Steve K said:

Thanks.  Was it the music @ 5:08? I wasn't sure anybody would get the reference to an old movie (1968!).  

Yes  

NB: Many "old" movies available on streaming nowadays! 

Steve K said:

Are "animated characters" in Unity similar to Carrara's clips, i.e. mocap files that can be applied to any character?

Yes, in that respect exactly the same. They can move around "for free" - Unity has a movement grid you can quickly shape to do "pathing" - but it's just moving a static object (a chess piece) unless the character has animation (made outside of Unity - so mocap etc).

I found it a fun (and free) platform to use. Hordes of video tutorials to get started and there's plenty of ready-made assets available (of all types:  music/sets/characters etc). Daz G3 characters import easily and well, including mocap/animation you might already have, and with the fantastic camera controls and amazing lighting setup/rigs you can achieve some fantastic-looking results. It's well worth a look.

barbult said:

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.

Do I need the Premier Geometry Editor for this?  And can I use Hexagon or Carrara instead of Blender?

felis said:

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.

Thanks.  I don't have the Premier Geometry Editor though, and am currently not familiar enough with the other methods to make them work on this hair.

TheMysteryIsThePoint said:

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.

First, please do not mention Blender, for I am not Sheldon Cooper.
I think in visuals, not in short cuts and typed in values. So Blender is a different story and out of my possibilities.
What else are my options for an outside render engine/ hosting 3d software?
I do need
-quick and easy scene export, import
-support of geografts and geoshells
-fully textured with material conversion to the host rendering software
-big scene files support
-rendering superior to Iray. Focusing on photo realism
-perpetual liscense
-GPU based rendering
I do NOT need
-animations
-toon shaders
I do NOT want any
-AI enhancements
-cloud based software
-subscription fees
A lot to ask for, huh?
Any ideas?
EDIT:
BTW, No Nvidea Omniverse download available anymore?
 

crosswind said:

I don't understand what you mean by "a custom folder"...  A root user-defined category or somthing ?

Have you ever done batches of re-import metadata before in this computer ?

I am still having this issue, I have reimported metadata and what I mean by custom folders is a folder that is created by the customize function. 

So, I'm having problems loading any prop files that have the .pp2 extension, which are supposed to be an old Poser format. For example, the Sci Fi Bladed Weapons by nightshift3d. DS shows all the prop file icons with the picture-frame about the "triangle-!" mark.

I uninstalled the product using DIM, removed from the Content tab, reinstalled, reloaded the metadata for the product. No joy whatsoever.

Won't load in Poser 2012, either.

So, next, I tried searching the forums here for "pp2". I get the 504 Gateway error.

Frustrated from having to wait for the problem to clear itself, I refresh the forum pages, and they're working.

I tried searching for "pp2" again. Once more, 504.

I click on several forum topic, and they're working.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!??

I test the site for weirdness by searching for "dragon". I get mulch-tons of responses, as there should be.

I tried search once more for "pp2" again. Still, 504.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ² !!??

@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.