@wolf359 Thank you very much for sharing and recommending the script!
I had already tested it before, but when converting animations from Genesis 8 to Genesis 9, I ran into an issue.

The animations do get converted and look fine at first glance, but when compared closely, they are not actually converted correctly.

When I import my animation, it behaves as if Limits and Locks are enabled, even though I have them turned off. On Genesis 8, with Limits and Locks disabled, the animation works correctly. But if I enable them, the arms no longer stay in place and appear more spread out.

After converting this same animation to Genesis 9 using the script, it always behaves as if Limits and Locks are enabled, even when they are off. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t fix this.

Have you ever come across this issue, or do you know of a workaround?

Taoz said:

How do you make morphs for this type of hair?  Only two are included, and they are not very usefu, I'd like some that can move the strands on the right side.  I've tried Mesh Grabber but that doesn't work. 

Select the Geometry Editor tool when you export OBJ and also later when you import the modified OBJ. I modify the OBJ in Blender.

Create your product in the usual way and seelct it in the Content Library>Products. From the Content Library pane option menu select Content DB Editor. You can now add files by right-click in the Files area on the Product tab, and edit other metadata in the Assets tab. There is an option to add recursively, so you would need to select only the root folders.

Another option would be to install the product to an otherwise empty content directory and use the create from folder or the add ecursively option in the editor to grab everything at one go.

Sure, I'll do whatever I can to try to help, but I'm 99.9% sure the results will be the same. But I noticed something else in your image: the importer is applying rotations other than twist to the twist bones. That's why, for example, the left arm appears to be broken right in the middle of the upper arm. I think DAZ Studio gets around this by locking the other two angles to 0. Why on earth it would export with non-zero values or import non-zero values on angles that it knows that, by design, should always be zero, is beyond me.

Trust me, I feel your pain on this. The problem is that there's a considerable amount of specific technology that goes into making Genesis characters deform so beautifully, things that general exchange formats like BVH don't support. Not anyone's fault, it's just that BVH is ancient and there probably was no Genesis when it was conceived. I don't think this will ever work without an application specific exchange format that knows about both ends of the pipe. Alembic, for example, punts the issue by skipping all of it and deals with baked geometry, something much easier for different 3D applications to agree upon. USD makes the attempt, with a much more modern approach, but it is already suffering from the same problem; it doesn't have a universal definition for what a UV is or even what a bone is, believe it or not.

My attempt to solve this problem is called Hitchens, I had a 90% solution a while ago, and I'm getting close to finishing it. Hitchens basically understands the Genesis architecture, how Blender handles armatures and skinning etc, and acts as a go-between. You might be interested in it when it's finished: Hitchens in action.

TheMysteryIsThePoint said:

It's just a guess from the way the rotations look switched, and one looks to be the reverse of the other. But it's in the BVH file itself, which you have already shown to be . It may be quite large, but it's just an ASCII file that you can open and read.

But look for a BVH tool like BVH View or BVH Visualizer and see if the exported file looks good.

You'll be looking for JOINT directives that define the bones. Find the ones that correspond to the collar bones. I think it's lCollar and rCollar in G9s, still.

Once you find then, you'll see that it has a CHANNEL directive. The order of the Xrotation YRotation and Zrotation directives determine the rotation order. My guess is that the order in the BVH file doesn't match the order of the G9s joints in question, and either the BVH exporter doesn't write them out correctly, or the importer doesn't set them correctly.

Unfortunately, DAZ Studio is not Open Source, so there's really no way to know what is happening. Unfortunately, DAZ Studio is not Open Source, so there's really nothing you can do about it even if you do figure out what is happening.

 

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation and help!
I tested it, and the BVH exports look correct for both Genesis 8 and Genesis 9. However, when importing with Genesis 9, the body becomes distorted. It’s quite strange that Daz cannot properly re-import even its own exported BVH file. (You can see my results in the attachment.)

Would it be possible for you to run a quick test for me?
For example, exporting a simple animation with Genesis 9 (or even just a single-frame pose) as BVH, and then importing it back into Daz to see if the issue occurs on your side as well. That would help me confirm whether the problem is only on my end.

Your help with this would mean a lot to me!
 

l_stowe said:

Slosh said:

I made this velvet rope set for use in a recent image and would now like to share it with all of you. The ropes and posts come with a few material options, including brass, silver, chrome, and gold, plus red or blue velvet (other colors are easily made in surfaces tab).

Also included are pose presets which will move additional posts the correct distance away from each other so that the ropes fit between them. The ropes have pose presets that determine if they swing left, right, forward or back to connect with other posts.

There is a preload set that is a post with a rope attached, but separate post and rope props are available to end your rows with. To add additional ropes, just be sure to have the post selected in your scene, then the rope will parent to the post automatically. Then, select the rope and either use the preset poses to rotate them around the post, or use your Y-Rotate parameter slider.

Have fun with this, and if you care to, share a render in this thread so I can see how you are using them.

PS: Metadata is included, so be sure to "Re-Import Metadata" after you add it to your content directory.

ShareCG link: Velvet Ropes by Slosh

I don't suppose anybody knows whether these are still available now that ShareCG has gone? 

Slosh passed away last year, so likely not.

Slosh said:

I made this velvet rope set for use in a recent image and would now like to share it with all of you. The ropes and posts come with a few material options, including brass, silver, chrome, and gold, plus red or blue velvet (other colors are easily made in surfaces tab).

Also included are pose presets which will move additional posts the correct distance away from each other so that the ropes fit between them. The ropes have pose presets that determine if they swing left, right, forward or back to connect with other posts.

There is a preload set that is a post with a rope attached, but separate post and rope props are available to end your rows with. To add additional ropes, just be sure to have the post selected in your scene, then the rope will parent to the post automatically. Then, select the rope and either use the preset poses to rotate them around the post, or use your Y-Rotate parameter slider.

Have fun with this, and if you care to, share a render in this thread so I can see how you are using them.

PS: Metadata is included, so be sure to "Re-Import Metadata" after you add it to your content directory.

ShareCG link: Velvet Ropes by Slosh

I don't suppose anybody knows whether these are still available now that ShareCG has gone? 

Geometry editor (Premier) should work on it. DFormer should work on it. I haven't tried eksport modity import, as I am in doubt that works.

But you can also try lowering some simulation settings (local shape constrains) to make it more dynamic during simulation.

Your workaround works great, thanks Padone!
Instead of moving the figure to the floor in DAZ first, I now export it as is. With the feet slightly below the floor after resetting the hip's Z translation.
Import into Blender now has all the buttons in the right places, more or less. With a bit of tweaking its fine.
Much easier than moving, rotating and vertex parenting every single button individually. Shudder!! 

Yes I can confirm there's an offset if the figure is wearing heels, this is due to "apply transforms" in easy import that apparently doesn't work fine if the figure is moved away from zero coordinates. As a workaround we can either uncheck "apply transforms", or move the figure to zero before exporting, the latter is better. Now reported to Thomas.

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/import_daz/issues/2569/

update. Rigid followers are fixed in the last commit.

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/import_daz/downloads/

Hello,

I’ve encountered a problem when working with Genesis 9. When I create an animation or even just a pose and export it as BVH, the file does not import correctly back into Daz Studio. The character comes in with distorted body parts.

To clarify: I’m not making any edits to the exported file. I simply export the BVH from Daz Studio and immediately import it back into Daz Studio  and it already shows the distortion.

This issue does not happen with Genesis 8, BVH files export and import perfectly fine with no problems.

So my question is: Does Genesis 9 support BVH import, or is this a known limitation/bug?

Thank you in advance for your clarification.

Oh man...

If it didn't take me over 10 minutes to import the full figure (including several hair moving morphs) into Blender, then I would probably have tried to re-import it again before.
But since the buttons on both the coat and the blouse the character is wearing were static, I figured that this just isn't supported in Diffeo. Can't have it all, right?

So today I did re-import it and sure enough, the coat's buttons were parented to the coat just fine this time. Minus an offset from where they actually should be attached. Not sure why that is. Maybe because the figure wears shoes and that created the Z offset.
But the buttons from the blouse were still static. Go figure.
I checked in DAZ and finally noticed that visibility for the button followers was turned off. Probably to not annoy people with all the little crosses. That apparently made Diffeo ignore them on import. After turning vis. back on, it worked fine.

I have to admit that I'm constantly amazed by how complex Diffeo really is. There is just so much functionality under the hood.
Anyway, thanks Padone.

Works fine here the buttons follow with the pose and the coat, even if I deform the coat in edit mode the buttons follow as vertex parented. I don't see where the issue is unless there's specific steps. It is best to use "eliminate empties" in easy import to avoid some cluttering with the rigid followers, but works fine without as well.

barbult said:

New related problem: I disabled all custom toolbars in the F3 Activities.. I saved the layout. I reloaded the layout. I opened F3 again and all the toolbars show that they are enabled again. Why didn't they stay disabled?
If I shut DS and repen it, all those toolbars are back again. They will not stay  disabled.

I resorted to using custom menus and not the Favourite or Scripts so that when they are removed by updates or Merge script it is not an issue. i simply F3 and import my Utility menu again leaving the others blank (actually sometimes they are not always blank, they contain GUID information for the previous assets that were linked). Will test your toolbar issue. Usaully i can R-Click on the toolbar and uncheck the boxes, Exit Studio and they remain in the state i left them (disabled or enabled). F3 sometime override the R-Click.

@jmucchiello That's a once and for all solution. The question is if you'd like to give it a try ~ 

A step-by-step for you and the ones who want to make a Tiling UV :

1) Load G9 in DS, set its Resolution Level to Base. Export G9 to OBJ file via File > Export... with the settings in (ss1), i.e. uncheck Write UV Coordinates.
2) In Blender, import OBJ file via File > Import > Wavefront (.obj).  Switch to UV Editting layout and Edit Mode. Hit Numpad 1 to have a Front View and center the figure. Hit A to select G9. Click menu item: UV > Project from View (ss2). Then Export to OBJ file via File > Export > Wavefront (.obj). (ss3)
3) Go to Surfaces pane in DS, from context menu > Edit > Load UV Set, select OBJ file. (ss4). Name it as "Tiling UV", then go to menu: File > Save As > Support Asset > UV Asset(s)... (ss5)
4) Select all Surfaces, choose Tiling UV in the slot UV Set, then apply the Shader Preset you want (ss6)

Edit: The UV Set is attached. If you don't want to make it yourself. You can extract the data folder within the attached ZIP file to the root directory of your Daz Library. Reload G9 figure. Do the above step 4).

I have the same thing as Piquant except worse:  only MOST of them are blank references.  This means that destroying Lost and Found is not an option for me.
  I had to reset my database (saved my user data, thank you) due to a faulty product stating "updatable" and then not updating (http fetch errors).  The reset didn't help either.
The UI design on this is atrocious. 

• If I move something via the menu, it transports me instantly to where I moved it, while if I duplicate it, it doesn't do this
• If I move something to a subfolder by dragging it, I am teleported to the top of the (in this case, VERY LONG) list.  What I expect is that I am left where I was or, at the very least, left in the place where I moved it to.
• The inability to multi-select on the left-hand frame is completely out of line, given that the tree is not shown in the right hand frame where multiple select IS possible.
• There is no option to tell the UI to show folders in the right-hand side.

What I'd started doing is this:

• create a Lost and Check folder (for the LaF items that are not blank)
• create a Lost and Empty folder (for the myriad items that are blank)
• drag-move, one by one, from Lost and Found to one of the above, periodically destroying and recreating "Lost and Empty"

Then I thought I'd be smart and go thru letter by letter and move only the populated stuff, which is where I ran into the first set of problems, namely after moving each non-blank item, getting teleported to the very top of Lost and Found.
If I have to ever rebuild my DB and re-update/re-import metadata again I swear I am going to hang myself for the trouble it is causing me.

the date created might help

and I sort of understand where you are coming from because DAZ to Unreal at some point  gave me the same issues with UE4.27, which is the version I mostly use, I simply cannot use the plugin at all now and have to use alternative import methods

Blender like Unreal has so many updates too

I mostly use Blender 3 when I use it myself 

Richard Haseltine said:

For your own use you could export the higher-resolution, base shape mesh (don't gho overboard though), use an external modeller or the Geometry Editor to trim it down to remove areas that won't have hair (or won't need the higher resolution if that leaves too much), and rig it as a figure using the Transfer Utility. It will follow the shape you add to the figure, give you a base for the fur, and won't be as demanding as a fully high-resolution figure.

Thank you to everyone for your responses. This here will be the solution, Richard, thank you again for all that you do. The problem is hard to describe but I think Richard understood where I was getting at. Even if you paint a full density map across all of the character after it's been sculpted quite drastically, you will get bald spots even if you put the density to 2000 (far far too much at that point anyway if you do animation like me). Even in the painting segment of the SBH editor, you will see spots that you cannot paint. A solution that helps if you don't want to go as far as I plan to with Richards suggestion is to make your density map in substance or whatever you use for painting and then import it with SBH. As far as the angularity, there is no amount of interpolation or hair segments that will fix what I am talking about. When I get back to the pc, I'll post a picture of one of the areas for clarity for others who run into the issue in the future.

Dark45 said:

Hey guys,
Normally this isn't an issue but I am working with an anthro that is stretched a bit so to speak from normal genesis proportions (muzzle, ears, etc.). Aside from grafting a face replacement with a higher density, is there any creative way to generate Strand Based Hair on the higher resolution (subd) genesis? I've tried a few things but none have worked so far.
SBH generates based on the base resolution and therefore the fur has bald spots in it where the mesh is stretched a bit more or where the different surfaces connect (face, ears, torso, etc.). That and the fur is very... angular... since it is generated from the low resolution surface.
Thank you for any advice in advance.

export your figure at subd and make that the haircap

make haircap: import, transfer utility (reverse source shape ticked)

create sbh on haircap instead of figure

So I was glancing through some nostalgia discussion about Bryce 2 on the web, and this comment took my attention:

Firstly, yes - I agree that those Eric Wenger's (and others) demonstration scenes are indeed impressive. However, this line of thoughts made me thinking about "how far we all can go with Bryce?". I then remembered reading a post (I think it was written by KinemagiK) that Bryce handles structures made from 20 000 metaballs or something like that. Without giving it too much of a thought, I've launched Bryce and started replicating objects. Though I decided to use a simple sphere instead.

It was fine and easy up until I've got 5 000 spheres. Trying to double their amount led to Bryce freezing (maybe I could wait for an hour or something, but I lack the patience for it). However... I've decided to add "just" another thousand - and it worked, giving me 6 000 spheres. Then I tried to bite a bit larger piece and added 4 000 more - also worked. In the ended, I've managed to reach 25 000 spheres, alternating 1 000 and 4 000 spheres addition. I stopped after that as the more spheres I was adding, the more lag for actions like selecting/deselecting objects or changing sun position was being introduced.

Well, that was about the objects. Now, how about imported models? Now, I think Bryce is pretty generous with them! For starters, I've loaded the "Lythos mecha" model (it's a freebie available at CGTrader, made by a pretty cool author called Megalord) which has around 2.4 million polys. You might want to open the image in a new tab if you'd like to appreciate the details in the model.

Then I added 10 more... which gives us around 26 million polys. Not bad, huh? Also I think they look pleasant with Bryce procedural materials.

But hey, let's increase the challenge! Another freebie by Megalord, the amazing "Juggernaut" mech that has, like, 10 million polys itself. Wow. (Again, open fullsize to check the detail level). Had to wait, like, 7 minutes during import, but it loaded in the end!

If "Lythos" model was taking, like, ~600 mb memory, then "Juggernaut" eats around ~1700 mb. Good to know we have instancing! I've stopped at 4 copies, which led to the amazing 50 million polys scene. Stopped after that as, like in experiment with spheres, simple interactions started getting more and more slow. Still, I think it's pretty impressive!

All this cool and what not, but... the initial "challenge" said the following: "billions of polys". 50 millions can't compare to that, for better or worse. I was ready to accept that, but... but... Rashad comes to rescue, and he did it before "nanites" were even announced :D Sorry, this is my attempt to joke, but.. Remember this amazing set of scenes? https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2025691/ so I've opened (took quite a time as it used 3100 mb of memory during that) the amazing "MgScp Sunday Picnic EGFPLS Full" prepared by Rashad as part of his MegaScapes and Lighting tutorial and it says more then one billion polys there (and I think C-ram most likely had the similar polycount as well). So, yeah... I can now feel the satisfaction!