Sorry, I missed your earlier reply. I need to sub this thread for FaceGen & Headshop / One-Click tips.

Well I'm buying the new one-click to try out because I like the auto-placement with one-click feature. I am still happy with FaceGen but I have trouble selecting the points on the photos and as noted about it can make a big difference in the morph. Also, noted above the FaceGen morph obj is a better likeness than the DAZ Morph and that's because the FaceGen program must do a sort of automated retopology so that the FaceGen morph obj model topology matched the DAZ Genesis / Genesis 2 / Genesis face topology.

If you were after the best likeness possible you'd take the FaceGen obj into Blender or Maya and attach to an existing model or model by adding to the FaceGen obj. 

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'm not really good with Blender yet.  But, I might still give this a try.  The "exact likeness" isn't so much of an issue as is predictable results - meaning, I'd like to know how the face will look on the G2/G3 before I export to Daz.  This isn't a deal breaker at all.  But, it would be nice to be able to adjust things beforehand in order to avoid quite so much post work in Daz.

I just did a search on "One Click" and found that thread.  So, HS is developing a similar to Facegen type of software that you don't have to pick points.  That is very interesting.  After reading that thread, it doesn't sound like One Click will help much over Facegen except for the auto texture placement and dropping the point placement step.  I am very curious to see the results.  I might give it a try if there is a really good price break for current HS users.  I like HS when it works.  It's just such a buggy program.  It's funny that Abalone mentions "you can't screw up."  I realize that there is a lot of user error in HS.  But, that doesn't excuse the fact that the program itself is very crash prone and can be hard to navigate.  If the new One Click is stable, that will certainly be an upgrade.  But, I think they will have a problem by not offering the auto and hi res textures capability of FG.  Those ready made whole body textures are a huge time saver even without auto placement.

I do think that Facegen could do a better job with tutorials.  It's very easy to use.  But, I would like some more advanced tutorials and tips and tricks from the manufacturer to explain "best placement" of the face points to get the most accurate mesh.  I've noticed that slight changes of the points can produce very different results.  What I would really like is a combination of Auto Point Placement like OneClick is advertising and Point Tweaking similar to what is currently available in HS10.2, in order to be able to fix texture errors (like nostrils being slightly off) and shaping.  The shaping morphs do a really good job as is.  But, it would be nice to be able to do the point tweaks.

 

Sorry, I missed your earlier reply. I need to sub this thread for FaceGen & Headshop / One-Click tips.

Well I'm buying the new one-click to try out because I like the auto-placement with one-click feature. I am still happy with FaceGen but I have trouble selecting the points on the photos and as noted about it can make a big difference in the morph. Also, noted above the FaceGen morph obj is a better likeness than the DAZ Morph and that's because the FaceGen program must do a sort of automated retopology so that the FaceGen morph obj model topology matched the DAZ Genesis / Genesis 2 / Genesis face topology.

If you were after the best likeness possible you'd take the FaceGen obj into Blender or Maya and attach to an existing model or model by adding to the FaceGen obj. 

. The only other knock against it is that while the app is easy to use, once the face is created, you must apply the textures yourself in the surface tab. 

True - But, I really like how FG actually makes a very easy texture folder for you.  And, the FG textures are much more complete in that they do their best to match the face to the head, etc.  I've place many of these textures now.  You'd still have to place any body textures with Headshop.  The only automatic ones are the face and lips. 

So, here's the quickest method I've come up with:

I pinned my Facegen folder to the Explorer quick links.  So, I only have to do a couple of clicks to get to my "Facegen/Genesis 2/Leila 1 (or whichever)" folder and select which of the four textures I need - eyes, face, limbs, torso.  

I go to the "surfaces" tab under Genesis 2 Female in Daz and starting with "ears," I click on the diffuse texture and select browse.  Then, I navigate to the "Leila 1" folder and pick the textorso file.  Now, the textorso file will be available in the quick list that comes up when you click on the diffuse texture button.

Then, I go to "face" under the surfaces selections after pushing the diffuse button, I select textorso from the quick list.  THEN, I push the diffuse button again and select "browse."  This takes me to the folder where the textorso file is located without having to navigate back to the Facegen folder.  This time I select the correct "texface" file.  Now that file is also in the quick list.

I do the same process for the "feet" surface, selecting the texface or textorso file to get me back to the right folder, then browse and select the correct "texlimbs."  This puts texlimbs in the quick list as well.

The same goes for the "texeyes" when I get to the irises surface.

This means that by using this shortcut method, I can put all the FG diffuse textures on the appropriate surfaces in about 2 minutes.  It's really simple once you get the hang of doing it this way.

Of course, if I go to the trouble of creating custom bump maps or displacement maps, this process can be a lot more time consuming.  But, it's still pretty easy.

My one complaint about the way FG generates textures is the naming.  It would be nice if it automatically named the texture files by using your FG filename i.e. instead of "textorso" it would be "Leila_1_torso."  That seems to me to be an easy sort of thing to add into the export script.  Even so, it's not too difficult to rename the textures.  It would just be a help if FG did it automatically.

Hope this helps!

I bought Facegen Artist Home and love it enough that I'm going to upgrade to pro next paycheck. :)  I second the loving that FG gives you good working textures based on the face color.  This helps immensely when trying out new characters.  Any character that I decide to complete, gets a rework of the textures with merchant resources to patch up skin problems or make a low res photo texture into a high res version.  It can take many hours to edit a texture, but when you are finished, you have a new original texture that has the characteristics of the original face but turning it into your own work.  That initial color approximation for the FG textures is very helpful in starting a new skin.

Another great aspect of FG is the license, good for any number of machines for 1 user.  This is very important to me as I work at home and also while traveling.  Also, FG states very clearly that any:

Texture images, morph targets and FaceGen '.fg' files created with Artist are yours to distribute.

That is awesome...and sensible on the part of the publisher.  Because there's really no way to track a derivative morph once it's been exported and reimported as a new morph target...at least, not that I know of.  I try to use all MR or otherwise free use morphs on all my characters.  It's just much simpler than doing morphs on top of other commercial morphs.  And, I don't have to worry about who's work I might be including.  I plan to start adding variatons based on the G2 and G3 morph bundles, just so I can add that for a Daz feature.  I believe they like products that have other purchase requirements.

I personally really like merchant resources as bases for skin textures.  I can go through and add little color variations, skin tone, etc. to get a new character skin.  Most characters don't need really unique skins.  Except for distinguishing marks, I couldn't really tell the difference on many characters.  The real character changers are things like eyebrows, lips, makeup, and eye color.   So, a few base skins along with these distinguishers is all that I need for a whole bunch of different characters.  While I'm on this topic, I really want to plug Hinkypunk's Build-a-Babe Photoshop template and texture.  I use it for both G3 and G2 characters.  It took me a while to build up a G2 set based off the Living Doll merchant resource that I got off Renderosity.  But, it was worth the effort.  Because, I can now use bits for both G3 and G2 depending on how much editing I want to do.

To edit an FG texture, I just have to drag it into Photoshop, resize it to 4096, and copy and paste it into the Build-a-Babe as a new layer.  Then, it can be edited just like any other merchant resource.

Downside to FG - the face shapes often don't look the same once imported into Daz.  I don't really know why this is.  But, I can have something that I think, "Wow, that's a perfect likeness!" in FG, only to have it look much less like the original in Daz.  This isn't all bad.  It's just more work to get the shape right.  I've also noticed that whether or not a profile photo is helpful is variable.  I mean, sometimes the profile pic really helps the shape output.  Other times, it's seems to confuse the program and output something that really doesn't look like the original at all.  I don't know why. Also, noses tend to be the same triangular shape on initial output.  I almost always have to use the shaping morphs to change the nose.

I often export an FG face, view it in Daz, then go back and redo it in FG, trying to alter dot placement to get an output that looks better in Daz.  It's time consuming...but still a lot less trouble than learning how to model in Blender.  As long as I get the basic characteristics of the model photo that I was going for, I don't mind if it's not an exact match.  After all, I'm trying to create new characters, not duplicates.  I often get a result that is better than what I was trying for, even if it doesn't resemble the original model.

I have noticed that young faces are the most problematic.  This is either because of how FG exports or how Daz imports and adjusts to fit G2.  Even if I were to put a toddler's face onto a G2 figure, it would still look like the figure were in its 20's.  So, there's a lot of morphing to do after the import.  I believe this is because Daz is trying to adapt a fairly extreme morph to a very standard figure.  

Also (nothing to do with Facegen), I have not yet figured out how to do characters of varying heights without screwing up the joint geometry.  I can scale after the fact.  But, unless my figure meshes are exported at normal G2 height, it comes back a complete nightmare morph.  It will import and look okay until you try to pose...Then, the results are crazy.  I guess I need a tutorial on doing new bone structures or something so my 5' Asian figures can be loaded as such instead of doing post scaling.

Anyway, that's my mini review of Facegen.  It essentially has very similar function as Headshop.  I wish it integrated some of what Headshop does into itself, as I like being able to use shape dots to correct texture and shape.  FG is more automatic.  You place the initial 11 points, then FG generates its best approximation.  You can't really correct texture once that's in place.  You either got it right first go, or you have to redo the whole thing.  Fortunately, redoing the whole thing isn't that hard.  FG is by far less buggy than HS.  It doesn't crash all the time or have mysterious menu selections that don't seem to function.  I can make 4 reasonable FG morphs in the time it takes me to do 1 in HS.  If HS was less crash prone and had more predictable results when using the various tools, I would not have bothered with Facegen.  However, I'm very glad that I made the decision to go ahead and get Facegen as well.  It is far less frustrating to use.  One other thing I didn't mention before is that FG is very good at dealing with photos that are not perfect face forward, hair back shots.  By placing the point in proper relation to where they should be on a face, you can still get a decent morph and texture.  It is definitely not as good as the best case face forward shot.  But, it will work.

I hope this helps others looking into both software packages.  I wasn't able to find much 3rd party info about either one in my online searching, other than on this forum.

 

will it auto install in any and all versions of daz or do we have to manually configure it copy paste files of faceshop/headshop into each daz version with each daz update, previously when a new version of either full daz or beta was released we had to copy files into certain folders still using HS9 which is working in the last Daz 4.9 full build but is not showing up in the latest beta and probably same when the new full build comes out so if I want to use HS right now I have to create save in previous Daz full build then start up the new beta so I can use iray with my 1080 cards s yeah would this install into the new beta or the previous full build

I have a quick question

Is this "stand-alone" or do I first need to purchase HeadShop?

It IS HeadShop. You only need DAZ Studio to run OneClick.

How is it Headshop when you posted earlier that for more options (larger texture resolution) you need the actual Headshop 10.2 product. so based on what I am reading, OneClick is actually Headshop LITE meaning is has some of the funcionality of the actual Headshop product, but not all and to get all the features you need Headshop 10.2, correct? Or deas OneClick replace Headshop

 

 

Yes, at DAZ this will be the only HeadShop you can buy. The point was NOT to create a HeadShop Light, but to eliminate even the slightest possibility of users messing up. This meant to automate everything and simplify user interface through automation. HeadShop 10.2 also had many redundancies with Studio (adding hair, accessories, color - all of which you can do in Studio). We took out redundancies but kept advanced options such as profile, which may be important to a smaller number of users.

The bottom line is that this product represents a giant leap in performance and ease-of-use.

I have a quick question

Is this "stand-alone" or do I first need to purchase HeadShop?

It IS HeadShop. You only need DAZ Studio to run OneClick.

Sweet! I don't know what all headshop does, but I assumed it was something to do with making morphs from pictures and if all I need is this software to do the same in 1 click, then it's going in the wishlist asap :)

I have a quick question

Is this "stand-alone" or do I first need to purchase HeadShop?

It IS HeadShop. You only need DAZ Studio to run OneClick.

How is it Headshop when you posted earlier that for more options (larger texture resolution) you need the actual Headshop 10.2 product. so based on what I am reading, OneClick is actually Headshop LITE meaning is has some of the funcionality of the actual Headshop product, but not all and to get all the features you need Headshop 10.2, correct? Or deas OneClick replace Headshop

The current version exports 1024x1024, because it aims of the casual user who in all likelyhood won't have a high-res to begin with. For hard-core users I recommend HeadShop 10.2, which does have 2048x2048 plus a lot more tools.

 

And does it output greater than 2048x2048; pointless if it doesn't.

I can't get excited until you answer this.....

The current version exports 1024x1024, because it aims of the casual user who in all likelyhood won't have a high-res to begin with. For hard-core users I recommend HeadShop 10.2, which does have 2048x2048 plus a lot more tools.

Unfortunately on both softwares, I fear that you have once again seriously underestimated the market's expectations, casual or otherwise. 4096 is standard these days, and offered by orlthers such as face gen.

I have a quick question

Is this "stand-alone" or do I first need to purchase HeadShop?

It IS HeadShop. You only need DAZ Studio to run OneClick.

I have a quick question

Is this "stand-alone" or do I first need to purchase HeadShop?

I need someone to jump in a render a beautiful promo image for HeadShop OneClick using the software. I supply high-res photo. Need it within 48 hours please!

 

This looks very interesting. I applaud you for making the effort at improving headshop...but this is not actually headshop? I am confused. And I am extremely cautious. You say this is for a casual user, but how likely is a casual user going to know how to edit the textures around the face? Pretty unlikely in my book. I bet most people would have a lot of trouble getting that Cloony face to work without major seems on texture borders. Shoot, I have been using gimp for years and I'd probably have trouble doing that. It is quite a large contrast, and getting the face to blend in with the rest of the texture is no simple task. Your own render has a very noticeable line where the headshop texture ends.

And does it output greater than 2048x2048; pointless if it doesn't.

I can't get excited until you answer this.....

The current version exports 1024x1024, because it aims of the casual user who in all likelyhood won't have a high-res to begin with. For hard-core users I recommend HeadShop 10.2, which does have 2048x2048 plus a lot more tools.

Well that is a deal breaker. Regardless of what resolution any casual user has access to and starts with, the final has to go on the genesis 3 figure which is 4096 x 4096 by default, so the final results "from" this app should match the genesis figure texture resolution.

 I have seen all the headshop posts and looked at the results posted and this seemed like it would be a step up from them. Now I see that it is actually a simplied version and for quality results we need to go with the full headshop product, correct?

And does it output greater than 2048x2048; pointless if it doesn't.

I can't get excited until you answer this.....

The current version exports 1024x1024, because it aims of the casual user who in all likelyhood won't have a high-res to begin with. For hard-core users I recommend HeadShop 10.2, which does have 2048x2048 plus a lot more tools.

Can you give us a feature comparison?

How is it different from HeadShop 10.26.2016 

1. Simplified set up: import frontal picture. Program auto-finds 86 facial points. Auto determination of sex (male or female). User no longer has to set headshape markers. Elimination of “Import OBJ” as app only works with Genesis 2 or 3 figures.

2. Work screen. In the 10.2 full product we had 6 tabs (Front, Features, Style, Accessories, Stage). It is now reduced to only one tab (Front). All dots are automatically set giving the head instantly shape and texture. 95% of the time user can just one-click Export and he/she is back in Studio.

3. Users who want to make it perfect can still use profile picture to do profile and shape the head.

And does it output greater than 2048x2048; pointless if it doesn't.

I can't get excited until you answer this.....

The current version exports 1024x1024, because it aims of the casual user who in all likelyhood won't have a high-res to begin with. For hard-core users I recommend HeadShop 10.2, which does have 2048x2048 plus a lot more tools.

Can you give us a feature comparison?

And does it output greater than 2048x2048; pointless if it doesn't.

I can't get excited until you answer this.....

The current version exports 1024x1024, because it aims of the casual user who in all likelyhood won't have a high-res to begin with. For hard-core users I recommend HeadShop 10.2, which does have 2048x2048 plus a lot more tools.

What is OneClick? It is a DAZ Studio plugin that works inside DAZ Studio (version 4.8 and up).

Simplified Operation

OneClick allows you to turn a simple photo automatically into a Genesis 2 or 3 head in DAZ Studio, complete with texture mapping and shape morphing. OneClick is the only application in the industry that does this fully automatically. The revolutionary feature recognition code inside OneClick automatically finds 86 points on a human face and translates these points into a realistic 3D head. We call the product OneClick, as it literally requires only one click to perform the transformation. For those who want even greater realism, OneClick also allows the import of a profile photo. Tracing the profile makes the 3D even more realistic.

Simplified Price

Only $39.95 Coming soon!

 

I went down this very same path when Headshop 10 first released. Just get "FaceGen Artist" instead and all your problems will go away. I got a refund for Headshop. It is nice to see that it has been updated to 10.2, but from your post, it is obvious many issues, and many that I complained about myself, still remain. I posted some head to head results in Headshop thread. Since then, I have learned FG better, as it is easy to learn. If you have quality pictures, you will get quality results.

FaceGen is better in just about every way. It is MUCH, MUCH easier to use, it can output full 4000x4000 textures, and is capable of better results. And of course, it is less buggy. Try the free demo for yourself and see. The big downside is that it costs $70 for G1 and G2, while the "full" version that adds support for Genesis 3 is I believe $140. So its $70 just to add G3 support. I focus on G2 anyway, so it was a no brainer to me. The only other knock against it is that while the app is easy to use, once the face is created, you must apply the textures yourself in the surface tab. 

Thanks, I didn't want to buy a new program.  But, I will definitely give the FaceGen demo a try and go that route if it's that much easier to use.  I'm still hoping for Headshop to get fixed.  Laslo is really nice about helping.  But, the documentation overall is still weak.  I hope Abalone continues to develop the software.

I went down this very same path when Headshop 10 first released. Just get "FaceGen Artist" instead and all your problems will go away. I got a refund for Headshop. It is nice to see that it has been updated to 10.2, but from your post, it is obvious many issues, and many that I complained about myself, still remain. I posted some head to head results in Headshop thread. Since then, I have learned FG better, as it is easy to learn. If you have quality pictures, you will get quality results.

FaceGen is better in just about every way. It is MUCH, MUCH easier to use, it can output full 4000x4000 textures, and is capable of better results. And of course, it is less buggy. Try the free demo for yourself and see. The big downside is that it costs $70 for G1 and G2, while the "full" version that adds support for Genesis 3 is I believe $140. So its $70 just to add G3 support. I focus on G2 anyway, so it was a no brainer to me. The only other knock against it is that while the app is easy to use, once the face is created, you must apply the textures yourself in the surface tab.