As for diffeomorphic the best option for material conversion is bsdf. Not all the top coat options are supported yet since iray gets a ton of them, so this may be the issue with some hairs. Also some hairs use not supported custom shaders, in this case you can try to convert to uber before exporting. Same if you import a 3delight material the plugin warns you that must be converted to uber before exporting, though there's some basic support for 3delight too.

So in general the best conversion you can do is convert to uber then export then import as bsdf.

note. If you have a specific hair that doesn't work, apart the limits explained above, please let me know I'll look at it.

richardandtracy said:

Yep, I must echo that. I am a professional engineer working with SolidWorks 3D models on a daily basis, and the LOD you produce on your models is such that any of us in the office would struggle to produce similar designs so quickly. Here I'm mentally equating the time involved texturing the models to the time needed to create 2D drawings (and in my case, I know texturing takes me considerably longer than 2D drawings).

Regards,

Richard

Okay, after a TON of work, I figured out why strand based hair may not be working very well for many of you. Mesh based hair still stubbronly refuses to not look like a helmet when rendered and I believe Sagan has said before he's still working on that- as is the creator of diffeomorphic as that problem exists with or without the alembic.

When you import your figure through diffeomorphic, on the hair, under material method, make sure to use single principaled. I don't know WHY this makes a difference, it just does.

What I'd really like to see is crown sourced metadata corrections...

Automatically submit corrections to an online database, semi-automatically retrieve them...

TheMysteryIsThePoint said:

I don't have the experience you require, but if your solution is easy to use with clear concepts that make it obvious what metadata is and does, I'd buy it on day one.

Edit: And if it can make content purchased in other stores appear as "first class citizens", even better...

It would be helpful to get your perspective too, thank you. Sent DM. 

I download manually, remove vanity folders and organize folders containing facing files as I want. Then I use R code to create metadata that includes custom categories, and also create product packages with R to be installed by DIM. I use smart content because I can see the promos for each product, but I’ve removed all the compatibility information so it just works as a great showcase.

So it can be included old products, other stores products and freebies to the organization.

Pickle Renderer said:

I tried Cascadeur when the beta (actually alpha) was first released.  It crashed with a Daz figure import.  I assumed it was the large number of bones, particularly the face.  Does it work now then?

It seems that they have an option for a casc to daz3d export directly if u would like to use casc in daz. I prefer using blender so I've found a decent workflow for daz/blender/casc. Im sure if ur planning on using daz, they'll make more optimizations in the future as it seem they support UE, daz, and unity more than any other programs.

I don't have the experience you require, but if your solution is easy to use with clear concepts that make it obvious what metadata is and does, I'd buy it on day one.

Edit: And if it can make content purchased in other stores appear as "first class citizens", even better...

PPehrson said:

Nice tool. It has flaws, though:

- Importing product data from DIM export csvs result in a .NET exception, no matter how you choose to export (Windows 11 22H2).

@PPehrson I think I know what you mean now with the CSVs - it's the Tools > Manage File Data feature you have tried.  That is actually an experimental feature currently supposed to be hidden which I somehow forgot to hide after working on it.  Now that it's been exposed here's some documention for its current features and how to import data correctly:

https://taosoft.dk/software/pm-daz/help/Manage File Data/index.htm

SofaCitizen said:

What kind of experience are you looking for? I have fixed a few lost+found items before but I am sure that most people that use Smart Content have also done that. I've also "hacked" a few dsx files to fix the categories at source (since in my use case with both a Mac and Windows machine I "re-import metadata" quite often).

Also, if you are making a script/plugin/tool for sorting the Metadata mess are you open to feature suggestions? For example, I am sure that several of the lost+found items can be auto-categoried (or atleast auto-suggested) based on the pathname. In addition, I still have a bunch of Female figures incorrectly categoried as Male - this is probably my fault as they were third-party products installed via Content Wizard and no doubt I messed something up - however, having a tool that can pick them out and offer to fix them for me would be nice.

That's just the kind of experience I'm looking for, thank you.

My main goal has been user productivity/efficiency, so I'm keen to get feedback on that but I'm definitely open to suggestions (within reason). If you can PM me your details I'll respond there.

What kind of experience are you looking for? I have fixed a few lost+found items before but I am sure that most people that use Smart Content have also done that. I've also "hacked" a few dsx files to fix the categories at source (since in my use case with both a Mac and Windows machine I "re-import metadata" quite often).

Also, if you are making a script/plugin/tool for sorting the Metadata mess are you open to feature suggestions? For example, I am sure that several of the lost+found items can be auto-categoried (or atleast auto-suggested) based on the pathname. In addition, I still have a bunch of Female figures incorrectly categoried as Male - this is probably my fault as they were third-party products installed via Content Wizard and no doubt I messed something up - however, having a tool that can pick them out and offer to fix them for me would be nice.

Since DAZ Studio first shipped with metadata in late 2011 many of us started using Smart Content and organizing our own content with custom metadata. But there is the issue of inconsistency, errors and that infernal Lost and Found category. As you know metadata for older products will unlikely be udpated, and there are occasional errors coming through for new products.

The DAZ Studio metadata editor can be a bit clunky at times, so I've been working on a more powerful metadata editor with automated error checking. I'm looking for a few folks with some metadata editing experience to beta test. Please DM me if interested.

clivewil2 said:

i'd really like to be able to browse an entire folder if possible.

You can, but not with 'smart' content.

The Content Library->DAZ Studio Formats shows you the files in their actual (real world) locations, and if they don't fit on one page, you get more pages 

Whatever the 'smart' content shows, is a virtual representation based on metadata (which can also be faulty)

HighElf said:

kervala said:

nakamuram002 said:

On Nov 16, 2022, I submitted a Service Ticket regarding G9F's shin, thigh, and elbow bending deficiencies (there are probably others, but those were obvious and a good place to start).  So far, no word on my Ticket.  I will not use G9F unless it is equal or superior to G8F in basic joint bending - I do not want a model that is only good for portraits.  Maybe it is better if DAZ leaves G9F the way it is, that way I will not have to spend any $$$ on it.

These are the bend shots that I submitted with my Ticket.  In each shot, G8 is on the left and G9 is on the right.

Yep, I agree with you. I could understand they wouldn't create JCMs for Genesis 9 base, but for official sold characters such as Victoria 9...

Btw I uploaded my screenshots on my server and put a link to them in my first post :)

I think I'll have to create my own JCMs for G9 :(

 

What does JCM stand for, and how do you do that? I have generally trouble creating morphs and such in Blender. For some reason, the scaling goes nuts in DAZ when I reimport with the morph loader.

JCM stands for Joint Corrective Morphs, they are morphs that are applied to fix the deformations when some members are rotated, some of them are more realistic than other ones.

Zev0 even improved them for Genesis 8 (see https://www.daz3d.com/bend-control-for-genesis-8-female-s-46267) but there are not yet equivalent for G9 :(

When you import with Morph Loader Pro, are you sure you have "Reverse Deformations" on ? It should revert the pose and other morphs you enabled :)

outrider42 said:

This is from Stability's FAQ page:

"Can artists opt-in or opt-out to include their work in the training data?

There was no opt-in or opt-out for the LAION 5b model data. It is intended to be a general representation of the language-image connection of the Internet.

In the future, for other models, we are building an opt-in and opt-out system for artists and others that services can use in partnership with leading organisations. This model learns from principles, so the outputs are not direct replicas of any single piece."

Thus they explicitly verify that their training data contains images used without permission. Plus Stability is based off of Stable Diffusion, which also documented this fact. LAION 5b was trained on 5.8 billion images without any consent or knowledge of the artists. 5 billion is what the "5b" stands for in case anybody was wondering. This is the exact same model that Stable Diffusion uses, and a lot of the AI generators are based on this.

And that is another difference between a human and AI. No human can realistically consume 5.8 billions images and then replicate the style of every single artist those images come from.

Besides that, local laws will always supersede any EULA or terms from a contract. Like in the EU, regardless of what global return policy a company has, you can return almost any item because of their consumer laws. So Stability can say anything they want about it being public domain. Local law can override this, and they have admitted their training data contains unauthorized images.

Keep in mind that Stability AI has a paid subscription fee. So while you may not monetize the images you create, Stability AI absolutely does monetize their platform. This fact could very well cause them trouble soon.

This, all of it.

Did you seek consent from living artists or work still under copyright?

No. There isn’t really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they’re coming from. It would be cool if images had metadata embedded in them about the copyright owner or something. But that's not a thing; there's not a registry. There’s no way to find a picture on the Internet, and then automatically trace it to an owner and then have any way of doing anything to authenticate it.

David Holz, CEO of Midjourney, quoted from Forbes interview (source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2022/09/16/midjourney-founder-david-holz-on-the-impact-of-ai-on-art-imagination-and-the-creative-economy/?sh=28ede0f62d2b )

I don't care what AI users tell themselves to justify this and feel better about what they're doing, it's wrong and there's no way to make it right other than scrape the whole current database and start over. I found a lot of my pre-2019 Daz renders in the LAION-5B database searching "HaveIBeenTrained" by searching for nothing but Daz, Daz3d and DazStudio and then following the trail of images similar to results (never entered my name or uploaded an image), it didn't take long before my own images showed up, and all of them with my logo and copyright info on them. From what i can tell by quoted links most of them were lifted off Deviantart/Wix. It only makes me not want to create and post online anymore. Who are the victims? Every single artist who got overrun by the influx of AI spam online, every single person whose images are in the databse. We can't be so warped out of sense of ethics and morals that even consent means nothing in 2022/2023 anymore.

Beware a new MacBook Pro comes with the latest macOS, currently Version 14 "Ventura". 

Hexagon will not run on macOS 10.15+ ( "Catalina" and above )  More info in the Hexagon forum. ( https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/599861/hexagon-alternative-on-mac-as-it-is-no-longer-supported-compatible-with-mac#latest )

Carrara 8.5 Pro does run on macOS 10.15+ as has been reported on several threads in this forum. However there are compatibility issues e.g. with the OpenFileDialog. ( https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/589456/mac-catalina-and-later-image-import-script#latest )

Also AFAIK it does not run on a mac with a M1 or M2 processor. ( https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/603596/installing-on-macbook )

The advice is to stay on macOS 10.14 "Mojave" or use it as a guest OS in a VirtualMachine (e.g. Parallels)

3WC said:

Yes, that would do it. A Genesis 3 morph won't work on Genesis 8.

 I tried to import a Genesis 3 Female DSF but it's the same thing, it still doesn't work..

OK in the "Browse Mesh Data" section it says Genesis 3 Female, which is the origin of the figure.
The OBJ file to import and take morphs from is for Genesis 8 Female. Maybe this is the cause?
Excuse my ignorance on the subject but I've always used DAZ Studio and I've only recently known Blender..

Gordig said:

lilweep said:

unless youre a PA you have to bake the high res detail into a displacement map

How does one do that? I'm utterly failing at Google right now, and all the results I'm finding are how to do the reverse.

Im no expert but i guess just do these two things:

1. sculpt whatever detail you want at high res (there is no limit here so can go high as you want) in sculpting software like Blender etc

2. Use xnormal (it is easier to use and faster than blender tbh) to bake these high res details into a map to use in Daz:

1. Import your high res sculpt obj (as High Definition Mesh)
2. Import your genesis figure obj (as Low Definition Mesh).  Note: you might have to use a high SubD genesis when baking displacement, unless you can figure out how to smooth a low subd base mesh in xnormal, which i was never able to figure out how to do.
3. run the ray distance calculation which will cast rays to see what min and max distances are between the high res sculpt and the genesis base
4. copy those distances and then add some extra wiggle room on top of them
5. Bake out a height map (I usually use the Raw FP values, and use 32 bit EXR). Afterwards, i would add a 50% gray on top to get a mid-gray level displacement map to use in Daz Studio.

I kind of skipped a step between 1 and 2 as it is usually best to make a 'combined UV' for texture baking (i.e., where you cram all the relevant genesis UDIMs onto a single UV). This 'combined UV' will allow you to do one bake for the whole figure and i guess it might help with artefacts at the UDIM seams.  Afterwards, e.g., in Photoshop, you can split out the combined UV into separate UDIMs.  Of course, becuase you will be splitting the combined UV into individual UDIM tiles, you would need to arrange the 'combined UV' such that it would allow you to easily split it up afterwards, so in other words stacking each UDIM one after each other etc.

By the way, this process described is for baking high-res detail.  For any macro details, that should really be done by morph loader pro.

marcus.ames said:

All the time you spend bickering and micromanaging Daz folders could just as easily be spent editing the metadata of your third-party content so that it, too, shows up in smart content - which your arguments about the excessive advertisement, labirynths, and misspellings in the file structure

also apply to, in some cases even worse.

Considering the state that metadata usually is in and that logging in to work with DAZ does wonders - just not the good version - to my workflow, bickering and micromanaging feels the easier way to solve those problems, thank you very much.