stefan.hums said:

tsroemi said:

I guess I will have to turn off metadata completely because it really keeps messing up the way I want to organize my things in Studio. It's so persistent, also with uninstalled or deleted items. Makes me having to hunt down every single reference to, say, a bunch 3dl textures and delete them by hand. But would I still have the thumbnails in the content library if I did away with all metadata?

If you want to get rid off the metadata all at once and completely: right-click on the Content Library tab, from the context menu choose Content DB Maintenance, in the dialogue select Reset Database. This will delete everything in Smart Content and your CMS database is then completely empty. But bear in mind: with that, also all references in Products and Categories are gone, also your own categorizitions if you made those.

But do NOT switch off the CMS itself! There are functions in Daz Studio which require the CMS running in background. Otherwise it may slow down things drastically or may lead to unforseeable behaviour and things do no longer work like expected or do no longer work at all.

Emptying the CMS database will not affect your thumbnails in the content library, these are loaded from the location where the physical files for the assets are.

Thanks again, I'll rather just reset, then. I felt a bit cautious about switching the whole thing off myself ... 

tsroemi said:

I guess I will have to turn off metadata completely because it really keeps messing up the way I want to organize my things in Studio. It's so persistent, also with uninstalled or deleted items. Makes me having to hunt down every single reference to, say, a bunch 3dl textures and delete them by hand. But would I still have the thumbnails in the content library if I did away with all metadata?

If you want to get rid off the metadata all at once and completely: right-click on the Content Library tab, from the context menu choose Content DB Maintenance, in the dialogue select Reset Database. This will delete everything in Smart Content and your CMS database is then completely empty. But bear in mind: with that, also all references in Products and Categories are gone, also your own categorizitions if you made those.

But do NOT switch off the CMS itself! There are functions in Daz Studio which require the CMS running in background. Otherwise it may slow down things drastically or may lead to unforseeable behaviour and things do no longer work like expected or do no longer work at all.

Emptying the CMS database will not affect your thumbnails in the content library, these are loaded from the location where the physical files for the assets are.

tsroemi said:

Does Ultrascenery rely on metadata in any way? I know we have to install everything into its correct folders, with DIM at best, but once it's in there, can I turn off CMS? Thanks and cheers!

Does Ultrascenery rely on metadata in any way? I know we have to install everything into its correct folders, with DIM at best, but once it's in there, can I turn off CMS? Thanks and cheers!

stefan.hums said:

tsroemi said:

I know I need to set which libraries to use in the Content Directory Manager, but even if I disconnect the external libraries there, Studio still remembers those files were installed. So, can I not make Studio forget those installs as long as they're not really present?

Smart Content is your 'problem'. As soon as the support files with their metadata are installed for a product, it has its entries in the Smart Content database. If the content library is not available because disconnected, Studio will always show the 'Missing File' icon for these assets in the Smart Content tab. If you delete this content library (temporary) in Content Directory Manager, it will no longer be shown in the Content Library itself, but the Smart Content data are still there and you get the 'Missing File' icon for those assets. There is only one Smart Content database where all products will get their entries.

You would have to delete metadata by removing all references from the Products group in your Content Library for all of these products installed in those disconnected libraries. But then you would have to load the assets manually from your Content Library, they will no longer be available in Smart Content until you re-install their support files. Pretty cumbersome, but I guess there is no other solution. You will have to live with the 'Missing File' icons as long as those libraries are disconnected.

Thanks very much for the explanation! I guess I will have to turn off metadata completely because it really keeps messing up the way I want to organize my things in Studio. It's so persistent, also with uninstalled or deleted items. Makes me having to hunt down every single reference to, say, a bunch 3dl textures and delete them by hand. But would I still have the thumbnails in the content library if I did away with all metadata?

NorthOf45 said:

If you install with DIM or Central, products will be processed with the metadata. If no categories are set, it goes into Lost and Found by default, and that's the way it is.

The flash (Material(s), Actor, Scene, etc.) is set by the Content Type, also part of the metadata, which must be set to <None> in the editor.

The only way for it to be completely ignored by CMS is to turn it off, then none of the database tools will be available, no metadata will be used (no content type, no compatibilities, no categories -> no Smart Content).

Or, reset the database. Clean slate.

Sorry for reviving this thread, but I just found it and I'm myself battling with the metadata right now. How would I actually turn off the CMS completely, where can I find that option? And if I did that, could I still use the content library pane, without the Product lists of course? Thanks very much! 

The image below shows my geometry in Blender (left) and the same geometry after beind imported in Daz (right). I've used "Collada" to export/import, but if I use "OBJ" the same problem happens (in a smaller scale, but happens). Is there a way to avoid this, or is it a limitation in Daz? These changes in geometry cause all sorts of problems when applying textures in Daz. Yes, I could UV the geometry in Blender, but I don't see a reason for it to behave like this, even with simple cubes. Apparently Daz loves its triangles...

tsroemi said:

I know I need to set which libraries to use in the Content Directory Manager, but even if I disconnect the external libraries there, Studio still remembers those files were installed. So, can I not make Studio forget those installs as long as they're not really present?

Smart Content is your 'problem'. As soon as the support files with their metadata are installed for a product, it has its entries in the Smart Content database. If the content library is not available because disconnected, Studio will always show the 'Missing File' icon for these assets in the Smart Content tab. If you delete this content library (temporary) in Content Directory Manager, it will no longer be shown in the Content Library itself, but the Smart Content data are still there and you get the 'Missing File' icon for those assets. There is only one Smart Content database where all products will get their entries.

You would have to delete metadata by removing all references from the Products group in your Content Library for all of these products installed in those disconnected libraries. But then you would have to load the assets manually from your Content Library, they will no longer be available in Smart Content until you re-install their support files. Pretty cumbersome, but I guess there is no other solution. You will have to live with the 'Missing File' icons as long as those libraries are disconnected.

I'm a now-retired 3D hobbyist.  I have Daz Studio 4.15 installed on an older (2012) lower-end, business laptop (Windows 10 Pro, Intel i5, 8 Gb RAM, no dedicated video card) and on my newer (2019) laptop  (Windows 10 Pro, Intel i7, 16 Gb RAM, Nvidia RTX 2060 with 6Gb VRAM).  I do very little 3D stuff on the business laptop because it was not designed to be able to handle much advanced graphics/3D.  Two weeks ago, I started to explore using Daz-Deals labels to create categories as another way to organize content in my Product Library.  I only created a few labels/categories.  Yesterday, on my newer laptop, I noticed that the labels/comments created on the older laptop were not present on my newer laptop.  Today, in reviewing the Daz-Deals tutorial (How does this work?), I read in the Using Multiple Browsers section that comments/labels are stored in the browser.  So, labels/comments created on one computer won't be available on another computer.  Maybe a future update will provide a way to synch labels/comments across multiple browsers or export/import labels/comments between browsers/computers.

I used the Daz2Blender Bridge to import a commercial character of the Genesis 8 Male into Blender3D version 3.2 (nVidia Omniverse flavour).

I get these distorted hands when the file is transferred.

I know that if the problem occured inside Daz Studio, the fix is to Adjust Rigging To Shape inside DS.

However, the problem exists inside Blender3D, not DS.  Inside DS, the morph character is fine.

Is there a setting inside Blender3D that I can use to fix the distorted hands ?  Please advise me, thanks.

(Am using latest version of the DazToBelnder bridge with DS Pro 4.2

Padone said:

You have to make all bones posable before converting to mhx or rigify. I agree the error message could be better.

In general to import daz poses and animations the daz rig or the simple-ik rig are better. While mhx and rigify are better for original animation in blender but can't handle all the daz morphs as the body morphs for example.

Ah now it works without making it to a Rigify rig, so I guess that was the problem.

I have another quick question, do you think it would be possible to add an import fuction in Diffeo for Audio2Face (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/omniverse/apps/audio2face/)? Audio2Face looks really interesting, I also found a solution to get it into Blender, but having that in Diffeo directly would be so awesome
This is the Audio2Face -> Blender tutorial I found

cridgit said:

Herschel

You may not have noticed but someting appears to have gone awry with the micropressure presets in the update (incorrect packaging + metadata). There are three sets of micropressure presets:

1. A set in Umbra/Presets/Genesis 8 which the tip says to apply to the figure. This set is included in the product metadata and is correctly tagged to Genesis 8 (this is the only set without errors).
2. A set in Umbra/Presets which the tip says to apply to the figure. This set is also included in the product metadata but appears to be incorrectly tagged to BOTH Genesis 8.1 Female and Umbra Outfit. 
3. A set in Umbra/Presets/Genesis 8.1 which the tip says to apply to the figure. This set is in DJL format but not included in the product metadata. These links simply point to set #2.

It is impossible to figure out from this mess how to use the presets. Can you please confirm if your presets are intended to be used on the Genesis 8 / Genesis 8.1 figures only, or are there presets also intended to be used on the outfit itself? In that case which are for Genesis 8.1 and which are for the outfit?

EDIT: On Genesis 8.1 the material presets don't work, giving an "operation failed" error on load, see log:

2022-07-03 07:36:15.707 Begin asset load (merge): /People/Genesis 8 Female/Clothing/Herschel Hoffmeyer/Umbra/Materials/01 Bra Top/Umbra Bra 02A Lace Sheer Black.duf
2022-07-03 07:36:15.738 Determining missing assets...
2022-07-03 07:36:15.807 Invalid hierarchy for selected node(s) and "preset_hierarchical_material" type; no root(s) found.
2022-07-03 07:36:15.807 Error loading asset: E:/DAZ3D/My Library/people/genesis 8 female/clothing/herschel hoffmeyer/umbra/materials/01 bra top/umbra bra 02a lace sheer black.duf
2022-07-03 07:36:15.807 Operation failed

EDIT: In the parameters tab there are duplicate sliders for the figure; one with a G8 suffix and one without. Which to use on which figure?

Very annoying that the update boinked this otherwise excellent product.

Published Artists don't mess with the meta data so I would submit a ticket as that is out of my hands and not something that I can fix. However, te update should not have messed with many of the things you mentioned as the update I submitted only alters the morphs of the Genesis figure (removing the teeth problem) and not the items.

As far as which micropressure morphs to use, the ones that end with G8F are the corrected ones and were the only ones that needed fixing.

That's what I'm saying. He is in his category, as determined by the metadata. Metadata says "<Category VALUE="/Default/Figures/People"/>". Metadata sets the category, it is not provided or determined by any other PA supplied info. Yes, he is a male figure based on G8M, but metadata does not care. Metadata is added by DAZ after the fact. If they get it wrong, we all suffer for it. 

Herschel

You may not have noticed but someting appears to have gone awry with the micropressure presets in the update (incorrect packaging + metadata). There are three sets of micropressure presets:

1. A set in Umbra/Presets/Genesis 8 which the tip says to apply to the figure. This set is included in the product metadata and is correctly tagged to Genesis 8 (this is the only set without errors).
2. A set in Umbra/Presets which the tip says to apply to the figure. This set is also included in the product metadata but appears to be incorrectly tagged to BOTH Genesis 8.1 Female and Umbra Outfit. 
3. A set in Umbra/Presets/Genesis 8.1 which the tip says to apply to the figure. This set is in DJL format but not included in the product metadata. These links simply point to set #2.

It is impossible to figure out from this mess how to use the presets. Can you please confirm if your presets are intended to be used on the Genesis 8 / Genesis 8.1 figures only, or are there presets also intended to be used on the outfit itself? In that case which are for Genesis 8.1 and which are for the outfit?

EDIT: On Genesis 8.1 the material presets don't work, giving an "operation failed" error on load, see log:

2022-07-03 07:36:15.707 Begin asset load (merge): /People/Genesis 8 Female/Clothing/Herschel Hoffmeyer/Umbra/Materials/01 Bra Top/Umbra Bra 02A Lace Sheer Black.duf
2022-07-03 07:36:15.738 Determining missing assets...
2022-07-03 07:36:15.807 Invalid hierarchy for selected node(s) and "preset_hierarchical_material" type; no root(s) found.
2022-07-03 07:36:15.807 Error loading asset: E:/DAZ3D/My Library/people/genesis 8 female/clothing/herschel hoffmeyer/umbra/materials/01 bra top/umbra bra 02a lace sheer black.duf
2022-07-03 07:36:15.807 Operation failed

EDIT: In the parameters tab there are duplicate sliders for the figure; one with a G8 suffix and one without. Which to use on which figure?

Very annoying that the update boinked this otherwise excellent product.

Hey I'm using the latest version from bitbucket (updated today).
Just wanted to try out a hd mesh.

But it seems that the hd mesh has an incorrect UV map and is lacking any vertex groups, shape keys and drivers.
The base mesh is fine.
Is this intended?

Imported via easy import.

The Figure is 8.1 and has the offical male gens.
 

duckbomb said:

I know this isn't what you are asking for, so maybe it isn't helpful, but I'll share anyway just in case.  I have read over and over where people say that displacement maps are a decent replacement for HD morphs, and I just can't agree.  I don't know what you are trying to render, but I personally render extremely high-resolution images for a very particular use case, and I absolutely need the quality that simple definition can provide.  I've never been able to export displacement maps that meet my expectations, and I've stopped trying.

My "solution" is to simply subdivide the product within DAZ studio, export it out, import it back, export AGAIN, and then use that to create an HD morph.  For something like that vase it would probably work just fine.  For something like rigged characters it's a little less efficient.

IF you try to use SubD in DAZ and the whole thing falls apart, then I usually change the subdivision settings to "loop" or whatever it is that doesn't actually smooth it out.  THen, when I do the HD modeling in ZBrush I simply smooth out the edges as well quickly to give it a more natural look.  Doing it this way at least keeps the UVs intact so you don't have to re map it.

 

I know... not the answer to your question, but it's no fun banging your head against a wall so I at least figured I'd share my own opinion on the whole thing.  I'm sure somebody can get high-res displacement to work well, and if that guy put out a tutorial I'd snap it up in a hurry lol.

You can't create an HD morph if the base geometry of the object changes - that is a limitation of the Morph Loader Pro that PA's do not have (they actually can create and import legit HD morphs).  

I know this isn't what you are asking for, so maybe it isn't helpful, but I'll share anyway just in case.  I have read over and over where people say that displacement maps are a decent replacement for HD morphs, and I just can't agree.  I don't know what you are trying to render, but I personally render extremely high-resolution images for a very particular use case, and I absolutely need the quality that simple definition can provide.  I've never been able to export displacement maps that meet my expectations, and I've stopped trying.

My "solution" is to simply subdivide the product within DAZ studio, export it out, import it back, export AGAIN, and then use that to create an HD morph.  For something like that vase it would probably work just fine.  For something like rigged characters it's a little less efficient.

IF you try to use SubD in DAZ and the whole thing falls apart, then I usually change the subdivision settings to "loop" or whatever it is that doesn't actually smooth it out.  THen, when I do the HD modeling in ZBrush I simply smooth out the edges as well quickly to give it a more natural look.  Doing it this way at least keeps the UVs intact so you don't have to re map it.

I know... not the answer to your question, but it's no fun banging your head against a wall so I at least figured I'd share my own opinion on the whole thing.  I'm sure somebody can get high-res displacement to work well, and if that guy put out a tutorial I'd snap it up in a hurry lol.

marble said:

Hermit Crab said:

Hi all

Having bought the full, latest version of 3d Coat, I can honestly say that it is the one 3d program that I am most pleased to own because it can do so much so well.

My skills with it are another matter.  I've just reached the stage where I can do enough to make me want to learn more and I discover how to do more things each time I use it. As with any non-trivial software, perseverance works wonders and leads to 'eureka' moments.

Therefore I would encourage anyone and everyone to try their hand at digital sculpting with this fantastic release.

I love that I now have a version limited to the sculpting side of the software.  My computer is very low-spec and it is nice to run a light version for what I mainly use it for.  I've found that I can save the scene from this version and it loads up into the full software as though it had been created there.

I have a Creality Ender Pro 3d printer and have been using 3d Coat to prepare figures for printing (for purely private use).  Believe it or not, getting a printed figure isn't too important to me: I get enjoyment from making one-off sculpted figures which can be rendered as turntables.

I mentioned my-low spec computer (i5 GTX 750 ti).  I must add that the few plays I've had with the free print version caused the computer to hang at the 'export to stl' phase.  So I don't know what would become of a Poser/DAZ/Reallusion figure at that stage for other people.  With the full software, it has been no problem for me because there has been no restriction causing downsizing of the sculpted model at that point.

To Marble:  The difference between mesh sculpting and voxel sculpting shouldn't deter you from having a go.  (the following is meant to be helpful, not condescending):

Imagine an eggshell made up of polygons.  That is your polygon mesh (wireframe).  Morphing or sculpting a wireframe mesh moves the polygons around and can cause drastic stretching.  

These days many sculpting programs add polygons to such a mesh as it is being sculpted to prevent this stretching.  Such dynamic tessellation keeps the model smooth.

A voxel body is like a hard-boiled egg with its shell removed.  It looks like the eggshell mesh but if you slice it you will see it is solid all the way through.  Sculpting with voxels is like using virtual clay which can be dug into, stretched etc.  If you make a hole in the surface of a polygon mesh you will see it is hollow inside but a voxel object will be solid underneath the hole.  You could sculpt undercuts in the latter.

 

Hi and thank you. I hope I am mature enough to know the difference between helpful and condescending. :) 

Your egg analogy really helps visualise the difference but I am still uncertain about how that voxel model is exported. We are all used to working with egg shells and to exporting them to other 3D applications but what happens when you want to make a prop using voxel modelling and import it into DAZ Studio which, I assume, wouldn't know a voxel from a Vauxhall?

Hi there, and I hope you are awake enough to also realize that I have a following of several  VERY intelligent people who have sadly, rather severe health conditions and so yeah, I repeat myself for them. So now,

in 3DPrint you fashion the treasure. Then hit Enter on the Keyboard or Apply in that little toolbox panel. Then, you export it as .stl or .wrl file. These are used for 3D printing.

To make a file that D/S can import, we need to use another program or utility to make the .stl file into an .obj. That can be done AFAIK using Blender, 3DCoat and/or some other modeling program. While in a modeler you may wish to slap on a uvmap.

You have to make all bones posable before converting to mhx or rigify. I agree the error message could be better.

In general to import daz poses and animations the daz rig or the simple-ik rig are better. While mhx and rigify are better for original animation in blender but can't handle all the daz morphs as the body morphs for example.

Hermit Crab said:

Hi all

Having bought the full, latest version of 3d Coat, I can honestly say that it is the one 3d program that I am most pleased to own because it can do so much so well.

My skills with it are another matter.  I've just reached the stage where I can do enough to make me want to learn more and I discover how to do more things each time I use it. As with any non-trivial software, perseverance works wonders and leads to 'eureka' moments.

Therefore I would encourage anyone and everyone to try their hand at digital sculpting with this fantastic release.

I love that I now have a version limited to the sculpting side of the software.  My computer is very low-spec and it is nice to run a light version for what I mainly use it for.  I've found that I can save the scene from this version and it loads up into the full software as though it had been created there.

I have a Creality Ender Pro 3d printer and have been using 3d Coat to prepare figures for printing (for purely private use).  Believe it or not, getting a printed figure isn't too important to me: I get enjoyment from making one-off sculpted figures which can be rendered as turntables.

I mentioned my-low spec computer (i5 GTX 750 ti).  I must add that the few plays I've had with the free print version caused the computer to hang at the 'export to stl' phase.  So I don't know what would become of a Poser/DAZ/Reallusion figure at that stage for other people.  With the full software, it has been no problem for me because there has been no restriction causing downsizing of the sculpted model at that point.

To Marble:  The difference between mesh sculpting and voxel sculpting shouldn't deter you from having a go.  (the following is meant to be helpful, not condescending):

Imagine an eggshell made up of polygons.  That is your polygon mesh (wireframe).  Morphing or sculpting a wireframe mesh moves the polygons around and can cause drastic stretching.  

These days many sculpting programs add polygons to such a mesh as it is being sculpted to prevent this stretching.  Such dynamic tessellation keeps the model smooth.

A voxel body is like a hard-boiled egg with its shell removed.  It looks like the eggshell mesh but if you slice it you will see it is solid all the way through.  Sculpting with voxels is like using virtual clay which can be dug into, stretched etc.  If you make a hole in the surface of a polygon mesh you will see it is hollow inside but a voxel object will be solid underneath the hole.  You could sculpt undercuts in the latter.

Hi and thank you. I hope I am mature enough to know the difference between helpful and condescending. :) 

Your egg analogy really helps visualise the difference but I am still uncertain about how that voxel model is exported. We are all used to working with egg shells and to exporting them to other 3D applications but what happens when you want to make a prop using voxel modelling and import it into DAZ Studio which, I assume, wouldn't know a voxel from a Vauxhall?