing in my Daz content libraries, but they never have a thumbnail and never include any content. They just clog up my content libraries in Daz with a bunch of empty directories and non-existent products. And uninstalling them via DIM doesn’t remove them from the Daz content libraries.

When I'm installing products that include duplicate versions for Poser, is there a way to tell DIM to ignore the Poser versions, and only install the Daz versions? And preferably not even show them in the “Ready to Download” tab at all?

reported

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/import_daz/issues/1422/tongue-ik-crash-with-rigify

I'm not sure how do you pose rigify but here the jcms work fine. If you use a custom figure be sure to import all the custom morphs, since there may be morphs driving other morphs.

steps:

1. import the figure, merge rigs, make all bones posable
2. import jcms
3. import all the custom morphs
4. optimize pose for ik, convert to rigify

RKane_1 said:

Don't suppose you can walk me through that?

I can try, but it's been a while since I have done this myself so may miss a few things.  Also, I am going to assume you have not done anything "advanced" in relation to the CMS/database as this process will remove things like custom Stores if you have added any yourself manually or via a plugin/script.

1. First thing is to log out within Daz Studio
2. Then go to Edit/Preferences/Startup and uncheck "Show Login Page" & "Automatically Login With Remembered Credentials"
3. While you have the Preferences window open, Click on the Content tab and then the "Content Directory Manager" button
4. In the "Content Directory Manager", expand the section for "Daz Connect Data" and note down the folder path that is listed there - that is where the files installed via Daz Connect should live.
5. Cancel the "Content Directory Manager" window (since we did not make changes anyway) but then click "Accept" on the Preferences window to make sure you save those settings
6. On the Smart Content tab, click the "Hamburger Icon" in the top right and select "Content DB Maintenance"
7. In the window that pops up, check only the bottom two: "Export User Data" and "Reset Database" - note this will wipe ALL info from the CMS and so "Smart Content" will be empty after this happens, as with the "Products" and "Categories" sections of the Content Library but will not remove any files. This is what you want to do here but it's worth re-emphasising what this does incase this may affect something that you may have which has not been mentioned in the thread.
8. Once this is done, close Daz Studio and navigate to the "Daz Connect Data" folder from bullet 4 in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder (whichever is appropriate for your OS)
9. At this point I have to be a bit vague about exactly what will be in here as I have already cleared out my own folder. However, there is likely to be product assets and some thumbnails. If you are happy to nuke your Daz Connect  data then you can delete everything inside this folder. You won't be able to remove the folder itself since Daz Studio has to have a Connect folder (even if you don't use it) and I think it will recreate the data/cloud folder but other than that it can be empty.  I guess if you don't like this folder existing here you can probably edit the folder in the "Content Directory Manager" to point to a temporary/dumping location after clearing the folders down and ten after doing that you can probably remove the Daz Connect parent folder.
10. At this point, unless I am misremembering, it should be safe to re-import the metadata for your products that were previously installed via DIM. This process will basically read all the DSX files saved in the Runtime/Support folder in each linked Base Folder and put the relevant records back into the CMS. This should be free of any interferance by Daz Connect.
11. Fire up Daz Studio again and double-check that it did not log you in again - this should not happen if you saved the Preferences earlier.
12. In the Smart Content, click the hamburger icon and select "Content DB Maintenance" again.
13. This time you will check "Process Metadata Queue" & "Re-Import Metadata" and click Accept
14. This will scan the DSX files and give you a list of all your products it can find. In theroy you want to leave all these checked (which is the default). The first first one is UserData which is the data exported during the purge and contains any manual changes you have made to categories. This is up to you if you want to re-import these or not depending on if you have made any changes. It is safe to uncheck it if you want as you can always re-do this step and check ONLY the UserData to import this info at a later stage.
15. Once you have clicked to proceed with this stage Daz will work on re-importing this data - note: this will take a little while depending on how many products you have installed and your hardware etc. As a benchmark last time I did this it took around 12-15 minutes I think so you can get up and have a break while this happens.
16. When this eventually finishes you SHOULD have a clean setup of products - it is probably worth firing up DIM to check that all your products are fully installed as you may have a few items that were only installed via Connect and so DIM should spot these and offer them for installation.

Note, after doing this, you may find that some products are missing thumbnails that were not missing before. This is because a few products are distributed without them and Daz Connect handles thumbnails differently. These can be manually created easily enough if you need to.

Hopefully, that all makes sense.

SofaCitizen said:

I think the quickest way is indeed to reset your database as that will purge all the data for the Connect-installed products. However, make sure you export your UserData first if you want to re-import that one file into your cleaned database.  Also, make sure you logout of Daz inside studio and stay logged out else Connect will just mess things up again later.

You will still have to locate the folder where connect installed things and manually remove the folders.

After that you should be good to fire up DIM and re-install the products - or install them manually if you prefer.

Don't suppose you can walk me through that?

I think the quickest way is indeed to reset your database as that will purge all the data for the Connect-installed products. However, make sure you export your UserData first if you want to re-import that one file into your cleaned database.  Also, make sure you logout of Daz inside studio and stay logged out else Connect will just mess things up again later.

You will still have to locate the folder where connect installed things and manually remove the folders.

After that you should be good to fire up DIM and re-install the products - or install them manually if you prefer.

ok well I have tried everywhere to get this answer I guess this is the only place anymore sense it seems all develop is silent for the daz to maya bridge so here we go. in Maya 2023 I am unable to save a generated rig using the daz to maya bridge. step one currently the bridge is broken when generating the rig, in their official video when you import the rig you just hit the button to generate the rig button thingy and it show it generating with full facial controls, which this no longer works you get this error. 

// Error: file: C:/Users/UserName/Documents/maya/modules/DazToMaya/scripts/DAZTools.mel line 1694: Connection not made: 'hip_scaleConstraint1.constraintScaleX' -> 'hip.scaleX'.  Destination attribute must be writable.
// Error: file: C:/Users/UserName/Documents/maya/modules/DazToMaya/scripts/DAZTools.mel line 1694: Could not add constraint or connections.

ok so I found people having hte same issues on the github and on discord and even on the forums here, the solution is to set the sourse to none which boom it generates the rig full of facial bones. this is where the curial issues is when you save the files and reopen the file the generated rig disappears. you cannot save it as the new control rig. so making animation edits to animation over time impossible, you cannot reference this as well into larger scenes. is there any fix or work around for this being able to save the rig so when I re-open the file I can continue where I left off? I am getting no response on the official github or even on discord on how to get around this I have spent many nights trying to figure this out. is there still development being done to the daz to maya bridge? at this point if I want to use maya in this pipeline I am going to have to re-rig these characters just so I can animate them...

@Jovanni Rigify is designed for a pre-bended T pose so it doesn't work fine with the G8 A pose. You can prebend a T pose in daz studio then import as dbz. Or use "optimize pose for IK", but it doesn't straight the legs so a exported T pose is better.

Will see if Thomas can improve "optimize pose for IK".

edit. I see the 1.7 version already has a better "optimize pose for IK" the poles work fine, so I don't think it is necessary to improve.

@Pickle I'm working with Thomas to fix the Simple IK rig. Right now it works fine but the snap tool, so you can't snap IK. The feet sliding is fixed though.

steps:

1. import your figure
2. convert to simple ik, if it is G3 G8 then don't use poles or the twist bones will not work
3. animate with ik
4. bake
5. save pose preset

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/import_daz/issues/1418/

edit. Just tested mhx and seems to work fine too, there's no feet sliding that I can notice. Be sure to get 1.7 with the latest fixes.

I started using Inkscape at work for .svg editing when we dropped Illustrator (Adobe also bought and then retired Macromedia Fireworks, which used to embed metadata into .png files so you could still edit them later).  I like Inkscape a lot actually.  It's also free!

The horse accepts the poses but Genesis 9 figures don't, there is an error. The posses show up but cannot be applied.

The error log looks like this:

Native format content directories: 4
2023-02-24 04:44:11.819 [INFO] :: Poser format content directories: 27
2023-02-24 04:44:11.819 [INFO] :: Other import format content directories: 0
2023-02-24 04:44:11.819 [INFO] :: Begin asset load (merge): /Animals/Daz Horse 3/Vehicles/Daz Originals/Western Horse Tack/Poses/Western Horse Tack - DAZ Horse 3 - Jumping 1.duf
2023-02-24 04:44:11.841 [INFO] :: Determining missing assets...
2023-02-24 04:44:11.869 [WARNING] :: Invalid hierarchy for selected node(s) and "preset_hierarchical_pose" type; no root(s) found.
2023-02-24 04:44:11.869 [INFO] :: Error loading asset: C:/Daz 3D/Applications/Data/DAZ 3D/My DAZ 3D Library/animals/daz horse 3/vehicles/daz originals/western horse tack/poses/western horse tack - daz horse 3 - jumping 1.duf
2023-02-24 04:44:11.869 [INFO] ::     Operation failed
2023-02-24 04:44:11.990 [INFO] :: Unlocking viewport redraw...
2023-02-24 04:44:11.990 [INFO] :: Viewport redraw unlocked.
2023-02-24 04:47:08.781 [WARNING] :: ..\..\..\..\..\src\sdksource\cloud\dzcloudtasknotifier.cpp(178): recv failed errno=10054

How do you fix this?

Houdini has a steeper learning curve (I'm still just a beginner) but the payoff has been worth it.  It's an insanly powerful application especally when it come to procedural and non-destructive workflows.  Tools like Houdini Engine for Unreal and Unity as well as Live Link and also really powerful.. and fun to play around with.

Unreal 5 already has insane learning curve, I'd rather not dive into too many difficult apps other than Unreal as I'm developing games all by myself. Blender has quite steep learning curve and Unreal is 10x times more difficult than that o_O

all of the major 3D platforms, Blender included, have adopted Pixar's Universal Scene Description framework as a way of exchanging entire scenes between applications.  I'd really love to see Daz adopting this as well.

My next workflow after my current game is released would use the USD instead of FBX, hopefully that would save lots of work rebuilding assets in Unreal. It'd be best if we could import Daz content directly into Unreal with decent features that current DazToUnreal bridge is lack of, notably the genital support and correct material and animation support, via the new USD pipeline and not the old FBX pipeline.

Okay, that type of icon is there because you log in, or have logged in, to DAZ from Studio. Connect is saying that it is available to install, because it knows you own it and have not installed it. Yes, it is a royal pain to remove products from the Product list in the Content Library, but you don't actually have to remove it, although Richard Haseltine will likely point out some script that does exactly that, I imagine.

You can just use DIM to install the "old-fashioned way" without any special action on your part, and that b&w icon will turn into a coloured icon like all other DIM-installed content (try one and see). The Connect flash will probably stay, but you can ignore it. I do not know of any way to clear Connect-related data (don't use it myself). Maybe clearing the database (export your USER DATA first to save any customization you have done) and re-importing the metadata (OFFLINE) will do that, but I have a hard time recommending the nuclear option. Someone...? 

To avoid dealing any further with Connect, change your preferences (F2) to uncheck Startup -> Automatically Login with Remembered Credentials. Those credentials are accessible from the menu -> Connect -> Login. Clear all fields and uncheck all boxes, and Studio cannot login to give Connect any access.

You can use almost any 3D model in DS as long as the import format is .OBJ and you are fine with it not being rigged since FBX and collada rigging don't import into DS correctly/ You will also in most cases have to apply the textures manually. I do this all the time when I import game models

sunnyjei said:

FenixPhoenix said:

sunnyjei said:

Hi all :)

If I only use a default genesis 9 figure as my sculpt base can I share the morph I have created from that freely? (For example if I create an adam's apple morph, belly button, different nose shapes, or just different head shapes).

Yes, so long as you import the morph with reverse deformation so you aren't distributing the actual Genesis 9 Base Figure.

Also if I were to take the included essentials skins can I edit them in PS and share them? (kind of assuming this one is a no). And are there any merchant resources available for Genesis 9 that I may have missed? Thanks in advance!

I'm not 100% sure on this one so you're better off writing in a ticket to DAZ and getting their official response.

Thank you! I appreciate you taking time to answer. I know you do a lot of skin stuff (which btw thank you for that as well  because I have many of your assets and love them!) When you create your skin transitions is there a template you work with and/or just in another layer over the default essentiels skin in photoshop? (I've only ever edited skin files someone else created for my own use ).

Thanks for the support! I hand-paint with a tablet directly over the base character in substance painter. I only use photoshop for laying out stuff for promos and tweaking textures produced with Substance Painter.

FenixPhoenix said:

sunnyjei said:

Hi all :)

If I only use a default genesis 9 figure as my sculpt base can I share the morph I have created from that freely? (For example if I create an adam's apple morph, belly button, different nose shapes, or just different head shapes).

Yes, so long as you import the morph with reverse deformation so you aren't distributing the actual Genesis 9 Base Figure.

Also if I were to take the included essentials skins can I edit them in PS and share them? (kind of assuming this one is a no). And are there any merchant resources available for Genesis 9 that I may have missed? Thanks in advance!

I'm not 100% sure on this one so you're better off writing in a ticket to DAZ and getting their official response.

Thank you! I appreciate you taking time to answer. I know you do a lot of skin stuff (which btw thank you for that as well  because I have many of your assets and love them!) When you create your skin transitions is there a template you work with and/or just in another layer over the default essentiels skin in photoshop? (I've only ever edited skin files someone else created for my own use ).

sunnyjei said:

Hi all :)

If I only use a default genesis 9 figure as my sculpt base can I share the morph I have created from that freely? (For example if I create an adam's apple morph, belly button, different nose shapes, or just different head shapes).

Yes, so long as you import the morph with reverse deformation so you aren't distributing the actual Genesis 9 Base Figure.

Also if I were to take the included essentials skins can I edit them in PS and share them? (kind of assuming this one is a no). And are there any merchant resources available for Genesis 9 that I may have missed? Thanks in advance!

I'm not 100% sure on this one so you're better off writing in a ticket to DAZ and getting their official response.

With MHX I can use downloaded expressions from daz studio and FACS. With ARP these possibilities are lost. Or I just couldn't set it up properly. 

@Jovanni
Hi, if you import G8  via diffeo you can still use your Daz facial expressions & shape key/visemes and even load mimic lipsynch
after replacing the Daz body rig with an ARP rig.